The Secretary of the Northern Grand Duchess Has Run Away

Chapter 41:  Securing a Big Shot (1)

The next day.

After returning to the Grand Duke’s house, I put on my formal suit early in the morning.

Then, along with the other secretary trainees, I gathered in front of the mansion’s meeting room with a solemn pace.

“Is everyone here?”

In front of the grand door stood Chief Secretary Debier.

With his hands behind his back, he looked at us with a sharp gaze.

“Today, you will be given the honor of attending the weekly meeting for the first time.”

We're attending the weekly meeting…?

I had my doubts at Debier’s words.

According to mansion rules, secretary trainees were not allowed to enter the meeting room.

Unless the Grand Duke himself made a special designation, like last time, it was practically impossible.

Which meant...

This meeting must be related to the official secretary examination.

It seemed that most of the others had realized the same.

They swallowed hard and stood upright, waiting for the chief secretary’s order.

“Once you enter, maintain the solemn demeanor you’ve been taught.”

“Yes, understood!”

Satisfied with our response, Debier opened the wooden door.

At that moment—

“……”

I saw the long table, and seated along both sides of it were the members of the Grand Duke’s household.

After ten years, most of their faces had become familiar.

But—

Sitting right next to the head seat was a face I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

「Eric Luton.」

A thirty-year-old man with silver hair elegantly parted on both sides.

His well-defined features and sharp gaze, so much like his father’s, left an impression.

However, to my eyes, he looked nothing of the sort.

He was the one who betrayed his father’s will, aligned himself with the prince, and turned the Grand Duke’s house into a lapdog of the Empire.

Above all, he was the enemy who would one day kill me.

“Debier. Where’s Father, and who are these strange people you brought?”

“They’re secretary trainees. His Grace the Grand Duke will not be attending today’s meeting.”

Debier lined us up against the outer wall and then approached the head seat alone.

“He’ll be leaving shortly for the capital in preparation for the Founding Festival, so he is absent today.”

“Too bad. I didn’t even get to properly greet him since returning.”

His son had gone off to the capital just to wag his tail at the prince—why would the Grand Duke want to see him?

Behind that relaxed expression of his, I was sure ambition was oozing.

“Well then, since it seems everyone is here, I’ll now convey His Grace’s words.”

Seated closest to the head seat were Eric and Freya.

Next to them sat Echina and Edward.

The youngest, Ed, was not present since he was only fifteen.

Except for him, everyone turned their attention to the chief secretary.

“His Grace mentioned that Her Majesty the Second Empress will accompany this imperial inspection.”

The Second Empress.

She was the mother of the Second Prince, a notable figure leading a powerful external faction.

“It seems she’s taken interest upon hearing that the Erian Hotel has reopened.”

Debier’s gaze turned toward Echina.

At that, the Grand Duke’s daughter casually tucked her black hair behind her ear and nodded.

“So, he included a visit to Old Luton in the official schedule.”

The official schedule was information that reached all the upper class of the Empire.

In other words, the place called Old Luton was now being publicly announced throughout the Empire.

As I expected, I wasn’t wrong.

With lifeless eyes, I skillfully maintained a blank expression.

“His Grace praised his youngest daughter for bringing in a tremendous figure.”

Praise in an official setting.

At those words, both elder brothers and her sister turned their attention to Echina.

“Please convey my thanks.”

Echina wasn’t the type to shrink under their gazes.

As a member of the Luton family, she also maintained a composed and dignified expression.

“Since Her Majesty the Empress will be attending the inspection, His Grace also ordered a new event to be added to the schedule.”

At the mention of a new event, Freya, who oversaw the arts, showed interest.

Normally, when the imperial family participated in an event, stage performances were included.

Especially since the Second Empress Yekaterina was well-known for her love of the arts and culture.

“What kind of event did Father specifically request?”

To the eldest daughter’s question, Debier pushed up the monocle he had been wearing.

“He requested an orchestra and a musical performance. He also mentioned that someone of Bennet Tolkien’s caliber would be ideal.”

Bennet Tolkien.

At the name, the children of the Grand Duke of the North all wore grim expressions.

That’s understandable.

Bennet was a legendary singer who had already retired and vanished from the public eye.

“I heard he’s recuperating here in Nord, his hometown. Are we really expected to bring someone like him back on stage?”

Second son Edward asked, stroking his mustache.

“It seems His Grace believes that level of sincerity is necessary to host Her Majesty the Empress.”

The chief secretary responded with a calm tone, as if this was the natural course of things.

At that, Edward smacked his lips with a less-than-pleased expression.

“This kind of thing would be more suited to Freya…”

“I don’t know anything about Sir Bennet either. Even when invited, he always refused.”

Sir Bennet had reportedly never accepted any invitations from the nobility, no matter how prestigious.

After returning to his hometown, he had completely cut off contact with others.

“If we fail to bring him, can we invite another singer instead?”

Though not well-versed in the arts, Edward was a fairly well-known figure in social circles.

Thanks to that, he was confident he could secure a singer just a tier below Bennet’s level if needed.

“That’s something for Her Majesty the Empress and His Grace to decide.”

The second son nodded in understanding.

Then the chief secretary widened his eyes and continued speaking.

“Lady Echina is also ordered to participate directly. When will the concert hall being built at the Erian Hotel be completed?”

“It’ll be ready before the Founding Festival. We even mobilized mages.”

The Grand Duke’s daughter answered calmly, her golden eyes steady.

At that, both the eldest son Eric and the eldest daughter Freya turned to the second daughter at once.

“Will you be all right? Hosting Her Majesty the Empress for the opening performance must be difficult.”

"Yes, Echina. Inviting a singer isn’t exactly an easy task.”

The two power-wielding siblings looked at the Grand Duke’s daughter with the relaxed gaze of someone watching a young lion cub.

Until now, she had only studied swordsmanship and command at the academy.

But—

“It’s fine. I’ve got someone I can count on.”

Echina gave a gentle smile to her sister and brothers.

“I’ll prove it properly this time, so there’s no need to worry.”

Her gaze then turned to me.

I responded with a subtle smile in return.

“His Grace promised generous support for the one who succeeds, so I hope everyone will take this seriously.”

Generous support.

If the Grand Duke said it himself, it had to be something worth paying attention to.

“What kind of support exactly, Debier?”

At that, even Eric, who had been silent until now, showed interest.

He asked with the composed yet sharp gaze befitting an eldest son.

“……”

Debier didn’t answer immediately.

He took a deep breath, then continued in a very solemn voice.

“His Grace said he would transfer his shares in the Luton Arts Foundation.”

At the mention of just the arts foundation, Eric let out a quiet scoff.

Freya and Edward were the same.

Especially Freya—she already held 50% of the foundation’s shares, so her expression remained blank.

She would inherit the rest anyway once their father retired.

“Father, really. He always finds a way to make things complicated instead of just handing it over.”

Besides, the arts foundation wasn’t even a particularly valuable entity.

Out of the fourteen businesses owned by the Grand Duke of the North, it ranked 13th in size.

“I understand, Chief Secretary. Father’s intentions are clear enough.”

“Such a stingy promise. Now, if it were a share in the industrial sector, that’d be different.”

The two brothers let out short sighs.

They already owned businesses far larger than the arts foundation.

But—

My expression as I listened was quite the opposite: I was visibly excited.

He’s offering 50% of the arts foundation shares?

That meant if I beat Freya in this contest, I’d gain ownership of one of the Luton family’s businesses.

And it wasn’t just about acquiring some shares.

Owning the arts foundation meant—

It meant I could use the vast network of forces connected to the Grand Duke’s house!

Countless inquiries would come in, from those wanting to view or host performances by artists affiliated with the Luton Foundation.

And most of them would undoubtedly be upper-class individuals who presided over major family events.

This is a test…!

The Duke of Luton was checking whether his children could see the deeper meaning behind this.

But for children who were too busy clinging to what they already had, grasping that intention would be difficult.

Which meant, for Echina and me, this was a massive opportunity.

“His Grace’s message ends here. Please return to your respective duties.”

With Debier’s closing announcement, the atmosphere in the meeting room relaxed.

The children of the Grand Duke began heading off to their respective duties.

“Well then, I’ll be going first. Just as I return, Father heads off to the capital, huh.”

Eric, who stood up first, gave a faint laugh as he brushed off his suit.

Then, as he passed by the youngest daughter of the Grand Duke, he left her with a remark full of implication.

“By the way, Echina. Come to think of it, you’ve been visiting the Erian Hotel quite a lot lately…”

Between strands of silver hair, his golden eyes flashed with a dangerous glint.

The secretary trainees who witnessed it up close all stiffened at once.

The eldest son’s demeanor within the family had always been terrifying.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got your eye on something else besides the knights lately?”

From razing the surrounding forest just to capture a deer their father liked in order to gain his approval,

to secretly retaliating against a fellow academy student who once defeated him in a sparring match—

he was someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

“……”

But—

Echina was a beast who shared that same blood.

“What’s it to you?”

A calm and resolute response.

The grand hall froze in an instant from the fierce clash of wills between the two siblings.

“What, are you feeling threatened by me now, Eric?”

Echina blinked slowly, her beautiful eyes unwavering.

With graceful fingers resting on her chest, she asked in a quiet voice,

“Feeling a little anxious lately?”

The second daughter of the Grand Duke lightly brushed off her raised necktie.

Then, wearing the same condescending smile their father was known for, she shot back at her brother.

“……”

Eric stared down at his youngest sister in silence for a moment.

Then he suddenly let out a hearty laugh and ruffled the top of her head.

“Our little one’s all full of confidence lately, now that she’s having fun with the hotel, huh?”

The sudden surge in Old Luton’s property values was already a hot topic in Nord.

It seemed the Archduke’s son thought Echina was boasting over that, and he shook his head with a relaxed air.

“Keep it up. Maybe when I take over as head of the family, I’ll assign you as the hotel’s manager?”

Eric defused the tension with the composed attitude of an eldest son.

But Echina wasn’t someone to be subdued so easily.

“Head of the family? You?”

The youngest daughter, who knew well of her brother’s path—

and who had little to lose, being a true knight of the North—

“Do you really think Father will just hand it over to you after seeing the way you’ve conducted yourself?”

Echina, a beast freshly come of age, bared her sharp teeth.

And with that, the temperature in the meeting room dropped even lower than before.

“Don’t kid yourself. You’re in danger right now.”

“……”

Neither of the two siblings backed down even an inch.

What finally brought their fierce standoff to an end was the mistress of the mansion—Debier.

Like the chief secretary who had looked after the children since they were young, he naturally stepped in with calm and composed words to mediate.

“Lady Echina. His Grace the Grand Duke has requested your presence in his office.”

“Father asked for me?”

Now she called him Father, not His Grace.

In response, Debier spoke in the same kind voice he used during the days he used to look after her with warmth.

“Yes. He mentioned there’s something he needs to speak with you about in private.”

After that, the chief secretary turned to Eric and politely asked for his understanding.

The eldest son, picking up on Debier’s intention, silently nodded.

“All right. Let’s go.”

Echina folded her arms and took the lead on her own.

The other children watched her in silence, their expressions cold and unreadable.

They didn’t like the fact that their father had called for her alone.

Echina, who once wouldn’t have even had a seat at this table, was now having private meetings with him?

It stirred in them a rising sense of unease.

Though thanks to that, they’ve completely forgotten about me.

I let out a quiet laugh in my mind and took a deep breath.

It pleased me to think that everyone believed the hotel and surrounding business district—my property—was merely under Echina’s name.

But at that moment—

“Julius Roger.”

Echina called my name with a composed and confident voice.

“Yes, my lady.”

I quickly composed myself and stepped forward.

Then, with a glance back in my direction, she added,

“Father said you are to come with me as well.”

As though she were drawing me into her den.

In that instant—

Not only my fellow secretary trainees but also the Grand Duke’s children all turned their eyes toward me.

Especially the one who had, in my previous life, ordered my death—

The future head of the family, Eric Luton.

“……”

Under their piercing gazes, I slowly closed my eyes for a brief moment.

Then, with the same dull, lifeless eyes I had as chief secretary, I answered with humility.

“Yes, understood.”