Chapter 10
Unexpectedly, Vasilisa did not explode in anger. Instead, he replied in a slow voice, as if suppressing his temper.
“……How hurtful. Why are you being so cold?”
“There’s no reason for me to be kind. I’m not a goldfish—I clearly remember that you almost killed me earlier.”
At my firm reply, Vasilisa let out a scoff of disbelief.
“Hey now, that’s unfair. You’re the one who suddenly started bleeding from your nose and fainted.”
“Ugh.”
That hit a nerve. It’s because your very existence is hazardous! I faint just from being startled!
Carefully glancing around, I spotted Sasha watching anxiously and my mother smiling as if this were amusing.
‘Gasp.’
My face slowly flushed. Since when had they been watching?
I wanted to jump up and throw myself into my mother’s arms, but to do that I’d have to get past the damned Vasilisa in front of me.
Hey, move. Move.
I waved my hand at him, but the boy didn’t budge.
I glared at him and muttered irritably.
“Move.”
“Can’t.”
“What?”
“I said I can’t. There’s no servant who doesn’t know their master’s name.”
“…?”
What nonsense is he spouting? I had no idea why that foul-tempered Vasilisa was smiling like a blooming flower. He shrugged at my glare.
“I’ll be staying here from now on.”
It felt like my heart stopped with a dull thud.
I was pretty sure he’d just said something insane.
As I stared at him with my mouth slightly open, he smiled sweetly with his eyes.
“You’re my lady from now on, noona.”
“What?”
“Starting today, you’re my lady, and I’m your servant.”
“Are you actually crazy?”
It felt like lightning had struck from the sky.
A servant? Who? Him? Why?
I stared at him in round-eyed shock, and Vasilisa—shamelessly—smiled shyly. The sight was so startlingly adorable that chills ran down my spine.
“You’re happy, right? To have such a cute and charming servant like me.”
“……Do I look happy to you?”
“Of course.”
I could practically hear my sanity flying away.
Just looking at his snickering lips, I’d bet my entire fortune that this peanut-sized brat was mocking me.
Slowly, I looked at my mother. Her gently curved eyes conveyed her meaning clearly.
What is this, Mom? Why is he my servant?
You said to do as you wish, my daughter. Go on.
“A servant? You?”
Why would you lower yourself? I couldn’t say that. I absolutely couldn’t let slip that I knew who he was. That was clearly taboo.
Ugh, how frustrating!
“Yes, a servant.”
As I only rolled my eyes, he shrugged nonchalantly. He looked exactly like an innocent young boy. The sheer audacity of it made me want to curse. That Vasilisa—who knew he could act this brazenly and so well?
“Think of it simply. I destroyed your ridiculously expensive carriage, right? I promised your mother I’d repay that debt by repaying the favor. And I have circumstances that make it inconvenient to return right away.”
Even so, this wasn’t right.
I came to my senses and refused immediately.
“Just pay in money. I don’t need your body.”
“Really?”
Then Vasilisa raised an eyebrow and delivered an excellent threat.
He moved a finger and gouged a deep hole into the wall.
Crazy. Crazy!
Our mansion, old with history, had long ago been transformed into a war fortress using the lavish dowry my father brought when he married my mother.
So why was that wall peeling apart like soft tofu?
Vasilisa looked at my horrified face with a satisfied smile and lured me in with a fluttering, butterfly-like voice.
“My Tilet. You can’t buy this with money. Are you really going to throw away such a good opportunity?”
I hesitated for just a moment, staring at his curved purple eyes fixed intently on me.
It wasn’t that I coveted his Tilet.
It was far scarier to imagine such a terrifyingly powerful servant accidentally grabbing my arm too hard and snapping it in two.
“Are you going to have me? Or throw me away?”
“D-don’t say weird things.”
That wasn’t what worried me.
I was remembering what kind of person Vasilisa was.
‘A contrarian.’
The more you told him not to do something, the more he’d leap up and do it just to provoke you. He was persistent beyond reason.
If I told him to leave, he’d stay. If I told him to stay… would he leave?
Or would he get bored and go on his own?
My original plan had been to treat him secretly, away from my mother’s eyes, and then send him off.
‘Right. He was exactly that kind of personality. A twisted character who never listened to anyone except the heroine, Tesha.’
He’d surely get bored and leave.
Or the moment I agreed, he might turn around and disappear.
There was nothing here he would like. Vasilisa’s eternity, his cradle, his everything—where the heroine Tesha existed—was not here.
So—
I smiled inwardly in triumph.
“Then how long are you planning to do this?”
“I haven’t decided.”
Our territory was peaceful and quiet. The people were always lively and happy.
Exactly the kind of soft, fluffy atmosphere Vasilisa despised.
I made up my mind. If I told him to stay, he’d leave within a month.
And in the noble male lead’s mind, an extra like me would vanish without a trace, like mist.
After all, protagonists never get entangled with extras.
I’ll make you leave on your own.
“What are you hesitating for? You can’t hire someone like me even with money, noona.”
“……”
“Hurry up and take me. I’m starting to get bored.”
As expected, Vasilisa’s personality was rotten.
Every word was so irritating. He made it sound like I was the world’s biggest fool for not accepting something handed to me on a silver platter.
You bastard. It’s only because I know who you are that I can’t swallow this whole!
In the end, I nodded slowly with a reluctant expression.
“……Fine. There’s no reason to refuse someone who wants to work for free.”
“Now you’re talking.”
At my answer, Vasilisa’s eyes curved lazily like a well-fed lion’s—far too extravagant for his age.
For some reason, I swallowed dryly, feeling like a rabbit being chased.
Why did I feel so uneasy?
Why did I suddenly think of a cat staring at a passing mouse?
It must be my imagination. It has to be.
I’m not some plump little mouse.
He’ll leave soon anyway.
My daily life would surely return to normal.
As if nothing had happened.
As if meeting one of the male leads—Vasilisa—had been nothing more than a fleeting incident.
“I’m… Azalea. Azalea von den Tinya.”
At that moment, Vasilisa beamed.
Even knowing the truth, I felt momentarily dazed by that transparent, radiant smile.
What a terrifying boy.
He could already control his facial muscles so freely—what would he become when he grew up?
“So I’ve finally heard that expensive name.”
I almost wished I could take it back.
“Take care of me, noona.”
For a moment, I thought I heard the sound of something being hauled up from the water with a triumphant shout of “What a catch!”
But all I could do was stare uneasily at the boy smiling like some grinning goblin.
“Yeah. Take care.”
Stop going off track and hurry back to your place, male lead.
My pounding heart felt like a steep cliff calling out to me in rapid-fire rap:
“Welcome to hell!”
“Ahh. Why is my daughter so adorable?”
A trace of concern lingered in the man’s eyes as he watched the young boy and girl talking.
His daughter—so lovely she wouldn’t hurt even if placed in his eye—was always adorable and precious.
But he didn’t like what he was seeing.
The man, watching the small girl sitting in the garden and the pretty boy standing beside her, let out a sigh.
The window soon creaked shut.
The man—his translucent silver-blue eyes and brilliant platinum-blond hair shining like a radiant star—turned around and voiced his complaint.
“My dear. I really don’t like that boy.”
Rellte, father of Azalea and husband of the Duchess of Tinya, ruffled his hair roughly and frowned deeply.
He loved his wife dearly, but at this moment, he couldn’t understand her.
“Why put something like that beside our daughter?”
“Do you dislike him that much?”
The woman, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, pulled one corner of her lips up lazily in a smile.
It was a steady smile, as if telling him not to rush or grow anxious.
“Does he bother you that much?”
“Yeah. I can’t tell what that brat is thinking.”
“Do you think he’s the one from the rumors?”
At the question from his wife—Sinoa, head of the Tinya duchy and always his beloved—Rellte slowly nodded.
If he could, he would go down immediately and tear that ticking bomb away from his daughter’s side.
For now, the boy seemed interested in Azalea…
“Azalea’s body is too weak. If that brat misuses his strength even for a moment, something terrible could happen.”
Sinoa smiled calmly.
“Do you think I don’t know that? But if he really is the one we’ve heard about, you can set that worry aside, Relte. Those people will keep their promises no matter what.”
“Promises that can be broken with money, my dear.”
“Who would dare offer a large sum to harm my daughter?”
Sinoa smiled like a well-fed beast.
Even now, she was so stunning it made his heart race—but Relte forced himself to focus on worrying about his daughter.
It had been two days since the brat named Vasilisa had stuck to Azalea like gum as her servant.
Amazingly, not a single disturbance had occurred in the mansion.
Though he hated to admit it, that capable little brat was actually quite helpful to Azalea.
For example, in matters Azalea did not know—and should never have to know in the future.
