Disguised as a Male Servant in the Duke's House (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
Rozelia muttered curses inwardly.
Oh no, you fool! He’ll surely grow even more suspicious! Knowing Klaus, he’d do exactly that—and more!
Just as she’d anticipated, Klaus was staring down at her with a deeply suspicious look, his eyes fixed on her face hidden behind her hands.
“Did you hurt your face when we collided?”
Despite his polite phrasing, his voice was strikingly cold and sharp.
Unable to reply or even lower the frame she held in front of her face, she finally spun around and dashed away.
Klaus watched her retreating back with disbelief—how absurdly fast she vanished, despite carrying that massive, wrapped frame.
He was so dumbfounded he didn’t even feel like chasing after her to stop her.
Was she perhaps a debtor who owed him money?
It was a somewhat plausible assumption. Yet, he felt he recognized the woman’s face from that fleeting instant of their collision.
He hadn’t paid close attention—too preoccupied with other important matters—but he distinctly remembered her green eyes.
Green eyes, huh…?
“That can’t possibly be…”
Of all the countless people in the world, why did that one face come to mind? Klaus shook his head with a self-mocking smile.
At that moment, Alejandro, who had been waiting impatiently for Klaus, finally approached him.
“My lord Duke, what are you doing? The landowner is waiting.”
Shaking off his lingering suspicion at Alejandro’s prompting, Klaus turned around.
“I’m coming now.”
Seeing Klaus stroll over as if nothing had happened, Alejandro sighed deeply and grumbled under his breath.
“But truly, why build a school in such a small village? Wouldn’t it be far more profitable to construct it in the capital or your duchy?”
Klaus glanced at Alejandro with a look of disappointment at such an obvious remark and tossed off a reply as he strode toward the plot.
“The capital already has an academy exclusively for nobles. Even if I built a school in my duchy, both nobles and commoners residing there are already financially well-off enough to aim for the capital’s academy as their first choice.”
“Well… still, the capital academy has limited enrollment, so those who fail to get in might apply to the new academy in your duchy, wouldn’t they?”
Predictably, another simplistic answer. Klaus clicked his tongue softly in irritation.
“Alejandro, this is exactly why you’ll never be able to operate independently under me.”
“What? What’s wrong with that?”
“As you just said yourself, that would make the new academy nothing more than a second-choice backup to the capital’s academy.”
“Well… I suppose that’s true.”
“Besides, land in the duchy is already saturated. Creating space for a new school would incur massive losses.”
“Hmm… I see your point.”
“But this village of Algrisha is still undeveloped—plenty of cheap, spacious land.”
“But will building a school in this tiny, insignificant village really be profitable?”
At Alejandro’s skeptical question, Klaus gave a smug, confident smile.
“This village isn’t just any small village. It’s the gateway where merchants traveling between the capital and the duchy stay, and where commoners who can’t afford to live in either place naturally gather. Though small now, as more merchants and trade guilds settle here, the village will grow—and so will its commoner population.”
Alejandro’s eyes suddenly lit up with understanding.
“So your target isn’t nobles or middle-class commoners, but merchants and ordinary commoners?”
Klaus’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk at last hearing a worthwhile response.
“I’m building a school that merchants and commoners will consider their first choice—not a second option for nobles.”
Alejandro looked at Klaus with renewed admiration—this man always had an uncanny sense for profitable opportunities.
The capital academy had strict admission requirements from the start. Commoners who weren’t nobles found it nearly impossible to enter, with the only potential path being a special recommendation from a noble. As a result, commoners without noble connections could only dream hopelessly of attending.
Merchants weren’t in a much better position. Even if they managed to buy a special recommendation through noble connections, once inside the capital academy, they’d inevitably face discrimination among the nobles.
But a school targeting merchants and commoners? It would attract wealthy merchant children—financially comparable to nobles—and give him the public justification of providing education for the common folk.
Honestly, though Klaus was his superior, Alejandro sometimes found him genuinely intimidating.
“Honestly… you never cease to amaze me in these matters…”
At Alejandro’s backhanded praise, Klaus let out a dry chuckle.
“It’s not just in these matters. I never once lost the top rank during my time at the academy.”
“Yes, yes. Of course you didn’t.”
Alejandro, clearly deciding he’d heard enough to spare his ears, turned his attention to the documents regarding the land.
“Well, as long as negotiations with the landowner go smoothly, the rest should proceed without much difficulty. But… was that woman you bumped into earlier someone you know?”
He asked this recalling how Klaus had stared after the fleeing woman’s back for a long while.
The mention brought the woman back to Klaus’s mind, and he stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“I was wondering about her myself.”
“Huh?”
“Whether or not she’s someone I actually know.”
Klaus’s expression had turned coldly distant, prompting Alejandro to shiver slightly and quickly look away, deciding it was best not to pry further.
[This is the timeline separator]Rozelia slammed her hand on the table in exasperated protest.
“Twenty verangs?!”
The man seated across from her shook his head firmly, his expression adamant that no further negotiation was possible.
“I can’t possibly offer more. Even if you’re a servant from the ducal estate… this artwork is by a completely unknown artist—what makes you think I’d pay more than that? You should be grateful I’m offering even this much.”
Rozelia was so flabbergasted she nearly choked on empty air. Twenty verangs barely covered her initial expenses. Worse, this was a piece absolutely guaranteed to become a sensation—it deserved at least five hundred verangs.
“Please reconsider the appraisal. This painting is easily worth at least five hundred verangs!”
“Heh… Five hundred verangs? Where on earth did you hear such an outrageous figure?”
From the novel!!
Rozelia clenched her teeth, swallowing the retort she longed to shout aloud.
In the original story, the Crown Princess herself had paid a huge sum to purchase this painting directly from the artist—clearly, without being the original buyer, no one else could properly recognize its true value.
Which meant she absolutely had to show it to the Crown Princess somehow… but as a mere servant, there was no conceivable way she could ever meet Her Highness.
Then, it struck her—an idea so sudden she jerked her head up.
Wait—it wasn’t entirely impossible. Someone with close ties to the royal family was right there in the mansion.
Duke Klaus de Valtezar.
He could enter and leave the palace as freely as his own home.
Not only because of his rank, but also because he’d been the Crown Princess’s childhood friend for years.
Childhood friend? In the original story, the Duke even…
In that moment, Rozelia recalled the original Rozelia—manipulated by the Duke into becoming the Crown Princess’s maid, playing a cuckoo’s role, only to be killed by the Crown Prince.
Annoyed by the unpleasant memory, Rozelia shook her head sharply, grabbed the painting, and stood up.
“Fine. I refuse to sell to someone who can’t recognize this painting’s true worth.”
The merchant didn’t bother stopping her as she strode confidently toward the door with the painting in hand.
Grumbling to herself as she walked out, she sighed deeply and fell into thought.
Asking the Duke might actually be the easiest way to reach the Crown Princess—but somehow, that path felt uncomfortably similar to what the original Rozelia had done, leaving a sour feeling in her stomach.
After pondering a while with the painting in hand, Rozelia happened to glance at her reflection in the window.
Dressed in a white shirt and tuxedo vest, she looked every bit the servant of a noble household.
Right—she wasn’t the same helpless maid swayed by the Duke in the original story. She was fundamentally different from that Rozelia. With that thought, a flicker of confidence returned to her.
What truly mattered was selling the painting at its proper value and quickly clearing her debts. Resolute, Rozelia clutched the painting tightly and headed straight for the Duke’s mansion.
[This is the timeline separator]Rozelia paced nervously in front of the Duke’s room, lost in hesitation.
Was asking the Duke really her only option? What if he refused—wouldn’t this all be a wasted trip?
No, I’m just trying to repay my debt quickly—why wouldn’t he agree?
Still… it’s far too late now. Maybe I should come back tomorrow…
Just then, as if he’d heard her inner thoughts, the Duke’s door swung open abruptly.
Startled, Rozelia looked up with wide eyes to see Klaus standing at the doorway.
He wasn’t dressed in his usual meticulously tailored suits—but instead in relaxed attire: formal trousers and just a shirt.
His gaze settled on Rozelia with mild curiosity before calming into composure.
“I was about to call for you. Good timing.”
This was their first face-to-face encounter since their accidental meeting in women’s clothing the other day. Rozelia nearly hiccuped from nerves but swallowed hard and pretended calmness.
“Me?”
“Didn’t you have business with me? I could hear you pacing outside my door.”
“…”
Klaus leaned against the doorframe and stepped aside to let her in. Embarrassed, Rozelia cleared her throat and entered.
The Duke’s room, which she saw for the first time, was as neat and unadorned as the man himself.
Furniture was placed only where necessary, arranged with ruler-straight precision. The room felt as devoid of human warmth as its owner. While she glanced around, the door clicked shut behind her—louder than expected.
Startled by the sound, Rozelia spun around nervously. There stood Klaus, having firmly closed the door, now walking toward her with slow, unhurried steps.
Her legs instinctively stepped backward until the sofa’s armrest pressed against her thigh.
“What business do you have with me?”
Rozelia couldn’t answer immediately, only swallowing hard. Klaus let out a faint scoff and began unbuttoning the top button of his shirt.
Huh? Why is he unbuttoning…?
While Rozelia stared, wide-eyed and flustered, his fingers leisurely moved to the next buttons below.
Wha—? Wait, what? So suddenly?? And I may be disguised, but I’m technically still male right now!
While Rozelia’s mind spun in chaotic confusion, Klaus—calm as ever—finished unbuttoning and smoothly stripped off his shirt.
“Huh…!!”
She barely suppressed a yelp, rolling her eyes frantically.
Klaus frowned, puzzled by her reaction, and spoke coldly.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh…?”
“Aren’t you going to help me change?”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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