167

“I’m off.”

“Please go and come back safely.”

“Have a good trip.”

“Make sure you eat properly.”

“Unnie, stay strong today too!”

“Noona, don’t do too much overtime and come home early!”

With my family and the household staff seeing me off, I headed to the carriage parked at the house bearing the Duke family crest. As always, Ren stood by the carriage and offered his hand to me. When he wasn’t particularly busy, Ren would come to pick me up so we could go to work together.

“Hello, Grand Duke.”

When the door opened, a handsome gentleman who was hard to call middle-aged was seated inside. With Ren’s assistance I climbed in and quietly sat opposite the Grand Duke. Once Ren took the seat beside me, the carriage began to move silently.

“I was going to take you along.”

“Do you have a subordinate who bossily exploits their superior?”

“Father, your tone doesn’t sound like that of a subordinate at all.”

That’s right. The Grand Duke had accepted my suggestion to come to work as a one-day First Grade Secretary!

To be honest, I thought he’d refuse, so I was surprised when he readily agreed.

“Are you very nervous?”

“Nervous? Not at all.”

“Please take care of things today. I’ll trust only you, sunbae!”

“Well, suit yourself.”

Hmm. He seems to be the shy type in a low-key way. It felt strange to think I’d be going to work with my boyfriend’s father. I wondered how the department staff would react if they found out.

“Ria, are you really okay with this?”

Unlike my carefree self, Ren wore a worried expression. He whispered quietly into my ear.

“My father—it’s awkward for me to say this, but he is by no means an easy man.”

“Son, I can hear everything.”

The Grand Duke, arms crossed and eyes closed, lifted one eye and cut off the whispering. Ren turned his head, sighed once, and spoke toward the Grand Duke.

“If you come, everyone will obviously be on edge and won’t be able to do their work properly. Do you really have to come?”

“The Chancellor made the suggestion.”

I inwardly applauded more at Ren’s understanding of his subordinate’s feelings than at the Grand Duke’s response. Considering how we first met at Those Who Can’t Resign… this was truly a leap forward. And while I understood Ren’s worries, I was the one who knew the Chancellery staff well.

“Don’t worry. He’s coming as a one-day First Grade Secretary, so he’ll be giving orders as a superior. The subordinates will have almost no need to interact with the Grand Duke. I’ll handle everything.”

“That may be so…”

“I made the suggestion because the Grand Duke mentioned it. Even though he’s technically my senior, I won’t give him any special treatment!”

“I like that he separates public and private matters clearly.”

With the Grand Duke’s satisfied expression and Ren’s anxious look, we arrived at the central wing of the Imperial Palace. I waved cheerfully at Ren and, escorting the Grand Duke, headed to the Chancellery.

“Now then, we have a special guest today.”

I introduced the Grand Duke and explained that, as a former First Grade Secretary, he would be helping the Chancellery for the day. At the mention of work support, the staff who had stiffened at the word ‘Grand Duke’ gradually turned to eyes that bordered on mania. Yeah, overtime has been brutal lately.

“Please take care of things.”

“For today, address him as sunbae or secretary rather than as Grand Duke, and actively request help if you need anything. He may be a long-time senior and communication could be awkward, so I’ll take care of that part. Of course, you may speak to him informally if comfortable.”

We proceeded to introduce the department members one by one. The Duke scanned the employees with hawk-like eyes. I asked the male staff to place a temporary desk and chair between Elda’s station and mine to create a workspace. The Grand Duke looked at me with slightly widened eyes, opened his bag, and began setting items on the desk one by one.

“Oh, he’s even setting up the desk.”

The Grand Duke knew his optimal desk arrangement. He bore the seasoned air of someone who’d worked in many places. If he’d only ever worked from home, he wouldn’t have brought his preferred office supplies like this.

He was slimmer and slightly shorter than Ren, which somehow made him look adorable. Or was it because he resembled Ren?

“Alright then, let’s go to the morning meeting.”

The secretaries who’d arrived an hour late trickled in, and after confirming preparations were complete, I headed to the conference room.

“Let’s go, sunbae. Today is a morning meeting day.”

“I see.”

We entered the Chancellery conference room with its oval table and took seats where we wished. Amusingly, the seats naturally formed the order: I at the head, then First Grade Secretary, Second Grade Secretary, Scribe, and Assistant Clerk. Today Elda and the Grand Duke flanked me.

Just because my father-in-law was present didn’t mean I intended to dress things up particularly. He said he wanted to see the Chancellery run naturally, so that’s how I planned to proceed.

I opened the diary I always carry and checked the meeting agenda I’d prepared in advance.

“There are two items on today’s agenda. We’ll divide up newly incoming tasks, and discuss measures to prevent illegal acts like the recent private mobilization of the royal knight order by the former Crown Prince.”

I continued as I skimmed the documents I’d brought along.

“Everyone has been working hard, and you know how important these items are. I ask you to approach them with a sense of duty.”

“Yes.”

“The additional task this week is promoting habitual ‘handwashing’ as proven effective in plague-affected regions. This includes developing and distributing hygiene products that manage hand cleanliness beyond just water. It’s not an overly burdensome assignment, so who would like to try it?”

When I don’t assign someone specifically, I let volunteers come forward at first. I’d tried it a few times and found that people who volunteered were more engaged and performed well.

“I’ll take it.”

It was Elysia. She pushed her glasses up with a confident smile. This project would be especially manageable since I planned to give a hint about soap.

“I’ve wanted to work on a project more closely tied to everyday life. Besides, I’ve come to realize the importance of sanitation issues.”

…It seems she realized a lot back when Tom was the group head. She’d gone from utterly detesting it to taking a keen interest in hygiene.

“Good. Then we’ll discuss the details separately with me, and the next task is…(omitted)…”

I distributed the incoming tasks to the staff in the same manner. With those in charge assigned, I planned to designate subordinates to support each of them.

“Next… let’s discuss measures to prevent Prince Lorence from using the royal knight order for private criminal acts in the future. I know it’s not easy. This item was announced in advance, so please freely share the thoughts you’ve had.”

“……”

The conference room fell into silence. Understandably so; I didn’t have a brilliant solution either. The first to speak was Lucan.

“As far as I know, even the Emperor rarely moves the knight order for private purposes. This is the first time we’ve seen them mobilized for something this illegal. Of course, that’s the first time it’s been exposed. Isn’t the lack of a penalty for this an issue? I think there needs to be definite repercussions.”

Led by him, the staff who had been timidly watching the Grand Duke began to actively voice their opinions.

“First, fire the commander of the knight order! What have the subordinates down there done wrong?”

“We need to change the current system that allows direct orders to be issued.”

“As for the troops, the commanders should be from a noble line independent of both the Emperor’s faction and the Crown Prince’s faction…!”

Various opinions were exchanged. Nothing so brilliant it warranted a round of applause, but since each argument was grounded, it helped me learn aspects I hadn’t considered.

“Hmm… not bad, but let’s think on this a bit more. Based on today’s discussion, we’ll revisit it at the same time next meeting. Make sure the minutes are well compiled; that’s all for now.”

Everyone gathered their belongings and rose from their seats. I was about to stand as well, but even after the staff had left, the Grand Duke did not move from his seat.

“Sunbae? Are you alright?”

Though he looked young outwardly, I worried he might be uncomfortable somewhere due to his age. He slowly shook his head.

“No… I’m a bit surprised. I didn’t expect them to express opinions so bluntly.”

“Is that so?”

“In truth, departmental meetings were often merely formalities. The answers were already decided. There were a few who voiced opinions, but they were the kind of things you’d find in academy textbooks. The Chancellery has changed… quite a lot.”

“I hope it leaves a good impression on you, sunbae.”

“Ahem… hm.”

No matter how I looked at it, the way he snapped his head around was rather endearing.

“Are you not busy? Let’s go.”

He rose from his seat and left the conference room with an arrogant yet confident stride. I felt I was beginning to understand what kind of person the Grand Duke, who had seemed somewhat intimidating, really was.

“They look alike. The two of them.”

Having gotten a decent read on the situation, I assigned our one-day sunbae some real tasks. They were minor matters excluding anything confidential. I also discussed the hygiene project with Elysia.

“So that’s where Ren got his abilities from.”

The Grand Duke quickly adapted to the new report format and knocked out simple tasks efficiently. They say it’s harder to adapt to new things with age, but he shattered that prejudice. Watching him focus, it seemed he was enjoying it quite a bit. He wasn’t a mere spare pair of hands—he was genuinely pulling his weight.

“I wonder—if I asked him to keep coming to work while he’s staying in the capital, what would he say?”