Chapter 22
Chapter 22
“Lord Isiel.”
“Yes, Irina.”
I clicked my tongue at the man who had reverted back to formal speech.
This person, not just now but also during his academy days, must have certainly played around with many older girls.
“That’s enough drinking.”
When I snatched the glass he was holding and drank it all in one go, Isiel looked at me as if he had lost his country.
I poured water into the empty glass instead and put it in his hand.
“Here, if you drink water now, it’ll taste like alcohol.”
“……”
After whining for a little longer, Isiel suddenly held out the potted plant he had been preciously holding.
“Oh right. I brought this to give to you.”
I automatically accepted the pot full of lush green foliage.
“Because you gave me the invitation.”
“What kind of plant is this?”
“They said it was some kind of medicinal herb.”
It looked more like a weed than a medicinal herb, but I thought I shouldn’t judge by appearance.
At that moment, the system chimed.
[SYSTEM | ‘A Letter that Started from 1 Jurang Commemorative Coin’ has been updated.]
[SYSTEM | (Completed) 02. Exchange ‘Healer’s Greenhouse Invitation’ for ‘Unnamed Weed Pot’]
“……”
It does seem to be a weed.
But when I looked up, Isiel looked so pleased.
Seeing that handsome face, I felt I should call it a medicinal herb even if it were poisonous.
After handing me the pot, Isiel said he felt a bit drunk and stood up first.
And so, I was left alone in the reception room with Cassis, hugging the pot of unnamed weeds to my chest.
Cassis had emptied a whole bottle of whiskey that had been quite full, though I’m not sure when he drank so much.
“You’ll harm your body.”
“…I suppose so.”
He put down the glass, which was still clinking with unmelted ice, with a gloomy expression.
Seeing him press his eyelids with his fingertips, seemingly tired, I felt a pang of sympathy.
He must be craving alcohol.
I filled Cassis’s empty glass halfway and said,
“Drink only this much and then stop for today.”
Cassis stared at me while holding the glass.
I hadn’t noticed, but as I leaned towards him to pour the drink, there was only about a foot of distance between Cassis and me.
“Is there a problem?”
“……”
His red eyes gazed at me blankly, but something seemed off.
What could be bothering him?
“Irina…”
He barely moved his lips.
“You seem to like alcohol.”
“I don’t dislike it?”
“From now on, don’t drink other people’s alcohol, drink your own.”
I stared blankly at Cassis.
He turned his head, naturally avoiding my gaze, but couldn’t hide his ears that were tinged with red.
‘He’s drunk.’
Does he think I wanted to drink Isiel’s alcohol and that’s why I took it?
“I didn’t drink all of Lord Isiel’s alcohol, he was just too drunk.”
“I…”
He tried to say something again but stopped.
However, I roughly understood the situation.
Despite my allegiance to Cassis, it seemed to have hurt his pride a bit that I drank Isiel’s alcohol.
I could have had new alcohol.
Moreover, even if Isiel was drunk, the fact is that I took care of him.
“Yes, from now on, I’ll definitely pour and drink new alcohol. But I did pour new alcohol for your glass earlier, Cassis!”
Cassis sighed deeply and rubbed his face.
Is that not what he meant?
As I stared blankly at Cassis with a confused face, he shook his head, saying that was enough.
I awkwardly changed the subject.
“I sent new cookies in the evening too, did you receive them well?”
“Yes, I enjoyed them, thank you.”
It seems the cookies arrived safely too.
“You seem to have great cooking skills.”
“Not really. I’m only good at a few recipes. The rest are quite…”
[Sigh. If someone ate a dish made incorrectly, they’d die instantly.]
[I know. When she made stew and green smoke came out, I thought Irina had a talent for herbology.]
I had no particular rebuttal to the system’s chatter among themselves.
“Did you make the scones together with Isiel?”
“Of course not. I made them all by myself.”
“Then how did Isiel know about them?”
Seeing him continually ask about Isiel, he seemed unnecessarily anxious.
It seems he was quite bothered by Isiel’s comment about scouting me as a chef.
[Irina is really bad at cooking, so she can’t go!]
[That’s right, he doesn’t need to worry.]
‘Shut up.’
I inwardly recited fiercely and then smiled softly.
“He was standing next to me while I was making stew. So we shared the stew, and when he said he was still hungry, I baked more scones.”
“I didn’t know… you had just met today.”
“Of course today was the first time. Where else would I have seen a great noble in my life?”
Cassis mumbled blankly.
“You seemed close, so I naturally thought you two knew each other.”
I waved my hands, saying absolutely not.
“Anyway, I’m glad you liked the scones. Next time, I’ll make something even more delicious for you.”
“Thank you.”
“And, I have something to say about the chef.”
Cassis blinked slowly.
I met his red eyes and spoke seriously.
“Do you know that he’s Marquis Cloi’s man?”
“……”
“I see you do know.”
Silence fell in the reception room.
Through that silence, I asked.
“Why did you keep him by your side?”
Cassis lowered his gaze, and his long eyelashes cast shadows under his eyes in the indoor lighting.
A gloomy atmosphere swept over him.
“Cassis.”
Only after I urged him did he open his mouth.
“When I was very young, there was a chef who worked for Luwin.”
He says that person was the previous Grand Duke’s man.
A proud chef who had worked for the ducal family for over 20 years.
“That person cared for me very much too.”
When he was young, he received treatment for a minor injury from knight training and was heading back to the training ground when he smelled a savory aroma.
Following that smell, he found the chef in his younger days sweating profusely while baking bread.
A freshly baked apple tart was secretly given to the young, growing Cassis.
“I still can’t forget that taste. The crust held between thin paper was warm from being freshly baked, slightly slippery from the butter…”
Cassis smiled slightly.
I felt my heart drop.
Was Cassis always someone who could smile so beautifully?
Without realizing it, I opened my mouth, entranced, and continued his words.
“When you take a bite, the honey-soaked apple crunches, right?”
“That’s right. The custard cream and apple bites were exquisite.”
“And since it’s cold here all year round, the steam rising must have been nice too.”
“…Were you perhaps by my side at that time?”
I shook my head.
So he had a memory like that.
“But then my uncle took over as regent, and the family started to decline.”
“Yes.”
“And one day, a poisoned meal was served to me.”
“What?”
The fortunate thing was that it didn’t have much effect on Cassis, who had a resistance to poison.
“…Where did that person go?”
“He’s now the chef of the current Marquis Cloi’s household.”
I looked at this black-haired young man with pity.
“Poison came up often after that too.”
At first, he didn’t eat and threw it away, but later on, he says he just ate it even if it had poison.
“Why did you do that?”
“I wonder. There was a time when I was seriously lethargic.”
Can there be a time when he was more lethargic than now?
“At that time, even if someone told me what I was eating was poisoned, I just thought, ‘I see.'”
“……”
“If I was unlucky, I’d die. If I was lucky, I’d live.”
I closed my mouth and organized my thoughts.
“Is it a bit strange?”
“Not a bit, but very?”
“I suppose so.”
It was true that not firing the current chef despite his condition was due to lethargy.
Considering his situation, it was understandable.
If it were me, I would have abandoned the family and everything and run away.
But he didn’t.
That alone is admirable.
But that’s not enough.
I opened my mouth, hoping that I don’t appear too rude.
“Your Highness, the most important thing in any group, family, or business, whatever it may be, is the decision-maker.”
If an organization wants to transform anew, if it wants to show a different appearance from before, the decision-maker must be changed.
The culture of an organization is all determined by the top decision-maker.
“Depending on what kind of tendencies the top decision-maker has, everything in that organization changes and is decided. Even cultures that have lasted for decades, all of it.”
That’s why in the 21st century Earth, when the CEO of a huge company changes, the stock price fluctuates wildly.
That’s why shareholders of companies bring in the best CEOs they can find, spending astronomical amounts of money.
For that reason, I think the greatest invention of 21st century Earth is corporation.
“In other words, replacing the subordinates while keeping the top rulers the same and saying ‘We will change. We will be different from before’ actually means ‘I don’t want to change anything.'”
I looked directly at the face that was as beautiful as a sculpture and as gloomy as an ancient tragedy.
“Your Highness, don’t forget. Water flows from top to bottom.”
“……”
“Culture also flows from top to bottom.”
“If you don’t change, nothing will change.”
Cassis Luwin.
He is a helpless person.
What sustains Cassis is only a handful of sense of duty that remains.
Everything in the world was just a monotonous, colorless flow to him.
Perhaps if he could save everyone by dying, he would plunge a knife into his own neck without a moment’s hesitation or lingering attachment.
Not out of any heroic psychology to save someone, but with relief that he could finally leave without regrets.
That could be the case.
I can understand Cassis.
But I came to the North to pay off Luwin’s debt, and I must pay off Luwin’s debt.
For that, I had no intention of leaving Cassis in such a lethargic state.
“It’s certainly not your fault that Luwin is in this situation, Your Grace. You must clearly remember that fact. You’ve just ended up having to deal with Luwin in this state.”
“……”
“I came to the North saying I would change Luwin, and you accepted that.”
You accepted my proposition, and that’s why you brought me all the way to the North.
“I will change things.”
“…Alright.”
“I will change you, Your Grace.”
If he can’t do it, I’ll drag him along even if I have to grab him by the collar.
“If that’s the meaning, Irina, then there’s no need to fire the chef, is there?”
He rebelled slightly, meaning why should the subordinate change if the decision-maker changes.
I cut off his rebellion in one stroke.
“Of course not. When a decision-maker takes power, the first thing they do is internal personnel reorganization.”
Why is someone who knows all this acting like this?
I smiled brightly.
“Your Grace, I’m not saying I’m the decision-maker.”
I am a helper.
I am the person who shows Cassis the way.
In the end, it’s Cassis who makes the choice.
But if Cassis can’t do anything right now, If it’s very difficult and painful for him to make choices, I think I can help.
“If you want me to change things a lot, it means you need to give me a lot of authority.”
“For example?”
Cassis narrowed his eyes.
“The most important thing is the right to personnel decisions.”
* * *
And so, the first thing I did upon arriving in the North was to fire the chef and bring in someone from the South who wasn’t influenced by Marquis Cloi into the kitchen.
It might have seemed like nothing much on the surface, but to me, it was as good as permission to change Cassis.
