The Secretary of the Northern Grand Duchess Has Run Away

Chapter 7:  Reception Room Confrontation (2)

“Ha, limestone powder, you say...?”

Lize, the elite mage with her arms folded alone.

She asked, her twin braids shaking from her heavy breathing.

“What on earth are you talking about? How could you suffer internal injuries just because you inhaled some stone dust?”

I stretched out my palm, pointing at the table as if to respond to the lady’s words.

In front of her lay a messy pile of tissue scraps.

“My lady, you must have experienced the same symptoms after breathing in the smoke.”

“What...?”

Lize looked down at the tissues for a moment.

Then, perhaps embarrassed, she only glared at the other secretary candidates who hadn’t yet cleaned up.

“You’ve often used earth magic until now, haven’t you? But especially today, wasn’t your coughing much worse?”

When I asked calmly, the Academy Director furrowed his brow in a frightening scowl.

Yet I wasn’t the least bit bothered by his gaze.

“If you don’t believe me, you could ask the students who sparred in succession right before you, my lady.”

Rather, I thought they should be grateful to me.

Three years from now.

An incident would occur in which the dueling ground completely collapsed due to the intense sparring of the mage students.

Because of that, limestone powder spread throughout the Academy, and many students suffered from an unexplained illness.

And after investigating the truth of that incident.

It was revealed that the problem was indeed the limestone powder generated by the collapse.

“Most likely, those students were all tormented by coughing.”

I lightly slid the report toward the Academy Director.

And in the distinctively cool voice of the Grand Duke’s household, I spoke.

“If you find this hard to believe, you’re welcome to conduct your own investigation along with this document.”

“...”

The Academy Director’s forehead twitched as he brushed his red hair briskly back.

He looked quite displeased that a mere secretary dared to corner an earl like himself.

“A fine idea.”

The Grand Duke’s daughter, who had been silently listening beside us, added her support.

“We cannot allow the Empire’s precious future talents to suffer because of faulty materials.”

“Your Grace, it seems the topic of this meeting is becoming muddled...”

The middle-aged Director moistened his lips and steadied his voice.

“Wasn’t the reason we met today your excessive sparring...?”

Suddenly finding himself accused, he clutched at his tightly fastened necktie.

Then, as if suffocating, he forcibly loosened it to make it slack.

“That’s correct.”

I spoke as if seizing his breath again.

With a perfectly innocent smile.

“We certainly must continue discussing the excessive sparring issue—‘however,’ since you’re here anyway, we should also address the ‘dueling ground problem’ that nearly injured our Grand Duke’s daughter.”

I spread my hands with a composed expression.

And with a graceful motion, I sought agreement from both sides.

“Everyone here is so busy and so distinguished that a single body isn’t enough, after all.”

Compared to students sparring and striking each other a bit too forcefully.

Building the dueling ground out of cheap materials and getting someone hurt.

‘Which of the two is the more disgraceful thing to do?’

I stared straight at Director Liam, keeping a sly smile on my face.

The middle-aged man pressed his lips tightly together, as though he were facing a cunning fox.

“That’s true. I’m such a busy person that I made the Director wait quite a while.”

Sensing my intention, the clever Grand Duke’s daughter added a remark.

She leaned back against the leather sofa with a relaxed expression that suited her perfectly.

Just like the Grand Duke of the North himself.

“As Roger says, since you’ve come all the way here, Director, you should handle everything at once.”

Standing beside the Director, Lize looked up anxiously at her cornered father.

“Father, do you really believe what he’s saying? That Echina, a high-ranking expert, was injured because of some mere stone dust?”

I countered Lize’s rising voice.

With a very firm tone.

“Are you claiming that His Grace’s personal physician is lying?”

When the Grand Duke of the North’s name was brought up, Lize fell momentarily speechless.

Even the Count’s formidable eldest daughter was no match against Duke Luton.

“That’s not what I meant... No matter how skilled a physician may be, it’s still just one person’s opinion.”

Lize shook her head with effort and tried to keep her composure as she spoke.

“To dismiss this as simply our side’s fault for using poor materials, more investigation is necessary before any conclusions.”

But by now, the center of the argument had already shifted.

Lize, too, had stopped talking about excessive sparring and was speaking only of limestone.

“Investigation sounds good.”

I looked down at Lize, who was trying to gently defuse the situation, thinking her rather admirable.

And, smiling leisurely like an old soul, I nodded.

“Let’s do it. Since our Grand Duke’s household suffered damages, we should all conduct the investigation together.”

I turned politely to the Grand Duke’s daughter and asked again.

Seated gracefully on the leather sofa with her legs crossed, Echina let out a faint laugh.

“Excellent. While we’re at it, let’s also ask the Imperial Family that Lize admires so much to participate and conduct a ‘thorough’ investigation.”

At the mention of the Imperial Family, Director Liam’s red eyes wavered almost imperceptibly.

He hurriedly waved his hands to interrupt.

“Please, wait a moment. Is it really necessary to bring this all the way to the Imperial Family...?”

“All this, you say? I’m suffering constant coughing, and as the Director, is that really how you want to phrase it?”

The Grand Duke’s daughter’s characteristically sharp gaze struck the Count’s household like a blade.

It was quite an impressive sight—Echina dancing her own knife dance the moment she grasped even one detail.

“I truly apologize for that. But it’s not as if this was a deliberate mistake.”

“Even if it wasn’t deliberate, it’s more than enough reason for you to be held accountable.”

I kept up my relentless commentary, hiding behind the enormous predator that was the Grand Duke’s daughter.

Echina also sided with my opinion and seized control of the conversation.

“Limestone is among the cheapest materials used for tiles. If you had used materials befitting the Academy’s reputation in the first place, would this have ever happened?”

“Good remark, Roger. I’ll keep it in mind when I speak to the Imperial investigation team.”

Even after loosening his necktie, Liam still seemed suffocated as he turned his gaze to the table.

He reached for the glass in front of him and gulped down the water.

“I apologize, Echina.”

Quenching his thirst, the Director realized that retreat was the best course of action.

In the end, he had shown weakness in front of his own daughter.

“From now on, we will conduct a very thorough investigation on our side and replace the materials so this never happens again.”

At the sight of her exhausted father, Lize’s eyes grew wide.

She looked deeply shocked to see him—who had always been so proud, worthy of a Count of the Empire—so defeated.

“So please, do not report this to the Imperial Family.”

“Father...”

When Lize hurriedly looked up at him, the Director, for the first time, turned a grim, expressionless face toward his eldest daughter.

“Stay quiet, Lize.”

She pressed her lips together and rested both hands on her knees.

She looked as if she wanted to argue right then but held herself back, not to disgrace the family’s honor.

“...”

Indeed, in moments like this, she proved herself more intelligent than the other frivolous young ladies.

If her head were empty, she would have protested about her own injury without even understanding what was being said.

“If you give me the chance, I’ll rebuild the dueling ground out of my own pocket if I must. I’ll also improve the surrounding environment.”

To personally handle not only the reconstruction but the improvements to the entire area—

The black lion, now somewhat interested, set her graceful hand against her smooth jaw.

“Hm... Hearing you say so does put me more at ease, Director.”

After pretending to deliberate a moment, she turned to look at Debier standing behind her.

The solemn Chief Secretary met her gaze and slowly nodded.

‘As expected, Debier has also chosen not to escalate this further.’

Since both the Liam Count family and the Luton Duke family resided in the northern territories—

Nothing good would come of becoming sworn enemies.

It was the proper stance to simply reassert authority moderately.

“Then, I will ‘specially’ leave this matter in your hands, Director.”

The Grand Duke’s daughter had already assumed the position of the superior without anyone noticing.

Liam could only clench his teeth and rise from the sofa.

“Ah. And if you find yourselves short of investigators, don’t hesitate to contact us.”

Echina rose at a leisurely pace.

Then she calmly extended her hand to the Director.

“Luton will assist you at any time.”

At that perfunctory gesture, Lize’s expression twisted in disgust.

Yet all she could do was bite down hard on her molars.

“All matters in Nord are under our jurisdiction, aren’t they?”

The ruler of the Empire’s northern regions was the Luton family.

So don’t dare try to climb over us again.

Liam understood that chilling implication and exhaled a long breath.

“Just hearing you say so is reassuring. I’ll be sure to do that...”

Liam forced a smile and shook the hand that Echina offered.

But.

Afterwards, when he was leaving, the expression I saw on his face was nothing short of murderous.

The humiliation of being trampled by a woman more than twenty years younger than himself, simply because she belonged to a ducal house.

And the fact that he had exposed that humiliation in full view of his daughter.

Everything about it was shameful.

“Is something the matter, Director?”

Echina, too, seemed to have sensed that emotion and called out to Liam as he walked away.

“What, do you still have something you wish to say?”

“No... nothing...”

Really, for a Count with so much money, why had he used limestone tiles in student facilities?

Even though his daughter had tried to attack Echina with such precision, her efforts had all crumbled thanks to her father’s mistake.

“Let’s go, Lize.”

Lucun and Brook, who had been quietly watching from a distance, opened the reception room door.

And so Liam and his daughter left the corridor, guided out by the secretary candidates.

Thanks to their departure, the once-hostile reception room was again filled with the soft midday sunlight and felt peaceful.

“They left the report behind.”

After the sound of their footsteps completely disappeared.

I picked up the single document left on the table.

“They’ll surely need this if they plan to investigate the materials.”

Just as I was about to go after them.

Echina’s delicate hand gently caught hold of my arm.

“It probably won’t be necessary.”

The Grand Duke’s daughter took her tea with her other hand.

Then she softly brushed back her bangs and spoke.

“Report or no report, I’m going to tear down that dueling ground first anyway.”

As the reception room grew more spacious, Debier slowly walked over.

He accepted the report from my hand and finally opened his mouth.

“Limestone powder... Even if it was cheap material, I never imagined it could be harmful to the body.”

“Indeed. Every time I sparred with that woman, my throat always felt scratchy—now I know why.”

The two of them fixed me with their equally sharp gazes.

As if wondering how I could possibly know information that even they hadn’t.

“In the past, my father also laid limestone tiles in the yard of our mansion. They were cheap even then.”

At this, I scratched the back of my head with my characteristic sly smile.

“Later, when our family collapsed and the house was seized, the dueling ground in the yard was also dismantled.”

When telling such a dreary story, it was best to maintain a casual voice as if nothing were amiss.

Showing personal feelings to my lord was not behavior befitting a secretary.

“During that process, an enormous amount of limestone dust was scattered. The laborers all covered their mouths and noses with towels.”

“I see. So the ones who worked on-site understood it instinctively.”

Echina slowly nodded, her intelligent eyes glinting.

“That’s right. I merely connected that memory with the limestone powder on your clothes, my lady.”

With an utterly innocent tone, I held out a towel to Debier.

The Chief Secretary looked back and forth between me and the towel with a doubtful expression, then handed it back to me.

After a brief sigh, he removed his monocle and quietly wiped the lens.

“My lady, it seems you’ve concluded all your business at the estate today. Shall we return to the Academy?”

“Let’s do that, Chief Secretary.”

With all the troublesome matters finally settled, Echina’s expression brightened noticeably as she gave her consent.

And just as she was about to head back to the knighthood with a lighter heart—

She seemed to remember something and stopped walking for a moment.

“Ah.”

Slowly, the Grand Duke’s daughter turned her head.

She looked at me, smiling with those radiant golden eyes.

“Julius Roger.”

As if answering her call, I also turned to face Echina.

In that instant—

“...!”

She came right up close, the black-haired Grand Duke’s daughter.

So close I could see the fine, pale down on her white skin as she leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“Today’s performance was very impressive.”

Despite her youthful face of barely twenty-one, she used the same gruff tone as her father.

It was so endearing that the corner of my mouth twitched without my realizing.

“I look forward to your next service.”

After saying that, Echina turned her head away indifferently.

But I couldn’t help it. I saw it.

Just as she turned her face away...

Her fresh red lips had quietly curved upward.

“...”

I stood there blankly, watching the Grand Duke’s daughter’s black hair sway as she walked off.

With her hands clasped behind her back, she departed down the corridor with a much lighter step.

‘Wait a moment, did she say “next service”...?’