Ch.98I Have a Girlfriend #1

“What? You want me to be the village chief?”

Olivia, sitting on the sofa in the office, asked incredulously.

It was understandable, since I had asked her to manage the dark elf group that might come in the future.

“Yes. I’m asking because I think Olivia is the most suitable person. Being a dark elf yourself, and with your personality.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but… adding more work here is a bit much.”

“Then I’ll excuse you from farming duties. Nothing’s been decided right away, so you won’t be busy yet…”

“You mean I can skip farming? Then I’ll do it.”

Olivia readily accepted, apparently disliking physical labor.

It wasn’t that she disliked tending plants or making wine, but rather a choice driven by laziness—if she could avoid work, she would.

Olivia herself said so directly.

From my perspective, that was fine too, and I was grateful that Olivia would take on this new role.

If things went well, we could use the newly arrived dark elves for farming.

“Thank you. Right now we’re using slaves to build the village, but when the time comes, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes. Don’t worry. May I take my leave now?”

“Of course.”

I smiled as I saw Olivia off, leaving promptly after our conversation ended.

Just looking at her slick personality and straightforward character, I thought no one could be more suited for the role.

I also liked her boldness and lack of hesitation.

“Village chief issue solved. What’s next?”

Perhaps because I had so many projects underway, I found myself automatically rifling through stacks of documents looking for more work.

Only when Helena told me there was nothing more to do did I come to my senses.

I had initially just wanted to quietly live with the three dangerous ones safely contained, but somehow I’d become a working slave.

Even to me, it was truly baffling.

“Are you okay? Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Thanks. I’ve taken on too much without realizing it… Sorry, but I’m going to lie down for a bit.”

I went over to the empty sofa in the office and lay down, partly exaggerating.

Only now did I feel the accumulated mental fatigue, my body feeling as heavy as if soaked in water.

Though I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong, the thought briefly crossed my mind that perhaps I shouldn’t have started all this.

“Ellen went to supervise, right?”

“Yes. Zion sent her to oversee those slave men. Have you been so busy you forgot?”

“No. Fortunately, I’m not that out of it yet.”

I was tied down by the mountain of paperwork and couldn’t go.

So I sent Ellen alone to protect the safety of the workers there.

Even though the defeated elf soldiers had supposedly become docile, I found it difficult to trust them completely.

Ellen understood my concerns and headed to the construction site alone.

Though disappointed she couldn’t go with me, she accepted it as unavoidable.

“It won’t be much longer. Once this work is wrapped up, things will become much more relaxed.”

Helena, who had approached my head, lifted it and placed it on her thigh.

As my head touched her firm yet soft muscles, I felt myself relaxing even more.

The sensation was pleasant, possible only because of her large, toned thighs from training.

“If Helena says so, it must be true.”

“That’s right. Besides, we’ve put out all the urgent fires. The rest can be adjusted as needed.”

All we needed to do was replenish necessary supplies and ensure everything was running smoothly.

Though there was still work to be done, we had essentially entered the final stages, so as long as we didn’t completely lose focus, we should be fine.

“Your Grace, excuse me. May I come in?”

Knock knock. It was Andy, an administrator, knocking on the door himself rather than the usual servant who delivered messages.

He rarely visited in person unless it was something significant, so I wondered what it could be.

“Come in.”

Since Helena had answered, I couldn’t just lie there.

I tried to slowly sit up to greet Andy, but Helena’s hand pressing on my chest kept me lying down.

“Excuse me. It seems I’m interrupting your rest. Should I come back later?”

After greeting us, Andy tilted his head questioningly.

The slight upward curl of his lips suggested he was imagining something peculiar.

However, we had been living rather indecently for so long that we simply accepted it.

“No. We were just like this, so don’t worry about it. What brings you here?”

“Yes. Well…”

Andy pulled out a letter from inside his coat and held it out.

It was a pristine white letter sealed with red wax bearing a family crest.

Helena took it and asked with a tilt of her head:

“This is… which family’s crest?”

“It’s the Hound Count family’s crest, Your Grace.”

Did she ask knowing, or did she truly not know?

Either way, it was clear she didn’t pay much attention to the Hound family, one of the noble faction.

She even seemed somewhat dismissive.

“Ah. Right. The Hounds. But why would that family send me a letter? They’re not even from the neutral faction.”

“I didn’t read the details, so I can’t say for certain… but from the tone, it seems to be an invitation.”

“An invitation? An invitation, huh.”

An invitation. Noble social parties happen in all seasons, so invitations could arrive anytime.

I knew that much, but I couldn’t understand why a letter would come from the uncomfortable noble faction.

Or perhaps this “invitation” was actually an invitation to the afterlife.

“Thank you. I’ll have to read it myself to know what it contains.”

“Yes. Then, I’ll take my leave.”

As soon as Andy bowed and left the office, Helena tore open the envelope.

She seemed eager to check it immediately out of curiosity.

I was also curious about its contents, so I asked Helena to read it aloud.

“First, I beg your forgiveness for the rudeness of inquiring after your well-being by letter. I am Count Brown Hound…”

I closed my eyes gently as I listened to Helena’s voice.

This allowed me to focus more comfortably on her voice.

The content was simple. They were planning to hold a party over several days and wanted us to honor them with our presence.

However, there were so many flowery expressions mixed in that it was confusing.

It felt like reading an unnecessarily convoluted English exam passage.

Even though my grades weren’t particularly good, just thinking about those days made me sigh.

“A noble faction member inviting a royal faction member…”

At first glance, it might seem rude for a lower-ranked noble to send a letter to a higher-ranked one, but party invitations were an exception.

Strict adherence to rank would prevent proper social interaction.

At least that was my thinking, and the people of this continent seemed to think similarly.

However, inviting the head of an opposing faction was an exception among exceptions.

That’s why it was puzzling.

“It’s probably not an obvious assassination attempt. Perhaps they’re thinking of switching sides?”

Although Luke Killinear had seized power and done a decent job of internal stabilization, things still seemed somewhat unsettled.

Moreover, they had suffered losses because of him, so perhaps they were considering changing factions.

When I asked with such thoughts in mind, Helena shook her head and offered a cautious negative opinion.

“I think they’d be too wary of Duke Killinear for that. Even though the Hound territory is far from Killinear’s, it’s too reckless. The noble faction hasn’t completely collapsed yet.”

“That’s true. If someone would switch sides just because they’ve been pushed back a bit, they wouldn’t be welcomed in any faction. Even the loose neutral faction would probably find it distasteful.”

The neutral faction centered around Duke Caliwood was extremely loosely connected.

They were a peculiar group that maintained neutrality even among themselves, as befitting their neutral stance.

That’s why their connections were so loose.

“Could it be… Luke again?”

Suddenly, the face of Luke, the head of Killinear, flashed through my mind.

If they were acting under the direction of someone who strangely wanted to maintain a friendship with us, it could make sense.

“Luke Killinear? That’s possible too. Actually, him being behind this seems much more plausible.”

“Why would he have a subordinate do it when he could have approached us directly?”

“Face. Or perhaps he considered the ripples that would occur if the faction heads met directly. There could be other reasons too, but how would I know?”

Helena shrugged and answered straightforwardly.

She was right. How could we know Luke’s true intentions?

Besides, there was no concrete evidence that Luke had ordered this, so our entire conversation was just speculation.

In the end, the more we talked, the deeper we sank into a quagmire without answers.

“Zion. I’m going to stop thinking about this. What matters is whether we accept this invitation or not.”

Whether there was a scheme or not, it ultimately came down to whether we accepted or declined.

From that perspective, Helena’s answer was clear and correct.

“You’re right. So what do you want to do? Accept it?”

“I want to accept. If we decline, I feel like we’ll never know why they invited us. Of course, if you don’t want to, I’ll forget about it immediately.”

“I’m fine with it, so if Helena wants to go, let’s do that.”

My feelings took precedence over curiosity, but that’s precisely why I had to accept.

Honestly, even out of curiosity, most people would want to go at least once.

Besides, going out for some fresh air to clear my head didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Alright. I’ll write back immediately accepting the invitation.”

As I slightly raised my head, Helena carefully approached the desk and quickly began writing.

It was a letter of acceptance with appropriate flowery language to avoid looking too sparse.

Meanwhile, I sat up and leaned against the sofa backrest.

After quickly finishing the letter, Helena called a servant to deliver it.

The recipient was, of course, Count Hound.

“Come to think of it, isn’t this your first time attending a noble-hosted banquet?”

“Um… yes, I suppose so.”

Helena nodded as she came back to my side after finishing the letter.

I’d been to the king’s birthday party, but this was my first time attending a noble-led banquet.

Perhaps that’s why I felt a bit excited.

“By the way, we naturally brought gifts for the king’s birthday. Should we do the same for a noble banquet?”

“Not at all. Besides, I’m a duchess, and you’re a grand duke. Why would we need to bring gifts to try to impress them? If anyone should be bowing, it’s the Hound family. Our accepting their invitation is gift enough.”

While it would be normal to bring a small gift when visiting someone’s home for the first time, I realized anew that noble society was somehow different.

Helena’s words, mentioning the class difference without a trace of arrogance, sounded convincing.

It felt like she was simply stating an obvious fact.

“Is it usually easy to decline?”

“Of course. You can just write ‘I’m tired’ and decline without worrying about appearances.”

What could a count do if a duke said they were tired? It made sense.

Though I didn’t want to be pretentious, one of the three dukes of this country had no need to be concerned about a count’s feelings.

If anything, doing so would risk losing face.

Maintain courtesy without groveling.

I suddenly felt how difficult it was to maintain that line.

“Being a noble is really difficult. I preferred being Helena’s attendant.”

“…What?”

Being a grand duke comes with so many headaches.

Lost in such thoughts, I inadvertently muttered to myself and felt a chill as Helena began trembling like an aspen leaf in response to my words.

“What… do you mean? Have you… have you grown tired of me?”

Click. I heard the sound of a button being pressed. The trigger button.

People make mistakes sometimes.

I inwardly sighed lightly, then smiled and pulled Helena into my arms.

What could become a serious fire could be extinguished if caught early.

“Not at all. As an attendant, I didn’t have to think much and could just stay close to Helena. I just felt nostalgic for that time. But…”

I caressed various parts of Helena’s body and squeezed her firmly, stopping her trembling.

To be precise, her whole body stopped trembling, but her waist was still quivering.

“If things were the same as back then, I wouldn’t be able to hold Helena like this today.”

“Ah, Zion…”

The anxiety in her voice subsided, replaced by eyes filled with anticipation gazing at me.

I looked at her intently and reached out my hand, both to fulfill her desires and to satisfy my own urges.