Chapter 4 …
It felt like morning, but there were no birds calling from the mountain. Outside the window, a faint light was spreading. Elena blinked slowly, then suddenly sat up.
This isn’t home.
Turning her head, she saw that the maid sharing her room was still asleep. Checking the clock, it was almost time to wake up.
If she wanted to properly stretch her body, she needed to move before others woke up. Quietly getting out of bed, Elena stepped onto the floor and stretched her arms and legs.
“Ugh.”
Every time the sound of her roommate shifting in bed reached her, she flinched, but the girl didn’t wake easily. After finishing her stretches, Elena sat back on the bed and quietly meditated, waiting for the alarm to ring.
When the alarm finally went off in a deafening burst, her roommate, Roin, yawned lazily and turned it off.
“From today, you’ll be going around with me and getting introduced to the structure of the manor and the staff. Yesterday was just a brief introduction, so today might be a bit tough. The ducal estate is ridiculously large.”
Roin shivered. She said she had struggled a lot when she first arrived too. Their conversation continued from the room all the way to the dining hall.
Sitting in the dining hall, Elena took a big bite of a sausage and silently praised herself for choosing a maid position. The food served to the ducal household staff was far more refined and luxurious than what she had eaten in the territory.
“Wow—. You really eat well.”
Seeing Elena’s satisfied expression, Roin laughed loudly. Others eating nearby also nodded in agreement. Elena was calmly but quickly emptying her plate.
After the meal, Elena headed to the classroom where lessons would be held and entered without hesitation. Many people were already seated inside. A few she had met in the dining hall greeted her warmly.
“Hello. You’re Lady Louise, right?”
“Yes. You are Miss Bessie, right?”
“Oh my, ‘Miss Bessie’ sounds too formal. We’re both nobles, after all. Just call me Bessie.”
“Shall I?”
Soon after the greetings, the teacher entered and began class with a brief introduction of Elena.
Wow, the ducal family must be rolling in money.
Elena sighed while looking at the blackboard. What kind of insane employer makes their staff study this much?
From the very first class, Elena was convinced the ducal family was out of their minds. This was supposedly only ten times the “basic education”? Roin was definitely assigned as a “escape prevention guide” to stop new servants from running away.
“This battle was…”
The only sounds in the room were the teacher’s explanation and pens moving across paper. The instructor passionately explained famous battles and tactics from the founding myths. It was all basic material Elena had learned before.
But why did they also need to know the lifestyle, clothing, food, geography, and even psychological states of people from that era?!
If exams affected bonuses, Elena felt like she had been tricked by the ducal household. Despite her complaints, her hand diligently recorded the teacher’s words. If she was going to stay here, she needed at least the basics to avoid getting fired.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, the person in front of her swayed slightly. As the lecture deepened and the teacher’s voice remained flat, the heads of the students began bobbing up and down. Elena quietly chuckled.
But even Elena’s hand slowed down as she copied the board. Her fully filled stomach was draining all her energy to digest the food.
After a moment of internal conflict, Elena chose to agree with the more reasonable side of her mind. She had no desire to work hard and become someone constantly summoned for more tasks. Working well only meant more work. Having reached a clean conclusion, she decided to relax a little in class.
Soft sunlight poured into the classroom. The warmth from the people and the sun made the room feel cozy enough to fall asleep in.
Elena slowly blinked, struggling to stay awake. Some students had already collapsed on their desks like sunken ships. Seeing the teacher’s sharp gaze pass over them, she vowed she would at least stay upright even if she dozed off.
Yawn.
Bored, Elena turned her head toward the window. The air was still cold, but the sunlight was warm. It was clearly spring. A breeze blew, and tree branches swayed gently.
What kind of tree is shaking like that?
With half-lidded eyes, Elena watched the swaying branches. Then the tree suddenly shook violently, as if struck by lightning, before abruptly stopping. Leaves fell in a rush. Elena’s eyes widened.
A man suddenly appeared beneath the tree.
“Wow!”
She quickly covered her mouth to suppress her gasp. Then she carefully scanned the classroom.
No one noticed. The servants weren’t paying attention, and even the teacher seemed unaware of the man who had jumped down from the tree.
It was the most handsome man Elena had ever seen in her life. Not even in Louise Territory or the border regions had she ever seen a face like that.
Even Elena, who wasn’t interested in appearances, thought his face looked like something crafted by a god. Having become a Sword Master with enhanced eyesight, she openly stared at him from a distance.
He’s prettier than most women.
His neatly swept, radiant silver hair and deep purple eyes like embedded amethysts naturally drew her gaze. Even from afar, his features were so distinct and refined that it felt like witnessing a work of art.
Do other people see him the same way?
Elena observed him like a masterpiece. But the people in the classroom showed no reaction to the outside at all. How could they not notice something moving so obviously?
Feeling slightly strange, but already aware that her senses were more sensitive than others, Elena leaned more comfortably and looked down outside the window. The man shook off the leaves, circled the tree, then suddenly stopped and turned his head sharply.
Their eyes met.
His purple eyes widened in surprise as if he had spotted her. Even his surprised face is handsome.
Elena calmly looked away, pretending to turn her head naturally.
‘What now?’
Karl lifted his head at the sudden gaze he felt from afar, catching a glimpse of green eyes.
“A servant?”
Thinking he had been noticed, Karl kept looking to confirm, but the servant no longer turned her head.
“Did she not see me? No way. She didn’t get startled by my face?”
Because of his appearance, servants often lingered around him. So Karl assumed Elena had been watching him to get his attention.
But her reaction was different from others, so he absentmindedly brushed his face.
His face was still perfectly intact.
“Even if she was turning away, shouldn’t she stop once she sees me? How do you just keep turning your head like that?”
Elena had simply turned away naturally so she wouldn’t get caught staring. Karl, unaware of this, found it unbelievable that someone—especially a woman—had not blushed at seeing him.
To Karl, “seeing” meant literally any form of visual contact. From a full stare, to a quick glance, to even a fleeting edge-of-vision look—all of it counted.
In his world, it was impossible that someone could look at him and not acknowledge him at all. Maybe I was mistaken? But if our eyes met, she wouldn’t have turned away…
“No way. From that distance, she saw this handsome face and still didn’t react?”
“Young master, this is getting painful to listen to. Shall we go to the training grounds instead?”
A shadow, cleaning up the corpse of an intruder that Karl had dealt with earlier, clicked its tongue at the young master’s self-absorbed words. The ducal family’s secret knight corps, “Shadows,” operated across the empire gathering intelligence, guarding their master, and handling unseen tasks.
The shadow was clearly exhausted by Karl’s excessive awareness of his own looks.
“Isn’t it a problem if there’s a servant with bad eyesight?”
“All servants are selected to be physically healthy, so don’t worry.”
“Then how could someone standing in a place where I’m clearly visible look away without noticing me?”
“Are you going or not?”
Tired of the conversation, the shadow changed the subject. His tone was filled with exhaustion and irritation.
“Being handsome is a fact. Why are you annoyed?”
“Even facts can be annoying. And you always complain about women coming just because of your face, yet you’re whining over a single glance.”
Even the shadow admitted Karl’s face was unmatched anywhere. But because Karl knew it too well, it was exhausting.
“This is the first time a woman hasn’t blushed after seeing my face. Normally they at least change expression even if they pretend otherwise.”
“Maybe your face just isn’t everyone’s taste. You know, everyone has preferences.”
“That’s an insult to my face. My face doesn’t depend on preferences.”
The shadow stopped responding altogether. Silently finishing the cleanup, he left. Karl fell silent too.
Boring.
Karl glanced once more at the classroom window where their eyes had met, then turned away and walked off.
