The Duchess of the Attic

"Marquise Roussel, you're home again, aren't you!?

"Thank you, Marquise!

"Be sure to come back again!

"Marquis, your hometown is here!

In a crowd of man-tested folks, Opal got into the carriage smiling and waving along with Claude.

Take a short distance from here to the railway station, from where you switch to a locomotive and exit to the port.

We are finally returning to the kingdom of Tysey.

Opal, seated in his seat alongside Claude, exhaled relieved as the carriage ran out.

Long after that newspaper article came out, Opal and Claude are welcome wherever they go.

I was acting up to that expectation, but Opal seemed uncomfortable as he was fooling everyone.

"Looks like we're short of manpower."

"Conversely, except for the lack of manpower, it's going well."

Opal, who safely delivered Beth to the facility in Wang capital, received Hubert's visit the following morning.

I've come from a series of reports to convey my apologies and gratitude to Beth.

And Hubert reported to me that after talking to Miss Marienne and her parents, Countess Ruffon, she had decided to drop off her engagement.

It seems that Stella also decided to take this opportunity to live in a land quite far from the king's capital.

I had something to say, but I just stopped to listen to Opal say it wasn't about mouthing, and then the three of us discussed man-testing.

And now Opal and Claude were just finishing up their man-test inspection.

Land has been developing well without problems with ore reserves for a long time, but demand has not kept up with supply - it has been reported that it is plagued by shortages of manpower.

Of course there are other fine issues, but we have to clean them up one by one, including them.

But as a way to crack down on the shortage of manpower, Opal already had one proposal.

"Did you make the arrangements?

"Yeah. That's why I went out of my way to accompany Alan. Alan doesn't want to write lying articles."

"An article of lies..."

"As for my name, I can't believe I didn't write a lie, I just didn't write the truth."

"Things are like that."

Opal is also the Marquis of Roussel, but also the former Duchess of McCloud.

Neither is a mistake, so sometimes I would only name the higher ranked one, or I would always name both.

I just don't feel like naming Hubert's title after all, I'm just making it Claude's.

"Don't you have to look at the draft?

"Yeah, I'm fine. Although Alan's articles are sometimes a little exaggerated, they are very easy to read and understand. If Alan writes badly about his job at Man Test, you mean he got the impression that he was right. That's something we didn't realize, and I want to read it."

"But what if that doesn't bring together the key workers?

"Then you just have to try to get together. Until then, we'll have to keep production down, won't we?... So this is my idea, and if Claude, your father, or the Duke of McCloud disagree, I'll obey?

"That's a fight in the back."

That's what Claude laughed at.

In order to eliminate the shortage of manpower in man-testing, we decided to advertise staff recruitment in the newspaper that is now the most popularly read.

But it was Opal who came up with the proposal that it was actually better to get reporters to cover than just advertise.

It can be a regular advertisement, but it's easy to understand what kind of work an article would do, and the reader would be interested.

He told Alan that he could do the interview with the miners so that they wouldn't get in the way of their work either.

Of course, Opal and Claude promised not only miners, but also people who work in man-testing to hear their grievances directly and try to improve them.

"Because Claude keeps saying things backwards, I think you're changing your opinion until yesterday and disagreeing"

"I agree. Both Count Holloway and McCloud have delegated this matter. There are just so many different people in the world. So some people will take it badly about this one, so that doesn't necessarily mean it won't be shackled in the future."

"I know. Until now, people have received so much malice that they don't like it. That's why you can stand up to malice, and you know the world isn't all malicious."

But with Opal on the table this time, it's Opal who's standing on the arrow when something happens.

Opal, who somehow thought Claude was in a bad mood since he came to Mantest, smiled unexpectedly knowing what caused it.

Because he's become famous anyway, and he's greatly promoted Opal as one of the managers of man-test land development, and decided to become an advertising tower himself, but he's worried about it.

But I didn't disagree because you acknowledged the effect and Opal's own opinion.

"... If I wasn't on the table and something went wrong with my man-test, it might be Claude standing on the arrow. It could be your father, it could be the Duke. Either way, we must all move to solve the problem."

But with us and Opal...

Claude, who was about to say, looked at Opal and looked at him that he was gone.

Claude didn't approve of Opal, the world didn't.

Opal made a smile while regretting that he had become a wounded look.

"I think we're going to hear a lot about this, because this is what women are saying. I heard that. I'm angry, and I think I'm going to regret it and cry, and I'm still going to stand up to it. That's why I want Claude to stay with me then. Because if you tell me it's okay as usual, it's gonna be really okay."

"Then I'll take care of it. My specialty."

Claude replied with a laugh, but those eyes were very serious.

Opal held onto his hot chest and peered into its eyes without distracting.

"Thank you, Claude"

"I didn't do anything."

"He's doing everything for me."

Claude stared back at Opal and put his hands on those soft cheeks.

- Getting kissed.

The moment Opal tried to close his eyes feeling that way, he was picked on the cheek.

"Hey!

"Still, you're an easy cheek to pick"

"Oh, I don't know what that means! It's not easy to pick!

Claude just laughs when he protests with all his hands.

For some reason, Claude suddenly picks his cheek.

"There you go. If you don't laugh, the Marquise's reputation will be ruined."

"Marquise Roussel doesn't care about her reputation."

That being said, Opal stepped on Claude's foot as much as he wanted.

Opal says in a clear voice toward Claude, who groaned at the pain and frowned.

"There you go. If you don't laugh, Marquis Roussel's reputation will be ruined."

"Opal -"

Claude was blocked by the sound of complaining and knocking on the carriage door.

Opal answers with a glowing voice and the door opens.

"Let's make the reputation of the Marquis Roussel certain"

"You think I hate mean losers?

I don't mind if I do.

"I'm just kidding."

The two got out of the carriage with a smile on their faces as they spoke lightly.

He then walks into the special passenger car, waving at the people gathered at the station.

It is not long from here to the port, so you will arrive in the kingdom of Tysey in the evening.

"Now, are you ready to return to the kingdom of Tysey?

"You don't have to be ready."

"Okay, let's go."

Nodding at the reliable Opal reply, Claude signaled the station manager to wait outside.

Then the whistle sounds high and the seat starts to shake heavily and move.

Opal smiled out the window with Claude and waved to the people who were dropping him off.