Roselia inwardly muttered a curse.

Damn, you idiot! He’ll definitely be more suspicious! Klaus is more than capable of that!

As she expected, Klaus was looking down at her with a very suspicious gaze as she suspiciously covered her face.

“Did you hurt your face when we collided?”

Despite the polite tone, his voice was extremely cold and sharp.

Unable to answer or lower the frame covering her face, she finally turned and ran away.

Klaus watched in disbelief as she disappeared hastily, holding the large wrapped frame awkwardly.

He was so dumbfounded that he didn’t even feel like chasing after her to catch her.

Was she a debtor who owed him money?

It was a somewhat plausible guess. But he felt like the woman’s face he had glimpsed when they collided was somehow familiar.

He hadn’t looked carefully because he was thinking of other important matters, but he clearly remembered the green eyes.

Green eyes…

“That can’t be…”

Out of so many people, it was strange that one face came to mind. Klaus shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.

At that moment, Alejandro, who had been waiting for Klaus to come, approached him impatiently.

“Duke, what are you doing not coming? The property owner is waiting.”

At Alejandro’s urging, Klaus erased his doubts and turned around.

“I’m coming now.”

Seeing Klaus walking over calmly as if nothing had happened, Alejandro let out a deep sigh and grumbled.

“But why do you want to build a school in such a small village? It would be much more beneficial to build it in the capital or in the duchy.”

Klaus looked at Alejandro with disdain for stating such an obvious thing, and as he walked towards the property, he casually spoke.

“There’s already a nobles-only academy in the capital. Even if we build a school in the duchy, the nobles and commoners living there are already financially well-off enough to hope to enter the academy in the capital as their first choice.”

“Well… but since there’s a limited number of people who can enter the capital’s academy, wouldn’t those who fail apply to the new academy in the duchy?”

Hearing such an obvious answer again, Klaus clicked his tongue softly.

“Alejandro, this is why you can’t become independent from under me.”

“Why? What’s wrong with that?”

“As you said yourself, that would make the new academy merely a second-choice school, a substitute for the capital’s academy.”

“Well… I suppose so.”

“Moreover, the building sites in the duchy are already saturated. Creating a site suitable for a school would be extremely costly.”

“Hmm… that’s true too.”

“But this Algrishia village is still an undeveloped small village, so the land is spacious and cheap.”

“But will it be profitable to build a school in such a tiny village?”

At Alejandro’s doubtful question, Klaus smiled confidently.

“This village isn’t just a small village. It’s a gateway where merchants traveling between the capital and the duchy stay, and where commoners who can’t afford to live in the capital or duchy gather. It’s still small in scale, but as merchants and guilds gather here, the village will grow and the number of commoners will increase.”

Alejandro’s expression brightened as if he had just realized something.

“So you’re targeting merchants and ordinary commoners rather than nobles or middle-class citizens?”

Finally satisfied with Alejandro’s answer, Klaus curled up the corners of his mouth.

“We’re building a school that will be the first choice for merchants and commoners, not a second choice for nobles.”

Alejandro looked at Klaus with renewed respect, as if admiring his uncanny ability to spot money-making opportunities.

The capital’s academy was already difficult to enter from the start. It was hard for commoners who weren’t nobles to get in, and the only way to enter was through a special admission with a noble’s recommendation. As a result, commoners without connections to nobles couldn’t even dream of attending the academy.

The situation wasn’t much different for merchants. Even if they managed to get a special admission recommendation letter with money through connections with nobles, it was obvious they would face discrimination among the nobles once they entered the capital’s academy.

But by targeting merchants and commoners for the school, they could not only make money from merchant children who were no less wealthy than nobles, but also promote it as a school for commoners, giving it a good public image.

Alejandro truly thought his boss was sometimes scary, even though he was his superior.

“Well… you’re always brilliant when it comes to these things…”

At Alejandro’s compliment that wasn’t quite a compliment, Klaus smiled wryly.

“I’m not just brilliant in these areas. I never missed being the top student overall when I attended the academy.”

“Yes, yes. Of course you were.”

As if it would hurt his ears to hear more, Alejandro turned his attention away and looked over the documents related to the property.

“Well, if the negotiations with the property owner go well, the rest should proceed smoothly. By the way, was that woman you bumped into earlier someone you know?”

It was a question prompted by the memory of Klaus staring at the back of the woman who had run away for a long time.

Klaus stroked his chin with a thoughtful expression as he was reminded of the woman’s existence he had momentarily forgotten.

“I was wondering about that myself.”

“Pardon?”

“Whether she’s someone I know or not.”

Seeing Klaus’s expression show his usual coolness, Alejandro shuddered and turned his head away, as if not wanting to interfere further.

* * *

Roselia slammed her hand on the desk with an incredulous face, as if demanding an explanation.

“20 berangs??”

Despite Roselia’s vehement protest, the man sitting at the desk shook his head firmly, as if no further negotiation was possible.

“I can’t offer more than that. Even if you’re a servant from the duchy… the work is by a completely unknown artist, what reason is there to offer more? You should be grateful to get this much.”

Roselia swallowed empty air in disbelief. 20 berangs was just enough to recover her initial investment. Above all, it was a work that was certain to be a huge success, worth at least 500 berangs.

“Please appraise it again. It’s a painting that should fetch at least 500 berangs!”

“Haha… 500 berangs, you say. Where did you hear such a ridiculous amount?”

From the novel!!

Roselia had to swallow her anger, holding back the words she wanted to blurt out.

In the original story, the Crown Princess had personally paid a large sum to buy the painting from the artist, so it seemed difficult for anyone but the person involved to recognize the painting’s value.

That meant she somehow needed to show this painting to the Crown Princess… but it was impossible for a mere servant like her to meet the Crown Princess.

At that moment, Roselia suddenly raised her head as a thought occurred to her.

No, it wasn’t entirely impossible. There was someone close to the imperial family right in the mansion.

Duke Klaus de Balthazar.

He could come and go from the imperial palace as if it were his own home.

Not just because of his position, but the Duke was also a long-time childhood friend of the Crown Princess.

Just a childhood friend? In the original story, the Duke even…

Suddenly, she was reminded of the original Roselia who was manipulated by the Duke, entered as the Crown Princess’s maid to play a cuckoo’s role, and was eventually killed by the Crown Prince.

Feeling uncomfortable for no reason, Roselia shook her head vigorously and stood up with the painting.

“Forget it. I’ll decline a place that can’t recognize the true value of the painting.”

The merchant didn’t bother to stop her as she confidently walked out with the painting.

Roselia, who had stormed out huffing, let out a deep sigh and fell into thought.

If she asked the Duke, she might be able to meet the Crown Princess more easily than expected. But… somehow it felt unsettling, as if she wouldn’t be any different from the original Roselia who met the Crown Princess through him.

After pondering for a while holding the painting, Roselia glanced at her reflection in the window.

Dressed in a white shirt and tuxedo vest, she looked every bit like a servant from a noble household.

That’s right, she wasn’t the maid who was swayed by the Duke’s words. She was clearly different from the original Roselia. Thinking this way gave her a bit more confidence.

The important thing was to sell the painting at its proper value and pay off her debt as soon as possible. Having organized her thoughts, Roselia headed towards the Duke’s mansion with a determined expression, holding the painting.

* * *

Roselia paced back and forth in front of the Duke’s room for a long time, deep in thought.

Was asking the Duke really the only way? Wasn’t it a waste of time if there was no guarantee he would help?

No, he should help if it’s about trying to pay back money quickly, right?

Still… isn’t it too late? Maybe I should come back tomorrow…

Suddenly, as if hearing her inner thoughts, the door to the Duke’s room swung open.

Startled, Roselia had to look at Klaus standing in the doorway with wide eyes.

He wasn’t in his usual meticulously dressed suit, but in a more casual attire of dress pants and just a shirt.

Klaus’s gaze turned quizzically towards Roselia before settling calmly.

“I was just about to call for you. Good timing.”

It was the first time they had faced each other since their encounter when she was in female disguise the other day, and she felt like she might hiccup from nervousness. Roselia swallowed dryly and tried to speak nonchalantly.

“For me?”

“Didn’t you have something to see me about too? I could hear the sound of you pacing in the corridor from inside.”

“…”

As Klaus leaned against the door, making way, Roselia felt embarrassed and cleared her throat as she entered the room.

The Duke’s room, which she was entering for the first time, was as neat and minimalist as the Duke himself.

A room with a ruler-straight structure where only necessary furniture was placed in the right spots. While she was looking around, thinking it was a room as lacking in human touch as its owner, she heard the sound of the door closing with a thud.

At the unusually loud sound of the door closing, Roselia turned around with a tense face. There stood Klaus, who had firmly closed the door and was walking towards her with leisurely steps.

Roselia unconsciously backed away until her thighs hit the armrest of the sofa.

“What did you want to see me about?”

When Roselia hesitated to answer and swallowed dryly, Klaus smirked and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

Huh? Why is he unbuttoning…

While Roselia was looking around with wide eyes in confusion, his hands were already slowly unbuttoning the buttons below.

Um…? Uh? So suddenly?? And I’m still technically disguised as a man right now?

While Roselia was inwardly going through all sorts of thoughts, unlike Klaus who was calmly unbuttoning, he finished unbuttoning and took off his shirt.

“Hup…!!”

Barely holding back a scream that almost came out, she rolled her eyes.

Looking at her quizzically, he frowned and said coldly.

“What are you doing?”

“Pardon…?”

“Aren’t you going to help me change?”