Chapter 10
“Miss Prim.”
A sharp gaze slowly fixed itself back onto my face. Then, a low voice lazily whispered into my ear.
“The workload is determined by me, your employer. It should be clearly stated in the contract.”
How presumptuous. Duke Schultz was saying this around the subject.
“But—”
“Are you expecting me to solve this for you?”
Just as I was about to make an excuse, he asked back. It didn’t seem he intended to scold me for my rudeness.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“……”
“Something practical.”
I clasped my hands politely and made sure my attitude was more careful as I continued.
“Again, I want to take on more work. Preferably something physical.”
Duke Schultz fiddled with his interlaced fingers, wearing a troubled expression. A brief sigh filled the silence as he furrowed his brows more deeply.
His voice followed as if sighing.
“But what can I do? The documents coming into the castle change every time, all the tasks have been divided, and the only vacancy is the lady of the house’s duties.”
“Then I’ll do at least those duties…”
“Presumptuous words don’t seem to bother you much, do they?”
Ah. Realizing my mistake, I shut my mouth.
The Duke leaned forward. A faint smile lingered at the corner of his lips.
I quickly averted my gaze from his now deeper eyes, unable to hold back my tension, and took a breath.
“You said you prefer physical work.”
He slowly nodded, looking down at the floor.
“Anything is fine?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I was wondering what sort of work I would ask you to do.”
His words held a clear meaning, and I involuntarily raised my head and frowned.
Duke Schultz’s atmosphere was strangely different from when we met outside. It was sharper yet more refined, and also…
His transparent blue eyes closed.
“I don’t think you’re someone who lacks a sense of propriety. Especially since you were close with my father…”
Before I could answer, an absurd question was thrown back at me.
“How about marriage?”
I was silent for a while. I couldn’t understand what he meant.
The tension dropped the atmosphere. I finally spoke.
“What did you just say…?”
“Without caring that I’m presumptuous, and also changing how the servants look at you.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. Does getting married change something? Like assigning more tasks to married people…?”
“Well…”
Duke Schultz’s face strangely looked pleased.
“In that case, it’s fortunate. I was just about to ask you to marry me.”
“So you mean, I’m the one you’re marrying… the Duke…?”
His absurd answer made my previously formal attitude slacken.
I forced myself to blink.
When I looked at him with a baffled expression, he answered as if it were nothing special.
“I’m proposing to you, Miss Prim.”
His tone was dry, as if discussing an everyday matter.
And his expression.
Is this some noble joke? It’s not funny at all.
But since he was my employer, I forced a weak smile. The corner of my lips trembled like a spasm. I barely managed to speak.
“…You must have been very close to my father. To be so comfortable with me and make such jokes.”
I didn’t know if he did this with other servants, but it meant no more rude jokes to me.
“It’s an honor, Duke Schultz.”
I lifted my skirt with one hand and bowed at the knee. I wasn’t sure if it was perfect, but it was noble enough.
His usually stern expression slightly tightened.
“If my reply was rude, I apologize. My father taught me to always be polite to superiors but never to be servile or weak.”
Kindness for kindness, rudeness for rudeness.
No matter how high the other party’s rank, I have the right to behave that way.
Duke Schultz stared at me for a long moment. It was almost embarrassing.
His sharp voice returned.
“I don’t think we’re close enough to joke around like this.”
“Yes…?”
Then why propose when we’re not close?
I barely swallowed the words that tried to escape my throat.
“I’m serious, Miss Prim. I want you to marry me.”
As Duke Schultz said, his expression was utterly serious.
I became even more baffled.
“I believe that marriage is a serious matter that shouldn’t be decided by one person alone.”
Meaning: Why confuse someone who has no intention at all with your unilateral opinion?
Of course, this was the first time I met Johannes Schultz since meeting him outside. There was no particular connection…
My life was not beautiful enough to entertain the ridiculous idea that he fell in love at first sight.
What’s his motive?
I met his unfathomable blue eyes.
“Is this another proposal related to the Schultz family’s reputation in Myusen?”
If not this, then the only deduction I could make was not good.
“Even so, I will refuse.”
He did not look surprised. Of course, he expected my refusal.
“Don’t you want to know the reason?”
“No.”
Obviously.
I knew that some high-ranking noblemen often enjoyed decadent and promiscuous lifestyles.
Not going to taverns to fulfill desires, but they wanted pure women.
They took poor commoner girls, fattened them up, gave them a rich life, and enjoyed pleasures.
And once they were useless, discarded them.
But suddenly proposing marriage like this felt strange…
I didn’t know why marriage suddenly came up, but I thought it must be a new trend.
I straightened my posture and hid my feelings as I continued.
“And if your real intention from the start was to hire me as a servant for this… then I quit.”
No need to apologize.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, my only fault was being naive.”
There’s always another purpose behind excessive kindness. It was my fault for believing because of my father’s help.
“It’s not that I had no such intention, but you came to me, and I thought now was quite the right time.”
“What do you mean by right time?”
“You want proper work, and the only thing left is the lady of the house’s duties.”
I was speechless for a while.
“You’re not seriously saying that’s why you proposed to me?”
“Of course not.”
A straightforward answer.
“Then may I ask why? Please don’t say some cliché like you fell in love at first sight…”
“Miss Prim, I told you it’s no joke.”
“Then why…!”
“I’m offering you a deal.”
His eyes darkened. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
He casually said such an easygoing thing. For someone who worries day to day about survival, making a deal sounds laughable.
A passing dog would snort.
“I believe deals can only be made between equals.”
He has a lot to offer me, but I have nothing to give. I am just a servant employed by Duke Schultz.
Even now, I am living off his money.
So what could I possibly offer…
A quiet voice stopped my thoughts.
“I think I said this before, but I don’t care much about the process.”
That’s why he asked outright if I wanted to work at the Schultz estate.
“I am someone who gets what I want by any means. So I made the offer without unnecessary explanation.”
It will end up as you want.
That’s why he’s not giving me detailed explanations now. But I also won’t ask. I have no intention of accepting anyway.
“If it was uncomfortable, I apologize. If you want explanations, I will gladly give them.”
I looked at him with calm eyes.
His eyes were truly deep and beautiful. Some call Johannes Schultz the Jewel of the Baltic Sea.
A fitting title indeed.
I answered with a bitter smile.
“No, you don’t need to explain. It’s clear I will refuse even if I hear the reason.”
For a moment, the faint smile on Duke Schultz’s lips stiffened.
But it was fleeting. He quickly returned to his usual stern expression and looked away from me.
“I don’t intend to force you either.”
But somehow, I already knew that’s how it would end.
