The Civil Officer Can Have Sweet Dreams Chapter 4

“You said that the Prince will be earnestly observing me from now on?”

“Correct.”

At dawn, with vacant eyes, Cleatt was called over by Crown Prince Henry, and spoke with an Imperial Guard that was also called over at the same time. Henry's favorite guard, Terriol, also replied with a vacant look. Cleatt regarded Terriol with a compa.s.sionate gaze.

Terriol, the Imperial Guard directly under Crown Prince Henry, was Cleatt's junior at the age of 25, but by chance, Henry took a liking to him, and thus Terriol always accompanies him around the palace. Presumably, the one that Henry parades the most around the Royal Palace is this man.

Henry had also considered parading Cleatt around as well, but first he has to solve the problem of phrasing the unreasonable demand into proper policy. However, because Terriol is Henry's guard, there's not one moment where he isn't by his side. If Henry was an obedient man, then there wouldn't have been any problems with that, but he's the type that when he's resolved himself to do something, he'll fixate on it. He'll call Terriol over when he wants to go somewhere, even if it was at dawn.

Unfortunately, Cleatt has always felt pity towards Terriol. Terriol has a good personality, so he's too pitiful. Terriol is a man from a military lineage that's equally famous as the Brody house –the Hagen house. If Cleatt were to have gone down the path of a military officer, he'd probably be in Terriol's shoes now. When he thought of that, he was extremely glad deep down that he never did.

Prince Henry really made things troublesome for me. That's what Cleatt thought, but by no means was Henry hateful. Rather, he's an amazing person, and Cleatt admires him for that.

Even Cleatt, who was considered to have one of the sharpest minds within the country, has never seen someone like Henry. Many of his proposals accurately pinpoint the country's main issues. What still amazes Cleatt the most is Henry's superior ability to a.s.sess people. Regardless of his pedigree, Henry is nothing but excellent to those he takes a fancy to. His appointments within the Royal Palace have demonstrated great strength and wit. They may have already possessed great ability, but as for Henry, Cleatt doesn't also consider him as a threat.

“Cleatt! Before I retire, bring me all the reform plans.”

“…As you wish.”

Despite it being dawn, Crown Prince Henry, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, gave a refreshing smile, and returned to work once more. Cleatt bowed with a wry smile and escorted Henry and his guard, who was on horseback, outside.

From the Royal Capital to the site where they'll be inspecting the river, it'll take roughly half a day by horse. During the rainy season the river's water level increased and caused a lot of damage. When he comes back, they'll most likely discuss ways to maintain it.

“Just where can we find a specialist knowledgeable about maintaining the river…”

As Cleatt ma.s.saged his aching temples with his hand, his thinking slowed — nevertheless, his head has spun many times over compared to the ordinary person, and he's been stuck inside his office, taking care of everything.

Doing that all morning, Cleatt was able to turn over the doc.u.ments for the last river maintenance, but just when he finished eating his lunch, a subordinate tactfully brought over the doc.u.ments, and suddenly, he was attacked with drowsiness.

“I'm going to walk around for a bit.”

“Understood; please rest a bit.”

As long as Cleatt was working, his subordinate couldn't rest as well. And most of all, he wouldn't be able to do his job properly if he continued to be this drowsy. He hasn't slept at all today. Whenever he would try to doze off for a bit, he would be summoned by Henry. It's safer for him to rest until Henry returns. When he comes back, they'll end up arguing until Cleatt agrees with him.

The Brody's splendid estate is near the castle. Cleatt lives together there with his parents and the employees, but it's been close to a week since he's gone home. He's been mostly staying over at the Royal Palace. A lot of people have been busy with work. He's gotten complaints from his mother, but his father isn't annoyed, seeing as his son is dedicated to his job.

However, both his parents have disciplined him strictly from way back. After Cleatt overcame his family's opposition and became a civil officer, they couldn't even praise him, let alone speak kind words. Even when he became a vice minister at such a wonderfully young age, they only made complicated expressions. They have no choice but to admit that their son's choice was right, but they're too ashamed to congratulate him. Standing in front of his parents with those easy-to-read expressions, Cleatt could only let out a bitter smile.

Coming out of the office, Cleatt thought, Let's see, where should I go now? He should go to his never-used bedroom, but the palace's employees should be cleaning around this time, so he probably won't be able to use it. Rather, it'd be better if he could find a place where he won't run into others.

Half-asleep, Cleatt felt dizzy, but he walked around with a steady gait, searching his surroundings to find such a place. A place where no one would come and go would properly do. Cleatt, who walked about within the Royal Palace collecting doc.u.ments, knew of several places that qualified.

He thought that once he's chosen a retreat, he'll sleep there for a few hours. Though it's a question of whether or not he'll be able to properly sleep there. The Cleatt who always thinks sleeps poorly. His mind tends to not properly rest. He knows that because of that, his fatigue has been excessively piling up, but he doesn't know how to solve that problem.

“Priscilla, why don't you rest for a little bit more?”

“Thank you, but I've already taken my lunch, so I'm fine. There's a place I would like to clean a bit more, so I'll go do that now.”

“You're so hardworking as well, huh? Well, everyone is.”

When her senior earnestly said that, Priscilla smiled. A year has quickly pa.s.sed after she started working as a court lady of the Royal Palace. She was surprised that time flew by. It wasn't just once or twice when she worried about whether she could do it or not, but more than anything, she's been extremely busy that she doesn't even have time to worry. A year pa.s.sed, and she's finally able to see that she could be a little useful. Priscilla thought, I'm glad that I decided to take this job. It was something she could experience that she couldn't at home, but most of all, she can come into contact and be near the central figures that help influence the country, a lot of which are esteemed.

Priscilla has matured and thought, I'd like to someday become a court lady that's respected by my juniors.

Though it seems like people around her think ‘You're plenty reliable for your age.' With Priscilla's diligence, her helpfulness is greatly received by those around her.

“Well then, let's see.”

Leaving the court ladies' room where all of them gather, Priscilla took her cleaning tools and quickly walked out. Her quickly walking out is due to the influence of her surroundings. But her gait is graceful. This was an ironclad rule that the etiquette school taught.

Priscilla, who started working a year ago, worked a lot of odd jobs such as running errands and cleaning at the beginning, but recently, those around her figured the way she works is careful, so the paperwork jobs have increased. But even so, not wanting to forget her original intention as she's still young, Priscilla cleans up places where her hand couldn't reach whenever she found time for it.

Most of all, Priscilla loved to clean. Without thinking of anything, it's work where she can innocently clean dirt with a calm heart. People around her knew that she was once n.o.bility, and were surprised, saying, “You don't have to go that far” but after coming to the Royal Palace, Priscilla thought, What's the use of a n.o.ble rank?

Most of all, His Highness Crown Prince Henry is a person who doesn't fuss over his pedigree. The number one gossip in the Royal Palace is about Henry. Every time she hears that, Priscilla would contemplate about social ranks, and would steadily grow pale. She thought, If Henry becomes king, wouldn't this country become more powerful? Wouldn't that make the Land house unable to survive through that? When Priscilla thought of her carefree parents, she became worried, but she positively thought instead that if it comes to that, she'll just have to do her best.

Priscilla walked down the corridor, went around the deserted corner, and quietly opened the door to the room. During the first month on the job she was ordered to clean all sorts of various places in order to memorize the layout of the Royal Palace. One of the rooms that she cleaned back then was a room where people never entered and was used as storage for doc.u.ments. Although she called them doc.u.ments, they weren't important materials housing the concerns of the country, but were piles of forgotten doc.u.ments that were thrown away at some point. Because no one really comes in and out of this small room, it's only cleaned once a year.

Let's slowly clean this place while resting. At that pace, it will take nearly an hour to clean.

While thinking that, Priscilla entered the room. After a few steps inside, she stopped in her tracks. There's a visitor inside the room. Moreover, this visitor looks like he's sleeping. The couch that was inside the room wasn't that big and that person lay on it in a cramped position. There's also no indication that he noticed Priscilla come in.

“…”

Priscilla thought, I shouldn't clean since someone's sleeping here. But curiosity got the better of her. Who is this? I've seen him somewhere. His eyes are closed, so he looks different from usual, it's hard to recall who he could be. His clothes belong to a civil officer. Yet, his body is well-proportioned, and his hair is brown.

Just as she was about to give up figuring out the ident.i.ty of the sleeping man, Priscilla remembered who this person was. Unconsciously, she struck the palm of her hand with her fist.

It's Vice Minister Cleatt Brody!

He's someone who's high up even though he's young. Of course, even though she said he's young, he's 10 years her senior at 31. She heard of an extremely talented young man among the famous vice ministers that they wish to become the next prime minister.

Priscilla's job doesn't directly have anything to do with his, but she'll occasionally see him in the corridors or the conference room. She always greets him, but Cleatt probably outright doesn't recognize her. He's always walking with a stern face either with someone while talking about difficult things, reading doc.u.ments, or staring blankly at something. He would nod in response to her greetings, but it was obvious that his mind was occupied with work.

However, everyone in the Royal Palace who's occupied with work is like that, so Priscilla never thought Cleatt's behavior was uncalled for. Rather, it's nice of him to still respond to her greetings, even if he does it unconsciously.

Priscilla stood agape, feeling troubled. That's because as far as she could remember, Cleatt always only had on a stern face, which was somewhat strange. Right now, it's exactly the same. Even while sleeping, his expression remained severe. He's either dreaming of something unpleasant or not sleeping peacefully.

And because of that, when she gazed at his face once more, it really does seem like he's sleeping. His expression looks similar to when Peter was younger, when he had his headaches, only finding true rest while she held him.

Priscilla approached Cleatt while trying not to make a sound. And then, with further care, softly touched Cleatt's forehead with her right hand. Her small palm felt hot and numb. Priscilla thought, Ah, so that's why. She took a small breath.

He's really tired. Although it's said that the pain goes away just by putting Priscilla's hand on something, she can also somehow feel the affected part. Whenever she touches the affected part, her palm would feel slightly hot, and numb. It's something intuitive so even if she were to tell others and they understood, it's not like they'll accept it, but as for Priscilla, she can detect it by saying, “This is where it is”.

The hand that touched Cleatt was hot and numb. She knew that it was rude of her to suddenly just touch a man who she only met for the first time. Moreover, Cleatt is someone high above the clouds for Priscilla. His pedigree is good, and the difference in their positions within the Royal Palace was as different as night and day. It's a big problem if she were to suddenly touch someone like that. Even so, Priscilla couldn't pull her hand away from him. If she could have, then she wouldn't have nursed her younger brother for years. It's Priscilla's belief to take care of those those who are sick.

When Priscilla put her hand on his forehead, Cleatt's expression slightly softened. Sitting on a nearby chair as she watched over him, her heart warmed. It's been such a long time for her to have put her hand on someone like this. She promised her family long ago to never speak of this to others. Even at her current workplace, she once offered to ma.s.sage a senior's extremely stiff shoulders, and they said, “Priscilla's ma.s.sages are extremely effective~”. She deceived them by making them think it's the power of her ma.s.sages, rather than the power of her hands.

Nowadays, she never thought to make use of the power of her hands, and instead thought to be helpful to others by trying her very best to work as a court lady. But from her years of using her hands to help her younger brother with his illness for years, and watching over his sleeping face, she knew that helping someone get a peaceful sleep like this left her speechless and euphoric. It's a nostalgic and wonderful emotion. She's also happy to note that the warmth and numbness of her hand disappeared bit by bit.

It's possible that when Priscilla lets go, his head may hurt again. But even just at this time, she wants him to be able to sleep peacefully.

She's sure that this person is the busiest out of everybody within the busy Royal Palace. She hears Cleatt's name everywhere. She also heard the civil officers talking about a sharp-minded excellent vice minister. Imagining that kind of esteemed person finding a spot to sleep in this kind of run-down closet of a room, as if he was quietly hiding by himself, made her heart sting. She lamented that it's difficult being someone high up.

He's a central figure that changes the country. She wants him to do his best.

Softly moving her fingers through Cleatt's soft, smooth brown hair, she noted that it's different from Peter's blond hair, but she felt it was as soft as his. It's rude to do this to a male senior of hers, but for some reason, he looks like a kid.

That's right, this may be my first time touching a man like this aside from family.

Realizing that, seemingly like a young lady, Priscilla slightly became uneasy, and her face flushed with heat. Lycott Kingdom is a country that's uninhibited when it came to gender, but she has yet to even hold hands with a man. Within the Royal Palace, she would occasionally greet men, but then she would politely run away from them.

Speaking of which, isn't Vice Minister Brody married? If he is, this situation would be rude towards his wife. Priscilla thought for a bit, trying to recall what the gossip-loving court lady seniors of hers mentioned about Cleatt.

Cleatt shouldn't be married. It's been busy, but the women– or rather, the unmarried women working in the Royal Palace — often talk about the notable bachelors in order to find fine partners. One of those should have been Cleatt.

He may also have a lover, but she thought it'd be best if she could quietly leave before he woke up.

Thinking of that, Priscilla looked at Cleatt's sleeping face with a smile. It's her first time seeing him this close, but she thought that his face was extremely handsome. She's always seen him with a stern expression on his face, so he held this air around him that felt he was difficult to approach, but his calm expression made him look like a young man.

Despite knowing it was rude to stare, Priscilla could only unconsciously gaze at this refreshing scene and the person in front of her.

FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYYY! c.r.a.p man, took like ten thousand words before they finally meet. I'm h.e.l.la excited ngl.

Name's Erika. For some dumb reason, I decided to major in Physics. I'm stuck in this major now. I used to translate manga and light novels a few years back, left, then came back cause I found some good novels to read. I'm the only TLer on my site, so rip. I'm apparently also good at drawing, and I also like kpop (BTS, I mean, I have Hobi as my pic). I don't bite, so feel free to chat me up on here or on NU @adorkablehiko. If you see my translations on other sites, please do consider reading it on my Wordpress @ c.r.a.ppya.s.stranslations.