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Chapter 40

"Phew, all done."

Emilia gathered and organized the documents.

Today was the day she was to meet Samuel, the Viscount Ardel's grandson.

Until now, they'd only corresponded by letter—this would be their first face-to-face meeting.

"Is this too much?"

Emilia murmured, looking at the thick stack of documents.

She'd added various reference materials, so the volume had grown quite substantial.

Honestly, she'd also been throwing herself into work lately to keep her mind from wandering.

It's because he was too close.

Emilia quickly shook her head.

Somehow, that day's outing had been steadily reducing not only Kayden's efficiency but her own as well.

I think I should avoid going out with Kayden from now on.

With that thought, Emilia rose from her seat, clutching the documents.

---

Not long after she'd been waiting in the reception room, she heard footsteps approaching.

Knock, knock.

At the knock, Emilia rose and answered.

"Yes, come in."

Click. The door opened and two people entered.

One was Viscount Ardel, and the young man following behind him appeared to be Samuel.

He had fair skin and a lean build.

Not only that, but he had a calm, gentle impression—his glasses made him look quite intellectual.

A bit different from the image I had in mind.

Given his terrible handwriting and stiff terminology, she'd expected a much colder-looking man.

Meanwhile, the Viscount spoke to her heartily.

"Miss Emilia—or should I call you Support Officer?"

"No, please feel free to call me casually."

When Emilia answered warmly, the Viscount looked pleased.

He nudged his grandson, who was standing blankly beside him.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and greet her."

"Ah, oh? Right."

Samuel nodded toward his grandfather, somewhat bewildered.

Seeing that, Emilia extended her hand to Samuel.

"Hello. I'm Emilia, the business support officer for the House of Ardel."

"...I'm Samuel Ardel."

But contrary to his composed voice, Samuel seemed uncertain what to do with her extended hand, hesitating.

In the end, he shook her hand briefly and quickly pulled his away.

Is he shy around strangers?

Emilia tilted her head at that, then spoke.

"Thank you for coming all the way here."

"No need for such words. Thanks to you, we've been able to proceed with the business—we'd have gone anywhere, not just the capital."

In truth, it was customary for the support officer to visit the territory, but Emilia couldn't leave due to Ivan's lessons, so they had come to the capital instead.

"Shall we sit down, then?"

As Emilia offered them seats, the Viscount declined.

"I'll be going now."

"Huh?"

"It's not my work anyway, and since I'm here, I've arranged to have tea with Robert."

"Oh, is that so?"

Emilia wondered briefly if the butler and the Viscount were acquainted, but she readily nodded.

Before leaving the reception room, the Viscount whispered to his grandson.

Though he'd clearly tried to speak quietly—

"Don't make things difficult for this fine young lady, and behave yourself."

The scolding reached Emilia's ears as well.

After the Viscount left, only the two of them remained in the reception room.

"P-please, make yourself at home."

At Samuel's awkwardness, faithfully outputting what his grandfather had input, Emilia let out a small laugh.

"You feel quite different from how you do in your letters."

"Th-that's true for me as well."

Samuel glanced at her and said.

"I'd heard a lot about you from my grandfather, but I didn't expect you to be this kind of person..."

Emilia tilted her head at that.

What had Viscount Ardel said about her after that one day?

She was curious, but there was something more important now.

"Then shall we get down to business?"

---

Once they started discussing work, Samuel no longer seemed awkward.

"So the quality of the ore used in making the catalyst is the most important factor."

"Yes, that's correct. The efficiency varies completely depending on it."

"Ah, by the way, I found in my research that besides the ore you used in your experiments, there's another substance with a similar effect—how efficient would that be?"

At her fluent responses, Samuel stared at Emilia in a daze.

Not only that—she had a perfect grasp of the technology's principles as well.

It was the first time in his life he'd been able to converse so smoothly with someone.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Feeling his gaze, Emilia asked with a puzzled look.

"Ah, no. It's just... I've never met a woman I could communicate with this well before... Ah, no, I don't mean to disregard women..."

He rambled.

"Hmm. Actually, this is a completely unfamiliar field to me too, so I studied up for this opportunity."

"R-really?"

"Yes. I wanted to be able to communicate better with you, Samuel."

Emilia said with a smile.

At that moment, Samuel felt his heart drop.

Wh-what is this?

It was the same thrill as discovering a new formula.

As he stood there flustered, Emilia added.

"After all, I'm a business support officer in name."

Samuel quickly swallowed and nodded.

"Th-that's right."

But his voice cracked without him meaning to.

"Ahaha."

Her clear laughter made Samuel's neck flush red.

---

A short while later, however.

Emilia found herself with an unexpected break.

Kayden had accidentally entered the reception room, looked Samuel over, and then taken him away, saying he had something to discuss about the funding.

With time on her hands, Emilia stepped out into the garden for some fresh air.

Just then, she heard Ivan's excited voice from one corner of the garden.

"Amazing!"

Emilia walked toward the sound.

She soon found Ivan crouching down.

"Ivan?"

But there was a woman she'd never seen before beside him.

Hearing her name, Ivan jumped up and ran over to her.

"Emilia!"

"Ivan, what were you doing?"

Emilia bent down slightly and asked.

"Something yummy!"

"Huh?"

At the odd answer, Emilia tilted her head.

Was he eating a snack?

Just then, the woman who had been with Ivan stood up.

"Hello!"

She was a girl with lovely pink hair.

"I'm Flora Ardel! I came along with my brother today and was just taking a look around the garden!"

At her introduction, Emilia's eyes widened.

Ah, so this is Samuel's sister.

They did resemble each other in some ways.

Not in appearance so much as the bright intelligence shining in both their eyes.

"Nice to meet you. I'm the business support officer for Samuel's—"

But before she could finish, Flora grabbed her hand eagerly.

"Whoa! You're Emilia?!"

"Ah, yes."

Emilia nodded, taken aback by her enthusiastic reaction.

Flora's eyes sparkled as she spoke.

"The one who saved my brother's life!"

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