[birds chirping]

  “Madame, there is something I want to ask you.”

  It’s so cold. It is only 5 AM in the morning and we just came back after sending the merchant and his troops back to where they belonged along with the guards that I sent to keep an eye on them since they were still tied and will only be released when they reach the border. In any case, I am glad I personally see them off because I get to learn how people would go down on this floating land. They have portals that are connected to the land below. Adam said it’ll take them a day to cover the distance since the other end of the portal is like 30 miles away.

  “Madame”

  Geez. I heard you. Can’t you tell that I refuse to open my mouth in this cold weather?

  “What is it, Adam?”

  He looked back at me and squinted his eyes. “When did you learn to fight hand on hand? It was my first time seeing you do that yesterday.”

  Oh, so the Leonora they know doesn’t know how to? That’s a shame, anyone should know how to fight. It’s a basic skill.

  “Somewhere, why?”

  Not like you can understand it if I explain. I might even be labeled as crazy if I try to tell you. But hmm, being labeled crazy doesn’t sound too bad. You won’t be responsible for anything and they would only blame your mental illness. Hahaha~

  “You’ve been using that word a lot these days, Madame. May I know where this somewhere is?”

  I can’t recall using that word a lot though.

  Anyway, developers can effortlessly erase my existence immediately since they’ve determined what the errors are. Why did they take the roundabout way by sending a weak-ass AI?

  “You’re a certified chatterbox, Adam.”

  “Chatterbox?”

  Ah, do I have to explain what that also means? You know what, devs, why didn’t you just slap the whole dictionary to the key characters that surrounds the player, aka, me?

  “Nothing, let’s get back. I feel cold.” I tugged the reins of the horse and started heading back to the palace.

  “I told you, Madame doesn’t want to see you right now! Why are you not listening? You are as stubborn as a mule!”

  “I’ll heed no such talk, save it be spoken by Madame!”

  “No, Mr. Adam! She told me not to let you in no matter what the circumstances are! Can’t you see that I am only doing this to protect Madame?”

  “Protect? Pray, against whom, might I ask? For if memory serves, we did escort them to their fate at first light!”

  His words are really fancy. Made me feel like I’m in a medieval era or something.

  “Ms. Lyra, I have something urgent to report. If I can’t deliver this to her immediately, --” I slammed the book I am holding, making them both stop. I am currently inside the library, hiding from Adam since breakfast and now, it’s quarter to 11 AM. As for why I am doing this? It’s because of one reason, ONE. The paperwork. Those damn papers are stacked up in the office! Why do I have to do it all?! Geez!

  “Madame! You must return to your office at once. Lady Nayeli comes within the hour to speak of her findings at the border, and there are many documents awaiting your hand.”

  Paper this, paper that! You know what, it’s my own fault for reincarnating into this body. This is a punishment!

  “I say burn them.”

  Adam’s jaw dropped when he heard what I said. He pushed Lyra and stood in front of me.

  “W-What is it that you uttered, Madame? Miss Lyra, did I hear the Madame right?”

  He sound like a robot—not that it is far off his real existence. He is, after all, a character inside the game.

  “I said, burn them.”

  He’s completely frozen at this point, his monocle falling to the floor. Is it really that surprising?

  “By the saints, Madame—those documents are the livelihood of your people! What madness is this, to speak of burning them?”

  Ah, right. I am the archduke. The oh so one and only archduke. Freaking hell. Mother-freaking-hell!

  I averted my gaze from him while pressing my tongue against the inside of my cheek.

  “I was joking. Why don’t we go and get it all started?” Fuck this life. Remove me from here, devs.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Oh look how his facial expression changed from frozen to cheerful. He clapped his hands and laughed. “That’s what I was saying!”

  “Just shut up… and wipe off that smug expression you have unless you want me to punch your face”

  It seems my last words didn’t go through his ears because he only picked up his monocle with a huge smile and followed me back to the office.

  Uhg. My head is aching just from the sight of it.

  Looks like I have to deal with this in the meantime. Only until the developers send another AI to kill me.

  Heh~ Now that I think about it, that anonymous man who tipped me, are they one of the players who knows about me, or are they one of the developers who want to mess around with the other developers by warning me about an AI that will approach? I don’t know. Anyway, what’s the use of thinking about too much? I’ll just do what I can when the situation calls for it.

  These papers though… Ah, I really hate doing this kind of thing. I’ve been through a lot of timelines that seeing this much workload is making me slightly unwell.

  Let’s just get over with it…

  …IS WHAT I SAID!

  After we had lunch, we immediately went back to the office and hasn’t taken a break since then. This is madness.

  “Adam.”

  “Your expression is grim, Madame. Is there a problem?”

  I turned my head to him, shaking.

  “Should we burn this all after all?”

  “NO!” His immediate response hurt me. Okay, Adam. Should I tell you who I really am, then? Or the truth about this world? None of this matters, actually. None of this should matter! We are inside the game, for god’s sake!

  “There’s a lot! It feels like I haven’t progressed a bit! I’ve been here since this morning and even continued doing this after Nayeli left! Why does it feel like it only keeps going?!”

  He fixed his monocle that fell, further heightening my already agitated state.

  “Also, change your monocle to an eyeglass. That thing is useless.”

  “It’s fashion, Madame. Lady Nayeli also loves seeing me with these on. Eyeglasses looked like something only the elderly wear.”

  Tch. Talk to yourself. It’s the other way around.

  “Hah! At this point, we’ll end up looking at these papers until dawn. Can you separate them depending on their importance? That should help us get this done a bit quicker.”

  I cleared the table by putting all of the papers on the floor. Adam started sorting it out and placed the papers that he deemed more important than the others.

  “Why did we not think about this method earlier, Adam?” I stretched after I finished signing the last paper. My hand is a bit numb.

  He stood up and I almost laughed when I saw his legs shaking from sitting for more than 4 hours.

  “I am of the same mind. We did indeed complete it swiftly. Oftentimes, we find ourselves working until the stroke of midnight to see it done.”

  Oftentimes? That’s a lot of pain in the ass.

  “Those papers weren’t there when I visited the office yesterday. Why were we suddenly flooded?” Most of them are concerns sent by the serfs. Some of it was papers concerning the main palace, with the king ordering my imme— huh? Hold on. I feel like I’m missing something.

  “That merchant should’ve gone to the palace to ask permission about them camping on the borders. Why did they come to me, an archduke who only owns a certain area, not the whole country?” Is it one of my tasks as an archduke? Overseeing the security of this country? If then, shouldn’t I be in the main palace?

  “Pardon me, madame, but did His Majesty not entrust these tasks to you? You are the Archduke, after all, and the one charged with the country’s security. Forgive me, but... you seem rather confused.”

  Right. Why should I be confused? Hahaha. Why should I be confused?

  “Madame?”

  Ah… the responsibilities that come with it… Ah… the paperwork…don’t mind me if I disintegrate into oblivion.

  “Madame, are you all right? Please stop pulling your hair!”

  I looked at Adam and calmed down. His expression is funny.

  “Sighhhhhh~”

  “That was a long sigh. Is there a problem?”

  I glanced at him again. Thank you, Adam.

  “Your face is really funny, it helps me calm down.”

  His eye twitched and was about to say something when I jolted from my seat, surprising him.

  “I can feel Lyra coming.”

  “H-huh? Is that so?”

  *knock knock*

  “Madame, dinner is ready.”

  I smirked at Adam.

  “Told you, Lyra’s coming.”

  After eating my dinner, I went out for a short walk just to wander around and only headed back when I felt the cold breeze on my skin.

  “Goodnight, Madame,” Lyra uttered before leaving my room.

  thud

  I tucked myself into the bed and fell asleep quickly because of how tired I am throughout the day, only to be woken up by some hoodlum lurking at my window. I waited until he was by my side. He attempted to stab me with the sword he has in his hands when I jumped at him. He whimpered in surprise and tried swinging his sword.

  “Die, Madame. Die.”

  ????

  That voice sounded familiar.

  I grabbed my blanket and tossed it on his face. I kicked his balls, making him groan in pain. While he was on his knees, I stepped on his hand until he let his sword go.

  “This scene is utterly familiar.”

  I picked up his sword and stabbed him.

  “Argh! Geeuk.. hng…”

  He rolled over and landed at the part where his face can be seen under the moonlight.

  Well, well, well…

  “You are back~ I remember telling you to only fight me when you get stronger… Why are you back so soon?”

  His face is now pale because of how much blood he lost.

  “M-madame… huff, huff… you need to d-die.. haah”

  I grabbed his hair so he could clearly see my face. He is now throwing up some blood. What a shame, his face looks more handsome than before somehow. Did the developers only upgraded his looks and not his skill?

  “Next time Trevor, next time.”

  As soon as I said that, he vanished into thin air.