episode_0087

Upon the sudden call from Harold, Edan quickly finished his preparations and made his way to the third floor of the mansion.

A one-on-one meeting with Harold, whom he hadn’t faced in a long time.

Unable to shake off the tension that never seemed to dissipate whenever they met, Edan quietly knocked on the door of the study on the third floor.

– Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

As he opened the door and stepped inside, he felt the oppressive atmosphere.

Quietly moving his steps into the heavy space that always felt suffocating, no matter when he entered.

Unexpectedly, Harold, instead of beating around the bush as usual, initiated the conversation by addressing the matter at hand.

“I apologize for calling you out of your duties.”

“No, I am Edan’s exclusive maid, so if the head of the Blackwood family calls, I must respond, right?”

“But it seems like your exclusive maid duties will only last for about ten more days. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“I never expected your father to repay his debts with the reward money from the palace. Did I, Lillith Rosewood?”

“…Yes.”

As expected, it was bound to come up eventually.

Due to the grandeur of my actions in the palace, it was practically impossible to conceal all those secrets completely.

Thanks to Seraphine’s accounting skills, the reward for defeating King Serpent did come in, but due to my affiliation, the Blackwood family’s accounts had to be settled properly.

Moreover, Harold, who managed most of the Blackwood territory’s affairs, couldn’t have missed my actions.

In other words, the fact that I used magic to defeat King Serpent had already reached his ears.

“I haven’t mentioned anything about it so far, so I deliberately avoided bringing it up.”

Why did he suddenly bring up the topic of the debts I repaid after calling me out?

Was it because of my recent work attitude? Was that just an excuse?

“Lillith Rosewood.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Thanks to your use of magic to defeat King Serpent, Edan was able to survive a dangerous moment.”

“Oh, no. It was Princess Seraphine who saved Edan, and I just followed her orders…”

“Hmm? Are you saying that Princess Seraphine lied to me?”

“No, absolutely not!”

“Thanks to your use of magic, Edan was able to survive, right?”

“Yes.”

Having narrowly avoided a moment where I almost caused a rift between noble families due to a slip of the tongue, I brushed off the surprise in my heart.

This Harold doesn’t even allow me to be humble.

“So, Lillith Rosewood.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Do you have any intention of continuing to work as Edan’s exclusive maid even after the contract ends?”

“…What?”

What is this all of a sudden?

Harold suddenly brings up the topic of an extension of the contract?

And regarding Edan’s exclusive maid contract?

“Although I initially hired you as a debt maid, I feel a bit reluctant to end the contract as I find your talents quite impressive.”

“I-is that so…?”

“Since you became Edan’s exclusive maid, many things have changed for that child. If it weren’t for you, Edan might still be lost in longing for my mother.”

“I-it’s too much…”

“But as a father figure to Edan, I can’t help but worry. Especially considering that he will be entering the academy next year.”

“I-understand your concerns.”

“Edan will turn twenty-three next year, but excluding the time he spent under the curse, he’s still just in his late teens. I wonder if that child will be able to get along well with the other students at the academy. At least for that period, I hope you can assist a little more, that’s what I think.”

“….”

“What do you think, I want to ask you once.”

The age range for admission to Luminor Academy is from eighteen to twenty-three.

Whether noble or commoner, since the academy requires a proper entrance exam to be passed, it’s not uncommon for even high-ranking nobles to fail in their first or second year.

So, the average age of new students entering the academy is just over nineteen.

If Edan were to enter the academy next year, he would be twenty-three, but excluding the time he spent under the curse, he was practically close to the minimum admission age.

Knowing how much Harold cares for his family, it wasn’t strange for him to worry about Edan like this.

Therefore, he must be trying to attach me as a full-time maid in some way.

Anyway, it was an undeniable fact that I had been taking care of Edan from his childhood until now.

…The problem was how far Harold was thinking and offering me this contract.

If I were to rashly accept the proposal to become Edan’s full-time maid without considering it thoroughly, my plans might be disrupted from another direction.

What I wanted was to ‘obtain the status of a junior viscountess’ and ‘enroll in the academy’s magic department,’ and in that situation, ‘maintain the position of Edan’s full-time maid.’

If I were asked to give up the first two in order to focus on Edan’s full-time maid role, I couldn’t accept it easily.

So, before discussing Edan’s full-time maid role, it was necessary to clearly address the points I mentioned earlier.

“Master may already know, but I have already received Edan’s favor…”

“You will temporarily take the position of a noble in the Blackwood family and take the entrance exam for the magic department of Luminor Academy, right?”

“…That’s correct.”

“Even so, it doesn’t matter. As long as you have the confidence to fulfill the duties of Edan’s full-time maid even as a fellow student.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Of course, if you take on the role of Edan’s full-time maid as a noble lady, it may block the way for Edan to marry another lady, but that’s a story for you to bear.”

…What? Why is this guy so cool about it?

I thought for sure he would turn me down with a comment like, ‘Why would I bother focusing on my son’s full-time maid role and studies?’.

No matter how much I thought about it, the consecutive good conditions made me suspicious.

There was no reason for Harold to show me such favor without any reason.

He was a character who was endlessly soft only to his ‘family’ like his wife and children, showing no interest in other people and giving a cold reaction.

Even though Lillis had spent a long time as Edan’s full-time maid.

“And, your salary will be this much per month.”

-Clank.

Harold’s words were accompanied by a few coins falling onto the desk in the study.

As a full-time maid balancing work and studies, he must have thought of paying the salary with just a few silver coins per month.

But as soon as I saw the three gold coins on the desk, my mind started to spin quickly.

“Three gold coins per month. And if you take care of Edan as his full-time maid for four years, I will add four more gold coins per year.”

…What?

Wait, three gold coins per month?

How much is that roughly in this world?

One gold coin is roughly equivalent to the monthly living expenses of a family of four, so it’s worth about 3 million won.

If you have three of these gold coins in a month, it’s almost equivalent to 10 million won in the previous world.

And on top of that, there’s a bonus of four gold coins every year.

So, in essence, the annual salary amounts to 40 gold coins, which adds up to 160 over four years.

Even if we exclude the tuition, living expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses of the “Luminor Academy,” it was possible to calculate that almost 100 gold coins worth of money would accumulate in my hands.

Just by attending the academy and taking care of Edan’s affairs, you could graduate with 100 gold coins.

It would be a definite loss to reject such a good offer. Who in their right mind would refuse 100 gold coins falling into their hands?

Receiving the basic start-up funds to do anything right after graduating from the academy!

‘…But still. Let’s calm down for now.’

Be rational, Relis. There’s no way Harold would make such a good offer to me without any benefit to himself.

It was clear that there was a trap in the proposal.

Perhaps if I accepted it willingly, I would end up in a forced contract life, bound by contracts that were nothing but debts, or they might mention contract breaches to hire me for much less than the original amount.

Was there any other way to interpret the contents of what Harold had just said?

By enrolling in the academy with Edan, working as Edan’s exclusive maid, the salary is 36 gold coins per year.

If I do well as Edan’s exclusive maid, I would receive an additional 16 coins, and if I interpret the content of enrolling together as Harold guaranteeing the title of Viscount as well.

…No matter how much I think about it, isn’t this proposal too good to be true for me?

Moreover, being Edan’s exclusive maid was something I had wanted from the start, and on top of that, unexpected bonuses were coming my way, so why would I have a reason to refuse…

‘…Ah.’

Ah, right.

I almost forgot.

It’s not enough for Harold alone to decide whether I can become Edan’s exclusive maid.

No matter how much I want to be Edan’s exclusive maid, if Edan himself refuses, this contract will be useless.

After all, Harold is the type to easily give in to Edan’s words, so I had to persuade Edan rather than Harold.

To do that, I didn’t have time to spend here talking to Harold.

I had to go back to Edan as soon as possible and somehow persuade him to make me his exclusive maid again.

It was impossible to relax and be at ease, thinking that the contract could be terminated overnight by Edan.

For now, I bowed my head in front of Harold and expressed my intention to persuade Edan.

“I am truly grateful for your offer, but…”

“Are you really going to reject my offer right now?”

“I believe that choosing Edan’s exclusive maid should be Edan’s decision, not the master’s.”

“…Hmm?”

“I also want to continue my duties as Edan’s exclusive maid, but since Edan’s mind doesn’t seem to be made up yet, could you please wait for Edan to choose his exclusive maid on his own?”

“…I see, your words make sense.”

‘…Phew.’

It became completely certain that I just needed to persuade Edan.

From now on, all that was left was to firmly appeal my excellence as Edan’s exclusive maid.

“Now that Edan is starting to think more clearly, I can’t choose his exclusive maid without his opinion.”

“Understood, master.”

“Alright then. I’ll ask Edan separately next time. Let’s wait until a conclusion is reached.”

“Thank you for your words, Master.”

“Well then, let’s go in.”

“I will go in, Master.”

After bowing in gratitude to Harold’s words, I quickly made my way out of his private office.

As soon as I left his office, I searched for Ethan, who would have finished his bath by now.

Before Harold could inquire about the personal maid separately, I needed to quickly solidify his decision.

‘Ah.’

Fortunately, I was able to find Ethan conversing with someone in the waiting area on the third floor, similar to Harold’s office. I hurried towards Ethan to hear his decision regarding the personal maid.

…Until the unidentified silhouette conversing with Ethan turned into the face of someone I knew all too well.

“…Oh, Ethan, young master.”

“…Yes. So, to you…”

‘Isabel…? Why is Isabel with Ethan…?’

Isabel didn’t seem to talk to Ethan that often. What’s going on?

Feeling a sense of unease for some reason, I quietly eavesdropped on Ethan and Isabel’s conversation near them.

And then, Isabel’s unbelievable statement made my heart sink in shock.

“…Me, as the personal maid?”

‘…Huh?’

…Isabel?

Why would you even suggest that?