Chapter 5: How a Mercenary Accepts a New Request (1)

“I’m sorry, Madam Baymon. Please leave the room.”

“Everyone get out! Before I kill you!”

A vase flew over Finette’s bowed head and shattered on the floor.

She shivered, imagining what would’ve happened
if she hadn’t bent her waist low enough —
the vase might’ve hit her right in the face.

“If you just take this medicine, I’ll leave.
It’s the calming tonic you always take. You’ll be able to sleep soon.”

Thomas held out a small glass bottle to Valentin.
Finette watched the yellow liquid carefully,
but when Valentin picked up another vase, she ran out in a panic.

‘So he really is crazy…’

Finette had served as a noble lady in the Count’s house of Renzienr,
the Empress Dowager’s family, and had been personally recommended
to be head maid of the duke’s estate.

Getting a letter of recommendation to work in a new mansion or estate
wasn’t unusual. But Finette had one more duty —
she was also there to secretly watch over Duke Julius.

‘I’ve been observing him, but there’s nothing worth reporting.
Sometimes he seems sane, but he has daily fits and sleeps like he’s passed out.
I’ll have to report that too.’

Honestly, it would be faster to count who wasn’t under the Empress Dowager’s control in this estate.

Finette shuddered, still hearing the noise from the duke’s room.
She didn’t care about the safety of this estate,
ruled by a madman.

Her only concern was this:
How much profit could she make from “fixing up” this worn-down mansion
under the excuse of restoring it?

She was so busy holding back her sneaky smile
that she didn’t notice Valentin’s personal doctor, Allen, walking toward her.

“Madam Baymon, is something wrong?”

“Oh, Doctor Roten. I was just worried about the duke…”

Finette quickly lowered her eyes and pointed to the room.
Allen smiled kindly and gently pushed her away.

“I brought a strong sedative. Don’t worry — I’ll handle it.
You must be busy with other duties.”

“Well… If you need me, please ring the bell.
We don’t have many maids yet, but I’ll come as quickly as I can.”

“Of course. Thank you.”

Allen gave her a short bow, fixed his glasses,
and dropped his smile the moment she turned her back.

He had heard her creepy little laugh earlier.
He already knew she was one of the Empress Dowager’s people,
but she was even greedier than he expected.

He pushed a tray full of medical supplies and knocked on the door.
If Finette were still there, he might’ve said knocking was pointless.
But Allen knew the ones inside were listening.

“I’m coming in.”

“My lord, you look perfectly healthy today.”

That was the first thing Allen Roten — a genius doctor —
said to Valentin, the so-called mad duke.
Sharp medical tools and vials sat on the top tray.

“Don’t mock me.
I kept my eyes down on purpose. It’s exhausting.”

Allen knew the truth:
Valentin Al Font Deshare Julius was completely sane.
Of course, a man pretending to be insane wasn’t exactly ‘normal’ either.

“You’ve been doing this for 13 years. Don’t act surprised.”

“Ugh, Allen. Even I’m tired from all that screaming.”

Allen took a brown glass bottle from the lower tray
and handed it to Valentin and Thomas.
It was a tonic to relieve fatigue.

“As expected from you, Allen.”

“It’ll help soothe your dry throats after all that yelling.”

Thomas nodded gratefully.
Then he thought of Finette, who had stubbornly refused to leave earlier,
and clicked his tongue in irritation.

“There are too many eyes watching us.
First assassins, now rats.”

“Last night, someone tried to open my locked cabinet.
There are dangerous ingredients in there — enough to make poison.”

“If someone in this estate tries to poison us, it wouldn’t be too hard.”

Thomas and Allen’s worries were piling up
faster than the dust on the windowsills.
Even if Valentin wasn’t faking fits, this mansion wasn’t clean or safe —
as if there were no head maid at all.

“My lord, aside from us, you have no allies in this mansion.
But unless you keep pretending to be insane,
Sir Thomas and I can’t remove these pests naturally.”

“That’s true. And to run a household, you need a lady of the house.”

Valentin tilted his head toward Thomas
and passed him the brown bottle Allen gave him.
Though it was safe, Thomas still hesitated to drink it.
Allen wasn’t offended — he expected that much from him.

“I wanted a bit of freedom, away from the Empress Dowager’s eyes.
But in the end, this place became another prison she created.
It’ll cause problems for our plan.”

Thomas sighed and downed the tonic like it was liquor.
Valentin turned to look out the window — night had fully fallen.

“My lord, the thing we feared is happening.”

“Then it seems I really do need a wife —
someone to kick these rats out with her own feet.”

“But what noble lady would agree to this?
If we bring in someone weak or stupid, it’ll only make things worse.”

Allen pulled out his own bottle.
They both probably wished they had real alcohol instead.

“Does she have to be a noble?”

“What?”

Thomas blinked as Valentin’s lips stretched into a wide grin.
It was a pleasant smile, but it still gave both Thomas and Allen chills.
That smile usually meant he was about to do something outrageous.

“We need a woman who’s strong and capable.
Someone who knows her worth, gives her best, and is smart.”

“Well, that’s true…”

Suddenly, Valentin burst out laughing.
At moments like this, Allen and Thomas truly wondered
if he really was insane.
Though honestly, he had seemed mad from the very start —
mad because he had to survive.

“Allen, didn’t you say Persona contacted us about their payment?”

“Yes. Looks like that female mercenary finally woke up.”

“She woke up quicker than I expected.”

“She must be a really tough woman.”

Valentin touched the cut on his arm — the one he made himself.
It still stung. The wound hadn’t fully healed yet.

“Then tell them to come collect it themselves.”

Normally, she would’ve spent the morning reading or training,
but today Regina was at the guild infirmary, checking on her injured members.

Of course, her real goal was to give a few knocks
to the guys who decided to hold a push-up contest while still recovering.

“Ow! That really hurt!”

“You’re in a treatment ward.
Didn’t I tell you to stay quiet and rest?”

The mercenary she had just smacked mumbled complaints about her heavy hand.
A healer, watching from outside, quickly stepped in.

“Excuse me, are you their guardian?”

“Yes, I am.”

“They’re all patients! Why are they acting like angry bulls?
Please tell them to rest properly!”

Oh boy. Regina had expected complaints,
but the healer looked so tired she couldn’t help but sigh.

“Last time, one of them said they felt heavy
and started running around the backyard like a monkey.
Of course your body feels heavy when you have a fever!
If it gets worse, you might die!
You’ll meet the gods sooner than expected! Please, I’m begging you — just stay in bed!”

“…I’ll make sure they listen.”

How many times had she scolded them without effect?
The healer looked at her like she was some kind of savior.
Even as he left, he kept muttering, “Absolute rest, absolute rest…”

“You guys.”

The men looked away, sweating nervously,
unable to meet her angry eyes.

Maybe their hospital stay was about to get longer.

“M-Miss, I heard you were poisoned too…
And injured… You really shouldn’t be walking around, should you?”

“Yeah, he’s right.”

“Do you want to get hit?”

Why did they always ask for it?
Regina raised her fist again.
That was enough to make them freeze.

“The poison’s gone. My blood’s clean.”

“Still, who were those assassin bastards anyway?”

The mercenaries who had been laughing
suddenly went quiet and serious at that one question.
One even clenched his teeth.

The mood turned tense in an instant.
Even the healer who had come back to nag them again quietly left the room.

“She saved our lady. We owe them payback.”

“She’s got a scar on her shoulder.
I say we take one of their arms in return.”

“Easy. She’s alive and the mission succeeded. That’s what matters.”

Regina pushed Shanro, the squad leader who looked ready to bolt,
back onto the bed.

She was strong — strong enough to carry a grown woman on one shoulder.
Even so, Shanro didn’t fight back.

“But Miss, the captain ran off with the vault again, right?”

The mercenaries burst out laughing.
They had expected nothing less.

Regina clenched her jaw and accidentally squeezed Shanro’s shoulder hard.

“Ow! That hurts!”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m just mad.”

Shanro looked at her with a pained expression,
but then noticed the sadness hiding in her eyes.