Chapter 13
Chapter 13
I didn’t realize it was a question at first because his voice was flat.
“…I like it, but it’s not love.”
“Is that so?”
When I turned around, Cassis was sitting askew, smiling faintly.
Actually, it was too dark to see clearly.
That was the impression I got.
“Throughout the festival, the Irina I saw seemed to love this land very much.”
“…Why? Is it because I don’t have any debt?”
I muttered with an awkward smile, and Cassis, whether he heard my words or not, burst into laughter.
“That could be it.”
Or not.
“Then let me change the question. Why are you trying to leave Seike, which you worked so hard to protect by paying off the debt?”
“…I’m not leaving. It’s a place I’ll return to someday.”
“Is that so?”
There are many reasons.
The main reason is that I need to pay off your debt, the male protagonist and hero of this world, to prevent the empire’s downfall.
And preventing the empire’s downfall leads to saving Seike.
Or maybe I just don’t want my knight to suffer…
[Or it could be that Irina is just kind.]
[There are many reasons.]
I can’t tell all those reasons.
So I had to bring up the least important reason.
“I have quite a talent for business, I’m skilled, and I have actual success cases.”
“…”
“I think I can do it.”
“Luwin’s debt?”
“Yes.”
“And what will you gain from that?”
Cassis, who had straightened his posture by now, was armed with a determination and coolness I had never seen before.
I instinctively realized.
This was the last chance to increase trust.
“Enormous wealth from investing in Luwin’s success, the revival of Seike wine that can never become mainstream, and the lost glory of the count’s family.”
“…”
“And the trust of Grand Duke Luwin.”
At that moment, the system chimed with a ‘ding’.
[The Grand Duke trusts Irina. +1 (12/13)]
Cassis opened his mouth while looking straight at me.
In a calm tone, he raised a question.
“I’m not sure if this is right.”
“What?”
“Is Luwin’s debt really something that can be paid off?”
“…Well…”
Ignoring my non-committal response, Cassis continued his words.
“I tend to give my heart completely once I’ve decided to.”
“That’s quite disadvantageous in many ways.”
The male protagonist is such a loyal lover.
And the confidence to reveal his own weakness so openly.
That must be why he’s the male protagonist.
Even if he’s not the cold-blooded and ruthless ‘Duke of the North’ like in the original game, maybe this is why he can’t help but be the male protagonist and hero of this world.
I could fall for him like this.
I should absolutely not give my heart in advance.
[Irina, be careful~]
[Be careful~]
“If you come to Luwin, and then say you can’t do it and quit…”
Cassis seemed tense.
He started to say something, uttering disconnected sentences, then shook his head.
“…No. I think you will quit.”
“Hey, Your Grace. I haven’t even started yet.”
I stood up from my chair, a bit flustered.
Cassis’s gaze followed me upward.
Contrary to my expectation, his face was full of gentleness rather than being stiffly set.
As soon as our eyes met, he curved his eyes into crescents and smiled softly.
His face, which couldn’t look colder when expressionless, suddenly softened as if spring had arrived.
I stared blankly at his beautiful face.
“Still, Luwin is a very beautiful place, so please love it, even if not as much as Seike.”
Huh.
“I hope Luwin can evoke as many emotions in you as I felt in Seike.”
I stared blankly at Cassis.
Cassis was quietly looking at me with a gloomy face.
So, does this mean he’s accepting my help?
“…Yes.”
As soon as my answer ended, a quest completion notification popped up.
Ding!
[SYSTEM | Congratulations! Irina Seike has successfully gotten a job at the Grand Duke Luwin’s house!]
[SYSTEM | Quest. Job-seeking Diary completed.]
[SYSTEM | Reward: Ten Sheriff grape seedlings.]
“I can do well.”
“Yes.”
The debt full of 9s in the top right corner of the system window looked particularly light.
Now I can officially start paying off the debt.
I can do it!
I made a fighting pose, clenching both hands.
“I’ll consider Luwin my second home.”
“That’s fine.”
“I’m serious.”
“Yes, sure.”
And that’s how I got a job at the ducal house of the North.
Chapter 3. Luwin Mansion
A job is a job, and a contract is a contract.
“Miss Irina, is paying off debts perhaps your hobby?”
“…Isn’t it troublesome to think of such things as a hobby?”
“But why on earth are you trying to go to Luwin?”
Risel Arman, of commoner origin, received a scholarship before our family went bankrupt, graduated from the academy with excellent grades, worked as an official in the imperial court, and returned to Seike about two years after our house went bankrupt.
<That’s because I have a bit of conscience left.>
<Really?>
<…It took me 5 years to enter and graduate from the academy. Exactly 5 years, I’ll work for Seike.>
<I don’t have the luxury to pay your salary, Risel.>
<I don’t expect that either.>
That’s how it was.
And now, exactly 3 years later, although I’ve come this far by fully utilizing the system and my memories from my previous life, Risel has helped with many administrative necessities.
Probably half of the reason I haven’t been scammed anywhere is thanks to Risel’s help.
“…That’s how it turned out.”
“Yes, yes, Miss, you should run away immediately if you feel there’s no hope while working in Luwin.”
“Yeah.”
If there’s no hope, the empire’s downfall is imminent… I should run away.
I should take Ijin, Risel, Bread… all our family members and run as far away as possible.
“For now, I’ve drafted the contract as favorably as possible for our side.”
“Thank you.”
Risel, not wanting me to work at a loss in Luwin, returned urgently to Seike during his long vacation to help with drafting the contract.
He will probably actively help me in the upcoming meeting with Cassis and his aide as well.
“Well done, Risel. We’ll adjust the contract one more time before dinner tonight.”
“Yes, I’ll return to the mansion until then.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Ijin, you get some rest until then too.”
“Thank you.”
“Okay, sis.”
It was still daunting in reality, but the vague feeling that things would work out somehow was stronger.
* * *
Cassis and Roen accepted most of the contract we had meticulously prepared.
“Wow, you know we’re being very accommodating, don’t you, Lady Seike?”
“I’m grateful for His Grace’s generosity.”
I smiled at Cassis in response to Roen’s words.
Cassis nodded, whether he knew he was being taken advantage of or not.
Roen shook his head watching this scene.
“Don’t exploit our innocent lord who only knows how to swing a sword, okay?”
“Doesn’t the Luwin ducal house need my help in this situation too?”
“…That’s true.”
The prim Roen deflated and lowered his head.
Cassis heaved a big sigh, then took out a fountain pen from his chest and signed each page of the finalized contract.
My gaze was naturally drawn to the protruding veins on the back of his hand holding the pen.
Although he was in a situation of being fleeced by me, I couldn’t deny how handsome he was.
On the very last page, he dropped a bit of his magic and stamped it with his family ring.
Then he handed the contract to me.
“Now, Miss Irina, you can sign the contract.”
“…As the acting Count of Seike, I, Irina Ril Seike, will proceed with the contract.”
It’s fortunate that I’m not the count.
If I were, it would have been impossible to leave like this.
I filled in my signature next to Cassis’s neat one.
And on the last page, like Cassis, I dropped a couple of drops of magic and stamped it with the count’s seal.
[SYSTEM | Additional quest ‘Head of Grand Duke Luwin’s Strategic Planning Office’ has arrived.]
“…”
I see.
To pay off the debt, I’ll need to earn money anyway, and this is no different from a major corporation’s strategic planning office by previous life standards.
[We used to hang around Apgujeong whenever we were bored.]
[And isn’t this terminology more comfortable?]
Well, that’s true, but…
With a feeling of ‘it’s done’, I closed the contract and pushed it forward.
It seemed that the related quest was added because the clauses in the contract were about the benefits I would gain as I paid off the debt.
“Thank you for the good contract.”
“…I should be more grateful.”
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to save the world…
Now that I’ll pay off the debt, male lead, you go out and protect the empire.
I shook hands with Cassis with a slightly sad face.
I thought I was quite large for a woman, but compared to the hand of Cassis, who would be (probably, in the distant future) called the continent’s greatest knight, it was just a handful.
After completing all the handovers and establishing an emergency contact network, I was ready to head north.
“Contact me if there’s any problem. Contact me when you receive the succession of the count title.”
“Okay. Take care.”
“Risel. I’m counting on you. I can pay your salary properly now.”
“Leave it to me.”
Entrusting the Seike Winery and territory to Ijin and my aide who had been on leave due to not being able to pay salary for a while, I was now really heading to the cold north.
* * *
The journey to the Luwin Grand Duchy in the north was easier than I thought.
I thought we couldn’t go directly to the north because of the large debt.
I expected to use numerous port gates combined with walking, but apparently, there’s a naturally occurring magic gate in the duchy.
So no matter which port gate you use, it doesn’t cost much.
Anyway, for that reason, we only walked from Seike mansion to the neighboring territory where there was a port gate.
I stood beside Cassis, watching blankly as they prepared the port gate.
Then Cassis suddenly asked.
“So there’s no port gate in Seike County?”
“There was, but as the debt repayment date approached, we dug it up whole and sold it.”
“Ah.”
Cassis’s face became a bit embarrassed, but he quickly composed his expression.
I secretly smiled at the expressionless look that covered his face again.
Cassis had always been like this during the time we spent together.
I should have gotten used to it by now, but every time I encountered this sort of clumsy behavior, I couldn’t help but smile.
The Duke of the North was a term used as a kind of meme in the romance fantasy genre.
And in fact, Cassis Luwin was a typical Duke of the North in the original story.
But perhaps because of the massive debt, while he looked like a perfect Duke of the North on the outside, inside he was just a young ruler with a slightly sloppy knight background.
He probably isn’t much older than me.
“Did you say you’re twenty-three this year, Cassis?”
He just slightly turned his head to look down at me.
“Yes.”
Since I’m barely twenty-two now, there’s only a year difference between us.
But I was able to somehow manage well thanks to my memories from my previous life and the system.
“May I ask when you succeeded to the title of Grand Duke?”
“…I succeeded as soon as I turned twenty.”
He added calmly.
“The previous Grand Duke passed away when I was nineteen. I don’t have an older sister to act as regent, so my uncle took over…”
He shrugged after saying this much.
That uncle sent one perfectly fine family to ruin.
Meanwhile, due to the original story that I had meddled with a bit, Luwin steadily walked the path of downfall.
I inhaled sharply.
In the original story, I recall that the previous Grand Duke couple died, and he became the Grand Duke right away without any regency.
Somehow, perhaps because Cassis was placed in such an extreme situation from too young of an age, he ended up becoming the Duke of the North.
As if a person tried to become cold-hearted but didn’t quite make it, there were parts where he seemed somewhat exhausted despite seeming naive.
His way of speaking, setting appropriate boundaries rather than being dripping with arrogance, was like that too.
What should I do with this… half-formed Duke of the North?
