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“The Miss’ bedroom is here, and your dressing room is inside. You may use everything here comfortably. If there’s anything else you need, feel free to—”
“I think there’s a mistake.”
Allen, who was showing Radis around, looked back after hearing her say this.
“Pardon?”
“This room is too big.”
Radis struggled to think of what to say.
It was clear that there had been a mistake.
Perhaps Yves Russell told his employees that Radis was a ‘guest’.
That’s why Allen had thought that Radis was someone to be treated well like this, so this room was prepared. She would have to inform Allen first before he’d get in trouble.
But she didn’t want to say it like she was blaming Allen for the mistake.
With a smile that was stiff with tension, Radis spoke.
“I don’t need a room this big. A small bedroom would be enough.”
Allen’s eyes trembled.
However, as an experienced butler, he quickly regained his composure.
“Miss Radis, I’ve only followed Milord’s orders.”
“What…?”
“Marquis Russell always treats the guests who visit his estate accordingly. And Miss Radis is a guest who deserves this much.”
“……”
“Milord will be calling you before dinner takes place. In the meantime, you may rest well. And if you need anything, you may always pull this rope here.”
Allen bowed politely and left through the door.
And Radis was left alone in that spacious room.
She was about to place her bag on the table, but she thought better of it and just set it down on the floor.
She approached a vase with fresh flowers in it, looking as if they’d just been picked from the garden, and took a whiff. Then, with her hands clasped together like a squirrel, she looked at the paintings hanging on the walls of the drawing room.
Inside the display cabinets that were on each wall, there were colorful tea sets, plates and ornamental pottery that, at one glance, definitely looked expensive. She wondered if they could possibly be used as mere tableware.
When she saw those, Radis grew scared.
‘If someone steals these, will I have to compensate for them?’
Radis carefully opened the door of the cabinet.
Fortunately, the cabinet was locked. However, the glass of the cabinet was so thin that it would easily break with just one hit.
‘If I hear anything breaking, I’ll need to run out to catch the thief.’
After making a strange vow, Radis picked up her luggage and entered the bedroom that Allen showed to her earlier.
“……”
The drawing room made her sigh, but the bedroom was even more troubling.
By the window was a picturesque marble table that would be perfect for a princess of a kingdom to use, and there was a silver candlestick placed atop it.
In addition, the walls were covered with silk wallpaper that had gold linings, and on the bedside table, there was even a gold vase.
Dark clouds were cast over Radis’ face the moment she saw that vase.
“It’s not solid gold, is it?”
Radis stared at the vase carrying white roses in it with a grave expression.
“It should just be gold-plated… It just has to.”
However, even if it was just gold-plated, it still looked extremely expensive.
Radis ever so carefully, with both hands, pushed the vase nearer to the wall. As much as possible.
Even if she was placed here by mistake, if she would hit this in her sleep by mistake…
It was a terrifying thought.
And then there was the bed.
It was a spacious bed that could easily fit two or three people. She could even train her swordsmanship atop the canopy if she wanted. It was a beautiful bed, and she could imagine a princess laying there with her golden hair splayed out around her.
Radis reached out one hand as a test, then pressed the sheets.
The silk fabric was endlessly smooth and soft. It felt like a cloud.
A sigh flowed out by itself.
“Haa…”
* * *
After changing into the cleanest shirt and pants she had, Radis waited anxiously for Yves Russell.
There was only one thought in her mind.
‘This isn’t right.’
Yves Russell might be under some serious misunderstanding.
He seemed to be delusional enough to think that Prince Olivier had fallen in love with her at first sight when all he saw was a gentlemanly act on the prince’s part when he helped Radis up after she tripped.
Otherwise, this kind of treatment was just absurd.
‘I don’t deserve to be indulged like this…’
While sighing, Radis suddenly found herself reflected in the mirror of the vanity table.
She looked like a shepherd boy who had a grim expression after having been robbed of all the sheep.
‘Prince Olivier likes me? That doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t it be more plausible to misunderstand that I was the one who fell in love with him?’
The moment her thoughts went crazy to this extent, Radis was shocked to see how she blushed so much that even her neck and forehead were bright red.
“Me? That’s me? My… My face turns this red when I’m embarrassed?”
She never owned a big mirror before, and she had never blushed in front of any mirror at all, so it was her first time seeing herself like this.
While looking at her own face out of curiosity, the red color gradually disappeared and her skin returned to its original complexion.
“Was I this red when I met the prince? Then I would have looked like a red person wearing a pink sponge. I might have looked more like a cooked shrimp and not even human…”
Feeling hurt by what she said to herself, Radis turned her back towards the mirror.
The more she thought about it, the more Marquis Russell’s decision seemed to be a complete mistake.
However, for just a brief delusion, the Marquis had already incurred a great loss.
It was clear that Yves Russell had already paid quite an amount to the Tilrod family.
He even had such a nice room prepared for her.
And more than that, he said he’d be her guardian until she’d come of age while signing a huge contract that involved 100 million rupens a year.
‘This isn’t right. Isn’t this like swindling some slow-witted person?’
It was especially unfair on Yves Russell’s part to act as Radis’ guardian for two years until she would reach adulthood.
‘What’s the difference between me and Huber Cradium?’
Goosebumps ran up her spine as she thought that she was on the same level as that crook.
‘No matter how callous I am to kindness… This isn’t right. I don’t think this should be a place where I can stay. I was too blinded by the favorable conditions of the contract. If I was going to find a guardian, I should have gone to the Rosilde family. If I went there, I could at least have paid for my own meals.’
Radis nervously paced by the window, then after seeing a carriage entering the mansion’s gates, she went out of her room recklessly.
There weren’t that many people in this estate.
She walked down the hallway and found a maid who was about to enter a room to clean it up.
Radis approached her and asked.
“Excuse me. Where is the Marquis’ room?”
The maid, who appeared to be about Radis’ age, seemed very startled by her sudden appearance.
She even quietly exclaimed, ‘Oh my gosh!’
Radis took a step back because she felt sorry for surprising her.
After settling down, the maid in front of her spoke in a friendly voice.
“The Marquis’ room is right upstairs at the center of the upper floor.”
“Thank you.”
Radis, who had charged ahead recklessly again, turned back to ask where the stairs were.
Then, through the open door, she heard the other maids whispering.
“Oh my, I told you so!”
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, seriously…”
Radis’ face turned white, and she hesitated for a moment before she quickly walked back.
So she didn’t hear what the maids continued to say amongst themselves.
“…Where did that smile suddenly come from? It’s cheating if you suddenly talk to me with that face! Did I sound weird?”
“It’s right ↑ upstairs ↑ at the center ↑ of the upper floor ↑”
“Kyaaa, Melody! Don’t copy me!”
Having not heard this conversation, Radis had no choice but to think the maids were gossiping about her.
It’s always been like that after all.
The Tilrod household was full of people who gossiped about her, whether behind her or right to her face.
So she knew how to cope with gossip.
It was best to pretend not to even hear it.
‘I guess people have already heard about me.’
Radis wrapped her cheeks with both hands, and she found that they were a little hot.
‘Tilrod’s nuisance. Has it also spread that I interfered with David’s academy admission? It’s natural to be curious about why someone like me came to the Marquisate. And once they find out that I get to live in such a nice room… It would only be natural to dislike me.’
Radis, walking ahead recklessly once more, found a staircase in the middle of the hallway, and so she went up.
Adding to the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar place Radis became infinitely dejected about the thought that the people in the estate were unhappy with her presence here.
‘I’ll just tell Marquis Russell that the contract shouldn’t proceed. I’ll ask him if I could stay here a few days though. In return, I’ll tell him that I’ll pay back all the money he paid the Tilrod family in installments over a few years. I’ll go to the Rosilde family and apply to join the subjugation squad. That’s all I’m good at.’
Radis stood in front of the Marquis’ room with her shoulders drooping.
Then, she knocked on the door.
The door was so thick that she couldn’t hear anything inside clearly, but it seemed like people were talking inside.
Their conversation was interrupted by her knock.
Soon, someone walked to the door and opened it.
“…Radis?”
“Marquis Russell…”
Today, he was wearing black again.
After returning from his trip outside, he hadn’t taken off his cloak yet, and he was even still wearing his black hood, showing almost only his chin and lips.
After seeing his pale-looking lips, only three words came to mind.
‘100 million rupens.’
The effect of those magic words were enormous.
So Radis stood there, almost on the brink of breaking the contract, thinking about how she was suddenly willing to serve behind him, even if the conditions weren’t as good as they were now.