“I am Deborah Johnson, who will be serving the young lady from now on.”

Deborah calmly bowed with her hand on her chest. Dia, unfamiliar with such a greeting, didn’t know how to react.

“Y-Yes…”

Straightening up, Deborah said with a gentle smile:

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

A pink blush settled on Dia’s pale face.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Ms. Johnson.”

At that moment, Cedric interjected with a smile:

“Hehe. In the Baker mansion, Ms. Deborah is called Deborah. Would the young lady like to join in?”

Deborah thought Cedric was joking to ease Dia’s tension. Of course, Deborah’s assumption wasn’t entirely wrong, but there was one more reason she didn’t know about.

“Hehe. You can just call me Deborah.”

“Ah, okay…”

Dia replied shyly, averting her gaze. Deborah didn’t miss that moment and turned her attention to Cedric.

“Since the master is currently away, we can’t greet him. Is it alright if I show her to her room for now?”

Cedric nodded with a satisfied smile.

Then Dia raised her head again and spoke:

“Room?”

Deborah smiled gently.

“Yes. Your room, young lady. Everyone prepared it with utmost sincerity. We sincerely hope it will be to your liking.”

Dia carefully nodded to Deborah, who was patiently waiting for her response.

Deborah beamed a smile and extended her hand to Dia.

“If you have any luggage, may I take it for you? I’ll carry it for you.”

“Ah, no. I’ll carry it myself.”

Dia hastily replied, clutching the small handbag on the floor. Deborah smiled casually, but honestly, she was shocked.

‘Is that all? It’s only big enough to hold a wallet and handkerchief at most.’

It’s the kind of bag one would take for a short outing.

‘Was she unable to pack her belongings, or did she not have any to pack?’

Regardless of which was true, Deborah’s duty remained unchanged. To smile quietly so as not to embarrass her.

Watching Deborah’s back as she led Dia upstairs, Cedric thought:

‘She’s natural.’

Whether it was due to countless mental rehearsals or a skill honed from years of experience. Either way, Deborah was serving Dia well.

‘But what about this situation?’

Dia coming to the Baker mansion was unavoidable. They had to bring her to avoid trouble with Madam Saint.

But Zen had been moving around without even seeing the face of the person he liked, trying to delay it as much as possible, yet Dia came on her own.

‘Our master is a person with a lot of anger, and one who doesn’t hold back.’

Hopefully, that poor young lady who had no choice but to come here under her mother’s pressure wouldn’t get deeply hurt, but would it be possible?

Cedric briefly worried about Dia’s future with the compassion that any ordinary human would feel, and then moved on to do his job.

‘First, I should find some clothes for her to change into, and tell a few maids to assist Ms. Deborah.’

As the door opened, Dia stared blankly at the room scenery with her already large eyes widened even more.

“Is this really my room?”

“Yes, young lady.”

Dia could hardly believe it. She had never even dreamed of such a nice room.

Deborah spoke kindly to Dia, who was in a daze.

“This is the room with the best view in this magnificent mansion. I was told that even the furniture was newly customized.”

“Is it really okay for me to use such a nice room?”

Dia turned to Deborah and asked. Dia’s expression looked more anxious than delighted, but Deborah could fully understand her feelings.

‘I was the same.’

But Deborah was a maid, and Dia was clearly a young lady from a count’s family and the person who would stand beside Zen, the master of this mansion. Even if it was a relationship based on a contract.

“Of course! If there’s anything else you want, please feel free to tell me.”

When Deborah said this with a smile, Dia quickly waved her hands.

“No, this is enough.”

“That’s good, but as you live here, you’ll probably find things you need. It could be something small like fragrant potpourri full of fresh scents, or something big…”

Deborah furrowed her brow, pretending to think deeply, then relaxed her shoulders and laughed softly.

“Well, I lack imagination, so it’s hard for me to think of something big. Anyway, if anything comes to mind, please pull that cord anytime to call me. If there’s no problem, I’ll be knocking on your door within a minute.”

“One minute?”

Dia blinked her innocent eyes as she spoke. Deborah nodded, crinkling her eyes.

“Yes. Mr. Baker gave me the room right next to yours so that I can come immediately when you call for me, day or night.”

“…”

At the name Baker, Dia’s shoulders flinched, and her eyes filled with warm surprise.

“Mr. Baker…”

“Yes. So you’re my benefactor, young lady.”

Dia slowly blinked her large eyes, seemingly puzzled by this sudden statement. Her appearance was so pretty that Deborah found it hard to hold back her laughter.

“Thanks to you, I can stay in such a nice room.”

“No. That’s not because of me.”

Dia hastily explained, as if she had almost taken credit for someone else’s work. She was so rushed that even her pale face flushed with heat.

“Hehe. I think it is?”

Deborah answered playfully and pointed to the inside of the room with her arm. Only then did Dia realize that she was still standing outside the door.

“Shall we go in?”

“…”

Dia already thought she had entered an amazing mansion that she would never see in her lifetime. But now that this amazing room was said to be her own, it felt even more unfamiliar. It might have been easier to enter if it had been someone else’s.

‘When they say it’s my room…’

It felt like she had to pay a price. She already had a lot of money to repay.

‘How can I repay this?’

At first, the way to repay was clear. But now she wasn’t sure. Todd, who had visited earlier, told Dia that the terms of the contract wouldn’t change, but hadn’t the situation changed too much?

‘What Mr. Baker wants is probably the title of Count Blaise.’

But Dia couldn’t hand over the title unless she married him and bore his child.

‘If he doesn’t need the title right away, does he want me to become the flower of high society, as he once mentioned?’

Does Zen want Dia, as his fiancée, to become a woman who stands out among the great central nobles? Is that all she needs to do?

‘But can I do it?’

Dia lacked confidence. From the day she met Zen until now, she had been deceiving herself that it would be okay, despite her lack of confidence.

That she could repay. That surely the future would be better than she worried. So vaguely…

‘No. It’s not vague. I’m sure I can repay. Surely…’

Dia deceived herself once again. And she moved her feet. As she entered the room, each step felt heavier.

Deborah, watching Dia’s face and slow steps, carefully tried to guess her thoughts. The Dia she knew from the story would be trying to hide her anxiety and reassure herself that everything would be alright.

‘That’s why it’s both pitiful and admirable.’

Deborah couldn’t give Dia an incredibly wonderful happiness. But she had decided to at least help her avoid a future without dreams or hope, so she would do her best in her own way.

It might just be the best effort of a maid without influence or anything, but still, it was her best effort, so maybe it could lead not just to avoiding great misfortune but also to finding a small bit of luck?

‘Is that too greedy?’

But you never know. Whether this pitiful, admirable, and beautiful Dia would become a happy person because of Deborah.

‘Right. We don’t know.’

And so Deborah comforted herself as well.

If you travel west from Dover for quite a while, you come to a place called Sidon. In the past, this was a fertile agricultural area, but when the region faced a fallow period, landowners who didn’t want to leave their land idle sold it to businessmen.

Ten years ago, when Gracians heard Sidon, they immediately thought of the scent of grain. But now it’s different.

When they hear the name Sidon, their brows automatically furrow. Black smoke, foul smells, loud noises, the sound of sick people coughing.

This place won’t be able to show a vibrant landscape like before even after winter passes. It will remain trapped in a colorless world, spewing foul odors and loud noises.

Anyway, Baem’s factory was also in this area. Baem’s executives had never been so tense in recent times. This was because their young president appeared without prior notice, accompanied by an unfamiliar man.

“Welcome, President.”

The factory manager and several department heads who hurriedly came out of the office greeted. Todd merely nodded lightly, not introducing Zen.

As a result, people had to awkwardly bow their heads, and Zen lightly received their greetings.

‘It’s burdensome enough with just the President coming.’

‘What on earth is going on?’

They couldn’t express such complaints or curiosities. They could only imagine how decent companies would welcome guests and act accordingly.

“Shall we go into the office?”

“Is a factory tour difficult?”

Zen asked, glaring at the factory that was spewing black smoke as if there was a fire and leaking foul odors.

“It’s not impossible, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The air is bad, and it’s noisy, you see.”

“That’s right. You’ll end up having to throw away all your clothes.”

As the factory manager and staff stammered, Zen raised his hand to silence them. The factory manager’s black face turned red with embarrassment, perhaps because he was silenced by a gesture from someone about the age of his son.

“Let’s talk in the office.”

Todd nodded and pointed towards the office, and Zen walked ahead. The staff, who rarely received guests and had never seen a guest leading the way like this, exchanged glances.

‘Who is he?’

Even with such exchanges of glances, they couldn’t find the answer. They too moved their feet before it was too late.