SIWALL 5

Arzen Teron was the Northern Grand Duke. That keyword clearly remained in Elliot’s memory, and he had even seen someone comment in a certain thread, [As expected, the male lead is a Northern Grand Duke.]

Then why on earth was this guy sticking around in the sunny, breezy capital making potential threats?

“That’s because His Majesty the Emperor cherishes our Grand Duke Excellency.”

Benny, chewing on dry, tough bread under the shade of a giant beech tree, replied.

“Even if you call it a house, he’s lucky to step foot inside it ten days a year. It’s a relief if this current truce gets prolonged. With his only nephew always living on the battlefield, just how much must His Majesty miss him on a daily basis?”

Benny was blunt, but once the topic of Grand Duke Teron came up, he became talkative. He seemed to feel great pride in working for the Grand Duke, who was the hero of the empire.

“My point is, since he’s the Northern Grand Duke, shouldn’t that house be in the North?”

“Of course the Teron estate is in the North. But hasn’t the vassal lords been taking care of things properly over there anyway. Grand Duke Excellency is assisting His Majesty in a place where he is needed more.”

“Right.”

Elliot nodded as if convinced. However, his internal dissatisfaction only grew greater.

Because he had read the original work, he knew just how terrible the relationship between the emperor and the grand duke was.

In fact, the grand duke intensely hated going to war. It was only natural. At a young age when he should have been forming his identity, he was sent off to the harshest, most dangerous frontier by the emperor. Ever since he somehow managed to survive and return from his first war, the emperor even started sending assassins, so he always had to be sharply on guard against his surroundings. That period of time had exceeded 10 years.

Although the grand duke was pitiable, at any rate, the one who survived in the end was also the grand duke. In the original work, the emperor dies at the grand duke’s hands.

‘If I were His Majesty the Emperor, forget the capital, I’d summon him right into the imperial palace and dote on him to pieces.’

Benny exclaimed in a loud voice. Elliot just quietly smiled and nodded.

Although Grand Duke Teron was immensely popular among the imperial citizens, this was the first time he had felt it so vividly.

Elliot was grateful that there were only the two of them, him and Benny, in this garden. The scheming emperor had surely planted ears inside the grand duke’s estate. If Benny’s saying something like that were to be found out, he could vanish without a trace. The same went for himself, who had just stood there listening.

‘I’ve got to quit this place today.’

Elliot resolved himself, shoving the last remaining piece of bread into his mouth in one go.

It’s nerve-wracking, but it might turn out fine once you actually try it. Is there any chance of running into the grand duke in such a huge mansion anyway. Since I’m the gardener’s assistant, I just need to dig some dirt and water the plants… and so on.

It was the moment when his self-rationalization, which had started as soon as he heard the salary amount, was mercilessly shattered.

Benny’s fanboy mindset aside, the very nature of the work was the problem. The job Elliot had to do here was not mere heavy labor. It was a job where he had to continuously deal with the servants, including the head butler, and build relationships. In doing so, a time would eventually come when he had to run errands that went directly to the grand duke.

In the original work, the grand duke stabbed El Black’s heart and killed him. It meant that if the owner of Loran’s heart was you, he would take your heart.

Elliot rubbed his chest area. Since he wouldn’t ghostwrite love letters like in the original work, there wouldn’t be any reason to receive that kind of misunderstanding, but….

He turned his head to look at the grand, antique mansion.

Ever since he realized what world he had possessed into, he had no intention of going anywhere near Grand Duke Teron. Yet he was right here, literally in the backyard of Grand Duke Teron’s estate.

Would the characters in the novel end up getting entangled no matter what? Just bringing up that kind of suspicion made Elliot feel so terrified he felt like fainting.

At that moment, a voice that had been drowned out because he was buried in his own thoughts until then burrowed into Elliot’s ears.

“…And that’s why I chose you. How about it, can you help me?”

“Pardon?”

While he was having other thoughts, he had even missed what Benny was saying.

Benny was awkwardly scratching the back of his head with his rugged face pointed downward.

When Elliot, who hadn’t caught what was said right before, looked at him in bewilderment, Benny’s face twisted frightfully.

“Never mind if you don’t want to.”

Benny hurriedly stood up from his spot. He dusted the breadcrumbs off his clothes with chubby hands and began cleaning up. Both of his ears and his neck were extremely red.

Benny was probably thinking he had been ignored by Elliot. Or perhaps the nature of the favor was something that pricked his sense of shame.

Although he had only experienced it briefly today, unlike his appearance, Benny seemed to have a rather fragile heart and a personality that easily got stressed. The face twisted like that right now was likely not because he was angry, but because he was embarrassed and shy.

“Even ants need to make a living and eat.”

Benny muttered loudly for no reason as if out of awkwardness, and aggressively shook the handkerchief he was holding toward the tree. Breadcrumbs tumbled down from there as well. It was the handkerchief that had contained the lunch Benny had packed.

And that lunch was also the bread Elliot had just gotten a share of.

Young man Elliot Lim Seongsik Brown, born in a country of Confucianism and rolled around like a dog in various part-time jobs within a strict hierarchical system and the military.

It was out of the question to refuse a favor after eating a lunchbox personally prepared and given by a superior who was much older.

“Benny, I’ll help you! By the way, could you tell me specifically once more what you asked me to help with~?”

Elliot used the gentlest tone possible so that Benny wouldn’t have his feelings hurt. Then Benny startled and asked back.

“Really… will you write a letter for me instead?”

Uh… pardon? A letter? Suddenly right here?

∞ ∞ ∞

Benny explained his circumstances as if slightly embarrassed.

He had a single daughter. Having lost his wife early on, the daughter he had raised alone with all his tender care was his only family.

That daughter got married last year. To a small village in the East that took a week to travel by carriage from the capital.

Only the letters his daughter sent periodically were Benny’s comfort. Benny, who could not read, would ask a close neighbor to read the letters for him whenever he received them. Fortunately, his daughter’s letters always contained small everyday joys experienced in her life.

However, a few weeks ago, communication with his daughter was cut off, ending with a letter happily announcing her pregnancy.

He had wanted to send a letter to his daughter, but the neighbor who always helped Benny had also gone outside for work.

“You said you’ve done grievance counseling work through letters, right? Then you know how to read and write, don’t you?”

“That’s true, but… it’s not like I have any special writing flair….”

When Elliot scratched the back of his head as if troubled, Benny grabbed Elliot’s shoulders.

“You don’t need any writing flair. Just write whether she’s doing okay, and whether I can go visit her—just write that.”

Though his facial features resembled those of a bandit, Benny’s expression was desperate. A slight tremor could also be felt in the thick hands gripping Elliot’s shoulders.

Elliot intuitively realized that this must have been the decisive reason he was selected as the assistant.

Benny didn’t have anyone else to help him. Enough that he would readily open up his side just from the fact that a guy he was seeing for the very first time knew how to read and write.

Come to think of it, he recalled that all morning today, many people had sought out Benny, but there hadn’t been a single instance of him sharing even a friendly greeting with anyone.

Although having different assigned zones was probably the biggest reason, just imagining how much Benny must have boiled his insides over several weeks while blaming his own unsociable self….

“Are you crying?”

Benny stepped back a step as if flustered. Elliot sniffled his nose.

“No? I’m not crying?”

However, the corners of Elliot’s eyes and nose were already tinged reddish. Watery brown eyes glistened so much that it felt embarrassing.

This was actually the decisive reason he always took ‘Employee of the Month’ back when he was Lim Seongsik. While being quick-witted, kind, and smiling brightly played a part, he was skilled at understanding people’s minds. In other words, he had exceptional empathy skills.

He was a popular employee everywhere. Understanding the other person’s heart like his own and resolving discomfort before they felt it, he truly couldn’t be anything less than an ’employee of the month.’

Even severe difficult customers turned into gentle lambs in front of him. He accurately understood the reason why angry people were angry, and neatly pinpointed the reason why frustrated people were frustrated.

Not just customers. Even when colleagues were heavily berated by difficult customers and cried, or when they felt stressed from being scolded by superiors, comforting them was his role.

He did all those things as naturally as breathing. It suited his nature.

So it was self-evident that this time too, he would grant Benny’s favor.

‘I’ll write just this letter and quit.’

Elliot sniffled and resolved himself.

He wrote a short letter to be sent to Benny’s daughter that day. A letter containing Benny’s business and worries. Looking blankly at the words filling up the letter, Benny eventually lowered his head.

“Thank you. Truly thank you.”

With that expression of gratitude, Elliot’s resignation deadline naturally extended as well.

Let’s work until the reply to the letter comes and then quit. Because the reply needs to be read to him. Filling just a month should be enough.

That was his thought when he had no idea what kind of turmoil that reply would bring.