[Where Did That Holy Knight’s Chastity Go?
The shocking dishonorable dismissal of the Grand Duke of Bernstein, Leon Obsidian, has become the talk of the town.
Early this morning, the Grand Duke informed the Imperial Family that he could no longer fulfill his duties as a priest. Accordingly, the Imperial Family has notified the Temple of the matter and requested, in accordance with regulations, that the Grand Duke be dismissed from his position as commander of the Holy Knights.]
[Meanwhile, the Grand Temple continues to maintain that “We are currently investigating the exact circumstances, and nothing has been confirmed yet.”
Attention is now focused on whether the Grand Duke, who had been active as a man known as a gift from God, will be forced to step down from his position. The developments of this matter are being closely watched—]
Wow, this is…
The article heavily emphasized the fact that the Imperial Family and the Temple were not in agreement.
After skimming through it, I picked up a gossip magazine this time.
[…To all the ladies of the Empire who had been content simply to admire him from afar! To all those who secretly fanned the flames in their hearts!
How do you feel now? The sacred treasure you thought you could never reach has been trampled upon by someone!]
“Ah, no, this is a little too much!”
Anyone reading this would think I had actually done something to the Grand Duke!
The provocative article made my head spin.
[…On the other hand, there are also those who are thrilled by this news. Namely, the unmarried young ladies of the Empire.
One young lady from high society, who requested anonymity, revealed in an interview with our paper, “I think it’s actually for the best. If he was previously like a cake in a painting—something we could only look at but never taste—doesn’t that mean we have a chance now?”…]
[High society is abuzz with anticipation that the noble man whom no one thought could ever be conquered may soon become the most coveted bachelor on the Orden marriage market!
For detailed follow-up reports, stay tuned to breaking news from the Empire’s No. 1 daily newspaper, —]
“The Grand Duke being dishonorably dismissed. And over a scandal like this, no less!”
“This really is enough to turn the whole world upside down. Who on earth is the audacious woman who dared to lay a hand on the Grand Duke?”
Laura and the head steward excitedly poured out almost identical remarks as if they were singing in a chorus.
Amidst them, I awkwardly smiled and played along.
“Haha. Exactly. I wonder who she could be.”
That stupid woman who dared to lay a hand on the Grand Duke.
***
To cut to the chase, my escape to my territory did not happen.
That didn’t mean I had given up, though.
The problem was that a very critical variable had emerged—one that made it impossible to carry out my plan.
“She really has been absolutely useless to the very end.”
When I actually tried to leave, I discovered that there was an absurd amount of work I hadn’t managed to deal with yet.
I suppose it can’t be helped.
Apparently, while that clueless outsider was inside my body, she had done nothing but play, eat, and enjoy herself to her heart’s content before leaving.
Naturally, that meant work had piled up.
Unable to bring myself to simply abandon everything and leave, I eventually picked up my pen.
And so, I was currently working like a madwoman to deal with all the backlog.
All right. If I stay up until tomorrow night, I should be able to leave the day after tomorrow.
If I was going to leave, I had to finish what needed to be done first.
“Marquis, are you all right? You don’t look very well.”
“I’m fine. I barely slept last night.”
I pressed down firmly on my eyelids before picking up the teacup sitting in front of me.
As soon as I took a sip of the tea, which gave off a fresh, invigorating aroma, a cool sensation spread through my mouth, making my head feel clearer.
It was a tea that helped relieve headaches.
One of the popular products of the trading company operated by House Zaherette.
“Phew.”
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I lifted my head.
I was currently at the headquarters of the trading company, located in the heart of the capital.
What had started as a general goods shop dealing in tea and spices had grown rapidly after I became the head of the family, expanding through the tea salons and shops we opened.
It had even become valuable enough to supply goods to the Imperial Family.
It was no exaggeration to say that we had conquered teatime throughout Orden.
“Much better now. Continue the report.”
“Yes, Marquis.”
At my nod, Jean, the trading company’s administrator standing in front of me, promptly answered.
“First, overall sales at our stores have increased this week. The new blended teas recently released at the tea salons have also received quite favorable reviews.”
“That’s good to hear. Still, it’s too early to let our guard down. We should add at least three new products by the end of the year. Ah, how are things overseas?”
“The response has been quite good there as well. Demand has increased dramatically, particularly in the Roman Kingdom. Since Roman is a cold region, we put one of our teas blended with spices and featuring a distinctive spicy flavor at the forefront. It seems to have really hit the consumers’ tastes. We’re planning to research similar teas and turn them into a series.”
“Good. Ah, and make sure none of the recipes leak outside.”
“Yes. There’s one issue, though. The loss rate during transportation is still a problem…”
“Hmm. That’s the trickiest part.”
I looked at the chart in front of me.
Around twenty percent of the total production was recorded as loss.
It was unfortunate, but there was nothing we could do about it.
After all, the cultivation grounds are all different depending on the type of tea leaf…
House Zaherette was a noble family that owned a great deal of land throughout the Empire.
And those lands were scattered across many different regions.
This was because of Orden’s unique aristocratic laws.
The Imperial Family was wary of the nobles expanding their power, so when granting them land, they deliberately gave them territories that were far apart rather than adjoining one another.
Naturally, the other nobles objected.
They argued that diversifying their investments across scattered territories would be less effective. Even choosing a single piece of land to concentrate their investments on was already troublesome enough.
But House Zaherette had quickly adapted to the system.
From early on, they developed each of their scattered territories as they received them, and thanks to that, they had eventually grown into a massive enterprise dealing in hundreds of varieties of tea leaves and spices.
“The problem is that every type of tea leaf has a different shelf life for maintaining freshness, and the drying time varies as well.”
“That’s true. Haaah… If only we had a mage in times like this, we could solve it in an instant.”
“Yes. If this had been about three hundred years ago, it might have been possible. But it’s been a long time since mages disappeared from this land.”
I spoke bitterly before saying, “Let’s put this issue on hold for now,” and closing the documents.
“But, Marquis.”
“What?”
“Are you really going down to your territory?”
I was about to move on to the next task when Jean suddenly asked.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“It’s just… You haven’t gone down there in a long time.”
It was about time I went to take a look around, wasn’t it?
But inwardly, I felt a little guilty.
After all, how could I tell him?
I’m running away from the Grand Duke.
“You’ve been rushing around so much lately that it almost looks like you’re running away after causing some kind of trouble.”
“Regular inspections of the territory are a lord’s duty.”
“But you haven’t done that until now, have you? You’ve left the management of the territory to your proxy.”
“……That’s why I’m going to start doing it now.”
Jean nodded while continuing to look at me suspiciously.
Yeah. He definitely doesn’t believe me.
Why were the people working in my household all so perceptive?
Just as I was wondering if there was some brilliant topic of conversation I could use to get out of this situation—
“Oh, right. Laura, have you heard the rumor?”
“You mean the one about the Grand Duke of Bernstein? Of course. It’s all anyone is talking about right now.”
Ah. Still, this wasn’t exactly the topic I had been hoping for.
At Jean’s question, Laura promptly answered.
Their eyes sparkled as brightly as stars.
“They still haven’t found out who she is, right?”
“No. But she must be incredibly beautiful, don’t you think? Otherwise, how could she have brought down the Grand Duke, who was practically an impenetrable fortress?”
“Everyone’s going crazy trying to figure out who she is. Oh, and for the record, I bet she’s one of the believers.”
“She actually committed such a scandalous act inside the Temple?”
“Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. Think about it. The Grand Duke is famous for being extremely devout. The only places he goes are the Temple and monster subjugation sites. Where else would he have had a chance to meet a woman?”
“Oh. That actually makes sense.”
Laura and Jean, both thoroughly excited, put their heads together and began discussing the matter.
Just who was the woman who had seduced the Grand Duke, a man who was practically a flawless male god?
Recently, the capital was abuzz with that very question everywhere one went.
The nobles were thrilled by the gossip that had emerged after such a long time and were busy trying to deduce the identity of the woman who had seduced the Grand Duke.
Some of them were even actively searching for her, determined to see with their own eyes the woman audacious enough to seduce the Grand Duke.
In other words, it was dangerous for me to stay in the capital right now.
“You’re going straight back to the estate, right?”
“No. There’s somewhere I need to stop by on the way. That’s why I came out today.”
I stopped Laura as she headed outside toward the carriage.
Unfortunately, I had somewhere important to go today.
With a sigh, I pulled a sheet of paper from inside my clothes.
“I have to clean up after someone.”
It was that damn letter our very own Miss Park Sumin had left behind.
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