CH 40

‘Are you…still wearing a bandage…?’

“Please stay like this for a moment. I’ll just take a look around first.”

He comes to his senses late and tries to refuse, but Lobel hits the player first. (t/n: It’s like someone who attacks first will be the winner.)

“After that, we can share it with each other. It’s faster and more efficient for me to go alone to check things.”

The words that would normally hurt him by saying that he was treated like a burden were not heard well by him, who has lost his judgment now.

Only the last word, ‘faster and efficient,’ sounded stuck in his ears. In addition, Lobel’s footsteps were the fastest among the servants.

‘He has a good eye at the same time—’

Edric couldn’t resist any further. He couldn’t deny the fact that it was a waste of time and stubbornness to step forward in this situation.

He nodded hesitantly, and Lobel removed his vest and carefully covered his upper body.

For a moment, Edric unwittingly opened his dry lips a little more. The hazy mind seemed to settle down, filled with Lobel’s unique soft scent. He took a deep breath. He wanted to smell it deeply.

Meanwhile, Lobel moved steadily for his master. He took a new handkerchief from his pocket and placed it over Edric’s eyes.

Soon his eyesight turned white.

He opened his lips to ask for it to be removed, but the sound of Lobel’s footsteps faded away. It was a sound full of impatience, unlike the way clothes and handkerchiefs were gently placed on it.

Seeing him leave like that, it must have been that Lobel was also very anxious.

Although Edric was grateful for the consideration, he tried to calm himself down.

‘As Lobel said, let’s take a break and get up—and I just have to pull myself together and do it better—’

Finally, Edric remembered the shirt, which was transparent in the sunlight, and the bandage inside it.

He doesn’t know where he hurts, but he wants to treat Lobel’s injuries and let him take off the bandage after finishing this properly.

‘I must…’

At the end of the resolution, Edric’s consciousness was blurred.

******

“I’m sorry, honey.”

Despite her sincere apology, her husband just raised his eyes.

He looked as if he didn’t understand what she was apologizing for. And there was annoyance.

Emily laughed inwardly.

Yeah, it’s always been like this.

It was the same face on the first day they met, at the wedding, and even when she confessed that she was infertile after the first night.

That fact made her feel particularly sad today.

Until now, she had comforted herself, not just herself but also everyone else, by telling them that it was okay since he was this kind of person.

But now she realizes that it wasn’t. So he’s giving his son a chance with an attitude she’s never seen before.

If so, how would he treat that dead woman?

What captured the Duke’s heart? Her husband, who didn’t even look at her.

Her anger grew when she remembered the woman she hated to death.

But she was the flower of the society, and she was a lady. The solid smile that she had learned before she grew up didn’t shake.

“It’s important to follow the noble tradition, but— could you please reconsider for the child’s sake? Please.”

This is also a request that is made in advance through a letter.

Of course, she knows that the aide will read it and burn it as soon as she sends it in. Her husband was always like that. He was consistently indifferent to everyone except the Imperial family.

The elder aristocracy gossiped about Denkart, saying that he was a mix of the imperial family’s dog lineage.

“I gave him a chance. The rest is up to him.”

Why—. What in the world is that chance—?

Emily bit the inside of her gums in frustration.

The Duke was the one who gave the test question, and he secretly conveyed the results through his aides, so she had no way of knowing the situation.

There was also a limit to how much authority the Lady of the House could hold.

This morning, the butler told her that he was going to the northwest annex, but that was all. In the end, he didn’t even open his mouth.

But the Duke spoke as if he had seen through her impatience.

“I told him to check all the William I’s bounty items by the end of today and write them down. It’s must-have knowledge for every head of Denkart.”

The scale and quantity were vast, and there were overflowing treasures that even famous merchants would not know their names. Even she couldn’t figure it out.

And to do that—?

She was surprised at the content rather than the fact that her husband had told her.

‘He will never get through.’

It almost made her laugh, but she didn’t find it difficult to manage her facial expressions, having dominated her social circle since she was young.

She continued, making up a worried look.

“It’s difficult for Edric to do it alone. He’s a kid who has only recently learned to read. Can he possibly know all those things? Please consider the situation of the child and be kind to him.”

“That’s none of my business.”

“Honey, Alexis.”

He looked away as if nothing more was worth talking about.

After a while, Emily came out of his office and burst into laughter. Yeah, it’s just like her husband.

Emily recalled the ugly and thin woman.

First, she knelt down, then that crazy woman screamed for the price of the medicine—.

[Denkart, if you want to know the secret hidden from your husband, save my son!]

‘—Is there something I don’t know?’

She wanted to take her body out of the grave and mock her.

But it wasn’t necessary.

Because that child would be humiliated instead of his mother, he would be kicked out of this place.

******

The touch on his face brought Edric back to his senses.

Something soft was dripping down.

‘….?’

As he blinked his heavy eyes, his blurred vision gradually became clearer.

At the same time, he remembered what the situation was. It was during the Duke’s final test.

Fortunately, he felt less nauseous and didn’t have a headache like before.

For a moment, he seemed to have recovered his body.

‘As expected, it was good to do as Lobel said… But what time is it?’

While trying to check the time, Edric found a clock on the left wall.

The small second hand was a little over ‘5’. The big second hand reached ‘6’—.

‘….?’

He blinked again for a moment because he thought he had misread it.

But time didn’t change.

The Duke’s appointment today is at 6— it was only half an hour later.

“…Lobel, Lobel!”

He jumped up and called out Lobel’s name first, but he didn’t run.

Could it be that Lobel checked all the items, wrote them down, and went to the Duke?

No, no matter how much Lobel could do so many things on his own, he couldn’t do that much alone.

If so, did he bring in other servants like before?

He nervously looked around and heard a yawn hanging from under the sofa.

“Hoam… Did you sleep well, Young Master?”

Lobel, who was curled up on the carpet, rubbed his sleepy eyes and greeted him warmly.

“Closing my eyes for a moment made me fall asleep.”

An unknown sense of disappointment rose.

He knows the importance of this task better than anyone else, but he falls asleep with him without waking him up—.

But Edric soon shook his head inwardly.

‘I don’t have to blame Lobel. This is what I have to do.’

He couldn’t live by relying on Lobel all the time.

Lobel has done enough so far. When he tried to solve it, he had to do it by himself.

“Your complexion looks much better. It’s a relief, the fever’s gone—”

“How far did you check what the Duke told us to do?”

Edric hurriedly turned to Lobel, who was watching him calmly.

Once he heard the situation, he was going to solve the rest.

However, this time, Lobel completely exceeded his expectations.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“….!”

“I couldn’t do it. But it’s my first time seeing a treasure chest in person.”

Lobel’s voice was heard in Edric’s ears, who was surprised.

Lobel talked about what he had seen and then showed black marks on his clothes.

“The exhibits in the corner were dusty on one side and not cleaned properly. So I was looking at what was inside, and my clothes were covered with dust.”

—In fact, it was a story that had nothing to do with the last part.

“Then… Did you really do nothing?”

In a different sense than before, he lost all his energy.

He never dreamed or expected that such a result would follow.

He had no idea that he would fail so helplessly and in vain. He thought he would at least do his best.

‘No, I can’t give up like this.’

Edric asked Lobel to help him up. He had to go and do something now.

He heard the aide’s call outside at that same time. It was the sound of a scheduled appointment.

Despite his despair, Edric refused to let go of the string of hope.

Somehow, if he gives an excuse—. Could it be delayed or given more time?

“Let’s go.”

However, this time, Lobel cruelly shattered his expectations as well.

Lobel, who was likely going to buy time somehow, didn’t do it. He didn’t even try.

Instead, he put him in a wheelchair as if he had waited and gone to the door.

Edric couldn’t take his eyes off the detached building that was getting farther away.

Sitting in his wheelchair, he turned his head and looked sadly at the gradually disappearing annex.

‘I should have done something there….’

When he was completely away from the annex, he couldn’t look at him, so he lowered his head.

Now he felt like the most pathetic and ugly person in the world. He looks like this to himself, but how pathetic he will look to Lobel—.

The distress had distorted his expression.

Still, he tried to lift his head not to worry Lobel, but the aide caught his gaze.

He seemed to be looking at him all the time. As the Duke’s aide, he appeared to have a soft personality.

He looked at Edric with regret and walked silently forward. There was no conversation all along.

Finally, they arrived at the Duke’s office.

The Duke had a face not much different from that of the morning. He had already sensed his failure.

The curse came out of itself. He seemed to have done something he couldn’t do in the first place.

But there was no need to blame anyone. In the end, he was the one who tried and failed.

When the Duke asked for the results, Edric tried to tell it as it was.

And— It is unknown whether the Duke will accept it, but he wanted to get another chance if he could.

Just as he was about to open his mouth with difficulty, Lobel, who was holding a wheelchair, came out.

“Yes, Young Master.”

“….?”

Even though he had never called, Lobel suddenly put his ear to his mouth.

It was as if he was pretending to understand something.

“Ah, yes… Yes? Yes?”

Then, all of a sudden, he started behaving strangely again.

“Are you going to tell him what you said before? really??”