Chapter 12
The Artemio countess was truly at rock bottom.
Did I really make such a person the mother of Veloce and Ellice? Was I too cruel to Veloce? To have her born under parents who shouted that Veloce should have died instead of Ellice.
I could understand why Veloce abandoned this body and ran away.
I’m sorry, Veloce.
After all, I was the one who created the Artemio Count family.
I sighed deeply. Anyway, the words of the Artemio countess were not entirely useless.
Delerone.
This world has a social hierarchy. Come to think of it, is it right to let Delerone grow up without the family’s protection?
“Hm.”
I can earn money. Somehow, I even got a job. And once I open a healing clinic, I could make quite a bit of money. But social status is not something I can fix.
I hoped Ellice and Alexand would have a happy ending.
Surely the novel ended that way, but I never thought such an epilogue would remain. Couldn’t Delerone have what my protagonists never had? I created this world, so it’s not like I can’t grant that.
Alexand and Ellice were supposed to inherit the Artemio Count family. And once Alexand became count, the empire would grant him a dukedom.
A saint and a hero together deserved such honors. That was the ending I had planned. But since both died, Artemio remained just Artemio.
“Then that dukedom belongs to Delerone, right?”
Wait.
“This is really good.”
After all, it was the dukedom Delerone was supposed to inherit. That made perfect sense. Wow. I should thank the Artemio countess for making me realize this.
Even dung has its use!
Villains have their use too. My baby. Trust your aunt.
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Today was my first day at work.
I was full of dreams. How many things could I do with the rightful reward of labor? Having work and goals made work enjoyable.
I hummed as I organized the documents Marten entrusted to me. It took time without a computer, but organizing wasn’t hard. It was an easy task to make simple texts easy to read.
Work was manageable, and making money gave me dreams and goals.
“…You look very happy today.”
Marten said to me.
“Of course!”
I wanted to take a leave and rest when I started, but once I did nothing and rested, I wanted to work.
“That’s good, my lady.”
“Just call me Veloce. Since we’ll work together, it’s better to be casual.”
“Then please call me Marten, Lady Veloce.”
“Okay!”
“I’ll be away often. But don’t worry about that. Just do your work.”
“I see.”
Marten seemed to handle the mansion’s overall work, so it was natural he was busy.
“Oh, Marten.”
“Yes?”
“Can I ask something? I heard you’re knowledgeable about the law.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Sir Alexand, Delerone’s father, was supposed to be granted the dukedom later. But after his death, it was left vacant. Could Delerone receive it?”
“Hmm. It’s not unprecedented, but it depends on His Majesty the Emperor’s will. However, since the Emperor deeply mourned Alexand’s death, you might get a good result.”
Of course.
The emperor is the key. While organizing documents, I had light conversations with Marten. He was knowledgeable and easy to talk to. A top-tier colleague?
With a colleague like this, going to work wouldn’t be so boring. I chatted with Marten while keeping my hands busy.
Working in such a free atmosphere was actually enjoyable. I had a light sandwich for lunch. The maids urged me to eat properly, but I didn’t want to stop working.
And the result.
“Wow, all done.”
I raised both hands. I finished organizing the mountain of documents. Marten looked surprised at me and then checked the time.
Was something wrong?
It was just past 3 p.m.
“Is this… really possible?”
Marten jumped up and came to my desk. He quickly skimmed the documents on the desk. His eyes widened as if about to burst.
Did I do something wrong?
“What’s wrong, Marten?”
No answer.
“Marten?”
“To finish organizing this quickly!”
Well… It wasn’t a presentation or a plan I had to create. It was just organizing existing materials. I didn’t understand why it should take long.
“…I thought it would take about a week.”
“No way. Is this that kind of work?”
Marten looked at me confused.
“Lady Veloce, please work with me for life.”
Ahahaha, that’s a bit much.
Korean office workers’ skills are recognized everywhere.
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Marten brought the documents with a fuss, and Maynus examined them carefully.
“Truly excellent.”
Honestly, I had entrusted the work half-expecting and half-worried. I knew Veloce was different from the rumors, but I didn’t know she had such skills.
Moreover, Maynus, who was picky and sensitive about work, was pleased. She was diligent and fast too.
“A remarkable talent. Your ability to grasp and summarize content is outstanding.”
Marten praised her.
Normally, Maynus would have criticized, but now he had no choice but to acknowledge.
“…Will she handle other work well?”
Maynus asked with faint hope in his voice.
“What other work?”
“The shipbuilding project this time.”
The shipbuilding project the emperor had dumped on them was stalled. They couldn’t accept investments from just anyone. Interviewing and filtering took too long.
Marten’s idea to get investments and share some rights in the trading ships was very well received. Many merchant groups lined up to load their goods. Some were nobles.
It was hard to have a trading ship capable of ocean voyages unless you were a huge merchant group controlling the empire. But the emperor started trade with the magically advanced Tensutung Kingdom and built new trading ships.
Tensutung had been closed off, so their magical tools were expensive. Nobles wanted to import those.
But not just any noble could enter Tensutung.
Tensutung valued ability, not status.
Many nobles in the empire still clung to old status-based pride. If problems arose, Maynus would be responsible. The emperor could pass it off, but Marten and Maynus were troubled by this.
“Maybe Veloce has a good idea. Look at this creative graph.”
“…I agree. You should discuss this with Lady Veloce.”
Maynus nodded. He thought he could ask her during dinner.
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“You have to filter candidates, but there are too many applicants?”
Maynus nodded. Usually, Korean companies filter candidates by document screening and then interviews. But that wasn’t enough here.
They couldn’t interview all of them personally.
But they also couldn’t hire people lacking character.
Then a sudden thought came to me.
Personality tests!
Documents might be prepared with all effort, but they couldn’t capture personality. It was hard to tell who was a gem and who was a stone.
That’s why personality tests exist. They can’t judge perfectly but can help somewhat.
If they filtered candidates first, wouldn’t the number of interviewees decrease?
