Chapter 135

The inner sanctum of the Administration Bureau where Rodella worked was, of course, a place where outsiders were strictly forbidden.

No one could enter without an imperial decree unless Chancellor Ameris gave permission… or so it was supposed to be.

But sometimes, there were exceptions.

—Tap, tap.

The tapping on the window continued, as if urging her, who was standing still.

Rodella quickly approached Aivert, who was holding up a basket.

To be precise, she approached the window he was clinging to.

She had given up asking how he could hang so stably on the third floor years ago.

“Welcome.”

Instead, Rodella greeted him.

A few years ago, she would have said things like, “Why are you here again? If you get caught…”

Even though she was happy inside.

Rodella smiled.

Of course, she was worried about him being there.

Ameris probably wouldn’t ban him from entering, but he had still come without permission.

But more than that, her happiness was greater.

A happiness she couldn’t show a long time ago.

Meanwhile, Aivert looked a bit surprised when she rushed to him.

“You’re not scolding me?”

“Well.”

You must have been thinking of how we were before.

Rodella quietly stepped away from the window, her cheeks flushed.

While he stepped soundlessly onto the floor, Rodella spoke.

“…Actually, I was waiting for you too.”

Today, and a long time ago, waiting for you to come.

Aivert seemed to understand the meaning hidden in her unfinished words and laughed softly.

“So, even when I came before?”

“Yes.”

It was embarrassing, but Rodella spoke honestly.

Aivert placed the basket on her desk and crossed his arms.

“And yet you used to nag me so much…?”

The corners of his mouth were turned up crookedly.

…He’s not getting sulky over something like this, is he?

“Back then.”

Her heart pounded.

She didn’t know if it was because she was afraid of things going wrong between them, or just because he was in front of her.

“Back then, I didn’t know I liked you.”

Having said that, Rodella quickly averted her gaze to the basket.

She didn’t have the courage to face him after saying something like that—

“Say it again.”

Whether she had the courage or not, Aivert pushed his face close to hers.

“Huh?”

“What did you just say?”

“Back then…”

I didn’t know I liked you.

Her face flushed with blood as she tried to say it again.

“You heard me anyway.”

“No, I didn’t hear you.”

‘You did!’ Rodella shook her head and pointed to the basket.

“But what’s that?”

She was obviously changing the subject, but Aivert finally went along with her.

“What do you think it is? It’s what you were waiting for years ago.”

“Lunch box?”

Rodella’s eyes sparkled. She was hungry.

At her words, Aivert’s eyes narrowed.

“So what you were waiting for years ago wasn’t me, but the lunch box?”

“That’s not it.”

It was true that she was waiting for him, though.

This was a slip of the tongue. Rodella was stammering.

Aivert looked at her changing expression and burst into laughter.

“Were you waiting for ‘me with the lunch box,’ or ‘the lunch box I was holding’?”

He was clearly teasing her.

But Rodella, who felt like she was red from head to toe, could only answer flustered.

“Of course it’s you with the lunch box!”

She almost shouted it.

As Rodella covered her mouth, “Hup,” Aivert let out a low laugh.

“Okay, I’ll bring you a lot from now on. The lunch box and I are a set, so I guess you won’t welcome me without the lunch box—”

“Hey.”

He seemed to have gotten a taste for teasing her.

Was he always like this?

…He was always like this, but now it felt more like he was teasing her without holding back.

Rodella raised an eyebrow.

Instead of comforting her, Aivert quietly unwrapped the cloth.

The basket must have been a magical artifact with insulation, as the meat sandwiches inside still looked warm.

“Wow.”

Her anger instantly melted away. Was she really waiting for the lunch box and not Aivert?

As she thought a thought that would have made him raise an eyebrow if he had heard it, Aivert put a sandwich in her mouth.

“You haven’t had dinner, have you?”

His face said he could tell just by looking.

Rodella chewed, took a big bite, and held the sandwich.

“How did you know?”

Was it Royden’s intelligence network?

But Aivert said it as if it were obvious.

“When you work, you don’t sleep or eat. You say it breaks your concentration.”

“…That’s true.”

He caught her. Rodella took another bite of the sandwich.

Even though she knew eating too much would break her concentration, she couldn’t stop eating.

Aivert chuckled.

“Let’s eat, clean up, and go to sleep.”

“Mmm.”

She knew he would offer such a devilish temptation.

He had done it years ago, too.

“Isn’t it better to work a few more hours tomorrow in good condition than to work a few more hours now while you’re tired?”

…And she knew this kind of temptation would come, too.

But it was a valid point.

Chewing, Rodella, who had already finished one sandwich, smacked her lips.

“I’ll get puffy if I go to sleep right after eating.”

At her words, Aivert pulled out milk from a corner of the basket, hidden under the cloth.

It was warm milk, of course.

“I’ll give it to you if you say you’ll go to sleep.”

Milk and… a sandwich?

Rodella, after some thought, finally.

“…Give it to me.”

She chose the milk and sleep.

As Aivert laughed, Rodella quietly asked, “Did you make this yourself?”

She remembered hearing that his personal servant, Denet, had suffered when he did this as a child.

But it seemed he hadn’t this time, as Aivert nodded.

“Yeah.”

Rodella paused at his words.

Then she asked cautiously, “You didn’t touch the firewood with your bare hands again, did you?”

At her words, Aivert replied with a nonchalant face.

“I didn’t get burned.”

…In other words, he did touch it?

“Don’t touch it because it’s dangerous!”

Rodella ended up hitting him on the back.

The problem was that he used his body too recklessly, no matter how much energy he had!

And so, their peaceful days (?) passed, and the regular report schedule was just around the corner.

And Rodella was already prepared for that war-like war.

***

This regular report was special.

First, the aristocratic faction nobles from the Administration Bureau, who had occupied most of the seats, were gone.

And their seats were, of course, taken by newcomers for whom this was their first regular report.

But still, there were no empty seats. In fact, they had to bring in a few more chairs.

This was because nobles from other departments who normally had no interest in the regular report, and even prominent neutral faction nobles, had gathered.

“Then, the Azure Knights’ regular report will now begin.”

They were all here to hear this.

“Quartermaster Ryan Diepelt, please come forward.”

The chamberlain spoke in a rather stern and cold voice, unlike during previous regular reports.

It was a tone that was a bit too cold to be just a formal one in front of the Emperor.

It couldn’t be helped.

“We finally get to see him.”

“I wonder what he’ll say…”

Everyone in this room was suspicious of Ryan Diepelt.

How could Ryan Diepelt, who was one of the key figures of the aristocratic faction, not have been arrested?

“Yes, sir.”

And soon, Ryan Diepelt went up to the platform.

He was clutching a bundle of documents tightly to his chest, trembling slightly.