The duke was clearly smiling. Yet why did Joseph’s nape prickle with goosebumps? He quickly lowered his head as if burying his nose in the bowl and concentrated on eating. Amy snapped to attention.

‘I should have identified any weaknesses or parts unfavorable to us in the conversation with the viscount…’

Just as she thought she deserved to be scolded for neglecting her duty and doing other things, Noah added.

“What if I carelessly stamp the seal? Amy should watch from the side, right?”

“Your Highness…”

Amy frowned. Just as she was about to say that Your Highness would never do such a thing, Spencer slammed the table with a bang.

“Your Highness, isn’t that too harsh?”

“What?”

Noah furrowed his brow. Spencer pointed at Amy with an expression thoroughly filled with venom.

“How could you bring your lover to discuss an important deal?”

“!”

For a moment, Amy’s face went blank.

‘What nonsense is this…’

Noah was surprised only briefly, then his eyes sparkled. He leaned towards her and whispered subtly.

“Better than expected, isn’t he?”

“…”

The next day, Spencer and his assistant Charles came to the office to sign a new contract. Joseph and Charles carefully compared it with the previous contract and reached an agreement, and Noah and Spencer stamped their seals.

Afterwards, Noah and Amy went outside to check the ebony wood Spencer had brought. Joseph invited Charles, who was left alone, for tea time.

“I’m really glad it ended well.”

As Joseph spoke first, Charles hastily put down his teacup and bowed repeatedly.

“Indeed. As you saw, my master has a hasty temper…”

Charles took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face. Seeing him so nervous, someone came to mind. It was Joseph himself.

“It’s hard to serve a hot-tempered master…”

He poured tea into Charles’s cup with a pitying expression. Charles held the teacup with both hands as if honored and let out a long sigh.

“He’s been especially strict with me since we first met, as if he disliked me from the start, though he’s less so with others…”

What? Joseph flinched while drinking tea. He vividly recalled the past when he was thoroughly scolded for receiving a skewer at the central market of the capital.

“I too… have suffered because His Grace the Duke found me disagreeable…”

The two stared at each other blankly. A sense of kinship washed over them like a wave. It felt like meeting a soulmate.

Joseph pushed the plate forward and said in a gentle voice.

“Please try this. The cook at the duke’s mansion makes jelly very well.”

“To sprinkle so much precious sugar, as expected of the rising ducal family.”

Like many stressed people, Charles seemed to love sweet desserts. Joseph felt his heart becoming generous for some reason.

‘Meeting a comrade, no, a colleague makes me feel at ease…’

Joseph gulped down the jelly and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“By the way, how did Charles end up disliked by Viscount Burton?”

“Ah, that…”

Charles’s face darkened. He stammered as he explained the situation.

Spencer secretly liked a commoner maid working in the mansion. But Charles, who thought they were just close, fell for Count Coleman’s leading questions and ended up revealing that maid’s name.

The maid was immediately dismissed and Spencer went berserk. The relationship between father and son rapidly cooled, and Charles trembled at the thought of being fired immediately.

But perhaps because Charles was also a commoner, Spencer, though furiously angry, did not kick him out.

This time, Charles cautiously asked about Joseph’s situation.

“Um, what happened with the assistant…?”

“Ah, I ate skewers…”

“Pardon?”

“Skewers…”

“Ah, skewers… I, I see it must have been very delicious skewers.”

“…”

Charles was perplexed, not understanding what skewers had to do with mistreatment, but he didn’t dare to probe further into the suddenly gloomy Joseph and just glossed over it. After a moment of silence, the two agreed to write letters to each other to vent whenever work became difficult.

The spring festival started successfully. Not only people from other regions in the north, but also imperial citizens who came to see the changed north flocked, creating a bustling scene. The faces of craftsmen and merchants who had moved from the empire to the duchy never ceased smiling.

The town below the duke’s castle enjoyed a tremendous boom due to the surge in visitors. Even people from nearby villages came to help.

“Has the merchant caravan departed?”

“Not yet.”

The amulet sales were a huge hit. Even the reserve stock was sold out and a waiting list formed. Despite being expensive and hard to buy, they couldn’t be sold fast enough. They even hastily signed a delivery contract with the merchant guild.

“Do you have belts?”

“I came to pick up my reservation.”

“The silver bracelets are sold out? Again?”

Souvenirs aimed at commoners also sold as fast as they came out. If you went to the village square, eight or nine out of ten women were wearing accessories engraved with the flower symbol of the duke’s castle. The linen industry also boomed, and tapestry sales surged as well.

Moreover, to stockpile the new currency that would become the north’s currency, each territory sent representatives and security personnel. With just those people being a huge number, the village’s lodging and restaurants made big money.

The duke’s castle’s smithy forged currency day and night, and the duke’s castle accumulated a large amount of spare money.

“I’d like to perform in the village square tomorrow evening.”

“Hey, when did reservations end for this person…”

As people gather, merchants aiming for their money also gather, and performance requests from clowns and theater troupes poured in. Joseph, James, and their hired employees were busy without a moment’s rest coordinating all of this.

In short, the duchy’s first spring festival was a great success.

“It’s tiring but really fun.”

“I didn’t know Eva was so good at accessory design.”

“The village craftsman offered Eva an exclusive contract.”

“Of course. I bought a ring for my mother too.”

Because Noah supported planning and implementation regardless of position or status, the employees he selected and the villagers were so busy from preparation to execution that even two bodies wouldn’t be enough, but they felt just as rewarded. A fat purse was of course a given.

“Who’s going during the day? Let’s meet at the castle gate and go together!”

The highly motivated people of the duke’s castle decided to take turns going out to enjoy the festival on the last day. They excitedly went down to the village.

Guards and maids who found out that Mrs. Weaver and Vernon were secretly going out dragged them along. Mrs. Weaver and Vernon coughed awkwardly when they saw each other at the castle gate.

Suddenly, one maid noticed that Vernon’s shirt sleeve was torn. She gestured to the guard behind Vernon to let him know. The guard made a circle with his thumb and index finger.

‘You know? But why didn’t he change clothes…’

As Cecil, the maid, tilted her head, Vernon flexed his arm hard. The maids swallowed dry saliva at the feast of bulging muscles visible through the torn clothes. Mrs. Weaver also saw the sight and looked away, not knowing what to do.

“Aha.”

That’s what he was aiming for. Cecil nodded.

‘The guard captain is really trying. Yeah, you have to do something to achieve anything. Much better than those shameless guys who expect women to fall into their hands without doing anything.’

Then Rita next to her clicked her tongue.

“He should have asked her to mend the clothes.”

Jack wagged his index finger.

“No. He should ask her to teach him sewing to spend more time together.”

Bradley chimed in.

“That’s right. Prick his finger, bleed, make a fuss while she bandages it, and deepen their bond…”

“That’s it.”

The guards murmured in agreement. Then Amy, who had quietly come out to the castle gate and was eavesdropping, threw in a comment.

“Mrs. Weaver would have another maid do it.”

People flinched.

“Ah…”

“That’s true.”

Then Dwayne stepped forward, puffed out his chest, and boasted.

“Knowing that, I taught the captain a killer move!”

“What killer move…?”

As Amy looked at him with doubtful eyes, Dwayne pretended to push up non-existent glasses, acting cool.

“For eldest daughter types like the head maid, you need to stimulate their maternal instinct.”

“Ooh.”

People stirred at the plausible words. Dwayne cleared his throat, showing off.

“So…”

Dwayne suddenly went in front of Mary. Mary looked at him in confusion. Dwayne fixed his gaze on Mary and shook his shoulders as if throwing a tantrum, speaking with a lisp.

“Why did you come only now~ I thought I was going to die missing you~”

“…Are you crazy?”

Mary muttered in disbelief, but Dwayne turned to the others without batting an eye.

“I taught him how to act cute like this.”

“Would… Captain Vernon do that?”

As she muttered in disbelief, Mrs. Weaver’s voice was heard talking to Captain Vernon from behind.

“You’re not on guard duty today?”

The two used formal speech with each other when not alone. Captain Vernon suddenly took a deep breath, then approached Mrs. Weaver with a determined expression.

“I, I wanted to be with you… That’s why~!”

The noisy castle gate suddenly went quiet. A shocking silence flowed where even dropping a needle would sound like thunder, and finally Mrs. Weaver spoke coldly.

“You don’t seem well. It would be better to meet later.”

“No, that’s not…”

Captain Vernon looked around as if asking for help. But everyone silently avoided his gaze. Knowing the killer method had failed, Dwayne ran away immediately.

Mrs. Weaver, with a fierce aura, led the maids out of the castle gate. Captain Vernon couldn’t even dare to block them and just stared blankly at their retreating figures. Bradley, nudged in the side by Jack, reluctantly approached him.

“Captain, want to go out together?”

“…You guys go on your own. I need to rest a bit.”

Vernon, who had aged years in a few minutes, turned around listlessly. People desperately held in their laughter until he trudged away and disappeared. Amy also bit her lip hard and stared intently at the ground.

‘Saying “That’s why~”… This is really crazy.’

Sharing the same thought, Rita whispered beside her.

“I mean, the person who teaches that, and the person who actually does it…”

“I know. Doesn’t he know the head maid’s personality?”

Then someone’s voice was heard from behind.

“He must have been that desperate.”

They turned to see Noah looking at Amy.