Chapter 18
[Territory Dispute Resolved. Blo Region, Mysterious Corpse Found. Investigation Requested.]
Two months ago, a dispute arose in the Hægenda territory on the frontier, and Morgan had dispatched the knights, led by Commander Ronan of the Third Order.
Ronan was the perfect candidate to resolve territorial disputes, being a man who pursued fairness based on objective facts and logic.
The fact that Ronan, after carefully considering everything and drawing a conclusion, sent an urgent message requesting further investigation meant the situation was quite serious.
Morgan pondered deeply.
“It looks like you’ll have to go, Reno.”
“Mm… I think so too. Ronan isn’t the type to send a message casually. I’ll take a few knights and go. Ronan and his party are already in Blo, so there’s no need to take many.”
“Alright. Make sure it’s handled properly.”
Reno said he would prepare for the journey and depart within three days.
On the third day, Reno left for the northern frontier’s Blo region with Deputy Commander Dominique of the Second Order and seven subordinates.
After sending them off, Morgan fell into thought.
‘A type of death I’ve never seen before…’
He had been keeping an eye on the movements of neighboring nations, as things were not as usual.
And of all times, the discovery of an unusual corpse occurred—it gnawed at his mind.
The Blo region was a border area adjoining multiple nations, and the dispute in the adjacent Hægenda territory didn’t sit well with him. On top of that, Jelcova, which had been dormant for a while, seemed to be starting to move again. It was troublesome.
Amid all these worries, the one thing that kept his mind at ease like a ship sailing in fair winds was Fleur’s condition.
Thanks to Marisel’s careful attention, the heir of the Grand Duke’s family was stable.
While Reno was away on this assignment, Marisel was permitted to accompany Fleur on a picnic for a week—but only during times that wouldn’t interfere with Fleur’s care.
Morgan would have fulfilled Fleur’s wishes regardless of conditions, yet he didn’t. Perhaps it was a certain mischievous impulse that kept him from doing so.
Still, thinking of Marisel, who would soon come to assist, he allowed a faint smile to curl his lips.
“Your Highness, starting today, as we discussed, I’ll help you with Morgan’s work during your nap and nighttime sleeping hours. So if you need anything, just pull this string to call someone. Understood?”
“Mm.”
Fleur smiled innocently, reassuring her.
“Good night, our little lord…”
Marisel gently stroked Fleur’s forehead. Fleur, tucked under the blankets up to his neck, blinked his heavy eyelids and moved his lips like a tiny bird.
“Marisel, I hope you get closer to my uncle, right?”
“Mm… you want me to get close to your uncle?”
“Yes. He’s someone I like. I want you and my uncle to be close.”
Fleur smiled faintly, and his heavy eyelids succumbed to sleep.
“Sleep well, our little lord.”
The child slept with a smile—a true angel.
Marisel pressed her lips gently to Fleur’s forehead and headed toward Morgan’s office.
“Your Highness, Marisel reporting.”
“Come in. For now, sit in Reno’s seat.”
Morgan didn’t look at her, his eyes on the documents.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
But Marisel ignored the chair and went straight to the tea table instead.
At the office entrance, she received a simple lunch prepared by Paul.
Earlier, Paul had visited Fleur’s room during lunch to ask Marisel to make sure Morgan had a proper meal.
When Reno was present, he would manage Morgan’s meals even if only simply, but now he was away. Paul had insisted she help.
Marisel had readily agreed, promising to handle Morgan’s meals daily until Reno returned. She also said that on days Morgan didn’t eat, she would prepare food outside his office.
While setting the lunch on the tea table, Marisel noticed Morgan remained motionless, eyes glued to the documents.
‘With that level of focus, even if I told him to come eat, he’d just nod and continue working…’
How do you make someone who doesn’t eat… actually eat?
Marisel started thinking. For today, she would try asking him to eat; if that failed, she’d approach it differently next time.
“Your Highness.”
“…Speak.”
“….”
“….”
After a long silence, Morgan finally lifted his gaze from the documents to look at her.
“You need to explain how I should do my work so that I can actually do it. While you’re explaining, why not have a little meal?”
Marisel smiled gently and started to eat.
Morgan watched her silently.
He had no energy to eat leisurely. With Reno, he could at least manage a simple meal, but alone, he tried to save every moment.
Adding more assistants could help, but it wasn’t easy. Those who couldn’t endure the workload left, some sold internal information, and others were intimidated by Morgan. Sometimes, it was better to have fewer people.
Thus, his friend Reno remained the only assistant.
Reno disliked being an aide, but he couldn’t allow his friend to be buried under paperwork, so he reluctantly accepted the role.
‘Then why did I call Marisel?’
The answer was simple.
She was respectful yet spoke her mind.
And being with her was like a breath of fresh spring air—she lifted his mood.
Morgan allowed a faint smile.
“Very well.”
He sat at the table Marisel had prepared.
Taking a bite of the small sandwich, he explained how she could assist with his work.
The task was simple: just sort the documents.
‘If it’s only sorting, it’ll be done quickly. No need for nighttime work.’
“Your Highness? If I finish sorting the documents during the day, do I not need to come at night?”
Morgan nearly laughed.
Could she really sort all those documents in just an hour?
“Try it first, then we’ll see.”
Marisel inwardly thought, ‘So he plans to give me more tasks.’
“Yes…”
After eating, Morgan stood and moved the documents to Reno’s desk so Marisel could start.
‘Hmm. I thought he’d make me move everything myself, but he did it himself.’
Marisel silently admired his unexpected kindness.
“Thank you, Your Highness. I could have moved them myself…”
Morgan gave her a sharp look, then spoke teasingly.
“You should have been quicker before I moved. Isn’t that right?”
‘Of course, people don’t change that easily.’
“Yes. I’ll be quicker next time.”
Marisel inadvertently sounded curt.
‘Oh no, that might have sounded arrogant.’
Realizing it, she immediately lowered her posture and forced a small, awkward smile.
“For… that unseemly smile…”
‘Unseemly? Did it look unseemly?’
How did it appear? She couldn’t see herself.
“U-um…”
What should she say? That she smiled out of worry she sounded curt? No—that might make it worse.
“I… I wasn’t smiling. I was scolding myself for not being quick enough. Yes, Your Highness.”
He looked at her suspiciously.
“Very well, let’s leave it at that.”
‘Phew… life is really hard.’
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Marisel exhaled softly, as if relieved.
She sat at the desk and began the document-sorting work.
She sorted by territory, facility, commerce, economy, and other categories as indicated.
Some documents were difficult to categorize. Even sorting took considerable time.
‘Looks like I might have to come at night after all.’
Only now did she understand the life of someone buried in work.
And living with such a person would be exhausting.
‘Poor Gabriella.’
Suddenly, she felt pity for the heroine Gabriella.
Married life wouldn’t be easy. The husband would be buried in paperwork, and the wife would also be consumed by work.
‘So they’re married to work?’
Marisel shook her head.
‘Wow, this is tough.’
The original story ended happily after the wedding, so the aftermath was unknown, but she could easily picture their life together.
‘Maybe I’m wrong, though.’
Even in the novel, seeing the male lead buried in work was part of his charm… but reality was different.
Rather than being charming, it seemed pitiable.
Life spent rationing time for meals—could that really be called happiness?
Feeling sympathy, Marisel resolved:
‘Male lead, I’ll make sure you at least eat.’
