How Many Times Will You Disappoint Me?

“It seems the lights have gone out.
Please stay still, Your Grace, you might get hurt.”

Relying on the moonlight seeping through the window, Eren slowly rose to his feet.
Though dark, it wasn’t so dark that he couldn’t see an inch ahead.
He groped his way across the wet, slippery floor, crawling along.

Finally reaching the wall, he reached out for the light fixture embedded with a mage-stone.
Rosalin’s warning about not using mana didn’t even cross his mind.
A reddish aura emanated from his hand and seeped into the lamp.
Soon, a faint light returned.

“What happened here?”

At Kazen’s question, Eren turned and was startled to see him rising from the bath.
He quickly averted his gaze, grabbed a robe, and draped it over Kazen’s shoulders.

“It seems all the mage-stone lamps have gone out.”

Eren muttered, looking out the window, also shrouded in darkness.
It appeared that all the mage-stone lamps, both inside and outside the mansion, had gone out at once.

“Weren’t they just replaced a few days ago?”

The moment he heard Kazen’s incredulous voice, a strange sense of unease crept up his neck.

‘It’s still usable, but I’m uneasy about the greenhouse one.
The weather is getting colder, and if the mage-stone goes out, all the expensive plants will die.’

The dim mage-stone he had found in the rear garden and the gardener Jayden’s words came rushing back to him.
Could it be that all the newly replaced mage-stones were defective?

“I don’t know the exact reason either, but it seems the newly replaced mage-stones were defective.”

“Is that even possible?
How was the work handled to cause a situation like this?”

Kazen’s voice turned instantly cold as he asked.
Eren was equally bewildered by this situation.
Still, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace.
I’ll try to sort this out somehow….”

“You should.
Instead of standing there foolishly, go out and find out what happened.”

“Yes, I’ll go investigate.”

Eren hurriedly left the bathroom and took out a lantern.
Lighting the candle inside, he rushed into the corridor.
Not only the lights in the corridor and rooms, but very few mage-stones were functioning properly at all.

It was a sight Eren had never seen since coming to the Ducal residence.
Extremely flustered, he was trying to think where to start, when he heard murmuring voices from somewhere.

“Mr. Eren!”

He saw people gathering in a crowd.
The servants surging toward him in the darkness was a truly frightening sight, making him want to run away.
The murmuring crowd stopped in front of him and began to plead.

“Mr. Eren, what’s going on?
All the mage-stones suddenly stopped working!”

For some reason, everyone’s faces looked extremely urgent.
Eren had just started inspecting the mansion himself and hadn’t fully grasped the situation.

“I don’t know the exact circumstances yet either.
Is there an urgent problem that needs solving?”

“The mage-stone in the food storage just went out!
All the fresh ingredients are going to spoil!”

A kitchen maid stepped forward first and shouted.

“You need to check the greenhouse mage-stones too!
There are plants that will die if the temperature isn’t maintained!”

Not to be outdone, Jayden the gardener added his piece.

“More importantly, Mr. Eren, the wine cellar is the priority!
Expensive wine could spoil!”

Arguing back and forth over what was priority left Eren flustered.
He didn’t know how long it would take to find and bring in mana-bearers right now.
Getting replacement mage-stones would take just as long.

‘I’ll write a statement saying you need to refrain from using mana and reduce your working hours, so report it.’

Doctor Rosalin had said that if he used magical power, his lifespan could be shortened to as little as three months.
Honestly, three months or six months didn’t make much difference, but he couldn’t help wanting to live even a little longer.

But Kazen’s voice, full of anger, kept echoing in his ears.

‘How was the work handled to cause a situation like this?’

He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but Eren couldn’t deny his own fault for not checking properly.
So, sorting it out was also Eren’s responsibility.

“I’ll start with the wine cellar.
Those who urgently need mage-stones right now, please line up and follow me.”

To manage the situation, Eren, like the Pied Piper, began moving around the mansion with the servants trailing behind him in a line.

Only after recharging over fifty mage-stones—three in the small wine cellar, five in the food storage, fifteen in the greenhouse, and so on—could Eren finally catch his breath.

Even then, he couldn’t rest.
He had to move around the mansion and accurately count how many mage-stones needed replacement.

‘How could all these mage-stones be defective?’

Usually, the highest quality mage-stones installed in the Ducal residence had a lifespan of about a year.
Replacing them with new ones once a year was an annual ritual.
He had never seen a case like this in his life.

The company that had installed the mage-stones was also under the Ducal household’s purview, so there was no reason for them to intentionally provide low-quality ones.

‘I’ve disappointed His Grace again.’

More than anything else, that fact was the hardest to bear.

‘Stop disappointing me.’

He had promised not to disappoint Kazen anymore.
And yet, here he was, causing trouble again.
He had always strived to be a useful person to Kazen.

Eren let out a thin breath and pressed his hand to his forehead, which was beginning to feel hot.
For now, this was all he could do.

Since things seemed somewhat sorted, he would need to meet with the installation manager tomorrow and figure out the problem.
Just as he was about to return to his study to check the relevant documents, he happened to run into Kazen walking down the corridor.

“Eren, I thought you were busy sorting things out, so why are you standing here blankly?”

Startled by his irritated voice, Eren’s legs nearly gave way and he almost collapsed.

“Let me report the situation, Your Grace.
I’ve temporarily recharged the urgently needed mage-stones with enough mana to last until tomorrow, and tomorrow morning I need to meet with the installation company manager to find out….”

“Enough.”

Kazen, who had been striding toward him as Eren reported, cut him off with a short word.
Eren looked up dazedly at him, now standing close by.

“Why can’t you keep your head on straight these days?
Just how many times are you going to disappoint me?”

Having nothing to say, Eren bowed his head deeply.
He barely swallowed the urge to answer that it was because he wasn’t well, that in fact he didn’t have much time left.
Anything he said now would sound like an excuse.

“I’m sorry.
I’m doing my best to sort it out.”

Eren expected Kazen to be very angry and scold him for how he had handled things.
But Kazen, without any change in expression, spoke calmly.

“Actually, I met with Brennen a moment ago, and he said he would take responsibility and handle this matter, so I told him to do so.
So, you’re off this case now.”

“Mr. Brennen?”

It was strange that Brennen, unlike his usual self, had stepped forward to do something, and Eren furrowed his brow.
As far as Eren remembered, he had never once seen Brennen actively involve himself in the mansion’s affairs.

“But he doesn’t know anything about this issue….”

“Are you going to dispute my decision?
If Brennen takes responsibility and sorts out your mistake, you should be grateful.”

But seeing Kazen’s face contort, he couldn’t say anything more.
So he just bowed his head deeply and acquiesced to his decision.

“Yes, Your Grace.
Then I’ll step away from this matter now.”

“Tsk.
And Harold is coming tomorrow.
Won’t it be embarrassing for him to see this mess?”

At the unexpected name, Eren slowly raised his head to check Kazen’s expression.
He didn’t know why Harold was suddenly mentioned, so he watched cautiously.

“We had that billiards bet tomorrow, didn’t we?
You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Though it was an appointment made over a month ago, Eren naturally remembered.

“Yes, I know.
I’ll prepare everything so it’s not lacking.”

Before, seeing the two of them together hadn’t bothered him.
But now that he knew they were lovers, it made him uncomfortable.

“By the way, we haven’t decided what the winner gets yet.
Do you have any good ideas?”

Why was he asking him that?
He didn’t want to be involved with either side.

Eren stood still without answering, pretending to think.
Then Kazen took a step closer and lightly ran his fingertip down Eren’s jacket collar.

“Don’t just stand there.
Tomorrow, you join in too.
Consider this your repayment for your mistake.
It’s not like there’s much else you can do for me anyway, is there?”

Though his mocking tone stung a little, Eren couldn’t deny it, so he answered obediently.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”