Supporting Characters Also Need Some Love

CHAPTER 2: SPRING COMES TO EVERYONE (XV)

Part 032

“So, how’s it going?”

She sat down on the sofa instead of her seat and asked Adrian to sit across from her as he was about to get into the car. He seemed to think for a moment, but finally opened his mouth.

“Milton has died in the end. His subordinates are currently being investigated in the eyes of the King, and we have decided to bring the results this afternoon. There is a separate investigation into the arms trafficking of the Milton Merchant.”

“The Marquis of Talus wouldn’t easily admit his relationship with the Milden Merchant, right?”

“As you said, they are catching me because they don’t know anything about arms trafficking. It’s been there, and I think it’s going to grow even more in the future.”

“I expected it, but they took a lot.”

“The noble trial will also be held very quickly, which is unusual. It seems that the marquis will abdicate to his son and the entire embezzlement money will be recovered.”

“Is there really nothing to do with the Marquis and arms trafficking?”

At her ensuing question, Adrian shut his mouth again. He looked her in the eye, paused for a moment, then answered.

“It is certain that the funds made by the Marquis went somewhere. I think it was used to buy weapons through the Milton Corporation. We’ll find out.”

“Lord.”

Cale interrupted with a hard voice, but Adrian raised his left hand to block it. Cale, who was looking at her, stepped back with an unwilling face.

“Ah, is this information difficult for me to know? I asked too much.”

“No. It’s not that I can’t tell Damian, it’s that I can’t tell you more because it could be dangerous.” 

She knew very well that Adrian’s hesitation was due to worry. Despite how many times she had told him it wasn’t his fault, Adrian seemed to be sorry that she went through this while he was with her. She didn’t need to know all the information handled by the commander of the capital of Laurentian, as a probationary administrator who had not yet been appointed. He was under no obligation to tell her everything, but-

“A longer investigation is needed for the person who trafficked the arms. I won’t ask who is behind it. However, please let me know all you can tell. I’m too angry to pretend I don’t know.”

Wasn’t that the scary thing that happened to her? Something scarier might happen, she already knew.

“And, whatever I can, I will help. Let me help.”

Adrian looked at her with an unknown face and smiled kindly as always. Adrian smiled brightly and went to catch the tea-car he hadn’t taken earlier. Following Adrian’s instructions, Cale took some papers and went out of the office, and a warm earl gray was served in front of her.

* * *

Adrian must have intended to sit me down and tease her, but shouldn’t a man work when he has eaten? It meant that the probation officer also got a salary.

Adrian handed her a copy of the three-year ledger of the Milton Company when she protested to give up the job. And he also gave her a statement of three years worth of transactions with the military. So she asked eagerly.

“It’s just a matter of finding out the total amount of the embezzlement of the Marquis of Talus and the transaction history of the Milton Merchant, who is suspected of arms trafficking?”

Adrian opened his eyes wide and smiled softly.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Just trust me. I’ll get all their dirty!”

Adrian cheered with a bright smile. Throughout the morning, he spread out two ledgers and investigated the embezzlement amount from the Marquis of Talus. All items with different amounts compared to other transaction histories were newly calculated, and the difference from the actual amount, that was, the amount of embezzlement, was transferred to a new table one by one. She already shaved off a year’s worth last time, and she was calculating the remaining two years’ worth, but they really stole quite a bit. Now, the rest of the probationary period to be spent in the military was about 15 days, so she had to do everything she could.

Today, after meeting face-to-face and eating, she returned to the office and had a brief quarrel with Adrian. Just like last week, it was because they took away all the work and gave out a strawberry tart that was delicious just to look at.

If they gave her something sweet, she would look like a kid who gets carried away! Of course she would skip it, but she wanted to have the paperwork too! The tart was hers, the papers were hers too!

Adrian tried to take away from her the papers, but he couldn’t beat her. She was about to sit there holding a fork in his left hand and a pen in his right hand for a long time, when she heard a knock.

Dressed in an all-black uniform with gold embroidery, Homer entered. These were the clothes she saw that day. The eagle on the shoulder had the royal crest. Was he a royal administrator?

He gave her a light glance and stood in front of Adrian. He bowed and put the papers he had brought on the desk. She watched the back of Homer, while holding a fork in her mouth and didn’t move, and Adrian turned over the papers with a cold face. As if he didn’t like the content, Adrian frowned and opened his mouth.

“Leader.”

Huh, was he the head of King’s Eye? Wow! But Adrian, even though it’s different from the face he used to talk to her with, it’s so different. Homer was scary.

“Yes, Your Excellency Duke Bigor.”

“You know that this is a problem that I could trip over, right? To think that the prisoner who was supposed to take over died.”

“I’m sorry, Your Excellency Duke.”

“So, the only criminal is dead, the warehouse is more than half empty, and it is unknown where the weapons went, and all that remains is the soon-to-be broke Marquis of Talus.”

“I already have someone attached.”

“That is also included in the marquis family. It must be the first time that we are cooperating.”

The atmosphere between the two was so serious that she carefully put my fork down on the empty plate. She didn’t want to disturb them loudly, so she pretended to look at the papers and listened, but suddenly Adrian stood up.

“If there is anything unusual, I will send a subordinate to report it from time to time.”

“That’s it. We will also hand over the data.”

Then he got up and went to the wall to the right of the desk where the tray was placed. The materials were on the shelf on the left, Adrian. He opened the glass lid of the cake storage box, took out a white plate, and put two pieces of tart on it. Then he came over to her, removed the empty plate, and put a new tart in it.

“Would you like some more tea?”

She curled her eyes and smiled kindly, so she just nodded her head. Cale, who was standing solemnly, could be seen from a distance as he touched his forehead. Adrian, who turned his back on her and walked back to his seat, quickly turned into a heavy and sharp commander.

“What did His Majesty say?”

“He wanted to involve His Highness the Crown Prince in the investigation.”

“What?”

Even though she raised her voice only slightly, the feeling of intimidation was no joke. She felt like something was going to pop out of her eye.

Homer, standing upright, looked great. But, Adrian. Could it be he had a double personality?

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. If there’s nothing else to report, go out and see.”

Homer politely bowed his head to Adrian and turned around and walked out. She wanted to leave, but he stood in front of her desk. She looked up at him, and he was still kind.

“Lady Damian, would you like to talk with me for a while?”

Before she could answer, Adrian jumped up and said.

“Oh…”

“No?”

When she put her head out and looked at Adrian behind the line, covering Homer, she asked, and he answered with a very, very, very complicated face.

“No. Please come back. I will not allow you to leave the official residence.”

Homer bowed once more to Adrian and opened the door, and she put her fork down and followed him out.

* * *

We left the residence and entered the garden. Searching for a suitable spot, Homer sat her down on a bench in the corner of the garden. And he stood in front of her about two steps away. Looking up, he was still smiling with a kind face to the world. She knew he was a great person, but he was the leader of ‘King’s Eye’. If he was the head of an agency directly under the royal family, he must be at least a 2nd grade, maybe a 1st grade administrator? Was it okay for her to call someone’s name like this? Commander and Homer, since when did she get involved with these important guys? She was still a probationary officer.

“Are you feeling better?”

As she was staring at his kind face again with other thoughts in mind, Homer asked her with his eyes more kindly.

She nodded and answered.

“Oh, sure. It’s fine now.”

“You’re a strong person, Lady Damian.” He praised her with a handsome face. “And you’re very talented.” 

She didn’t answer because she didn’t know what he meant, so she looked up at him. A deep smile was still hanging on his lips, but his eyes were much quieter. What did he mean?

To keep her from exposing her mark on all the papers that go outside, Adrian erased her traces. He said that he rewrote everything with someone else’s handwriting, so she wondered what he was doing. But, what was this person talking about? On that day, Milton’s upper house showed nothing but trembling, so he wouldn’t be talking about that day, and they said that the ‘King’s Eye’ was the surveillance agency. So he meant he did a background check on her there? Why?

She felt a sense of incongruity in the face that seemed infinitely kind. She decided to lie.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Homer stared at her in silence for a moment, then closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

“Okay. I must have misunderstood something.”

He knew her lie, but she had to lie and say she didn’t know. They looked at each other, pretending not to know each other, and shared the smiles they had made. After a moment of silence, Homer changed his expression and asked another question.

“Lady Damian. Haven’t any marks appeared on your body since last fall?”

“Pardon?”

She had no choice but to ask back at the incomprehensible question. It was very rude to ask questions about the young lady’s body. Regardless of the situation, it was a question that would be regarded as a joke and would have nothing to say even if it was slapped on the face. When she was startled, Homer put on a puzzled face and scratched his chin while asking the question again.

“I asked if there were any scars or moles that suddenly appeared after last fall.”

She couldn’t even guess the reason he asked, so she couldn’t figure out whether she should be angry with Homer or not. Homer was very perplexed, waiting for an answer as embarrassed as she was. He even added:

“I know this is a very rude question. I’m sorry I can’t tell you why, but I’d really appreciate an answer.”

She still didn’t understand why he was asking this question, but she knew it’s not bad intentions. Someone as embarrassed as Homer could not have asked that with bad intentions.

“There is no such thing.”

Hearing her words, Homer studied her face for a moment, trying to determine whether it was true or false, and his face brightened noticeably. As if relieved, he let out a small sigh and smiled brightly.

“Is that so? It’s fortunate. If you excuse me, young lady.”

“If it’s fortunate, I hope to know the reason for the question at any time in the future.”

“I’ll be sure to let you know when it is.”

She nodded her head because Homer made a promise with a firm face. After that, after a few words of regards, they parted ways.