Chapter 03
He nervously rubbed his glasses clean and frowned deeply. He seemed to be quite displeased with the Saintess.
“Do you think I didn’t? I went to great lengths to arrange a meeting, but the Boss acted as if the Saintess wasn’t even there. After I went through all that trouble to bring her…”
Ever since I had put my thumbprint on the confidentiality agreement, this man had started speaking casually.
Did he think this was his chance?
“You said he locked himself in his room after being rejected by the Saintess?”
“I thought that was the reason, but apparently not.”
That’s way too vague.
“You don’t know the other reason?”
“If I knew, I would have dragged him out already.”
That made sense.
The thing that worried me was that even the female lead of this world had failed to bring Jervant’s energy back.
“Even the Saintess failed. Can I really do it? And why me in the first place?”
“While looking for the right person, I happened to hear some rumors about Lady Titaime of the Anghela family.”
Why does he keep calling me Titaime?
Is he still upset because I called him Belt earlier?
“What kind of rumor did you hear, Mr. Belt?”
“Do you remember Miss Hannah Whiteley?”
“Ah, Hannah…”
She was my friend and my only place of comfort when I was living in the Anghela family and being bullied by William.
‘I couldn’t even say goodbye when I ran away.’
Her situation wasn’t very good either, just like mine, so I couldn’t ask her for help. The only thing I could do was run far away without causing Hannah any trouble.
A bitter smile spread across my face.
“Do you know Miss Hannah Whiteley’s real name?”
“Hannah Whiteley.”
“Well, this isn’t something I should bring up, so let’s move on. Anyway, that Hannah Whiteley suffered from severe depression when she was young and even hurt herself. The person who stopped her and brought her back into the world was Titia—no, Lady Titaime.”
Excuse me, you said it correctly. Why did you change it?
“That was just a coincidence…”
“No. Miss Hannah Whiteley is still so grateful to you that she is searching for you even now.”
“So you thought I would be the right person because our situations were similar.”
“Yes.”
Hearing my friend’s name after such a long time made me miss her.
“I can’t meet Hannah until everything is over, right?”
“I won’t necessarily stop you. Although if William catches you in the middle of it, I might have to think about whether to bring you back or leave you there. It would depend on the Boss’s condition before and after.”
Just tell me not to meet her.
“…It’s unfortunate, but I guess I can’t meet her for the time being. She is doing well, right?”
“Very much so.”
“Would it be okay if I wrote her a letter?”
“Yes, that much is fine.”
Thank goodness. I’ll write her a letter once I arrive.
Ugh.
I’m getting carsick…
The carriage had been traveling for four straight days without even stopping to rest.
Why didn’t this world have something like a teleportation gate that could take you to your destination instantly? If there had been one, people could have escaped quickly when the demons appeared.
More importantly, I wouldn’t have suffered from motion sickness!
Just when I was desperately wishing for someone to invent some kind of fast transportation, whether it was a gate, a car, or anything else—
Rumble.
The carriage shook heavily once and then came to a stop. The coachman’s loud voice could be heard.
“We’ve arrived!”
Finally!
“Let’s get off.”
Mr. Veilt got off first and held out his hand to me. I took his hand and stepped down from the carriage, and a huge mansion surrounded by a beautiful garden came into view.
Just looking at the beautiful mansion made my motion sickness disappear.
The mansion was shaped like the Korean letter ‘ㄷ’ and had four floors in total, but the ceilings on each floor were so high that it looked much taller.
“This is the mansion of the House of Duke Destain.”
“It’s beautiful…”
When I quietly expressed my admiration, he led the way.
“Lady Titaime will be responsible for everything related to the Boss from now on. Therefore, you may move around as you wish without needing separate permission. There should be no restrictions when it comes to taking care of the Boss. If you have any other questions, you can always ask me directly.”
“Why did I change from Titaime to Refreshment, Mr. Belt?”
“Now, please come this way.”
So I can ask questions, but I can’t get answers?
I followed him into the mansion. The interior had an old-fashioned feeling and a quiet charm.
Expensive statues and works of art were placed throughout the mansion. The soft paintings covering the ceilings and the marble floors were not flashy, but they had an unmistakable sense of dignity and elegance.
“I have already informed the head maid and butler, so you don’t need to greet them separately.”
“Won’t they think I’m being rude?”
“I’m ruder than you, so it will be fine.”
That’s only fine for you.
“Oh, and when calling the Boss, please refrain from calling him ‘Duke’ or ‘Your Grace.’”
“Why? He is the Duke.”
“The Boss dislikes being called ‘Duke’ or ‘Your Grace’ because it makes him cringe.”
I think the Boss is stranger.
He must be used to hearing it so much while running the guild that it doesn’t bother him anymore.
“We are more proud of being members of the Eclipse Guild than of some mere title.”
I could feel how proud Mr. Veilt was of running the Eclipse Guild.
Even his usual cold expression softened whenever he mentioned Eclipse.
“Those are titles he has to use at official events, though.”
“That can’t be helped, but everyone belonging to the Eclipse Guild calls him ‘Boss.’ You are also part of Eclipse now, so call him that as well. You will be taking care of the Boss from the closest position, so it’s important not to get on his nerves.”
“I will.”
I didn’t really care whether I called him Boss or Duke, so I readily agreed.
I followed him up the central staircase among the three staircases leading in different directions. When we reached the third floor, we came to a hallway made up of large windows.
The marble softly glowed in the sunlight, but the farther we went inside, the darker it became because black curtains had been drawn tightly across the windows.
Instead, candles along the walls gave off a soft light and illuminated the way.
He was taking me to meet the Boss without even letting me rest. I wondered just how urgent this was.
Well, they were paying me enough to keep my mouth shut.
“Here.”
Mr. Veilt stopped in front of a large dark-brown door.
Perhaps because he was a Duke, even the room where a shut-in lived was enormous.
I hadn’t seen the inside yet, but with a door that large, the room itself had to be huge.
At that size, it seemed like someone could stay locked inside for years, not just one year.
“This room beside it is where Lady Titaime will be staying from now on. There is a maid’s uniform inside, so take a shower, change into it, and come out.”
The room was so large and clean that I wondered if it was actually a room for the owner of the mansion.
Admiring it inwardly, I took the maid’s uniform and went into the bathroom.
After taking a refreshing shower and changing into the maid’s uniform, I came out. Mr. Veilt cleared his throat and raised his voice a little.
“Boss! I’ve brought the person who will be your personal maid from today! Yo!”
“……”
“He says you can come in.”
I don’t think he said that.
Ignoring my look, Mr. Veilt unnecessarily opened the door for me. He gestured for me to hurry inside, so I glanced at him and went in.
There wasn’t even a flickering candle, so everything in front of me was pitch-black, as if a curtain had been drawn over my eyes.
One particular place was glowing faintly, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
‘Am I supposed to go over there?’
Not knowing where to go, I waved my hand around in the air. Mr. Veilt let out a low sigh and placed something in my hand.
“I forgot to give you this. They are glasses. When you wear them, you can see very well even in dark places. They are one of our guild’s latest creations.”
“Why are you giving them to me now?”
“Because I was wearing mine.”
At this rate, I might be able to make the Boss angry enough to run out of his room.
Thinking that, I put on the glasses, and only then did my dark surroundings become brighter. Of course, it wasn’t as bright as if there were actual lights, but at least I could see more than before.
I looked around the room and saw a man crouching in the corner.
I realized that the thing that had been glowing faintly was his hair.
The Boss wasn’t even on the bed. He was crouched in a corner near it, burying his face in his knees while hugging them with both arms.
Even though he had curled his body as tightly as possible, he was still quite large. I couldn’t even imagine how tall he would be when he stood up.
I needed to make a good first impression.
I cheerfully greeted him.
“Hello, Boss. My name is Titia. I look forward to working with you!”
“Don’t smile…”
His voice was so weak and low that it seemed to fade away, but the room was so quiet that I could hear him perfectly.
“Boss.”
When Mr. Veilt called him again, his face slowly moved. His lower face was still hidden behind his knees, and his dull, unfocused eyes behind his round glasses stared at me.
His empty eyes were so strangely beautiful that I almost thought they were beautiful precisely because of how empty they were. It was a shame that his bangs and glasses hid most of them.
As I exchanged gazes with him as if I were hypnotized, Jervant’s pupils trembled slightly.
“…A mage?”
Me?
It was such an unexpected question, but I calmly responded.
“Me? Ah, in a way, I suppose I could be a mage. From now on, I’ll use my magic to bring back the Boss’s smile…”
“Get out.”
Let’s follow the Boss’s kind feedback and get out for now, then decide what to do.
He’s too sharp right now.
I wanted to step outside for a while to relieve my accumulated fatigue and calm myself down, but Mr. Belt grabbed the door and said to me,
“Please take good care of our Boss.”
Bang.
Mr. Veilt rudely closed the door.
“Mr. Belt.”
Click, click.
Did he just lock the door from outside?
“How am I supposed to get out when I need to?”
“There is also a bathroom inside.”
“What if the Boss gets angry and kills me?”
“I am excellent at handling corpses.”
Excuse me! That’s not what I meant!
“Please take good care of him until lunchtime. Then, I’ll be going.”
So he expected me to stay trapped here until lunchtime?
Does Mr. Belt know that if he locks Titia up like this, she’ll be so shocked that she’ll faint?
But, cruelly enough, Mr. Belt’s footsteps only grew farther away. When I could no longer hear them, I had no choice but to give up.
Either way, this was a mountain I had to cross at least once.
Avoiding it wouldn’t help me at all. Hannah had also been trembling like that at first.
For now, I crouched down a little distance away from him. I didn’t bother talking to him.
There was no point in trying to talk to him now.
I had to wait until he became a little used to having me around before speaking to him. Then he might at least listen.
So I sat quietly and counted numbers.
I shouldn’t have done that.
If only I had known he would fall asleep while even snoring.
