Upon returning to the castle, Charlotte was summoned to the king’s office.

In the office, the owner of the room—a blond-haired man with jade green eyes—was sorting through a pile of documents. His youthful and well-groomed appearance was the picture of health, so much so that one would have difficulty believing he had two daughters attending high school.

The Hero, King Frederick, the man who rose in revolt and saved the country from a tyrant. Having inherited his hair and eye color, Charlotte resembled her father.

No words were exchanged between parent and child. Instead, a stack of documents was immediately sent her way. It was a new project. A hospital was about to be built in a town several hours away by horse-drawn carriage from the royal capital.

Hasn’t the person in charge of this project already been decided?

“Wasn’t Juliet supposed to be in charge?”

Juliet was the only member of the royal family who actively partook in charity, such as visiting orphanages, running soup kitchens, and visiting people at hospitals. While Juliet’s efforts might be considered subpar when compared to others, they were enough for her to be held in high regard by those around her.  

When they were about to decide who would be in charge of the establishment of the Royal Hospital, Juliet stepped forward. Seeing how motivated Juliet was, Frederick appointed her as the person in charge. That happened only a week ago, right before the exams.

“Juliet wants to focus on her studies, so I decided to entrust it to you.”

Ha—!

Charlotte could only laugh inwardly.

Considering her past scores, it shouldn’t be too difficult to guess how her exam results would turn out. Did Juliet immediately contact the castle after checking her results today?

Even if slightly, did it finally dawn on Juliet that she should put more effort into studying?

If what Frederick said was true, then Juliet should be free right now. Yet, not only was she away, she was also loitering in the castle town. So much for studying.

Charlotte had to wonder what went inside the mind of that man, and Quentin’s, and everyone else who tolerated that kind of behavior.

Regardless, even if Charlotte were to point that out, this man would probably defend Juliet by saying, ‘she needed a break.’ Had it been Charlotte, Frederick would reprimand her for wasting time, on top of being irresponsible for shirking her duty halfway through.

“Hey, Sister, I’m going to take a stroll around the castle town. Would you like to come with me?”

Charlotte recalled how Juliet invited her out at school. So carefree, without any remorse. Very unlike someone who had given up on her duties.

She had the nerve to invite me after all that.

Juliet probably didn’t know the job would be delegated to Charlotte. If she had known, she’d have apologized with tears in her eyes, prompting Quentin and the guards to defend and protect her, saying, ‘it can’t be helped.’

Merely imagining that annoyed Charlotte to no end, she almost crushed the documents in her hand. Suppressing the urge, she quietly sighed.

“Then, I’ll submit it on the weekend—”

“—No, finish it by the day after tomorrow.”

It was such an unreasonable demand that she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Nevertheless, Frederick was dead serious, and cold. It was the usual expression he had when giving instructions.

What prompted the current project was the retirement of a doctor at a clinic in a town that had originally been cited for its lack of medical facilities. The clinic was too small to be used as a hospital, so one had to be built from scratch.

Moreover, since Charlotte had just taken over the project, there was too much information to keep in mind, such as managing the budget for newly-hired doctors and staff, acquiring medical equipment, and communicating with the people on site.

To make matters worse, even though the original deadline for submitting the documents was the upcoming weekend, Juliet had made almost no progress since receiving it the other week. As such, it was up to Charlotte, the new person in charge, to take care of everything.

This isn’t something that can just be completed in a day or two? Did he forget that I also have other projects to do?

“I’ll be take the day off from school tomorrow for an inspection tour, so I won’t be able to return until the evening. Even if I start working on this new project after that…”

“Although the original deadline was this weekend, construction will take time. We want to get it done as soon as possible. If it’s a job of this caliber, you should be able to complete it along with the inspections the day after tomorrow.”

The original deadline was set with some leeway to accommodate Juliet’s schedule and abilities, while taking into account the retirement period of the doctor at the clinic. The same man believed Charlotte could complete it in a shorter period of time.

The period given to Juliet was around two weeks, while Charlotte got less than two days.

Of course, His Majesty would be able to do it.

When it came to allocating Charlotte’s work, everyone always used Frederick as a precursor. They were convinced her skills were on par with his. Anything less than that would be laziness.

Charlotte would have to cut back on her sleep if she wanted to complete the new project in time.

Why can’t I submit it according to the original deadline?

Even if she were to argue that, she knew it’d have fallen on deaf ears.

Frederick would’ve been able to grasp most accurate information just by looking at the report and derive the optimal solution. Therefore, Charlotte must be able to do the same, as well.

There’s nothing I can do about it because nothing will change. 

If anything, it’ll just be a waste of time.

“Understood.”

Charlotte had no choice but to accept the request.

I thought I’d finally be able to sleep for six hours for the first time in ages…

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***T/N: OHHHHH FREDERICK YOU KING OF SH** YOU ENABLER YOU PSYCHO YOU INCONSIDERATE, YOU–!111111!!!!!

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