Chapter 177 – The Baroness’S Amusement (4)
178. The Baroness’s Amusement (4)
I don’t know what tricks Baroness Trisha used, but from the next day, I was placed under her care. I’d rot in the prison until noon, when a soldier would come to take me out.
Baron Rosichester, having heard the news during the handover process, briefly checked my face. When he was told I was a servant who had run away and been caught, he just glared at me coldly and left. There were so many servants who had been beaten by his children that he didn’t seem to remember who I was.
The Baron still sported his impressively upturned mustache.
That aside… Isn’t he worried about assigning a fresh young man to his wife?
It was strange, but as I gradually recalled my memories, it seemed that the Baroness had often shown mercy to commoners in this way. The Baron probably just thought his wife was up to her usual pointless antics. He didn’t seem to imagine that the ‘kind of scene’ the world worried about would ever occur.
Well, Baroness Trisha herself was a dignified woman, quite removed from anything scandalous. …Still, you never know with people.
In the newly assigned bedroom, there were four other male servants besides me. The male servants in the mansion were almost all here. Daren’s aide seemed to share a room with the head butler.
We were relatively comfortable, but the maids, being more numerous, were probably crammed together in dorm-like conditions.
It was only natural that there were far more women than men in the mansion.
The head butler and five (including me) male servants who did the miscellaneous and dirty work. Other than that, most of the housework was handled by the maids under the head maid, all wearing adorable maid outfits.
Surely, some of them had played with fire with the Baron or Daren.
Thinking about it made me feel a bit resentful.
During work hours, we waited in the servants’ waiting room, not the bedroom. Except for pre-scheduled tasks or essential duties, we waited until our master gave us an order. Although it was a common area, it wasn’t shared with Daren’s or Stella’s servants. Each master’s servants had their own separate waiting rooms. This meant that the mansion was spacious enough to afford such luxury.
The second night after entering the Baron’s estate.
“Haaah…”
I lay in the flickering light of the bedroom, trying to quietly fall asleep.
-Damn it. They got such a rare thing in the wine cellar?
-…So I heard. Looks like they’ll be holding another banquet soon.
The servants in my room continued their conversation without bothering to talk to me. As expected, being a captured fugitive, I was isolated even among them. There was no benefit to being friendly with someone like me. Some of them, whom I remembered seeing before, expressed surprise at how much I had grown… But that was all.
They probably heard that I was under the Baroness’s care, but it was more important to please the heirs.
“Hey, Raul, right? Before you go to sleep, go empty the trash.”
“Yes…”
‘How boring. Should I move my residence to the maids’ bedroom?’
If I used group suggestion and altered common sense, it wouldn’t be too difficult. It would take some power, but infiltrating the female servants and having a group romp seemed quite tempting.
Knock knock.
While I was thinking that, there was a knock on the door. The servants gestured for me to open it.
Creak.
“Ah…”
“Wh-what brings you here…?”
When I opened the door, a young and pretty maid stood before me. She scanned me thoroughly, then nodded to herself as if confirming my identity, and asked me for confirmation.
“Mr. Raul, is that right?”
“Yes, it is.”
“My mistress is calling for Mr. Raul… Hmm. You can come as you are. Please follow me.”
“Now…”
I glanced back, and everyone was lying down with their backs to me. Just seeing their reaction, I could sense that something was up. I didn’t see her mistress in the servants’ waiting room earlier, so it couldn’t be Baroness Trisha.
Despite it being nighttime, the interior lights brightly illuminated the halls.
As I followed the maid down the long mansion corridor, we arrived at a door with an impressive, ornate design.
“Milady, I’ve brought the boy you asked for.”
“Oh? You can leave now, and let him in.”
That voice is…
I cautiously opened the door, and a familiar face greeted me.
Golden blonde hair, delicate features resembling Trisha’s, and sharp eyes.
A haughty gaze that seemed to look down on people.
It was Stella, who had run away from the convent.
‘So she was home.’
Stella was wearing light green pajamas, but they weren’t designed to accentuate her figure. The soft fabric fell below her knees, and the chemise-style pajamas only slightly revealed her collarbone. Overall, there was hardly any exposure.
She stared at me, her face registering shock.
“How much have you grown in the meantime…? I saw you at the convent about three months ago…”
“Well, I don’t really know…”
I vaguely mumbled, not knowing myself, and bowed politely to her. I cautiously raised my head and asked what I was curious about.
“But, Lady Stella, you were here too. I didn’t see you earlier, so I thought you were absent.”
“Hmph. I can’t risk being seen by those people if I go out. They still think I’m at the con… Never mind. You don’t need to know that.”
This brat?
As I was acting humble, Stella started giggling and laughing at me.
“More importantly, Raul, you got caught after coming back here and got beaten up, right? Pfft… I was going to bring you back when my period of self-reflection was over. Well, consider it a bit earlier.”
“Yes. Ah, I will be loyal to the Baron’s family from now on. I’m sorry!”
“Ah, it’s okay. I did bully you quite a bit, so it’s understandable. More than that… Hmm.”
A brief silence.
In that short moment, Stella scanned my face and said quietly.
“Good. You’re going to be my servant again. It’s a bit boring since I can’t go out. Ah, I won’t bully you like before.”
“Huh? That’s…”
No, I’m all excited about going to be with your mom… Why would I go under you now?
When I cautiously said that the Baroness had directly assigned me as her personal servant, Stella immediately frowned.
“What? You can just tell your mom that yourself. Tell her you want to serve me again and ask her to send you to me.”
“Well, that’s…”
As I continued to hesitate, she got angry and immediately revealed her old self.
“Y-you lowly thing! I said I would take good care of you, even though you’re just a commoner… Do you not want to be with me?”
“Ah, no, that’s not it. I’ll tell the Baroness first thing tomorrow morning!!”
“Shut up and kneel.”
At her harsh words, I obediently knelt.
This is kind of refreshing in its own way.
“Hmph…”
Stella blinked her eyelashes languidly and smirked arrogantly. She ordered me to get into the turtle position like before. When I bowed my upper body as if I were prostrating, she immediately sat on my back, pressing down with her buttocks.
Stella sat askew, using me as a chair.
“You’ve become quite arrogant while growing up. Shall we go for a walk again in this state, turtle? I think you can easily do ten laps around the mansion now.”
“…”
Besides hitting me, she made me do a lot of embarrassing things. Back then, I was younger, so she did many cruel things, like publicly humiliating me in front of others. The turtle was relatively mild. The time she tricked me into thinking filth was mud… Ugh… Of course, since I was possessing the body, I didn’t actually experience it, but the memories were so vivid that I couldn’t help but grimace.
Her tantrum continued for nearly 30 minutes.
If she had provoked me any further, I would have instantly fallen into depravity with a single clap… She got away with it.
I’ll see you later.
As I was returning to my room, she insisted that I get permission from the Baroness, but I would tell the Baroness about the situation as soon as I saw her tomorrow.
Then she would take some action. If not, I could just solve it with a single clap.
…
After changing into my servant uniform, I arrived at the servants’ waiting room, not late for the morning duties. I thought I had arrived relatively early, but all of Baroness Trisha’s personal maids were already there.
‘This is awkward.’
The men were one thing, but the way the maids looked at me was a bit different.
Being women, they were sensitive and felt sorry for me, who had been beaten and dragged here. Sometimes, they would steal glances at my appearance. Of course, it varied from person to person, but overall, the impression I gave them wasn’t too bad.
Even without powers, the plausibility is insane.
I touched my face and smiled wryly to myself.
Perhaps because it was my first day, Baroness Trisha didn’t give me any specific tasks. Instead, she called me to the drawing room she often used.
On the surface, it was to serve her, but it was more like an invitation.
“Please, sit comfortably here.”
She was serving me tea like this.
“…”
I didn’t know how to react to Baroness Trisha serving tea to a commoner, so I hesitated.
Was she testing me? Or…
If she was this warm to me, I would start having strange thoughts. As I stood there with a blank expression, not knowing what to do, she smiled gently.
“Hehe. It’s okay, you can relax. I sometimes have tea and chat with my servants like this… More importantly, are you going to keep a noble waiting?”
“Ah, no. Then, thank you…”
I awkwardly sat across from her and sipped the tea along with her, following her gesture.
The table was small, making the distance between us feel close.
I naturally fell into a strange feeling.
Trisha gently broke the ice and asked where I had been and how I had been doing. Her clear eyes showed that she had no ulterior motives. She just seemed to enjoy listening to other people’s stories.
“I see… You couldn’t find work properly in Langshu… How pitiful. At least you won’t go hungry anymore. I’ll talk to the children… Ah, did you happen to meet them separately?”
“U-uhm…”
I suddenly turned pale and showed anxiety on my face. Seeing my reaction, the Baroness’s eyes narrowed, and she placed her teacup on the table.
“…It seems something has already happened. Don’t feel pressured, and tell me honestly. I’ll take action as much as I can.”
“…Well, actually, last night…”
I pretended to be deeply troubled and told her about Stella calling me separately last night. I included everything, even how she forced me to serve her.
“Haa. I see…”
After hearing my story, the Baroness sighed briefly and rubbed her fingers together as if she was deep in thought.
“If I tell her separately, there might be retaliation… I’ll subtly bring it up at dinner tonight. If Stella asks, just tell her that I refused. Would that be okay? Hehe.”
Indeed, a mature response.
More than that, she was taking care of me, who was ignorant of the world. How did such a decent woman end up in this arrogant family?
‘Then…’
Anyway, I just had to maintain this concept and express my gratitude.
“Thank you! Madam. Thank you so much…!”
“…Eep?!”
Thump.
I expressed my joy with my whole body and clasped the Baroness’s hand on the table with both of mine.
An inexcusably rude action.
But Trisha’s reaction was different from that of typical nobles.
“…Ah… …Th-that… …Uhm.”
It seemed like she had never seen such a strong reaction before. Trisha was flustered by the warm sensation of my hands. She blinked her eyes prettily for a moment, looking surprised, and met my gaze.
“…”
I also gazed at her with sparkling eyes.
“How can I ever repay this heavenly grace…!! I, I will do anything you ask, Madam. Anything…”
“Eep…”
As I stared intensely at the Baroness, filled with passionate fervor, she seemed to feel the heat in my eyes and slightly shrugged her shoulders.
She also glanced sideways, avoiding my gaze… It seemed like she felt a strange emotion from my words, which could be interpreted ambiguously.
“Y-yes… More than that, your hand…”
“Ah, I’m sorry…! I got carried away. Did it hurt?”
“Uh-uh. It’s okay.”
As I watched her quickly pull her hand away, I was expecting to be scolded, but Trisha quietly sipped her tea and naturally changed the subject again.
Watching her, I had a feeling that my time with Trisha would be quite interesting.
