Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
Chapter 136. How Dare You (1)
Two days passed.
To anyone else, it might have seemed like a short time, but to me, it had been long. I had to receive the guests who came to visit the Young Lady, and a banquet had also been held once at the branch residence. Because of that, I had to make many preparations.
Even if others saw me as a Minor Noble, I was still serving as a butler in House Adeline, so I had to work.
Of course, there were Butler Apprentices here, and there were also butlers of lower rank than me, so I did not have to do menial work. Even so, I could not simply do nothing.
If someone neglected his own work just because he had risen higher, it was the perfect way to become the subject of gossip.
At that moment, a Regular Butler entered the Young Lady’s room. The Young Lady was currently bathing, so I was waiting outside, away from the bathroom.
“Sir Dilen. Please excuse me for a moment.”
“What is the matter?”
“A messenger has come from the Ducal House.”
He bowed his head politely. I had learned not long ago that this was not simply because I was the Assigned Butler. It was also because I held the noble title of Baronet at the same time.
I smiled and said,
“He has come at an inconvenient time. Even if the other party is the Ducal House, the Young Lady is bathing right now, so please tell him to wait for a moment.”
He had more experience than me and was older as well, so polite speech felt comfortable. It would not matter if I spoke casually, but using honorifics while working was far more effective.
“The thing is, the messenger is not here for the Young Lady. He is here for you, Sir Dilen.”
“For me?”
“That is correct. What shall we do?”
“Guide him to the drawing room. I will go there at once.”
“Understood.”
The Regular Butler quickly left the room, and I stood in front of the mirror used by the Young Lady, checked my clothes once more, then headed to the drawing room.
When I entered, there was one young butler inside. I approached him first and spoke.
“I am Dilen. I heard you came from the Ducal House.”
“His Excellency sent a letter. He also told me to receive confirmation and return.”
“Please give it to me.”
I received the letter, broke the seal, and checked its contents immediately. The contents were simple. He asked after my well-being, then asked when the Master of the Metis Merchant Company would arrive.
I grinned, carefully folded the letter, placed it inside my coat, and spoke to the messenger.
“You may tell His Excellency that the guest he is looking for will arrive today.”
“That is good news. Thank you for confirming this despite your busy schedule.”
“Travel safely.”
This much should be enough to make the Duke restless.
I had been planning to visit today anyway, but since he had even sent a messenger like this, it was no different from the Duke revealing one of the cards in his hand.
This was why the thirsty man had to dig the well.
The Duke was probably thinking about how to profit from an extraordinary item. He had merchant companies under him, a Knight Order, and all sorts of interest groups, so he must have been considering gathering his retainers and selling it through them.
I also expected some sort of pressure to come.
No matter how good the relationship between the Bahamut Ducal House and the Adeline Marquis House was, business was always business.
“I am looking forward to it. I wonder how he will pressure me. It has been a while since my heart raced like this.”
I returned to the Young Lady’s room. Perhaps because she had finished bathing, the Young Lady was sitting in a chair and resting in casual clothes. Seeing that figure made my heart race again in a different sense.
“You said a guest had come?”
“......”
“Sir Dilen?”
For a moment, I had been drunk on her beauty. I came back to my senses.
“Yes. A messenger came from the Ducal House. It was a letter addressed to me, so I handled it in the drawing room and returned.”
“Was it another offer to transfer to the Ducal House?”
“You heard about that.”
I looked at Arwen.
Arwen shook her head and strongly denied it. In that case, Senior Brituang must have told her. Arthas also knew about it, but the chances of him meeting the Young Lady were extremely rare.
At times like this, composure was necessary.
I deliberately smiled and acted slyly.
“How could I change houses when you are here, my lady? Even if I stop being a butler, I will not go to another house.”
“The part about stopping bothers me more.”
“It was a figure of speech. There is no need to pay it any mind.”
“What is today’s schedule?”
“In the afternoon, the young lady of the Count Carlton House is scheduled to visit. Tea time has been arranged. After that, there are no further plans. Since it would be difficult if you overexerted yourself in this heat, I arranged the schedule with some leisure.”
The Young Lady nodded in satisfaction. After watching her reaction for a moment, I spoke cautiously.
“I believe I must briefly go out later this morning. Would you grant me permission?”
“For what reason?”
I could not carelessly say that I was going to the Ducal House. If the Young Lady happened to confirm it later, I would be caught.
So I decided to offer a suitable excuse.
“In truth, when I returned to the main house, I came to assist Young Master Hamel with his work. You are well aware of what the Astria Count House has been doing recently, are you not?”
“I have heard about it.”
“It is more serious than expected. They are attacking our side from unseen places.”
I explained to the Young Lady in a way she could understand, describing the commercial structure of the Adeline territory and how outside capital was infiltrating it. I was not sure whether she understood all of it, but in the end, the Young Lady nodded.
“Sir Dilen, you always seem to do dangerous work.”
“I am someone who works for the house. There is no question of whether it is dangerous or not. I simply do what must be done.”
“That loyalty of yours will surely be rewarded one day.”
Young Lady Sapiela gestured for me to go. Since I had formally obtained permission, it seemed I could go out a little more freely now.
I took the Face Mask from my room, bought a suitable set of clothes in the Commercial District, then disguised myself at the private estate I had secured in advance.
Once I even put on the Face Mask, I became a completely different person.
However, I had to be careful of the Duke’s sharp eyes.
He had spent a long time on battlefields, had met many people, and was someone who administered national affairs as a minister. His eyes would be on a different level from an ordinary person’s.
“Now, shall I go?”
After leaving the private estate, I began walking toward the Ducal House.
***
As expected, aside from the Duke, there were quite a few other people in the Duke’s office. Judging by their clothing, they seemed to be retainers of the Ducal House, and they looked to hold fairly high positions.
If the clothing of the Adeline retainers gave off a slightly provincial noble feeling, this place overflowed with the air of truly orthodox nobility. Was this the power of the Royal Capital?
“It is my first time greeting you. I am Suhyeon, and I run a small company in Adeline. It is an infinite honor to meet you.”
I knelt on one knee and showed the greatest courtesy I could. The Duke raised his hand lightly.
“You may rise and lift your head.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency.”
I stood and looked at the Duke. I deliberately did not look toward the retainers standing around him. I did not want to give the impression of an amateur.
Perhaps because of that, the retainers’ atmosphere was not very pleasant. Did you expect me to bow and scrape on my own?
They might have been looking down on me from the start. It was only natural that they would be suspicious first, since a mere fellow from a small provincial merchant company had brought an extraordinary item.
“I have heard much about you. You are acquainted with Sir Dilen of Adeline, are you not?”
“He is a distant relative.”
“Perhaps that is why you give off a somewhat similar impression. One might think you are not a distant relative, but a close family member.”
The Duke’s eyes gleamed sharply. But since this was a reaction I had expected, I was able to smile and pass it over naturally.
“I hear that often. Since we were young, people have often said that Sir Dilen and I resemble each other. Our builds are similar as well, and as for the way we speak, Sir Dilen often imitated me.”
“I see.”
“I heard from Sir Dilen that my gift pleased you. I am truly relieved.”
“Pleased me? More than that. Leaving that aside, I thought that if this item were widely known, the world might develop in a better direction.”
As he said that, the Duke rose from his seat. Then he picked up the high-end fountain pen placed on the desk. He seemed to have many thoughts. I worked diligently to read what lay behind those thoughts.
“Writing has many meanings. In a small sense, it is for doing work. In a larger sense, it is also for passing knowledge down to future generations.”
“You are absolutely right. I agree with you. That is why there is something our company is developing.”
“What is it?”
“Paper.”
“Paper? Is that not already produced in large quantities?”
I acted with a regretful expression. After spending so much time with Young Master Hamel, it seemed my Acting Rank had risen quite a bit as well.
“The paper currently produced cannot be preserved for long. Its writing feel is not good either, and it sometimes tears. Most importantly, all the standards are different, so it is not good from an efficiency standpoint.”
“Standards?”
“If a fixed size is established and everyone agrees to it, every nation on the Continent will be able to carry out work more conveniently.”
“Oh.”
A reaction came from those around us.
The Duke’s eyes as he looked at me grew even deeper. The fountain pen alone had surprised him, but now that I said we had begun developing new paper, it must have felt as though an unexpected great haul had been caught.
I simply looked at the Duke in silence until the exclamations and questions around us died down.
At last, he raised his hand and made the surroundings quiet.
“In my opinion, it seems you are planning businesses other than paper as well.”
“You saw correctly. Although they are still in the planning and development stage, we are developing innovative products that can raise efficiency in office work to the extreme.”
“Do you have that level of human resources? For a merchant company, human resources are essential.”
“I handle all the blueprints and designs.”
“You do?”
The effect of the Duke raising his hand disappeared quickly. I was young. And although I had a scar on my face, I looked like an ordinary person on the surface. That made their doubts grow even more.
“And within the company, there is a developer with excellent handiwork, as well as an employee with outstanding negotiating ability. It may look like an insignificant company in Your Excellency’s eyes, but when I imagine what our company will look like one year from now, I find it endlessly enjoyable.”
“What do you think it will be like?”
“First, we will establish a branch office in the most expensive place in the Royal Capital.”
“A branch building, not the headquarters?”
“We are a merchant company based on House Adeline, after all.”
I drew the line clearly.
The Duke was lost in thought for a moment. I heard murmuring around me, but I did not listen closely. The idle chatter of small fry had no nutritional value anyway.
What mattered was the Duke before my eyes. Whether I could capture that man’s heart.
“If it would not be rude, may I ask why you called me here after gathering your retainers like this?”
“How impudent! How dare you ask such a question before His Excellency the Duke?”
“Is that not why I added the condition, ‘if it would not be rude’?”
When I did not flinch at all and instead smiled as I replied, the retainer who had raised the issue was startled. He looked at the Duke and sought help, but the Duke merely shook his head.
“You are right. It was a fair question to ask. Then I will get straight to the point. I have something to propose to you.”
“Please command me.”
“It is not a command, but a proposal. I hope you will not misunderstand...... What do you think? Do you have any intention of handing over the design drawings and patent rights for this fountain pen?”
I smiled and answered.
“None.”