Chapter 4
“…….”
I glared at the cause of all my problems—Tessarion.
He had ignored me for four whole hours, only working on documents. Now, he finally looked up.
“Roy.”
“Y-Yes. You called……?”
Leaning against the wall, I answered in a lazy and annoyed voice, half mixing “yes” and “why.”
“I want to do the Archervolt reservoir repair and the water system construction at the same time. Can you make a schedule and budget draft? No, never mind. I’ll have someone else do that. How about starting with the surveying standards? We also need to secure fertilizer from the Wells region…”
As he rubbed his temples and spoke, he looked at my tied-up hands and sighed.
“Forget it. I’ll take care of it myself.”
“Yes……”
I turned my head away with a grumpy attitude.
Right now, I’m just a servant who doesn’t know anything. I want to be a knight, so I’m just like any other trainee my age, with an average body and strength.
Why is he talking about reservoir repair, water systems, surveying laws, and fertilizer to a servant knight like me? I could do it because I did it during my third life as his aide, but I’m not his aide now—just a servant.
“If you’re bored, ask for snacks or read a book.”
I didn’t answer.
Roy Dover was treated worse than a commoner servant in this mansion.
My father, Baron Dover, had borrowed 50 million gold from the duke. He took the Galleon fleet to the Eastern Continent to pay it back and never came back. As the oldest son, I was left behind as a hostage.
I had been doing all the dirty jobs like cleaning horse poop and polishing weapons. And now he tells me to eat cookies and read a book like I have time to relax?
“I’m fine.”
Thanks to him, I had no appetite, and after diving deep into one field for several lifetimes, I was sick of books too.
In the past, I would’ve jumped at the chance to do anything to gain Tessarion’s trust.
…But now, I’m just tired.
“Your Grace, if you don’t have anything for me to do, may I get some sleep?”
“Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as he gave permission, I let out a huge yawn. My tied-up hands dropped weakly, and my eyelids slowly closed.
Ah… whatever.
I’ll think about it after a nap.
A little while later.
Grrr, snore… puffff…
Tessarion looked at Roy’s relaxed, sleeping face for a moment, then clicked his tongue.
“Wow… he really is carefree.”
A lot had happened on just the first day. Still, he had finished quite a lot of work.
Spring was coming.
When the snow melts, the embankment in Archervolt breaks and causes floods. After the flood is stopped, fertilizer prices go up because of war, making farming hard.
One day, a very young servant knight had grabbed him, insisting the reservoir needed repairs. Tessarion had been shocked. Back then, he didn’t have time to think about floods and thought they couldn’t be stopped, so he just told Roy to handle it. And Roy did—he stopped the flood and even stocked up fertilizer.
In his first, second, and third lives, Roy always acted like he knew the future. He worked hard and stayed busy. Thanks to that, even during war, the duchy’s economy stayed strong.
Tessarion regretted not trying harder. After that, he started giving orders before Roy even asked.
The more they returned to the past, the faster work got done. Tessarion’s body moved on its own now.
Of course, he also felt frustrated and angry that all his achievements were lost again and he was stuck in this political mess once more.
And it was all because of Roy Dover.
“Love? Tsk. Love, huh…”
Tessarion repeated Roy’s words. Then, looking at Roy sleeping so comfortably in front of his master, he asked,
“If you want to love, just do it. Why think so hard?”
He remembered Roy’s serious face earlier and chuckled.
“Well, I guess with Baron Dover running off with that much money, it’s stressful.”
The Roy he knew was always honest and hardworking. He never got into gambling, smuggling, or scamming. When someone tried to make him a courtesan, he was ready to kill himself right away.
Tessarion looked at the sleeping Roy for a long time, deep in thought. Then he came to a terrifying decision.
“Yeah. I’ll marry him off first. Better than dying while trying to repay 50 million gold…”
Better than dying and repeating everything again and again, right? Roy’s marriage partner… well, someone should be around here.
Roy frowned in his sleep, not knowing Tessarion was planning something evil with glowing eyes.
“Puffff, ugh…”
Knock knock.
“Your Grace, a letter has arrived. A carrier pigeon from the Imperial City.”
It was the chief servant.
Tessarion clicked his tongue and looked at the man who entered his office.
He wanted to say, “Cut off the bird’s neck and burn the letter,” but the emperor probably put tracking and security magic on the seal. When had he realized that again?
The chief servant carefully said,
“It’s an urgent message from Princess Verieta Barner Beletti.”
“Give it here.”
It wasn’t from the emperor—it was from Verieta. That made it worth reading.
The chief servant handed him a gold envelope on a silver tray, bowing his head.
Grrrr… Roy, sitting across from Tessarion, snored loudly in his sleep. The chief servant frowned.
In all 40 years of his service, he had never seen someone openly sleep in front of the Duke of Claremont. Even if Roy was a noble by birth, a servant should act like one.
The chief servant cleared his throat and poked Roy’s side to wake him.
But even when he poked and pinched him, Roy just scratched his side and didn’t wake up.
The chief servant glanced at Tessarion.
Tessarion took a paper knife, pricked his thumb, and dropped a bit of blood on the royal seal. As soon as the magic broke, the envelope opened with a loud noise.
Tessarion took out the letter from the glittering envelope and burned it without hesitation.
Whoosh!
The chief servant swallowed nervously and tried to stay calm.
He could’ve just said to burn the letter in the fireplace, but instead, he let out a sharp, cold energy. He must have been really angry.
Well, of course. Trying to force a sickly woman, not even of true royal blood, into marriage with Claremont—it was basically trying to destroy their family line.
The chief servant, who had served three generations of Claremont Dukes, felt sad.
Why would someone so perfect have to go through a marriage like that…?
Something must’ve happened to the woman in the capital. Tessarion’s handsome face twisted as he read the letter.
The servant waited nervously for instructions, while the young knight snored away, drooling.
“Your Grace… should I wake him?”
The chief servant asked carefully. He couldn’t even think of what to call this servant who the duke fed, dressed, and cared for personally.
Tessarion replied while still reading the letter.
“Leave him.”
“…Sorry?”
“They say sunlight boosts immunity.”
Immunity?
What’s that?
“Ah, yes… I understand……”
The chief servant just closed his mouth. If Tessarion didn’t care, there was no need for him to step in. Still, worry clouded his face.
Since early morning, the castle had been in chaos because of this servant knight. Though he tried to keep it quiet, Tessarion’s strange actions throughout the day had people whispering all sorts of weird and rude rumors.
If those rumors reached the Imperial City…
The chief servant’s head started to throb.
[To the noble lord of winter, my dear fiancé, Duke Tessarion Claremont.]
(Translation: Hey.)
