## Chapter 285 – (6)
“Ugh, I’m sorry…”
Victoria couldn’t handle the weight of the tray and dropped it on the floor.
With a distressed look, Victoria paced anxiously.
Clang!
“Oops…”
Silver had placed the tray on the table too hard, causing some of the food to spill out of the dishes.
He was flustered, unsure of what to do with the mess.
It had been three days since the two arrived.
Today was the first time they had started preparing meals.
It was their first time, so mistakes were expected.
However, something was bothering me a little.
“Victoria, you don’t have to hold the tray with one hand like Eira. Silver, place the tray down gently.”
“Yes, yes…”
“…Understood.”
These two didn’t know it, but…
They were model students who corrected their mistakes as soon as they were told.
They learned faster than expected.
In other words…
“As I thought, you’re not teaching them properly, are you?”
“Really?”
Hannah seemed to be thinking about Eira, who wasn’t at the table, while eating.
The reason these two were carrying trays and serving food for the first time today was because Eira wasn’t there.
If she were, she definitely wouldn’t have passed her work onto others.
Eira had been sent on an errand.
Hannah’s reason was that since she had come to a fantasy world, she wanted to see various fantasy clothes and costumes.
“Doesn’t she always have the same expression on her face?”
“Are you talking about Eira?”
Hannah nodded.
She did.
Always a stiff, frozen expression.
Even when her expression changed, it was only a slight furrowing of her brow.
I had hardly ever seen her smile or look sad.
“Doesn’t she remind you of me from before?”
“From before…”
Now that I thought about it, she was similar.
It was hard to believe now, looking at Hannah.
But Hannah definitely had a time when she had an emotionless expression.
“Why don’t you try doing what you did to me back then?”
“…Like back then?”
It sounded grand, but all I did back then was…
Obsessively touch and ravish Hannah until her frigidity was cured.
Hehe.
Hannah made a shocking statement without anyone noticing and smiled.
She added that she was already looking forward to Eira’s reaction.
I hesitated, then nodded as if I couldn’t resist Hannah’s suggestion.
“Okay, she does need some education.”
Normally, I wouldn’t have tried to win Eira over with something like this.
It wasn’t a quest, and it wasn’t in line with my preferences.
However, that expression…
I was intrigued by her stoic face that reminded me of Hannah in the past.
I ate the slightly overflowing soup that Silver had placed down, looking forward to Eira’s return.
***
“Hmm, this should be enough.”
I nodded, looking at the cart full of clothes.
It didn’t take as long as I thought.
If I had known, I would have finished setting the table in the morning before coming out.
Suddenly, worry crept up on me.
What if one of those two was better than her at carrying and placing down the food?
She might lose her place.
‘…No, this was more important than serving meals…’
I bought almost every type of clothing in this city.
I wondered if it was too much, but…
‘That’s how much Master loves Madam.’
I realized for the first time that a person could change so much.
Especially what he said to the two newly hired servants was shocking.
‘I won’t fire you for being bad at your job.’
He used to fire all the useless servants.
It was a shocking change for me, who vividly remembered that time.
Because of marriage.
Was it because of the emotion called love that he had changed so much?
I couldn’t understand it myself.
I had never felt the emotion called love even once in my life.
Most of the emotions I had felt while living were fear.
Fear of starvation, fear of being abandoned.
Only this one emotion was clear to me.
“Let’s go.”
I spoke to the horse for no reason and increased the speed of the cart.
Ignoring the passengers, I could move from the city to the mansion relatively quickly with the cart.
Since the passengers were just clothes, I returned to the mansion at top speed.
The mansion, which should always be quiet, was a little noisy today.
“L-Like this!”
“Silver, relax your hands.”
“Does this go here?”
“Victoria learns quickly.”
I was about to head to the closet with an armful of clothes, but I was curious about the commotion and secretly headed to where the sound was coming from.
There were three people there.
Silver, Victoria.
And Master.
Master was directly teaching the two how to clean.
I should have been doing it, but I was afraid that my position as a butler would be threatened.
I hadn’t taught them the housework that I should have.
Master was doing it himself.
“How is it this time!”
“Hmm. They’re doing well now that I’m teaching them.”
I was terrified.
‘He found out that I was neglecting the two of them.’
I might be fired just for this fact alone.
Of course, if I were fired, the void would be big, but…
He could just hire more servants.
With Master’s wealth and his changed personality, the possibility was high.
Click, click.
My teeth chattered.
My teeth were chattering from tension and worry.
Just then, Master seemed to sense my presence and looked this way.
He smiled faintly.
I was surprised without even realizing the meaning of that smile and headed straight to the closet.
Pretending I hadn’t heard anything.
“Haa, haa…”
I tried to calm my surprised heart and organized the clothes I had brought one by one.
It wasn’t a difficult task, but my rough breathing didn’t calm down easily.
Master’s smile kept coming to my mind.
‘What on earth is he thinking…’
I imagined the meaning of that smile myself.
Just as I was about to finish organizing the clothes.
I heard that sound.
Creak—
The closet door opened.
“You were here.”
“Master…”
The moment had come.
Master came in and locked the door to the room.
“Eira.”
“…Yes.”
The way he called my name felt different than usual.
A colder, more detached tone.
It was a tone that reminded me of the old Master.
“I heard you didn’t teach the two of them properly.”
“…Yes.”
There was no room for excuses.
All I had taught those two in the past three days was the structure of the mansion and the meal times.
At first, I somehow looked at Master’s face, but gradually my head lowered.
Thump, thump.
The sound of footsteps grew closer.
Master’s shoes came into view in my eyes, which were looking at the floor.
And then.
Thud.
A large hand came up on my shoulder.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m not trying to scold you or fire you.”
“…Then…”
“I’m just trying to teach you a new job as a butler, something more important than housework.”
What could be more important than housework?
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.
I couldn’t miss the opportunity given in a situation where it wouldn’t be strange to be fired.
“Please teach me.”
“…Okay.”
Master came closer.
I thought we were already close enough, but he came so close that our bodies were touching.
The warmth of his body was transmitted through the clothes.
His thick hands touched my face.
“…What is th—”
Grasp.
His hands grabbed my face, and Master’s head slowly came down.
And then, my lips and Master’s lips met.
This was a kiss.
After a light kiss, his face moved away.
‘…Why…?’
The first thought that came to my mind was a question.
I didn’t think it was strange to do this act itself.
It wasn’t that uncommon for people to make slaves or servants do this, even though I hadn’t done it before.
That was the same even now that peace had come.
But—
‘Master already has—’
He should have a wife whom he loves so much that he even changed his personality.
I couldn’t understand why he was doing this to me.
“…Hannah needs to rest for a while.”
“…Could it be that she’s pregnant?”
“S-Sort of.”
Somehow, he avoided answering and averted his gaze.
But since he said it was similar, it must be.
There was no reason for him to lie to me.
So he was substituting for his wife’s role.
Certainly, that was a much more important task than housework.
However, I didn’t think it was a suitable job for me.
“…I don’t think this is a job that suits me.”
“Why?”
That was because of the strict training I had received in the past, before I became a slave.
“To be honest, I can’t feel anything. Not pleasure, not emotions.”
I had become unable to feel most emotions except for fear.
Especially pain and pleasure, I was almost immune to them.
I could withstand torture.
“So I can’t give you the reaction you want at all.”
Whether it was the kiss we just had, or caresses, or even intercourse.
It was an act that had meaning and was exciting because of the other person’s reaction.
There was no point in doing it with someone like me who maintained a stoic expression without any reaction.
After hearing my words, Master—
“Really?”
He smiled.
As if he was amused.
“It’s true that it might be boring if there’s no reaction. Then should we try it for about a week? I’ll give up if there’s really no reaction.”
Master didn’t give up.
Maybe he didn’t believe me.
With the thought that there’s no way there’s someone who really can’t feel pleasure.
“I understand.”
About a week.
I could accompany Master enough.
However, what I was worried about was the housework during that time and this unstable relationship that shouldn’t be discovered.
‘…I hope those two don’t mess things up during the week.’
They were two people who were obviously clumsy at housework.
A former soldier and a former duke’s daughter.
I wondered if they could even do the dishes properly.
I was already worried about what would happen a week later.
