Chapter 03…
A small carriage was parked in front of the Louis estate. Family members and the few servants of the mansion came out to see off the two people leaving for the capital. Derek had a bluish bruise on his face.
“Be careful when you go to the capital.”
Their mother held Ilena’s hand and gently patted it. Her eyes were already filled with tears.
“Derek, take good care of Ilena.”
“We’ll be living separately anyway in our own lodgings. I’ll try to look after her, I guess.”
Derek replied indifferently to their father’s words. However, since everyone knew he would rush over faster than anyone if anything happened from the ducal house, Viscount Louis simply smiled and nodded as if he didn’t notice.
“Maybe Ilena will adapt better than Derek?”
Their eldest sister Jane said playfully.
“I think Ilena will definitely do better than Brother Derek.”
“I’m not worried about Ilena at all.”
The two younger siblings also clung to Ilena, saying she was the better one.
“Little ones, listen to Mom and Dad. I’ll come back when I get leave.”
“Yeah! Don’t worry! We’ll protect Louis!”
The twins clenched their fists and answered firmly. Derek, standing beside them, looked unfairly wronged. Their mother pulled both Derek and Ilena into tight hugs one by one. Her face was filled with worry and guilt.
“Both of you, take care of yourselves. If anything gets hard, come back down anytime.”
“Yes, don’t worry. I’ll take care of Ilena too.”
Derek said confidently.
“Don’t trust people too easily. Hah, I’m getting old—now I only nag more. But I believe you’ll do well.”
“I’ll manage just fine. I’m an adult now too.”
At Ilena’s confident reply, as she answered her mother’s final words, the family’s eyes wavered for a moment. At the same time, they thought of the capital.
The capital would probably be fine.
Even the servants, with teary eyes, came to see them off. And after a full fifteen days of travel, Ilena finally arrived in the capital.
“Take care of yourself. If you need help, contact the Imperial Knights.”
“Alright.”
“And don’t cause trouble. Don’t hit people recklessly, understand? And don’t kill people just because they’re annoying. Just… lightly deal with them. No—actually, don’t. You might really kill someone. Just ignore them. Run away. If you get too angry, call me. I’ll handle it.”
Derek’s nagging grew longer and longer as his worry increased. Ilena’s face gradually turned more and more irritated.
“Can you stop being excessive?”
“I’m just worried! Just behave yourself and only do maid duties, alright?”
Derek swallowed the words that he was actually worried about the ducal household and kept repeating his warnings. When he saw Ilena clenching her fist, he finally shut his mouth.
Near the main gate of the ducal estate, the guards watched warmly as a large man seemed to be speaking to his younger sister, who looked quite young. They couldn’t hear the conversation clearly, but the siblings looked very affectionate. The older brother seemed extremely anxious about his sister.
So even today, siblings could be this close. The knights watched them warmly.
“I—I’ll contact you.”
Ilena gently pushed Derek’s back. Even as he boarded the carriage, Derek kept looking out the window at his sister for a long time.
That nagging fool.
Ilena smiled faintly and watched him leave. Once the carriage disappeared completely from sight, she turned and walked toward the guard at the main gate.
“What is your business here?”
“Hello, sir knight. I am Ilena Louis. I came after receiving the employment acceptance letter for the estate servants.”
Ilena took out documents from her bag. The hiring letter, stamped with the ducal seal, contained her name and proof of her family identity.
“Please come in.”
The knight opened the side gate used by servants and guided Ilena inside the estate.
“My lady, please wait a moment. We will prepare a carriage for you.”
The knight treated Ilena with respect. Are all capital knights this polite? But thinking about it, not always. The imperial knights who occasionally visited Louis territory for border inspections were a bit rougher.
Thud—
After stepping inside, Ilena covered her mouth as her lips almost parted in shock. This place could probably fit ten—no, twenty of my houses.
The distant ducal mansion looked like a massive mountain within the territory. It was so large that you needed a carriage just to travel from the gate to the mansion.
Louis territory was wide too, but it was all mountains and fields. And the viscount’s mansion there was small and worn down, hardly fitting for a noble house. Compared to this, her home didn’t even seem fit to be a stable of the duke’s house.
To maintain such a huge residence in the narrow capital, they must be extremely wealthy. No wonder the servant salaries were so high. Even the trainee pay was generous, and wages increased significantly with experience.
As Ilena calculated salaries in her head, she felt excitement build up. Life in the ducal house might be even better than she had imagined.
“Is that the garden?”
Along the carriage road, tall shrubs lined the path. Upon reaching the main gate, a servant who had been informed in advance came to greet her. Ilena was guided to a small reception room where she waited while drinking tea. The tea served by the maid had a gentle aroma.
They treat their servants well here.
Ilena recalled the calm expressions and flawless manners of the servants she had seen on the way. There were no shadows or gloom on their faces.
“Lady Ilena Louis?”
A man with graying hair entered the reception room. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit that seemed made of high-quality fabric with a subtle sheen.
Even the servants here wear expensive clothes.
Ilena inwardly admired it while maintaining a gentle expression. She calmly placed her teacup down and stood up. First impressions mattered. Even swordsmanship began with how you held the sword.
“Nice to meet you. I am Henson, the chief steward of the Beckman Ducal House.”
“Hello, I am Ilena Louis.”
Ilena extended her hand and accepted Henson’s greeting.
“Have you read the employment letter and the attached contract?”
“Yes.”
Henson offered her a seat and began explaining her duties in brief.
“In most cases, noble young ladies enter the ducal house to serve the dignity and social relations of the ducal family. In our household, you must complete a certain training period before you can serve the direct family. There may be difficult tasks you have never experienced before. Will that be alright?”
Henson looked concerned, wondering if a sheltered young lady could handle such work. In fact, many applicants for maid and servant positions failed to keep up with the ducal household and gave up.
“Of course. I will do my best.”
It’s just cleaning and errands anyway.
Ilena swallowed the rest of her words and smiled gently.
“At the beginning, you will learn basic etiquette, physical training, and general duties outside of direct maid assignments. You’ve heard about the ducal household’s physical training, correct?”
Henson asked with a soft smile.
“I’ve heard it’s a very excellent program run for the health of employees.”
At her answer, the steward looked satisfied. At first, everyone says they will try their best, but whether this young lady could endure until the end remained to be seen.
She confidently declared, “I can do any work.” He assumed she believed nobles wouldn’t be given excessively harsh labor in the ducal house. Naturally, a relaxed smile appeared on her face as she expected an easy life while working moderately.
“Inside the ducal house, you will hold the status of a servant, so you will not be treated as a noble lady. Furthermore, disrupting the discipline of the ducal house is not permitted.”
“Yes. I will keep that in mind.”
If I stay quiet and work moderately, promotion will be slow, but I’ll earn more money than other places while living comfortably.
Ilena liked how things were going according to plan.
Seeing her smile, Henson felt slightly uneasy. Ilena looked like an ordinary young lady who had never done hard labor. She wasn’t small, but she had a gentle impression. Would she adapt well to the ducal house?
Most children from poor provincial families came to the capital’s wealthy houses to earn money. The ducal house attracted even more applicants, but most couldn’t endure the brutal training period and near-commoner treatment and left.
With Ilena’s calm smile, Henson also smiled back.
“I heard there is a servant loan system in the ducal house.”
“That’s correct. Do you need a loan?”
Without hesitation, Ilena brought up her top priority. Henson took out a document detailing loan limits, interest rates, and repayment methods. Ilena carefully reviewed it.
“How much can I borrow at most?”
“Since you are a noble of House Louis, your identity is verified, so you may borrow up to 500 gold.”
“That much?”
At Ilena’s surprised expression, Henson simply smiled gently. The ducal house never lost money. Especially with nobles who had verified identities, they would be pursued until repayment was complete.
If repayment was impossible, they would be compensated in other ways.
Henson hoped she would not request an excessive amount as he checked the figures.
“100 gold, then. Would that be insufficient?”
“That amount is fine. I plan to use most of my salary to repay the loan and send part of it back to Louis.”
Compared to ordinary noble living expenses, it was a small amount. Despite Henson’s curious gaze, Ilena calmly finished signing.
“I will assign a maid to guide you to Mrs. Wella, who oversees the servants.”
Ilena followed the maid and walked through the vast estate toward Wella’s room, looking around as she went.
