Red Tape

Liam looked urgently through the crack in the door. Gilbert, the gardener, was approaching.

“Hey,It’s Mr. Gilbert!”

“Gilbert?”

“Gardener! Huh…  What should I do…?”

Liam stomped his feet. If the two of them are caught in the warehouse together, they might look at young master strangely or spread bad rumors.

Liam tried to roll his frozen head as much as he could.

“I am going to knock Mr. Gilbert out with a stick and blindfold him!” Don’t run away!”

“…That’s all you can think of? Knock him out with a stick?”

“Then how… .”

Erwin’s gaze swept around his surroundings. He quickly tidied up his clothes and picked up a small pair of folding scissors that were on the shelf.

“You stay here.”

Erwin ran his finger through his slightly disheveled hair, straighten it and slipped out of the warehouse before Liam could catch him.

Liam went to the closed door and looked outside through the small gap between the wooden planks. He saw Erwin’s back walking out proudly as if nothing had happened.

Gilbert looked at Erwin coming out of the warehouse with a puzzled look and belatedly bowed.

“Master, how have you been?”

Liam swallowed nervously and listened. As expected, he heard Gilbert ask.

“But what is the master doing here…?

“I saw some peonies on the way out. I want to bend it a little.”

Gilbert looked at the scissors in Erwin’s hand and nodded deeply in agreement.

“I see! Oh, you can ask me or the other subordinates.”

“I didn’t want to bother you. Then, can I ask you now?”

“I’m not good at it, but I’ll try.”

“You can give it to the maid in charge of my room. Her name is Mary.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Please Mix in a lot of leaves too. I don’t like it when there are only flowers, it looks barren.”

“Yes, Master.”

Meanwhile, Liam, who was hiding in the warehouse, covered his mouth with his palm. His Master must have been a genius sent from heaven to come up with such an amazing idea in such a short period of time.

How can a person be so perfect?

“Let’s go together. I’m going that way too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you feeling well? Is everything okay at home?”

“Nothing much, but my eldest son recently had a baby. I’m now a grandfather.”

“That’s good. Congratulations. I’ll prepare a small gift soon.”

“Oh, no! Just the fact you congratulated me like this…”

Erwin, who was walking while having a small talk, glanced back. He seemed to know that Liam was looking at him, and he smiled broadly, his eyes shining like glass in the sunlight narrowing. Then, as if nothing had happened, he walked back toward the mansion.

Liam, leaning against the wooden wall, slid down and sank to the floor.

“Ha… ha…”

Liam burst into a surrendering laugh and placed one hand on his forehead. He couldn’t stand how much he loved his master.

***

An invitation with the King’s handwritten signature arrived at the duke’s house, invitating Duke and his family to a royal banquet at a palace.

The duke’s house was in turmoil for a while before as all the noble  of the empire gather together.

Every day, Countess Eloise Motier called in tailors and jewelers to get new dresses and jewelry to keep up with the latest fashion.

The results was splendid. Erwin had to suppress his laughter when he saw Eloise with her hair up high and decorated with feathers, thinking of an ostrich in a dress.

In front of the mansion, two carriages with the family crest painted on them were parked side by side. The carriages, painted with gleaming varnish, can not hide their extravagance even without any special decorations.

The duke and Erwin went down the stairs first to the carriage in front, while Eloise, accompanied by her two maids, rode in the carriage in the back.

All the servants came out to see them off on their grand outing.

Having dragged her heavy dress, Eloise was walking down the stairs carefully at the back when she inadvertently noticed Erwin a few steps ahead of her.

Seriously, isn’t he a man whose looks alone are unquesnable? Tall and slender, and his face, needless to say, not to mention his face.

It’s understandable that the Duke is proud of him. I heard that he even takes him to important decision-making places these days.

He did not complete his studies at Saint-Bernoulli, but he is well-read and competitive, and I have heard that he never loses a debate.

They say he bites like a wildcat. No, maybe the other person was so captivated by his looks that he forgot what to say.

Eloise Motier, who was looking at Erwin with such thoughts, tilted her head slightly when Erwin’s gaze drifted to the servant for a moment, and a faint blush appeared on his cheek.

She, who has lived her whole life watching the man’s face, can not help but notice that thrilling expression. What that expression revealed was clearly affection.

Her gaze followed Erwin’s eyes and flowed toward the servants. Led by the housekeeper, Jeffrey, and the head maid, Mrs. Friedman, there are about fifteen male and female servants standing in a row.

Eloise, who was in the carriage, remained silent and lost in thought. for a long time after the carriage set off,

While the two maids helping her exchanged curious glances, Eloise burst out laughing.

One maid was so surprised that she started to hiccup, and the other maid, who was also surprised, patted her chest.

“Why are you doing that? Lady Motier?”

“Haha, this is so funny.”

“Did you have some pleasant imagination?”

The corners of Eloise’s red lips curled upward.

“I think the noble Lord of Calliwell has fallen in love.”

She is sharp.

“Who among the maids is he close to?”

But she is not very imaginative.

A maid named Jane answered quickly. She is one of the two highest ranking maids of Mrs. Motier.

“There is a girl who cleans the master’s room. Her name is Mary Townsend. Oh? Come to think of it…”

“Come to think of it?”

“I have seen that girl Mary brag about the hairpins that Young Master bought her!”

Eloise tapped her palms with her fan as if planning a scheme. It would have been more plausible if she had placed a fluffy dog or cat on her lap and was petting it.

“That must be her. The maid in charge of cleaning the room… What does she look like?”

“Well, if I has to say, she’s average. She has a lot of brown hair and is small. She doesn’t have a particularly sexy figure.”

“Average? Hmm… Well, he born with a good look, so why bother with a woman’s appearance?”

“That’s true. Well, if he wants to see a beautiful appearance, he can simply look in the mirror.”

Eloise gave instructions after some thought.

“Keep your eyes on her and look at her carefully. That child named Mary.”

“Are you telling me to separate her from the young master?”

“Are you crazy? We should keep her together!”

The maids’ eyes widened at once.

“How great will it be if the young master has an illegitimate child with a maid?”

An evil smile appeared on her face.

With the personality of a duke who risked his life for honor, there is no way he would tolerate having an illegitimate grandchild. He will kill the illegitimate child without anyone knowing and send the son away as if he exiled.

“This might be fun.”

If that happens, she will be able to play the role of a respectable hostess of Glassdale, just as she had been for the past five years when Erwin was away at St.Bernoulli .

“Penelope, from now on, check the maid’s bed sheets carefully. If there is anything missing, tell me immediately.”

“Yes, Lady Motier.”

The carriage, with its slightly misguided plot, is running nonstop toward the royal palace in the capital city of Slivek.

***

The main ballroom of the royal palace, where the banquet is held, is so magnificent that you can not take your gaze away from it, and the atmosphere is more chaotic than ever.

The banquet is held amidst the unrest in the country due to rumors of the king’s worsening illness and the frequent invasions of Grantaire.

Judging from the fact that the invitation had been sent so quickly, it seemed that they had hastily planned it to take advantage of the king’s slight improvement in illness to announce their own health.

The nobles who attended are busy trying to figure out what is going on.

“A banquet all of a sudden, what could it be?”

“Well. I guess they are trying to gather the will to unite since the political situation is so chaotic.”

Erwin sits down in his assigned seat, listening to the conversations of the people with one ear out.

People gathered in small groups, exchanging greetings and chatting while waiting for the main character of the dinner to appear, and Erwin grabbed a glass of water from the table and choked.

At that moment, someone put a hand on Erwin’s shoulder. He could tell who it was just by the faint smell of alcohol. It was Archibald.

“I heard you went somewhere far away.”

“I was invited to a place called Roswedge. It was a beautiful place.”

Erwin turned his head slightly and looked at Archibald. Then he immediately furrowed his eyebrows in a strange sense of discomfort.

This expression again. An uneasy expression that seemed to be pitying me.

He leaned down and whispered to Erwin’s ear.

“You should have just run from there.How pathetic.”

I don’t know who is calling whom pathetic. Even at this moment, the smell of alcohol and opium wafted through his veins.

“I’ve done enough, cousin.”

Archibald, who had left behind a drunken remark, patted Erwin’s shoulder a couple of times and walked unsteadily to his seat next to the throne.

His appearance, slightly different from usual, left a bad taste in his mouth, but the king’s appearance left him with no time to continue his distracting thoughts.