' Fuuuuuuck '
The official who was sent by the council had just left and in his wake a mountain of paperwork stood before me.
The aftermath of the duel sent ripples across the empire as it became the hottest topic in all of social parties, with the arcane name being spoken about in both disdain and fear.
Despite how easily it was to accept and go forth with the duel, dealing with everything after was nothing short of a headache, the days passed as I stayed cooped up in my office with the endless paperwork I had to do with the transfer of property, end of conflict and negotiations about tax payment.
' Those crazy bastards in the capital wanted 30% of all revenue '
That alone took a day and a half of endless talk till we finally settled for 15% of the revenue, still a daylight robbery in my opinion but pushing anymore would have caused problems later on with those vassals back at the imperial palace.
The scrutiny I got from the merger with the black market already put me on their watch list, but here I am having tortured a noble heir in front of hundreds, I would be put under greater surveillance just thinking about it is making me tired already.
" Worn out? "
A voice echoed from behind, as always it was Albert who inquired as he poured me some tea,
Honestly, I don't even know from where he appears from, I just learned to let it go so I don't get a heart attack.
" The Dovers weren't really the most cooperative " I said reeling my anger at the whole deal
" Well, you did torture their son master "
but of course, albert had to test me
' You were the one who did it !!! '
Is what I wanted to say but at this point I had long since developed immunity to Alberts remarks, staying calm under any situation is what he said he was trying to teach me, see even he looks impressed
" The important thing is that we were to reach an amicable agreement with the Dovers "
" They really didn't have a choice "
" ALBERT... No... phew...
The main point is that it is over "
' He almost got me '
" How is Christina doing? " I asked changing the subject
" She is doing well, everyone in the estate loves her "
" That's good then no need to fire anybody "
Saying so I stood up and started making my way to the door however yet again albert stood before me wearing a look full of pity.
" Some new papers came over... "
'No'
" And you need to review it all "
Just like that I spent another day locked in my office
.....
It was dark, musky, and the room smelled of a mix of paper, coffee and tea but I finished it all.
It took a total of 14 hours and lethal doses of caffeine, but I can finally say with all certainty that I have nothing else to do.
Staring at the clock signalling it was 7 am and hearing it's rhythmic ticking I almost fell asleep on my desk but the soft knock on the door snapped me out of it.
Entering was Christine who looked around worried before finally spotting me and scurrying towards me in rushed steps making me notice the small basket in her hands
" Nicholos are you okay? " She asked her eyes wide in worry
I was thinking of teasing her a bit and say I am dying but decided against it in the end
' She would probably believe me and start crying '
" Just sleep deprived " is what I decided to go with in the end " instead what are you doing here? Is something going on? "
Hearing my question, she fidgeted and soon took out something from the basket she had with her. A pair of sandwiches and a cup of orange juice put in a small bottle.
" You were here all day yesterday so I thought that you would be hungry "
Watching as she neatly put the food on my desk after she said so, an endless flood of emotions came over me.
' An angel, Christine was an angel '
Of course, I couldn't go and start crying in front of her, my image as a reliable older brother would be shattered so I simply expressed my thanks.
' We are getting closer; she started calling me casually, so it will happen one day she will call me big brother '
With that wish buried within, I gratefully ate the sandwiches which turned out to be made by Christine making it ten time greater than it already was but as I was happily eating a question from Christine stopped me dead in my tracks
" By the way what are you going to do on your date tomorrow? "
As if it was a domino effect that single question caused an endless thought process to occur, from realizing that so many days had passed to all the best dating spots in the arcane territory and with that I was able to give my answer.
" I have no idea "
No matter what I thought off and what I was thinking to do it all cut off at one point, and the reason being I could no longer stay awake, I kept shutting down mid thought.
So, I did what any responsible man would do, I stood up leaving the confused Christine behind and went straight towards my bedroom.
' I'll think about what to do after my 12-hour nap '
I left it to a later date.
.....
Turns out when you are really tired you get an extra rare case of sleeping for 16 hours straight, it broke my previous record of 13 hours by a rather large margin.
' I wonder if I will ever reach the 24 hours nap of legends '
Sadly, I didn't have time to dwell on such thoughts as it was currently 1:30 pm and I still had no plan for the date tomorrow.
' You idiot, why the hell didn't I think about this before, who leaves thing to a later time!!! '
At the moment I was busy pacing my room in strides trying to figure out what to do tomorrow.
' Ok think, you probably know almost everything about her preferences from the novel, all these hours couldn't have been for nothing '
There are multiple beautiful sceneries in our territory that she would love, after that we could take her out for dinner and order her favourite food and drink before taking her to the best pastry shop in Arcane so that she could eat dessert.
' Yes, yes that could work but still isn't it too bland '
She was the daughter of a duke after all she must have seen what others could only dream off and tasted food and desserts that can never be outdone in this world.
But as that thought crossed my mind a sudden hint of inspiration came through, I was well rested as I can ever be, and I happen to have enough coffee to take away any drowsiness that may come so I straightened my shirt, slicked back my hair and went to work.
.....
The next day came, and I stood by the gate hearing my heartbeat louder with every minute before it stopped for an entire minute as the figure in front of me appeared.
Her beauty was as profound as always, this time however it was marked with traces of make-up that highlighted it even more, long gone from her usual professor uniform she was instead in casual clothes with a long-sleeved white shirt and a brown long skirt.
Outdated one can say for sure but when she wore it, she looked like a fairy tale princess instead.
" You look beautiful "
Those words that I couldn't hold back stopped Isabella in her tracks for as her face reddened a bit increasing her charm even more.
" Are you saying that I am usually not beautiful? " She said teasingly probably as a way to regain her composure
But at that point I was too far gone to filter what I was saying
" No actually you every time I saw you, you looked like an angel it is just that this time it feels like I am looking at a goddess "
Thankfully I was able to regain my bearings right after, or the sight of Isabella fully flushed red would have missed me, though I wasn't completely without shame either.
Still after a couple of minutes of silence we reached a mutual understanding to continue without mentioning it.
And so, reaching out my hand to Isabella I spoke
" Are you ready my lady? "
" Yes indeed, Sir Nicholos "
But just as I we were boarding the carriage Isabella asked a question
" Where are we going? "
" Ah well for now the lake"
" The lake? "
" Did you know there is things that can only be done in the lake "
' In this world that only knows how to have fun by fighting, let me teach you the fun of modern entertainment '