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Even the grueling carriage journey had an end. Just as Marsha’s complaints about her breaking back were becoming tiresome, the carriage arrived at the capital of Leahian.
“Wow, young master! Look over there!”
Unlike the maritime city of Wellington, the capital was leisurely and classical. Marsha squealed with delight at the buildings that were completely different from Wellington’s.
Throughout all this, Erich sat properly with his lips tightly sealed. Karen coolly observed and evaluated him.
‘Well, he passes the dignity test.’
The boy, who already looked like an angel, sitting there with his lips pressed together, appeared every bit the noble young master born into privilege.
Yes, that’s the flavor a king should have. Just as Karen was nodding in approval—
The carriage began to slow, and conversation between the coachman and gatekeeper could be heard.
They had arrived at the Montreal Town House in the capital.
After passing through the main gate, the carriage went past a garden with a fountain before stopping at the main building.
As soon as the door opened, Karen energetically jumped out of the carriage and walked toward the wide-open doors of the main building.
In front of the door stood Von Neumann, wearing his usual irritated expression as if everything displeased him. Karen greeted him with a bright smile.
“Master! I have returned!”
“Who are you?”
Just like a cranky old man. Despite clearly knowing who she was, he picked at his ear and threw out the question.
In truth, the fact that he had come out to meet them right on time showed he had rushed out to see his disciple.
Karen, already accustomed to her master’s cantankerous ways, answered with a mischievous grin.
“—Before me are only eternal things. As I endure forever, abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
As she recited the lyrics from the song of hell’s gates opening, Von Neumann stomped his feet and shouted.
“You brat! Are you telling your heaven-sent master to go to hell?!”
Karen giggled impishly at his response.
“You’re so sharp! I was worried you might have gotten dementia. You should be careful at your age.”
“Of course! I’m healthy enough to recite every movement of the ‘Hell’s Prelude’ you just quoted!”
“Well, I can recite the first line of every movement.”
Not to be outdone by her master’s boasting, Karen boasted back. It wasn’t a lie—she could recite the first line of every movement right then and there.
But hearing Karen’s words, Von Neumann’s face turned seriously stern as he asked.
“Why would you do such a crazy thing?”
“…Oh. When you put it that way, Master, I really do sound crazy.”
Even if the whole world failed to understand her intellect, she had thought at least her master would understand. At Von Neumann’s serious tone, Karen scratched the back of her head with a sour expression.
It was then that Erich and Marsha, who had finally gotten out of the carriage, walked up behind her.
Marsha, holding her small luggage, gazed in wonder at the Montreal mansion, which was even more splendid than she had imagined.
Karen introduced Von Neumann to Erich with a smooth smile.
“Erich, this is my master, the venerable Von Neumann. Master, this is Grand Duke Erich Fromm de Rodriguez, who will be my disciple. Please exchange greetings.”
“Disciple? You?”
How dare she call him ‘venerable’! It was enough to make him burst out in anger, but the word ‘disciple’ was so shocking that Von Neumann forgot about how his student was subtly treating him like an old man.
“Hmm.”
When asked to give greetings, this eccentric old man, instead of saying hello, narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard while observing Erich from up close.
Startled by the sudden proximity of the face, Erich blinked his large eyes in bewilderment.
After observing Erich’s face for a while, Von Neumann’s words came out of nowhere.
“You have a name that suggests mastery in psychology.”
“Pardon?”
What nonsense is this? While both Erich and Marsha froze in confusion, only Karen understood and burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, psychology isn’t bad. Since he’ll need to handle many people in the future, studying that field would be good.”
“Hmph, why are you laughing when you don’t know a rat’s whisker about human psychology? No matter how much you disregard me as an old man, you’re still far behind. I’m a doctor of psychology, you know?”
“Ugh.”
While Karen could surpass Von Neumann in many things, psychology was the one field where she couldn’t dismiss him.
Just as Karen was glaring at her master out of pointless irritation.
Having finished observing Erich, Von Neumann looked at Marsha, who stood a step behind Erich. And suddenly, he froze like stone.
His cheeks flushed bright red, and his narrowed eyes grew as wide as saucers. Uncharacteristically, he stammered.
“…Um, who might this lady be?”
“Lady? Ah.”
Karen clapped her hands belatedly.
“This is Marsha, Erich’s nanny.”
But something about the mood between these two seemed quite strange?
The woman who had been boldly whacking strangers’ heads with a broom was now demurely bowing her head in greeting, as if she had never been fierce at all.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Ah, ahem. Pleased to meet you too.”
Even the master, who usually spat out harsh words regardless of whether he knew someone or not, oddly offered a polite greeting.
Since both of them were acting so differently from their usual selves, Karen frowned.
‘What’s this? Why are they acting like that?’
As Karen tilted her head in confusion, the butler bowed and spoke, naturally diverting her attention.
“We received your message, my Lady. Everything has been perfectly prepared.”
The message in question was about arranging rooms for Erich and Marsha in the Montreal mansion.
The butler’s handling of the long-empty Montreal mansion was reliable. Karen nodded.
“Good? Then please help arrange Erich’s luggage. And explain Marsha’s duties to her as well.”
“And you, my Lady…”
“I’m heading straight to the royal palace. Without Marianne, it must be a mess—I need to go give them a proper scolding.”
The butler simply bowed at Karen’s declaration that she would head straight to work at the palace without rest, despite the two-week carriage journey.
After all, this was exactly how he knew the Countess Montreal to be—always full of energy.
Marsha followed the maid’s guidance, carrying her bag.
When Erich unconsciously tried to follow Marsha, Karen caught him by the nape of his neck with her finger.
“Where are you going? Erich, come here.”
“What?”
“You naturally have to come with me to the palace.”
Having arrived at the capital, they needed to properly greet the queen. And while at it, explain what Erich would need to do from now on.
‘Ah, maybe Erich is tired?’
After speaking, she remembered Marsha might scold her. So Karen quickly turned to look at Marsha, but—
‘What the?’
While it had definitely been a maid guiding Marsha initially, somehow Von Neumann had attached himself like a personal attendant, showing her around every corner of the mansion.
‘Has he really gone senile?’
Since the Von Neumann that Karen knew wasn’t such a gentle person, her algorithm couldn’t compute an answer. Karen thought indifferently.
‘Whatever it is, at least it’s not noisy.’
Erich quietly followed behind Karen. As soon as they boarded the carriage bearing the Montreal seal, it began to roll forward.
The scenery rushing past outside held little interest for Erich.
Sitting there with an expression that made his thoughts hard to read, Erich suddenly asked Karen a question.
“Are you living with your master?”
“Yes, just the two of us.”
“What about your family…”
“I don’t have a family.”
Erich’s eyes widened slightly at Karen’s response. Realizing the potential for misunderstanding, Karen waved her hand dismissively and added.
“Oh, I’m not an orphan. They’re all alive and well—my mother, father, and younger sister. I just left because we didn’t get along.”
“I see.”
“But you don’t need to worry about them. You’ll never meet them in your lifetime.”
“Pardon?”
Erich frowned slightly at the cryptic remark.
The carriage slowed noticeably and began crossing the only bridge leading to the royal palace. Karen pointed out the window with her finger.
“We’re here.”
The magnificent emerald-hued palace, made of marble, came into view outside the window.
Karen, bringing the future ruler with her, gazed at the palace with a peculiar sense of emotion. However, Erich’s gaze was fixed on Karen’s profile instead.
After passing several rounds of inspections by the royal guards, the two arrived at Lion Palace, the administrative hub.
Karen leapt energetically from the carriage, but before her feet even touched the ground, a scream rang out.
“Eek! A-a-a witch?!”
The man, dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, with an ID card hanging around his neck and a paper cup of coffee in hand, was clearly a civil servant. He blinked a few times as if doubting his eyes, then screamed and ran off.
“It’s a witch! The witch has appeared!”
“What is this…”
Erich, who had followed her out of the carriage, blinked in confusion and tilted his head.
Though the man had just called her a witch, which should have been deeply offensive, Karen seemed oddly pleased.
She smiled brightly and strode confidently toward Lion Palace.
But what was this? Even the soldiers guarding Lion Palace looked at Karen as if they had seen a ghost.
“Y-you’ve returned.”
Karen had taken an extended leave to meet Erich, but since Erich didn’t know this, everything must have seemed bizarre to him.
Without offering any explanation, Karen pushed open the doors and entered, greeting everyone in a playful tone.
“It’s been a while, everyone. You missed me, didn’t you?”
“……”
“……”
A suffocating silence filled the grand building.
Lion Palace was a single-story structure where the entire office was visible at a glance, designed to ensure no employee could slack off. Naturally, the person who had designed this panopticon-like structure was Karen herself.
Conversely, this meant that every employee could see Karen standing at the entrance.
“Eek!”
“Countess Montreal, you’ve returned?”
“Your leave wasn’t supposed to end for another month…”
The employees, who had been enjoying the rare freedom of Karen’s absence, along with her loyal assistant Marianne’s, had been working with a sense of relief.
But now, Karen, whose return was still a month away, had suddenly appeared.
Knowing full well what they were thinking, Karen smiled brightly and said.
“Surprised I came without notice? Don’t worry, I’m only here to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen. I’ll leave right after checking on a few things Marianne asked me to.”
The emphasis on ‘a few things’ made everyone’s shoulders flinch.
Karen strode confidently to her desk. Though their eyes were naturally drawn to the silver-haired boy following her, no one dared speak for fear of Karen’s reprimand.
Seated at her desk, Karen looked at a man standing awkwardly with his hands clasped.
“Thompson, what are you doing? Bring it over.”
“What? Wh-what do you mean?”
“Are you seriously asking?”
Karen slapped her palm on the desk and said.
“The paperwork for the past month while Marianne and I were gone.”
“What?”
They had assumed ‘a few things’ meant she would focus on a specific area, but the entire month’s worth of work?!
‘What kind of fault is she planning to find?’
‘We’re doomed.’
‘But still, there’s so much work from the past month. She might not find anything.’
Everyone stared at Karen nervously. The timid Thompson groaned as he wheeled over a cart loaded with documents.
The employees’ assumptions were correct. The administrative work of an entire nation over a month was vast, and the papers were stacked like a mountain.
Erich, rarely showing surprise, looked at the towering pile of papers on the cart with wide eyes.
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