Iseul was clearly struggling, but he did not seem injured, so Qiong Xing decided that as punishment, he would leave him there for a while.

"Mom, Rui and Yue are not moving."

A few minutes later, Iseul had been safely rescued, and now lay twitching on the ground while the twins poked at him playfully as if it were a game.

"It looks like he fell asleep. Why don’t you leave Iseul alone and go continue climbing trees with Papa?"

"We will!"

With that, the twins immediately lost interest and ran off.

Qiong Xing watched them leave while holding Lian on his lap, then looked down at Iseul sprawled in front of him.

"He said he would make Mama go ouchie-ouchie."

"Yes. That was dangerous. I almost got crushed. Unlike you, I am not built sturdy, so please think before you rush at me."

"I’m sorry."

Iseul immediately apologized to both Lian and Qiong Xing.

Since he seemed to have reflected, that was good enough.

Qiong Xing lightly patted the spot beside him, and Iseul rushed over with surprising speed, hugging him as if nothing had just happened.

"Is the room going well?"

"It’s almost done! Elias said we just need you to check it and then get the remaining things ready."

It seemed the underground room they had requested for Iseul and the others was nearly complete.

"Leander also helped make the bed while muttering to himself, and most things are already ready, so we can do it anytime—ow!"

"You should think about time and place, okay?"

Qiong Xing warned him with a gentle smile and Iseul shook his head so hard it looked like it made a sound.

Education sometimes had to be strict.

...

"...Why has it come to this?"

"It’s thanks to you."

"Oh? So you are saying this is my fault?"

"..."

Sergei averted his gaze, clearly aware that he was in the wrong.

Qiong Xing who had met him after a long time could clearly see that Sergei did not look well at all.

In fact, his complexion was so poor that it seemed he might collapse at any moment.

Even though he had been given candy infused with healing medicine.

When Qiong Xing pressed him for an explanation, it turned out that the candy had reduced his physical burden, which made his work easier.

As a result, he ended up taking on even more tasks.

After repeating this for days, even with the candy, his body eventually gave out.

"I gave that to you to reduce your burden. Not so you could do even more work."

"..."

"And you understood that, yet this is the result?"

The man remained silent.

Qiong Xing let out a deep sigh and looked at Mr. Paulo sitting beside him.

"Why didn’t you stop him?"

"I did. I did, but this fool wouldn’t listen. That is why I called you."

Knowing Mr. Paulo, he likely did try to warn Sergei while still being exasperated, but due to Sergei’s usual behavior, he probably did not take it seriously.

It was the result of being teased too often.

"You probably said it wrong. Did you clearly tell him to rest because you were worried about him?"

"..."

Honestly, these adults...

"Enough. His Excellency the prime minister should rest immediately. Mr

Paulo, sort the documents if you can. I will help as much as I can as well."

"Wait. You can’t just decide that on your own—"

"If you cannot understand them, I will not interfere. I have no interest in this country, so you do not need to worry about me leaking any information. Just stay here and rest quietly."

Without giving him a chance to argue, Qiong Xing took Sergei by the hand and laid him down on an empty couch.

"It is alright. I am not going to take any documents without permission. Even a few minutes of lying down makes a difference. Close your eyes. Yes... breathe in slowly... out... in... out... now sleep."

Perhaps his body had already reached its limit, because Sergei fell asleep almost immediately.

Qiong Xing gently removed the hand he had been holding over his eyes so as not to wake him.

"...Is he asleep?"

"Yes. It is a miracle he did not collapse already. Just how many nights has he gone without sleeping?"

"Sorry about that. No matter how much we told him, he would not listen. In fact, the more we insisted, the more stubborn he became."

With the effect of the candy as well, he must have believed he could still push himself.

Qiong Xing had not intended for it to be used as a way to make him overwork.

"Let him rest until he wakes up. Does he not have any assistants?"

He had visited many times, but he had never seen anyone who looked like one.

"There were some, but he fired them all. Well, they were funneling money on the side and leaking royal information, so it was to be expected."

It seemed there were no decent people around him.

On top of that, Qiong Xing asking Brat for help had likely added even more burden onto him.

"At this rate, he will not wake up for a few hours. Until then, we should do what we can."

"Alright, alright."

Even if he could not process the documents directly, Qiong Xing could at least organize them in a way that made them easier to handle.

"Let us put something on the door so we are not disturbed."

To ensure proper rest, they placed a large "Do Not Enter" sign on the door.

With this, no one should come in.

Anyone who did enter would undoubtedly be someone with ill intent.

"Still, it was the right decision to call you. I did not expect him to listen so obediently."

Saying that after asking for help was questionable, but Mr. Paulo likely understood that, despite what others said about Sergei being difficult, he was relatively straightforward with Qiong Xing.

"Then we might as well call Brat as well. If we cannot handle it, a prince should have no problem."