I Won’t Pick Up The Trash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 124

Chapter 124

When I left the Imperial Palace after work, a carriage with a pattern of flowers in full bloom and intertwined stems was waiting for me.

“Welcome, Baron.”

It was the Baron of Aster’s carriage.

Since I couldn’t keep borrowing the Imperial carriage, I bought a carriage as soon as I returned.

I looked at the emblem of the Baron of Aster on the carriage before getting into it. I had seen it several times already, but every time I saw it, it felt strange.

I really have become a baron, huh?

I got into the carriage, reflecting on the fresh fact in my mind.

“We are going straight to the mansion, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“We will depart now.”

With a clatter, the carriage started gently. I leaned on the back of the chair and read the book I borrowed from the library before I left work.

It was a book about the structure of the temple. Although there were slight differences, the temples of the Empire were designed based on the contents of this book.

The temple was largely divided into two, the Open Hall, which was open to outsiders, and the Secret Hall, which outsiders could never enter.

The place I had to go to was this place, the Secret Hall. Because the temple’s dirty linen was probably hidden there.

The question is, how do I get in?

Only priests and temple officials were allowed to enter the Secret Hall.

If the emperor, Kalian, gave an Imperial order, I could enter temporarily, but there had to be a special reason for that. For example, to check whether the donations were being used well.

If he did that, I would be able to get into the Secret Hall, but I wouldn’t be able to find what I was looking for.

As long as the priests weren’t stupid, they would surely put away everything that could prove their blemish beforehand.

In fact, it was like that when I visited the temple of the Williot estate.

Then what should I do? Should I sneak in?

It was the best way to check their blemishes raw, but the risk was also high.

But no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a better way other than this.

“Should I discuss it with His Majesty…”

As I was contemplating what to do, the carriage stopped.

I finally arrived home, the new mansion that Kalian gave to me.

“Hold my hand and get off, Baron.”

“Thank you, Hans.”

I took Hans’s hand and got off the carriage.

The new mansion I received was closer to the Imperial Palace than where I had lived before. Not to mention, it was bigger and more luxurious.

I couldn’t let Sarah manage such a big mansion alone, so I hired a few more servants when I bought the carriage.

Hans, the coachman and servant, was one of them.

“Welcome, Baron!”

And Paul, the servant.

“Welcome home, My Lady!”

Also, Ness came in as a new maid. It was the Ness, who worked for the Duke of Williot.

Like Sarah, Ness quit as the Duke of Williot’s maid and followed me.

“Oops, I should call you Baron now.”

Ness smiled cutely and took the bag I was holding.

When she tried to take the book as well, I shook my head.

“It’s a big deal to have the title ‘My Lady’ stuck in my mouth.”

“There’s no rush. It can be fixed step by step.”

“Fixed step by step?!”

Sarah appeared behind Ness.

“You need to fix it right away! She’s a respectable baron, it’s not right to keep calling her ‘My Lady’! So fix it quickly!”

“Of course, I’ll fix it! Don’t be mean!”

When Ness first came to the capital and met her, she hugged her in tears and was excited for her, but now they fight like a dog and a cat.

Those two were so cute that I smiled happily.

I was sorry and worried when I left Sarah at home alone, but I didn’t have to anymore. Because there were so many people.

Thanks to it, I was relieved even if I worked late into the night.

“You make a lot of mistakes too, so why do you say such things to me?!”

“When did I make a mistake?!”

I should start stopping them.

“I’m hungry.”

“Ack! I’ll prepare dinner right away!”

Sarah hurried into the kitchen.

Ness followed after her.

I’ll have to change before dinner.

As I was heading to my room on the second floor, I stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked around the mansion.

A moderately sized hall, high ceilings, and luxurious wooden furniture and decorations everywhere.

When I left the Duke of Williot, I never thought I would live in such a nice mansion.

It was all thanks to Kalian’s kindness to me.

The kindness I received from Kalian was much more than this though.

He’s really a good person.

It was the same with Baron Delrond and Sir Hiltine, who served him.

I’ll have to work hard to be like them. And I will try my best to help him.

For that to happen… I should do that, right?

I looked at the book I was holding without saying a word.

*****

Reporting this and that while having lunch with Kalian had become a schedule.

The most recent conversation was about the childcare project and the protest letter from the Holy See.

As we didn’t stop the project even after they sent the protest letter, the Holy See sent another one. There was also a slight threat in this protest, saying that the Holy See wouldn’t stand still if it still continued.

Bringing it to lunch, Kalian glanced at it and threw the protest letter to the floor.

“You brought something useless.”

It’s a protest letter from the Holy See though, not anything else. Is that okay?

I was worried.

Baron Delrond sighed deeply and picked up the letter.

“Is this how you treat the protest from the Holy See? If the Holy See finds out, there will be an uproar.”

“That won’t happen, so it’ll be fine.”

Kalian answered indifferently and drank wine.

Baron Delrond’s eyes, looking at such Kalian, rose sharply. He glanced at me once and said with a deep sigh, as if to himself.

“Does His Majesty know that the more he is like this, the more difficult it is for Baron Aster?”

Hmm? Me?

Suddenly, the arrow returned to me. I looked at Baron Delrond in bewilderment.

“…is there a way?”

At Kalian’s question, I looked back at him.

“Do you have any ideas on how to respond to the protest letter from the Holy See, Leila?”

“There is no clear way yet, but I plan to investigate the temple to find out about it.”

Even if there’s only evidence that the donations from the Imperial Palace were used to satisfy self-interest or that the children were being abused, the temple would no longer be able to oppose the Imperial family’s management of the childcare project. So was the Holy See.

“That’s why I’m going to visit the temple in person this weekend.”

If I went on the weekend, it would be crowded because there would be a lot of people, but it was good to hide my identity.

Baron Delrond asked, slightly worried.

“Don’t tell me, are you thinking of going alone?”

“Yes.”

Baron Delrond shook his head at my answer.

“I think that’s a little dangerous. If the temple finds out that the Baron is investigating their blemishes, they will not stand still.”

“That’s why I want to go alone. Because they wouldn’t think that I’ll come and investigate alone.”

“That’s true, but…”

Baron Delrond looked unsure.

I fully understood Baron Delrond’s feelings. As he said, it was dangerous to investigate the temple’s blemishes alone. But if several people gathered, it was likely to attract the temple’s attention.

If that happened, the plans I had made for a few days would become futile, so I had to go alone unconditionally.

“As expected, I can’t let you go alone. I will go with you.”

But Baron Delrond could hardly let go of his worries.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be bothered because of me.”

“It’s not a bother at all. It’s a hundred times better than letting the Baron go alone and worrying, so let’s go together.”

When he said that, I had nothing more to say.

And if I thought about it, going with Baron Delrond wouldn’t seem strange to the temple side rather than going alone. They would probably just focus on Baron Delrond and I could move on as planned.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

It was when I accepted Baron Delrond’s offer after finishing the calculations in my head.

“I’ll go with you too.”

Kalian suddenly spoke.

Kalian will also go? That…

“You can’t.”

Baron Delrond said just how I felt.

Kalian’s eyebrow rose slightly.

“Why not?”

“First of all, Your Majesty has to be accompanied by numerous attendants and escort knights to leave the Imperial Palace.”

“I can sneak out.”

“Please don’t be too proud to say things that are against the rules. And it’s dangerous. Your Majesty’s safety is the safety of the Empire.”

Baron Delrond then added a sharp point.

“And the temple knows Your Majesty’s face. Imagine if Your Majesty was seen, wouldn’t it be turned upside down right away? Let alone investigate, we’ll have to drag them around.”

All I had to do was nod my head, thanks to Baron Delrond’s quick and easy way of pointing out all the problems.

Then my eyes met with Kalian’s. He looked at me with a somewhat stinging gaze, then turned his head with a frown.

Why is he like that?

“That’s why Baron Aster and I will go with just the two of us.”

Is it my illusion that he emphasizes the word ‘just the two of us’?

Kalian said as he sliced the steak grilled to medium rare.

“Did I let you off too much these days? You keep being rude, Ver.”

A little bit of blood trickled out where the knife passed.

“You’d better act moderately.”

The meat size now would be suitable to eat, but Kalian sliced the meat one more time.

It looks like it’s going to be completely shredded.

“There’s a limit to how much I can let you off the hook.”