I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 100
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#100
It was the same drawing room where I had waited for Kalian when I came to the Imperial Palace early in the morning to accept the advisor position.
“His Majesty will be here shortly. I have urgent business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
“Thank you for guiding me, Baron Delrond.”
“Just Baron, Baron Aster.”
Baron Delrond urged me to follow suit.
Now that we were both barons, it was proper to drop the honorific, but it felt awkward.
I hesitated before carefully opening my mouth.
“Baron… Delrond.”
“That sounds much better.”
Though I had only dropped a single honorific, Baron Delrond smiled as if greatly pleased and disappeared.
When I sat in the same seat as before, a maid came with tea.
“This is Annemarie tea.”
As she tilted the teapot, yellow tea filled the cup.
Looking at the tea naturally reminded me of Count Hiltain.
I had wanted to thank him for escorting me to the Imperial Palace.
It was regrettable that he disappeared so suddenly that I couldn’t properly say goodbye.
As I was fiddling with the tea and thinking about Count Hiltain, I heard the sound of a door opening.
It was Kalian. I immediately rose from my seat and greeted him.
Kalian waved his hand dismissively as if annoyed and sat across from me.
Soon a maid prepared his tea.
“Sorry for calling you here and making you wait. Something urgent came up.”
“Not at all.”
Come to think of it, why did His Majesty call me here separately?
Did he have questions about the diplomatic talks?
I couldn’t think of any other reason, so I naturally assumed that was it, but I was wrong.
“I intend to grant you a new manor.”
“Pardon?”
A new manor?
“Is there a problem with the house I’m currently living in?”
“You, who live in that house, would know better than I do.”
That’s true.
“Then why are you granting me a new manor…?”
“Because the house you’re living in now is too small for you to inhabit.”
Small? It was a manor of more than adequate size for Sara and me to live in.
“Baron, and moreover, if other nobles learn that the Emperor’s advisor lives in such a small manor rather than a proper one, they’ll mock you. It won’t preserve my dignity.”
I was going to refuse, but when he put it that way, I couldn’t refuse.
“If that’s the reason, then I’ll accept it.”
“For reference, this manor is a house I’m granting you to commemorate your becoming a baron. I won’t charge rent or anything like that.”
“But…”
“Leilah.”
I was about to say that didn’t seem right, but Kalian cut off my words and answered coldly.
“You wouldn’t be thinking of refusing my gift over petty money, would you?”
“…No.”
“Good. Then that’s fortunate.”
Kalian finally looked satisfied and picked up his teacup.
I was worried about whether it was okay to accept such an expensive manor so readily.
But as he said, it wouldn’t be proper to refuse the Emperor’s goodwill too much.
‘What kind of manor will he give me?’
It would certainly be larger than the house I’m currently living in.
I couldn’t leave Sara to manage such a large house alone.
I should hire maids before Sara returns. And servants too.
Depending on the size of the house, maybe I should hire other staff as well.
Since I won’t be paying rent, I can afford to employ servants.
First, I should stop by the treasury on my way back to collect my unpaid salary.
Then I should check the house I’m being granted and go to the employment office to hire servants.
“Leilah.”
As I was making various plans in my head, Kalian called me.
“The manor to give you hasn’t been decided yet.”
Ah, it hasn’t been decided yet.
“So, would you stay at the Imperial Palace until then?”
“Pardon?”
Stay at the Imperial Palace?
When I stared at him blankly at the sudden suggestion, Kalian smiled and asked.
“Why are you so surprised? It’s as if I said something I shouldn’t have.”
It wasn’t something he shouldn’t say, but it was strange.
The Imperial Palace is where the imperial family resides.
Yet he’s telling me to stay here until a new manor is decided.
“Will the manor you’re granting me be decided tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow would be difficult.”
I would have understood if it were decided by tomorrow, but that wasn’t the case either.
“What about the day after tomorrow?”
“That would be difficult too.”
“Then when approximately…?”
“Well.”
Kalian tilted his head slightly, thought for a moment, then answered.
“It’ll probably take about two weeks.”
Two weeks? That was an absurdly long time for me, who was neither royalty nor a foreign dignitary, to stay at the Imperial Palace.
“I cannot stay at the Imperial Palace for such a long time.”
“Even when I, the owner of the Imperial Palace, permit it?”
“I am not royalty. If I stay at the Imperial Palace for a long time, other nobles will think it strange.”
When I subtly hinted that it would fuel rumors of me being the Emperor’s mistress, Kalian chuckled.
“That’s a needless worry. The reason I want to keep you at the Imperial Palace isn’t just about housing, but because of the childcare project.”
Kalian put down his teacup and continued.
“Now that you’ve returned, we’ll begin in earnest, and it’s more convenient to have you at the Imperial Palace.”
That was true, but I was worried whether other nobles would think the same way.
So when I couldn’t easily agree and remained quiet, Kalian was silent for a moment before adding.
“Ber will also be staying at the Imperial Palace during this time, so you don’t need to worry about strange things.”
* * *
“Achoo-!”
Ber’s cough echoed loudly through the quiet study of the Outer Palace.
The servant helping Ber handed him a handkerchief and asked.
“Do you have a cold?”
“I wonder.”
Ber answered while wiping his nose with the handkerchief.
“My ears are tingling, so it seems like someone might be talking about me.”
“Surely not. Who would dare speak ill of you, Baron?”
Ber was about to reply that there were so many people to deal with, but just shrugged his shoulders lightly and handed the blood-stained handkerchief back to the servant.
Then he gathered up the documents and stood up from his seat.
“Are you going to His Majesty?”
“Yes.”
“Shall we help you?”
“No need. You can’t enter the Imperial Palace.”
The Imperial Palace itself was a place with strictly controlled access, but the Imperial Palace was even more so.
It was because it was where the imperial family resided.
Only those who had received permission from the imperial family could enter there.
Even servants working in the Imperial Palace couldn’t enter carelessly.
Therefore, Ber had to carry all the many documents in his arms.
There were so many that even holding an armful with both arms, they overflowed.
Ber walked carefully so as not to drop the documents.
If I had known this would happen, I should have brought a servant from the Imperial Palace.
While having this belated regret and passing between the Imperial Palace and Outer Palace, he saw a familiar face in the distance.
“Your Majesty!”
It was Kalian.
Kalian, who had just noticed him at Ber’s call, approached.
“What are you carrying so much stuff for?”
“These are documents given to me from the Outer Palace. I’ll organize them and report by tomorrow.”
At those words, Kalian’s eyebrow slightly raised.
He roughly looked over the amount of documents Ber was carrying and sighed.
“Is there some magical device somewhere that prints out documents?”
“If such a device existed, I would have gone and destroyed it immediately.”
At the sincere words, Kalian laughed and took about half of the documents Ber was carrying.
Those documents were passed to the hands of the attendants who had followed Kalian.
Thanks to this, Ber, who could now move much more easily, let out a sigh of relief.
They naturally walked toward the Imperial Palace.
“But weren’t you on your way somewhere?”
“I was on my way to meet you.”
“Me?”
Ber blinked his eyes wide.
“Why?”
“Because I have something to tell you.”
Simply because he had something to say, he was on his way to the Outer Palace to meet me?
An ominous feeling rose up from deep below.
He wanted to ask what it was about, but felt like he shouldn’t.
“Aren’t you going to ask what it’s about?”
“…Should I ask?”
“You don’t have to ask. I’m going to tell you anyway.”
Ber was about to argue why he asked then, but swallowed his words.
Kalian gestured to the attendants and guard knights following behind to fall back.
When they fell back keeping a certain distance, he spoke in a quiet voice.
“I told Leilah to stay in the Imperial Palace for the time being.”
Ber glanced at those following at a distance, then answered quietly.
“Did she say she would do that?”
“For now.”
If yes, then yes, if no, then no – what’s with “for now”?
“Is there some problem?”
Kalian paused for a moment before answering.
“Leilah said that if she stays in the Imperial Palace, other people will think strangely.”
“For example, that His Majesty the Emperor brought Baron Aster not as an aide but as a mistress – something like that?”
“Yes.”
What. I thought it was a serious problem, but it’s not.
Ber, who felt somewhat deflated, replied indifferently.
“Why are you worrying about such a thing? It’s a problem we already expected.”
“Right. And I found a solution too.”
Oh, he found a solution. This is somewhat surprising.
“What’s the solution?”
At Ber’s question, Kalian silently stared at him intently.
Ber awkwardly rubbed his cheek.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
“You.”
“Yes?”
“The solution is you.”
What kind of nonsense is this again.
Ber, who had only been blinking at the incomprehensible words, soon understood what Kalian was trying to say and frowned deeply.
“Don’t tell me you want me to stay in the Imperial Palace too during this time?”
“Yes.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Ber’s shouting voice echoed loudly.
“What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”
The attendants who had been following were surprised enough to ask.
Kalian answered them that nothing was wrong, then scolded Ber.
“Your voice is too loud.”
And whose fault is all this!
Ber let out a silent cry and answered.
“I refuse.”
Kalian chuckled and replied.
“I never asked for your opinion.”
“Why are you dragging me into something that has nothing to do with me? What crime did I commit!”
Kalian answered cheerfully as if asking why he would ask something so obvious.
“The crime of being my aide.”
“…”
Ber, who was at a loss for words, closed his mouth.
Kalian walked a step ahead and continued speaking.
“Just bear with it a little. Once the Duke Williot matter is resolved, I’ll let you go.”
Ber was about to ask when exactly that would be, but asked something else instead.
“Did you tell Baron Aster that Duke Williot came looking for her? She seemed unaware.”
“I haven’t told her yet.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell her?”
“Well.”
“You don’t seem inclined to.”
Kalian replied with a smile instead of an answer.
“Well, the situation isn’t good right now. That side seems too heated up as well, so it would be fine to tell her once things calm down a bit.”
“Good that it matches my opinion.”
Sure it does.
Ber snorted and walked a bit faster than Kalian.
“Ah, come to think of it.”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he turned to look at Kalian and asked.
“Your Majesty, do you know that Baron Aster’s birthday is coming up soon?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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