CHAPTER :1.7

The department assignor rubbed his cloudy eyes as he corrected the headcount. The two of them were torn.

Hans felt like he wanted to die. The sight of his brother’s face, along with the sight of Audrey, who was about to drop all sorts of jabs at him, was enough to drive him mad. For a moment, his face was refreshed, but then it was dark again.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

─Charlatan.

Audrey had finally made a mistake.

“Oops, oops, oops, I’m sorry!”

She lost her footing just as she was about to set the box down on the ground, and it fell backward, scattering the stack of papers everywhere.

Hans shook his head as if in anticipation.

“I knew you would.”

“Audrey, are you hurt?”

“Yeah, …….”

“Let me see.”

“I’m okay…….”

“Come on.”

She bent and extended her arms and legs several times to show that she was fine, but she couldn’t hide the corners of her mouth that were creeping upward.

‘Was I so worried about you, my brother’s in a car, too?

His eyes were so sweet as he worriedly checked for any injuries. The dull pain in my butt was nothing.

“You’d better stay off the paper, or you’ll slip again. Hans, you come and help me.”

“Me?”

“It’ll only take a minute.”

“Whatever. I’ve recognized you since you came in dressed like that. You’re a mess.”

“…….”

I couldn’t help but feel like I’d caused a nuisance. Just as I was about to sulk in guilt, a familiar voice spoke warmly to me.

“Audrey, can you keep an eye on those papers for a minute? I don’t want them to go anywhere. And if you feel sick, tell me right away. Okay?”

“…….”

Notice the subtlety with which she assigns the most insignificant of tasks and gives them meaning as if they were important.

“Brother, there’s no way you’re going to run away with the paperwork.

I felt embarrassed and out of place like I was being treated like a 3-year-old, but I smiled because I liked his thoughtfulness. AM. If Claude’s brother is anything to go by, the duke’s papers are different, and he might have feet. Audrey forgot to blink and took the task seriously, eager to live up to his expectations.

‘……that fool. Do you think the paper will run away?

The sight of him was unbelievable. Hans shook his head in disbelief.

Unfortunately, Audrey’s mistakes didn’t stop there.

“Ms. Audrey, could you please shred these documents that are past their retention date?”

“Yes!”

Audrey replied cheerfully and grabbed a heavy shredder.

─Dodo, dodo, dodo, dodo.

As she watched the documents being shredded with a cheerful sound, she felt a sense of pride. Above all, it was a simple repetitive task, so there was no risk of making mistakes, and she felt confident in her performance.

When the last stack of papers was halfway shredded. Hans approached her like he was inspecting her homework. At the same time, Audrey was on high alert.

“What else? Why?”

It was hard to say, because every time I looked away from her, she would freak out even more. I’m already nervous, and I don’t need to be. …….

“Where did those papers come from?”

“Huh? Mr. Miller told me to shred all the documents that were past their retention date.”

“All of them?”

“Yes. Why?”

─Dodo, dodo, dodo.

Audrey had nothing to lose this time; all she had to do was shred them as they were given to her, and unless she was an idiot, what could she possibly go wrong?

But the longer Hans remained silent, the more her eyes, once so full of confidence, began to show a faint hint of anxiety.

“What, what, why aren’t you talking? You’re making me nervous. Why? What is it?”

“…….”

Hans shuffled through the empty filing cabinets wordlessly. Audrey watched her friend’s sifting with shaky eyes.

Finally, he found a blue filing cabinet she hadn’t even realized was there. Unknowingly, he placed a stack of papers on top of it, and Audrey’s eyes widened in embarrassment.

“This is a loan file. Did he tell you to shred this too?”

“Well, I don’t know why that’s there…… I don’t think he gave me that.”

“…….”

My heart began to race anxiously.

“Am I in trouble again?

Just then, Claude approached, sensing something was wrong with the two of them, who were as stiff as meerkats.

“What’s wrong? Is something wrong?”

“…….”

Audrey stared at the shredder. A finger’s length of paper had disappeared into the shredder’s belly with a cheerful ding-dong sound.

“That, that.”

“What? Where’s the loan note iron? Has anyone seen the loan note?”

“……!”

Oops.

Audrey’s face went white. It was a clear sign of guilt.

“I must have left it on my desk somewhere.”

Just as Audrey was about to confess with shaky hands that it was my fault, a familiar warmth covered her hands.

“It’s okay, stay here, I’ll take care of it.”

“……Orabunnyy?”

Claude whispered in a low voice and stepped forward.

“I’m sorry, sir. I must have mislabeled it.”

“Uh, Claude?”

“I was in such a rush this morning that it must have gotten mixed in with the other papers.”

“Oh my God, Claude, do you make mistakes too?”

“I’m human, too. I’ll take responsibility for the loan note and get it back to you.”

“If you’re willing to do it, Claude, there’s no reason to worry! It’s not a rush, so take your time.”

“…….”

Despite Audrey’s worries, things went smoothly. It was all thanks to Claude.

“Since I’m running late, I’ll take care of the west bridge repair, and you can hand over the paperwork later today.”

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary…….”

“Don’t worry about work, go on a date with the young lady from Langmor. I know you’ve been busy lately.”

“Great, great, I’ll pass, thank you very much then, hahaha.”

The finish was perfect. Claude walked away smiling like it was no big deal. But Audrey’s head, which had drooped, didn’t.

“You’re very surprised, aren’t you?”

“Because I made my brother…… sorry.”

“Sorry for what? No one is perfect from day one.”

“…….”

Audrey knows. She knows it’s never simple to get a loan back. And now that she’s taking on a job she shouldn’t have to, she’s going to be busier than ever for the next few days. Still, Claude’s nonchalance is both grateful and apologetic, as he doesn’t want her to worry.

“It happens at first. You start worrying about people, and then you make mistakes, and you beat yourself up.”

“But I know you’re trying to do better because I know you would.”

“My brother…….”

“If you’re having a hard time, why don’t you stay in the archives until you get the hang of it? There’s no prying eyes there, so you’ll be more comfortable.”

Audrey nodded slightly. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble, and being blind would allow her to use her magic relatively freely. There was nothing more useless than an Audrey without magic.

＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

─Chirp.

The door of the cabinet opened, and all the stacks of papers fell out. The papers that had been floating around in the air were instantly arranged in pairs as if they were magnets.

“Why am I so useless?”

Meanwhile, Audrey sat in the corner and sighed.

In her twenty years of life, she had never felt so useless. She couldn’t make the excuse that it was her first time, that she was the only toothless cog in a well-oiled machine. Hans was doing it like he’d been doing it for years.

“You can’t even do the easy stuff right……. what the hell do you know how to do?”

As if to console her, the papers floated in midair around her and were suddenly sucked neatly into the cabinet. The papers, categorized by retention period and nature of the document, were arranged as if they had been measured with a ruler. Finally, the steel cabinet door slammed shut and silence fell.

“If I knew it was going to be like this, I wouldn’t have come…….”

The time that everyone else spent rushing to find their work was oppressive to Audrey. Unable to bear the boredom, she swept the tops of cabinets with the wind, whitened yellowed papers, and fixed broken things in the corners. The changes were so small and insignificant that if you didn’t pay attention, you wouldn’t even realize they had been made.

The much-anticipated first day of work was about to end in a deserted archive. Just as Audrey was beginning to lose heart, she heard the old wooden door creak open.

“How’s it going?”