CHAPTER 06
illian Droche.
The head of the Droche dukedom—a noble family whose name has never failed to shine in the kingdom’s history. The young powerhouse of the era, running a magic corporation.
With jewel-like blue eyes, the man briefly scanned his surroundings and spoke with an unmistakably pitying tone.
“Oh dear, dismissed again?”
In a low, calm voice, he glanced at the butler behind him and continued.
“You’ll need to find a replacement. Good luck, butler.”
Only after the duke disappeared did the servants finally let out the breaths they’d been holding.
“…With that face, of course people fall for him.”
No one disagreed with the comment.
Two days later…
The cat, who had gone missing for two days, returned and was horrified by the state of the studio.
“…W-what is all this?”
When he first saw Riana working on a flyer, the place hadn’t looked like this at all. But now?
“Oh, these? Gifts from clients. The mahogany desk is from Countess Millo asking to be taken care of, and that painting on the wall? Marquis Parvon sent it this morning to welcome me to the capital.”
Leaning lazily against a throne-like chair, Riana excitedly explained.
“I sold the things I didn’t have room for. That covered the studio rent.”
She had really milked it. Now the office didn’t just look decent—it looked like something featured on Forbes’ No.1 list.
While Riana looked very satisfied, the cat was clearly uncomfortable in the unfamiliar space.
Wandering between rare tropical plants and old porcelain, the cat finally asked:
“…Riana, what on earth did you write in reply to get them to send you all this?”
His voice held a hint of fear. Riana, with a smug smile, answered right away:
“Oh, I didn’t reply. Not to a single one. That’s why they sent the gifts.”
Nobles loved to be treated well, and they liked to prove they deserved to be treated well. Expensive gifts were the method of choice.
“Well, I guess I should start replying soon.”
The gifts were starting to slow down. And anyway, if you leave messages unread too long, it stops being cool and starts being just plain rude.
As Riana straightened up and picked up a pen, the cat hopped onto the desk and asked:
“So, what kind of requests are coming in?”
“Things like: find us a foreign-educated gardener, our family doctor’s too old—get us a new one… And also some wild ones like: be our smuggler.”
“How about the pay?”
“No offers have reached 500 gold yet. But the bids are getting higher.”
To secure Spes Island safely, she needed to make up for the money donated to the relic restoration project. Her goal: jobs paying over 500 gold a month, with at least 1,000 gold earned in two months.
“Just a little more, and I think we’ll hit it.”
The cat carefully stepped around the inkpot and pen holder and arrived near her right hand. Looking up at her with narrowed yellow eyes, he pressed:
“But aren’t these jobs actually hard? You’re the only one here. And you’re not a gardener or a doctor.”
Riana’s pen stopped mid-word.
“I know. I can’t do anything too specialized. But if it’s just the right level…”
She could act.
She swallowed the last part of her thought. The truth was, half of her success as an errand-runner came from being a transmigrator—but the other half was thanks to her acting training in her past life.
She was even considered a rising star in her old university’s acting department. She didn’t become a full actress only because her life ended early—not because she lacked talent.
‘Plus, thanks to growing up in the internet age, I’ve got lots of broad but shallow knowledge.’
She had no intention of disrespecting professionals, but for two months, she could convincingly act out most jobs.
That’s why instead of wasting time on training, she focused on raising the pay of incoming requests.
And her current method was this exact reply letter.
“Unfortunately, I must decline your request to work together…”
The cat, reading aloud what she wrote, widened his eyes.
“Wait—are these rejection letters?”
“Yep. Exactly forty-seven of them.”
A sly smile spread across Riana’s lips.
News that Madam Midas had rejected all offers spread far beyond the capital—through the entire kingdom.
If these were modern people, they would’ve thought it was a ridiculous stunt. But nobles in this era thought differently.
They found joy in luxury and loved rarity.
“You’ve heard about that agency, right?”
Ever since Madam Midas arrived, there wasn’t a quiet day in the capital. Even tea parties were buzzing with the topic.
“I heard Count Borjou got rejected. My maid heard it from their maid.”
“Oh my… She must have very strict standards.”
“We haven’t even gotten a reply. I wanted a reliable tutor, but… I guess we’re out too. What about you, Marchioness Parvon?”
The Marchioness fluttered her fan proudly.
“Our wait time is one year.”
The other ladies around the table gasped behind their hands.
“Goodness, really?”
“I guess only families like the Parvons even get a waitlist.”
“One year is short! I heard Baron Monopoly, the real estate mogul, tried to hire a new secretary and got told to wait three years—he gave up.”
The Marchioness sipped her tea and added in a refined tone:
“It must not just be about wealth or status. I think things like social grace or integrity also matter.”
The ladies nodded as if they were about to take notes.
And so, the agency’s reputation rose higher every hour.
Eventually, it reached the Droche Ducal Estate.
“18B, 2nd Floor, Alley 11 — Madam Midas’ Employment Agency”
The Droche family’s butler, Bastian, hesitated before finally writing the address.
“Sigh…”
Watching him with a troubled look, the duke’s secretary, Kim, asked carefully:
“Is this really the best option? Handing such an important role to someone we don’t even know…”
“We’ve got no choice. The duke kicked out the tower maid again. We’ve run out of decent candidates.”
“What happened this time? Seduction? Or tantrums?”
“He meant to throw a tantrum, but ended up seducing her. Lucky, I guess.”
“True. On average, seduction keeps them around for three months. Tantrums only last a month.”
“Exactly. So if the next one lasts three months too, that’d be good.”
“……”
“……”
With serious faces, the two men silently came to the same resolution.
The secretary spoke first.
“Let’s request a female maid.”
“Around the duke’s age… early to mid-20s.”
“And let’s offer the best pay in the industry. We need someone to stick.”
The butler paused, then muttered:
“Industry-best? We could offer the highest in the kingdom.”
“Then write: ‘salary negotiable.’”
“We want someone resilient… with strong mental stamina.”
Their desperate hopes were sealed in an envelope bearing the Droche family’s blue wax seal.
Rip—
Riana ripped open the wax-sealed letter without care and quickly scanned it.
After receiving over a hundred requests, she no longer had time to read each one carefully.
“At this point, I want to be the one hiring someone.”
She grumbled, tossing a provincial lord’s letter into the rejection basket. Now, offers were pouring in not only from outside the capital—but even from abroad.
Even the cat, sorting letters by seal and envelope design, mumbled in a sulky voice:
“It’s become a trend to send requests. Some of them just want something to talk about at parties.”
Lately, you couldn’t join any conversation without knowing about Midas’ Employment Agency.
Getting rejected had become a badge of honor.
Sighing, the cat was shuffling through letters with his paw when he froze.
Noticing his reaction, Riana quickly leaned over.
“What is it?”
The cat pushed an envelope toward her.
“It’s a big one.”
“Oh, really?”
“It has the duke’s seal.”
Riana’s face turned to stone.
There were only two dukes in the kingdom. One was Duke Droche—in the capital.
The other… was the duke of Veloci, her hometown. Also known as the male lead in the webtoon “Riana Epindor.”
The very man who executed her—the villainess—in the original story.
