84. The Little Sprout (6)
“Why are you here…?”
“Could you please untangle yourself from me first.”
“Untangle…?”
My gaze naturally travels downward at the mention of untangling.
My arms, they are wrapped around.
Wrapped around Karsein’s body.
What situation is this?
I was happy thinking I could sleep a few more hours, cuddling something warm and cozy in bed, but that something was Karsein?
My cheeks flush red.
The white skin that was covered in redness now spreads across my entire face, radiating a burning heat.
“Ah, aaahh!!”
“Cough!”
Pushing him away, Harnie couldn’t help but scream.
“You, you you! Pretending not to be like that, but in the end, to me…!”
“Ugh… If I had done such a thing, the oath gem would have activated!”
“Then… what happened? Why was I like this in the carriage…?”
“Really. You’re asking me that. You fell asleep first because you were tired.”
Karsein, pushed off the seat, rubs his back as he gets up.
“Asleep? Me?”
“Don’t you remember? After entering the carriage from the party, you said you’d properly repay me, so wait.”
“…”
As I rack my brain, it really was like that.
At that time, I was grumbling because Karsein was teasing me, and I hurried to finish the report on the Chatren estate to get back at him.
And then…
I don’t remember.
It means I fell asleep just like that.
How long did I sleep?
As I try to check the time, Karsein suddenly places a watch before my eyes.
‘Three, three hours? I slept that long?!’
My groggy mind snaps back to clarity.
I slept on his shoulder for three hours, and instead of thanking him, I thought he was a pervert and pushed him over?!
This is utterly ungrateful.
Harnie asked with a trembling voice.
“Um… Karsein? Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?”
“What is it.”
He asked with a reluctant response.
“That is… was my body leaning against you…?”
Karceine sighed deeply and scratched his head, then shook his head and said no.
“Did, did I sleep while holding you, Graham…?”
I hope not.
Rather, I want to believe it didn’t happen.
However, she already had a hunch that it was true based on the circumstances.
And he nodded.
Harnié’s eyes began to waver as a blush spread across her cheeks.
Her purple eyes kept glancing at Karceine’s expression, as if she couldn’t decide what to say.
“Why, why did you think that? Even because of the contract, you wouldn’t do that… In the first place, you wouldn’t think of me like that… I was out of my mind… No, that’s not it! That…!”
She was rambling, but she only had one thing to say.
“I, I’m sorry!”
To the person who had firmly caught her as she fell.
To the person who had lent her his shoulder and helped her sleep comfortably.
She apologized to such a person for harboring strange suspicions and pushing him away.
Then, a cross-shaped vein popped out on Karceine’s forehead.
-BAM!
“Ouch.”
He flicked her forehead lightly.
“What do you mean, forgiveness? If you know what you did wrong, don’t try to help me so recklessly by depriving yourself of sleep.”
“Yes, yes… Huh?”
Harnié, who had been rubbing her forehead, tilted her head as if she had misheard something.
“Karceine. What did you just say…?”
He smiled and replied.
“The investigation report on the Shatren estate. Thank you, Harnié.”
As if he already knew.
As if he didn’t need to explain.
It was an answer that said he understood what it meant.
***
“I shall return now. Harnié.”
“…”
Harnié hung her head. Her still-warm cheeks were gradually turning red with embarrassment.
Karceine smiled awkwardly, wondering if he had teased her too much, and got into the carriage without saying anything.
In the meantime, Harnié lifted her head slightly and shouted hurriedly when she saw him getting into the carriage.
“Be, be careful on your way back. Karceine! Thank you for today… er.”
Even though she was embarrassed, she had to thank him.
“You too, Harnié.”
Fortunately, Karceine seemed to have heard her, as he paused for a moment, replied, and got back into the carriage.
Harnié watched the carriage move away until it disappeared from sight.
When Karceine left, Harnié covered her reddened cheeks with both hands to cool them down, and even fanned herself with her hands.
“Oh… My face is still burning…”
Harnier had a hunch about the reason why he couldn’t seem to cool down because he was too embarrassed to show such a side of himself to Carsein.
“…You didn’t ask me why I investigated the Shatran territory until the end.”
He had only thanked him and left without asking any further questions, let alone pressing him.
That must mean that he had already guessed to some extent.
“Why is this so frustrating?”
Harnier’s eyes welled up on their own.
When Carsein caught him trying to secretly give him the Shatran territory report.
He didn’t ask how he knew.
It wouldn’t have been difficult for him to see a single document fall from his hand while he was asleep.
It must have been a satisfactory deal, even from his point of view.
But strangely enough, it didn’t feel satisfactory.
Was it because his intentions had been discovered?
Or was it because he was dissatisfied that the other person had noticed it in advance and wasn’t surprised?
‘If that’s not it…’
-If you know what you did wrong, don’t try to help me so recklessly in the future, even if it means sacrificing your sleep.
Carsein’s voice echoed in Harnier’s mind.
“Ugh…!”
His cheeks flushed again.
It was even more so because Carsein had been watching him the whole time.
Don’t try to help me so recklessly in the future, even if it means sacrificing your sleep. Judging by how accurately he had put it, he hadn’t missed a thing.
He had been aware that he had been yawning in the morning.
He had remembered that he had been sleep-deprived because he had things to do.
And that meant he had been watching him focus on the report during the remaining time in the carriage.
And…
-Did you sleep well?
His voice, which he had heard as soon as he woke up.
He had been so flustered by the close distance that the scene had become deeply embedded in his mind.
“Ugh, uwaaah-!”
Harnier flailed his arms in the air, trying to erase the memory that was floating in his mind like a cloud.
He desperately tried to deny the strange thought that Carsein seemed different today.
‘Yes. It’s because of that consideration. The strange feeling that I’ve fallen for him is because of his consideration!’
It was because he had received more than he had given.
It was because he hadn’t been able to repay him properly.
“Hmph. I won’t lose next time.”
Harnier, who felt a strange sense of frustration, clenched his fists, mistaking the lingering warmth in his body for heat, and vowed to try again next time.
In the meantime, Mina approached with a twinkle in her eye.
“My lady. Oh, really.”
“Mina?”
“I told you from afar that your bathwater is getting cold. How long are you going to keep looking?”
“It took you that long?”
Harnier tilted his head and asked.
Because it seemed like Mina’s voice was not heard well.
Of course, it was true that Mina approached him without saying anything on purpose.
Because Harnier’s gaze was fixed on the carriage.
What does that mean?
As a woman, she couldn’t help but be curious.
“Lord Carsein. Isn’t he a good person?”
“Huh? Yeah. Well…? Looking at the fact that he takes care of such trivial things…”
You’re caught!
Mina smiled faintly.
“Yes? I said it’s okay because I’m sure about the business relationship. It’s trivial?”
“Huh?! Oh, no, that’s not it…! There is something like that!”
“What is it? Did you take extra care of the young lady?”
“Oh, no! There’s no such thing. The bathwater is getting cold? I’ll go take a bath quickly!”
Harnier thought he had escaped without being caught, but Mina’s sharp gaze had already caught him long ago.
Cheeks flushed.
Slightly reddened ear tips and fluttering eyes.
And one shoulder, wrapped around Carsein’s arm, which he was unconsciously caressing.
It was safe to say that small buds had already sprouted here.
“Let’s go together, miss!”
Our young lady, who hasn’t had a proper romance for so long, won’t she be able to have a happy time if she meets that man?
Imagining a little far from reality, Mina followed Harnier.
“Whew.”
“Is the water temperature okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just the right temperature.”
Harnier, who felt as if his tired body was melting away, soaked his whole body in the bathtub and had a little break after taking care of Mina.
With his eyes closed and immersed in a moment of liberation, he suddenly became worried.
“The Eastern Nobles’ Conference… It seems like they’re preparing for it?”
After the Great Unification of the Peselos Empire, the Imperial side issued a tough policy to eradicate the vested noble forces that caused resentment among the people of the Empire by indulging in luxury and pleasure.
Those who protect the Empire were far more commoners than nobles, and the nobles used this as a shield to enjoy peace within the Empire.
So the Imperial family says.
If you are a noble, act like one.
They warned us to show that we are qualified to enjoy that right.
What kind of motion did you receive as a noble of the Empire, what agenda did you present, and what results did you achieve?
The Imperial family had to prove it in front of each family every year.
The place to prove this was the Eastern Nobles’ Conference, which was held every year.
“The Shatran territory there…”
Carsein chose the territory.
What kind of system will be introduced to change the lives of the people of the territory.
How will he create opportunities in their impoverished lives?
How will he prevent the increasing crime and resolve the nobles’ dissatisfaction toward them?
He said he would prove it by taking direct responsibility and governing the fief.
Choosing a fief itself is not bad.
Since fiefs are the most common among nobles in the Eastern Nobles’ Assembly.
However, it could have been a bad choice for Karsein alone.
“It wasn’t in very good condition even when I investigated it myself.”
Shatran Fief.
It was once a prosperous place even in Bagran, but it is not anymore.
It went downhill in an instant when a single person intervened, and the residents fiercely criticized Karsein, who gave the order.
After that, they tried to overcome it as Karsein’s order was withdrawn by Arina’s intervention, but…
They failed to regain their former prosperity.
Even to this day.
Even if he were to revive the Shatran Fief in that situation, he didn’t think he would find an answer easily.
“…It probably won’t be easy. Recovering the Shatran Fief, which was one of the most prosperous fiefs in the Bagran territory.”
Before he could achieve anything, the residents of the Shatran Fief would give him immense backlash.
How could they not when the person who had ruined their lives was now saying he would revive their fief?
From Noble mtl dot com
It didn’t even seem like there was room to change the atmosphere.
At least, that was what Harnié had investigated and concluded.
That was why he could smile again.
“But you took the report despite knowing that… You must have already thought of something?”
That man had once overturned a huge case in a trial and created a result that no one had expected.
There was no anxiety in his voice as he thanked me for taking the Shatran Fief report.
He must have already anticipated that he would be given the task of reviving the Shatran Fief and had already planned and prepared a solution.
“I’ll be waiting to see how you surprise the world again. Karsein.”
***
“…You’re very late.”
When I returned to the Duke’s residence, it was already very late at night.
Which means.
The sound of that window opening.
-Clang!
▶Late Night Return Event has occurred!◀
▶You will inevitably encounter one of the Duke’s family members!◀
“Of course.”
It appeared without fail.
Late Night Return Event.
A considerably annoying event that was included in the game system settings simply to restrict free actions.
The penalty is to forcibly encounter a family member.
I have experienced it myself, but it’s annoying because you get additional choices. If the number of occurrences increases, your intimacy decreases.
Of course, you can use it to your advantage like before, but that only applies to Chapter 1 when there’s an enemy named Emma.
Right now, it’s just a penalty.
“Originally, I should have gotten something in return, like an equivalent exchange… but I don’t think I’m at a loss, you know.”
■Items in Possession
[ Shatran Territory Report ]
How could I be at a loss when I got something like this?
Strictly speaking, I benefited much more from this than the system did.
In order to deal with the homecoming event in moderation, I entered the main entrance of the mansion.
A family member soon appeared.
As it was still a chilly night, someone must have covered her with a blanket.
[ Intimacy: 43% ]
‘Hmm? Was there a family member with that kind of value?’
Isabella surpassed that value a long time ago.
Since Arina fell once, she couldn’t have risen that much.
As for Flora… well, I haven’t seen her since my guilt went up. It wouldn’t have been that high anyway.
‘Then is it Claire?’
I don’t know why it went up, but I was right to think it was Claire.
The last time I saw her intimacy value, it was 37%.
If I go in, she’ll probably nag me like the second child, asking why I came so late.
I guess I can just act spoiled and say I was meeting my fiancee.
…I thought it would be like that. Until I saw the person in front of me again.
‘Why is she here?’
Unlike Claire, she was much smaller, and her hair wasn’t pink.
She wasn’t rushing over to nag me as soon as she saw me, but was nodding off.
That’s right. The family member in front of me was Flora, not Claire.
[ Flora Vagrant ]
[ Intimacy: 43% ]
In the forced events where I encounter family members, I’ve mostly encountered Arina, Claire, or Isabella.
Even if I did encounter Flora, it wasn’t like she was nodding off all by herself like she was now, but rather with Emma.
As I looked at Flora, who was fast asleep, I wondered why she was like this.
‘Well, it can’t be helped. I just need to solve the event anyway, so I’ll just wake her up and give her what she wants, or I’ll just have to lower her intimacy in the process.’
In the past, I would have complained inwardly about Flora’s intimacy being lowered, but now I didn’t really care.
Just then.
The notification sound from the status window rang out, and Arina’s voice was heard.
“You came in really quickly. Your sister waited for you and fell asleep in the cold wind.”
Truly, a hateful voice.
Ariana you wench
Ariana you b*tch