Chapter :2.8

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─Cook.

Cringe.

─Cook.

Cringe.

─cookcookcook.

‘What are you doing? Don’t do it!’

‘Get up, it’s quitting time, you lazy bastard.’

‘……Punish?’

Audrey groggily sat up. Her eyes were still half-closed. Hans looked at her with envy.

‘I heard you can roll over a slug.’

‘Hah.’

‘How does it feel to make the most comfortable money in the world?’

‘You should learn a trade.’

‘Are you awake yet? You’re talking nonsense.’

He grumbled but held out his hand willingly. Audrey took it in her familiar grip and pulled him close. It was like a zookeeper lifting a sloth.

‘Huh? What’s this?’

‘Medicine.’

The bag of pills she held out was a bit of an oddity. His chartreuse eyes looked up at Hans in confusion.

‘I’m not sick.’

‘You’re mentally ill.’

‘This!’

Of course, you are!

Audrey’s eyes lit up and she lunged for him. She stretched her arm out as hard as she could, but she didn’t feel any of the blows around his shoulders or through the flailing, which was quite a bit weaker than dodging back and forth like she was teasing her pea-sized friend.

‘E……!’

Audrey quickly closed in, hoping to land a powerful punch, but the more the distance between them closed, the more embarrassed Hans became.

‘Hey, hey, hey, stop it…….’

‘Apologise!’

‘Hey, you crazy bitch, get away from me, get away from me!’

‘Apologise! Apologise!’

‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! So please……!’

‘Hmm. I’m sure you will.’

‘…….’

Hans slumped to the floor, his face pale. His legs were weak and he could barely stand upright. His pure white face was flushed red as if he had a fever. He glared at Audrey with such a resentful gaze that one would think she had done something terrible. Her fluttering eyelashes gave off an air of pity, like a trembling flower.

‘Do you have any idea how hard it is to get antibiotics right now, and this is after all…… you’ve done for me!’

‘Antibiotics? All of a sudden?’

‘Of course it is. Didn’t you even read the paper today?’

‘…….’

He’s been stuck in the archives all day, so who knows what’s going on in the world. Hans finally got up and handed over the paper.

‘They say it’s a real letter for the Duke. It’s so brutal, it’s mosaic.’

‘How brutal……?’

Audrey doubted her eyes. She squinted, again and again, to make sure she was seeing the right thing.

‘How could this be?

But the letter looked familiar. Even if she squinted, she could still see it.

‘…….’

She was speechless for a moment.

What were the odds that her letter and the blackmailer’s letter were identical? A chill ran down her spine.

‘From what I hear, there’s going to be, what, a massive germ war?’

‘Germs…….’

…Worse… than germs…

‘Huh!’

‘What is it? What’s wrong with you?’

‘……!’

Again. She had an unexplained vision.

Lately, whenever I encountered certain words, I kept seeing strange scenes. It’s as if a lost piece of memory is returning.

But Audrey swears she doesn’t remember having such an experience. Except for the nights she passed out drunk.

‘Stop, no.

Audrey’s heartbeat pounded in her ears like a drum, faster and faster, while her imagination raced for the worst.

‘Then. The day of the Duke’s dinner…….’

‘Why?’

‘That’s when I got lost.’

‘I know.’

‘My, where was I? The walls were so colorful.’

Hans looked back as if he didn’t know why he was asking.

‘Four floors. And no, it wasn’t wall art, it was a door.’

‘……!’

Four floors. The number is ominous. Was it a double line that meant death? And it was a door?

‘You’re lucky you survived that day, you crazy bitch……. Why were you sitting there crying like that?’

‘Where, where is it?’

‘Don’t you know?’

Hans turned grave like he was giving a child a stern warning.

‘The floor reserved for Duke Fritz.’

‘……!’

‘You’re not going there anyway, but don’t go by mistake. That floor is his bedroom, his office, his study, and everything else.’

Even the torture chamber. Hans kindly added a warning not to get into any trouble for being a smart arse. But Audrey’s fingertips were already cold.

‘Someone please tell me no!

Somehow,…… even the wall decoration in the corridor was overly ornate. It wasn’t a wall, it was a door to Duke Fritz’s space! And Audrey, how dare she sit in the corridor where Duke Fritz roamed, and wail so loudly?

‘……!

A chill ran down my spine. I’m not sure I’d be able to say anything even if I had to twist his neck right now for being so loud!

Hans, clueless, laughed lightly, as if to mock my scared face.

‘What’s the big deal? We don’t have to go. Let’s get back to work.’

‘…….’

But Audrey didn’t have time to smile back.

‘Well, I think that’s when the letter fluttered into thin air…….

Somehow, I had an ominous feeling that it was that letter.

The circumstances were too exquisite for coincidence. If Audrey’s letter had wandered down the corridor on the fourth floor and slipped through the crack of a door, all the pieces would fit together.

Why the letter is nowhere to be found, why the Duchy can’t find the sender of the threatening letter?

‘No, I don’t think so…….’

Audrey wished very much that she was wrong about this whole situation.

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‘Kaaaak!’

‘Hey, what’s wrong with you?’

‘Are you okay?’

‘…….’

Audrey’s face was white and her hands were shaking.

She had been suffering from a nervous breakdown for days now. Her pale complexion, her frightened eyes that darted around without warning, her overly alarmed demeanor at the slightest call, and her hands that trembled violently. It was obvious that she was weak.

‘you can’t do it. Go somewhere and get some sleep. If anyone asks, I’ll just tell them I’m filing, okay?’

‘…….’

Claude was also concerned and suggested rest, but even frequent breaks and plenty of sleep were not the ultimate solution.

‘I just heard footsteps, it’s him, he’s coming, he’s going to kill me!

When she was alone, her anxiety was at its peak,

‘Ssssssss!

Even when she forced herself to sleep, she had nightmares.

In her nightmares, Audrey was born a brave tuna, swimming freely in the vast ocean and loving passionately.

But one day there was a thunderstorm. She was captured by the fisherman-turned-Duke of Frit and left for dead.

‘Help me!

The sharp steel slicing through her thick belly, the merciless hands scraping her insides……. His eyes were as fierce as a well-honed blade.

He finished his work in a flash, with the thunder in the background. It was indeed the skill of the youngest Swordmaster.

‘Kaaaak!

Audrey was tossed to the ground, cleaned, and polished. She landed in a heap in a wooden crate, perhaps shedding her last tears…….

‘Argh, argh, argh…….’

She woke up with a start and couldn’t fall back to sleep because she was afraid.

‘Was it a premonition?

I felt a cold sensation creeping through my flesh as if I had been indirectly killed.

The damp pillowcase never dried after that.

One day she was a tuna caught by a fisherman, another day she was a sloth caught by a lion. The situations varied, but the endings were the same. Audrey was going to be killed by the Duke of Frit.

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Derek, who was supposed to rotate through the departments, chose to stay in the Treasury because he wanted to keep a close eye on the key department since nothing else was going wrong, but it was clear that he wanted Audrey dead.

‘I’ve never seen such inefficiency before.

‘At that rate, are we going to get out of work today?

‘One man doing the work of two. That’s a very different way of creating jobs.

You’d think I was working on something very important, but I wasn’t. Thanks to my caring colleagues, I’m just doing overtime work that anyone with eyes and hands can do.

‘…… Is there an efficient way to cross out lines?’

The person on the other end of the line looked like she was barely breathing.

She was too scared to complain, and she didn’t want to get into trouble until her temp contract was completely over. What if she stood out and they realized it was her who had sent the letter?

‘No! Get a grip. Get a grip…….’

But heaven took pity on Audrey and gave her a little breathing space.

‘Your Excellency, an edict has arrived from the King demanding your immediate presence. It is said to be urgent.’

‘…….’

The panting aide had disappeared, carrying an unhappy Duke Frit. Audrey and the Treasury were suddenly at peace.

‘Audrey, are you okay?’

‘Hey, what’s the matter with you? Roll your shoulders.’

Claude and Hans clung to each other like magnets as soon as the door closed. Their unnecessary fussing and taking sides only made Audrey more nervous. She resented the tears that leaked out against her will.

‘Heh, you scared me to death.’

‘Hey, hey, you……!’

‘Don’t cry. Huh?’

‘Audrey, are you okay?’

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah…… sniff.’

‘Cheer up. Who’s good at anything right from the start?’

‘That’s right, everyone has something they’re good at, so don’t get down on yourself.’

‘Your Excellency was harsh.’

The others rushed in like Dr Fish.

Audrey had just turned 20, the youngest of the youngest. She might be clumsy at her job, but she had to be cheerful and cheerful, and her hair would grow in time. But a part of me felt sorry for Audrey, who hadn’t even gotten her cheeks down yet.

‘Nothing like a little sweetness to cheer you up. Try these.’

‘Have you tried these cookies?’

‘My daughter says they’re a favorite with the young people.’

‘Black, thank you, thank you…….’

Before long, Audrey’s desk was piled high with all sorts of jugs. They left their work behind and sat in a circle around her.

‘This guy’s the best when it comes to drawing lines.’

‘By a long shot. All I need is this magic pillow and I can nap inconspicuously.’

‘Do you want me to teach you how to draw a table quickly?’

I was almost full to the brim from all the comforting words.

‘Thanks, everyone……. I’ll try harder.’

‘It’s a job, we just have to work hard. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.’

‘I was worse three years ago, I was afraid they’d slit my throat for not doing my job.’

An unfamiliar relationship you’ve probably never known.

‘So this is what it means to be held back by people.

If it weren’t for the Duke of Frit, Audrey could bury her bones in the Treasury. In the company of such good people, she would gladly.

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