TMST 20

Chapter 20

On the day of the meeting, Karin arrived at the palace with her heart pounding.

The entire way there, only one thought occupied her mind.

‘The duke’s wounded pride! His face! His face! His face!’

However, the corridor leading to the meeting room was completely empty. Iris, whom she was supposed to meet, was nowhere to be seen.

Well, she had left excessively early because of her excitement. Judging by how quiet the palace was, the meeting was probably still in progress.

Then again, what did it matter? She had plenty of time. All she had to do was wait.

There was only one corner left before she reached the meeting room. Humming cheerfully and practically floating down the hallway, Karin suddenly heard someone’s groan from beyond the corner.

“Ugh…”

It sounded similar to the noise she made whenever she stubbed her foot on a doorframe and fell over. In other words, it sounded quite painful.

Picking up her pace, Karin rounded the corner to see who was there. If someone had fallen, she could at least help them back up.

But the person she found was entirely unexpected.

“Arken!”

He had been leaning against the wall beside the meeting room door, but straightened when he saw her. A thick stack of documents was clutched tightly against his chest.

Karin hurried over and greeted him.

“Have you been well?”

“I’ve been managing… Have you been well, Lady Karin?”

“Of course I’ve been well.”

He asked how she’d been!

Karin struggled to maintain her composure. Internally, however, she was screaming.

‘People of the world! Look at this! Arken and I are at the stage where we exchange greetings now!’

At this point, they were definitely best friends. Anyone could see it.

She no longer needed to agonize over how to get closer to Arken.

Just wait until the festival passed. She’d move on to the next stage immediately.

Lost in sweet fantasies, Karin basked in the moment.

…Then she suddenly snapped back to reality.

Her eyes widened as she looked around.

She still needed to find the owner of that groan.

“Did you see anyone who looked hurt? I heard someone groaning.”

“I don’t think so. I didn’t hear anything.”

Supporting the documents with one hand, Arken adjusted his glasses with the other.

Could it have been him?

But he looked far too normal for that. Aside from being slightly pale.

Then again, Arken had always been pale.

She must have imagined it in her excitement. Dismissing the concern, Karin decided not to dwell on it.

While waiting for the duke, she threw out random questions to keep the conversation going.

“The meeting isn’t over yet, is it?”

She expected a vague response like, “Indeed. It seems to be taking quite a while.”

Instead, he answered with surprising precision.

“It will end within five minutes.”

Karin blinked in shock.

Was there a clock nearby?

She glanced around the walls but saw nothing except strange paintings and decorations.

Then perhaps he was wearing a pocket watch or wristwatch?

No. His wrists were completely bare.

The only unusual thing she noticed was the blue veins standing out on the hand gripping the documents.

He was clutching them with all his strength.

Almost as though he were using them to press against his chest.

“What are you… looking at?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. But how do you know there are five minutes left?”

“…It’s almost time for it to end.”

“I mean, how do you know exactly when it’ll finish?”

“After waiting outside the meeting room every time… you start to know.”

His tone sounded oddly unnatural, though not enough to draw much attention.

Still, as expected of a smart person.

He could apparently sense time itself.

Then Karin realized something.

While the duke sat comfortably inside the meeting room, Arken waited outside the entire time?

“…What a jerk.”

“Pardon?”

“I wasn’t talking about you.”

So this was how the duke treated his one and only aide.

“Why don’t you go sit somewhere?”

“I’m comfortable here.”

“Still…”

Karin was just about to explain how varicose veins developed when the meeting room doors swung open and nobles began pouring out.

Every one of them wore a gloomy expression.

They looked more like people leaving a funeral than participants in a meeting.

“Marta!”

Spotting Marta, Karin immediately called out to her.

“It happened just as you predicted, Lady Karin. The meeting concluded successfully.”

That was all Marta said before walking right past her.

The sound of clanking armor echoed as she quickly disappeared down the corridor.

The sight reminded Karin of Arken when they had first met.

Still, for Marta, this was practically miraculous progress.

She had even called her “Lady Karin.”

Karin enthusiastically waved at her retreating figure.

Then came the moment she’d been waiting for.

Duke Lucas appeared last, only after the king and the other nobles had already left the meeting room.

A broad smile spread across his face.

Karin tilted her head.

‘Where’s the wounded pride I came here to see…?’

The duke spotted Karin and Arken and immediately strode toward them.

Before Karin could even say a word, he spoke first.

“The construction of the annex has been canceled. Just as you said. Those overfed pigs couldn’t do a thing in front of the king and Marta.”

Right.

Now she remembered.

The Duke Lucas from <Clueless…> genuinely cared about this country.

One could even call him Esmeril’s last loyal patriot.

Unfortunately, his passion wasn’t enough.

Every noble in Esmeril except him was rotten to the core.

No matter how influential he was as the duke of the First Duchy, there was only so much one man could accomplish.

For the first time in a long while, he’d been able to push through his agenda with Marta’s help.

No wonder he seemed relieved.

Karin felt oddly pleased that she’d done something beneficial for him.

Meanwhile, the duke continued speaking excitedly.

“This is excellent. From now on, whenever I have a difficult proposal, I’ll simply bring Marta in.”

That wasn’t going to work.

Karin replied flatly.

“It’ll only work once.”

“Why?”

The duke narrowed his eyes.

“First, Marta won’t keep attending meetings after she gets what she wants. Second, the nobles aren’t idiots. They might panic and get dragged along once, but if it keeps happening, they’ll band together and fight back.”

The duke’s excitement gradually faded.

Returning to his usual serious expression, he nodded.

“I see.”

That was all well and good, but—

“So, how do you feel?”

She had been looking forward to this too much to let it go.

If he wouldn’t show a reaction himself, she’d drag one out of him.

“How does it feel to have your nose rubbed into the dirt by someone you underestimated?”

What would he do?

Would he grimace and say nothing?

Would he cough awkwardly and avoid eye contact?

Or would he become defensive and tell her not to get arrogant over a lucky guess?

Every prediction was wrong.

“I apologize.”

“Huh?”

“I underestimated you, Lady Karin. Will you accept my apology?”

“…”

Was this really the duke?

Had his character suddenly changed?

…Or was he being sarcastic?

But he looked more sincere than ever.

More importantly, the contempt and disgust that had once filled his gaze were gone.

Instead, he looked at her almost like a friend.

The unexpected warmth left Karin momentarily stunned.

‘Life really is full of surprises…’

In the end, she accepted the apology.

‘Unlike certain twisted, petty people, I’m not that small-minded.’

“Fine. I accept your apology.”

The duke smiled in satisfaction.

His face was still annoyingly handsome, but somehow the smile made him look a little better.

“And regarding our wager—”

“Karin! Duke Lucas! Hello, Mr. Aide!”

It was Iris.

Running toward them, she completely cut off the duke’s sentence.

“Karin, what happened?”

Karin raised both arms into a mountain shape to represent the annex, then crossed them into an X to indicate cancellation.

The moment Iris understood, her face lit up like a blooming flower.

“Wow, Karin! Thank you! Duke Lucas, Mr. Aide, thank you too! Thanks to all of you, the forest has been saved! I’m so lucky you’re all my friends!”

Throwing her arms around Karin, Iris began hopping up and down.

Then she reached out and tried to drag the duke into it as well.

“Let’s all hug together!”

“W-Wait!”

Fortunately, Karin escaped Iris’s grasp before the four of them could end up jumping around in a group hug in front of the meeting room.

“The duke was about to say something. We should hear him out first, right?”

“Oh, right! Duke Lucas, please continue!”

With her hands neatly folded, Iris looked up at him like an obedient puppy.

The duke slightly tilted his chin upward, avoiding her enthusiastic gaze.

“About the wager. Since I lost, I’d like to treat you to dinner sometime.”

Even though Arken had already relayed Karin’s refusal to accept any reward.

Apparently, the duke’s pride wouldn’t allow the matter to end there.

Personally, Karin wasn’t interested.

Dinner sounded nice.

Dinner with the duke did not.

Even if his attitude toward her had improved, she still had no interest in him.

“That’s really not necessary.”

“Originally, I was going to give you the territory beneath the northern mountain range. Since you refused that, I’ll have to compensate you some other way. Dinner shouldn’t be too burdensome.”

She had noticed before that the duke could be surprisingly persistent.

Then a thought occurred to her.

If dinner took place at the duke’s estate…

That meant she could see Arken.

Who knew?

Maybe they’d even sit at the same table.

Karin immediately changed her answer.

“Alright.”

“I’ll invite the young lady as well.”

“Wow, thank you!”

Iris practically bounced with excitement.

Whether intentionally or not, the four of them kept ending up grouped together.

It almost felt like they were becoming some sort of four-person squad.

“Then I’ll send an invitation soon.”

That was the duke’s final remark.

Arken pushed himself away from the wall as the duke turned to leave.

Before following after him, he gave Karin and Iris a small bow.

Karin watched him go with concern.

He’d been unusually quiet all day.

His complexion looked poor.

His steps even seemed slightly unsteady.

Was he sick?

She made a mental note to ask him next time they met.

Then Iris’s face suddenly appeared right in front of hers.

“Karin, I prepared something for you too.”

An ominous feeling immediately washed over her.

What was it this time?

“I want to throw a small party.”

Well…

Considering Iris wasn’t even invited to noble balls, there was little chance anyone would attend.

But Iris looked so happy that Karin kept those thoughts to herself.

“Of course I’m inviting Duke Lucas and Mr. Aide too!”

Iris deliberately emphasized the words “Mr. Aide” and gave her a playful wink.

“Do your best!”

By “do your best,” she meant…

Suddenly, Karin remembered Arken pressing a hand to his forehead and sighing.

For the first time, she understood exactly how he must have felt.

“Uh… yeah… thanks.”

Karin forced a strained smile.

She and Arken had certainly become closer, but whether he’d accept a confession was another matter entirely.

Confessing was a problem for the distant future.

For now, she simply needed to survive the Ashite Flower Festival.

“When should we hold the party? Before the festival would be best, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Karin answered absentmindedly while thinking something else.

There was no way the four of them could hold a party by themselves.

Sooner or later, the whole thing would probably be canceled.

She worried that innocent Iris would be hurt by the disappointment.

Still, there was nothing she could do about it.

So Karin returned to her estate without saying anything.

Several days later, however, she discovered that worrying about other people had been a luxury she couldn’t afford.

Overnight, Karin found herself on the verge of becoming completely penniless and being thrown out onto the streets.