Chapter 5
“Uh, uh!”
Mixed with tension, fear, and exhaustion, Ithel couldn’t think of anything. She closed her eyes tightly, readying herself for the impact she was sure would come.
But just as her body began to sway forward, a large hand grabbed her, and her face, which had been about to hit the ground, collided with something firm yet elastic.
Feeling the unfamiliar scent that suddenly surrounded her, Ithel felt dizzy.
And when she realized that her forehead had touched Rarlo’s chest, she instinctively pushed him away. Fortunately, she didn’t scream.
“Why does my life have to be so awful?”
Long ago, during a cultural class, the homeroom teacher had said a few times, “Pretending to be dizzy and clinging to a man is a truly vulgar seduction technique. It’s something a lady should never do.”
She never intended to do that, but it was a situation where anyone could easily misunderstand.
With trembling legs, Ithel tried to stand up straight and apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
She ended it with just one word of apology because any explanation would have sounded like a feeble excuse.
She tried her best not to disturb him with her apology, but she couldn’t even tell if her voice came out properly.
But Rarlo, with an unreadable expression on his face, looked down at her and then turned away.
“Follow me.”
Suppressing the urge to cry, Ithel followed him. Into the mansion that was sure to become a living hell.
* * *
“Just now, Lord Chryses personally took the prisoner into custody.”
Upon receiving the report from the messenger, Emperor Demarcus smiled broadly.
“I thought as much.”
Although he still felt hungover, he wasn’t in a bad mood. Because everything he had planned yesterday had gone exactly as planned.
One of those plans was to hand Ithel Lancaster over to Rarlo.
“Lord Mok would have shown interest only in Ithel Lancaster.”
Demarcus remembered Rarlo, who had been looking at Ithel during the reception two years ago.
Rarlo, famous as the King of Mercenaries, made a contract with him, and in the last conquest war fought with his mercenaries, Rarlo had made a significant contribution that nobles’ knights couldn’t match.
To exaggerate a bit, it was almost as if he had won the victory alone.
Yet Rarlo was not greedy.
“Say what you want. Anything is fine.”
“The amount I will receive is detailed in the contract, Your Majesty.”
Demarcus, who had ascended to the throne at a young age in less than favorable circumstances, offered an offer almost like a blank check to tie up talented people, but Rarlo casually ignored it.
In addition, driven by both ambition and curiosity, Demarcus immediately gave him the title of Count.
Of course, he added convincing persuasion, but Rarlo must have known that refusing the Emperor’s offer would be as good as losing his life.
“Tsk. I wasn’t originally going to contract with Your Majesty.”
Rarlo, who sent a contemptuous glance without fear, must have been quite pleased.
“Perfect for raising as a watchdog.”
But after investigating Rarlo, Demarcus’s thoughts changed slightly.
Rarlo was a man with quite an interesting secret.
Whether that secret, when revealed, would be a boon to Demarcus’s enemies was uncertain, but even if he had to take that risk, Demarcus wanted to get Rarlo into his hands.
“Using him as a mere hunting dog would be a waste. He’s a guy who could become a pillar to lean on if raised well.”
But Demarcus pondered what lure could capture Rarlo’s heart.
“Anything that others can’t get their hands on, he doesn’t care about….”
Money was already sufficient for him, and the number of mercenaries in his mercenary guild, Caliope, surpassed the number of soldiers a duke could muster.
So, titles meant nothing to Rarlo. Most nobles couldn’t match him in wealth, military strength, or power.
In the end, Demarcus tried to entice him with women, but even that fell flat.
Even though he sent his best seductress, Rarlo simply rebuffed her with disdain.
“Hey, lad. Have you ever been hit in a not-so-nice place during your mercenary work?”
“If by ‘not-so-nice place’ you mean…?”
“Exactly, ‘there.'”
“…No. I’m not sure why you’re curious about that, though.”
Although Rarlo looked at him disdainfully, Demarcus couldn’t help but suspect that Rarlo wasn’t revealing everything.
And then, Demarcus accidentally found out that Rarlo was showing a slightly different interest in Ithel.
“Look at how those who opposed the conquest war have changed their attitude. Isn’t it interesting?”
“….”
“Rarlo…?”
Muttering to himself as if during a party, Demarcus turned his head when he realized that Rarlo, who usually replied bluntly to his words, was silent.
And he noticed that Rarlo’s gaze was directed towards a woman. With a slightly displeased expression.
But Rarlo wasn’t even listening to him; he was looking at the woman.
Demarcus squinted.
“Huh? Isn’t that Lady Canian’s daughter…?”
There stood Ithel Canian, who was famous for being the top beauty contestant.
She had been rumored to marry the aging Lancaster Duke soon, and while everyone knew it, she still smiled with impeccable grace.
Demarcus clicked his tongue.
“Well, I can’t take away a woman who’s going to be the wife of a duke….”
That would cause a huge uproar.
Although it was regrettable, it was an unavoidable situation, so he cut off his interest and forgot about the woman, until he heard the intelligence that the Duke of Lancaster was preparing for independence.
“Would Rarlo know that I brought the duke’s two daughters alive just to give them to him?”
Demarcus chuckled as he drank water.
In his heart, he wanted to show indifference in front of Rarlo for causing this troublesome situation, but if he did, the oddly obstinate Rarlo might even reject Ithel.
He didn’t feel any jealousy, but he had made a bet based solely on the gaze that didn’t move from her.
Demarcus would watch how the dice rolled in this gamble.
“Will Ithel Lancaster be able to ignite Rarlo’s passion?”
Having never lost in gambling, Demarcus rose from his seat with a meaningful smile.
It was a sunny late autumn morning.
—
“Marsha!”
Entering the mansion with Ithel following behind, Rarlo called for the housekeeper without hesitation.
Marsha, who appeared to be in her mid-forties, tried to hide her annoyance and approached quickly.
“Did you need something, my lord?”
“Was there anything unusual?”
“How could there be anything unusual? Marsha takes care of everything in the mansion, so don’t worry. Ho ho ho.”
Feeling strange that no one came out even though the master was here, Ithel doubted her own ears when she heard that the housekeeper, not even the butler, was in charge of everything in the mansion.
‘What on earth does that mean? Is the housekeeper exaggerating?’
The situation was completely incomprehensible to Ithel, but Rarlo, as if he were accustomed to it, immediately moved on to the business at hand.
“Did you say there’s a shortage of maids?”
“Yes, my lord. I’ve mentioned it before, but you need to help Miss Linia a bit, my lord. If maids keep quitting like this, even though I’m a veteran, I won’t be able to maintain the mansion….”
“Here, some additional manpower. Arrange them as you see fit.”
As Haeyang’s words surprised Idel, she suddenly became bewildered by the new situation.
‘Are they really going to use me as a maid?’
While Idel was taken aback, the housekeeper turned to Laslow and asked.
“Additional personnel? Who……?”
“Are you blind? She’s right here.”
Laslow pointed to Idel and said.
The housekeeper glanced at Idel once and asked again.
“That…… this woman as a maid?”
“It’s not ‘this woman.’ She’s merely a prisoner of war given to me by His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Ah!”
Now she nodded as if she understood. At that moment, she poured out questions to Laslow, curious about Idel’s circumstances.
“But how did this woman, I mean, how did she become a prisoner? What was her original status?”
But instead of answering, Laslow turned away.
“First, let her wash up, feed her, and put her to bed. Give her any available room among the servants’ quarters, and we’ll start giving her tasks from tomorrow. There’s probably a lot she needs to learn at first.”
With that, he went upstairs.
As Laslow disappeared, the attitude of the housekeeper, Marsha, changed abruptly.
“Hmm…… From a noble lady to a maid……”
She lifted Idel’s chin and chuckled.
Idel felt embarrassed but maintained a calm expression as she looked into Marsha’s eyes.
Marsha turned Idel’s face to the side and burst into laughter.
“Should I really put this beautiful face to work as a maid?”
At that moment, a young maid hurried over and whispered something to Marsha.
Thank you for the chapter!❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥