The Marquis' Daughter, a Research Enthusiast, Fails to Notice Her Junior's Devoted Feelings After Her Engagement is Broken. - Chapter 1.5

The recognition gate we developed worked flawlessly, completely eliminating unauthorized intrusions.

Six months after its successful implementation, the Ministry of Magic decided to install it at the main entrance, significantly reducing the number of women who had been pursuing me.

Even so, there were still times when I received confessions from female Ministry staff members, though they were far less frequent than before.

One day, while I was having lunch in the Ministry’s break room, a female employee approached me and confessed her feelings.

It was a common occurrence, so I politely declined, but then she made an unexpected request.

“I understand… but as a final memory, could you at least hug me?”

That put me in a difficult position.

I refused multiple times, but she suddenly threw herself at me, clinging tightly.

I struggled to pry her off, but she was surprisingly strong.

And at that exact moment, Lady Frederica walked in.

My mind went into a panic as I rushed to explain, but…

She merely blinked in mild curiosity, said “Oh?”, and then calmly walked away.

Even after returning to the research lab, she never brought up the incident.

When I told Petr about it, he burst into laughter.

“Wow… she really doesn’t care at all, huh?”

Not only did Lady Frederica not see me as a romantic interest, she hadn’t even bothered to learn my name.

Even though I had been in the lab for eight months, she still referred to me as “Junior”.

I refused to accept this.

At the very least, I wanted her to remember my name!

So, I started correcting her every single time she called me “Junior”.

“It’s Emil.”

Every. Single. Time.

To further ingrain my name into her memory, I actively volunteered for small tasks, fetching coffee and tea, and assisting with anything she needed.

Wherever Lady Frederica went, I was right behind her, hoping to increase our interactions.

Slowly but surely, she started asking me for small favors—a significant improvement.

Even though Petr teased me with remarks like, “Are you her chick or her servant?”, I persevered.

After three months of effort, the moment finally arrived.

For the first time, Lady Frederica called me by my actual name.

“Emil.”

“YES!”

“Wow, congratulations! It took you almost a full year just to get her to say your name.”

Petr clapped me on the shoulder, half mocking, half congratulating.

“Lady Frederica really doesn’t care about people, huh?”

“Yeah… I mean, faces are one thing, but she genuinely doesn’t remember names. I bet most people here are still nameless to her.”

“B-but… L-Lady Frederica… r-remembers names… f-from research p-papers.”

Bill added, nodding earnestly.

“Well, yeah, Bill got his name remembered from his paper.”

I secretly felt a little jealous.

“If you write a good research paper, Lady Frederica will remember your name. When I submitted my mana authentication study, she finally acknowledged me. It actually felt pretty nice, like my research had been validated.”

“Y-yeah, I… f-felt the s-same.”

Petr and Bill, the “Remembered by Research” Club, exchanged proud grins.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to write a paper good enough for that…!”

I clenched my fists.

“But it’s fine! I forced her to remember me another way!”

“Aww, don’t pout. Hey, your goddess is calling you.”

I immediately turned toward the experiment room entrance, where Lady Frederica stood, gesturing for me to come over.

“Yes! What do you need, Lady Frederica?!”

Jumping to my feet, I rushed toward her.

“You know,” Petr mused, watching me leave, “he really reminds me of a dog. A loyal puppy, wagging his tail whenever she calls.”

“Heh… y-yeah, I see it. L-like a… b-big dog.”

“Right?”

✦ ✦ ✦

The magic recording device I had been developing was finally complete.

Of course, I had designed it specifically to capture Lady Frederica on film.

Even though Petr was a little creeped out, he still cheered me on.

With the prototype ready, I approached Lady Frederica and asked her to be the test subject.

She immediately agreed.

“Activating now.”

“Huh? It’s already on? What should I do?”

She peered curiously into the recording lens, then glanced up at me for instructions.

Adorable.

“Say something for the recording. A message for me.”

“A message…? That’s a little nerve-wracking…”

She fidgeted slightly, then spoke.

“Uh… Emil, congratulations on completing your invention! …Does that work?”

She looked uncertain, her gaze flicking to me for approval.

Adorable.

“You could say, ‘You worked hard,’ or something like that?”

Since I had this opportunity, I pushed my luck a little.

“Emil, you worked hard!”

“Now with a smile!”

“Eh? Uh… Emil, you worked hard!”

She forced a slightly stiff smile, which somehow made it even cuter.

“…Thank you! Recording complete!”

Relieved, Lady Frederica let out a soft sigh.

Also adorable.

Immediately, I projected the recorded footage into the air.

“Whoa… Is that really me? This feels a little embarrassing.”

She shifted uncomfortably, clearly flustered as she watched herself on screen.

Honestly, I was barely paying attention to the video.

I was too busy watching her reaction.

Damn it… I should’ve secretly recorded this moment too.

“But look at this—the video and audio stay perfectly synchronized. That’s impressive.”

“I put a lot of effort into that part.”

“How long can it record for?”

“With this medium-grade magic stone, about five minutes?”

“Whoa, that’s pretty amazing.”

Being praised by Lady Frederica sent me over the moon.

All my hard work had paid off.

Of course, recording-type magic tools already existed, but they were separated into two categories—one for video only and another for audio only.

What I had successfully created was a device that combined both functions into one.

After that, I had the chance to discuss possible improvements with Lady Frederica, which left me feeling completely satisfied.

I then refined the device into a necklace-shaped magic tool, allowing for easy portability.

Now, I could watch footage of Lady Frederica anytime I wanted.

Just the thought of it made me grin uncontrollably.

When I got home, I replayed the footage hundreds of times, losing track of how many times I had watched it.

Before I knew it, morning had arrived.

As a result, Peter decided to bestow upon me a rather unfortunate nickname.

“You’re basically a stalker at this point.”

Not exactly the title I wanted… but worth it.