MPAWD 20

Chapter 20

“Hello. I came at Dino’s request. You’re looking for a job, right?”

A flashy woman with heavy makeup visited the room where the two of them were staying.

“The work is simple serving. We urgently need staff, so you’d need to do an interview today. Is that okay?”

The woman got straight to the point.

“Um, but where is Mr. Dino?”
Lucy asked cautiously.

“Apparently something urgent came up with his family. He asked me to look after you two in his place.”

Though it was a bit suspicious that they needed to interview immediately, Lucy figured there wasn’t much harm in just attending the interview—especially since they were desperate for work. So, they left a note on Dino’s door and followed the woman.

“Ah, and don’t worry too much about the interview. It’s more of a formality. You’ll probably be able to start right away.”

The place the woman took them to was a rather large restaurant.

“It’s just serving and helping in the kitchen—it’s not too hard. The male staff handle most of the heavy lifting or tough jobs. You’re staying at an inn right now, right? Since we provide room and board, you could stay in the staff dorms.”

A kind-looking older woman, who introduced herself as the owner, gave Lucy and Anna a brief explanation.

‘If I don’t have to pay for the inn anymore, I’ll be able to save up more easily!’

Lucy was especially intrigued by the idea of free room and board.

After exchanging glances with Anna, Lucy decided to start working at the restaurant from the next day.

“Miss, if you’re going to start tomorrow, how about moving into the dorm today?”
Anna asked on the way back.

“Mr. Dino might come looking for us. Let’s stay at the inn until he returns.”
Lucy replied, shaking her head.

Following Lucy’s decision, they agreed to move accommodations later.

“You’re on the afternoon shift, so if you’re free tomorrow, I’ll come pick you up.”
The woman said kindly as she dropped them off at the inn.

“So, what time do we work until?”

“It’s also a bar, so on busy nights, you might work until dawn—but it’s best to ask the owner about that.”
The woman answered with an awkward smile.

Back in their room, Anna was excited.

“Miss, the pay is better than expected, and the benefits for employees at that restaurant seem really good!”

“I want to thank Mr. Dino too… I wonder if something bad happened at home.”

Dino had been overly kind to both Lucy and Anna. She felt grateful, but also worried when she heard something had come up at his house.

They knocked on his door multiple times that day, but Dino never returned.

That night, Lucy and Anna stayed up chatting.

“Do they pay extra for evening shifts here too, like they do back where I used to live?”
Lucy asked, curious whether there was a concept like night shift allowance in this world too.

“Hmm… I guess it depends on the employer. But, Miss, you’re not in great health—I’m worried the restaurant work might be too hard for you…”

‘No matter how weak I am now, I can’t be weaker than I was in my previous life.’
Lucy thought with a soft smile, shaking her head at Anna’s concern.

In her past life, she had frequently missed school and spent more time in hospitals than anywhere else. She’d never even done household chores, let alone worked part-time like other kids her age.

What Lucy worried about now wasn’t her physical strength—but her lack of real-world experience. Both the Lucy of this world and the real Sohee had lived very sheltered lives.

The world she knew came only through TV, the internet, or books. Even now, in this new life, that lack of real-life experience weighed heavily on her mind.

“Anna, stop calling me ‘Miss.’ I’m no longer a Diallo.”

“No way! That’s one thing I can’t agree to. To me, you’ll always be my lady!”
Anna replied firmly.

“But people will think it’s strange.”

“Then… I’ll call you by name only in front of others…”
Anna hesitated, then reluctantly compromised.

Lucy let out a long sigh, shaking her head at Anna’s stubbornness. But she wasn’t annoyed—she was grateful and a little guilty.

The First Day of Work

A middle-aged manager with a friendly face led Lucy and Anna into the kitchen.

“It’s your first day, so don’t overdo it. Just follow what this boy tells you and do some simple serving. You can learn the rest slowly.”

The manager introduced a boy who looked to be in his mid-teens, then left.

As the manager had said, Lucy spent her first day serving food and drinks to the tables under the boy’s direction.

Her injured right hand hadn’t fully healed yet, but thankfully there was no heavy lifting or difficult work—so the first day passed without issue.

By the third day, Dino still hadn’t returned.

“Miss, shouldn’t we move into the staff dorm now? We don’t know when Mr. Dino will be back, and we’re just wasting money on the inn.”
Anna suggested.

She had a point.

“But what could’ve happened to Mr. Dino? I hope nothing bad happened.”

Though Lucy grew more worried with each passing day, they couldn’t keep waiting indefinitely and wasting money.

So they finally decided to move their belongings to the restaurant’s staff dorms before their next shift.

Prince Edwin—the Fourth Prince

He was a child abandoned by his father, the Emperor, right after birth.

At the time, the Emperor’s political standing was weak. So to protect Edwin, the child born of a lowly dancer, from the Empress’s faction, he had him adopted into a poor noble family living on the fringes of the empire.

The count who took Edwin in had initially done so because of the large sum of money offered by the Emperor. But once the Emperor lost interest, Edwin became a nuisance to the count.

The count feared that Edwin might someday compete with his biological sons for the family’s succession rights.

Eventually, he spread the story that Edwin was an illegitimate child born between himself and a mistress. So Edwin grew up believing he was the count’s bastard son.

But there was one thing no one knew.

The Emperor had deeply loved Edwin’s mother, the dancer. After she died giving birth to Edwin, the Emperor hid his son far away to protect him.

When Edwin turned fifteen, the Emperor finally sent a secret letter revealing the truth—that Edwin was his most beloved son.

‘That’s why I was able to propose to Lucy with confidence…’

Edwin recalled the past.

The Emperor sent him a generous allowance each month and tried to make up for the lost years by granting every wish Edwin had.

I love a woman. I want to marry her.
Edwin had written.

In response, the Emperor gifted him the Periquil Mine—once royal property—going through complicated legal processes to transfer ownership, and told him to use it as a dowry.

“Lucy! I can finally propose to you properly! Wait for me—I’m going to talk to your father today!”

“Edwin, what are you talking about? What do you mean, talk to my father?”

The day Edwin visited the Diallo Barony with his proposal in hand, Lucy blinked at him in confusion. Edwin hugged her tightly.

“Just trust me. I’ll make sure he says yes today!”

But Baron Diallo was not so easily swayed.

“You think I’d give Lucy away for just one lousy mine? Do you know how many nobles have proposed to her already?”

The Baron was even greedier than Edwin had expected.

“Fine. If you agree to let me marry Lucy, I’ll give you not just the mine, but also royal-certified tax exemption rights.”

In the empire, every noble had to pay taxes under various pretenses. But the tax exemption certificate—granted only by the imperial family—freed them from that burden.

As a baron who ran a merchant guild, the taxes on large transactions were substantial. That alone made the offer irresistible.

Even if that weren’t the case, tax exemption in the empire was an incredibly valuable asset—one the baron could not refuse.