HYVT | 004

<Episode 4>

As the chick said, Felix has already boarded the flower-strewn path to success. Dragging him down won’t be easy.

Not unless I pull off something truly groundbreaking and creative…

I clutched my head, deep in thought.

As the chick put it, I’m a doormat, a sucker, a servant, a footwipe.

My whole life has been spent passively, timidly, constantly fretting and watching others’ reactions.

‘Wreaking havoc… how do you even do that?’

Even if I strategized with all my might, I could already imagine my voice trembling like a goat’s and my body shaking in a real situation, ruining everything…

That’s when it happened.

[My savior, are you troubled?]

The chick tilted its head and waddled closer.

“Chick.”

I spun to face it.

“You said you’d make my life more convenient and efficient, right?”

[That’s correct!]

“Can you help me wreak havoc? Like, you know, act like a villain?”

[That’s…]

For the first time, the chick looked troubled.

Its tiny wings shrank.

[That’s probably impossible…]

“Why?”

[I can do anything, but only what I’ve learned. All I’ve learned so far is your memories…]

“So, because I’m a hopeless doormat, a sucker, a servant, a footwipe, I can’t grow villainous fruit from such poor soil?”

[You’re truly perceptive, my savior! You get it right away!]

The chick wagged its short tail feathers enthusiastically.

In other words, it can’t help with villainy because it hasn’t learned anything about it.

Learning, huh.

“Well, maybe I should go to the library and read Chronicles of Villainesses or something…”

[That’s such a nerdy idea!]

The chick chimed in on my muttering.

Is that an insult or a compliment?

[But living, breathing teaching material is better than books. Learning from a real person is the best!]

A living, breathing person.

Like a mentor for wreaking havoc?

“That’s tough.”

I face two immediate challenges.

First: I need money to survive. My uncle cut off my allowance and even meals.

Second: I need to connect with a human teaching resource for villainy. Before Felix’s flower path fully unfolds!

The problem is both are extremely urgent.

Is there a way to solve both at once?

Then, a memory suddenly hit me like a bolt.

A few days ago, I overheard the maids gossiping.

‘Did you see the job posting for the Croitz Duchy?’

‘I did. No qualifications needed, no status requirements. Even commoners like us can apply. And the salary? Insane.’

‘So what? The hiring exam is supposedly harder than the imperial university entrance test.’

‘What? How are maids like us supposed to pass something that tough? Ugh, so much for that.’

There it is! A way to catch both rabbits!

That job posting was for the Duke’s secretary position, wasn’t it?

Who is Duke Croitz?

He inherited the prestigious Croitz ducal title at a young age, a genius among geniuses who also leads the Magic Tower.

And above all…

‘His personality is that bad!’

The Mad Dog Duke.

The Calamity Boot.

The craziest of crazies!

Despite his stunning looks and lofty status, people secretly called Duke Croitz these names behind his back.

Just how awful must his personality be…!

I shivered.

I’d once encountered the Duke by chance.

He was mercilessly beating a grown man with his boot.

The memory of that demonic figure made my knees buckle.

At the same time, I felt certain.

‘He’s the one.’

There’s no better teaching material than Duke Croitz!

The problem is, everyone says the hiring exam is brutally difficult.

‘Honestly, I’m confident in exams.’

During my academy days, the practice questions and answers I prepared for Felix always hit the mark perfectly.

I’d smile contentedly at exam papers that matched my predictions exactly, while my own answers were a mess—to avoid overlapping with Felix’s.

Even if it was for my lifesaver and fiancé, why did I go that far…!

Snapping back to reality, my burning devotion felt so pathetic that tears welled up.

‘No. There’s no time for regrets!’

Right now, Felix’s flower path is smoothly unfurling.

I slapped my cheeks and made a plan.

Step one: Become Duke Croitz’s secretary. They said there were no qualifications, so my trashy grades won’t matter.

Step two: Solve my living expenses with the secretary job’s salary.

Step three: Observe the Duke’s villainy up close and soak it up like a sponge.

Perfect!

For the first time, hope glimmered in my heart, torn to shreds by successive betrayals.

My current status: 0 gold in pocket, D average in grades.

Truly a long road ahead.

The old, timid, weak me would’ve cowered and collapsed. But now…

A blazing desire for revenge burned fiercely, fueling me.

I clenched my fists.

‘I’ll take back my family and get revenge on Felix!’

To do that, first…

‘Let’s get that job.’

* * *

“You worthless vermin.”

Crack!

A desk caved in like it had been struck by a meteor under a merciless boot.

The assistants, prostrating themselves, trembled.

“We’re sorry! So sorry!”

“Sorry, huh?”

The man, Cayenne Croitz, grabbed one by the collar and yanked him up.

“This is how you do your job?”

“Eek!”

The dragged assistant squeezed his eyes shut.

“Street dogs would do better than you lot. Did you leave your brains in your mothers’ wombs? Don’t you know how to think? Get out. Seeing your faces makes me sick.”

With a brutal dismissal, the assistants wiped tears and scurried away.

“Useless parachutes. Maybe I should crush their heads.”

Cayenne sighed harshly and slumped into a chair.

“Does the Magic Tower look like a daycare?”

The Magic Tower is under imperial control.

The problem is the empire’s corruption.

Corrupt officials kept shoving incompetent parachutes into the Tower for bribes.

Thanks to these shameless and stupid hires, Cayenne’s humanity was rotting further by the day.

Tch. Cayenne clicked his tongue.

‘This pathetic organization. I want out as soon as possible.’

But he couldn’t.

Not yet.

Running a hand through his hair and leaning back, sunlight from the window illuminated his face.

Thick brows, a razor-sharp nose, and lips as delicate and beautiful as a work of art—yet the words that came from them were as coarse as a street thug’s.

“Uh, Master.”

His aide, Aaron, cautiously spoke.

“A candidate for the secretary position is here.”

“Secretary?”

Cayenne raised an eyebrow.

The position had been vacant for two years.

The secretary to the Magic Tower’s master and Duke Croitz.

Immense prestige and pay had initially drawn applicants in droves.

But the exam’s horrific difficulty and the employer’s catastrophic personality now left the position deserted.

“I’m not expecting help.”

Cayenne rubbed his brow tiredly.

“Just hire anyone who can read and understand me. Before your master collapses from overwork.”

‘Then lower the exam difficulty…’

Aaron swallowed the complaint he could never voice.

It couldn’t be helped.

‘For Master, that exam isn’t even a talent filter—it’s just a baseline for being human.’

Cayenne’s standards for “human” were so high that Aaron hadn’t found a successor in two years.

‘I’m the one about to die from overwork!’

Aaron sighed and headed to the reception room.

“I wonder if this candidate will last ten minutes…”

He could already picture receiving a tear-stained blank answer sheet.