CH 5

How much was 10 gold a day in a year…

Without realizing it, she burst out laughing. As Ishe was smirking, the man frowned and asked.

“I’m asking just in case, but why?”

“Yes?”

“You saw Sir Leone earlier. Would you do it even after seeing him? Aren’t you scared?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“You’re lucky you weren’t hurt. You may die next time. No one has died yet, but there are people who have become half assholes. If you think you’ll be okay because of your luck, you look pretty reckless in my eyes.”

No, until just now, the manpower shortage was serious… ?

“Well.”

The man didn’t seem to understand if she told him that she had a connection with Leone.

‘You’d think it’s just a lucky moment, relying on it all at once.’

“In fact… I think Sir Leone resembles a doggie in my house.”

So she said with half sincerity.

Wasn’t telling the employer that you have a crush on the work quite a plus factor in an interview!

It was the quickness I gained from preparing for a job for a long time. She felt a surge of satisfaction with the answer she came up with.

“What… doggie?”

Then the voice that seemed to be lost came back.

“Yes. So from the moment I first saw it, I fell in love with it. My kid also had a bad bite at first.”

She nodded and her eyes lit up. The man just stared at her as if he had frozen in that place.

“The color of the fur, oh no, the color of the hair is also similar.”

“Hair… ”

“A friend I will never see again… When I saw Sir Leone, I thought of that child, and I was moved to tears.”

‘Maybe it’s a failure?’

A little time passed, but the man couldn’t find anything to say.

He opened his mouth, made an ‘ah’ sound, then swallowed it again, pondered, frowned, raised his head, and finally lowered his head again, shutting his mouth.

He seemed to have to change his ways. In that case she should inspire some compassion in him.

“I’ll die from being beaten by my violent husband, or from being bitten by Sir Leone, but it seems like death will be the same anyway. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to get more money?”

“… I said something absurd because I didn’t want to talk about this reason.”

“Um, well, that’s right.”

“Well, I’m sorry.”

“No. If you do your research, everything will come out anyway. And since I’ve been kicked out of my parents’ home, I need a place to stay.”

The man’s face became complex.

He wasn’t particularly ashamed or wanted to hide it. And because she was not guilty she just thought it was an easy way to dispel his doubts.

“Even at home.”

“Yes. Have you ever heard of the daughter of a viscount family who was kicked out after falling in love with a commoner a year and a half ago?”

Since he said they did a background investigation, she thought it would be better to blow it through her mouth first, so she also brought up that story from the past.

She was a bit ashamed of this.

“I’m hearing this for the first time… I was in the mountains at that time.”

“It’s less embarrassing to say you didn’t know. The daughter in that story is me, Beatrice Giuseppe.”

She was glad he didn’t know…

Her face heated up slightly, but she kept a calm expression.

“I have something to tell you.”

The man opened a drawer and took out a piece of paper.

“It is a memorandum of compensation. In the case of death by Sir Leone, we promised to compensate the bereaved family with 1,000 gold. Since you’re married, that money will be for your spouse.”

“Haha. Such terrible words. Please burn that paper.”

The Giuseppe family would have a lot of money, so there was no need for a memorandum. In her previous life, she had no family to leave something to, but this life was no different. A laugh came out.

“I don’t want to leave anything to anyone.”

She didn’t want to leave anything to those who didn’t feel like family.

“Then what do you want most?”

What she wanted the most was to be again in her life with her dog but that was an absurd wish. She erased her vain dreams and recalled realistic things.

Divorce from Jamie. This was also impossible. There is no divorce system itself, so what could she do? He couldn’t teach his employer to kill, and in that case, all that was left was the future after running away for freedom. What was needed for a stable future where women could live alone…?

“Can you get me a house?”

It felt strange to spit out the words that she had been constantly talking to herself after marrying in that world here.

“A house, fine. After one year of work, we will get you a house in the capital.”

“Really?”

A house in the capital? Her eyes widened. A house in the capital!? It’s not about renting a house, you’re the landlord. The price of the capital was literally the same as Gangnam in Korea. So the house itself, no matter how small, was a valuable asset. Even if she didn’t decide to live in, if she sold it, her life would be resolved.

“However, it will be a free rental after one year of work, and a free gift after three years of work. You can sell it or buy it as long as you fill it for three years.”

After living in such a nice mansion for three years, She would go to her house in the capital with the ridiculous amount of money she had accumulated during that time…

That was awesome.

Three years was it? Would there be another 3 years of happiness like this? Even if she didn’t last 3 years, she could live well on her own with the money she would have saved so far.

She smiled brightly and nodded. The man took out a new piece of paper and wrote down a new contract.

In front of her was an amended employment contract, an oath of nondisclosure. Even the man’s signature at the end was there. Now all she had to do was to sign…

Well?

“… Adler Wickingham?”

“I wrote it because it was a contract, but I don’t usually write Wickingham. If you need to call me, please use the name Adler.”

For a moment, it felt like a thunderbolt hit her head.

Adler Wickingham. He was a major supporting character in the original novel. The best knight of the Atarta Empire. The emperor’s closest aide, loyalist among loyalists, and man among men!

“Are there any problems?”

That meant that that person was loyal to no one except the imperial family. And Leone was the ‘person’ that person served.

Then…

It felt like blood was draining from her body. No wonder the name Leone sounded familiar!

Leone was the only prince of the Atarta Empire and an unstable mind. Because of this, the emperor did not show his appearance outside.

He didn’t play a big role in the novel in the first place, and was a character who was described as one of the causes of the collapse of the Atharta Empire.

“Excuse me?”

However, no matter how insignificant it was, there was a big problem with being next to Leone.

The imperial authority of this empire is very precarious.

The empress of this generation gave birth to Leone, and she died early. The emperor had no intention of bringing in his concubine, and had publicly nailed it, so the next emperor had no choice but to be Leone.

However, Archduke Evans, another member of the imperial family, did not think so. For him, the prince was one competitor to kill.

It was very easy to guess what happened there: the Archduke must have made countless attempts to kill Leone.

Even so, the imperial family was unable to respond directly, and in the end, cowards became active and the empire became an empire in name only. 

It was the male protagonist, Marquis, who sets out to save such an empire. The heroine enters into a contract marriage to help him with the same purpose. Since she was a female protagonist who grew up as a flower of society, she knew a lot of good ways to make male protagonists settle in the capital.

Anyway, Leone…

He is a person who is in endless danger.

“Nonsense… ”

As she recalled all the contents of the novel, her mind went blank. She needed to get out of there at once. She didn’t want to get caught up in an imperial fight while working there.

‘I have no desire to join Leone and his Adler on their arduous journey!’

“I have changed my mind.”

“Yes?”

“Come to think of it, Mr. Adler is right! It’s just that I was lucky, but I think I did it without realizing it. My body trembles as I recall the fear I had when I stood in front of Leone-sama. How good, oh scared.”

“I think you liked it very much until just now… ”

“Isn’t it easy to change people’s minds? Especially a woman’s heart is a reed.”

“Oh, well, I can’t help it. You can’t force them to do dangerous things. All right.”

Even after seeing this poor performance, he agreed with a single sigh without a doubt. After all, he was the best knight in the empire! A sample of goodness!

“It is late and it is dark. It’s dangerous to go down the mountain now. Stay overnight at the annex and you’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Yep.”

She followed Adler.

There was no trace of Leone, who had been sleeping soundly in the lobby.

After exiting the mansion and opening a small wooden door, there was a narrow path through the forest. The annex was said to be a mansion used by servants. So she thought of a small house rather than a mansion called ‘Main Building’ where Leone was located, but it was a mansion no different from the main building.

“Adler, you are here!”

As soon as she opened the front door, friendly voices poured out.

* * *

Since she would have to travel using horses the next day, she took a bath before eating. She enjoyed the temperature of the hot water while continuing her thoughts.

“Here, so…  It’s the prince’s secret villa.”

The prince, who was thought to be an idiot, was actually a beast, and because of that, the strongest knight in the empire was suffering there.

And I got in between.

“Oh, it’s the head.”

Unlike her, a normal person, they were the main supporting characters and were overflowing with money and power. After a fierce fight, there may be a choice to fall behind or survive, but she was not.

Even if she just went near the original plot, she would fall behind… !

When she returned, she would ask Adler to drop her off at another village, so she could save money on the wagon and escape from Jamie.

So, if she stayed at an inn there…

But would they pay her that amount? Wouldn’t it be okay to just work there for just a month?

‘Nope. Jump out, you idiot!’

All sorts of thoughts cluttered her head. And at the end of that, Leone’s fierce and frightened eyes caught up with her.

‘Wake up. Trixie.’

That… was a person not a real puppy.

After a long, troubled bath, she put on clean new clothes and filled her stomach with good quality meat.

Dinner was so delicious and abundant that it was unbelievable that it was served to servants.

“Just… Shall I work?”

As soon as she entered the dining room words flowed out of her mouth without her will.