Chapter 6 …
“Seems like there are a bit fewer decent candidates this time.”
Robin, the butler, who was listening to the report from the shadow, spoke in a disappointed tone.
“It’s not like we can always get talented individuals every time.”
“That’s true. Should I contact the academy and ask them to recommend more?”
“Not yet. We still have the existing personnel.”
“Understood. You remember there’s a party tomorrow, right?”
“I’m not going.”
“The young lady said you absolutely must attend as her partner. She said if you skip it because of an important trading guest, she won’t forgive you.”
“Why on earth does Gloria refuse to bring her fiancé??”
Karl sighed and put down his pen as he looked over the documents. His younger sister, despite having a fiancé, always dragged him to important parties. He also had to keep an eye on whatever schemes the Empress might be plotting, and now he had to wander around a party hall—it was deeply bothersome.
“I heard she said there’s no one better than the young master for publicity, and she plans to dress you in the newly released accessories for promotion.”
At Robin’s words, Karl’s face crumpled.
“Can’t she use her fiancé for that kind of thing? Yusta is handsome too. Why drag me when I’m busy? Ha… fine, I am handsome. There’s no one who can replace me.”
“You’re not being serious, are you?”
Seeing the young master sweep his hair back as if this was unavoidable, Robin stuck out his tongue with a disgusted sound.
“It’s not seriousness—it’s truth. The cufflinks I wore last time sold out in a single day.”
“Yes, yes. You’re a great help to the merchant guild, young master. Please complete your mission tomorrow as well.”
Ignoring Robin’s sarcasm, Karl rested his chin on his hand.
“If I wore rags, wouldn’t they still sell out?”
“Yes, yes. People would be so mesmerized they’d place orders immediately.”
Robin replied flatly.
“Everyone’s so concerned about your marriage. You should probably start looking for a partner.”
“If there’s no one I like, I’ll just pick an appropriate noble house.”
“The young lady of that ‘appropriate house’ would basically be using up all her lifetime luck.”
“Whether it’s luck or misfortune, who knows.”
Karl wondered whether a marriage without love could truly be happiness. His parents had an arranged marriage, yet they had fallen in love at first sight—he wasn’t sure if he could ever experience something like that.
“In five years, you’ll be twenty-six. Do you really think any noble house will still propose?”
“They will. You’re the empire’s best man. There’ll be more, not fewer. Power, wealth, looks—you lack nothing. Robin, I think my parents did a little too good a job raising me.”
At Karl’s words, Robin’s face twisted. It looked like he had chewed on bitter tea leaves. Thinking further conversation would be exhausting, he declared an end to it.
“Please just work.”
“How cold.”
“Yes, yes.”
Robin focused on the documents, then suddenly looked up as if wronged.
“Am I seriously supposed to handle paperwork too? I’m just a butler.”
“The administrative officers are doing paperwork too right now.”
“They’re supposed to—that’s their job.”
“This is yours too.”
“No it’s not! I’m a butler—I’m only supposed to assist you!”
“You are assisting me. This is that.”
“This is not assistance, it’s dumping your work on me. Salary! Please raise my salary!”
“We have such a close relationship. You shouldn’t say things like that.”
Karl said, his violet eyes shimmering. Robin held his head.
There it was again—the young master’s beauty attack.
“We’re just master and butler. I’ll be expecting extra pay and bonuses.”
Robin pushed his glasses up and spoke coldly, and Karl eventually burst into laughter.
One month later.
“Peeuung, bang, bang, paaaang!”
Ilena had completely adapted to Ruin’s alarm that rang every morning. She always woke up before it, stretched, washed up, and came out first.
“Good morning, Ruin.”
“Uuuugh. Gooood morniiiiing. Haaahm.”
“You’ve been really busy lately, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. The lord and lady are coming back soon. It’s the start of a full cleaning war. The head butler is going all out—replacing furniture and even interior decorations.”
“Isn’t cleaning done by the maids?”
“We don’t do cleaning itself, but arranging items and small adjustments all pass through us. Hansun is extremely meticulous—if anything is even slightly off, it’s redo, redo, redo.”
Ruin groaned as she rolled around in bed.
“Ruin, training starts soon. If you don’t get ready now, we’ll be late.”
Ilena checked the clock and urged her. The two quickly left the room.
“I know, I know, I knooow! This damn training!”
Ruin screamed in resentment as she ran, and Ilena couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re definitely getting fitter, aren’t you?”
“Yes, definitely.”
Ilena answered as if indifferent, though her stamina had always been good. The duke’s household training program was far too well-structured for something meant for servants. It was so efficient that it wasn’t inferior to her previous training.
“Before I came here, I was a quiet, proper noble lady from a baron’s house.”
Ruin spoke while placing a hand demurely over her mouth, making nearby servants struggle to hold back laughter. She had never once been a “quiet noble lady.”
“If my father hadn’t messed up investing in business, I wouldn’t have ended up as a maid here.”
Ruin insisted that before joining the duke’s household, she had never even lifted anything heavy. She tried to show how thin her arms were, only to burst into tears looking at her now muscular forearms.
“Now I can lift flowerpots bigger than me. I can just lift them! Ilena, does that make any sense? I’ve even gained muscles because of daily training!”
She said both maids and servants were full of energy now. Even though they worked so hard, they were somehow too lively, and while they liked being healthy, they also wanted to cry about it.
A voice that was impossible to tell whether it was suffering or joy echoed through the training ground.
“Whoa, Ruin. Calm down. You used to like the fact you didn’t gain weight no matter how much you ate.”
“That’s exactly the problem—it’s too much if they make us work so hard we can’t gain weight.”
Ruin snorted.
“Good morning.”
“Yes, did you sleep well?”
Greetings flew around the training grounds from all directions, mixed with groans.
“Ugh, I wish I got afternoon training instead.”
“They rotate every three months.”
“There are still two months left. I hate waking up early.”
“I think morning is better. Training, showering, then going back out in one go feels more annoying otherwise.”
“But the break in the middle is actually nice.”
While they chatted, the knights in charge of servant training checked attendance and began the session.
“Ilena, your posture is excellent.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s your first month, right?”
“Yes.”
The knight praised Ilena as she did push-ups. She answered while pretending to struggle as she lifted herself slowly. She felt her chest muscles tighten as she engaged them. Even though her pace was slow, increasing intensity made the training effective.
“From tomorrow, we’ll start basic swordsmanship alongside physical training.”
“Already?”
“Of course. You’ve done a month of conditioning, so it’s time to begin fundamentals.”
At the word “swordsmanship,” Ilena lowered her head, hiding her grin.
Finally—she would be able to hold a sword again.
Since arriving in the capital, she hadn’t properly held one. She had left her sword behind because she hadn’t intended to become a knight, and she had even written in her application that she couldn’t use one. Occasionally, she only swung a wooden stick alone in the annex office.
“Seventy. Huff.”
She collapsed onto the ground as if she had barely finished seventy reps.
“Still, seventy already? That’s impressive.”
Ruin, swinging a wooden sword beside her, spoke while looking at Ilena.
“Haaah… is that really impressive?”
“Of course. When I first came here, I probably couldn’t even do twenty in a month.”
“But now you can easily do a hundred, right?”
Ilena asked in surprise.
Wait—was I supposed to act worse? I was already pretending to struggle while doing a little. If I went any slower, it wouldn’t be effective training.
“This is the power of the duke’s household training. It turns delicate ladies into iron-bodied warriors.”
“Hahaha.”
The knight listening to them laughed.
“Ruin was actually more fit than most people even then. She wasn’t exactly delicate—I saw it myself.”
“Oh my, sir knight. That could be misunderstood.”
“Well then, let’s say she was a fragile but sturdy young lady. Ilena, do fifty more sit-ups.”
“Huff. Yes!”
The knight continued teasing Ruin while assigning Ilena her next exercise. Ilena moved her body leisurely while listening to their conversation.
“Wow, her form is seriously perfect.”
“Even I think so.”
“Like textbook training posture.”
“I’d want to show her to knight trainees.”
The two continued chatting as Ilena slowly performed sit-ups. They were making a fuss, saying her form was exemplary enough to be in a manual.
“Alright, Ilena, ten left. Ruin, just fifty more swings.”
“Ugh.”
“Gghhh.”
Strange groans escaped both Ilena and Ruin. All around them, similar cries echoed from the other servants. The knights smiled warmly as they rigorously trained them.
The process of ordinary people entering and building healthy bodies gave them a sense of fulfillment. Some even discovered talent and joined the knight order. That was why the knights trained them with such dedication.
This wasn’t just servant training—administrative officers and recruitment instructors were also included. They protested at first, asking why they had to train when they weren’t knights, but eventually complied in front of high salaries.
Many of them had weak bodies from sitting at desks all day, but as they trained, they could not deny the transformation. The administrators called it a miracle of money—turning bodies into tools for work earned both praise and resentment.
“Good work today.”
As Ruin and Ilena staggered back toward their quarters, a stunningly beautiful maid—so beautiful it made them instinctively turn their heads—waved at them.
