I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 37

Jeremiah recognized the other man before he saw him.

 

He said, sounding a little offended.

 

“I wouldn’t expect you to knock, but at least make a sign?”

 

“Even if I didn’t, what’s the point of noticing?”

 

A smarmy, condescending voice answering a question with a question. Jeremiah removed his hand from covering his face.

 

Bright light spilled over the other man’s dark hair. Shane was dressed relatively lightly, as if he’d just finished a job.

 

“What about behind?”

 

“It shouldn’t be a problem, Your Grace.”

 

Shane waved his hand in a flurry of gestures, then reached into a cabinet and pulled out a bottle and glasses.

 

Pouring a drink into each, he clinked his glass against Jeremiah’s and downed it in one swift gulp.

 

When Shane did that, it was to his satisfaction. Usually it was good for Jeremiah, too.

 

But for some reason, Shane’s laid-back demeanor bothered him today.

 

In the fourteen years he’d been working with him, he’d never felt this way before.

 

“Where’s Vanessa?”

 

“…….”

 

“I can’t tell if she’s timid or bold. Why don’t we go see her sleep later?”

 

Jeremiah’s face twitched at the nonchalant tone in Shane’s voice.

 

“Come to think of it, you were just hugging in her room earlier.”

 

Jeremiah said in an irritated voice.

 

“Go see what you want to see, but don’t you dare misbehave in my castle.”

 

“Do you really think I’m going, I mean, I’m just saying, good night. Oh, I suppose the Duke himself has come to check on her?”

 

Ignoring Shane’s teasing question with a smirk, Jeremiah downed his share of the drink.

 

Shane’s eyes twinkled with amusement at his evasive response.

 

“Vanessa said you were a sweetheart. I was like, what the fuck did I hear?”

 

“…….”

 

“But, aha, you’re being a bit of a dick.”

 

“No.”

 

It was a ridiculous assessment, even for him. He was being sweet.

 

“When have I ever been nice to her?”

 

Jeremiah snorted, then suddenly stiffened again.

 

He realized that Shane was speaking of Vanessa as if he knew her intimately. At least, it didn’t seem like they’d just met today.

 

“…But if you ask her that, I’m sure she’s going to stutter.”

 

Jeremiah sighed softly, probably half to tease him for coming at this hour.

 

He knew Shane was going to snap, but he couldn’t help but ask anyway.

 

“What’s your connection to Miss Vanessa?”

 

“Huh?”

 

One corner of Shane’s mouth quirked up.

 

His eyes twinkled like a mischievous boy’s.

 

“Does it bother you, Jeremiah?”

 

“…….”

 

“Are you jealous?”

 

“…Fuck you.”

 

He should have just asked Vanessa. Jeremiah set his glass down regretfully.

 

Shane continued to tease him.

 

“I knew it when you left me alone there and took Vanessa. How love changes.”

 

“Do you really want to be called disgusting?”

 

“My Jeremy, jealousy is cute.”

 

Shane stopped giggling when Jeremiah picked up his glass in frustration and poised to throw it.

 

Pouring himself another drink, he spoke in a somewhat languid tone.

 

“But you know what, Jeremiah?”

 

“What.”

 

“I was a little jealous, actually.”

 

Shane’s confession caused Jeremiah to stare at him pointedly. Shane shrugged lightly.

 

“You know what Vanessa said to me? “Don’t be scared, the duke will come to the rescue.” She’s really cute. Anyway, I was a little jealous of you back then.”

 

“…….”

 

“Ah~ I’ve been taking care of her since she got settled in Hazel, but it kind of sucked that she trusted you instead of me at that moment.”

 

Shane’s words left Jeremiah feeling a little dazed. That she trusted him to come.

 

Vanessa had said it herself, but hearing it from someone else’s mouth was something else.

 

It felt a little unfamiliar and… a little cringe-worthy.

 

Jeremiah shook off the unfamiliar feeling and quickly turned his attention elsewhere.

 

“Wait a minute. You’ve been helping her since she came to Hazel?”

 

But I’d never heard Vanessa mention Shane. Not that she needs to tell me the whole story, of course.

 

Jeremiah kept his gaze down. He couldn’t figure out why he was feeling so sad. Today felt like one question after another.

 

Shane, who didn’t know Jeremiah like this, let out a small snort.

 

“Maybe I should pay Vanessa back for this.”

 

Before he could ask what he meant, Shane turned to Jeremiah and smirked.

 

Jeremiah felt a faint sense of foreboding as he watched the corner of his eyes curve upward, and it soon became a reality.

 

Shane clapped his hands together, then turned to Jeremiah and asked cheerfully.

 

“Is there room at the duke’s castle?”

 

Jeremiah wordlessly wiped his brow.

 

* * *

 

“I’m Shane, starting today I will be the castle’s gardener. Miss Vanessa has told me much about you, Lady Estella.”

 

The next morning. After breakfast, I returned to my room and was flirting with Estella when someone came up to me and greeted me.

 

I stared in disbelief at his smiling face.

 

Estella’s eyes widened, and then she asked me.

 

“Do you know him, Sister Vanessa?”

 

“Uh…”

 

I really didn’t want to answer, but I couldn’t afford to be annoyed in front of Estella.

 

“…friend?”

 

“I’m a friend, Lady Estella. I’ve known Vanessa since we were in Hazel.”

 

“Uh, but we have another gardener at the castle who’s been here a long time.”

 

Shane smiled dubiously at Estella’s comment. I didn’t have to look hard to realize that there was a secret to his sudden employment.

 

Come to think of it, Shane seemed to know Jeremiah. Did he ask him for the job?

 

‘Jeremiah, that’s not how I saw it!’

 

As I was shaking in my boots over this strange deal, Shane said, “Don’t worry.”

 

“He’s a little older, so he’s not really able to do it himself.”

 

“Oh, I know,” I said. “Well, it will be winter soon, and he’ll need new laborers, young and strong, who can work in the garden in the winter winds, and I think that’s what the Duke thought.”

 

“If he thought so, what…”

 

“I’ll be sure to pass on your concern to the old gardener, I’m sure he’ll be pleased.”

 

Shane smiled broadly as he spoke. The corners of his bewitching eyes twitched in amusement, and there was a hint of danger in them.

 

But Estella seemed to see it differently, and she smiled back. I raised a brow.

 

‘He’s a good talker.’

 

I hadn’t noticed it with Sherry, but now that I was a foot away, I could see his gorgeous horseshoes. And that smirk on his face, the kind of smirk that’s perfect for seducing people.

 

I glanced over at Shane, but he just smirked smugly.

 

Estella, who didn’t know any better, seemed to have a crush on him.

 

“Really? Vanessa told you that?”

 

“Yeah. When she first came up north, Vanessa was kind of like a chick, and it’s a shame she’s so big now, black and white.”

 

“I wonder about chick Vanessa too~!”

 

Sitting down on the couch, Shane naturally told Estella the story of what had happened with me. Leaving out the part about how he was lying on me at the time!

 

I tried to stomp on his foot, but he easily dodged my retaliation.

 

‘I’m pissed…!’

 

The first time I caught him in a lie, he at least pretended to be sorry, but now he’s just blatantly telling me what to do!

 

I gritted my teeth, but Estella seemed to have already opened up to Shane.

 

“Can you still talk about me and Vanessa in the future? Shane has a funny way with words and I love it!”

 

“Of course I’d be happy to include you, Miss Estella, and it makes me happy to see you laugh.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Shane said, suddenly remembering the giggling and laughing Vanessa.

 

“But, Miss, you can feel free to talk.”

 

“What?”

 

“Because you keep calling me names.”

 

“Ah…”

 

Estella rolled her eyes in embarrassment at Shane’s point. She looked like she hadn’t thought about it at all.

 

I stared at him, too, puzzled.

 

That’s right. Estella is a princess, so it’s natural for her to speak back to people.

 

But perhaps in her previous life, she didn’t have such a divided identity… and it was customary to show respect to others, especially those older than herself.

 

By now, Estella would have been doing it naturally, without realizing it.

 

‘Other staff seemed to think she was sick and just accepted it…’

 

There was a subtle cringe every time she used respectful language.

 

I scratched my cheek as I remembered that.

 

‘I didn’t realize that might seem weird,’ I thought.