Chapter 1

In fairy tales, illegitimate children were always miserable in more or less the same way.

Seven-year-old Lionel, who showed up at her baron father’s estate with nothing but her mother’s will, was no exception.

“What kind of filthy beggar is this…? You should be grateful we’re even taking you in. And don’t you dare call me Mother.”

The family worked Lionel to the bone. Looking at her chapped, cracked hands, Lionel thought her misery would last forever.

That was, until her stepmother, Lavienne, suddenly collapsed one day with a deathly pale face.

“Huh? These are… symptoms of hypoglycemia, aren’t they?”

Fifteen-year-old Lionel’s body moved before her mind could catch up.

In her previous life, she had been a second-year internal medicine resident who had died instantly in an unexpected car accident.

“Orange juice! Candy! Sugar! Anything! Hurry!!”

The despised illegitimate brat instantly became the family’s lifesaver.

There was something sweet about seeing the very people who used to throw rags in her face nervously asking for her medical advice.

From then on, Lionel began taking charge of everything, from her stepmother’s lifestyle habits to those of the rest of the family.

“Mother. I told you, didn’t I? Broccoli first, then eggs, and then bread.”

Now twenty years old, Lionel was once again scolding her stepmother first thing in the morning.

Five years had been more than enough time for the girl to awaken as a demonic drill sergeant.

Lavienne hurriedly put down her rye bread. The Baron of Frencia, who was sitting beside her, cautiously interjected.

“Lionel. Lavienne’s fasting blood sugar was 100 this morning, too. So you don’t have to be quite so strict with her…”

As if she had been waiting for this very moment, Lionel pulled a small device out of her pocket.

It was a measuring device she had specially commissioned from the Magic Tower.

“You can lie about your fasting blood sugar, but you can’t lie about your HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar control over the past two to three months). Shall I test it right now, if you’d like?”

“Ah… All right.”

Lavienne put a piece of broccoli into her mouth and chewed it reluctantly. She ate the egg as instructed, then reached for the rye bread.

Smack!

Lionel snatched Lavienne’s hand.

Something immediately fell out of her sleeve.

A single-serving packet of strawberry jam.

“Freeze. Trying to pull a fast one on me?”

“I-It’s not like a little jam would hurt!”

“It would, Mother. Do you need to lose a hand to complications before you finally learn your lesson?”

Her half-brother, Ruen, who had been silently chewing his rye bread, shook his head.

Lavienne clenched her fists and trembled before abruptly changing the subject.

“Lionel. You do remember the promise you made, don’t you? If you couldn’t repay your medical school tuition within a year of graduation, you agreed to get married. But you’ve already quit two jobs… I suppose being a doctor was too much for you after all?”

Lavienne continued to needle Lionel.

“It’s all right. Being a nobleman’s wife can be quite a pleasant life, too. What if he’s a little older? They say love knows neither age nor borders, after all.”

A little older? He’d have to be a whole lot older.

Could you live happily married to a seventy-two-year-old man?

Men like that are all past their prime, yet still obsessed with reproducing. He’d obviously be demanding that I give him children!

“I’ll find a new job as soon as possible so that you can focus on managing your blood sugar, Mother.”

Lionel answered quietly, grinding her teeth.

“Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho! Yes, I do hope you find one soon! It makes no difference to me, either way!”

And so, the tense standoff between the blonde middle-aged woman and the black-haired young lady came to a temporary end.

Just then, the Baron, who had remained quiet until now, spotted an article and showed it to Lionel.

“Isn’t this the Saint Louis Hospital where you used to work? It says they were fined twenty million gold for violating fire safety regulations. Did you know about this?”

“…I’m not sure. People did tend to throw cigarette butts around carelessly even when I worked there.”

Although that was her answer, Lionel knew all too well about the incident.

Of course she did.

She was the one who had reported the hospital to the fire department.

Lionel had realized that she had been reincarnated, but she had no idea which novel she had ended up in.

In any case, nothing had happened so far that reminded her of the original story, so she had decided to put her skills to use, live comfortably, and make a good living as a doctor.

Then, when she was seventeen, she brought up the subject of money with Lavienne for the first time.

Since medical school was essential to becoming a doctor in this world, just as it had been in the modern world, she needed tuition.

As expected, Lavienne, who managed the baronial family’s finances, was extremely stingy.

“Let’s say I lend you the tuition. How are you going to pay me back?”

“I’ll earn money and pay you back. I’ll even include interest.”

“Do you think getting a job is that easy? Fine, let’s make a deal. If you can’t repay the tuition within a year of graduation, you’ll marry someone of my choosing.”

In other words, she was telling Lionel to pay off her debt with the money she would receive as a bride.

To be honest, Lionel hesitated for a moment.

But she really wanted to become a doctor.

Of course, she also needed the financial independence to escape her family.

But more than anything, she never wanted to experience the loss of someone precious to her in vain again, just as she had lost her mother.

“All right. We have a deal.”

And so, Lionel entered medical school on borrowed money.

After completing the three-year program, she graduated at the top of her class and began looking for a job.

However, the trouble began after she got hired.

“You little brat, you think you can start a union? Do you think the world is that easy? You’re fired!”

She had tried to establish a labor union to improve the terrible working conditions of the hospital cafeteria ladies.

Unfortunately, she had been caught far too quickly.

“It’s fine. I’m not going to make things easy for you, either.”

Lionel took pictures of doctors smoking in chairs placed in front of emergency exits, sent them to the fire department, and then quit.

This happened just one week before she was supposed to become a permanent employee.

Her second job was as the personal physician of a viscount’s family.

On the day she completed her first month, the viscountess handed her a paycheck for an absurdly small amount.

“You weren’t working all day, were you? So I calculated your pay based on two and a half hours a day, five days a week. Naturally, weekends are excluded.”

Who would have thought that the infamous practice of splitting shifts into tiny chunks actually existed here?!

Lionel immediately packed her bags and walked out.

The viscountess shouted after her.

“You have to submit a resignation letter before you leave, Doctor!”

“I never even signed an employment contract! What resignation letter?!”

She then sent back the letters the viscount had given her, which were filled with all sorts of flirtatious advances.

She even included a little note mentioning that the underwear he had stolen from the maids was in his study.

In the end, all that remained was Lionel, who had quit her jobs spectacularly, albeit rather disgracefully.

“…Is this the only place left?”

After breakfast with her family, Lionel picked up the job advertisement lying on the table.

It was the last resort she had been keeping in reserve.

Job Opening: Personal Physician to the Duke of Carseido

• Job Responsibilities: Health management and medical treatment for the Duke and the estate’s servants.

• Annual Salary: To be determined during the interview.

So far, it looked perfectly ordinary.

But the part below was enough to make her eyes widen.

Employee Benefits

• Room and board provided within the estate.

• Interest-free housing loan of 1,000,000 gold (for those who prefer to commute).

• 100% coverage of work-related expenses.

• On-site hairstylist always available (free of charge).

• One month of paid leave for every three years of service.

• Birthday bonuses and congratulatory/condolence payments.

• Personal nanny provided after childbirth.

Despite the extraordinary benefits, there was a reason Lionel couldn’t bring herself to accept the position right away.

After all—

Every duke of the Carseido ducal family, the Empire’s guardian, had been renowned for his stunning beauty from the day he was born until the day he died.

The family was also infamous for rumors that they maintained their youthful appearance by drinking human blood.

And on top of that, the hiring record says thirty-two applicants, thirty-two resignations… Does that mean every single one of them ran away?

No way. I can’t do this. There’s no way I can work somewhere like that.

Lionel was about to toss the paper aside when she took another look at the details.

“…No matter how awful the place is, wouldn’t it still be better than marrying some perverted old man?”

That’s right. You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket!

Having made up her mind, Lionel pulled out her travel bag.

The employee benefits were simply too good to turn down.