Cedric followed Zen out of interest. Todd also chose to follow Zen of his own accord. Needless to say, Madam Saint, and even Dia, although pressured by the countess, ultimately accepted Zen’s invitation of her own will.

So all the people deeply associated with Zen Baker had their reasons. But what about Deborah Johnson?

‘What kind of relationship does she think Zen Baker and Dia Blaise have?’

I wonder if Madam Saint explained it properly. That this is a contract marriage for revenge.

‘That can’t be.’

She must at least know that the marriage between the two is not a romantic one born out of love. In this world, marriages out of love are extremely rare, and given the unique backgrounds of these two.

‘So she probably thinks it’s just an ordinary political marriage.’

But what would happen if she knew the truth? If she knew this wasn’t just a political marriage?

If she knew that Zen Baker bought Dia Blaise’s title and life with money, and that he’s a husband who won’t even try to love his wife in the future, would Deborah, who will only live together for 3 months and then observe the customs of widowhood, nod with a smile?

‘She would be uncomfortable.’

Cedric wondered if this Deborah was really the person Zen needed. Madam Saint’s strong recommendation and the testimonies of people around her… No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem right.

But the monster with an accurate eye for people wouldn’t let go.

‘I thought maybe Deborah Johnson had some amazing quality I couldn’t even imagine. But it was that Deborah.’

In other words, not just any Deborah in the world, but the one who was afraid Zen Baker might have forgotten her.

‘The person Zen Baker absolutely cannot let go of.’

Cedric smiled gently at the Deborah in front of him. Given his good-natured appearance, it looked like just a kind smile.

But Deborah had no idea what kind of person this Cedric was. Judging by his smiling face alone, he seemed like the kindest person in the world, but that probably wasn’t the case.

‘Because I’ve seen it.’

In Dia’s story that Deborah had read, Cedric was the person who appeared most frequently after Zen.

‘Though it wasn’t that he appeared often. If I had to compare him with other characters, he appeared relatively frequently.’

Every time Cedric appeared, he smiled amiably and showed kindness. Incomparably more than the dismissive tutor, the close maid, or the indifferent servants.

‘He was the one who comforted Dia the most when she was lonely.’

Judging by that alone, Cedric would seem to be a good-natured and kind person. But when a woman claiming to be pregnant with Zen’s child appeared, he showed a quite different side.

[Madam. If you’re anxious, remember why you became Mrs. Baker. Even if something like this happens, the fact that you’re the mistress of the Baker household won’t change.]

It could be considered caring words. But Dia felt it as a threat saying, ‘We made a deal. So be worth your price.’

‘I think so too. It probably wasn’t entirely without that meaning.’

Cedric’s words pushed Dia, who was already in a tight spot, even further into a corner.

‘It might not have been the decisive reason for Dia to run away, but it probably gave her a push.’

However, it’s also unreasonable to call Cedric a bad person. He was always caring except for that moment.

So to summarize the point, this man in front of her was someone too difficult to believe as simply a good person, but also too difficult to dismiss as a strange person.

‘The only thing certain is that he’s Zen’s man.’

Cedric Rairford is Zen’s perfect man. There’s no doubt about it, since it was Cedric who found Dia when she ran away.

So she needed to be more careful with him than with other servants. Thinking that whatever she said to this person would soon reach Zen’s ears.

Deborah smiled, her eyes crinkling as if the smile had spread to her. Seeing this, Cedric blinked slowly and said,

“Then I suppose it would feel strange if I called you ‘Miss’ Deborah.”

In fact, Cedric knew that such a form of address was strange. He wouldn’t be a butler if he didn’t know that much. But he had no other choice.

If he called her by her old surname, Deborah, still dressed in black clothes, would correct him that her surname is ‘Johnson’, and he would have to agree.

But if he called her Deborah casually, it seemed Zen wouldn’t leave it alone.

‘Poor me, having to be so careful even with forms of address.’

Deborah didn’t know Cedric’s circumstances, but she showed kindness.

“No, it’s fine. You can just call me Deborah.”

“Haha. Then I’ll call you Miss Deborah. With respect.”

“My goodness, don’t say such excessive things even as a courtesy.”

“Courtesy? I’m sincere since you’ve caught our master’s eye, Miss Deborah.”

Cedric smiled broadly, placing his hand on his chest and slightly bowing his upper body towards Deborah as he spoke.

“Please let me know anytime if you have any inconveniences in your life here.”

“Thank you for your concern. I’m worried that I should be of help to this family in many ways.”

“What are you worrying about! I’m sure Miss Deborah will be of great help to this mansion.”

“I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.”

Hearing Deborah’s modest, low laughter, Cedric quietly thought.

‘This person doesn’t seem to be the type I thought she was.’

Combining what the maid at Madam Saint’s house and the villagers had said, this woman was a stubborn pushover. Someone with a soft heart, but who could speak up for her own people. But Cedric’s instinct was quietly shouting.

It won’t be easy.

Cedric happily accepted this kind of danger signal. If he had liked life to flow smoothly, he wouldn’t have followed Zen Baker.

[This is the timeline separator]

Deborah thought she had done her job just by excluding Anna Franklin from the interview candidates. And ultimately, it should have been Zen who chose the tutor to teach Dia. But.

“You want me to conduct the interview?”

Deborah, who had been called to the office, said with an awkward smile. Zen, who was putting a file into his bag, said,

“I was going to do it, but unfortunately something came up.”

“Then if you postpone the interview…”

“There’s no time for that.”

Deborah didn’t hide her perplexity and said,

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“How can you not? You even picked out the interview list yourself.”

“That was already a big overstepping of my authority.”

As if he hadn’t expected such an answer, Zen’s eyes widened and he slightly pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“You can’t do it twice after doing it once?”

Deborah replied seriously with a composed face.

“An interview is a different matter.”

How unpleasant would the tutor feel later when they found out that the person who interviewed them was just a maid?

‘It will surely cause problems.’

Deborah took a discreet breath and continued speaking.

“Tutors are different from ordinary employees. They are respected people. If they find out that a mere maid like me selected them-”

“They would feel offended?”

Zen said with a sneer.

“Just conduct the interview in my place. I’ll do the hiring.”

“But just my presence there could lead to misunderstandings.”

“Misunderstandings? Rather, shouldn’t the tutors coming for the interview be grateful to you? Thanks to you, they’ve beaten out Anna Franklin.”

“But still.”

“Come to think of it.”

Zen and Deborah’s words overlapped. Deborah’s words might have been a bit faster. But the one who continued speaking first was Zen.

“You seem to have a lot of worries. Or are you just scared?”

Deborah thought blankly. Worries? Fear? Was she that kind of person? She didn’t think so. She should just be average.

“From what I see, it seems like you could let go of the worry about ‘what will happen in the future’.”

Deborah unconsciously fidgeted with her fingers.

As he said, Deborah had been constantly worrying about what the future would be like. She had probably been thinking about the future all the time except when sleeping.

‘It feels like he read my thoughts.’

But he probably hadn’t actually read her thoughts.

Although those golden eyes now staring at Deborah were shining intensely as if they didn’t belong to this world, he was probably just saying this because he was frustrated with Deborah not acting as he wanted.

“…”

Zen frowned, displeased with Deborah’s lack of response. She could at least nod or give a clear reply.

‘She’s probably just wondering how to answer to get out of this situation.’

Just then, someone knocked on the door of Zen’s office. Deborah had no way of knowing who it was, but Zen immediately guessed who was outside.

‘Can’t be helped.’

Swallowing his displeasure, Zen spoke to the man outside the door.

“Come in, Cedric.”

Cedric hesitated for a moment upon opening the door and seeing the displeased-looking Zen and Deborah standing like a frightened bird.

But soon, with his usual smile, he entered and said to Zen,

“Mr. Glass is waiting.”

“I’m sure he is.”

Zen replied as if sighing, then looked at Cedric with disapproval and said,

“You must be free.”

“Pardon? Surely not.”

“Even if you’re busy, help out here. It seems she’s too scared to do it alone.”

Zen threw a leather file at Cedric. Catching it without difficulty, Cedric smiled gently as he looked at the list of tutor candidates inside.

“Now you’ll be less worried, right?”

Zen said to Deborah, raising one eyebrow. Deborah couldn’t bring herself to say no. It might be disrespectful to Cedric if she did.

“Then I’ll be off. I hope you enjoy the interviews.”

With that crooked smile, Zen quickly left the office.