For a fief to run smoothly, someone has to work.
My parents passed away early.
My older brother managed this fief all by himself.
Then war broke out, and since someone from the family had to go, he said he would go himself and left with my sister-in-law.
He said he would be back soon.
He told me it would only take a moment, so I should just take it easy.
I have been raising my nephew and managing the fief for two years now.
I worked hard, doing the best I could.
Before the rainy season comes, the dikes must be checked to make sure they are fine.
Before the time comes to turn over the soil, plenty of fertilizer must be prepared and supplied so that the farming for that year turns out well. It was all taught to me by my brother.
“Whew…”
I let out a sigh, losing count of how many times I had done so.
It was painful.
It was painful that Lucas was really thinking of using me, and that he thought his seduction would work.
‘How easy of a target did he think I was…’
When Lucas first said he would seduce me on the very first day, I thought it made no sense, so I didn’t talk about it further.
I was confident I wouldn’t fall for it either.
To think that Lucas actually thought it was worth doing, even enduring getting beaten up just to do it…
“Whew…”
If it were only that, it wouldn’t be this painful.
Honestly, I liked being with Lucas.
That was why it was even more painful.
Lucas’s judgment was right.
If he had kept attending to me at night and seducing me, I would have started granting small favors, and eventually, I would have used everything I had to grant his requests.
That is, if there was no one to stop me.
I could feel the aide’s gaze, but the documents just wouldn’t enter my mind at all.
Only the times I spent with Lucas kept coming to mind.
It was only a few times, but I liked the nights we spent together.
I liked how he smiled beautifully with his exceptionally handsome face.
I wondered if this was why people bought slaves. It was just that good.
“I’m a fool…”
In the end, I was a fool and a thoughtless person.
I banged my head on the desk. I didn’t want to work.
“Count. You must finish that document within today. Could you please just finish that one?”
The aide spoke up, unable to hold back any longer.
I raised my head.
A woman who looked like Tayros looked at me with a blunt expression.
My aide, who had silver hair and purple eyes, was Scarlet, Tayros’s older sister.
When I didn’t start working, Scarlet came over, laid out the documents neatly right in front of me, and went back to sit in her seat.
I was sorry, but even though she did that, they didn’t catch my eye.
I tried to drink just one more cup of tea, but the cup was empty.
Since the butler usually couldn’t bear to see my cup empty, I looked around. Instead of the butler, a servant approached late and filled the teacup.
“Where is the butler?”
“He went to do the task you ordered, Count.”
He went to fire the servant and his gang who had disobeyed my orders and mistreated Lucas.
In my heart, I wanted to beat them up the exact same way, but because it was a slave they mistreated, I couldn’t sentence them to flogging.
Instead, I told him not to write them any recommendation letters, so earning a living will be hard for them for a while. I took comfort in at least that.
When will the butler come back?
Being so dull today made me frustrated, and a sigh came out naturally.
“Just do that one for today and head home.”
This was not something Scarlet would normally say, as she usually wouldn’t let me go home if I didn’t finish all the work for the day.
“Am I in that bad of a state?”
“Yes.”
“Then I won’t politely decline and will head home.”
Scarlet would handle the remaining work somehow.
Opportunities like this were rare, so I had to leave when it was given.
I quickly read down the last document.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a difficult matter, so I stamped it right away and finished the work.
“All done.”
“Thank you. And I have something to tell you regarding the task you ordered last time. About His Majesty’s gift.”
She was talking about the background check on Lucas.
Scarlet took an envelope out of the drawer and handed it to me.
“For now, I have organized only the information that was quickly found. For the things that need more investigation, I will organize them for you once the results come out.”
“…Good work. Don’t work too long today either.”
To give me something like this at this timing, it was a task I ordered myself so I couldn’t even complain.
I quietly took the envelope and went back to my room.
Sitting comfortably on the bed, I began to read the documents.
[Name: Lucas Licht. Age: 27. He was a duke of the Fotia Kingdom, but staged a rebellion and fell to the status of a slave…]
A duke at the age of twenty-seven, I didn’t know how hard he must have lived.
I felt like I was going to die just from the duties of a count that my brother told me to do.
The treason charges placed on his family were as follows.
[Attempted to poison the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.]
Detailed circumstances on how and what kind of poison was used to try to poison them were not listed. It was written that the main culprit was Lucas’s father.
Normally, the family should have been wiped out, but considering their past loyalty to the royal family, the punishment was to kill only the main culprit and turn everyone else, regardless of whether they were direct or collateral lines, into slaves.
How did he get framed like that?
Who did he buy resentment from?
Who is the bold person that even risked the Crown Prince’s life to frame them?
I didn’t know the situation of that country well, so even if I pondered over it, no answer came out.
I couldn’t help but turn to the next page.
Then, where the people of that family went after becoming slaves was written in detail, but uniquely, only his younger sister was listed as ‘missing’.
That was the end of the document.
‘How can I stay here comfortably?
Knowing how the others are living, how can I eat and sleep with peace of mind?’
The image of Lucas speaking as if crying out came to mind.
Should I tell Lucas?
