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The banquet celebrating the end of the club fair was quite impressive. Irina, who had been tied up in preparing the gardening club’s booth, finally joined us. With her addition, I boldly entered the banquet hall with four ladies.

Thanks to that, we received some pretty heated glances. If we got that much attention with just four, imagine how intense it would be if all six of us were together. It was a moment that gave me a strange respect for the Gold Duke.

Of course, I was past the stage of being swayed by others’ gazes. After all, it wasn’t like I was in a position where I needed to be considerate of others; they were the ones who should be watching me. If I carried myself with confidence, it didn’t matter how others looked at me. I just realized this a bit late.

But even with that realization, I couldn’t help but find the banquet impressive due to a scene that was beyond my control.

What an idiot.

I massaged the back of my neck as yesterday’s events came flooding back. The sight of Erich stuck between Sarah and Countess Horfeld was a situation where even my newfound confidence was meaningless. As his brother, what solution could I possibly offer him when my little brother was digging his own grave?

To be honest, I almost had a PTSD episode when I first saw him between the two women, remembering last year’s banquet for the Crown Princess’s birthday. But seeing Erich’s calm expression amidst it all quickly brought me back down. While I was busy being overly conscious of the two, that bastard didn’t show even a hint of awareness.

I’m the one who fell off the horse.

It was strange. Clearly, it was my body that experienced the fall, so why did it seem like it was Erich’s intelligence and awareness that became damaged? Do brothers’ bodies synchronize somehow?

Anyway, between Sarah and the Count of Horfelt’s intense verbal sparring, the pastry club members gawking at Erich’s calm demeanor despite being flanked by two women, and the general chaos surrounding the infamous Executive Manager’s brother, the banquet turned into an unforgettable event etched into everyone’s memory.

At least he didn’t dance.

I rubbed my neck even harder as I felt a headache coming on. Yeah, at least Erich didn’t dance. If he had, it would’ve been chaos depending on who he danced with first.

Perhaps thanks to divine intervention—or maybe just exhaustion—Erich declined all the offers to dance, claiming that he was too tired. His firm refusals left both Sarah and the Countess silent. After all, dancing was meant to build goodwill, but forcing someone uninterested to participate would have been absurd.

…But was he really tired? Could it be that he sensed something was off and made an excuse?

No way.

I quickly dismissed that thought. Absolutely not. If he had that level of intelligence and awareness left, then things wouldn’t have gotten to this point.

Besides, Erich wasn’t maliciously ignorant. He wouldn’t knowingly ignore other people’s emotions without good reason. He had even experienced unrequited love himself, so he wouldn’t be indifferent to such feelings.

“It’s been a while since I’ve made tea myself, so it took longer than I expected.”

Gerhardt returned with the tea as I continued rubbing my neck, smiling lightly.

“Well then, it seems you’ll need to bring in a new assistant teacher soon.”

“Haha, I’d like to, but history isn’t very popular. I guess I’ll have to improve my tea-making skills in the meantime.”

I lowered my hand from my neck since there were now eyes around me and replied, only to receive a somewhat sad answer. It was clearly meant to be a joke, but why did it make my heart feel heavy?

Still, judging by Gerhardt’s expression, he didn’t seem dissatisfied with the lack of an assistant. Well, someone who’d fret over a single staff member wouldn’t be researching history—especially something as niche as the northern nomads. He might even prefer being able to focus on research without anyone to look after.

“Besides, after having Miss Christina as an assistant, I doubt anyone else would measure up.”

Gerhardt’s shrug gave me mixed feelings. It was like watching a professor praise a graduated doctoral student, or a slave owner mourning the loss of a good slave.

Of course, it was an unfair thought to both Gerhardt and Christina, so I quickly brushed it off. For individuals who dedicated themselves to the pursuit of knowledge and progress, likening them to slaves or masters was an insult. After all, they were martyrs who willingly chose a challenging path.

“Next time we meet, she’ll be a teacher and not an assistant, right?”

So, I tried to change the subject, but I was surprised when Gerhardt quietly shook his head.

His reaction sent a chill down my spine. What did that mean? Didn’t she already have her thesis deadline extended? Did her defense fail?

What should I do?

Guilt started to creep in. Even though the deadline for Christina’s thesis had been extended, she was still forced to rush a new one, which inevitably affected its quality.

In the end, it was because I threw Christina’s thesis in the trash that she failed to escape her master’s degree. At this rate, I might need to plead with the compilation department—

“She’s completed her time as an assistant teacher, but you won’t see Teacher Christina at the academy while you’re here as an Executive Manager.”

Hearing that she did manage to earn her master’s degree brought me a wave of relief. At least I hadn’t ruined someone’s life. So there was no need to bring this up with the compilation department, after all.

But this raised a new question. While it made sense for her to be taking some time off during the early stages of her married life, Christina had always struck me as highly motivated. I would have thought she’d dive straight into teaching as soon as she shed the assistant teacher title.

“Apparently, Christina recently received a life from Enen. She’s decided to raise it herself without a nanny.”

Gerhardt quickly explained, as if reading my confusion.

I see, so it wasn’t just a honeymoon break, but a maternity and childcare leave, too.

“That’s wonderful news.”

That damned 2nd Manager… How could he keep something this important from me?

***

It was a superior’s duty to immediately scold a subordinate who didn’t share the good news.

“Congratulations on the baby.”

The 2nd Manager let out a dry laugh at my abrupt congratulations.

— What? Where did you hear that?

“From your wife’s former boss.”

The 2nd Manager frowned at my words before letting out a small gasp. This bastard completely forgot about Gerhardt’s existence.

Anyway, seemingly touched by his superior’s direct congratulations, the 2nd Manager kept letting out awkward laughter. He must be so happy he couldn’t do anything but laugh.

— I was trying to keep it under wraps, but I guess it didn’t work.

But happiness aside, I had to press him on this. His comment just confirmed that he had intentionally withheld the news.

“You tried to hide the fact that you’re having a baby?”

— I was planning to tell everyone when the time was right. They say you need to be careful about even small things in early pregnancy, and I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary commotion.

As much as it sounded like an excuse, it was a reasonable explanation. Having no experience with pregnancy myself, I couldn’t exactly argue with him.

— And I heard that during pregnancy, you shouldn’t look at unsightly things.

“You little shit.”

Suddenly, I had become an ‘unsightly thing’. This bastard really had no filter with his superior.

— What’s wrong? Honestly, is there anything worse than the 3rd Manager doing somersaults or the 1st Manager bringing weird things as gifts?

This time, his words were so perfect that I couldn’t say anything. What’s worse was that I could easily picture it in my head.

The inherently unsightly 3rd Manager doing somersaults to congratulate the pregnancy, and the 1st Manager bringing nightmarish objects as gifts. I could also vividly imagine Christina fainting at the sight. If I were in the 2nd Manager’s position, I’d probably want to avoid that, too.

As I kept my mouth shut, the 2nd Manager nodded with a smug expression, as if to say, ‘Now you understand my intentions, right?’

— So, please keep this a secret for now, Executive Manager.

This was the heartfelt wish of a family man who wanted to show only good things to his wife and the child she was carefully nurturing. It was truly beautiful and applause-worthy.

“I’m sorry.”

— …Pardon?

But it was already too late.

In the past, I would have immediately contacted the 2nd Manager upon hearing news about him. Then, after witnessing his paternal instincts and sense of responsibility, I would have kept quiet, thinking, ‘Even this crazy guy is sincere when it comes to his family.’

However, I now had a (prospective) family of my own. I’d found someone I could contact first when I heard something interesting or fun.

“I already told Elizabeth.”

— Ah.

I quietly ended the call as the 2nd Manager let out what sounded like a death rattle.

But was it just my imagination? Just before I hung up, I thought I heard the 1st Manager’s voice calling for the 2nd Manager.

Well, it didn’t matter. After all, the more people congratulating him, the merrier, right?

***

That night, the 1st Manager contacted me first.

— This is too much, really. How can he hide that they’re having a baby? Is he ashamed of us?

I couldn’t bring myself to deny the 1st Manager’s words, which were accompanied by indignant snorts. I understood all too well why the 2nd Manager had kept quiet.

“It’s his first child. He was probably being cautious.”

I just stated the obvious and tried to remain neutral. Fortunately, the 1st Manager wasn’t in the mood to complain further as she didn’t argue with me, or perhaps she had already vented all her disappointment to the 2nd Manager earlier.

I’m sorry, 2nd Manager. I’ll admit I was reckless this time. Knowing your reputation, I assumed you were keeping quiet for a trivial reason.