The duke wasn't that young, but he wasn't that old either.
He easily dodged out of the way of the falling papers before shaking his head with a bitter smile.
He looked at the girl who was lying in the center of the room, surrounded by stacks of papers before shaking his head. With a sigh, he said, "Darling, you can't keep doing things like this. You know you should at least get the maid to clean up for you."
The girl who was lying there in the center of the room quickly shook her head and said, "If they tidy up, they'll just mess everything up. I already have everything in the place that I want it to be and if anyone touches them, I won't be able to get anything done."
The duke gave a sigh when he heard this and he shook his head, but he didn't keep reprimanding the girl.
Instead, he just looked at the stacks of papers that were closest to her, as if he was trying to figure out what she was working on.
When he looked at it closely, he found that these were reports on supposed demon activity in the area around Bright Water City.
When he saw this, he couldn't help revealing a slightly confused expression since he didn't understand why she was investigating this.
Still, he just accepted it in the end and didn't question what the girl was doing.
Instead, he came over and asked, "Why did you have me go to all that trouble to welcome that Baron Zwein? It's clear that he's nothing more than a simple lower noble that's just trying to flatter our ducal family."
The girl ignored all of this as she asked, "What was he like?"
The duke shook his head before saying, "You really need to stop being lost in your own little world. Do you know how much loss you've caused our family?"
The girl didn't seem to register this question as she was just lost in her own little world.
The duke shook his head again before saying, "Closing one of the gates to the city, that's caused countless losses since it's caused delays at all the other gates. Not to mention sending Tim to receive them, this has caused delays in all of our businesses. Then there's…"
The duke continued to list off all the losses that they had suffered because of the whim of this girl, but the girl still didn't seem to care at all.
In the end, the duke could only give an exasperated sigh before asking, "Why did you want me to do all of this?"
The girl suddenly took a piece of paper from a nearby stack that she handed to the duke.
The duke took it with a confused look on his face, but he still carefully read this piece of paper.
He found that it was a report from Alanday City.
But all that did was cause a confused look to appear on his face.
He raised this piece of paper as he looked at the girl and asked, "What's so special about this? It's just a regular report about what happened there."
The girl raised her hand and suddenly wagged her finger.
Then she said, "Look more closely at the descriptions of the people involved. I'm sure that there's something that will catch your eyes."
The duke revealed an even more confused look, but he still carefully read the report.
He wasn't able to find a single thing at first…but then there was indeed something that had caught his eyes. He looked carefully at it and he realized that there was something that was familiar about this.
A man with a special scar…
Could it be that it was that person?
But why would that person be in a place like Alandal City?
Not to mention, why would he be meeting someone like this Baron Zwein?
That person was related to the most dangerous organization in this entire kingdom and he was meeting an upstart?
The duke immediately looked at the girl and she just gave a nod in response before saying, "That's right, it's the Shadow Garden."
The duke knitted his brows even more when he heard this, but then he quickly said, "Even if he met that person, that doesn't mean that he's related to them. He's nothing more than an upstart, he's not worth this kind of treatment."
Once again, the girl raised her hand and wagged her finger.
She then said, "Didn't you see the one that he came with? Even if had his face hidden, you should have seen his sword."
"Sword?" The duke couldn't help repeating.
The girl gave a nod before saying, "That's right. There should have been a special symbol on that sword…"
She let her voice trail off as she waited for the duke to finish gathering his thoughts.
The duke thought about it for a bit, but he couldn't think of anything at first.
After all, he had assumed that person was just a guard and he didn't pay much attention to him.
But eventually, he was able to remember it.
There was a symbol on that sword and it had left an impression on him since he had thought that it was a strange symbol.
The more he thought about it, the more he started recognizing the symbol until finally…
"Ah! It's that symbol!" The duke suddenly said.
Then his eyes opened wide as he looked at the girl and said, "Then that means…that person was…"
He didn't finish his words, but the meaning behind them was clear.
The girl just gave a simple nod in response to this.
At that, the duke couldn't help revealing a very dire look.
That symbol…it was the representation of a certain man who was known as the demon hunter on the borders of the kingdom. It had been said that this man had disappeared and had started working for the Shadow Garden organization…but he had thought they were rumours.
If that was the case, then this Baron Zwein really was…
At this, the duke revealed an even more serious look as he looked at the girl.
Seeing this look on his face, the girl revealed a smile and said, "You see how important it is now? We have to make sure that we leave a good impression on this Baron Zwein or else our family will…"
Once again, she didn't finish her words, but the meaning was very well implied.
The duke opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but no words came out. In the end, he just closed his mouth and gave a simple nod in response.
Seeing this, the girl didn't mind this and turned back to the stacks of papers that surrounded her.
She once again entered her own world, completely ignoring the duke standing there.
However, the duke didn't mind at all.
The duke just silently watched this girl lying there amongst the papers with a complicated look, but that look soon turned into a loving one.
He knew that he should listen to this girl because she was special…this daughter of his had shown a very high intelligence since she was young and she had saved him many times from danger.
This time wasn't an exception.
So he decided that he would follow her plan and prepare the dinner for that Baron Zwein.
But as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something.
The duke turned back to ask that girl, "Will you be coming to dinner tomorrow night?"
The girl suddenly turned to look at the duke and this time, she seemed to hesitate.
In the end though, she still gave a simple nod.