I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 105

I looked at him in surprise. Julian looked into my eyes and muttered.

“I apologize for everything I’ve done to make you uncomfortable or offended you.”

 

Julian’s voice was sincere and soft enough that I knew he meant it.

The crown prince still looks awkward apologizing to anyone, but still.

I smirked at the struggling Julian.

“You already got one last time.”

“I did it because I saw the need to do it again, and…”

“And?”

 

“And I’ll try to be the emperor… you want me to be.”

My eyes widened again, this time at the unexpectedness of the words.

Julian muttered with a rather flushed face.

“It’s amazing that you think it’s guilt that changes people like this…”

“What?”

“The Duke thought I was going to call you some kind of name, but that’s all I’m going to say.”

I tilted my head, not quite hearing him. Julian shook his head and put his hood back on.

“If anyone says anything to you, write a letter right now. Do you understand?”

“Oh. So His Highness has my back?”

“Especially since Viscountess Asell is in my entourage.”

As he finished speaking, Julian gently took my hand in his. He pressed his lips to the back of my hand.

With that, I said goodbye to Julian and set off on my way back to the North.

 

 

* * * 

 

 

In the carriage on the way to Loasen, Estella chattered excitedly the whole way.

“That was like a territorial dispute between two males over my sister!”

“A territorial dispute… Estella, aren’t you exaggerating?”

 

“It’s because you didn’t see the look in my brother’s eyes. He was growling at me.”

Apparently, Estella was looking at Jeremiah the wrong way. I giggled and shoved a butter cookie into her mouth.

Estella meekly took the cookie and shoved it into her mouth, but she didn’t give up.

“I’ve never seen him hold a girl’s hand like that before!”

 

“That’s because…”

“You don’t know how nervous he was when he left you and the crown prince alone in the parlor, and it was obvious he was on edge!”

 

“I see…”

‘I’m starting to think that maybe he really was, because Estella keeps saying that. Maybe Jeremiah really was nervous…’

‘No, he shouldn’t be nervous.’

I buried my face in the blanket, feeling a little embarrassed.

The air was getting colder by the minute. Probably a sign that we were approaching the north.

Even my body, accustomed to the warm weather of the islands, was quickly becoming chilled, and the blanket Jeremiah had given me was paying for itself.

‘It’s warm. Both the blanket and Jeremiah’s heart for taking care of me.’

I rubbed my cheek against the blanket once more. Estella, who had finished her cookie by then, spoke up.

“He thought he’d look good showing up like that, didn’t he?”

“Who, His Highness the Crown Prince?”

 

“Then who else but him? He’s so annoying!”

Estella slapped the cushion she was hugging as she rattled off a long list of complaints about Julian for riding into someone else’s house uninvited.

“My sister doesn’t fall for that kind of ignorant, one-dimensional maneuvering, ahem!”

Estella said with a smirk. ‘Well, she’s wrong about the tricks, but ignorant and one-dimensional…’

 

‘I guess she’s not the one for Julian after all.’

‘I don’t know if Estella knows that the Empress is trying to marry Julian off to her, but… it looks like the plan is a complete failure.’

 

I sent the Empress a bland consolation and slipped another cookie between her excited lips.

Meanwhile, the air grew colder and colder.

 

After a while, the coachman’s side window opened, revealing the face of Shane, who was once again driving the carriage. He frowned at me, then grinned.

“We’re almost to Loasen, so open the curtains and look out the window, ladies.”

At Shane’s urging, Estella shook her head and pulled back the curtains that covered the carriage windows.

Slipping my head out, I checked out the view and spat out an exclamation.

“Wow…”

 

The carriage was traveling down a familiar road.

The scenery along the way was pure white. There must have been a lot of snow in the north during the winter.

‘Has it been three months since we left Loasen?’

Technically, the northern winter landscape was familiar to me. Nevertheless, the white landscape felt very new to me. Three months at most in a place where it never snows.

The white snow glistened and sparkled in the sunlight. It was a dazzling sight.

‘Ah, I love it here,’ I thought.

I instantly forgot about the sophistication and elegance of the islands.

I breathed in deeply. The cold, familiar air rushed in.

“It’s time for snow in winter. It fills the void.”

Beside me, Estella muttered, her face brightening. I chuckled in agreement.

The carriage quickly entered Loasen. 

 

Those who spotted the coat of arms painted on the carriage as it traveled down the boulevard waved in greeting, and the knights escorting it returned the greeting. Their faces were bright, too.

I surmised that they were as delighted as I was.

“I can see the top of the castle now!”

 

Estella exclaimed excitedly, and soon we were at the Ducal Castle of Oppenheim.

The castle’s spacious gardens glistened with a blanket of pure white snow, and the owner of the gardens, a man who could not have been more in tune with this glorious winter, opened the carriage door.

“Here we are, home.”

 

He said to Estella and smiled at me as I hugged the blanket.

“Welcome back, Vanessa.”

 

I realized once again.

‘I love this. The familiar, vibrant streets. The dazzling winter, covered in pure white snow. The cozy blankets that make me forget the chill of winter. And the lovely people who smile by my side. Even you, who greet me with your presence…’

 

 

* * *

 

 

Back in Loasen, I busily prepared for my new life. Estella nodded obediently to whatever I said I would do.

First of all, I decided to leave the Duke’s castle and return to Hazel as I had already planned, so I rewrote my employment contract. Jeremiah and I sat down, face to face.

“Is this really necessary?”

Now it was Jeremiah, not Estella, who looked like he wanted to press me back into the Duke’s castle, but I insisted.

 

“It’s the lottery now, and… I don’t think I should be in the Duke’s castle all the time, and I don’t think the Duke would be comfortable…”

“I’ve never heard that before?” Jeremiah retorted bluntly at my assertion. “The Duke’s castle even has Miss Vanessa’s private quarters, and if she’s out of town, that’s useless, isn’t it?”

“Well, you can use that… whenever you come, right…? Or you can have Sir Melvin use it…?”

“Do you know how many gems I put in there for Sir Melvin?”

“…”

I rolled my eyes at Jeremiah’s comment. ‘I’m glad Sir Melvin isn’t here right now.’

“It’s not like I’m quitting, which is why I’m rewriting my employment contract.”

 

“Then let’s add my name to it, instead of Estella’s personal counselor… this time. Estella and Jeremiah’s personal counselor.”

Jeremiah now naturally accepted the counselor.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“Yes. And since you have more work, you’ll need a raise.”

“I don’t think you need to do that!”

Jeremiah grumpily scribbled a few more things on the contract, but in the end, he didn’t do anything terrible.

 

After signing the contract with Jeremiah, I left the castle and headed back to my home in Hazel.

I was greeted by a house I hadn’t seen in a long time. The sign I hadn’t taken down when I moved into the ducal castle was still hanging over the door.

‘Secret Garden. It’s been a long time.’

 

The name that helped me settle into this land.

I stroked the letters on the sign and opened the door. The stale air of an empty house greeted me.

I shook my shoulders and looked around the house. Except for the dust on the furniture, it looked just as it did when I went to the duke’s castle.

 

‘Do I really need to live in a mansion?’

‘I don’t think I need to move to a big house just because I’m a nobleman. I’m happy with the mansion on the island, and in the north, I could just live in this house, and I wouldn’t have to hire anyone.’

‘I couldn’t imagine myself as a user.’

“I’ll talk to the landlady tomorrow to buy this house.”

I decided to just live here and clean the place first.