Chapter 57

Recently, Lord Claude has been trying hard to catch Lady Reisha's attention. Well, actually, he's trying to gain her trust.

For example, he subtly figures out Lady Reisha's favorite foods and increases the frequency of serving them at meals, and he upgrades the quality of the snacks during tea time, but I doubt Lady Reisha has noticed.

Sometimes he even joins in during tea time—though I think, "Get back to work!" But, it's good for a married couple to spend time together.

A harmonious household has a good atmosphere and a pleasant environment.

At the very least, things have definitely improved compared to before. The frequency of enduring the husband's pranks when he's stressed from work has decreased, which is a good thing. However, the fact that they haven't disappeared entirely might be a testament to the husband's nature—namely, that he loves to tease people.

He absolutely loves it.

I can say that with certainty!

I think he would be classified as a sadist in the world!

He has the face that says, "Kyaa kyaa," but I wish you could see his beastly behavior during work. No, I'm quite serious about that.

Despite all this, Lord Claude has been even more diligent in his political duties recently.

This is because Lady Reisha doesn't seem to pay much attention to Lord Claude lately.

Before, she would reluctantly but somehow deal with him, but now Lord Claude feels like he's becoming less important to her.

Well, I can understand that.

Lady Reisha is currently obsessed with an animal.

Lord Claude did give his permission, but I didn't expect her to be so attached!

She's so engrossed that she barely notices anything else. It's almost like she's doting on it.

I do think it's cute.

At least the smaller one.

The larger one... is cute, but a bit scary.

After all, it exudes a sense of intimidation even when lying down. And, for some reason, the larger one is here.

"Hey? Isn't the room a bit cold?"

It was Michel, who knocked and opened the door simultaneously.

He's supposed to always be with Lady Reisha as her knight, but apparently, that's not the case when she's in the mansion.

Sometimes, he comes to Lord Claude to chat and report.

"What do you want?"

"Lord Claude seems to be in a bad mood, huh?"

He leans in and whispers to me.

Thank you for asking! He is in a bad mood!

"It's because of that thing over there."

I whisper back to Michel.

"That thing" refers to the large furry beast that Lady Reisha is obsessed with.

I didn't know about it before, but it's called a Vankuri, a beast that lives in a neighboring country.

Its fur is incredibly valuable; Lord Claude's coat costs five hundred gold coins. When Lady Reisha and I heard that, we were speechless.

Currently, for various reasons—though the details are unclear—a young Vankuri and an adult Vankuri are in the Lindveldt Duke's capital residence.

Mysteriously, they obey Lady Reisha's commands absolutely.

The young one doesn't understand much yet and only follows simple commands like "no biting," "no barking," and "no growling," but the adult one is different.

It follows commands exactly as given.

Right now, it's being experimented on.

To stop Lord Claude from leaving the office when he tries to abandon his work.

It's acting like a watchdog.

"Oh, I see?"

Michel understands immediately.

He may not read the room, but he's perceptive.

"So, what are you here for? If you're just here to play, get out."

"No way! I wouldn't come to see a grumpy Lord Claude just for fun."

You must be joking.

Michel, you're definitely teasing him with ease! You can even tell Lord Claude he's in a bad mood!

"How is Reitzer? From what I can see, he seems to be following orders. Lady Reisha's commands are really being obeyed, huh?"

Reitzer is the name Lady Reisha gave to the adult Vankuri.

Even though it's not decided whether they'll keep it, she's already treating it like a pet. If it doesn't show any signs of leaving, they'll keep it, and she might even go to the territory for it.

She said it was inconvenient not to have a name, but it seems to have stuck, and Reitzer himself understands that it's his name. The smaller Vankuri, which looks like a wolf pup, is named Rihito.

"Can you tell Reisha to stop? To not use me as a test subject?"

"But if something happens, only Lord Claude can handle it. It wouldn't be right to sacrifice a knight, would it?"

No, no, it's worse to use the head of the household as a guinea pig!

"In case something happens in this room, the man who would be the first to be sacrificed is right there."

"Hey! I can't do that!"

"Didn't you study practical skills, Diego?"

"You gave me the lowest possible grade. It was so low, it was impressive."

Don't reveal my grades! I compete with my brain, not my physical abilities!!

"Anyway, can you make her stop trying to hold me back every time I stand up?"

That's the situation.

For the past few days, it's been like this.

While it's loyal, its master is Lady Reisha, so it doesn't listen to Lord Claude much.

Especially when he tries to abandon his work, it's been told to hold him back.

It doesn't seem to understand what "abandoning work" means, but it thinks it should hold him back if he stands up.

In other words, Lord Claude can't go to Lady Reisha on his own.

However, she comes to him during meal times, so that's fine.

"But, at least we know that Reitzer follows Lady Reisha's commands, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"You're right."

To bring a large beast into the capital, a certain application is required.

One of the questions on the application is whether it will harm people and whether it will follow commands.

If they decide to keep it, this application will be necessary, so it's currently being tested... but I want to resolve this as quickly as possible because of the intimidating presence.

"So, here's a report for Lord Claude, who can't go to see Lady Reisha. Lady Reisha is obsessed with grooming the Vankuri's fur, so please buy her a good brush."

Lord Claude doesn't react, but Reitzer, who is lying down, wags his tail.

He seems happy.

"Why should I make them happy?"

"Jealous? You have a narrow heart. You need to be more open! After all, these kids are cute, but Lord Claude isn't, right?"

Lord Claude's finger twitches.

Stop it, Michel!

I've told you many times, don't provoke him!

"It's fine, we can get Reitzer's help to choose! If you give Reitzer something he likes, Lady Reisha will be overjoyed!"

"…I'll think about it."

Information gathering comes from multiple sources.

Even if you get information from Ragnar and Michel about Lady Reisha, it's meaningless if Lady Reisha doesn't notice, Lord Claude.

Also, please stop teasing me just because you're not getting attention.

And please stop abandoning your work to read Lady Reisha's reports that Michel gives you just because you're sitting at your desk.

Do your work!

If you have a moment, please support us by bookmarking and giving us a ★★★★★ under the ads.