Duke, Please Stop Because it Hurts

But still, peace didn’t linger that much. All of a sudden, Raven jumped out of his seat as soon as he had closed the last document that was posted.

“Oh, where are you going?”

Startled—Lyndon immediately threw a question. Raven, on the other hand, quickly put on his coat before saying,

“I’m getting off work today.”

His words had frozen the softened atmosphere of the office.

“What? But there are other things—”

“I’ve already finished today’s work.”

That was it, but then—Terrance began to desperately stare at him. It was rather irrelevant when compared to what Raven, who was branded as a workaholic, usually did.

He could definitely leave work for today, but not his remaining men. What hadn’t been done by the boss would ultimately be left for the subordinates to finish.

It was at that moment when Raven stood briefly by the door before leaving the office—looking like a piece of portrait. His hasty step to leave for home had paused momentarily.

Raven then turned his head and looked around his office. Those who were inside were looking very grim as they made fun of their slow working hands with a dreadful expression painted on their faces.

“The others may leave work early as well.”

“…what?”

“If you happen to like your work, then you can stay.”

“No!”

“I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Right at the moment when he had quickly disappeared, the office was instantaneously filled with wonder. Leave early? They could actually leave early?

Although many nights had been spent away before, leaving work early was an entirely different thing altogether. When they had first joined the order, they never thought that the word could truly exist in their lives.

None of the knights could move at first as they were utterly dumbfounded. Their ears must have seemed to mishear something. If not, they would actually have to deal with the wrath of their Lord later.

Eventually, after a long time had passed, they realized that Lyndon was already getting ready to head home. Leaving work early was no longer just a dream.

A little later then, the knights began referring to it as a small rebellion of the office.

***

Realized Emotions 

As soon as he had arrived home, Raven dismounted his horse.

After a tad bit of a rough drive in order to reach quickly, he finally could catch his breath.

The butler immediately welcomed Raven as he entered the residence. Raven’s early arrival was no longer a surprise to all the servants. The butler eventually took on his coat with such a calm manner.

“What of my wife?”

“The Madame is still in her study.”

“What is she doing there?”

“Madame is looking through the documents of this year’s budget.”

He should’ve told her to really take care of her body—first and foremost. Raven frowned slightly in response, but it only lasted briefly. Instead, he started stepping towards the study, rather than heading back to his bedroom.

As he stood in front of the study, he immediately recalled the things he heard back in the office. His hesitating hands began to cause him worry to even make a knock on the door.

‘She needs to listen to me—at least a little.’

He frowned, but his hands were still faltering.

Eventually, after a few considerations, he straight away opened the door without knocking at all. Nevertheless, his cautious hand had made the creaking sound of the door disappear completely.

“Molitia?”

In contrast to his low reverberating voice, the study was very quiet inside. As soon as the door had parted completely, Raven discovered a desk that was just right in the middle of the study.

As it seemed to be overshadowing his own agony, she had her eyes closed while exhaling a series of tingling breaths. Along with her propped up chin, her head was nodding off as she was enjoying her little nap.

Perhaps she had been working quite hard since her pen was still stuck on her hand. Raven then moved his feet carefully in order to not wake her up.

The streak of sunlight on the window had reflected on Molitia herself. With the gleaming sun that shone in daytime, she glowed even brighter than those pretty jewels.

‘Has she always been this pretty?’