DSDD 05

Chapter 5

[Where Did That Holy Knight’s Purity Go?]

[The shocking dishonorable dismissal of Leon Obsidian, Grand Duke of Bernstein, has become the talk of the town.

Early this morning, the Grand Duke informed the Imperial Family that he could no longer fulfill his duties as a holy knight. In response, the Imperial Family has notified the temple of the matter and requested, in accordance with regulations, that the Grand Duke be dismissed from his position as Commander of the Holy Knights.]

[Meanwhile, the Grand Temple continues to maintain the position that “We are currently assessing the exact circumstances, and nothing has been officially confirmed yet.”

Whether the Grand Duke, who had been known as a gift from God and had served with distinction, will truly step down from his position remains to be seen. All eyes are now on what will happen next—]

‘Wow, this is…’

The article heavily emphasized the fact that the Imperial Family and the temple were not in agreement.

After skimming through it, I picked up the gossip magazine.

[To all the ladies of the empire who had been content merely to admire him from afar! To those whose hearts had secretly been set ablaze by him!

How do you feel now? The holy relic you thought you could never reach has been trampled upon by someone!]

“Ah, no, this is going too far!”

Anyone reading this would think I had actually done something to the Grand Duke!

The article was written as though deliberately provoking its readers, and my head began to spin.

[……On the other hand, there are also people who are thrilled by this news. Namely, the unmarried young ladies of the nobility.

One young lady from high society, who requested anonymity, stated in an interview with our paper, “Honestly, I think it’s for the best. If he had always been like a cake in a painting—something we could only look at but never eat—doesn’t this mean we finally have a chance now?”……]

[High society is buzzing with anticipation at the possibility that the noble man whom no one ever thought could be conquered may soon become the most coveted bachelor on the Orden marriage market!

For detailed follow-up reports, stay tuned to breaking news from the empire’s number-one daily newspaper, —]

“The Grand Duke has been dishonorably dismissed? And over a scandal like this!”

“This really is enough to turn the whole world upside down. Just who is that audacious woman who dared to get involved with the Grand Duke?”

Laura and the butler excitedly spilled out almost identical comments, practically speaking in unison.

Caught between them, I awkwardly smiled and played along.

“Haha. Indeed. I wonder who it could be.”

That stupid woman who dared to get involved with the Grand Duke.

To get straight to the point, my escape to the estate never happened.

That didn’t mean I had given up on the idea, though.

The problem was that a very critical variable had arisen that made it impossible to carry out my plan.

“You really weren’t helpful at all until the very end.”

When I actually tried to leave, I discovered that there was an unbelievable amount of unfinished work waiting for me.

‘Can’t be helped, I suppose.’

Apparently, while some clueless outsider had taken over my body, she had spent her time doing nothing but playing, eating, drinking, and enjoying herself to the fullest.

Naturally, an enormous pile of work had accumulated.

I couldn’t bring myself to abandon all of it and leave, so I eventually picked up my pen and began frantically working through everything that had been left behind.

‘Good. If I work through tomorrow night, I should be able to leave the day after tomorrow.’

Even if I was going to leave, I had to finish what needed to be done first.

“Marquess, are you all right? You don’t look very well.”

“I’m fine. I barely slept last night.”

Pressing my fingers firmly against my eyelids, I picked up the teacup sitting in front of me.

As soon as I took a sip of the tea, which gave off a fresh, invigorating aroma, a cool sensation spread through my mouth, and I felt as though my head was clearing.

It was a tea that helped relieve headaches.

It was one of the most popular products of , the trading company operated by House Zacherete.

“Phew.”

After taking a moment to catch my breath, I raised my head.

We were currently at the headquarters of the trading company, located in the very heart of the capital.

The business had originally started as a general store dealing in tea and spices. But after I became the head of the family, we opened tea salons and additional shops, and the business had been thriving ever since.

It had even gained enough recognition to become an official supplier to the Imperial Family.

It was no exaggeration to say that we had conquered tea time throughout Orden.

“I feel a little better now. Continue the report.”

“Yes, Marquess.”

The administrator of the trading company, Jean, immediately answered with a nod.

“First of all, overall sales at our stores increased this week. The new blended tea recently released at the tea salons has also received quite favorable reviews.”

“That’s good to hear. But it’s too early to let our guard down. We should add at least three new products by the end of the year. Ah, what about overseas?”

“The response has been quite good there as well. Demand in the Roman Kingdom, in particular, has increased significantly. Since Roman is a cold region, we decided to focus on tea blended with spices to create a distinctive spicy flavor. It seems to have hit the consumers’ tastes perfectly. We’re planning to research similar teas and turn them into a series.”

“Good. Ah, and make sure the recipes don’t leak outside.”

“Yes. There is one problem, though. The loss rate during transportation is still quite high…”

“Hmm. That really is the trickiest part.”

I looked at the chart in front of me.

Around twenty percent of our total production was being recorded as losses.

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing we could do about it.

‘The growing regions are different for every type of tea leaf, after all…’

House Zacherete was a noble family that owned vast amounts of land throughout the empire.

And not all of it was concentrated in one place. Our territories were scattered across many different regions.

This was because of the peculiar noble laws that existed in Orden.

The Imperial Family was wary of the nobles expanding their influence. To prevent this, whenever land was granted to a noble family, the Imperial Family deliberately awarded territories that were far apart rather than giving them adjoining lands.

Naturally, the other nobles protested.

They argued that splitting their investments among scattered territories would be less effective. Even choosing one piece of land on which to concentrate their investments was troublesome enough.

But House Zacherete quickly accepted the arrangement.

From an early period, whenever we received scattered territories, we developed them accordingly. Thanks to that, we had eventually grown into a massive company capable of handling hundreds of varieties of tea leaves and spices.

“The freshness periods are different for each type of tea leaf, and the drying times are different as well. That’s the problem.”

“That’s true. Haaa… If only there were a magician, we could solve this in an instant.”

“Indeed. If this had been about three hundred years ago, it might have been possible. But it’s been a long time since magicians disappeared from this land.”

I spoke bitterly before closing the documents.

“Let’s put this problem on hold for now.”

“But, Marquess.”

“What?”

“Are you really going down to the estate?”

Just as I was about to move on to the next task, Jean suddenly asked.

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that you haven’t been there in a long time.”

It was about time I went to take a look around, wasn’t it?

But even as I said that, I felt a little guilty.

Because how could I possibly tell him?

That I was running away to escape from the Grand Duke.

“You’re rushing off so suddenly that it almost looks like you got yourself into trouble and are running away.”

“Regular inspections of the territory are a lord’s duty.”

“But you’ve never done that before, have you? You’ve always left the management of the estate to your representative.”

“…Which is why I’m going to do it now.”

Jean nodded while continuing to look at me suspiciously.

Yeah.

He clearly didn’t believe half of what I was saying.

Why were the employees of my household all so perceptive?

I was trying to think of some excellent topic of conversation that could help me escape this situation when—

“Oh, right. Laura, have you heard the rumor?”

“You mean the story about the Grand Duke of Bernstein? Of course. The whole capital is in an uproar over it.”

Ah.

This wasn’t exactly the topic I had been hoping for.

At Jean’s question, Laura immediately answered.

Their eyes sparkled as though someone had pasted stars into them.

“They still haven’t revealed who the woman is, right?”

“No. But she must be an incredible beauty, don’t you think? That has to be why even the Grand Duke, who was practically an impenetrable fortress, finally fell for her.”

“Everyone is going crazy trying to figure out who she is. Oh, by the way, I bet on ‘one of the believers.’”

“You think she committed such an immoral act inside the temple?”

“Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. Think about it. The Grand Duke is famous for being extremely devout. The only places he goes are the temple and the battlefields. Where would he have had the opportunity to meet a woman?”

“Oh. That actually makes sense.”

Laura and Jean, both thoroughly excited, put their heads together and began discussing the matter.

Who was the woman who had managed to seduce the Grand Duke, a man who was practically a flawless male god?

Recently, this was the topic everyone in the capital was talking about.

The nobles were delighted by the juicy gossip that had appeared after such a long time and were busy trying to deduce the identity of the woman who had seduced the Grand Duke.

Some of them had even become desperate to personally see the woman who had dared to ensnare the Grand Duke, actively searching for her as though their eyes were on fire.

In other words, staying in the capital right now was dangerous.

“You’re going straight back to the mansion, right?”

“No. There’s somewhere I need to stop on the way. That’s actually why I came out today.”

I stopped Laura, who had walked outside and was heading straight toward the carriage.

Unfortunately, I had an important appointment scheduled for today.

With a sigh, I pulled a single sheet of paper from inside my clothing.

“I have to clean up someone else’s mess.”

It was the damn letter our Park Sumin had left behind.