Two weeks have passed since Sasha gave birth to Mint and Basil. Sasha was gradually regaining her strength and Mint and Basil were growing up healthy.
During that, though, I was in a neighboring office feeling exhausted.
“Zeke… what is this?”
“As you can see, these are from Her Majesty the Queen, Her Highness the Second Princess Serena-sama, many Nobles, and every acquaintance that Callis-sama knows congratulating you on the birth of the Young Miss and Young Master.”
“I understand that, but what is with this amount?”
There is a huge pile of gift-wrapped boxes in the room. I get that Nobles who I’m close to would want to send congratulatory presents… but did I know so many people? Certainly, the old Callis must have had a lot of connections, and due to my personality, I’ve made more, but are those people really close enough to send congratulatory gifts like this?
Zeke answered my question with a sigh.
“Given Callis-sama’s recent work, this must is natural. Incidentally, other than the presents from Nobility, there are many here from people in your territory.”
“From the territory?”
“Yes, because of Callis-sama’s kindness towards the orphanage among other things, the people gathered to celebrate the Young Miss’ and Young Master’s births.”
“Seriously…?”
The Nobility sending presents is within expectations, along with Her Majesty the Queen and Serena-sama… but I never would have expected my territory’s people to celebrate as well. Certainly, I have been donating to the orphanage and improving the territory, but since that’s to be expected of a Noble, I never expect to be thanked for it. Have I become adored a little by my territory’s people?
Well, putting that aside for now…
“Zeke, are you sure you have enough manpower?”
“What do you mean?”
“We recently hired more maids and guards, but do you really not need any assistance doing your work?”
Even though we increased the number of staff in the estate recently, we didn’t hire any butlers due to Zeke’s obstinate refusal. Zeke asserted that he alone was more than sufficient, and he seems to have a professional pride in his ability to get everything done by himself, but recently I’ve started to worry because his workload has started to increase in recent days. After all…
“Wouldn’t it be better if there were at least one person following you in case something unexpected happens?”
“Certainly, I have been thinking of training a successor recently, but… unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find someone with the right qualities. Besides that, it seemed like Callis-sama was reluctant to hire more butlers.”
“Well… that’s because I didn’t want other men to get close to Sasha and Laurier…”
In spite of my rational self, I felt it would be best if there were few men approaching Sasha and Laurier. In particular, since Sasha is so beautiful, I can’t help but worry someone will assault her… Truthfully, I chose guards who were under their wives’ thumbs and could never fool around, and female knights who weren’t at all interested in Yuri for that exact reason. After all, it never hurts to be cautious, right?
“Anyhow, I think it would be best if you hired at least one butler to assist you.”
“I see… if it’s someone who both I and Callis-sama approve of, I won’t have any complaints, but I refuse to admit someone half-hearted. If we’re going to admit someone, they should have talent.”
Someone who can pass Head Butler Zeke’s judgement… does such a rare talent like that exist…? And, with those thoughts, I acted as if this were someone else’s problem.
An apprentice butler… Maybe a new love interest…!?