TVBDP 6

Chapter 6

The aide standing nearby agreed as well.

“I couldn’t believe it either. But this is definitely the young lady’s handwriting. The way she organized everything using these square-shaped tables is truly revolutionary!”

“Hmm.”

The Duke gestured with his chin for him to continue, so the aide calmly explained the situation in greater detail.

When the aide had returned to the office and seen the five sheets of paper lying there all by themselves on the desk, he had initially sighed.

Of course.

The young lady must have finally been unable to stand the paperwork any longer and run away.

However, when he checked the office’s video-recording artifact to see whether she had even stayed seated for an hour, he was shocked to discover that the young lady had sat there without moving for five whole hours.

She had been concentrating on something and diligently writing away.

Startled, the aide hurriedly examined the five sheets the young lady had left behind more closely.

As one of Duke Argenthoz’s closest retainers, the aide possessed an exceptional mind of his own, and he immediately understood the table Yvonne had created.

At a glance, he could see the quantities of each item sold at the Marta branch.

Furthermore, he could quickly identify which products had sold the best at each of the shops in the Marta branch.

Impressed by Yvonne’s ingenious idea, the aide exclaimed loudly to Duke Argenthoz,

“As expected, the young lady is a genius!”

“Ahem. What genius?”

The Duke felt awkward at the aide’s exaggerated praise and cleared his throat for no particular reason.

“I knew she was intelligent because she showed such remarkable talent for magic, but to think she was this brilliant! It’s astonishing.”

“Hmm…”

The Duke, overcome by a strange feeling, deliberately covered the corner of his mouth with his hand.

In truth, the reports and evaluations he had received about Yvonne had always been negative.

His daughter possessed extraordinary talent and ability when it came to magic, but her conduct was terrible.

The only praise he ever heard was directed toward his eldest son, Varden, who had already been designated as his heir.

Yvonne had lived as a free-spirited young woman who did whatever she pleased until the age of twenty, to the point that he had simply given up on her.

And now, for the first time, he was hearing someone praise that troublesome daughter of his.

The Duke’s lips twitched involuntarily.

That’s right.

Yvonne was always smart and sharp-witted. Her personality was just… rather difficult.

He was a father, after all. Hearing someone praise his child naturally made him feel very good.

“Of course she is. She has Argenthoz blood.”

He answered gruffly, doing his best not to let his feelings show.

“Exactly! So, Your Grace, what do you think about using this organizational method created by the young lady at every branch of the Hozes Trading Company?”

The aide’s eyes sparkled with genuine enthusiasm.

The head of the Hozes Trading Company was Duke Argenthoz himself.

That was why paperwork from every branch across the empire poured into the Argenthoz estate. The sheer volume of work was already far too much for the Duke, who was also the Master of the Magic Tower, and everyone working under him to handle.

They had desperately wanted a way to organize all those documents more simply.

And now, the young lady—whose personality was terrible but whose mind was extraordinarily sharp—had done exactly that.

The aide was absolutely delighted.

Duke Argenthoz stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before ordering them to bring Yvonne’s personal maid.

Yvonne’s personal maid, Carol Demirant, was surprised to be summoned out of nowhere late at night, but she calmly bowed her head before the Duke.

“It is an honor to see you, Your Grace.”

“Yes. Raise your head. I have something to ask you. Have you noticed anything different about your mistress recently? You serve her most closely, so you would know best.”

“Y-Your Grace… Um, well…”

Carol widened her eyes as she looked at Duke Argenthoz and clasped her hands tightly together.

Duke Argenthoz was the dignified and imposing master of the estate.

But unlike Lady Yvonne, he was neither hot-tempered nor violent.

He was also the richest and most accomplished mage among the four ducal families descended from the empire’s founding heroes—the four pillars protecting the Empire.

He was a duke whom countless people respected and admired.

Knowing that he was someone with whom she could have a rational conversation, Carol slowly began to bring up something she had been keeping in her heart.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to say this before, but I have wanted to tell you this as well, Your Grace.”

“What is it?”

“Th-that is… Actually, ever since the young lady was placed under restriction for throwing a bomb at the Nasiel District, she has been extremely dejected.”

“…Dejected?”

The unexpected report made the Duke straighten up from his chair.

Yvonne was dejected?

Yvonne Argenthoz, who never even blinked no matter how loudly he scolded her or how severe a punishment he gave her?

That’s impossible.

Yvonne’s personal maid continued.

“It’s true. The young lady has even been eating less. She only eats about half of what she used to.”

Ever since she was young, Yvonne had been a big eater who ate six meals a day.

But these days, she seemed satisfied after eating only three meals a day, patting her stomach afterward.

The maid and the head chef had been extremely worried, though they had been too afraid to say anything in case Yvonne became angry.

“Hmm.”

The Duke rubbed his chin.

“And she seems so depressed. She always used to be out and about or enjoying horseback riding, but these days she sometimes lies in bed for more than six hours a day. Almost like… a sloth. She really has no energy.”

Carol spoke gloomily.

Frankly, the young lady who used to shriek sharply and randomly burn or destroy things had been preferable.

Watching Yvonne lie around listlessly, quietly grinning to herself without saying anything, made Carol’s heart ache with worry.

“Yvonne… stays quietly in her room?”

The shocked Duke and his aide exchanged serious looks.

“Yes. Even if she’s under house arrest, she can still summon merchants, can’t she? But she hasn’t bought any jewelry or even dresses.”

“What?”

“And she just looks through the jewelry and dresses she already owns and touches them. Almost like… someone who wants to put everything in order before leaving. So tenderly.”

Yvonne was not a particularly good mistress, but to Carol, she was still the young lady and the mistress she was obligated to serve.

Even though the cold glare Yvonne gave her from time to time remained unchanged.

Carol actually enjoyed serving her charismatic yet doll-like beautiful mistress.

There was also something rather entertaining about seeing Yvonne dressed in pretty dresses and sparkling jewels.

Clasping her hands together, Carol gathered her courage and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Y-Your Grace. I-I’m worried that perhaps the young lady is so devastated by ‘that incident’ that she might be thinking of doing something terrible.”

At the maid’s cautious words, the Duke let out a groan.

He had thought there was no way Yvonne’s heart could be that fragile, but the maid’s report was clearly serious.

The aide beside him cautiously added,

“Come to think of it, the maid who cleaned the office after the young lady left reported something as well. Apparently, the young lady cleaned and organized the desk before she left. She even behaved in a way completely unlike her usual self. It really is rather strange.”

“Good grief… Yvonne.”

The Duke let out a deep sigh.

He deeply regretted it.

Yvonne had made many mistakes over the years.

And the recent incident had been extremely difficult to clean up after, so he had been terribly angry himself.

But he had been a father who never even thought to ask his daughter in detail why she kept causing such outrageous incidents.

As he thought about it, the Duke’s brow furrowed unpleasantly.

Yvonne caused all those incidents… because of Crown Prince Adrian, didn’t she? Tsk. She was openly rejected, after all.

The Duke had known that Yvonne had liked Crown Prince Adrian since she was young.

The Crown Prince was handsome, capable, and good-natured, so he was popular with every young lady in the Empire. But Yvonne had been the most obvious about following him around.

Crown Prince Adrian, however, had shown absolutely no interest in Yvonne.

If anything, he had even gone so far as to ignore Yvonne, who was so obsessed with him.

Why did I let that slide?

Now that he thought about it, the Duke was quietly annoyed.

He had been so busy cleaning up after Yvonne’s endless accidents that he had never really thought deeply about the Crown Prince’s attitude toward her.

A little rough around the edges and hot-tempered, perhaps, but what exactly was my daughter lacking that she should be rejected by the Crown Prince?

And now the Crown Prince was flaunting his relationship with the illegitimate princess of the Kingdom of Mare, whom he had supposedly fought alongside on the battlefield and returned from victorious with.

The Duke narrowed his eyes.

No wonder Yvonne threw a bomb.

The method had been a little extreme, but the more he thought about it, the more he found himself taking Yvonne’s side.

Blood really was thicker than water.

He should have paid more attention to her since she had no mother.

Had he neglected her too much by simply dismissing her as a hopeless child?

A faint sense of guilt and regret welled up inside him.

And suddenly, the Crown Prince and that illegitimate princess from Mare felt rather irritating to him.

They’re flirting around because they’re in love? Our daughter is eating only three meals a day, not shopping, not exercising—nothing she loves—and lying around like a sloth.

The Duke’s eyes flashed with displeasure.

Looking down at the document containing the ingenious organizational method Yvonne had created, he spoke.

“Tomorrow morning, I’ll have breakfast with Yvonne in the garden. Tell me as soon as she wakes up and make the preparations.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

Carol bowed happily after receiving the Duke’s order.

The Duke decided that tomorrow, he would praise Yvonne for finally putting that brilliant mind of hers to proper use and lift her house arrest.

Of course, only after getting her to promise that she would never cause another incident.

And he hoped she would simply forget that damn Crown Prince and cheer up a little.

Ah, right.

A good idea suddenly occurred to him.

He took an old document that had been sitting in his drawer for a long time.

It was a pledge bearing the seal of the late Duke of Eels, who had died two years ago.

“Lark. You attended the Eels ducal succession ceremony in my place, didn’t you? Was the new duke really that handsome?”

“Pardon? Yes. He was indeed quite impressive, just as the rumors said.”

“Really? Investigate the current Duke of Eels again and bring me the information. See if you can obtain a portrait as well.”

“Yes, understood.”

The aide was puzzled by his master’s sudden interest in Duke Rudnain Eels, but he obeyed without asking any questions.

Holding the pledge in his hand, Duke Argenthoz raised one corner of his mouth into a smile.

Good thing I kept it.

He had once thought the pledge was useless.

But now that he had decided to use it for his daughter, he looked at the moon visible through the window and nodded contentedly.

The next morning.

As always, I was told that the Duke, who had gone to the Magic Tower early in the morning, was waiting for me at home.

Confused, I asked my personal maid, Carol, again because I couldn’t believe what I’d heard.

“So, the Duke summoned me?”

“Yes, yes, Lady Yvonne. He told me to tell you that he would like to have breakfast with you in the garden this morning.”

Carol explained again while carefully watching my reaction.

I became uneasy.

Why? Did something go wrong? Or… did he not like the way I organized the Excel sheets? Did I go too far?