DGDITMIAE 10

Chapter 10

“…Argo?”

It was early morning, when even the servants of the Grand Ducal residence were barely stirring from their sleep.

Terestia, who had opened her eyes because of a strange feeling, was met with the sight of Argo—her loyal subordinate and advisor.

To think he would dare enter the Grand Duke’s bedroom, sitting by the sleeping Grand Duke’s bedside, checking whether the documents had been properly reviewed.

Dressed neatly with a relaxed expression, Argo was sitting in front of her bed flipping through papers, and she was utterly dumbfounded.

“When did you get here?”

Terestia, still heavy with sleep, blinked blankly at Argo and asked.

But Argo, without taking his eyes off the documents, moved his arrogant lips.

“Who made this chart of last year’s grain import items for the Inuement Territory?”

“I did.”

To be precise, she had applied a chart she had learned from the memories of the original Terestia, from when she was very young.

At that, Argo narrowed his eyes and flipped through the papers again.

“It’s easy to see at a glance… but the intention of this chart differs from what Your Highness intended.”

“There’s such a thing?”

Intentions in a chart.

She had thought only human conversations had intentions.

Argo glanced at Terestia, who had sprung up at this new discovery, sat on the bed, and wore an expression of wonder.

Then, with an indifferent look, he turned to the next page.

Whether he was aware of Terestia, who had instantly lost all sleepiness and was staring at him with wide eyes, he immediately pointed out the next problem.

“This one lacks basic data. Who did this?”

“The new advisor who came while you were away.”

“And there are even typos, yet Your Highness found them and corrected them.”

Is that a problem?

While Terestia tilted her head in confusion, Argo slowly rose and put a cardigan on Terestia, who was wearing a thin slip.

Even as his hands gently tidied her tangled hair and tucked it behind her ear, Terestia’s mind was still full of charts.

After that, Argo sat back down on the chair placed beside the bed, looked at Terestia, who was now holding the documents and analyzing them diligently, and spoke calmly.

“Charts made by humans have intentions behind them. Nothing grand—just think of it as organizing, in pictorial form, what you want to see and how.”

Terestia, failing to notice Argo’s glance as he said “humans,” groaned and asked.

“For example?”

“The chart Your Highness made is convenient when you want to organize a variety of complex items at a glance.”

Listening to Argo, Terestia looked at her own chart and realized that was indeed true.

“However, for last year’s grain import items for the Inuement Territory, since the variety isn’t that broad, it would be more important to grasp the quantities and their respective proportions.”

Terestia nodded at Argo’s words.

That was something she couldn’t have known even by peeking into memories.

Intentions in a chart—humans really did things in such complicated ways.

How on earth did Argo explain things like this so well?

He didn’t bother pointing out that she had made the chart herself and was now floundering because she didn’t understand its intention.

He simply explained it so Terestia could understand easily.

“I’ll compile additional data for the next document and bring it back by tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“And… this last page has particularly many misspellings and incorrect sentences.”

“Why does that matter?”

“No matter how new the advisor is, for this level of errors, you should give them a proper scolding.”

Come to think of it, when she first received that document, she wondered if it was made as some kind of spot-the-difference game.

She was busy, and since he might become her loyal subordinate, she felt bad scolding him harshly and just let it slide.

As if he had been watching Terestia in that very moment, Argo spoke with a face that looked more like a Grand Duke than the Grand Duke herself.

“You probably didn’t say much, did you? Your Highness is sometimes too soft.”

“Really? He’s not a knight, so what’s wrong with being a bit soft?”

If he were some clueless knight who had to fight for his life, that would be different.

That advisor, who looked so timid that a single shout might make him faint—why bother?

What if she scolded him and he ran away saying he absolutely didn’t want to become her subordinate?

Terestia thought this as she let out a long yawn.

“Your Highness is the Grand Duke. The position of Grand Duke demands that level of dignity and authority.”

“More nagging…”

The position of Grand Duke was convenient in many ways, but having to listen to this nagging advisor every day was a hassle.

Noticing that Terestia’s face had quickly filled with boredom, Argo let out a soft laugh and closed the documents she had returned to him.

“Then, lastly, what do you plan to do with the monster parts brought back from this monster hunt?”

“Hmm…”

Well, she had mostly picked up the expensive ones or the ones that seemed to hold decent value.

Monsters with a lot of flesh could be eaten if they weren’t venomous, so maybe she could distribute them mainly to territory residents who had paid their taxes faithfully.

“It would be good to give the edible ones to the territory residents.”

“What about the inedible ones?”

For Terestia, there was nothing inedible, but humans couldn’t eat things like hard horns or mana cores, so disposing of them was difficult.

Come to think of it, she remembered the faces of the territory residents who had beamed and said it was fortunate when they saw the tendons of a monster brought back before…

Could other parts of the monsters also be useful? How would she categorize all of them?

Argo leisurely watched Terestia groan and struggle with the problem, then interlaced his fingers and calmly suggested.

“How about hiring someone to appraise the usefulness and value of the monster parts?”

“There are people like that?”

“I heard there’s an old monster hunter in the territory. It would be good to bring him in and even have him handle future training.”

“Really? Wouldn’t an old person die soon? Isn’t there a young hunter?”

“Surviving for a long time in the North, which is full of monsters, also means they possess that much wisdom. Sometimes, old humans have a higher chance of survival than young ones.”

So… that means the head of a long-lived human has accumulated many memories, just like the woman she had devoured.

Terestia, thinking it was a great idea, urgently nodded.

“There’s a merchant caravan coming from the capital soon. Once that person organizes the parts, have the ones classified as luxury goods or weapons sold immediately.”

“Understood.”

Terestia beamed.

As expected, with Argo around, even the things that had been stuck or that she hadn’t known about were neatly resolved and organized.

If only he wouldn’t sometimes act like he was the Grand Duke and nag from above her head, he would be perfect!

“But seriously, when did you get back?”

“I just returned.”

Terestia narrowed her eyes at Argo’s glib answer.

She had almost forgotten since he started talking about documents as soon as she opened her eyes.

He had disappeared saying he had work to handle, without a word about where he was going, and only showed up again after three days.

And to dare do so in his master’s bedroom, re-examining the documents his master had processed.

Feeling Terestia’s piercing gaze, Argo slowly rose.

But this time, Terestia was faster.

“Get out.”

“As a matter of fact…”

“Come to think of it, you dare to waltz into your master’s bedroom without permission? I didn’t know you had such ambition to become the Grand Duke yourself.”

“Ambition to become the Grand Duke? Surely you don’t think I intend to assassinate you and usurp the position of Grand Duke… Ah, yes, I see you already think that. How about considering another perspective instead?”

Argo didn’t hide his disgruntled expression, but Terestia’s eyes had long since narrowed sharply.

She only huffed and shoved the back of Argo, who was much taller than her.

Even as he obediently let himself be pushed out by her strength, Argo added a few more words, seeming a bit wronged.

“Didn’t you say it was fine to be soft sometimes…”

“You’re the one who said the Grand Duke is a position that demands dignity and authority!”

The Grand Duke position—absolute defense. To do that?

Prevent loyal subordinates like Argo from having any wild thoughts, and completely hide her identity.

Reaffirming her goals, Terestia pressed her lips together and lifted her chin high.

Reading her stubborn expression, Argo eventually gave up and left the bedroom.

His Grand Duke learned so quickly, but only at times like this.

Ah, but he still felt he had to say one last thing, so he did blurt it out.

“Your Highness, and the weather is still too cold for you to be wearing such a thin slip. Without a husband, it’s a bit too revealing—”

“Get lost!”

Ugh, now even a pillow was flying at him.

Not hiding his mischievous smile, Argo stepped out of the bedroom and then, just as he had appeared, vanished as if he had never been there.