Chapter 25

Hailey’s warning was pointless, because Latrian opened his eyes as soon as she left the office.

He couldn’t get up right away, weighed down by fatigue. He took a few deep breaths before finally lifting his head.

Neil, sorting papers, noticed and hurried over.

“Lord Latrian, you’re awake?”

“… Where’s Hailey?”

“To the Treasury…”

“Shale again?”

“… Yes.”

Frowning, he shook his head.

The aides who’d been with him since birth sometimes crossed boundaries. Their concern was genuine, sometimes with overly sentimental looks, and sometimes with feelings he couldn’t answer.

Skillfully prodding in legitimate ways was typical of Akrender family retainers.

Latrian got up. It was fair to expect his aides to work, but not to be needlessly harassed.

Just then, Bren entered and greeted Latrian with delight.

“Where are you going?”

“To find ‘my aide’.”

From behind, someone exclaimed, “He said ‘my aide’!” as usual, but he ignored it.

If it were winter, everyone would be in bed by now, but since it was summer, many rooms in the mansion were still brightly lit.

As the night deepened, the lamps shone even brighter, but beneath them, the retainers’ faces grew darker by the minute. Unfortunately, this busy routine would continue until autumn ripened. Before winter arrived, Mart’s harbors would be packed with sailing ships.

Latrian walked a familiar path to the eastern mansion. At this time of year, even retainers who normally commuted from home stayed at the eastern mansion. Naturally, the maids and attendants were busy too.

The attendant who had just passed by Latrian bowed quickly and disappeared to the end of the corridor.

Before Latrian even reached the Treasury office on the first floor of the eastern mansion, the sound of voices could be heard.

Shale’s voice, bristling with thorns, tangled with Hailey’s firm tone. As the conversation grew heated, Latrian couldn’t help but press his forehead.

He had told them to hand over any Treasury documents to him directly, so why did they ignore him and come all the way here just to pick a fight?

Latrian started to knock, then hesitated. His hand, paused at the door, quietly lowered. He’d thought Hailey was being pushed around, but now she was fighting back.

He leaned loosely against the darkness at the end of the corridor.

In the end, Latrian could only admire how she managed to make Shale behave. She always exceeded expectations.

Hailey burst out of the office, not even noticing Latrian, too busy catching her breath. She had been so fierce moments ago, and now she was clutching her chest and groaning.

A smile slipped from Latrian’s lips before he realized. She spun around, eyes wide in surprise; the open mouth and the voice about to burst out would be a problem.

Latrian quickly reached out and gently pressed his fingers to her lips.

“Shh.”

Golden eyes reflected his form under the moonlight. Her breath tickled his palm.

“Don’t make a fuss, let’s go. Got it?”

Nods and small gestures followed, and the two stepped away carefully. As soon as they entered the garden, Hailey lifted her chin stiffly.

“What was that? Were you just watching outside the whole time?”

“It looked like you were handling it pretty well.”

It was meant as praise, but Hailey only pouted.

“Why do you even try so hard?”

“Should I just let it go? If we don’t get the ship repaired, they’ll keep whining that we can’t sail. Luan said he might die because the ship leaks water.”

“You’re always so sincere about everything.”

Latrian even yawned, lacing his fingers behind his head. Hailey’s eyes narrowed into triangles at the sight.

“Then why did you bother coming out here, Lord Latrian?”

“To find ‘my aide’.”

Hailey’s face scrunched up.

“Why do you always call me ‘my aide’?”

“What else should I call my aide?”

“I have a name, you know?”

“Right, Hailey.”

“… You do know I really don’t like you, right?”

“Of course.”

Unable to hold back, Hailey slapped his forearm. Latrian only chuckled, which stoked her anger even more.

Their clear laughter and bickering voices drifted around the garden before fading away like mist.

When the two returned to the office, Hailey found Neil nodding off in a chair.

His neck was bent at an odd angle, looking both strange and pitiful. Papers spilled from beneath his fingers. Feeling sorry, Hailey shook Neil’s shoulder to wake him.

“Neil.”

“Ah!”

Startled, Neil blinked and asked in a trembling voice,

“… Was I just sleeping?”

“Yes.”

Hailey sighed at her aide’s overconfidence in his stamina. Pulling all-nighters was fine for a day or two, but every day like this would wear anyone down.

She gave a wry smile and patted Neil’s shoulder.

“Go get some sleep.”

“But I still need to check this… Ah, what about the matter you went out for?”

“It’s resolved.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And I’ll handle that, so go on.”

“But…”

Despite his words, Neil’s eyes were filled with hope. Hailey waved her hand silently. He set aside the papers and stood up as if he’d been waiting. Before leaving, he bowed deeply.

Hailey, having succeeded in sending off her exhausted aide, glanced across the room. Latrian was already picking up paperwork.

“Shouldn’t you rest a bit longer?”

“Do we have that luxury?”

Her eyes landed on the massive stack of papers piled on one side of the desk. Unchecked documents were stacked so high that just looking at them was enough to give anyone a headache.

Hailey raised both hands and grabbed at her own hair. Her slender fingers raked through her brown locks mercilessly.

“We may not have time, but we need to survive.”

“Not sleeping a little won’t kill you.”

“Maybe not you, but I’m dying here.”

“That’s why I told you to get a room at the eastern mansion.”

“I have a house, you know?”

“And I told you that you wouldn’t be able to go. Just like now.”

She couldn’t say, “I thought that was nonsense back then.”

Hailey let out a dying groan. Maybe that moved Latrian, because he pointed to the couch across from him.

“If you’re really sleepy, just sleep there.”

But Hailey’s eyes sharpened.

He was telling her to sleep right here? Wouldn’t it be better to let her sleep in the common room used by the aides at the eastern mansion? She clicked her tongue at her boss’s stubbornness, but Latrian added in a calm voice,

“When the sun rises, everyone has to go to the harbor. Isn’t it a waste of time to go all the way to the eastern mansion?”

“……”

“If you can’t wake up, that’s trouble for me too.”

“Still…”

“If it were me, I’d sleep five more minutes rather than argue over this.”

“I still need to check what Neil was looking at, and rewrite the draft for Shale…”

“I’ll do it.”

With her boss’s offer, Hailey fell silent. A week ago, she would have sneered, telling him not to act so nice.

But now, it was different.

His words, telling her to hand things over, sounded so tempting at that moment. People really do get desperate when pushed to extremes.

Still, she hesitated, feeling guilty for accepting so easily. Latrian, eyes fixed on the paperwork, waved his hand.

“I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

“… Then, I’m really sorry, but I’ll just close my eyes for a moment.”

Hailey threw herself onto the couch.

The joy of being able to rest her body was truly, truly overwhelming—and she fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Latrian raised his head at the chill brushing his nape. Cool night air was blowing in through the open window.

His gaze turned to Hailey, lying across from him. As the wind blew, she shivered.

He’d thought it before, but was she sensitive to wind? It wasn’t great for a navigator to be weak against wind… or maybe it was good, since she could sense it well?

Pushing aside his thoughts, he tried to focus on the paperwork, but the words wouldn’t stick. Another chill made him anxious.

“Haa.”

If he’d known, he would have let her sleep in an empty room at the eastern mansion. He’d kept her here thinking it was better than a dusty room.

Latrian sighed and got up. He crossed the room, shut the window, and turned back. On the way to his seat, he paused, remembering something. Maybe it was too much, but he wondered why he was hesitating over something so trivial.

He opened the bottom drawer of the office desk. There was a blanket a maid had left there once.

With the thick blanket in hand, he approached Hailey. He spread it wide and gently draped it over her.

“Hm…”

Just then, she stirred, and Latrian flinched. It felt like cold sweat was trickling down his neck.

But Hailey fell back asleep, and Latrian managed to calm his pounding heart.

In the quiet, as he looked at the sleeping woman’s face, his breath grew cautious.

As expected, Arcitina intended to push him to his limits. She was giving him especially difficult, complicated, and demanding tasks, as if to test whether he truly wanted to become the head of the family. When the body is exhausted, the mind slips, and under a distracted mind, true intentions are revealed.

The most important person here was Hailey. The more sincerely he acted as the head, the more she needed to act perfectly as his aide.

The Akrender family was as busy as it was wealthy. Latrian was used to being worked hard, but he worried whether Hailey could handle it.

But surprisingly, she matched him well and endured better than expected.

“Really…”

As Latrian rose, his gaze lingered on Hailey’s forehead. He fidgeted with his fingers for a long time, then, as if deciding, reached out. But he couldn’t quite touch her. Her brown hair was scattered in the way. Awkwardly, he curled his fingers and shook his head.

This was enough. Human kindness toward a struggling aide—this was as far as it should go.

He brushed his cheek with the back of his hand. His face was warm against his cold fingertips. As he returned to his seat, the silk hem of his robe swished at his ankle.

His hands moved through the paperwork faster than before.

– To be continued in Volume 2