Episode 13: The Duke’s Work

In the study, Oz worked on his tasks, humming to himself. The Crown Prince had finally inquired about the reform of the border territory, and Oz needed to come up with a solution. However, he couldn’t think of a good plan.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Oz invited the person in. Normally, it would be the maid, Lin, who brought tea around this time. Without looking, Oz assumed it was her. However, as Lin took longer than usual to place the tea, Oz glanced towards the door and saw Fiene, who seemed hesitant about entering, perhaps out of consideration for his busy state.

“Fiene?!”

“Oz, I’m sorry!! I just wanted to see your face, so I asked Lin if I could bring the tea for you.”

“Ah, I see. My apologies. Can you help me with something here?”

“Yes!”

Fiene placed the tea gently on Oz’s right side, and he took it, sipping slowly.

“Delicious.”

“I’m glad…”

It occurred to Oz to ask Fiene a question, remembering her interest in history and the books she used to read in the church’s underground dungeon.

“Hey, Fiene. How do you think we can control a river that floods every year?”

Oz had a reason for asking her. Fiene had a fondness for history books and had gained knowledge from various countries. She had mentioned reading such books during her time at the church, and Oz recalled this conversation.

Fiene, with a thoughtful gesture of putting her hand to her chin, suggested a solution somewhat hesitantly.

“In a certain region of the East, in the past, they took decades to build levees to prevent the flooding of a large river.”

“Levees?”

In a country without seas, levees were an unfamiliar concept to Oz, and he couldn’t immediately grasp the idea. Fiene explained it with careful gestures.

“They create something like tall stone walls, judging the water flow. This wall prevents the river from flooding.”

“A wall of stones…!”

“Yes, it may require a significant workforce and take time to complete.”

“No, that might work.”

Oz quickly grabbed the relevant documents from the stack and began reviewing them. In addition to the flooding problem, there were various issues with the border territory reform, with two prominent ones being river flooding and unemployment due to population growth. Oz looked through the documents, simulating solutions in his mind.

“Maybe this could work.”

“Huh?”

“Thank you! I’ve actually been working on solving the issues of river flooding and population growth in the border territory. If we create a public project to build these levees, we can secure employment, and it seems feasible!”

“I was able to help…?”

Oz hugged Fiene tightly and jumped a little happily.

“You did a great job!! This could save my job!”

Fiene thought to herself that he must have been in such a difficult situation, but she found it kind of cute to see him happy like a child instead of acting like an adult like the gentleman he usually is.

A few days later, after presenting the proposal to the Crown Prince and successfully gaining approval, the levee construction project officially began. Engineers were sent from the capital to prepare the town for its functions.

With Fiene’s support, Oz successfully completed the task, and after a long time, he was enjoying an afternoon tea with her.

“Fiene, you’ve always liked berries, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I love berries! They’re cute and delicious!”

Even though Oz’s inner thoughts leaned towards, “You’re the cute one,” he decided against saying it, finding it too cheesy. Rose petals fluttered around the table, adorned with tea and chiffon cakes.

“This place is beautiful.”

“Yeah, my mother treasures it. My father sent roses when he proposed.”

“Wow! That’s lovely!”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes! I love roses too.”

While saying this, Fiene picked up rose petals that had fallen on the table, enjoying their scent. The petals didn’t have a strong fragrance, but it seemed just right, and she smiled contentedly.

Watching her from the side, Oz thought about tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow was the day he would visit the church that had caused her so much pain.