“Well, it’s from a country without many surviving historical records, so I don’t remember clearly.”
As if Joseon Dynasty records would exist here.
“For the construction company to build it properly, they would have needed accurate blueprints. How did you draw those?”
Well, you see. Although I wasn’t a patent attorney or specification writer, I looked at blueprints every day at the patent office.
Marie obviously couldn’t say that.
Not only was she familiar with blueprints, but she was also quite skilled with her hands and could draw reasonably well.
As she averted her gaze, wondering what excuse to make next, she heard a terrified Gretel calling for her from outside.
“Miss! Miss!”
Marie quickly opened the kitchen door and ran out toward that voice that seemed like a savior.
“What’s wrong, Gretel? Were you looking for me?”
“There’s a fire in here!”
They were supposed to start with a strong fire in the furnace and then adjust it later, but Marie had become distracted while talking with Hans and unconsciously added more firewood.
“Does this thing actually work?”
Hans opened the door to his bedroom, as if he couldn’t believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.
For some reason, the room was indeed sweltering hot.
He sat on the floor and jumped up with a start.
“Ouch, it’s hot!”
“Hans, is your room hot too? I told you it seems like there’s a fire!”
Gretel stomped her feet anxiously with a worried expression.
Hans came out of the room and couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
In this place where fireplaces and thick blankets were the only means of heating, this was truly an innovative and groundbreaking item.
Marie might have thought she had smoothly evaded his questions earlier, but Hans’s suspicions hadn’t disappeared.
The claim that she had picked things up from her father didn’t make sense.
Hans knew well that their father-daughter relationship wasn’t particularly close.
Would Baron Klein have allowed her, who supposedly only ate humble pie at the baronial residence, to attend business-related meetings?
All her seemingly clumsy and naive behavior must be an act.
Marie had always spoken like an old person who had seen everything in the world, even from a young age.
Though he didn’t know she had memories of her past life, totaling nearly fifty years of experience, Hans vaguely sensed it.
That Marie was somehow different from ordinary people.
“I’ll lower the fire a bit. Since it’s not a boiler, I can’t reduce the heat immediately, but if I almost extinguish it, the warmth will gradually dissipate.”
“Boil-what? What’s that, Miss?”
“It would take a long time to explain, but simply put, it’s the principle of warming the floor by lighting a fire in the furnace.”
“What? So there’s a fire under the floor? Isn’t that too dangerous?”
Gretel exclaimed dramatically.
As far as she knew, this house was Marie’s only asset.
If the house burned down in a fire, they would truly end up on the streets.
“No, the fire is only in the furnace, and only the heat travels through passages under the room. The smoke escapes through the chimney.”
“I don’t quite understand, but you’re saying it’s safe, right?”
“Yes. As long as the house doesn’t catch fire, it’s safe.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m joking, just joking!”
Marie quickly stopped teasing when she saw Gretel’s face turn pale.
The Valdek Empire, seemingly modeled after Russia, was counted among the countries with quite cold weather.
Especially after summer ended, the nights would suddenly become much colder.
Noble mansions like the Klein baronial residence were relatively well-insulated, but in rural houses like this one, drafts were inevitable.
Marie, who was well-versed in death flags involving freezing to death, had installed ondol in all rooms to ensure they could stay warm while living here.
The reason all bedrooms were on the first floor rather than the second was precisely because of the ondol system.
The ondol stones were too heavy to place on the second floor, and even if a two-story structure were possible, the blueprints would become more complicated.
Although multi-level houses were common during the Goryeo Dynasty and early Joseon period, single-story houses became popular after ondol heating became widespread.
“Anyway, don’t worry and go back to bed.”
Marie adjusted the furnace fire to a lower setting and pushed Gretel by the waist from behind, as if playing train.
“Since I’m already awake, I’ll help you unpack the luggage in your room.”
“I’m going to bed now too. I was planning to unpack tomorrow.”
Eventually, Gretel reluctantly returned to her room under Marie’s insistence.
Thanks to briefly opening the bedroom window for ventilation, the furnace-like temperature of the room balanced nicely with the cool air.
Marie smiled with satisfaction as she watched Gretel close the window and get into bed contentedly.
She felt someone staring at her as she closed the door.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
At her words, Hans, who was significantly taller, leaned forward.
The movement brought his face suddenly close to Marie’s.
‘Surely he’s not thinking what I think he is?’
In romance novels, movies, and dramas, when the male lead approaches the female lead so abruptly, she typically assumes it’s time for a kiss and closes her eyes.
Ugh, so predictable.
She had laughed so many times at these clichés when watching embarrassed female leads who had misunderstood the situation.
But familiar things taste best. Despite being predictable, she had always watched these scenes with a smile while munching on snacks.
Yet now, finding herself in the same situation, Marie unconsciously squeezed her eyes shut.
Just then, something lightly tapped her prominent nose bridge.
She immediately snapped her eyes open.
The corners of Hans’s mouth curved up gently before he burst into laughter.
“What are you walking around with all over your face?”
“What?”
“You’re quite the ash-covered Miss.”
Hans flashed a captivating smile that could bewitch anyone, then retreated to his bedroom.
Flustered, Marie only released her held breath after he had disappeared.
“Huh……”
‘When did he grow up like this?’
When they first met, Hans was just an eight-year-old child.
Though they were called friends, she had found him as adorable as a child in a parenting story.
That child had now grown into the male lead who had made Marie’s heart flutter when she read “Dear Prince.”
‘Well, anyone would be startled if someone that handsome suddenly approached them.’
She thought he had grown up quite well.
Marie was what you’d call a “female lead stan” when reading romance novels, always taking the heroine’s side.
So she always thought of male leads like they were her sons-in-law.
Therefore, unlike other transmigrators, she would never fall in love with Hans.
“You’re quite the ash-covered Miss.”
Marie had absolutely no intention of becoming Cinderella.
She simply wanted to live comfortably as a “wealthy unemployed person,” enjoying life with a windfall fortune and unearned income.
‘I absolutely hate complicated things like politics.’
When reading romance fantasy novels, she would skip political parts using her diagonal reading technique.
If someone who had carefully read all the political intrigue parts had transmigrated, they might have been able to create satisfying revenge scenarios, but Marie was ignorant in that field.
What help could a tiny extra character and commoner like her provide anyway?
She hadn’t even worked for a company large enough to have office politics in her previous life.
Anyway, her current job was to do her best to support the male lead.
Hans was a good kid, so he would definitely become a grateful magpie and bring back a seed.
The Valdek Empire was a constitutional monarchy but still a class-based society.
How much easier would life be with the imperial family as your backing?
“Mmm, how can I be so smart……”
Marie pressed her forehead with one hand and shook her head, admiring her perfect plan.
‘Finally, a day in the sun is coming to my life.’
No, sunshine was nothing.
The seed that the grateful prince would bring would surely be a jackpot!
※※※
Hans woke to loud noises coming from early morning.
With half-open eyes, he entered the kitchen to find Marie, wearing a headscarf and apron, busily cooking with her back to him.
“Marie……?”
“Oh, Hans, you’re awake?”
“What are you doing?”
“Everyone’s sick. The help won’t arrive until later.”
“So you’re making breakfast?”
“Yes. Oatmeal porridge for the patients and breakfast for us. I happened to have some pasta from the baronial residence, so I made a simple pasta dish. Is that okay?”
“Do you really know how to cook?”
Hans looked thoroughly unconvinced.
In noble households, it was common to employ at least one professional chef.
Consequently, most nobles, regardless of gender, had never cooked in their lives unless it was a special hobby.
Marie had been a self-proclaimed cooking expert from her long years of living alone in her previous life.
She hadn’t spent much time in the kitchen while living here, so she was slightly unsure of herself, but surprisingly, her hands remembered everything.
“Of course. I’ve studied various recipes from cookbooks and practiced occasionally at the baronial residence. Ah, just a moment.”
She tasted the oil sauce with chopsticks.
It seemed her cooking skills hadn’t changed.
Satisfied, Marie shooed Hans out of the kitchen.
“Go wash up and sit at the table. I’ll bring it right out.”
Hans had no choice but to follow her instructions.
Shortly after, Marie emerged carrying a pan of oil pasta and placed it on the table.
Pasta with oil for breakfast.
Looking at the noodles on his plate, Hans felt somewhat intimidated but picked up his fork out of consideration for her effort.
After taking one bite, his eyes suddenly turned red.
