Chapter 9
Bruf had left, and barely five minutes had passed.
Unable to endure the awkwardness any longer, she abruptly stood up.
“Let’s go now.”
She quickly exited the counseling office. Eched, who had been following her, was now walking beside her.
Though they weren’t speaking, the open space made the atmosphere less awkward than before.
‘He’s always been the quiet type anyway…’
Not that there was anything to talk about.
She couldn’t exactly make small talk like, ‘The weather is nice today.’
“I can’t figure you out, my lady.”
While she was lost in thought, Eched muttered as if talking to himself.
“The Grievance Counseling Office is for listening to grievances, not solving them. Besides, Bruf Robberalter’s concerns were more like romance counseling than grievances.”
His blunt words made her shrug her shoulders.
“I wasn’t helping Bruf. I was helping the people around him.”
“What kind of twisted logic is that?”
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be in love, Commander, but when a coworker is in love, it’s the people around them who suffer. Especially if it’s unrequited love.”
“…”
“Do you know how much work gets delayed when people are distracted by romance? And even when they do work, it’s a mess. I was simply listening to his concerns to improve the efficiency of the Foreign Affairs Department.”
She puffed out her chest and continued confidently.
“After all, I’m the Chief of the Grievance Counseling Office.”
It was a perfectly valid reason.
Eched gave her a strange look.
“You’re speaking as if you’ve experienced it yourself.”
Ah.
She had gotten carried away, relying too much on the memories of her past life.
“Well… it’s just something I’ve heard.”
She brushed it off and kept walking.
“Is that your only reason?”
“Hmm… Well, that’s the official reason. The personal reason is that I want to boost the counseling office’s performance.”
“I didn’t know you were so eager to improve performance.”
“I need to grow, too. I can’t spend my whole life helping the Knight Order. I need to become independent.”
Yes, independence.
The independence she had always dreamed of!
“Independence, huh. Is your current office uncomfortable?”
“Yes. Very much so. It’s inconvenient not having a dedicated counseling office.”
‘And having to see you every day is also uncomfortable.’
She wondered when the faint remnants of her feelings would finally disappear.
She could feel his gaze fixed on her. His narrowed eyes seemed to be contemplating something.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the training grounds.
“Commander, we’re here. I’ll take my leave now.”
The knights training outside turned their attention toward them. She quickly bid farewell to Eched and left the area.
The path from here to the Crown Prince’s palace was a long promenade.
As she walked along the path lined with trees, she spotted Bruf.
“Bruf!”
“Oh, Chief.”
The promenade was a path rarely used by others, so she no longer had to worry about being seen.
Finally, she could walk alongside Bruf without concern.
“What does she do?”
“She works in the dining hall.”
“Then we’ll have to go there to meet her.”
Following the path from the promenade, they passed through the arched gate of the garden and pressed themselves against the corner of a window of the grand Crown Prince’s palace. From there, they had a perfect view of the dining hall.
“We need to scout first.”
Bruf and she clung to the window, peering inside.
As it was nearing dinnertime, the dining hall was bustling.
“Who is she?”
“She’s not visible right now. She has orange hair and hazel eyes. She’s shorter than you, Chief, and has delicate features… like a squirrel.”
“Delicate features like a squirrel… Ah, is it that person?”
She pointed to a woman who had just emerged from the back.
Bruf nodded fervently, his gaze already fixated on the woman.
Seeing the slight smile forming on his lips, she thought,
‘Does he really like her that much?’
The woman, wearing white kitchen attire, was rolling out dough with a rolling pin.
Afterward, she kneaded the dough several times to shape it into a round form.
Though her face was slightly flushed from the heat, she wore a satisfied smile as she gently patted the rounded dough.
“At first, I thought you were just blinded by love, Bruf.”
The woman’s actions—placing the finished dough on a tray and wiping her sweat with a cloth—were utterly charming.
Watching the woman, who was the epitome of cuteness and loveliness, she suddenly became curious.
“Bruf, how do I look to you?”
“Chief, you look glamorous but sharp. You have a face that’s not easy to approach.”
“Not easy to approach?”
Thinking about it, that seemed accurate.
Her large, double-lidded eyes had an upward slant, giving her a fierce appearance even without makeup.
“Is there no kindness in my expression?”
“Not kindness, but sometimes you look melancholic. Very occasionally, though.”
He answered without hesitation, as if it was something he had thought about before.
“I look melancholic?”
“Yes. Do you remember that day? The day you threw my handkerchief away?”
“…Yes.”
‘My dark past.’
“That day, you looked like you were about to cry. It wasn’t because you were upset about losing to the Commander, but because your face just looked so sad. I couldn’t just ignore it.”
Did I really look like that that day?
All she remembered was coming in second place again and how unbearably hot it had been.
At the time, she hadn’t even regained her past-life memories, so why had she made such an expression?
She might have been upset, but she had never thought of herself as sad about losing.
“Well, Bruf. I’m sorry about that, even if it’s late.”
Her neck felt inexplicably warm, and she deliberately avoided the intense gaze fixed on her.
Soon, the ever-good-natured Bruf burst into laughter with a hearty
“Ha-ha!”
“Your ears have turned red.”
“Don’t laugh. It’s embarrassing.”
She fiddled with her burning ears, grumbling for no reason.
After laughing for a while, Bruf wiped away the tears that had welled up.
“I didn’t say that to get an apology. I’ve long since forgotten about those feelings. I just think of it as a memory from my school days.”
Bruf Robberalter was kind.
She only realized this now, something she hadn’t noticed before.
Nodding at his kind words, she turned her gaze back to the dining hall.
The woman was already gone, carrying an empty basket through the back door.
“How long are you just going to watch? Let’s follow her. Go say hello or something.”
“Chief, maybe next time…”
“Why are you so spineless? At this rate, when will you make any progress?”
“Progress? I’m not even thinking about that yet.”
Why were all the decent men in this world like this?
“Love is something you seize.”
“…Who said such an embarrassing thing?”
Bruf visibly shuddered, as if the very thought repulsed him.
“Oh, Orgon did.”
“Ah… If it’s His Highness, that sounds like something he’d say.”
In truth, it was something she had picked up in her past life.
‘Sorry, Orgon!’
She decided to postpone dealing with the damage she’d done to Orgon’s reputation and headed toward the backyard, where the woman had gone.
Of course, she had to drag Bruf along, who stubbornly resisted the whole way.
“How are you so strong?”
He grumbled as she pulled him along.
“I may not look it, but I ranked high in the Academy’s swordsmanship classes.”
“You mean the ones that included written tests?”
“…”
This guy really knew how to leave her speechless.
If it weren’t for the swordsmanship classes, she and Eched would have tied for first place.
Casting a sidelong glance at Bruf, who had just reopened old wounds, she continued walking.
The backyard was mostly used by the maids.
Long clotheslines stretched out, with laundry dried crisp under the sunlight.
They hid behind a corner wall, watching her.
The woman was much shorter than the clothesline, so she had to stand on tiptoes and stretch her arms to unclip the pins.
Her outstretched arms trembled as she tried to reach the high line.
‘Cute.’
Hadn’t Bruf said earlier that I looked like a squirrel?
Indeed, she belonged to the same category of small, adorable creatures as Bruf.
As she watched Bruf’s crush struggle, she snapped back to her senses.
But Bruf, too, was lost in thought, watching her.
She smacked his back hard enough to make a loud thud.
Startled, Bruf snapped out of it, his face flushing red as he rubbed the spot where she’d hit him, hopping in pain.
“You should go help her! What are you doing?”
“What?”
“This is your chance to score points. Go! Move!”
She quickly pushed Bruf forward. Stumbling, he found himself closer to the woman.
Before she noticed him, he turned back to her with a face full of panic.
‘W-what do I do?’
‘Take down the pin for her!’
They communicated furiously with gestures and glances.
Finally understanding her exaggerated hand signals, Bruf nodded resolutely and approached.
The woman, struggling with a large sheet, didn’t notice him.
From behind the sheet, Bruf easily unpinned the laundry for her.
The sheet fell away, and the two finally faced each other.
‘Yes! This is it!’
She cheered internally, clapping like a seal.
It was a classic scene straight out of a romance novel.
“Oh, oh… Sir Bruf…”
Even from a distance, she could see the woman’s face redden. Flustered, she shyly accepted the laundry Bruf handed her.
“T-thank you.”
“May I help you with the rest?”
Oh, wow. She had thought he was clueless, but he was a natural.
Though he was already helping with the laundry, he still asked if he could assist further.
The woman, startled, quickly tried to stop him.
“No, no. I couldn’t possibly ask you to do such a thing, Sir Bruf…”
“It’s fine. It’s an honor to help Miss Sylphide with her work.”
What? Her name was Sylphide?
Even her name sounded like a little fairy. It was adorably otherworldly.
Despite Sylphide’s protests, Bruf continued helping with the laundry.
Watching the scene with satisfaction, she suddenly heard a rustling sound behind her.
“Terry, what are you doing here?”
It was Orgon.
“Shh. This is a great moment.”
She motioned for him to be quiet, and Orgon crept closer, pressing himself against the wall beside her. Together, they peeked over the wall.
“Bruf? What’s he doing here?”
“He’s on a romantic mission.”
“Romantic?”
“It’s the first success of the Grievance Counseling Office in two years. Look at the atmosphere. Doesn’t it seem like it’s going well?”
It seemed Sylphide also had feelings for Bruf.
Though shy, the two chatted as they folded the laundry together.
‘Wait. If this goes well, I could really boost my performance record.’
At that moment, all the romance stories she had read, watched, and heard in her past life flooded her mind.
Though she wasn’t thrilled about playing matchmaker, the thought of improving her performance and gaining independence was incredibly appealing.
‘If I could become independent, I’d move as far away from the 1st Knight Order as possible.’
She even decided on a location, as if her independence was already secured.
“Hehehe. This is perfect.”
Lost in her daydreams, she didn’t notice Orgon looking at her strangely as she chuckled mischievously.