Chapter 123
Tap-, tap-, tap-.
Franz’s fingers tapped the innocent desk.
Letter paper lay on the desk, but after quite some time, it remained completely blank.
“What should I write?”
The recipients of the letters were the nobles near the Esteban Dukedom.
Since he had received a title, he figured he should at least offer his greetings and bring up the matter of Yuna while he was at it.
However, he just couldn’t get a feel for what to write.
“Nobles are sensitive about this kind of thing…”
Since it was a letter sent to nobles, he wanted to use their way of speaking if possible.
You know how it is: adding strange rhetorical flourishes about the sun’s blessing, the lush greenery of the trees, the chirping of the birds, and so on.
Of course, he couldn’t understand their way of speaking. It was difficult for the speaker to say and difficult for the listener to understand. Honestly speaking, it was incredibly inefficient.
But didn’t they say when in Rome, do as the Romans do? Since he had become a noble and was trying to interact with other nobles, he wanted to follow their rules if possible.
The problem was that he wasn’t used to it, so it took a long time just to write a single letter. Sentences came to mind, but it felt like they just wouldn’t organize themselves in his head.
If they were close, he would just send something appropriate and be done with it, but of all things, this was their first meeting.
Haa-.
A sigh escaped his lips in frustration.
It was then. Suddenly, the door suddenly opened, and Arian poked her head through the gap.
“Oh? Are you still writing?”
“Well, it just happened to be so… Anyway, didn’t you head back?”
“I came because I thought I should at least say goodbye before leaving. I didn’t know you would still be writing that.”
“I didn’t know it would take this long either…”
Franz said that and let out a short sigh.
Arian strode over to him, elegantly sweeping her hair behind her ear as she spoke.
“Shall I help you?”
It was a rather tempting offer. Since Arian had grown up in a ducal family, she would be able to write a letter like this with ease.
On the one hand, it felt a bit questionable to have someone else help with a letter he was supposed to write himself, but…
'She’s my secretary in the first place, isn’t she…?'
Well, it was common for a secretary to write letters, so he figured it would be fine. He didn’t really have any use for a secretary outside of times like this anyway.
Thus, Franz said.
“Yeah, help me out.”
But perhaps that choice was a mistake.
Right after Franz answered, a playful smile spread across Arian’s face.
“Yes, I will help you. Since the competent Magic Tower master seems unable to write a letter, it can’t be helped.”
It wasn’t a reproach or a criticism. It was just a purely teasing remark.
But wouldn’t he be an amateur if he fell for something like this so easily?
Meaning to enjoy the other person’s reaction to the prank, Franz spoke calmly instead.
“Yeah, thanks for helping.”
When he even gave her a smile to go with it, Arian stuck out her lower lip with a dissatisfied expression.
“You’re no fun…”
Who told her to play such an obvious prank? She should have done something a bit more fun and unexpected.
Still, thanks to that, his frustrated feelings had disappeared, so it wasn’t too bad.
Franz thought so as he waved his hand in the air. Then, a chair in the corner of the Magic Tower Lord’s Office flew through the air and landed next to him.
Tap, tap-.
Franz patted the chair with his palm and said.
“That’s enough, so come over here and sit down. Let’s write the letter together.”
Arian seemed to ponder for a moment, then soon smiled brightly and sat next to Franz. Her dissatisfied expression was long gone.
“So, what kind of content do you want to write?”
“Well, just a general invitation to meet and talk.”
“Hmm… then something like this…”
As Arian began to move her pen, the blank letter paper immediately started filling up with words.
Then, Arian suddenly stopped her pen and spoke.
“I’m asking just in case. Do you have any thoughts of holding a banquet…”
“Let’s not have one if possible.”
Because he had attended too many banquets recently, both his body and mind were quite exhausted. Dealing with people was never an easy task, after all.
And there was research, or catching Cultists. He had quite a backlog of things he needed to do, so it seemed he would have to focus only on those for the time being.
How much time had passed with Franz and Arian putting their heads together like that?
Tap-.
Arian’s pen placed the final period on the letter.
“I’m done writing. Would you like to read it over?”
“Yeah.”
Franz began to read the letter Arian had written. He had watched the whole process, so he didn’t feel a particular need to, but it wouldn’t hurt to be sure.
The letter was excellent, just as he had expected, to the point where he wondered if there could be a better letter than this.
It was at that moment that Franz suddenly felt a weight pressing down on his shoulder.
Wondering what it was, he turned his head to find Arian leaning her head against him.
“Arian, are you tired?”
“A little bit.”
Was it because she drank a lot yesterday?
It was a highly probable thought. The day after drinking, one is truly tired no matter how much one sleeps.
Thinking that in such a condition she had made time for him, he felt both sorry and grateful.
Franz said.
“Should I take you home?”
“You’re going to use teleport, right?”
“…Right?”
It was more efficient to do so, so it was only natural.
Even so, the reason he hesitated in his answer was that he sensed a negative emotion in Arian’s tone, as if she disliked teleport.
And that thought was correct.
“Then never mind. I want to stay like this a little longer. Don’t tell me you won’t even lend me your shoulder after I helped you?”
“Alright, then stay like that…”
Franz was just puzzled.
If she were tired, she could just go home and sleep on a soft bed. There was no reason to stay like this uncomfortably.
It was just that, as she said, lending a shoulder wasn’t difficult, so he simply didn’t refuse.
If there were a problem…
“What, did she really fall asleep?”
It was just that Arian had fallen asleep with her head leaning on his shoulder.
It was truly hard to tell who was the Magic Tower lord and who was the secretary.
Franz let out a short sigh and floated Arian’s body with magic Doongsil-doongsil. Then he went into his room and carefully laid her down on the bed.
'I really don’t know how it ended up like this…'
For Arian to fall asleep by his side, it was something he couldn’t have even dreamed of in the past, because she used to be so stiff that one could even call her cold.
“Well, I still only have feelings of gratitude, but…”
Don’t they say that the people who help you when you’re struggling are the ones you remember?
To Franz, Arian was exactly that.
When he entered the Magic Tower and received everyone’s envy and jealousy, she stayed by his side and supported him, and when he struggled after becoming the Magic Tower lord, she did her best as his secretary.
Well, anyway…
Since she had fallen asleep, he only hoped she would have sweet dreams.
With that, Franz slipped out of the room.
And at the same time, Arian opened her eyes.
She stared blankly at the ceiling and thought.
“Is he a real idiot…?”
She had leaned her head on his shoulder and even pretended to be asleep. There was no way such actions were easy, so she naturally had to muster an immense amount of courage.
But Franz’s reaction was just dry and dull. He didn’t even carry her himself, but moved her with magic.
She had definitely expressed herself in her own way, so why on earth wasn’t it getting through? She couldn’t understand it at all.
In truth, the reason Arian had acted that way was that she was feeling impatient.
The hero, Yuna, had officially started living in Franz’s house, and his relationship with the saintess, Yusti-ah, had grown close enough that he personally took care of her at the banquet.
Hera was…
“At least that side still seems to be a no-go, but…”
But who knew how long that would last? If she suddenly came to her senses and started seducing Franz, it was unknown what would happen.
Haa-.
Arian let out a sigh in frustration. And as she breathed in, Franz’s scent was wafting strongly in the air. It was only natural since it was Franz’s bed, but still.
“Idiot, dummy…”
Arian thought so as she wriggled wildly on the bed.
Of course, there was no way Franz could know that fact, and he was destined not to know in the future either.
* * *
Franz sent letters to a total of three people.
Count Lucia is to the north of the territory, Marquis Gerun is to the south of the territory, and Count Lumin is to the east of the territory.
The west of the territory was still the empire’s territory, so he appropriately skipped it. It wasn’t like he could send a letter telling the emperor to come and go.
How many days had passed since then?
Three carriages came to a stop in front of the towering Magic Tower. Based on the crests drawn on the carriages, they were undoubtedly the ones Franz had sent letters to.
Immediately, people dressed in resplendent clothes stepped out of the carriages.
They were all thinking the exact same thing.
They would check if duke Esteban was truly a reliable patron to hitch their fortunes to, and if he could be trusted.