Episode 24
The Duke and the Imperial Palace Banquet (5)
We left the banquet hall and headed towards the carriage that had been waiting for us. When we arrived, there was a person there.
“Sat…! What was it?”
“It’s Turtos!”
I got it wrong from the first letter. But why did this person pop out here? Maybe because I ignored him earlier, he’s thinking of doing something bad with malice.
‘However, given that his pronunciation is correct, it seems that he is not in a state of intoxication.
The idea of… is my personal wish, but it seems to be true.
“Are you Sir Rivelon’s friend? I’ll go first, so you can talk slowly…”
“No, how can we be friends?”
Knowing clearly what had happened earlier, he shouted as he stopped Serpence as he tried to get on the carriage pretending not to know. Even if I ignore Turtos, how am I supposed to go back if you go alone in the wagon?
“How can a person who doesn’t know manners be able to act as an aide for the Duke?”
At Turtos words, Serpence glanced at me.
A while earlier he told me not to bother him with useless things, but he’s being bothered now, but I already told him what happened. Therefore, I am confident now!
“It seems it’s already too late for this now, I’ll be careful next time.”
At my shameless words, Serpence’s forehead narrowed slightly, as if things are getting more bothersome. But the water has already been spilled. As if he had no choice, he immediately turned to Turtos with a pretentious smile.
“Has my aide been rude to…?”
“I think he’s been more rude to the Duke than he was to me. He’s always like that? It was rude to not even know the subject in the first place and to apply as the Duke’s aide!”
“Oh, Sir Turtos is a generous person! Well, I thought I might have been too harsh on Sir Turtos, so I was going to apologize. I’m so glad you didn’t think it was rude!”
“What, what kind of…?”
It was an attempt to relieve his mood, but Turtos took it as sarcasm and his face turned red.
“Calm down, Sir Turtos. Sir Rivelon must have not meant…”
“Why do you have such a person as your aide?”
“············”.
Serpence didn’t answer, and kept his mouth shut. He glanced at me and looked away with an awkward expression… what?
“Oh, Duke? Something to refute this, something like my strengths…”
“Sir Rivelon… Oh, he will get better in the future. Probably.”
Serpence’s pupils, who looked at me as if in genuine embarrassment, shook. It wasn’t just the look. It seems to be like telling the parents of the student who got 0 points on the test to not give up, saying that there is no place to fall and there is only one thing left to do which is to go up. Talking like an academy teacher trying to wrap things up somehow. At the very least, perhaps?
‘Am I that unqualified as an aide…?’
When I moved my gaze, my eyes met with Turtos. It’s like he’s thinking about how he can do the job, so that he can get a good review from Serpence, not anyone else.
‘What is this situation?’
Isn’t the cliché for Turtos and Serpence to be on different sides so we can push him away, and he loses his temper and goes wild by himself? Why am I the one being pushed?
“You can’t hire an aide simply, I could do things better than him! No, if not me, anyone else would have been better than that!”
“Am I that bad? I’m definitely better than before, and as I try harder, I’ll be able to do it well!”
I felt a sense of crisis that I might get fired. If I’m cut off like this, the first thing to happen is me dying in debt before the world becomes a mess!
“Obviously, when selected, the personality is…, umm…. What you see on paper is what you should see in reality…”
Serpence was also confused, muttering in a low voice.
‘Was I selected based on personality?’
After all, if you pick a corrupt guy and get accused of bribery, Serpence’s image will get damaged. If it was the original Zion, he was a simple young man.
‘But what can I do, I am me and Zion is Zion.’
For 25 years of his life, he has been exposed to all kinds of info and has lived by exchanging greetings from his parents in his life. If you compare it with me, who has been pickled in modern culture, and Zion, who was born and raised in a small village in a world without the internet, the only thing we have in common is age and gender.
“Anyway, how is he different…?”
Serpence suddenly pierced the core. He had never met the original Zion. For that reason, it seems that even in our travels, he dismissed it as just me being a strange guy, but it seems that he found a big gap between the past and the present he saw on paper.
‘If I answer this wrong, will he be suspicious again?’
Once doubts emerge, they become out of control. Before that, it had to be uprooted.
“Isn’t that what a cover letter or interview is basically like? It’s all about selling yourself, so there may be some exaggeration and falsehood. It’s not just me, everyone is like that, right?”
“Oh, no. Showing your honest self…”
I looked at Turtos with an expression asking for approval, but, like a person who wants me to be cut somehow, he quickly denied it. Have I ever met such a shameful, narrow-minded person?
‘Why are you doing this like someone who has never written a novel?’
He must have expressed his respect for Count Discholus as if he were writing a novel, which he himself did not have on his resume, and it is too much to deny like this.
“The answer is fixed, and you just have to answer. Why should we do this when we’re both aides?”
As an expression of intention to stop fighting and reconcil, I joked lightly by mixing trendy words and smiling brightly. Despite my efforts, Turtos looked at me with a serious face.
“You really are so…. Let’s put aside the past and look into the future. That there’s nothing good for the Lord… I don’t know why you keep doing this.”
“············”.
I glanced at Serpence, and spoke to Turtos in a soft voice, but he still remained silent.
“Why don’t you have an answer? Do you not know? I didn’t know you were someone who couldn’t even discern that much… Am I in the wrong here?”
Why is he so quiet? Unknowingly, I became impatient and replied to Turtos in a tone of urging. You have to clap your hands to make a sound, if you keep your mouth shut and look at me, the story doesn’t progress at all. Serpence is also looking at me strangely!
“Ha, you. You weren’t this kind of person in the previous interview with Count Discholus’ aide?”
“I guess that’s right, Count Discholus is a bit strict, right? So, I thought it would be better if I listened well and looked upright. But things didn’t work.”
I shrugged my shoulders and spoke naturally.
After hearing this excuse for doing my best, Turtos took a step back with a white face instead of understanding.
“Hoo, Lord Rivelon…. Why are you like this?!”
“Yes? Why are you suddenly looking so frightened?”
Why is he doing this all of a sudden? He, who had been shouting to cut me off until before, was immobile as if a mouse had died in a cat’s throat.
‘I’m not a sociopath, why is he doing that?’
When I looked at Serpence with an expression that did not understand the question, he also had a very difficult expression. Why is he like that too?
“What’s wrong with what I just said?”
“Uh, anyway, I said everything I had to say, I did…!
“Huh? It looks like you haven’t finished yet…?”
Contrary to what Turtos had wanted, which is making a difference somehow as I thought, he just left after saying a few words. If that’s the case, I don’t know what he was waiting for. He’s such a weird guy…
“Why the hell is he doing that?”
“…Did you do that with me too?”
Looking at him with the gaze of what he means again, Serpence opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. Instead he glanced towards the carriage’s driver’s seat. There, there was a coachman holding the reins in an awkward posture and looking at us.
“Ah, I made you wait! I’m sorry, Duke, get on board!”
As soon as he got into the carriage, Serpence turned on the interior light and touched the window, locking it. Then he looked at me intently, and opened his mouth only after the carriage began to move.
“So, to me too… especially all the things you said on the train were acting…?”
Serpence spoke cautiously with a face that looked very shocked. Something like ‘Even you…’ seems to fit the line very well. Hearing that, I thought that what I said was worthy of giving off such an image.
“No, I have always acted sincerely in front of the Duke.”
“Mmm…”
“If I was going to deceive you in the first place, I wouldn’t have even brought up the same thing in front of the Duke.”
“It’s hard to believe… But if I think of it as being common to each other, there’s no problem…”
What do I see in his eyes? As Serpence looked at me, I suddenly became a different human being.
“He’s good at penetrating people’s inner thoughts. Based on that, he takes on a figure that suits the boss he’s going to serve, is this…?”
“···Yeah?”
What is that? It’s a talent that’s frighteningly suitable as an aide. A very talented person?
“…I mean, do you think I need that kind of honesty?”
“·······.”
“Do you mean to say that it’s okay to show off your ugly side proudly?”
It’s more of a nightmare than a dream. Without realizing it, it was like a teaching aide for the right life, trying to teach a lesson by putting it into practice instead of talking.
“Are you saying that now that I am ugly?”
“Sir Rivelon is bizarre and eccentric rather than ugly… he seems to be very different.”
Of course, that’s normal. Our home is a very ordinary family, so we did not receive a home education in a fantasy or medieval European style. Even if I look odd, it doesn’t matter.
That being said, ‘ugly’ must have been something I said to myself before.
‘Tsk-.’
Kicking his tongue inwardly, he opened his mouth in a hoarse tone.
“Can’t you just call it someone with a distinct personality? Haha…! If I’m unique like this , It’ll affect someone.”
Serpence laughed in a low voice. Not overly eloquent or sarcastic, just like a normal person.
Of course, his face wasn’t normal at all, but that’s just how I felt. To be honest, I have no idea what happened, but it must be a good thing. After all, let’s just push on with that concept!
“But there’s no harm, right?”
“Instead, it seems very bizarre.”
“Duke, are you joking?”
“············”.
Serpence remained silent as always.
This child, this…? If there is any disadvantage, shut your mouth and run away. It’s a habit.
Episode 24
The Duke and the Imperial Palace Banquet (5)
We left the banquet hall and headed towards the carriage that had been waiting for us. When we arrived, there was a person there.
“Sat…! What was it?”
“It’s Turtos!”
I got it wrong from the first letter. But why did this person pop out here? Maybe because I ignored him earlier, he’s thinking of doing something bad with malice.
‘However, given that his pronunciation is correct, it seems that he is not in a state of intoxication.
The idea of… is my personal wish, but it seems to be true.
“Are you Sir Rivelon’s friend? I’ll go first, so you can talk slowly…”
“No, how can we be friends?”
Knowing clearly what had happened earlier, he shouted as he stopped Serpence as he tried to get on the carriage pretending not to know. Even if I ignore Turtos, how am I supposed to go back if you go alone in the wagon?
“How can a person who doesn’t know manners be able to act as an aide for the Duke?”
At Turtos words, Serpence glanced at me.
A while earlier he told me not to bother him with useless things, but he’s being bothered now, but I already told him what happened. Therefore, I am confident now!
“It seems it’s already too late for this now, I’ll be careful next time.”
At my shameless words, Serpence’s forehead narrowed slightly, as if things are getting more bothersome. But the water has already been spilled. As if he had no choice, he immediately turned to Turtos with a pretentious smile.
“Has my aide been rude to…?”
“I think he’s been more rude to the Duke than he was to me. He’s always like that? It was rude to not even know the subject in the first place and to apply as the Duke’s aide!”
“Oh, Sir Turtos is a generous person! Well, I thought I might have been too harsh on Sir Turtos, so I was going to apologize. I’m so glad you didn’t think it was rude!”
“What, what kind of…?”
It was an attempt to relieve his mood, but Turtos took it as sarcasm and his face turned red.
“Calm down, Sir Turtos. Sir Rivelon must have not meant…”
“Why do you have such a person as your aide?”
“············”.
Serpence didn’t answer, and kept his mouth shut. He glanced at me and looked away with an awkward expression… what?
“Oh, Duke? Something to refute this, something like my strengths…”
“Sir Rivelon… Oh, he will get better in the future. Probably.”
Serpence’s pupils, who looked at me as if in genuine embarrassment, shook. It wasn’t just the look. It seems to be like telling the parents of the student who got 0 points on the test to not give up, saying that there is no place to fall and there is only one thing left to do which is to go up. Talking like an academy teacher trying to wrap things up somehow. At the very least, perhaps?
‘Am I that unqualified as an aide…?’
When I moved my gaze, my eyes met with Turtos. It’s like he’s thinking about how he can do the job, so that he can get a good review from Serpence, not anyone else.
‘What is this situation?’
Isn’t the cliché for Turtos and Serpence to be on different sides so we can push him away, and he loses his temper and goes wild by himself? Why am I the one being pushed?
“You can’t hire an aide simply, I could do things better than him! No, if not me, anyone else would have been better than that!”
“Am I that bad? I’m definitely better than before, and as I try harder, I’ll be able to do it well!”
I felt a sense of crisis that I might get fired. If I’m cut off like this, the first thing to happen is me dying in debt before the world becomes a mess!
“Obviously, when selected, the personality is…, umm…. What you see on paper is what you should see in reality…”
Serpence was also confused, muttering in a low voice.
‘Was I selected based on personality?’
After all, if you pick a corrupt guy and get accused of bribery, Serpence’s image will get damaged. If it was the original Zion, he was a simple young man.
‘But what can I do, I am me and Zion is Zion.’
For 25 years of his life, he has been exposed to all kinds of info and has lived by exchanging greetings from his parents in his life. If you compare it with me, who has been pickled in modern culture, and Zion, who was born and raised in a small village in a world without the internet, the only thing we have in common is age and gender.
“Anyway, how is he different…?”
Serpence suddenly pierced the core. He had never met the original Zion. For that reason, it seems that even in our travels, he dismissed it as just me being a strange guy, but it seems that he found a big gap between the past and the present he saw on paper.
‘If I answer this wrong, will he be suspicious again?’
Once doubts emerge, they become out of control. Before that, it had to be uprooted.
“Isn’t that what a cover letter or interview is basically like? It’s all about selling yourself, so there may be some exaggeration and falsehood. It’s not just me, everyone is like that, right?”
“Oh, no. Showing your honest self…”
I looked at Turtos with an expression asking for approval, but, like a person who wants me to be cut somehow, he quickly denied it. Have I ever met such a shameful, narrow-minded person?
‘Why are you doing this like someone who has never written a novel?’
He must have expressed his respect for Count Discholus as if he were writing a novel, which he himself did not have on his resume, and it is too much to deny like this.
“The answer is fixed, and you just have to answer. Why should we do this when we’re both aides?”
As an expression of intention to stop fighting and reconcil, I joked lightly by mixing trendy words and smiling brightly. Despite my efforts, Turtos looked at me with a serious face.
“You really are so…. Let’s put aside the past and look into the future. That there’s nothing good for the Lord… I don’t know why you keep doing this.”
“············”.
I glanced at Serpence, and spoke to Turtos in a soft voice, but he still remained silent.
“Why don’t you have an answer? Do you not know? I didn’t know you were someone who couldn’t even discern that much… Am I in the wrong here?”
Why is he so quiet? Unknowingly, I became impatient and replied to Turtos in a tone of urging. You have to clap your hands to make a sound, if you keep your mouth shut and look at me, the story doesn’t progress at all. Serpence is also looking at me strangely!
“Ha, you. You weren’t this kind of person in the previous interview with Count Discholus’ aide?”
“I guess that’s right, Count Discholus is a bit strict, right? So, I thought it would be better if I listened well and looked upright. But things didn’t work.”
I shrugged my shoulders and spoke naturally.
After hearing this excuse for doing my best, Turtos took a step back with a white face instead of understanding.
“Hoo, Lord Rivelon…. Why are you like this?!”
“Yes? Why are you suddenly looking so frightened?”
Why is he doing this all of a sudden? He, who had been shouting to cut me off until before, was immobile as if a mouse had died in a cat’s throat.
‘I’m not a sociopath, why is he doing that?’
When I looked at Serpence with an expression that did not understand the question, he also had a very difficult expression. Why is he like that too?
“What’s wrong with what I just said?”
“Uh, anyway, I said everything I had to say, I did…!
“Huh? It looks like you haven’t finished yet…?”
Contrary to what Turtos had wanted, which is making a difference somehow as I thought, he just left after saying a few words. If that’s the case, I don’t know what he was waiting for. He’s such a weird guy…
“Why the hell is he doing that?”
“…Did you do that with me too?”
Looking at him with the gaze of what he means again, Serpence opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. Instead he glanced towards the carriage’s driver’s seat. There, there was a coachman holding the reins in an awkward posture and looking at us.
“Ah, I made you wait! I’m sorry, Duke, get on board!”
As soon as he got into the carriage, Serpence turned on the interior light and touched the window, locking it. Then he looked at me intently, and opened his mouth only after the carriage began to move.
“So, to me too… especially all the things you said on the train were acting…?”
Serpence spoke cautiously with a face that looked very shocked. Something like ‘Even you…’ seems to fit the line very well. Hearing that, I thought that what I said was worthy of giving off such an image.
“No, I have always acted sincerely in front of the Duke.”
“Mmm…”
“If I was going to deceive you in the first place, I wouldn’t have even brought up the same thing in front of the Duke.”
“It’s hard to believe… But if I think of it as being common to each other, there’s no problem…”
What do I see in his eyes? As Serpence looked at me, I suddenly became a different human being.
“He’s good at penetrating people’s inner thoughts. Based on that, he takes on a figure that suits the boss he’s going to serve, is this…?”
“···Yeah?”
What is that? It’s a talent that’s frighteningly suitable as an aide. A very talented person?
“…I mean, do you think I need that kind of honesty?”
“·······.”
“Do you mean to say that it’s okay to show off your ugly side proudly?”
It’s more of a nightmare than a dream. Without realizing it, it was like a teaching aide for the right life, trying to teach a lesson by putting it into practice instead of talking.
“Are you saying that now that I am ugly?”
“Sir Rivelon is bizarre and eccentric rather than ugly… he seems to be very different.”
Of course, that’s normal. Our home is a very ordinary family, so we did not receive a home education in a fantasy or medieval European style. Even if I look odd, it doesn’t matter.
That being said, ‘ugly’ must have been something I said to myself before.
‘Tsk-.’
Kicking his tongue inwardly, he opened his mouth in a hoarse tone.
“Can’t you just call it someone with a distinct personality? Haha…! If I’m unique like this , It’ll affect someone.”
Serpence laughed in a low voice. Not overly eloquent or sarcastic, just like a normal person.
Of course, his face wasn’t normal at all, but that’s just how I felt. To be honest, I have no idea what happened, but it must be a good thing. After all, let’s just push on with that concept!
“But there’s no harm, right?”
“Instead, it seems very bizarre.”
“Duke, are you joking?”
“············”.
Serpence remained silent as always.
This child, this…? If there is any disadvantage, shut your mouth and run away. It’s a habit.
