CH 8

Livia looked at him with shaky eyes. Although he had a very beautiful appearance, she could not feel the warmth of a person at all.

Like a very well-made wax figure.

This must be him.

This man was Cardien Mercedes, the villainous secondary male lead Livia had read about in <Everyone Loves the Saint> before she died in her previous life.

At the same time, he was also the man she absolutely needed to live.

Livia had never thought they’d run into each other like this.

Her thoughts did stray in another direction……

‘You’re really handsome.’

Even in the original work, the praise of Cardien’s beauty was great….But there was a clear difference between reading and seeing. Seeing it in person was a hundred times better.

But–

Somehow he looked tired.

Indeed, he had dry eyes that had lost their vitality, with dark shadows gathered underneath them. His pallid skin and pale lips made him look like a walking corpse.

She knew the reason better than anyone else.

…Madness.

The cause of his torment.

It was known to the public as madness, and in many ways it could be regarded as such, but in the second half of the novel, it was revealed that it was actually a side effect due to mana overload, not madness.

But at that time Cardien had already lost his life at Vincent’s hands, and Vincent, like Cardien, suffered from madness until the work’s end.

‘It was a cruel and terrible ending,’ Livia thought regretfully.

Maybe it was because she knew the ending. She looked up at him with a complicated and subtle gaze.

Then Winston whispered to Cardien in a small voice, “This is the tutor I told you about.”

It appeared that he had already finished reporting about her.

Winston looked at her again and asked with a serious face, “Why are you in front of the master’s door at this time?”

Livia answered quickly, in case of any unnecessary misunderstanding. 

“I’m sorry. I had a fever, so I came down to get medicine, but I was worried about the young master……”

If she said she had just randomly come down, it would raise suspicion, so she added a plausible excuse. Because Vincent wasn’t the only one who got caught in the rain.

But Winston did not back down easily.

“Then you could have called someone.”

“It’s late, and it’s the first day that I moved in; I didn’t want to cause any inconvenience.”

“Even so…..”

“I thought the butler would be at the young master’s side.”

But he wasn’t there.

Judging from the circumstances, it seemed that he left for a while to report to Cardien. Winston had nothing to say about this part, so he kept his mouth closed.

Contrary to the expectation that he would let this incident pass because he owed Livia a lot, Winston was quite persistent.

Suddenly, she noticed an awkward emotion in Winston’s brown eyes.

‘Ah,’ Livia realized, ‘It’s because of Cardien.’

Cardien was watching, so it couldn’t be easily passed on.

‘What to say….’

As she was considering her options, a voice as cold as a glacier cut across the silence.

“It’s okay.”

Livia looked at the owner of the voice. Cardien was looking down at her with cold purple eyes.

Since when had he been watching this?

She didn’t notice it at all. She got goosebumps for no reason. It felt like he had heard all her thoughts.

Despite the eye contact, Cardien still had no change in expression. No, he had such an indifferent face that she felt like no emotion had ever existed there.

“Go in and check it out, and if anything happens, you just have to take responsibility.”

Any further argument would be meaningless.

It was an accurate judgment.

He was right.

Now that she had explained the situation, it was time to stop exchanging words and check Vincent’s condition.

‘It’s cold as ice,’ Livia observed.

The incident was related to his son, but he gave such a cold judgment. As if they were total strangers.

Biting her lower lip tightly, Livia looked at him with wide eyes.

Cardien looked down at her impassively.

Winston intervened quickly in the chilly atmosphere.

“It’s late, so let’s talk about this again tomorrow. Please go back to your room now. Also, I will put a monitor in front of your door to prevent any possible situations. Is that alright with you?” 

It may have been too much to just hang around in front of the room.

Because he is the successor to the Duke of Mercedes, it was quite understandable.

Besides, it was more comfortable for Livia to do it like this.

“Yes, I’ll do as you say. Then I’ll bid you all goodbye.”

After bowing her head, she quickly passed the two people.

She was conscious of the duke’s gaze, so she took a more confident step. But the moment she turned the corner, the confidence vanished.

She had been unbearably nervous. She couldn’t stop remembering, belatedly, how defiant his cold gaze was.

What kind of a temper did he have? His entire demeanor seemed to say ‘I remove everything that bothers me.’

It was completely out of this world. Livia shuddered, thinking she almost became one of those disposal targets.

She hurried to her room before Cardien changed his mind. As soon as she got back to her room, she slammed the door shut.

As soon as she threw off her jacket and lay on the bed, a groaning sound leaked out. She couldn’t guarantee anything else, but the bed would always be the best.

But…

“Madness,” Livia whispered to herself, remembering Cardien.

Since she had observed it in person, the condition seemed more serious. As far as she knew, he couldn’t sleep properly and suffered from intermittent headaches.

It must be impossible to live a daily life without smoking the sedative. Thanks to the efficacy of those sedatives, which relieve pain, the headache was quickly resolved, but the real problem was…..

‘Severe insomnia.’

At first glance, it looked like he hadn’t slept for at least a week.

“……”

Her heart felt uncomfortable.

Because she knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either.

“Damn!”

Livia pulled the blanket over her head.

Now that she thought about it, there was nothing she could do. It was much better to fall asleep now, for the sake of tomorrow.

‘Lets sleep.’

She closed her eyes tightly and chanted an incantation to sleep. But that night, she couldn’t sleep for many hours, even though she was exhausted.

***

The next day, Livia opened her eyes, frowning at the stinging sunlight.

An unfamiliar ceiling…?

As soon as she thought that, she jumped up. She belatedly remembered where this place was.

Right, she had become a tutor for a villain family.

To be precise, it was a disguised job for another purpose.

And…..

She was detained a day after becoming a tutor.

“Haha.”

Feeling somewhat discouraged, Livia laughed in vain and dove straight back into her bed. She was inhabiting a body that couldn’t go out anyway. It would be much better to just roll on this cloud-like bed for a little while.

Then she suddenly remembered Vincent.

‘The fever must have gone down.’

Vincent’s fever was a disease that came from the heart. He was hurting himself with longing and harming his own body.

But it must have been different yesterday. She had given him a dream to soothe his sorrow.

It would be nice if that dream worked.

Contrary to her initial purpose of approaching the villain after working moderately as a tutor, she began to be more and more interested in Vincent.

It wasn’t like this could be called someone else’s business when her life was hanging in the balance.

“You’re not going to tell me to leave, are you?” Livia mumbled blankly as she gazed at the guest room ceiling dotted with the finest crystal chandeliers.

If she was kicked out because she was suspicious…..

She couldn’t stand it.

There was no way Winston would give up on her so easily.…..Right?

In the moment when she was worried about what to do if she was told to get out–

Knock, knock.

There was a knock and the sound of the door opening.

Livia got up and looked towards the door. A maid with black hair, neatly pulled back and tied up, came inside.

The maid bowed her head when she spotted the room’s occupant.

“Good morning. My name is Chelsea, and as of today I’m serving Miss Pellington. If you need anything from now on, just let me know.”

“Nice to meet you, Chelsea. I’m Livia Pellington.”

Livia welcomed her warmly.

Chelsea looked at her with a slightly puzzled look when Livia reached out her hand for a handshake. Livia wondered for a moment but then realized why.

Usually, maids were from lower aristocrat families or commoners. The people they serve are usually those in power, so they would be accustomed to being pampered by others and would not treat their servants and maids as equal.

Tools.

The workers would only be viewed as a tool for convenience in life.

If Livia didn’t have a title and academic background, she would have entered as a maid of some family.

Perhaps this was Chelsea’s first time to be greeted like this, since her black eyes shook.

It was not long before she held Livia’s hand carefully.

“I look forward to your kind cooperation, Chelsea.”

“….Yes, thank you.”

After the brief introduction, Chelsea prepared a water basin to freshen up in and breakfast.

After wiping her wet face with a towel, Livia snuck a glance at the trolley trundling into the room and felt her mouth drop open wide.

‘That’s breakfast?’ She thought in disbelief.

A dazzling halo shone behind Chelsea, who was dragging a silver trolley in.

‘Ugh, it’s blinding….’

Livia couldn’t take her eyes off the trolley that arrived just around the corner.

Rich and fatty smoked duck topped with lemon, potato gnocchi with a savory aroma, salad bursting with fresh vegetables, and a healthy juice.

Come to think of it, Livia couldn’t recall the last time she ate a proper meal. It must have been a long time before her father died, so it was hard to even begin to recall.  

In addition–

‘I starved yesterday, too!’

Maybe she was so hungry that she couldn’t even feel the hunger anymore. As soon as she saw the food, she started to feel absurdly voracious.

“Then I hope you have a comfortable meal.”

As if caring for Livia, who was already prepared for battle with a knife and fork, Chelsea left the room.

As soon as the door closed, Livia raced to devour the food.

“This one is good,” she sighed in ecstasy. “And that one is good..!” 

Ah, as expected, the villains were the best!