# 47
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Episode 47
* * *
The next day, while preparing the lower class knights' training budget, Ruelia put down her feather pen.
A badly made knight's doll sat on the Duke's desk, constantly disturbing her.
“Why is this here?”
“What's wrong?”
The butler approached at that moment and offered her a cup of tea.
“Oh, what’s with this doll? I’m seeing it for the first time.”
“It was said that the Imperial Princess gave it to the Duke yesterday.”
Ruelia narrowed her eyes.
'No wonder, the workmanship…'
Unfortunately, it was pretty bad.
“Since it is a gift from the imperial family, it cannot be thrown away, so it has been placed here temporarily.”
"Understood."
“But, are you okay?”
asked the butler as he set down the tea.
It was a tea mixed with soothing herbs. Seeing the beautiful yellow tea, she felt warm in her heart.
“Of course. If I were to tremble from a simple attack, I shouldn’t have worked for the Duke’s family.”
Ruelia said as she drank the warm tea.
I felt the butler's warmth from the fresh scent of flowers and mint.
“Wow, it smells good.”
“You are always brave. Indeed, you fit into the Duke of Aber’s family.”
Ruelia's cheeks reddened from the compliment.
Praise always embarrasses her.
So, I quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, where is the Duke?”
She had not seen the Duke's face since her arrival in the morning, until lunchtime approached.
She was worried about the condition of his injured hand.
Surprisingly, she did not see the family doctor today, even though she wanted to ask him about the Duke's condition.
Ruelia looked at the butler anxiously, and cute wrinkles appeared around his eyes.
“He said he had matters to address.”
“Really? He didn't tell me anything...”
She felt like she was being left out.
Ruelia furrowed her eyebrows slightly. For things to happen without her knowledge is not a good sign.
“He said he made a decision yesterday, and a certain matter must be finished first.”
“So?”
“Yes, it seems he will solve it wiy.”
Ruelia narrowed her eyebrows further.
What might be urgent for the Duke now? As she tilted her head, the butler tidied up the Duke's desk.
“By the way, the Duke requested that the knights’ training budget be terminated today.”
He handed her documents related to last year's budget from the Duke's office.
“He asked for a larger budget than last year. He said that Sir Belin would tell you what additional supplies the knights wanted, so you should check and include them.”
“Okay, I get it.”
Ruelia wrote down today's tasks in her notebook, then placed the documents in front of her.
Before starting work, she raised her head.
“Ugh… I mean, when will yesterday’s attacker be interrogated?”
“He said he would inform the imperial family first. Since he is a noble, legal procedures must be followed.”
"Yes…"
“Once the Imperial Family approves, the Duke will conduct the interrogation himf.”
“Is there a chance they won't agree?”
Ruelia spoke as she looked at the knight doll.
The idea occurred to her that the Emperor might play a game to tame the Duke, who refused political marriage.
“However, the authority to imprison is with the Duke. Because he threatened the Duke. The Imperial Family will probably send an inspector to investigate together.”
“That's reassuring.”
Even though it was her who was being threatened, Ruelia nodded.
You don't have to worry excessively about securing the future. The most important information is in her head anyway.
Countess Bellona will not be able to discover or exploit it.
Ruelia calmed herf down and decided to ask something else that was bothering her.
“Will the Duke’s birthday next month be as usual?”
“As usual.”
“I wish we had a big party at once.”
Ruelia pursed her lips regretfully.
“He said dinner with the knights was enough to celebrate.”
“Well, no way, then. But, did the Duke treat his injury yesterday? If it’s not treated well, it might get worse.”
“Of course, I was treated well.”
Ruelia breathed a sigh of relief and picked up her pen again.
But the butler looked worried, holding his chin in thought.
“But the doctor said he has to visit his family today because of something. Will there be time to change the bandage in the afternoon?”
"What?"
When Ruelia's eyes widened, Senior smiled gently.
“So, he taught me how to change the bandage, but I didn’t understand very well.”
"Doesn't Ser Belin know? Knights heal themves sometimes…"
Ruelia almost summoned any knight from Aber, so she got up, holding the desk.
Senior motioned for her to sit and handed her an envelope.
“The knights are busy carrying out the Duke’s orders today. So, let’s train together.”
Ruelia took out instructions from the envelope, read them, and explained them to Senior.
“Wait?”
But, at some point, she found herf training on her own.
* * *
While Ruelia was working in the office, Caelis was in front of her house.
“Greetings, my lord the Duke.”
Melissa bowed a little coldly.
“I came to ask something, there is no need for formalities.”
Caelis motioned to the kitchen table for her to sit.
Although the house was small and beautiful, it did not have a reception room. The spaces were designated for the sisters' work rooms.
“But I must at least serve tea, otherwise I will be scolded by Ruelia.”
Melissa smiled with glowing eyes.
Caelis understood why the guard captain cared about Melissa.
The woman with brown hair and pale skin was elegant, despite being a commoner. Its thinness and fragility arouse the protective instinct.
Most importantly, her smile resembles Ruelia's smile.
The most beautiful smile in the world.
“Ruelia doesn’t know I’m here, and I’d rather she didn’t know.”
“What? Oh, okay.”
Melissa stiffened and her shoulders shrank.
“It's nothing serious.”
"Help yourf."
“Do you have a picture of your father?”
“Yes, I have one...but can I ask why you need it?”
“I intend to search for your father’s family.”
Melissa's eyes widened.
The topic seems surprising.
“He is also Ruelia’s adopted father.”
“Ah…”
“If I find them, I will help restore your identity.”
“If he's not rude, when did you start thinking about this?”
“It hasn’t been long. Since I learned that Ruelia was being bullied by the nobles in the academy, I started preparing secretly.”
These were the documents that the butler had secretly collected from Ruelia.
Not much progress has been made, but...
“If I don't find them, I have another plan.”
Melissa was silent for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“In fact, I was always worried about your looks.”
“On which side?”
“Because you are in a position to take my younger sister as a mistress at any time.”
Melissa's eyes hardened. Her gaze resembled that of Count Emil as he looked at the Crown Prince.
It meant 'total opposition'.
* * *
Ruelia finished her training in wrapping bandages.
She rested for a while, then suddenly got up and headed to the Duke's office.
“It still bothers me.”
She turned the knight doll that the princess had given her upside down. I felt a little relieved.
She smiled contentedly, then returned to her place and sat down.
But the Duke has not yet appeared.
'Since the injury is not serious, he is busy like this.'
‘He said that you rested yesterday, so don’t forget to write an apology report today.’
'What?' 'One more time?'
'Didn't you announce that you would write a hundred pages? The Duke reads the apology reports carefully and keeps them.’
An apology report is not a love letter, so why keep it?
'Maybe to use it as evidence or blackmail if I mess up again.'
I felt goosebumps.
I shouldn't give him a chance to catch me.
Ruelia immediately focused on handling the budget for knight training, the largest annual event in the Duke family.
“Let's see, how much did the knights' food cost last year?”
She reached into the pile of documents to carefully prepare the budget.
Her hand stopped suddenly as she turned the papers.
Something strange caught her attention.
“Wait?”
Among the pile of documents, there was a strange paper.
Bold, ornate handwriting. There is no doubt that it is a memorandum written by the Duke.
But its content was strange.
“That's my name?”
The word 'help' is written in a place that has been repeatedly crossed out with an X.
“What does this mean?”
It didn't seem to mean very well anyway.