The next morning, Vain arrived at his office a little earlier than usual.
It was not as though he had suddenly found a surge of motivation for his work. The paperwork left over from yesterday sat piled high on his desk—a daunting mountain that made him want to turn right around and leave just by looking at it—but today, he had something else to settle before tackling any of that.
—Yesterday, he had fought with Clarice.
He had only meant to bring on more aides, but poor phrasing had made her furious, and afterward, Mylene had even flatly declared, "You are in the wrong, Master!" Since she had stated it with zero hesitation, he must have been considerably at fault.
Vain picked up the first document, but after scanning only a few lines, he placed it back down.
"Haah... Dammit... I should just go over there first."
If he left things alone, Clarice might eventually show her face for work. But waiting around for that to happen and then pretending nothing was wrong felt completely cowardly.
What happened yesterday stayed in yesterday... If he was in the wrong, apologizing first would be much quicker.
Having made up his mind, Vain left his office. Yet, as he drew closer to the archive room Clarice was using, his feet grew heavier with every step.
"...Why does a simple apology have to be such a pain in the neck?"
He hated this sort of stifling awkwardness far more than the argument itself. Stopping in front of the door, he heard the rustle of shifting parchment from within. It seemed she had already started working. Vain let out a single breath and knocked on the door.
"...Clarice, I'm coming in."
"...Please, go ahead."
With permission granted, he stepped inside to find Clarice sitting at her desk, organizing documents that seemed to be a continuation of yesterday's work. Her hair was tied back as neatly as ever as she sorted several sheets of paper by category. However, she did not look up at him when he entered.
Was she still angry, or was she feeling just as awkward as he was?
Unable to tell, Vain walked up to the front of her desk.
"I'm sorry about yesterday."
Clarice's hands froze mid-motion.
Without adding any unnecessary preambles, Vain pressed on just as he had practiced last night.
"The reason I want to hire more aides isn't that I want a replacement for you... It's the exact opposite. The tasks I want to entrust specifically to you have increased, so I wanted to take the routine work off your plate. Even so, it was entirely my fault for blurting out that 'someone else could do it.' Saying it like that completely twisted my intentions."
Clarice finally looked up.
The frosty edge from yesterday had melted away, replaced by an expression of mild surprise.
"...Look at you, actually able to say it properly."
"Even I can reflect on my mistakes."
"Is that because Mylene scolded you?"
"That's... well, I won't deny it."
The corners of Clarice's lips softened into a faint smile. For Vain, it felt as though the suffocating tension lingering since yesterday had finally begun to clear.
"Still, that was truly all I meant. I'm not taking your work lightly... If anything, I think I've dumped far too much on you up until now. With the population and merchants increasing from here on out, a single aide won't be enough. That's why I want us to consult each other and figure it out together."
Clarice listened in silence for a moment before setting the documents down onto the desk.
"...Understood. I said too much yesterday as well. I knew from the start that we needed to expand our administrative staff, yet I got hung up on something petty and threw a tantrum. In the end, I even abandoned my work and stormed out... That was wrong of me. I'm sorry."
"That's rare... You're actually apologizing without arguing back?"
"I could pick up right where we left off yesterday, you know."
"My bad... Scratch that."
When he reflexively threw both hands up in surrender, Clarice let out a soft chuckle.
With just that, yesterday's spat was practically laid to rest. It was not as though only one of them had been in the wrong. Vain had phrased things terribly, and Clarice had grown unnecessarily emotional. Now that they had both acknowledged their mistakes, there was no need to drag it out any longer.
Vain pulled over a nearby chair and took a seat.
"So, about the aides—how many do you think we need?"
"Right back to business, are we...? Well, that's fine. I think starting with two would be best. If we add too many at once, training them will only overwhelm us. It would be best to pick several candidates from the new arrivals who can read, write, and do arithmetic, and then evaluate them from there."
"I'll leave the hiring to you. It's better for you to choose people you find easy to work with than for me to guess."
"I don't mind doing that, but..."
Clarice paused, hesitating for a fraction of a second.
"Once we have more aides, there won't be any need for me to stay glued to your side, will there...? Since we'll be dividing up the work I used to oversee, I'll probably be sent out to other locations more often, too."
Not following her line of thought at all, Vain blinked at her.
"Wait, why would it turn out like that?"
"What do you mean, why...? We're splitting up the workload, aren't we? In that case, there won't be any reason for me to come to your office every single day and check over every little thing like before."
"That would be a massive problem!"
The protest tore out of him before he could even think.
Clarice's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"...A problem?"
"Of course it's a problem! There's no way a newly hired recruit is going to understand the ins and outs of my work right off the bat, and nobody knows more about this domain or estate than you do! As of right now, you're the only one who can anticipate what I'll find troublesome and deal with it before it becomes a headache!"
"Is that... supposed to be a compliment?"
"Of course it is! A massive one!"
Vain meant every word. Bringing on additional aides and making Clarice obsolete were two entirely separate things. If anything, hiring extra hands was meant to free her up so she could handle the matters that were genuinely vital.
Even so, Clarice still seemed somewhat uneasy, her gaze dipping back down to the papers on her desk.
"Still, eventually the new hires will get the hang of it, won't they? Once that happens, everything will probably run just fine without me."
Hearing her say that, Vain knit his brows. He had wondered what had been eating at her so badly since yesterday, but it seemed Clarice genuinely feared that increasing the staff would strip away her place by his side.
—Are you kidding me? As if I'd ever let that happen...!
"That's why I'm telling you that's not how this works! No matter how many aides we hire, none of them can replace you! I'm already running this entire domain under the assumption that you're here, you know! If you were to vanish on me now, 'a problem' wouldn't even begin to cover it! Without you around, I can't even function properly as a human being..."
The moment those words left his mouth, the room plunged into an eerie, absolute silence.
Clarice was frozen stiff. Her hands rested motionless against the desk, and her wide blue eyes were locked dead on Vain. A heartbeat later, a crimson flush flooded her cheeks, rapidly crawling all the way to the tips of her ears.
Watching her reaction, Vain replayed his own words in his head.
"............"
Oh, this is bad. What he wanted to convey was not wrong.
However, the way he had just phrased it was a total catastrophe.
"...My bad. That came out sounding extremely weird, didn't it?"
"...You're only realizing that now?"
Clarice's voice was barely a whisper.
Vain was suddenly hit by an overwhelming wave of embarrassment, his eyes darting frantically toward a random document on the desk to escape her gaze. He had meant it purely in terms of relying on her for administrative work. Yet saying without you around, I can't even function properly practically begged to be heard as a romantic confession.
"Forget it...! I was talking strictly about work just now!"
"D-Do you honestly think you can say something like that and expect someone to just forget it...?"
"...Quiet. I just got a little carried away in the heat of the moment."
"Who gets that carried away in the heat of the moment?!"
With her pressing the attack, it became downright impossible for Vain to look her in the eye. Normally, he would have fired back with a sharp retort, but this time he was painfully aware of just how mortifying his own words had been.
"Anyway! It just means I need you! Nothing more, nothing less! No matter how many aides we hire, you're not going anywhere... That settles it, right?!"
He forced the conversation to an abrupt, heavy-handed close. Clarice offered no retort. Unable to help himself, he stole a sideways glance at her, only to find her staring down at her paperwork with her face still burning red. The barest hint of a fond smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"...Understood."
"Good."
"However... I'm not going to forget what you just said."
"I literally just told you to forget it!"
"No!...It's not every day I get to hear you say something like that, after all."
"...Fine, whatever! I'm going back to my office!"
If he stayed here any longer, there was no telling what else she would dredge up. Vain bolted from his chair and practically fled toward the doorway. He thought he caught the sound of stifled giggles behind him, but he refused to look back. Stepping out into the corridor, Vain tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling.
"...I've been butchering my words way too much lately."
Even so, the cold distance from yesterday was gone... If that was the case, it was good enough for him.
◇
Even after Vain made his hasty retreat, Clarice remained rooted to her seat, unable to move for quite some time.
"Honestly...! If that's how you felt, you should have just said so from the beginning...!"
Just as she lowered her eyes to the paperwork to conceal the lingering heat radiating from her cheeks, she caught a glimpse of bright blue hair just beyond the open doorway.
"...Serena?"
Peeking halfway around the corridor corner, Serena stood with one hand clamped over her mouth, failing entirely to hide an unusually broad smirk.
The instant their eyes locked, the smirk vanished without a trace.
"...Were you watching?"
"Just a little."
"...Just how long have you been standing there?"
Without offering a word, Serena smoothly averted her gaze. That alone was answer enough.
"Don't tell me... you've been there from the very start?"
"That is... classified."
"Oh really? In that case, maybe I'll go have a chat with Mylene. I'll let her know Serena was slacking off on her duties, shamelessly eavesdropping in the hallway the entire morning."
Every ounce of amusement instantly drained from Serena's face.
"!!??...Please, spare me... Clarice, that's foul play."
"Oh my~? I wonder what I should do~?"
"Mylene is... terrifying when she gets angry."
Seeing her utter that with a deadly serious expression—a stark contrast to how smugly she had been spectating just moments ago—Clarice could not hold back a soft chuckle.
"Hehe... You're going to forget everything you just saw, aren't you?"
"Impossible."
"Well then, I suppose I'll go find Mylene."
"...I have already forgotten."
It was a staggering, utterly shameless about-face.
◇
By the time afternoon rolled around, Vain had settled back into his usual groove.
In his office, he worked through the paperwork left over from the morning, reviewing trade proposals from merchants and vetting the dossiers of new talent arriving in the domain. His discussion with Clarice had concluded smoothly, and the plan to recruit additional aides was officially set in motion. At the very least, there was no longer any lingering tension poisoning the air between them like yesterday.
However, the words he had blurted out that morning still flashed unbidden through his mind. Without you around, I can't even function properly.
—Thinking back on it, that really was a horrific thing to say, wasn't it...?
"...Not that it's entirely untrue, though."
If Clarice were gone, he would be completely lost... That was an indisputable fact. From the intricate administrative affairs of the domain to the management of the estate and correspondence with the royal capital, he entrusted an enormous portion of his responsibilities to her. If she were to suddenly vanish, his work—and by extension, his entire daily routine—would grind to an absolute halt.
Even so, there had been no reason to phrase it so melodramatically right to her face.
Scowling at his own blunder, Vain reached for the next file.
"I am never... ever saying that again...!"
Just as he muttered the vow to the empty room, a polite, reserved knock sounded at the office door.
"Master, um... do you have a moment?"
It was Mylene's voice.
"Go ahead. Come in."
The door swung open, and Mylene stepped inside.
Normally, she would state her business without delay, but today, she lingered awkwardly near the threshold. She wore a slightly troubled expression, looking as though she was struggling to decide where to even begin.
"What's the matter? Did something happen?"
"Well... Master. This is a bit difficult to broach, but..."
"What is it? If this is about Clarice, we've already sorted it out. I apologized properly, and she apologized too... so everything's fine now."
"...No, it is not about Lady Clarice..."
Mylene paused, taking a moment to choose her words with utmost care.
"You see... a rather peculiar guest has arrived..."
Vain set the document in his hand back onto the desk.
"Huh? A peculiar guest?"
Over the past few days, countless merchants, artisans, and laborers had flooded into the domain. It was hardly surprising that a few eccentric individuals would be mixed in among them, but there was no reason for him to handle something like that personally.
"If it's a merchant, direct them to the officer in charge... If it's an artisan or someone looking for employment, they're being vetted elsewhere too, aren't they?"
"Yes... however, it appears this gentleman is not here on that sort of business... He insists on meeting directly with you, Master."
"With me?"
"Furthermore, um... his appearance is rather conspicuous, to the point where the servants are quite at a loss as to how to handle him..."
"His appearance is conspicuous?"
"Yes... He is an exceptionally well-dressed gentleman... though he has been waiting in the parlor holding a single rose for quite some time now."
Vain's brow twitched.
—A rose...?
At that single detail, the face of an obnoxiously handsome man he had encountered in the royal capital flashed through his mind.
No, there was no way... That couldn't be... That guy couldn't possibly be here.
"...What's his name?"
"Well, that is—"
Mylene parted her lips to answer.
A sudden, deeply unpleasant dread welled up in the pit of Vain's stomach. Just when he thought the headaches would finally subside after returning from the royal capital.
"...Hey, now. Don't tell me it's actually that guy...?"
He recalled the ridiculously pretty face of the man he was supposed to have left behind in the royal capital—the one who spent his days sweet-talking women with a rose in hand.
—No, surely not...! I'm just overthinking things...
That guy was the son of a marquis. There was no earthly reason for him to travel all the way out to the boonies—. Yet the moment that thought crossed his mind, Vain realized the gnawing premonition refused to fade. And whenever he got a bad feeling like this, it was almost always dead on the mark.
Just what on earth had the man waiting in the parlor come all the way to the Razgrim domain to do...?
Vain did not yet know the answer to that question.