The corridors of the Lord's Mansion were quiet.
Soft morning light filtered through the crystal windows.
The distant sounds of construction echoed from beyond the city.
Workers.
Engineers.
Merchants.
Researchers.
Everyone continued moving toward the future Kel had envisioned.
Yet for perhaps the first time in many months...
Eleanor Ashcroft walked slowly.
Not because she lacked work.
That was impossible.
But because her thoughts were elsewhere.
Far elsewhere.
The Head Maid moved through the long marble hallway.
Her polished shoes produced faint sounds against the floor.
Her hands held several reports.
Her posture remained flawless.
Her expression remained calm.
Yet inside her mind...
A single question repeated itself endlessly.
How?
How was Kel doing all of this?
How?
The woman had spent her entire life managing noble estates.
She understood administration.
Logistics.
Personnel management.
Economics.
Governance.
Yet even she felt exhausted.
Deeply exhausted.
The past several months had pushed her limits.
Every day brought new departments.
New projects.
New institutions.
New reports.
New visitors.
New opportunities.
And somehow...
Kel managed all of it.
The young Count hunted monsters.
Managed infrastructure.
Designed cities.
Reviewed contracts.
Developed magical technology.
Oversaw military reforms.
Directed educational institutions.
Created administrative systems.
Improved agriculture.
Expanded trade.
Developed oceans.
Built roads.
Designed settlements.
And somehow still found time to personally visit construction sites.
Eleanor stopped near a window.
Snow drifted through the air outside.
The glowing roads of Frostbound Coast stretched into the distance.
Beautiful.
Almost unreal.
The woman quietly stared at them.
Then sighed.
A rare sight.
"...He's only fifteen."
The words escaped softly.
The realization remained unbelievable.
Every time she remembered his age...
Her brain rejected it.
Because nothing about Kel behaved like a fifteen-year-old.
Nothing.
The woman remembered something.
Not once.
Not a single time.
Had she ever seen Kel exhausted.
Never.
Not after monster hunts.
Not after all-night planning sessions.
Not after endless meetings.
Not after weeks of travel.
Never.
A faint concern appeared within her eyes.
Perhaps...
Perhaps he was exhausted.
Perhaps he simply hid it better than everyone else.
The possibility somehow felt worse.
The Head Maid slowly closed her eyes.
Then whispered softly.
Almost like a prayer.
"I hope you're taking care of yourself, My Lord."
Silence answered.
Then another thought appeared.
And her expression softened.
"Or at least allowing someone else to take care of you."
Because for all his intelligence...
For all his wisdom...
For all his impossible achievements...
Kel remained human.
At least she hoped so.
Far away inside his office.
Kel suddenly sneezed.
Then blinked.
"...Strange."
Far beneath Scarder Lake.
Seiren immediately started laughing.
"Someone is worried about you."
Kel frowned.
"That doesn't explain the sneeze."
The Guardian laughed harder.
The young Count decided not to question it.
Some mysteries were beyond even his understanding.
The next morning.
Chaos began.
Absolute chaos.
News had spread throughout Frostbound Coast.
And beyond.
And far beyond.
Count Kel Rosenfeld.
The Invisible Count.
The Lord Nobody Could Find.
The Young Genius of the North.
The Creator of Glowing Roads.
The Builder of Wonders.
The Man Who Somehow Never Stayed In One Place.
Was finally accepting meetings.
The reaction was immediate.
Violent.
And deeply ridiculous.
Before sunrise.
The Administrative Building already had visitors waiting.
Hundreds of them.
Then thousands.
Then even more.
Merchants.
Nobles.
Researchers.
Guild representatives.
Royal envoys.
Investors.
Academics.
Everyone wanted the same thing.
First place.
Because everyone knew one simple fact.
Kel could only meet so many people in a day.
And there were far too many applicants.
Which naturally led to war.
Not actual war.
Mostly.
But definitely something resembling it.
A merchant representative confidently departed his hotel before sunrise.
He smiled proudly.
Certain he would arrive first.
Then—
The wheels of his carriage mysteriously became tangled in fishing nets.
"...What?"
The coachman stared.
The merchant stared.
The horse stared.
Nobody understood.
Meanwhile.
Several streets away.
A rival merchant quietly accelerated toward the Administrative Building.
Coincidence?
Probably not.
Elsewhere—
A noble from a neighboring territory confidently mounted his horse.
Then discovered someone had replaced all four horses with donkeys.
The noble stared.
The donkeys stared back.
"...Who did this?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone nearby suddenly found the clouds extremely interesting.
Meanwhile—
A research scholar successfully reached the city center.
Only to encounter an unexpected obstacle.
Construction.
A massive construction project.
Blocking the entire road.
The scholar looked horrified.
The workers looked apologetic.
"We started twenty minutes ago."
"...Why?"
"Good question."
The workers genuinely had no idea.
Across the city.
Similar events unfolded continuously.
One merchant discovered his map had been replaced.
Another found himself following directions toward a sheep farm.
A noble accidentally joined a fish market auction.
Two guild representatives somehow became trapped inside a heated debate regarding potatoes.
Neither remembered how it started.
One royal envoy spent thirty minutes helping an elderly woman cross a street.
Only later realizing she had crossed the same street six times.
The elderly woman mysteriously vanished afterward.
The envoy remained deeply suspicious.
By midmorning—
The city resembled a battlefield.
Not of swords.
Not of magic.
Of ambition.
People sprinted through streets.
Carriages raced through avenues.
Messengers ran across districts.
Representatives desperately searched for shortcuts.
Local citizens watched everything.
Then laughed.
A lot.
One bakery owner stood outside his shop.
Watching three nobles sprint down the street.
"...Are they racing?"
His wife nodded.
"They're racing."
A pause.
"Weren't nobles supposed to be dignified?"
The woman watched one noble leap over a fence.
"Apparently not."
Meanwhile—
Inside the Administrative Building.
The staff suffered greatly.
Because the waiting room had become madness.
One representative attempted bribery.
Another attempted negotiation.
A third attempted emotional manipulation.
A fourth claimed diplomatic priority.
The fifth claimed historical priority.
The sixth claimed spiritual priority.
Nobody knew what that meant.
Yet somehow he sounded confident.
The administrators simply continued processing paperwork.
Professional.
Unmoved.
Experienced.
Months of working under Kel had hardened them considerably.
Eventually.
The first group finally entered.
Inside the building's upper floors.
A large office awaited.
Simple.
Elegant.
Efficient.
And at its center—
Sat Kel Rosenfeld.
Calm.
Composed.
Silver-haired.
Golden-eyed.
Reviewing documents.
The same man who had unknowingly caused half the city to lose its collective sanity.
Far beneath Scarder Lake.
Seiren observed everything.
Then laughed so hard ancient currents shifted.
"Your visitors are conducting military operations just to meet you."
Kel looked up from a report.
"That's concerning."
The Guardian laughed harder.
"One noble replaced another noble's horses with donkeys."
Silence.
Then even Kel blinked.
"...Why?"
"To arrive first."
The young Count stared blankly.
For perhaps the first time in weeks.
He was genuinely speechless.
Outside.
The race continued.
Inside.
The meetings were about to begin.
And throughout Frostbound Coast...
An entire city discovered a remarkable truth.
Meeting Kel Rosenfeld was apparently more difficult than hunting monsters.
And considerably more dangerous to one's dignity.