I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 133
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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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#133
Exactly one week after Adrina was appointed as director.
The long-awaited childcare facility was finally completed.
Though the opening ceremony hadn’t been held yet so there was no signboard, the building was finished, so the children who had been staying in the temporarily designated building moved their residence here.
After several more days passed, the day of the opening ceremony arrived.
Since it was a special day, I wore my uniform.
Nes, seeing me in uniform for the first time, clasped her hands together and spoke dramatically.
“Baron, it suits you so well!”
“Really?”
“Yes! If you were a man, I would have fallen for you!”
I think I heard that story from Sara too.
Sometimes Sara and Nes seemed like real sisters. It meant the two of them were that close.
I put on my coat over the uniform, did final touches while looking in the mirror, then left the room.
Nes followed behind me carrying my luggage. Sara came out too.
As we left the manor, cold wind poured over my thick coat.
It’s really winter now. I adjusted my coat and took the luggage from Nes.
“Well, I’ll be going. There’s a reception tonight so I’ll be a bit late.”
“Yes, understood! We’ll take good care of the house, so don’t worry and have a good trip, Miss!”
“It’s Baron, not Miss!”
“Oops, my mistake.”
Nes covered her mouth in embarrassment, and Sara shook her head while looking at her.
“Really, you…”
Soon nagging poured out.
If those two were real sisters, Sara would be the older sister and Nes the younger one.
Their actual ages were like that too.
I got into the carriage with amusing thoughts. Soon the carriage smoothly left the manor’s street.
Throughout the journey to the Imperial Palace, I checked documents about today’s opening ceremony.
Even though the childcare institution’s name had been decided since the building was completed, the name field was still empty.
It was because Kalian hadn’t told me.
When I requested to know, he smiled mischievously saying wouldn’t it be more fun to find out on the day.
So the ridiculous situation of participating in the opening ceremony without knowing the childcare institution’s name occurred.
Well, I have a name I can guess.
While thinking various thoughts, the carriage arrived in front of the Imperial Palace.
Previously, I had to show identification every time I entered and left the Imperial Palace, but now I could enter just by showing my face.
“Good morning, Baron Aster.”
“Yes, good morning.”
I exchanged simple greetings with the guard and entered the Imperial Palace.
While passing through the busy Outer Palace preparing for the opening ceremony and heading to the Inner Palace, I saw a familiar face in the distance. It was Duke Giltian.
I knew various things about Duke Giltian.
I didn’t investigate separately, but learned while handling Williot Duchy affairs.
And I also knew that Duke Giltian was the person who opposed most when Kalian tried to give me the baron title.
Also that Duke Giltian was the one who suggested participating in the diplomatic envoy.
I didn’t think Duke Giltian suggested participating in the diplomatic envoy to give me an opportunity.
He probably thought I couldn’t do it.
But I succeeded and received the baron title.
Would Duke Giltian view me favorably?
Definitely not. It was awkward to encounter someone who would view me that way.
Should I turn back? Though it was a bit far, that seemed better, so I was turning around when.
“Baron Aster?”
Duke Giltian spotted me and called out. Your eyesight is unnecessarily good. I swallowed my irritation and turned to look at him.
“I greet Your Grace.”
“Coming to work already? How diligent.”
“No. It’s only because today is a special day.”
I always came to work at this time, but I hid that fact and answered. It wasn’t to appear modest.
I simply didn’t want to tell Duke Giltian my trivial details.
“The matter with Duke Williot is regrettable.”
Duke Giltian ruthlessly dug up the matter I had tried to bury. A bitter smile came naturally.
“If such a thing happened, you should have asked me for help earlier. I would have helped with all my might.”
“Thank you for saying so, but it’s an already resolved matter. I don’t want to discuss it further.”
“I see.”
Duke Giltian thought for a moment, then nodded saying he understood.
“Then I’ll be going…”
“I hear you accomplished something remarkable?”
I was trying to quickly escape before more unnecessary talk came out, but Duke Giltian caught my ankle again.
Sigh. A sigh boiled up from deep inside.
I put back the foot I had half-lifted and looked at him.
“I heard the Baron exposed the Temple’s disgrace to the world and made their authority plummet to the ground, is that right?”
“It’s not something I accomplished alone. I could do it thanks to His Majesty the Emperor and Baron Delrond helping earnestly.”
“Either way, you’re the one who accomplished it.”
A strange smile appeared on Duke Giltian’s lips. What was he trying to say with that smile?
He could curse if he wanted, I wished he’d speak quickly, but Duke Giltian didn’t speak easily.
When I was about to ask because I got frustrated waiting, Duke Giltian finally spoke.
“Well done.”
I naturally expected him to scold me for doing something useless, but praise?
It was certainly the right thing to do, but given who he was, I was dumbfounded.
“You don’t seem happy about my praise?”
“No. I’m happy. Thank you for viewing it favorably, Your Grace.”
I answered hastily lest Duke Giltian misunderstand.
“Of course I should view it favorably. The Temple side kept crawling up and giving me headaches.”
More precisely, it was the Papacy crawling up, not the Temple.
The Empire was a country that worshipped Blue Dragon rather than the main god, so while there were temples, their power wasn’t as strong compared to other countries.
The Papacy, dissatisfied with this, tried to strengthen the Temple’s power somehow, and the nobles and Imperial Court couldn’t welcome that.
“But the Baron handled that matter splendidly, so I’m very pleased.”
Duke Giltian smiled with satisfaction.
It wasn’t something I did to please him, but it was better than him being displeased.
“Thank you for viewing it favorably.”
I repeated the same words like a parrot and bowed my head.
Duke Giltian patted my shoulder.
“Please continue just as you have been.”
Did this mean he would acknowledge me as an administrator?
I looked at him in surprise. Duke Giltian, meeting my eyes, smiled with wrinkled eyes.
“Though only a few years remain, I hope you’ll work hard during that time.”
Only a few years remain? What does that mean?
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
I wanted to ask what he meant, but before I could even start, Duke Giltian had already gone far away.
* * *
From early morning, the front of the orphanage was bustling with people.
Many people had simply come to watch the opening ceremony, but there were also many reporters.
The reporters held pens and notebooks in both hands, constantly looking around like hawks hunting for prey. Their eyes flashed sharply as if they wouldn’t miss even a single scoop.
“But do you think that rumor is true?”
At someone’s sudden remark among the spectators, all the reporters’ heads turned in unison.
A man who seemed oblivious to the reporters staring at him spoke to his acquaintances.
“I heard the person who exposed this incident was the Baron who recently became the Emperor’s advisor.”
“The Baron who recently became the Emperor’s advisor… you mean that Princess who broke off her engagement with Duke Williot because of the mistress?”
“Ah, yes. That’s the Princess.”
The reporters’ ears perked up. They began quickly writing down what they heard.
Unaware of this fact, the man and his acquaintances continued chattering about what they knew.
“I heard that Princess also brilliantly led diplomatic negotiations with the Kingdom of Natsha before. That’s how she became a Baron.”
“Wow, what an amazing young lady. It couldn’t have been easy for a woman to become an administrator, yet she accomplished such things.”
“So what? She couldn’t even control her fiancé and got deceived into a broken engagement.”
Amidst the admiration, someone interjected sharply.
“And wasn’t she deceived by a princess from a fallen kingdom?”
Though a complete stranger, the man spoke boldly as if he had been part of this group from the beginning.
“Can such a woman really be called smart? In my opinion, there must be someone helping her from behind.”
The man had brought up such an interesting topic, and with his clean-cut appearance, everyone began paying attention.
His clothes were also high-quality. It seemed he wasn’t a man of ordinary status.
“Who on earth would be helping her?”
“His Majesty the Emperor, of course.”
The man grinned and shouted loudly.
“Don’t you all remember the rumors that circulated when that Princess first became the Emperor’s advisor?”
“Of course I remember. There were definitely rumors that she was His Majesty the Emperor’s mistress.”
“Exactly.”
The man snapped his index finger and laughed cheerfully.
“To prevent his mistress from being criticized, it would be good to make her appear competent, so he put on this show.”
“Come on, really? Why would the Emperor go through such trouble?”
“Well, those are the thoughts of high-ranking people, so how would I know?”
The man shrugged and added.
“But it’s certain that His Majesty the Emperor helped her. Otherwise, how could a sheltered aristocratic Princess accomplish such tremendous things?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”
“Indeed, that Princess didn’t receive proper education, yet when I heard she passed the administrative exam with top honors, I thought it was strange from the start.”
The stone thrown by the mysterious man spread in wide ripples across the calm lake.
One might think the man’s words were strange, but everyone nodded without showing such signs.
The reason was simple. Because Leilah was a woman.
Because no woman had ever accomplished such tremendous things before.
So it couldn’t have been something she thought of and acted on herself.
People thought it was all helped by Kalian, the Emperor, from behind the scenes.
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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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