Unlike being forcibly dragged and loaded into the carriage by the servants, the treatment was respectful once they arrived at the duke’s residence.

Even Alejandro’s kind guidance around the mansion, in place of Klaus who had disappeared somewhere without greeting, showed this.

“Ah, let me introduce you. This is Jeffrey Humphrey, the head butler of the Balthasar mansion. And this is Antonio de Hesink, who has newly joined the duke’s household. He will be working as a servant in the mansion for the time being.”

The gray-haired man with a monocle looked at Roselia with a stern expression, as if appraising an object. Thinking that this was someone she would frequently encounter for at least a year, Roselia smiled awkwardly and made an ill-fitting joke.

“The names sound like twins – Jeffrey and Humphrey! Haha!”

“……”

The effect was disastrous.

Jeffrey, now colder than his first impression, and Alejandro, with a very embarrassed expression, were staring at her.

“Ahem! Well… It seems you’re tired from the long journey in a hurry. Jeffrey, would you show Antonio to his room?”

At Alejandro’s words, Jeffrey bowed politely and slightly raised his hand towards a servant behind him. Then, a servant approached with an equally respectful posture and bowed.

“Denver, please guide the new servant to his room.”

“Shall I guide him to a room shared with another servant, as is usual?”

“That would be good. I believe Roy has been using a room alone, so it would be best to have him share with that boy.”

At that moment, a cold sweat ran down Roselia’s spine.

If it’s a servant, it would surely be a man, but to share a room with a man…

But she couldn’t just say she wanted a room to herself, having come in as a servant…

While Roselia was sweating profusely in her predicament, an unexpected savior, Alejandro, stepped forward in front of Jeffrey.

“Ah, I forgot to mention. Mr. Antonio is a somewhat exceptional servant. He is not only a servant of the mansion but also a business partner of the duke. So please assign Mr. Antonio a room not far from the duke’s office. Ah, and make it a room where he can also conduct business.”

At Alejandro’s detailed explanation, Jeffrey looked at Roselia with a doubtful expression. His face showed that he didn’t find her scrawny appearance, which seemed incapable of much work, very trustworthy.

Knowing she needed to get along well with Jeffrey as long as she stayed in this mansion as a servant, Roselia smiled hesitantly at him. Pretending not to see that smile, Jeffrey bowed his head and responded to Alejandro’s request.

“I understand. I’ll guide him to the room at the end of the second floor where the duke’s office is located.”

Only then did Roselia inwardly breathe a sigh of relief.

Although it bothered her that the room was close to the duke’s office, it was better than having to share a room with a strange man, wasn’t it?

Moreover, judging by the location, it seemed closer to a guest room than a servant’s room.

It was fortunate, as it would have been troublesome if other servants caught her undressing or changing clothes. Of course, the duke probably instructed to assign the room near his office to use her more efficiently, but…

“Please follow me.”

The servant called Denver led the way with a displeased look.

Roselia bowed her head slightly to Jeffrey and Alejandro and hurriedly followed behind Denver. Behind her, Alejandro’s voice could be heard urgently adding:

“I’ll come to your room later to deliver the 20 berangs!”

Roselia glanced at Alejandro as if to acknowledge, and then quickly followed behind the servant.

He was walking so fast that Roselia had to trot with her short legs to keep up.

Just as she was inwardly cursing, thinking he was definitely doing this on purpose, something suddenly popped out from the corridor near the stairs, causing Roselia to stumble and embrace something soft.

“Lady Closet!”

Along with Denver’s surprised voice, Roselia looked curiously at the soft, sky-blue cloud-like thing in her arms.

Sky-blue cloud? There’s no way a cloud would be floating in the duke’s mansion…

“How long are you going to keep hugging me?”

The cloud spoke… No, that’s not it!

Startled, Roselia realized she was embracing something soft and quickly released her arms in surprise.

The sky-blue cloud, no, a girl with wavy blue-silver hair cascading down, raised herself haughtily and stared down at her. She looked about fourteen or fifteen, probably not yet having had her debutante.

“A servant I’ve never seen before…”

Feeling slightly uncomfortable under the appraising gaze, as if examining an object, Roselia asked bluntly.

“Who are you?”

At her curt question, the cloud girl made an expression of utter disbelief, as if she had heard something completely unexpected.

“You don’t know me? While being in this duke’s mansion?”

“Oh my, Lady Closet. I apologize. The new servant is a bit slow and made a mistake.”

Hearing Denver address the girl as ‘Lady’, Roselia immediately realized she was the duke’s daughter.

What mistake? If she hadn’t embraced that cloud girl, the so-called lady would have fallen ungracefully to the floor.

But knowing everything would sound like an excuse, Roselia quickly composed herself and bowed respectfully towards the young lady with a calm expression.

“I apologize for not recognizing you, my lady. I am Antonio de Hesink, starting work at the duke’s mansion from today.”

“De Hesink…? Are you a noble?”

“…It would be more accurate to say I was a noble. Now I’m just a servant in the duke’s mansion.”

“Hmm…”

The young lady’s sapphire eyes scanned Roselia’s entire body as if discovering an interesting toy. Then, as her gaze settled on Roselia’s face, her eyes curved prettily, showing an interested look.

“You’re pretty. I like pretty things.”

Roselia stiffened at the young lady’s words, unsure if she was probing after noticing something or if it was just an innocent compliment.

“Is that so…?”

As the young lady stared intently at Roselia’s emerald green eyes, Roselia forced a smile and averted her gaze.

Just then, a commotion was heard from the direction of the stairs.

“Lady Closet! Really now! Running away again! This nanny is so upset, I won’t live out my days!”

The young lady turned towards the nanny as if she had been waiting for her, placing her hands on her hips proudly. As Roselia found herself awkwardly standing next to her, glancing uncertainly at Denver, Closet declared boldly:

“From today, I’m making Antonio my ‘il domestico’.”

“Pardon…?”

The response came simultaneously from both the nanny and Roselia.

As the startled nanny looked accusingly at the unfamiliar Roselia, Roselia could only shrug her shoulders with an innocent look.

‘Il domestico’ was a term referring to a ‘handsome servant’, which was becoming fashionable among the ladies of high society. Depending on the appearance and abilities of the il domestico, they could become objects of envy among the ladies and even influence their social standing.

Sometimes, the current state of high society was such that they would use the il domestico’s charm to extract information from desired families.

“I’m taking Antonio to tomorrow’s ‘Green Ladies’ Meeting’, so make note of that.”

After saying her piece, Closet slipped out of the duke’s mansion, leaving Roselia to belatedly ask:

“Pardon…??”

Thus, except for Closet, everyone stood frozen as if in a trance until Roselia’s voice brought them back to their senses.

“Lady Closet!! If you’re going to the meeting tomorrow, you need to prepare!!”

Only after Closet’s nanny hurriedly left the mansion did Denver and Roselia start moving again, with dazed expressions.

“You’re disgustingly lucky. Catching the young lady’s eye on your very first day.”

Roselia tried to ignore Denver’s increasingly disapproving reaction as she walked.

Who said she wanted to be an il domestico? Of course, the treatment was better than that of a regular servant. But she wasn’t even a real male servant, and more importantly, she had the crucial matter of repaying 3,000 berangs.

As the situation kept deviating from her plans, Roselia had to heave a deep sigh.

* * *

Roselia, who had been waiting for Alejandro who said he would visit her room, prepared for bed, tired of waiting even after the sun had set.

After carefully locking the door, she first took off her shirt and unwrapped the cloth tightly binding her chest.

“Ahh… I feel alive.”

An indescribable sense of liberation washed over her.

Her breasts, neither too large nor too small but moderately plump, heaved as if in protest.

If she had been well-fed and raised comfortably, her breasts would probably have been even larger than they were now.

In a way, it was fortunate. It was already this stifling, if they were any larger than this size… The thought alone made her dizzy.

Roselia hurriedly entered the bathroom attached to the room, lest anyone see her, and quickly finished showering.

Drying her short black hair, now darker with moisture, with a towel, she pondered for a moment.

Should she wrap her chest again? She was just going to sleep, after all? Surely no one would come looking for her?

Alejandro had said he would visit, but…

Glancing out the window, Roselia shook her head and flopped down on the bed. The sun had not only set, but evening had long passed.

She felt weak, having skipped dinner out of discomfort at the thought of dining with dark-skinned men.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that even Alejandro wouldn’t be so impolite as to visit someone’s room at this hour.

That’s when it happened.

Knock knock-

She thought she had misheard, but when the knocking sound was heard once more, Roselia had to bolt upright as if struck by lightning.

Could it be someone visiting at this hour??

She tried to hastily wrap her chest with the cloth, but in her panic, it wouldn’t wrap properly. As the knocking sound grew stronger and more insistent, Roselia thought, oh well, and threw aside the cloth, hurriedly putting on her pants first.

“Ju-just a moment!”

After pulling up her pants in a rush and buttoning her shirt up to the neck, she checked her appearance in the mirror.

There wasn’t much difference from before, but if one looked closely, they would notice her slightly protruding chest. Worse, she hadn’t even put on underwear, and the prominent points were boldly announcing their presence. Roselia felt like crying.

Knock knock knock-!

“I’m coming right away!”

At the irritable knocking sound, Roselia had no choice but to hurriedly approach the door and unlock it.

Standing in front of the door was not Alejandro, but Duke Balthasar.

“Oh…? Why is the Duke here…”

As Roselia stammered in surprise, Klaus slowly surveyed her appearance with furrowed brows.

“Why are you hugging that large vase?”