ODFEN 06

Chapter 06…

 Contract Proposal 

This was Calix’s office. In the center of the room, a pair of smooth leather sofas faced each other, each large enough to seat three or four people.

“……”

Gulp. I swallowed dryly and looked at the emperor sitting across from me. He was leisurely with one leg crossed over the other, one arm draped over the sofa, his gaze examining me like a product being inspected for quality. Meeting his blood-red eyes was intimidating, so I lowered my gaze like a criminal. What on earth did Ken tell him about me to make him look at me like that?

“Momma!”

At the sudden call, I turned my head. Rubelin was sitting right next to me, swinging her legs since they didn’t quite reach the marble floor. She pressed her flushed face against my shoulder, causing static electricity to lift my hair slightly. Without thinking, I reached out and smoothed her hair.

“Y-Your Highness….”

A man standing behind Calix flinched and approached Rubelin. He had long green hair that reached his waist, and the monocle he wore gave him an intellectual, cold impression. He put on a pair of black gloves from his coat as he approached her. Rubelin watched him with a displeased expression.

“Your Highness, allow me to fix your hair. And being close to a stranger is dangerous—”

“No!”

Rubelin turned her head away stubbornly. The man, suddenly rejected, turned pale and froze. He stared down at his own hands before quietly returning to his place with a gloomy air. Calix glanced at him with disdain and flicked his fingers.

“Yukar.”

At that, the man named Yukar straightened immediately and pulled out a stack of documents. He began listing information in a monotone voice.

“Lucina Rangport. Age 21. Daughter of Viscount Rangport, currently in debt to a loan shark. No physical abnormalities. No criminal record. Special note: sells herbs.”

I blinked in confusion. Isn’t that my personal information? Calix extended his hand behind him without taking his eyes off me, and Yukar promptly handed over the documents. Calix absentmindedly skimmed through them, then handed them back without hesitation. His emotionless red eyes returned to me.

“Lucina Rangport.”

“Y-Yes!”

I snapped back to reality.

“I have a proposal.”

A proposal? I swallowed nervously.

“A proposal… for me?”

Calix slowly blinked instead of answering. After a long pause, his tightly sealed lips finally opened.

“Would you consider becoming the mother of the princess?”

My face immediately twisted.

“P-Pardon? The mother?”

“…The mother of the princess.”

“Excuse me?! Are you insane?!”

Startled by my reaction, Calix furrowed his neatly shaped brows. My denial must have sounded like wordplay rather than rejection. Proof of that was Yukar’s icy gaze fixed on me. The situation was spiraling in a bizarre direction. Being mistaken for a kidnapper was one thing—but now, suddenly being asked to become the princess’s mother? What was going on?

I quickly scanned the office, but Ken—the person responsible for this situation—was nowhere to be seen.

That man! What exactly did you tell the emperor?!

Suppressing my rising frustration, I hesitated before responding.

“Your Majesty, how could someone like me possibly become the princess’s mother….”

“More precisely, it would be as a nanny acting as a mother figure and an ‘educator.’”

“An ‘educator’?”

“Among the imperial family, a private tutor is referred to as an educator. If you assist Princess Rubelin in controlling her extraordinary strength until she can manage it herself, you will be granted the role of educator, along with a monthly salary of 100 gold and a comfortable life.”

One hundred gold? My debt was only 80 gold. My heart pounded at the number.

Calm down. I forced myself to stay composed.

“However, Your Majesty, as an educator… as you know, I am not well-educated. I am not qualified to teach the princess.”

“I’ve heard from the deputy commander that Rubelin seems to have opened her heart only to you.”

Calix gestured slightly. Following his gaze, I saw a small hand tightly holding mine. Could it be…? Had Ken told him that the princess’s strength didn’t affect me? Did they think I was the reason she could control it?

I sighed heavily.

Monthly 100 gold, a comfortable life… It sounded great. Too great. But if Rubelin grows up, the world will be destroyed, and “comfortable life” won’t exist. Of course, I wanted to help her—but I didn’t have the ability to alter the original story, nor was I selfless enough to sacrifice my limited life for someone else. And “until she can control her strength”… who knows how long that would take?

I couldn’t spend the rest of my life here.

However, when I accidentally met Rubelin’s eyes, my resolve wavered.

She smiled brightly at me.

“Momma! I want cake! What about you?”

“…I’m fine. You can have it, Your Highness.”

“Okay!”

I absentmindedly patted her head, my mind in turmoil. The child who once only wished for someone to pat her head would surely be sad if I left…

At that moment, Rubelin reached for a fork on the table.

The moment she grabbed it—

Clang! The fork snapped in half and fell apart.

Rubelin looked at it in confusion, then reached for the cake with her bare hands. The moment her hand touched the plate—

Crack.

The table split down the middle and collapsed. The golden table and glass plate shattered into pieces, and the cake was crushed beyond recognition.

……

Everyone except Calix stared in shock.

“U-uh…”

Rubelin blinked, tears welling up in her eyes. Yukar hurried over in a panic.

“Y-Your Highness, please don’t cry. We’ll bring another cake immediately.”

Despite his reassurance, Rubelin trembled and then clung to me.

“Momma!”

My mind went blank as she hugged me. I froze, imagining what might happen if she accidentally split my body like that golden table.

…No. Absolutely not.

“Lucina Rangport. Your answer?”

Calix’s cold voice snapped me back. His fingers tapped lightly on his knee, like a ticking clock demanding an answer.

A minute passed.

“Have you finished thinking?”

What? It’s only been a minute.

Before I could respond, I felt a small warmth on my thigh.

“Momma?”

Rubelin looked up at me, her eyes still red from crying.

“Momma, are you upset because I couldn’t eat cake?”

She frowned in concern.

Holding her warm hand in this cold room, I closed my eyes tightly.

On one side, the emperor pressured me. On the other, the princess worried about me. I had always been an ordinary, responsible person… so how did things end up like this?

I had done nothing special—just helped a collapsed child.

I never imagined such affection in return.

Calix’s proposal made sense: I was likely the only person able to control Rubelin’s strength, possibly because she had imprinted on me as a “mother.”

Like a duck following the first being it sees, she had formed an attachment. Perhaps that’s why her power stabilized around me.

If that was the case, there was only one way to leave the imperial palace:

Change her perception of me as “mother,” break the control over her strength, and prove I was unfit as an educator.

That was my only escape route.

If I stayed temporarily, I would earn money and pay off my debt.

I smiled with determination.

“Have you reached a decision?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I bowed respectfully.

“Thank you for this opportunity. I will accept the temporary position as a nanny and educator and do my best.”

When I looked up, I met his cold red eyes again. Despite getting what he wanted, Calix didn’t look satisfied. He simply stared at me with a strange expression.

I avoided his gaze awkwardly and held Rubelin in my arms.

“Your Highness, I look forward to working with you.”

Rubelin rubbed her soft cheek against my chest. She seemed to sense something good had happened.

I smiled faintly and tapped her cheek lightly.

The soft, squishy feeling was pleasant.

While working as a temporary educator, I might as well enjoy seeing her face.

Ignoring the emperor’s piercing gaze, I chose to think of it lightly.