Villain Family’s Strongest Butler - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 36

I had already committed the names of every house and their attendants to memory before stepping into the Rest Room.
Upon entering and settling onto the sofa, I merely glanced at the placards on the table to confirm.
The very fact that they believed I wouldn’t know their identities was proof enough that they were looking down on me.
I clicked my tongue and spoke aloud.
“I thought attendants serving a household head would be capable of rational discourse, but this is pitiful. Oh, my mistake—that was muttering to myself again.”
“This woman is truly—!”
One attendant bristled and shouted. He belonged to the Doilet Marquess’s household.
I continued without sparing him a glance.
“Thanks to you all, I now understand perfectly well what you think of the Grand Duke’s household. That exchange with those who can only see the world through the lens of gender holds no further meaning—for anyone.”
…….
The Rest Room finally fell silent.
I drew up my long legs, crossing one over the other, and sipped my tea with an air of serene indifference.
The attendants who had been facing me off exchanged nervous glances and gradually retreated to their places.
‘Spineless lot.’
I could have let the matter slide easily enough.
But if I didn’t establish dominance from the start, more vicious rumors would inevitably surface later.
Especially rumors linking the Grand Duke and me together.
I shuddered at the thought.
‘Better they spread word that the Grand Duke’s household steward is mad than that the Grand Duke and I are intimate.’
Absolutely.
I nodded to myself while sipping my tea.
Time drifted onward. The banquet stretched past midnight.
Once the chaos had run its course, the Rest Room felt almost eerily quiet.
I was quite pleased with the mess I had stirred up.
‘Life at the Grand Duke’s Residence was far too peaceful.’
When I only had to concern myself with matters within the residence, there were rarely any significant incidents at all.
‘At worst, flowers would wilt in the garden, or a mare would give birth, or there’d be a backed-up drain.’
How long had it been since I’d engaged in genuine conversation with anyone outside the Grand Duke’s household?
Sip. The aroma of tea was exquisitely rich.
I wished the Grand Duke would take me out on his rounds more often. Hehe.
‘And if he’d bring along Jeonjang too, that would be even better.’
I drained the teapot several times over, and each time, the sharp-eyed palace attendants refilled it promptly.
Along with the refilled teapot came cakes and fruit—not that those were my objective—yet the attendants consistently replenished my plate as well, keeping it overflowing.
‘So this is what it feels like to be treated like royalty.’
Everything was satisfying.
While eating the freshly refilled fruit, my eyes met Dreck’s again.
Throughout it all, his gaze upon me remained burning hot.
I chewed the fruit in my mouth and met his stare directly.
What a curious man.
‘He doesn’t know I’m Sia, yet he looks at me with that same intensity as before…….’
The gaze of someone examining an experimental specimen. A probing, searching look.
I couldn’t exactly tell him to stop staring at me, and since he hadn’t participated in any slander, I had no excuse to punish him.
‘What am I going to do about that one, anyway?’
Now that the Marquess Graiven’s wife’s condition had stabilized, he’d be in for his own troubles before long.
‘Not my concern.’
He moves toward his own objective, and I move toward mine.
We are both citizens of the Tenasis Empire, yet our purposes diverge.
Dreck’s primary aim is to extract information from the Kadea Empire and sow chaos within it.
‘My purpose is to return safely to the Tenasis Empire…….’
Wait. Hold on.
I paused mid-thought.
‘Is returning to the Tenasis Empire really my purpose?’
Well, yes…… it is, technically. I suppose I’d planned to return with the Grand Duke’s head in hand…….
But……..
‘……Is returning truly the right path?’
Can it really be called my life’s ultimate purpose?
My mind faltered for a moment.
It was true that living in the Balot Grand Duke Household for two years had brought my body and mind a measure of peace.
Of course, this didn’t mean I’d stopped being cautious around them—only that I’d grown accustomed to the work and the people.
‘I’ve adapted, that’s all.’
Even the occasional assassin that slipped through was entertaining enough to handle.
I traced back through my life in the Tenasis Empire.
‘By that measure…’
Surely I could say I’d repaid at least some of the debt I owed Serhin for my life.
At his command, I’d run from battlefield to battlefield without rest, becoming his instrument to shoulder all manner of tedious and exhausting tasks.
He’d given me the name Sia, but there had never been a life for Sia—only a life for Serhin remained to me.
Yes.
‘I must leave this Kadea Empire, leave the Balot Grand Duke Household, but there’s no reason my destination has to be the Tenasis Empire.’
The Sia whom Serhin had rescued was already dead.
‘There’s no need to do it with this new body.’
The thought of willingly walking back into a collar was absurd besides.
The more I thought along these lines, the more the original purpose I’d set—’return home’—began to crumble away.
I’d expected only emptiness and hollow ache, yet strangely, my heart quickened.
‘Freedom.’
The freedom to go anywhere, to do anything.
My new purpose was freedom itself.
‘But freedom requires something, too.’
Money.
I couldn’t live like a vagrant, begging my way through life.
‘Let me see—how much have I saved now?’
Every Monthly Salary I’d received from the Grand Duke’s Household over the past two years, I’d kept intact.
I’d never been particularly greedy for wealth. While at Serhin’s side, I’d never lacked for money.
‘If I’d known then, I would have started saving from the start…’
Had I hidden away my earnings, I might have gained my freedom far sooner.
But it wasn’t too late now.
The Grand Duke’s Monthly Salary was hardly meager.
‘He said they gave out Performance Bonuses separately each year, too.’
Once I’d saved enough to live on, I’d leave with that money. Whether I departed this Kadea Empire and hired myself out as a mercenary to survive, or did something else entirely, it seemed I’d be happy either way.
I would have my freedom!
And before I left, perhaps I could get Riel, Anna, and Allen a gift or two…
‘Since I’m going to the Capital anyway, I might as well pick up a few things.’
I remembered how envious Riel and Anna had been about the Capital visit.
A jewelry shop in the Capital that sold this-and-that. A dress shop whose ribbons were all the rage. A dessert place with some kind of pie that was so-and-so.
Their cheerful chatter rushed back through my mind.
‘Just to be safe, I did convert all my saved Monthly Salary into gems before I left…’
Before departing the Grand Duke’s Residence, I’d asked Ed to exchange my Monthly Salary for Gems.
Carrying a few gems was far more practical than jingling around with hundreds of gold coins.
I’d expected this gathering of House nobles to be a place where coin would flow freely, but the Capital hadn’t demanded much spending after all, leaving my purse largely untouched.
Saving is important, but one must learn to spend as well.
‘I should mention it to the Grand Duke when I return.’
With that thought, I withdrew my attention from Dreck before me.
In truth, he was no concern of mine.
‘He’ll manage to extract what information he needs on his own.’
I hoped Serhin and he would find happiness together.
I chose to spend a little more time considering my future plans.

***

After a few more hours, deep into the early morning, the great nobles’ banquet finally ended.
“You say we need to examine more closely the true intentions of those who proposed the Alliance?”
“Well, that’s precisely why we’re putting our heads together now, isn’t it?”
“The sentiment leans toward accepting the Alliance! Why are we even discussing this?”
“Come now, let’s save such talk for the conference room. For tonight, rest.”
The nobles streamed out of the Banquet Hall, each wearing a grave expression as they spoke among themselves.
I observed them from the shadows.
‘So there are those who oppose the Alliance.’
True enough—just because an alliance request arrives doesn’t mean it automatically comes to pass.
‘Weighing the gains against the losses won’t be simple.’
That’s why they’ve gathered only the great lords for this conference.
They departed for their respective lodgings, each accompanied by the attendants who had been waiting in advance.
I followed the Grand Duke out of the Banquet Hall last of all.
“Meetings begin tomorrow. There’s no reason for me to summon you, so spend your time sightseeing around the Imperial Palace.”
“Ah, so I should run about the gardens like a young colt?”
“That works too.”
…….
“But not outside the Imperial Palace.”
……I understand.”
I pouted, pressing my lips forward.
Then the Grand Duke laughed.
Though when we’d left the Banquet Hall, he’d been frowning deeply the whole time.
I stole a glance at him before guiding him to the Separate Palace where my lodgings had been arranged.
I informed him of the details the Imperial Palace attendants had relayed to me beforehand, and even finished preparing his bath.
“I’ve laid out fresh clothes on the bed. Call if you need anything. Rest well.”
He asked as he removed his coat.
“Nothing unusual today?”
I rolled my eyes for a moment before answering.
“No, nothing. I made a few friends in the Rest Room, and since they seemed eager to meet you, I handled it myself within appropriate bounds.”
The Grand Duke turned to look at me.
“Friends?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
“You? Making friends?”
My mood grew strange when I saw the expression on his face—as though he’d heard something preposterous.
“……Yes. Why? Am I not permitted to make friends?”
…….
Instead of answering, the Grand Duke turned away and began undressing.
“Though if I told you not to, you’d listen, wouldn’t you?”
…….
……Wait. I watched him intently.
What was this—this sulking that wasn’t quite sulking?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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