HCV 09

“The assistants last night mishandled the elemental crystals and caused an explosion. As a result, a significant portion of three months’ worth of research data and experimental records was destroyed.”

“Oh dear.”

It was just as I reached out to look through one of the scattered documents.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re touching?”

A mage snapped irritably.

Startled, I quickly pulled my hand back and apologized.

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Frisia Violet, and I’ve been assigned as the Duke’s secretary.”

“A secretary? Even so, a woman in the Magic Tower….”

The mage openly scanned me up and down.

“You might think magic is all sparkly and pretty, but it’s nothing but mathematics. Mathematics.”

His tone was blatantly dismissive.

Even in the conservative Empire, mages were an especially conservative group.

Back at the academy, the professors in the magic department also openly excluded female students.

It was familiar enough that I wasn’t particularly flustered.

Then, from an unexpected direction, a curt voice cut in.

“So someone so impressive couldn’t even handle a single elemental crystal and caused this mess? You should be grateful the Duke is away on a business trip. It just extended your lifespan by a day.”

Aeron poured out his biting sarcasm.

He looked gentle on the outside, but he was indeed the Duke’s right hand.

So that’s why I hadn’t seen him—the Duke of Kreutz must not be in right now.

At Aeron’s sharp words, the mage shut his mouth.

Taking advantage of the silence, I examined the documents further.

They were so badly burned in places that less than half could be read.

As I narrowed my eyes and studied them closely—

Something flashed in my mind.

“…Huh?”

This… maybe….

[Benefactor! Benefactor! This!]

From my pocket, Pipi bounced excitedly. I nodded.

“Right? There’s a pattern, isn’t there?”

There seemed to be some kind of consistency in the recorded data.

The problem was the number of entries needed to properly identify that pattern….

I stared at the pile of exploded documents with a weary expression.

There were far too many. Way too many.

[Benefactor! This is going to be a ton of grunt work!]

Yeah, tell me about it.

But who am I?

During my six years at the academy, I wasn’t just some ordinary love-obsessed girl.

I was a determined, relentless love-obsessed girl.

A woman driven by the goal of making my fiancé number one!

Working through a few all-nighters for that goal was nothing.

…Not that I’m proud of it.

Anyway, I’ll try.

Even with Pipi’s help, I couldn’t guarantee I’d finish before the Duke returned.

But if I pushed myself to the limit, maybe I could at least get a lead on the “loan” side of things.

[Poor Benefactor! Having to suffer like this…! And they even confiscated your food budget! Your uncle is terrible!]

“Pipi, you’re going to suffer with me too.”

[Trash uncle!]

“Violet. You don’t need to push yourself. Today isn’t even your official first day, so you can leave without reporting when you’re done.”

Thanks to Aeron’s words, I was able to examine the data without interruption.

“Who is that woman?”

“No idea. She’s the secretary, apparently. What does she even know about numbers, acting like that?”

“A secretary? She should just stick to handling the Duke’s errands… Let her be. She’ll quit soon enough.”

Whenever I heard voices badmouthing me, my heart thumped nervously and I felt self-conscious.

But—

[Benefactor! Calculation results are in!]

Thanks to Pipi constantly keeping me focused, I was able to immerse myself in the data.

“Ugh, I feel like I’m going to die. I haven’t eaten all day—my stomach is killing me.”

“Same. My mom said joining the Magic Tower would get me a girlfriend and a good life, but what is this? I’m going to die of overwork before I even get a date.”

“Let’s just go eat. I can’t do this anymore.”

When I came to my senses, I was the only one left in the archive room.

That day, as the sun set, rose again, and set once more—

The lights in the archive room never went out.

Meanwhile

“I deserve to be punished!”

“We’re truly sorry, Duke!”

The mages bowed their heads repeatedly.

“We’ll do everything we can to restore it as quickly as possible—”

“Restore it?”

Kaien looked down at them with a chilling gaze.

“Instead of wasting precious oxygen, why don’t you all jump from the top of the Magic Tower? That might actually help the restoration process.”

“Eek!”

“U-Understood!”

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue, Kaien snapped coldly.

“Get out.”

“B-But, Duke, we will do our best—”

“Didn’t you hear me? Or should I personally drill your ears open?”

His hand moved toward the sword at his waist.

No one who had seen that blade drawn had lived to tell the tale. Remembering Kaien’s infamous reputation, the mages panicked.

“Aaaah!”

“We’re sorry! We’ll leave right away!”

Idiots.

Watching the panicked mages flee, Kaien erased his expression and leaned back deeply into his chair.

He pressed his temple.

Throb. Throb.

A pain like a hammer striking his skull continued.

For an ordinary person, it would have been enough to make them scream and pass out.

It’s getting worse.

Annoyed, Kaien clicked his tongue and took a cigarette.

Hoo—

He exhaled slowly, and white smoke spread through the air. Only then did the crease between his brows loosen slightly. His long, sturdy legs stretched lazily over the chair.

If his physician saw this, they would have grabbed him by the collar.

Please! You must take care of your health! Reduce overwork! Maintain a proper balance between work and rest!

Balance, my ass.

Those so-called assistants couldn’t even do the basics. Spoiled brats who only knew how to memorize exam material under their parents’ protection.

That was the Magic Tower full of them.

“Maybe I should just blow it up?”

Aeron flinched at the mutter. Seeing Kaien’s fingers twitch as if ready to strike, he turned pale.

“P-Please, Master. Just give them one more chance!”

“I’m joking.”

If the master says it like that, it doesn’t sound like a joke at all!

As Aeron silently screamed inside, Kaien stood up with a faint smile.

“Then shall we go see what kind of disaster my pet bugs have made?”

“You’re going now? Maybe take a deep breath or do a bit of meditation first… no, never mind.”

Aeron sighed quietly, seeing Kaien’s expression.

If he sees the archive room… someone’s definitely losing their head.

Adding “cleaning up corpses” to today’s task list was not something he wanted.

Aeron prayed desperately that the mages had at least managed to fix things a little, and hurried after Kaien.

When they arrived, the archive room was in chaos.

“What do you mean you handled the documents like this?!”

“Damn it, we’re screwed. The Duke is going to review this soon….”

Several mages were pointing accusing fingers at a single woman.

In the center, a woman stood clutching a stack of documents tightly to her chest, head bowed.

Aeron recognized her face and spoke in surprise.

“Miss Violet?”

At his voice, the mages turned around in shock.

“D-Duke!”

“Guh—”

The panicked mages looked up at Kaien, who stared down at them expressionlessly.

The woman among them was also someone he recognized.

Frisia Violet.

The new secretary he had recently hired.

I thought her official start date was tomorrow. Why is she here?

Judging from the situation, she seemed to have taken it upon herself to work and was now being blamed by the mages.

Even if she had messed things up, the “pet bugs” likely wouldn’t have fixed anything properly anyway. Still, watching them scold a new hire after causing chaos themselves irritated him.

One mage, misreading Kaien’s silence, pointed at Frisia.

“We already managed to restore 13% of the data yesterday, but this new secretary has completely scrambled the order!”

“This is such a nuisance… Duke, she should explain herself!”

They were clearly trying to make her the scapegoat.

Just as Aeron was about to step in—

“I… have…”

Frisia lifted her head, her lips trembling as she struggled to speak.

“I’ve already restored everything.”