Arthur sighed softly while holding Reina.

“……Why are you so thin.”

“……”

Reina blinked blankly.

He murmured, holding Reina’s trembling body.

“It’s exactly the same as five years ago. So small. And shaking like this.”

“……”

The low voice echoing in her ears felt unfamiliar.

Reina thought this was too surreal.

More strange than that night of the victory ceremony
when she lied in front of thousands of people.

As Reina’s body was still trembling as if cold, Arthur crossed his arms behind her back to hold her tighter.

“……”

The room was filled with crimson sunset.

The room tinged with reddish hues like the spilled twilight made the mood strange.

As if wanting to escape from it all, Reina buried her face in his shoulder.

Perhaps because everything in front of her eyes turned pitch black.

It felt a bit reassuring.

“……”

As Reina bowed her head deeply towards him, he embraced her more gently and firmly.

Arthur stroked the back of her head.

“My lady, perhaps……”

Arthur continued in a composed voice.

“If you’re being threatened by Julius, or if he has any weaknesses on you.”

“……”

“Please consider asking me for help.”

Arthur said quietly.

“I’ll wait until you tell me.”

Reina, who had been held for a long time, didn’t flinch or startle.

With her face buried in his chest, Reina quietly listened to Arthur’s voice.

Reina’s trembling was gradually subsiding.

Arthur spoke slowly.

“I want to be on your side.”

Arthur stroked Reina’s back with his large hand.

“I’m not asking you to trust me right away. You still need some more time, right?”

“……”

For a while like that, Arthur held Reina without saying anything.

Holding her tightly, Arthur said as he slightly ruffled the back of Reina’s hair.

“I’ll wait. Take your time to think about it.”

“……”

Reina’s trembling hadn’t completely disappeared.

But her breathing had become more comfortable than before.

Arthur smiled faintly, and finally pressed her head firmly to his chest one last time before slowly letting go.

“……”

“……”

Reina awkwardly separated from him.

And finally looked up at him.

Face to face, Arthur smiled.

And cupped Reina’s cheek.

“Be on my side. I’ll protect you.”

He spoke quietly, as if making a promise.

“I won’t…… blame you.”

“……”

“Don’t cry.”

The fear subsided.

But instead, something else made her feel strange.

“……”

Though she lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

His embrace was so wide and comforting
that it made it rather difficult for Reina to calm down.

[This is the timeline separator]

They finally started their slightly late meal.

Instead of returning to her seat, Reina sat in the place next to Arthur that he had offered.

And with a blank face, she picked out and ate only the mushrooms from the dishes.

Arthur burst out laughing.

“……Stop that and eat what you want. Don’t worry about things like mushrooms.”

Reina still had a blank face as she looked at him.

But it seemed she understood what he was saying.

Because her face turned red.

But Reina silently ate the mushrooms with a flushed face, whether he laughed or not.

Arthur placed various delicious dishes in front of her and smiled, telling her to eat what she wanted comfortably, but he let her do as she pleased.

Meanwhile, he removed the plate with fish dishes from near Reina.

Reina awkwardly watched him doing these things with a reddened face.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Is it true that the Margrave’s household treats its employees generously?”

Reina mumbled sheepishly.

“Yes…… Julius is famous for giving the highest wages in the empire. That’s why many maids even move here from far away to get jobs.”

Reina was just someone born and raised in Julius territory who luckily got the best job on the continent, but in fact, there were more maids in the mansion who came from far away aiming for a job at Julius mansion.

Arthur asked.

“How much are you getting paid?”

“……”

As Reina hesitated and couldn’t open her mouth, Arthur faintly smiled as if it was his mistake and quietly touched his forehead.

And he changed the question so Reina could answer.

“How much do they usually get paid? For a maid around your age.”

“……Maid…… wages?”

As she was feeling awkward about why he was curious about her wages, Arthur calmly added, matching ‘Christina’.

“I should know at least that much if I’m going to manage this mansion with you. Maids are the most numerous employees in the mansion.”

In fact, it was usually the lady of the house and the head maid who cared about such things, not the head of the family or the successor.

But if he needed to know the maids’ wages to manage the mansion with ‘Christina’, it wasn’t something to avoid either.

Someone who’s been on the battlefield for five years, he might need to get a sense of the management costs of a city mansion too……

After pondering for a moment how to answer, Reina opened her mouth.

“A maid around my age would probably receive about 30 gold.”

……Would Miss Christina know my wages?

Reina quietly added.

“Mrs. Hurst mainly manages it, so I don’t know exactly……”

“……”

Arthur didn’t respond.

It suddenly felt like I was showing my shabby side.

I’ve never thought my wages as a maid working for Julius were low……

But it’s just a maid’s earnings after all.

For some reason, it was hard to tell him.

“The weekly wage is 30 gold?”

“……Pardon?”

Reina was bewildered by Arthur’s question.

Is he joking? Even if he doesn’t know the prices, still.

No matter how wealthy the family is, how could a maid’s weekly wage be 30 gold.

If so, Reina would have already bought about ten houses by the sea.

“No. The annual salary.”

“……?”

This time, Arthur’s face became bewildered.

Arthur truly looked like he didn’t understand.

Frowning as if he couldn’t grasp it, he asked.

“Annual salary? Then how much is the weekly wage?”

Reina answered.

“About 50 silver. With other small allowances and meal expenses, it can be close to 60 silver at most.”

“……”

Arthur looked speechless.

“……Didn’t you say Julius pays the most generous wages in the empire?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes and asked as if doubting his ears.

“……That’s considered generous wages?”

Does it seem low to Lord Arthur?

Reina answered, feeling perplexed.

“Of course. It’s generous. Generally, the weekly wage for a mansion maid my age is about 20 silver. It’s almost two to three times the wages compared to other places.”

“……”

Reina became curious at Arthur’s expression of incomprehension.

That really was a generous weekly wage.

And Reina had even received a promise to be paid twice her weekly wage if she hid well and came back unnoticed.

So she was supposed to receive 1 gold coin per week as her weekly wage.

How many maids in the world would receive a gold coin every week?

Usually, it would be lucky to get one gold coin after working a full month.

Since living expenses had to be paid too.

But the shocking wage of receiving a gold coin every week was a windfall only in Reina’s special situation.

In fact, 60 silver a week was by no means a small amount.

It was treatment that would be envied by maids.

“……”

Arthur just stared blankly at Reina without answering.

It seemed Lord Arthur really had no sense of prices after being away on the battlefield for five years.

Though she felt cautious about seeming to know too much about a maid’s life without realizing it,

the thought that she should help him, who didn’t know the usual prices after fighting in the war, was even greater, so Reina gathered a bit more courage and spoke in detail.

“……In most mansions, you’d have to be at least a head footman or a mid-level cook to receive that kind of wage. So Julius mansion is really generous to the maids. Nowhere else would give that kind of wage to a maid in her early 20s. Unless it’s a specialized lady’s maid serving the mistress……”

Of course, Mrs. Hurst would be receiving a much higher wage than that……

Reina quietly added.

“……Julius pays really generous wages in exchange for maids who keep their mouths shut and never quit their jobs. With wages like this, most can’t think of quitting and finding work elsewhere.”

“……”

Reina knew that work at Julius mansion wasn’t exactly easy.

But it was clear that there was no better job for a maid who needed money urgently.

Reina spoke honestly and quietly.

“What makes it possible to endure the hard work is ultimately the generous weekly wage. Anyway, even if you go to another mansion, you could end up somewhere very difficult if you’re unlucky. The chances of meeting a terrible master are the same anywhere…… So of course it’s better to go somewhere that definitely pays more money. That’s why Julius mansion is a coveted workplace for maids.”

She really thought that was Julius’s virtue.

Reina continued speaking.

“So everyone keeps their mouths shut, and even though the work is harsh, they stubbornly endure. They don’t even hire maids who don’t seem like they can last long in the first place. This is…… a job that’s not easy to get into. It’s probably the second hardest after entering the imperial palace.”

When first hired, they even signed confidentiality agreements so they couldn’t leave freely once they entered……

But in reality, it was more that they didn’t leave and endured because the wages were high.

It’s probably the same for other maids too.

Anyway, Julius mansion, the richest in the continent, was a workplace that people wanted to enter but couldn’t.

No matter how fierce the internal circumstances were, that’s how it looked from the outside.

Because other than hiring discreet and high-quality maids, all that was known was the high wages.

Arthur had a complicated expression.

“……”

Oh right. Come to think of it, my wages aren’t doubled.

The Marchioness’s new promise that she had forgotten suddenly came to mind.

Reina had been promised ten times her weekly wage in exchange for carrying out the Marchioness’s orders.

Then that’s five gold coins every week.

“……”

She remembered being shocked that such wages were possible even then, but she had completely forgotten about it at the mention of sending Taylor to her grandmother.

5 gold a week. That’s 20 gold a month.

Reina suddenly realized the huge sum she had been promised.

It must be compensation for such dangerous work……

“You.”

Suddenly Arthur called her.

Reina looked at him with a start.

Arthur stared at Reina intently.

“After hearing that story, I’m thinking…… wouldn’t it be possible for me to buy you off now?”

“……?”

Arthur continued.

“……I’ll give you that money. No, I’ll give you 30 gold as a weekly wage. Then, will you become my person?”