Chapter 6 – “Free Labor Miracles”
It had only been a few minutes since I’d finished organizing the magical ledger when Scar returned, bursting through the door.
“My lady! You missed me, didn’t you? Everything fine while I was gone?”
“What could possibly have happened?”
A lot.
A lot had happened.
But lying with a straight face was one of my greatest skills.
“You didn’t get beaten up by some thug, right?”
“Haha! I may not be smart, but I did learn swordsmanship in my youth. I can handle myself!”
“Swordsmanship? What, from swinging sticks with the neighborhood kids?”
I knew sword training cost a fortune. So no, I wasn’t buying it.
Still, since his mouth was running fine, he was clearly unharmed.
“I’m hungry.”
“Was the salad not enough?”
“That wasn’t salad—that was boiled weeds.”
“Oh, that? I actually made that for pigs later. I was planning to sell it as slop.”
“…You mean I just ate pig food?”
No wonder my “frugality points” had gone up in the magic ledger.
Scar glanced at the spoon on the table.
“You used this spoon again. There are plenty of others—are you attached to this one?”
“Yeah. I even gave it a name.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Pola.”
“My lady, that’s adorable. How old are you again? Three?”
In Korean age—twenty-nine.
Damn this cheeky butler.
“Anyway,” I said, “about that investment—I’m doing it. One way or another.”
“Do you… have a plan for the capital?”
Scar immediately asked. Of course he did—he thought I was crazy.
After hesitating, he spoke carefully.
“Actually, on my way back, I stopped by a few merchant houses near the territory. If you permit it, I’ll try to borrow some money under my name.”
I stared at him.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
There are a few things you never do, even for family—and the biggest one is co-signing someone’s debt.
That was exactly how my father ruined us in my past life.
And now, in this one, my butler was volunteering to repeat history.
If I posted this on an advice forum, the answers would be:
“He’s either a religious cult member or hopelessly in love with you.”
“You’re not… in love with me, are you?”
“What?! I told you before—if rumors spread that I’m romantically involved with my employer, I’ll lose my job! I’m still young! I can’t let my career end here!”
“Alright, alright, calm down.”
He sure looked panicked—but I couldn’t blame him. Money makes everyone a little crazy.
“I was kidding, of course,” he said, waving his hands. “I’d never actually co-sign for you. I just meant I’d do my best to find the funds somehow.”
“Right, right. That’s what I thought. You wouldn’t sign for me unless you planned to sell my organs afterward.”
“Exactly! I value money too much for that. But still, I can’t stand to see this estate sold off. I grew up here, after all.”
Scar smiled and waved his hand like everything was fine—but something about that smile bugged me.
Anyway.
After a whole day of thinking, I’d finally made a decision.
“I’m getting married.”
“…Pardon? I don’t have any desire to marry, my lady.”
“Not you, idiot. There’s only one person I can marry right now. Did you forget already?”
“Ah… you don’t mean…”
Scar grimaced. The name must’ve popped into his head immediately—Cartiman Asser, Duke of the North, owner of half the northern lands and all its precious magic mines.
“I thought you stopped pining after him.”
“You think I’m marrying for love? I’m marrying for money!”
I had no particular feelings for Cartiman. Sure, he was rich, and yes, his personality was… rough.
He’d make a great male lead in a dark romance novel, but in real life?
No thanks.
He was handsome enough to make people gasp, but when you’re broke and hungry, looks don’t pay the bills.
“This isn’t about love. I swear on the river I nearly drowned in—it’s all for the mines.”
“Most people would call that selfish, my lady.”
“It’s not selfish—it’s practical. You can’t keep working unpaid forever. I’ll earn us some money.”
“You really don’t need to go so far as marrying for it…”
Scar pressed his fingers to his forehead like he had a migraine.
He looked as if he’d just finished a thousand-piece puzzle—only for a toddler to stomp through it.
“Fine, fine,” he sighed. “Let’s say it all goes as you plan. Is this agreement mutual? Does the Duke even want this marriage? What about his family?”
“I know they won’t welcome me. That’s the biggest problem.”
I’d already turned him down once, and now my family was broke. What noble family would accept a penniless bride with a mountain of debt?
“But he was the one who proposed,” I said.
“Once. He asked once.”
“That still means he’s thinking about appearances. He’s too famous to take back his word.”
The engagement between our families had been talked about for years. For the sake of the Asser family’s reputation, they couldn’t back out publicly now.
“So I’ll play along. Just one year. A contract marriage, purely for show. After a year, we divorce.”
“Divorce?”
“Yes. The original problem was the temple engagement, right? The one made before the high priest.”
I’d gone around town to gather intel—bookshops, parks, anywhere gossip traveled fast.
Apparently, word on the street was that my father and the Duke had discussed our engagement inside the cathedral.
And any agreement made before the temple’s priest was binding.
“Exactly,” I said. “That’s why even when our family collapsed, the engagement wasn’t officially broken.”
Scar frowned. “So you’re saying the Asser Duchy has no choice but to go through with it.”
“Right. For the sake of honor, they’ll marry him off no matter what.”
“So you’re just going to marry and… leave after a year?”
“Yup. It’s not like they’d want me sticking around anyway.”
“Marriage isn’t something to treat lightly, my lady…”
“Oh, stop. I’m sure three hundred years from now, people will be divorcing left and right when they’re unhappy.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Whatever. Let’s say you’re right. In that one year, how will the household survive?”
Scar’s eyes narrowed.
“Survive? Isn’t that your job?”
“There’s a lot to manage! You think fairies will come clean up for us? Even I can’t maintain this huge estate alone. Without enough staff, I can’t support your money-first contract marriage. I object!”
At that moment—
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Someone was banging on the front gate.
“What was that?”
“I said, I object—”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
“Ugh! It’s the middle of the night! Who is it now?!”
Scar’s eye twitched in fury.
“Probably drunk mercenaries begging for work. I’ll chase them off.”
“I’ll come with you.”
I had a feeling I knew exactly who was at the door.
As I followed him, Scar draped a fur coat around my shoulders.
“It’s just for a moment, but the night air is cold.”
“Where’d you even get this?”
“It’s mine. A gift for you.”
“It looks expensive.”
“…You’re not planning to sell it, are you?”
“I don’t sell gifts.”
“That’s oddly specific, like you’re saying you sell everything else… Anyway, let’s go.”
We went downstairs. The knocking grew louder—practically in rhythm.
“My ears are ringing! Stop banging already!”
Scar yanked open the door with an irritated glare.
“It’s the middle of the night! Do you have any idea what time it is? If we had neighbors, they’d have called the guards by now—”
“Please let us work for you!”
A woman clung to the doorframe, shouting desperately.
“…Are you drunk?”
“No! I’m perfectly sober, Mr. Butler!”
“I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard, but the Dante Marquisate has no money.”
“We don’t need pay! Just let us work!”
Scar’s jaw dropped so hard his glasses cracked.
“Wha—my glasses!”
He fumbled to replace them with a spare pair. In the meantime, more voices shouted from outside.
“It’s been my lifelong dream to serve the Dante family!”
“That’s my dream!”
“Get in line! I was here first!”
It wasn’t just one or two people—there were over thirty of them, all begging to work here.
For free.
“What in the world… there are this many lunatics?” Scar muttered, scanning the group.
Then he froze.
“Wait—Lady Cossine from the Caron Viscounty? Maid Chief Tangent, known for her cleaning skills? Engineer Integral, the inventor?!”
These weren’t nobodies—they were well-known workers, the kind every household wanted to hire.
There was absolutely no reason for them to come to a bankrupt house like ours.
“Why are they here…?”
“Ahem. Well, looks like we have new staff!” I said innocently, shrugging.
I could barely hide my grin.
‘I didn’t think it’d work this fast…’
I touched the spoon in my pocket. It glowed softly, and the magical ledger appeared in front of me.
♡ Project: Save the Beautiful Dante Marquisate ♡
- Develop a mine (Locked)
- Rehire former workers (Lv.1)
- Restore the family’s reputation (Locked)
‘Hehehe… free workers. Glorious, unpaid labor…’
I smiled wickedly as I gazed at my new “staff.”
Finally, something was going right.
