Translator: Nox

Chapter 27

27

Gunther had immense wealth, but managing it required a considerable amount of work.

'It's past midnight, why isn't he here yet?'

Maria glanced at the clock, startled. She had recently started knitting, following Nora's lead. She needed something to occupy her time, anything would do. But today, Gunther's lateness was particularly concerning. She knew that as the King of a nation, he had many matters to attend to, but he usually returned and went to bed before midnight... Maria stopped her work and headed to his office.

'I'm definitely not going because I'm curious about the Great King. I need to sleep too. There's a clear hierarchy, I can't go to bed before him. That's the law of the royal court.'

As an educated person, she knew what was right and wrong. She should go and tell him quickly. If he was going to work late, she would go to bed first. That way, there wouldn't be any unnecessary misunderstandings. Finally, Maria arrived in front of his office. But why was she so nervous? She swallowed hard and carefully opened the door.

"!?"

The first thing she saw upon opening the door was Gunther, asleep at his desk. And a mountain of documents was scattered messily across the desk and even on the floor.

'Should I wake him? Tell him to go sleep comfortably in bed?'

But why did this scene feel so unfamiliar yet familiar? Maria soon smiled bitterly. Henry never worked so hard that he fell asleep at his desk from exhaustion. But because she had to handle the work he passed on to her, she had almost always fallen asleep and woken up at her desk. So Gunther's weary appearance felt both strange and understandable. Maria approached him, trying to make as little noise as possible. Then she saw a document that Gunther had been working on.

'His handwriting...'

A strange light flickered in Maria's sky-blue eyes. It was astonishing how a person could write like this.

'I can't even recognize what the letters are.'

She shook her head and sighed. If his handwriting matched his appearance, he would be the best calligrapher. Maria quickly scanned the documents on the desk.

'IOUs.'

Documents received for lending money to various royal families and merchant guilds. But the problem was that they weren't neatly organized, so even if they tried to collect the money later, they wouldn't be able to find the documents properly. Of course, Gunther had a good memory, so he might have stored it in his head instead of in the documents.

'Whether it's the date, the amount, or the name... they need to be categorized with a standard.'

From what she could see, it seemed like he was trying to separate them by date and name. Maria quickly began to organize the documents. She separated the documents in a way that wouldn't confuse him later, and then made and attached covers. Not only that, but she wrote the debtor's name and date on the cover and wrote the first letter of the name on the tag. That way, they could be found quickly when the documents piled up.

'This is more fun than knitting after all.'

Perhaps because it was what she used to do, it was more skillful and fun than knitting. Just then, Gunther shivered and huddled up as if he was cold. Maria hurriedly ran to the bedroom, roughly knotted the shawl she had been knitting, and brought it back.

'I really have no talent.'

Even as she draped the shawl over Gunther, her face was burning. Ero and Nora were so skilled that it was hard to believe humans had made their creations. But the shawl she had knitted had holes in the middle and the pattern was uneven. But so what? It was just for a little while.

'Now, let's get to work properly.'

First, Maria tried to understand how Gunther worked. That way, there wouldn't be any confusion later. She first organized the IOUs and then looked at the records regarding the immigrants.

'This is a mess too.'

At this rate, it would be difficult to properly govern the kingdom's people. But it was impossible for Gunther to do this alone. She categorized them as easily as possible, largely by gender and age, and also noted their country of origin. Even as she was engrossed in her work, she occasionally checked on the sleeping Gunther. Seeing him sleeping soundly even with the crude shawl over him made her smile for no reason.

'He looks innocent when he's sleeping.'

Maria refocused on her work. But Gunther was having a hard time lying face down on the desk. That woman was definitely a fool. How could she be so sure that he was asleep...

'I told you not to believe that I only see you with my eyes, didn't I?'

In fact, Gunther had woken up the moment Maria entered the office. Maria's scent was so fragrant, and he was so happy that she had come to find him that he barely managed to hold back his laughter. He thought he would pretend to sleep for a while and then get up, but the act of her putting the shawl over him was so lovely that he didn't want to ruin the moment.

Besides, the sound of the pen scratching on the paper was so pleasant to hear. Gunther secretly squinted and observed her. Her focused appearance. Her hands were quick as she organized the documents, and she was quite good at calculating on the abacus. Anyone would think she was a merchant managing a large trading company. But that admiration was only temporary. Suddenly, his heart was filled with emotion.

'Maria, you don't know what kind of ten years I lived to get you, do you?'

And yet, here they were, breathing in the same space, sharing warmth. More than half of his dream had come true.

'If I want to dream more, I should sleep, right, Maria?'

Gunther fell asleep again.

* * *

Gunther, who had dozed off, woke up and was surprised to see his desk. The messy documents were not only neatly organized, but the complicated documents had also become very tidy and simple. If he needed a particular IOU, he could find it immediately by looking at the tag on the document. Moreover, Maria's handwriting was as graceful and beautiful as she was. It was so perfect that it was hard to believe that a human had written it. Then Gunther realized that he had been wearing a red shawl on his shoulders all along.

'I should give her some praise.'

Gunther got up and went out into the hallway to find Maria. When he asked the Chamberlain, who was standing in front of the door, where Maria was, he received an unexpected answer.

"Everyone is in the drawing-room."

"Everyone?"

That meant they were gathered without him. Wait, could that 'everyone' possibly include Solskjaer? Surely not. It must mean Maria, Ero, and Nora. But when he arrived in front of the drawing-room, Solskjaer's laughter leaked out. He felt a little left out and annoyed.

"Ahem!"

When Gunther coughed, the people who had been drinking tea in a friendly atmosphere immediately stood up and greeted him.

"Great King."

Solskjaer's face was full of smiles...

'Disgusting.'

But he had something even greater than Solskjaer's disgusting scarf, so he quickly felt better.

"Give me a cup of tea too."

When Gunther took a seat at the head of the drawing-room, Ero immediately brought him tea. But Maria, who was sitting next to him, looked very unwell. The dark shadows under her hollow eyes reached down to the corners of her mouth.

'She overdid it yesterday.'

"Did Maria organize it?"

Gunther asked, pretending not to know. Maria seemed surprised for a moment, then nodded.

"She did a very neat job."

"!?"

Maria only smiled awkwardly and didn't seem to be very happy with Gunther's praise. Gunther was perplexed by Maria's attitude. He had clearly given her praise, not intimidation. Then Nora giggled.

"What's wrong?"

"Great King, where did you get that rag-like shawl?"

"Rag...?"

Surely she wasn't talking about the beautiful red shawl he was wearing on his shoulders. Gunther looked at Nora with a puzzled expression.

"Look. The threads are all coming loose. Whoever made it has no talent."

Ero glanced at Maria with a sulky expression and teased her.

"Hey! How can you say 'no talent' in front of the Great King? You need to watch your words."

Nora immediately scolded Ero.

"Then what should I say? I've never seen such a mess of a shawl in my life."

"Then what's 'no talent'? A cat's paw."

"A cat's paw? That's even funnier."

Everyone knew who had knitted the shawl, but they were in a playful mood and teased her as one. At the same time, they seemed to be waiting to see how Gunther would react. Of course, Maria's face was red with embarrassment.

"It was cozy."

Everyone was surprised by Gunther's words and tucked their lips in, saying nothing.

"It was so warm and comforting that I didn't want to take it off my body."

He spoke in a serious tone, expressing his feelings honestly. Of course, his words were solely for Maria. Then Maria stood up and approached Gunther. As Maria reached out to take off the shawl, Gunther placed his hand over hers. Instantly, the others quickly got up and hurried out of the drawing-room.

"There's something I want to ask you."

"?"

"This shawl. Did you knit it for me?"

'It's for practice. How can I give something like this as a gift?'

Maria hesitated for a moment at the question. Depending on her answer, his mood would change completely. Besides, she had to make a good impression on him anyway. It was rag-like, but Gunther had worn it first, so it was as good as his. Maria nodded without realizing it. A smile bloomed on Gunther's face.

"It's much better made than Solskjaer's scarf."

"!?"

If it was a joke, she would have laughed it off, but Maria was surprised by his more serious tone than ever. No, she was excited. Was this what it felt like to have her heart flutter and her heart beat faster even with such praise? She had told herself that she couldn't possibly like, no, love Gunther, but she didn't know why her heart was moving on its own.