TOPWL 26

“Are you leaving now? The carriage is ready.”

After a moment of hesitation, Yudit spoke to the servant.

“Can I borrow some paper and a pen? I’d like to send my thanks to His Grace.”

“Yes, I’ll bring them right away.”

One of the servants went out and soon returned with paper and a fountain pen. Although he had been invited almost by force, he couldn’t leave without expressing his gratitude after receiving such treatment. Yudit wrote a short note on the paper and placed it in the envelope.

“Shall I bring some wax?”

“That’s fine. It’s not that important.”

There was no need to seal the thank-you note with wax. After handing the envelope to the servant, the servant received it politely.

“I will escort you to the carriage.”

Wender took the lead as Yudit’s guide. Stepping out into the hallway, a different view unfolded before him—one he hadn’t seen last night. Unlike the luxurious guest rooms, the hallway was quite simple. A brown carpet covered the floor, and the beige wallpaper was unadorned. Occasionally, windows could be seen, but there were no decorations, giving it an empty, almost barren feel.

It was so plain that it almost felt desolate.

Yudit stretched his neck and looked outside the window. He had been told it was a townhouse, and indeed, the garden seemed endless. There were no flowers, but dense spruces and fir trees lined the path on both sides, giving the garden a certain charm.

When they descended the stairs, the carriage appeared, identical to the one they had used the previous day. The coachman, waiting at the front, took off his beret and greeted Yudit.

“I look forward to seeing you again.”

Wender gave a deep bow to Yudit, who responded with a nod before accepting the coachman’s escort to the carriage. With a crack of the reins, the carriage began moving slowly. As the scenery faded into the distance, Yudit leaned his head against the sofa of the carriage.

It indeed seemed to be a townhouse. After passing through the vast garden, the city began to appear not long after. As the coachman slowed, Yudit was able to take his time admiring the city. The three-story buildings were lined with general stores, clothing shops, and grocery stores, and people were bustling about the streets. Seeing something at a stall, Yudit opened the curtain separating him from the coachman.

“Could we stop briefly in front of the general store?”

“Shall I stop at the store ahead?”

“That would be appreciated.”

Despite the sudden request, the coachman skillfully guided the horses. The carriage slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop in front of a grocery store. Yudit, escorted by the coachman, checked the newspapers on the stall in front of the general store. As an aristocrat stepped out of the seemingly expensive carriage, the shopkeeper looked at Yudit with a nervous expression.

“Is there anything you need, My Lord”?

“I would like to buy all the newspapers from today.”

“All of them?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all. I’ll gather them for you right away.”

The shopkeeper began gathering the newspapers, one by one, and carefully placing them into an bag.

“That’ll be thirty thousand Kes.”

After handing over the money, Yudit received the bag. Even though they were just newspapers, more than ten copies made it quite heavy. Before returning to the carriage, Yudit bought two more bottles of beverages and handed one to the coachman.

“It’s a hot day.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll enjoy this.”

The coachman gratefully accepted the drink. As Yudit sat back in the carriage, he opened the first newspaper. The front page featured an article about some noble’s corruption. Yudit quickly skimmed through the article before flipping to the next page. There were no fire-related stories on the next page or the one after that. By the time he finished the first newspaper, he picked up the next one. This one also covered a noble’s corruption. The following newspapers were the same. After going through all the papers, Yudit sighed in relief and leaned back against the carriage seat.

Khalid—he really kept his promise. There were no articles about the fire in any of the newspapers. With gratitude, Yudit also felt the weight of Khalid’s influence.

“We’re almost there.”

The coachman opened the curtain and spoke. The palace garden was visible ahead. They had returned once more—to Yudit’s home and battlefield.

Yudit walked through the corridor of the Imperial Palace. Fortunately, since the coachman had taken him directly to the palace where he resided, the chance of meeting any other princes was minimal.

Without encountering anyone, Yudit safely arrived at his bedroom, where he came face-to-face with his nanny. She was sewing at Yudit’s table. Yudit suddenly remembered that the clothes she had mended the previous night had been completely ruined. Feeling a bit guilty, he looked at her, and she stood up to greet him.

“Your Highness, you’ve returned?”

Yudit was unsure what to say about the overnight stay, but the nanny didn’t seem to react.

“Yeah. Was everything alright?”

“Nothing unusual happened. By the way, Your Highness, when will the repairs to the servants’ rooms be done?”

“I’ll try to get it done before winter.”

“You know the money His Majesty gave us? Could we just use that? I think about one million or 1.5 million Kes should be enough.”

“I told you that money is for the competition. We can’t use it privately.”

“But it’s so cold. What are we going to do? Winter is still far off, yet I already feel my bones aching in the mornings.”

“I thought the palace’s budget would come out in June. Can’t we use that for the repairs?”

At Yudit’s words, the nanny rolled her eyes and muttered.

“That money will barely cover meals for you and the servants. Even if we’re frugal, there won’t be enough for repairs.”

“We’ll need to save what we can for upcoming expenses. I’ll check, so bring the budget and the ledger to my office.”

“…The ledger? We don’t have one.”

“We don’t have a ledger?”

“Your Highness, who keeps track of every little detail when shopping for groceries? If we paid attention to everything, we’d get a headache.”

The nanny was quite confident. Yudit realized he shouldn’t have entrusted the budget to her in the first place. She had been with him since childhood, and since she was the only adult around, he had relied on her for the budget all this time. But he hadn’t realized she had been spending it this way. Regardless, Yudit was the master, now that he was an adult, it was his responsibility, not the her.

“Ah, this isn’t the time for this. We’ve received a lot of letters, Your Highness.”

“Letters?”

The nanny quickly changed the subject when she sensed the conversation might turn uncomfortable. Yudit, aware of the shift in topic, followed her lead.

“There were three letters this morning. I’ve left them in your office.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Yudit headed to his office. Knowing that further conversation would be disadvantageous to her, the nanny didn’t stop him anymore. When Yudit arrived at his office and approached the desk, just as the she had said, there were three letters placed on top of the desk. Unlike before, they were all sealed. At least he was grateful that she had listened to him.

Yudit took a paper knife from the desk and opened one of the envelopes. As he read the letter, his expression subtly shifted.

…

“….What do you think, Your Highness?”

Yudit, who had been lost in thought for a moment, looked up at the sound of someone’s voice. Lyett was asking him a question. By now, all eyes in the room were on Yudit.

The letter Yudit had received was an invitation to a gathering of those affected by the fire from the previous day. The sender was Selena, and the venue was Lyett’s townhouse. How had they managed to organize such a gathering in just one day?

Yudit decided to visit the townhouse a little earlier. As expected, Selena, Lyett, and Count Craven and his wife were already there. Sonia had also arrived a bit earlier than usual. While talking with them, other guests began arriving one by one. Contrary to the expectation that many would not come due to injuries, quite a few people had gathered at the townhouse. Those unable to attend had sent representatives. Refreshments had been prepared for the guests, but very few were eating.

As the seats filled, Selena, standing at the front of the table, began speaking.

“Hello, I am Selena Craven. First, I want to apologize to everyone who was shocked by yesterday’s incident. I am truly… sorry.”

Selena continued speaking, offering comfort to those who must have been frightened by the events of the previous night. She explained that, since the incident had occurred at her townhouse, she intended to cover not only the medical expenses but also provide compensation. At that moment, Lyett raised her hand and stood up.