80

Although I rejected his feelings, he said he was fine and promised it wouldn’t affect work. I suggested we act as usual, left the office, and walked away, but his shoulders were slumped.

‘Who can be all right after being dumped?’

I couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.

“Maybe I should change jobs.”

I confessed my troubled feelings to Pinea and Nicola, who had come to visit over the weekend. The rest of the family had gone out, so it was just the three of us and privacy was assured.

“Why, did you fail to get rid of the guy you don’t like?” Pinea asked, busy applying a sample of the new nail polish that Black Dia would release.

“What’s bothering you, Coco?”

“As expected, only Nicola can help.”

I gave Pinea a fierce look, propped my chin on my hand, and said, “There’s a workplace superior I keep running into and it’s awkward.”

Pinea blew on her polished nails and asked, “Why, did he confess to you?”

“……”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Pinea and Nicola, who had been quiet, turned their heads sharply.

“What?”

“Really?!”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t intended to reveal that far, but they figured it out immediately. I didn’t name him, referring roughly to a high-ranking noble superior while explaining what had happened. Fortunately, the two weren’t upset since it concerned affairs at the Imperial Palace.

“He says he’s fine with my decision but I’m not. I just want to go somewhere else. I even had his noble title restored as promised by the lady.”

“You should say it straight. What the lady wanted was for you to obtain a title equal to hers.”

“It’s still a miracle.”

“But your superior confessed? To you? That’s seriously creepy.”

Pinea hugged her own shoulders and shivered. Nicola also wrinkled his brow in agreement.

“He’s a superior from another department, so it’s not to that extent. He’s also fairly young.”

“Is he a bit off in terms of romantic suitability? I suppose that could be.”

“It’s not exactly that though……”

For a moment I pictured the Duke shouting that only he matched someone’s ideal type. I shook my head violently to erase the afterimage.

“Anyway! I rejected him and now it’s awkward. If I keep going there I’ll be on edge and stressed, so I’m thinking about changing jobs.”

“What do you want to do? Honestly, if that superior would hold a grudge and punish you for rejecting him, then I think you’re right. But if that’s not the case, I’m against leaving the Chancellery — which you worked hard to get into — for this reason. You’re not even in the same department, right?”

Pinea’s opinion was crisp. Nicola added, “If I were the one who confessed, I’d feel really heartbroken to hear Coco is resigning. He’d think it’s because of me.”

It was a perspective I hadn’t considered at all. I hadn’t thought about the Duke’s position because I only imagined having to see him going forward.

“But Coco, you’re the priority no matter what.”

Pinea’s expression was firm, as if telling me not to waste thought on needless things. Nicola agreed. “Right. I’ll support whatever choice you make, Coco! But I hope you won’t be prevented from doing what you love or get hurt in the process. It’s not a sin to refuse someone’s feelings.”

Maybe it’s not that simple.

“Thanks for the honest opinions. I’ll think it over.”

“Yes, even if you leave there’ll be somewhere to come back to. The lady will surely scold you a bit though.”

Thinking there was somewhere to return made me feel a bit better.

‘Resignation……’

Not long after I became a first-class secretary and thoughts of changing jobs were preoccupying me, a new client arrived at Those Who Can’t Resign.

“Um, I want to change jobs but I don’t know where to start.”

The client wore the baby emperor penguin mask I’d recently and carefully put out.

“This is Master Quokka. Let’s share Penguin’s concerns together. First, why do you want to resign?”

I expected the usual complaints about company, boss, colleagues, and work. But Penguin looked more depressed and tired than angry.

“It’s hard being beside… my direct superior.”

Is it workplace harassment?

“Could you tell me in detail what’s difficult? That way I can understand Penguin’s situation and help devise alternatives.”

“Yes……”

Penguin hesitated and then slowly began the story.

“Actually, my direct superior confessed to me……”

“……!”

It sounded similar to my situation. I leaned forward, listening more intently.

“But he… is a married man.”

Damn… no, I’m sorry.

Correction. It’s completely different from mine. The reason was more serious than I thought.

“Could you start from the beginning and tell me everything in detail?”

“At first, we got along very well. He’s someone respected at work and kindly taught me a lot. I’m a newcomer, and since he’s my direct superior we had many chances to talk; he took good care of me so we became close. He often bought me meals. Honestly, I think I relied on him a lot.”

So far, that could commonly happen at work.

“But I realized that when we ate together we talked a lot about personal things. Then after work we ate together a few times and it didn’t feel like colleagues eating together. It felt more intimate and odd. I thought it was my imagination, so I laughed and said, ‘You don’t seriously like me, do you?’… and he said yes. He said he liked me romantically.”

I thought I’d seen every kind of troublemaker, but this case was a new category.

“But he’s a family man. So I refused. He apologized, saying it was a mistake, and asked to let it be and act like before. But I couldn’t. Knowing he had those feelings, I unconsciously drew a line. Outwardly we were still a close superior and subordinate, but the relationship became awkward. Since I drew the line first, I thought it was natural to only discuss work. He stopped being as kind or teaching me work as before, but I thought it couldn’t be helped. Then I realized that since that day, our conversations were only gossip about others. He only sought me out when something displeased him.”

Her calm voice grew strained.

“I felt miserable. I felt hurt. I even thought maybe I had feelings for him, which made me feel guilty. Still, I had no intention of doing anything and didn’t even think about it, believing if I just endured this period I’d be okay. I never showed it.”

“What happened?”

Penguin held it in, then let out a big breath.

“A while ago I had to go out for work, and when I finished and returned, there was a woman waiting.”

“A woman… surely not?”

Penguin nodded.

“It was that ‘surely not.’ She was his wife. He introduced her to me, saying they were going to have dinner afterward. Then he held her hand affectionately and walked away, and I was stunned. I ran to the restroom and vomited. It was disgusting.”

“He considered neither his wife nor you, Penguin.”

Her voice grew sharp.

“Exactly! Even if not me, you shouldn’t deceive your wife like that! He could have avoided having us meet. No matter if I looked unaffected, how could he…! I was so angry to realize that the reason I had held back and tried to make things right by behaving was because of that bastard. After that realization, I couldn’t work beside him anymore. That’s why I came to you, Master Quokka.”

It was a long story. Affairs between direct superiors and subordinates happen even in the modern world, so a few questions came to mind and I asked.

“You said you ate together privately a few times, right? Didn’t you find it odd then?”

Penguin bowed her head deeply.

“There was a significant age gap… and he was known at work as a family man, so I naturally thought he came out with his wife’s consent. He often talked about his wife to me, even saying he was satisfied with married life. I was careless.”

My outrage rose steadily.

“Penguin, excuse me, but how many romantic relationships have you had?” I asked, not to blame her but to understand how inexperienced she might be. She had gone along unquestioningly because a direct superior suggested it.

“Actually… I haven’t had any dating experience yet.”

“Ha, that bastard……”

“Yes?”

“Never mind. Some swearing is coming out today.”

He knew she had no dating experience and deliberately took advantage. By being ambiguously kind like that, she couldn’t pull herself together. On top of that, the superior was unaffected while she was the one suffering after cutting it off.

I leaned in, close enough that our noses almost touched.

“I’ll sort this out for you, Penguin.”

“Yes……?”

“That direct superior is trash.”