chapter 05
At that same time, in front of the castle walls—
Crash! Boom!
With a deafening noise, the walls collapsed completely.
Vero Ansen, a young architect who had won the Young Architect Award for designing over a hundred buildings, trembled under the cold gaze of Raphael Cairocen.
“Why?”
“Th-that is… I-I’m sorry.”
“What exactly are you sorry for? For building walls without properly understanding monsters? For designing something that doesn’t fit this land at all? Or for making walls so low that monsters can easily leap over them? Or perhaps… for embezzling construction funds?”
As the harsh criticism continued, Vero Ansen shook uncontrollably in front of the ruins.
“A-all of that…?”
As Vero sniffled, Raphael’s adjutant, Tain, sneered beside him.
“Diverting materials alone disqualifies you. But listen—Lord Raphael wants something simple yet splendid, modern yet elegant. Your design was wrong from the start.”
“……”
“Why can’t you do it? It’s easy, isn’t it? Simple yet splendid.”
The young architect wanted to shout—
What does that even mean? How is that easy?
But under the Grand Duke’s icy gaze, he froze like ice.
At that moment, Raphael slowly reached out and lightly tapped the remains of the wall Vero had designed.
Soon, a bluish light flowed from his fingertips.
The energy flickering in his hand—
was the power people called the “Light of Death,” a force capable of erasing everything.
They say even brushing against it means instant death…
With a soft shrrk, the wall completely disintegrated into nothing.
Watching this, Vero swallowed hard.
I-I’m sure that light just passed right by my face…
His body stiffened as he stammered,
“S-s-spare me—”
But Raphael replied indifferently,
“Don’t worry. You won’t die. It’s perfectly controllable.”
Tain shrugged casually.
“That’s right. Lord Raphael’s power never goes out of control.”
But in Vero’s mind, only one thought remained—
that the Light of Death had just brushed past him.
“Hic… hic…”
After a bout of hiccups, Vero collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Then be on your way. Oh, and your embezzlement case will be sent to trial, so make sure to properly pay for your crimes.”
With those words, Raphael turned away, as cold as the winter wind of the North.
His adjutant hurried after him.
“Phew… what will you do now? That guy was definitely a corrupt embezzler, but is there even an architect who can satisfy you? You’ve already rejected more than ten. Such a tiresome perfectionist control freak…”
“Really? Say more.”
“…I’ve never thought that, not even once. Please don’t kill me.”
“I see. Then I won’t kill you—I’ll simply erase your existence.”
“Eek.”
And just as they were exchanging their emotionless conversation—
Raphael suddenly heard a lively voice from the castle’s main gate.
A bright, cheerful tone rarely heard in the North.
“My goodness. The entire castle has collapsed! This is really serious.”
It was Serentia.
Raphael wasn’t particularly surprised by her reaction.
She was from the comfortable South.
So naturally, she would be unable to endure it and would soon say she was disappointed and return—
“I suddenly feel like I want to help build the structures too!”
…What?
“Y-your Highness, the Grand Duchess…?”
“Why? I am an architect. I graduated from an architectural academy and even have certification!”
“I-it’s not that I doubt you…”
“Actually, I’m a genius architect. I can read what my clients want. That means I can design something ‘simple yet splendid.’”
He stopped walking.
The boldness that could silence even Head Maid Melosi, who had over 30 years of experience—
It was the same audacity of the woman who had asked him,
“May I call you darling?”
“Hello. I’m architect Serentia Rosemary.”
Inside the office—where an “architect meeting” would normally take place—
Raphael sat across from Serentia and asked cynically,
“I’m fairly certain your profession was different yesterday. Did you change jobs?”
“It’s a side job.”
“……”
“Ah!”
Only then did Serentia seem to realize how suspicious she sounded. Her eyes darted nervously.
“…Is there perhaps a clause forbidding side jobs for a Grand Duchess?”
No—she clearly had no idea how suspicious she was.
With little expectation, Raphael continued,
“Start with your background. You said you’re an architect. What buildings have you designed? Any experience in city planning? A portfolio?”
“Ah, I have none of those!”
“How bright.”
Her eyes sparkled.
“Yes, thank you for the compliment!”
That was absolutely not a compliment.
But rather than wasting time arguing, Raphael moved on.
“Then what exactly do you want to say? I don’t accept architects without portfolios.”
“What if I can prove my ability even without one?”
“…What?”
“I heard that you hire people based on proven ability, regardless of experience or status, Lord Raphael!”
She wasn’t wrong.
Those were his own standards.
There’s no procedural issue here.
Rejecting her just because she was the future Grand Duchess would, in fact, be against his own rules.
Since he had clearly told Tain before that even without a portfolio, proven skill was enough.
Not wanting to waste words, Raphael calmly picked up an hourglass.
“I’ll give you exactly ten minutes to demonstrate your talent as an architect. Once the sand runs out, your time is up. Begin.”
“Y-yes!”
“So, how do you plan to prove this ‘ability’?”
“Please give me a pen and paper.”
Despite the pressure, Serentia’s eyes shone brightly.
Meanwhile, despite my confident declaration, I was internally baffled.
Because—
“You boldly admitted you have no portfolio! I guarantee it—you possess top 1% judgment.”
You said you were a divine beast, Mr. Squirrel…
‘Fine, you switch between formal and casual speech—that’s whatever!’
But on the way here, he clearly told me:
“Make a contract with me. I’ll help you rise as a ‘great architect’ using my abilities!”
And we even made a contract!
So what is this? Your ability is just… telepathic flattery?
Even the way he flattered me felt oddly similar to some soulless AI I’d seen in my past life…
Wait… is this not just a squirrel, but some kind of ‘Squirrel-GPT’?!
Still, when has anyone ever truly helped me in life? As long as he doesn’t get in my way, that’s enough!
Since this guy chose to act like that, I’ll have to break through with my own skills.
…Just as I resolved myself and firmly gripped the pen—
the squirrel whispered solemnly.
