TSIMG 12

Chapter 12

Ten days later, just as Histein had forewarned and the job posting had stated, the application period began.

Lodia submitted her application as soon as the registration office opened.

When she submitted her former professor’s letter of recommendation from her time at Prombote and the ‘McKennan Prombote Medal’ together with the other required documents, groans erupted from those around her.

After all, with a letter of recommendation written by her professor herself and a Prombote Medal, there was no reason she would fail the document screening.

Her friends, who were submitting their applications alongside her, clicked their tongues at Lodia’s mercilessly thorough preparation.

And today was the day of the first document screening results announcement. Lodia learned whether she had passed without even having to leave the house.

“Congratulations. You passed the first round.”

“Oh, thank you?”

Histein, who had come straight to Lodia bearing the news of her acceptance, was puzzled by her less-than-thrilled reaction.

“You don’t seem very happy.”

“No, I am happy. I am, but… how should I put it, I never really thought I’d fail the first round.”

She lightly scratched her cheek with her finger. It was a gesture born of embarrassment.

“I submitted my professor’s recommendation letter and the Prombote Medal together. It would be strange if I failed the first round with that.”

“That’s true.”

“So please congratulate me again when I pass the second round, the written exam.”

Lodia said with a shy smile. But Histein’s expression as he looked at her was peculiar.

Just as Lodia was starting to feel awkward, wondering if she had spoken too presumptuously about passing, Histein opened his mouth.

“I imagine you’ll pass the written exam without issue. The interview is more likely to be the problem. You tend to blush when your weak points are struck.”

“Th-that…!”

He was already assuming Lodia would naturally pass the second written exam. Her face flushed bright red at the completely unexpected reply.

“Pfft!”

Cute.

This time, the thought surfaced clearly. Just as he had said, Histein looked at Lodia, who was blushing brightly, and let out an involuntary laugh.

“…Don’t laugh.”

Lodia, for her part, was utterly flustered.

Truth be told, she hadn’t been able to shake off the strange Histein from ten days ago. She had first met him in December, and since then, many things had happened and she had come to see him quite often.

Moreover, she had literally lived under the same roof with him for about ten days, so they were no longer distant acquaintances. Even so, that sudden physical contact ten days ago had been the first of its kind.

Lodia couldn’t forget that light brushing touch, for some reason. She hadn’t shown it, but perhaps that was why today, when Histein visited, she felt so awkward.

Yet he showed no signs of feeling the same. If anything, seeing Lodia blush and laughing seemed to make him even more natural and at ease.

For some reason, Lodia felt wronged. But she couldn’t exactly get angry.

Why did that face have to resemble her first love and make people so weak?

Lodia blamed it all on Histein’s appearance.

While she was thinking that, it wasn’t as if Histein was completely at ease either.

Lodia didn’t know, but Histein was also not unaffected by her awkwardness. Still, he had come to see Lodia with the awareness that he was in the position of her guardian.

Unlike Lodia, who hadn’t noticed Histein’s state, he could tell that she was feeling awkward around him.

The way to break an awkward atmosphere between people.

He knew only one method. It was to drop something no one expected.

“Miss Proxheit. I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Yes?”

It was a truly impulsive choice.

“You and I are in a legal guardian and ward relationship, aren’t we?”

“That’s right.”

Lodia pricked up her ears, wondering what Histein was trying to say.

“It seems we’ve grown a little closer now. What do you think about making a small change to how we address each other?”

“…What kind of change?”

“For instance, calling you ‘Lodia,’ or me ‘Histein’.”

“…”

Lodia was momentarily flustered by the sudden suggestion.

She simply missed the timing to respond because of it, but Histein took her silence as a refusal. He forced a smile.

“If you’re still uncomfortable, I have no intention of pressing you.”

This much was true.

Although his approach had been somewhat clumsy, he didn’t want to become awkward with Lodia.

This legal guardian-ward relationship was, to put it simply, like a bubble. A fleeting connection that would disappear the moment Lodia married someone else.

Still, he didn’t want to remain awkward with Lodia during the time he was her guardian in Damian’s stead.

Histein, unaware of his own feelings of disappointment at what he perceived as Lodia’s rejection, packaged them away like that.

“Well…”

“If it’s still too much, would you at least allow me to call you by your name?”

Lodia hesitated for a moment at his words. He would be her legal guardian for five years, until she married someone.

It would be ridiculous to keep addressing each other as ‘Mr.’ and ‘Miss’ for that long.

But on the other hand, she couldn’t imagine calling him ‘Histein’ herself. Having finished her deliberation, Lodia nodded.

“I… I think I need a little more time.”

At her words, Histein smiled brightly, looking satisfied.

“That’s fine, Lodia. Our paces are just different, so I will adjust to yours.”

Lodia averted her eyes from his gaze and rolled her eyes shiftily.

He couldn’t possibly be her first love, yet he kept smiling with that similar face, and now he was even calling her name with that face.

What was so significant about just calling a name?

What was so difficult about just calling a name that I can’t even open my mouth?

It’s all because of that face.

Lodia couldn’t utter a single word until he left the mansion.

—

* * *

Vicebian Palace, the Chancellery.

Alisis Fedelov, the Chancellor, was smoking a cigar and reviewing documents related to the public recruitment when she suddenly called her aide as if reminded of something.

“Hey, Roatt. I heard that young lady you look after applied for the judiciary recruitment exam. Is that true?”

“Why are you curious about that?”

Histein asked back without lifting his head from the documents.

Alisis forgot the ash falling from the cigar in her mouth and just stared at Histein.

Surely, he wasn’t asking because he really didn’t know?

She swept back her platinum blonde hair.

Alisis would bet half her fortune that there wasn’t a single person working at Vicebian Palace who wasn’t curious about Histein’s ward.

They said that as soon as that perfectionist, dead-serious, empathy-lacking man became the legal guardian of a woman he had no relation to, he helped with her family’s funeral and even attended her graduation ceremony.

Even if the woman was his close friend’s younger sister, people’s opinion was that it wasn’t behavior one would expect from ‘Histein Roatt’.

Histein still had his head buried in the documents he was reviewing. Alisis watched him silently for a moment, then reached out her hand, still holding the cigar in her mouth, and rummaged through the pile of documents beside her.

The name was… Lodia something.

After rummaging for a while, she finally found what she was looking for after some time had passed.

What she held in her hand was a copy of Lodia’s application form.

“Her surname is Proxheit?”

“Do you know it?”

“Of course I do. The last madam of Heint’s social circles, Flora. She was that person’s granddaughter, wasn’t she?”

Alisis began reading Lodia’s application with great interest. Just a brief glance was enough to see how outstanding Lodia Proxheit was.

Alisis shifted her gaze and looked at the busy Histein.

“…They say you never know what’s around the corner in life. My, my.”

She took the cigar she had been holding in her mouth and placed it between her fingers.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

At Histein’s question, she waved the hand holding the cigar dismissively. Ash from the cigar scattered onto the paper.

As she brushed it off, Alisis tilted her head after a moment.

“…No, but still, I’m the one in charge here, and you seem to be talking a bit too informally, don’t you think?”

“…Ah.”

“Ah? Ah-ah?! Did you just say ‘Ah’?”

Alisis jumped up from her seat, and Histein frowned.

“Sit down. You have a schedule in 45 minutes. You need to finish that amount at least 5 minutes before then.”

“Is this crazy?”

She clicked her tongue at his demand to stick rigidly to the schedule. Histein Roatt was truly a madman devoted to his plans.

Of course, thanks to that, work never piled up. But his bluntness and his tendency to prioritize plans above all else sometimes made Histein seem like a lunatic.

“There’s no time for that. Your Excellency needs to go out for the next schedule so I can get on with my own work, don’t I?”

“…You ruthless bastard.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Histein’s eyes narrowed slightly. Alisis Fedelov looked at him and muttered, ‘Poisonous snake.’

Whether she muttered or not, Histein urged her once more.

Exactly 40 minutes later, Histein handed the Chancellor’s jacket to her secretary. The man, thoroughly drained by him, accepted it with a dazed look and spoke.

“You don’t need to accompany me today. You said you have work, so go ahead and leave.”

Having said that, the Chancellor waved one hand lazily in farewell, then slammed the office door shut and left.

Only then did Histein take his coat from the wall and drape it over his arm.

“Are you going to the company?”

Rikart, who had been waiting, approached Histein.

“No. I still have some work left here, so I’ll stay a bit longer. Is that alright?”

Rikart took out his pocket watch and checked the time at his words. After estimating Histein’s schedule, he nodded and put the watch away.

“I think it’ll be fine as long as it’s within an hour.”

“Good. That’s more than enough.”

He headed straight to his own office.