ITMHM 09

Chapter: 09

“Hm?”

This was a problem. Did servants of a ducal household really have to learn high society etiquette as well?

Suppressing my slight tension, I answered calmly.

“No. Nothing like that at all.”

Sir Fret frowned slightly and stared at me. It seemed that learning noble etiquette really was expected.

I stood there, tense, waiting for him to speak. But the answer I got was unexpected.

“I simply assumed you had already learned it.”

“Pardon? What do you mean…?”

I blinked in confusion. Sir Fret held out a contract stamped with the ducal seal and said,

“Your way of walking, your manner of speaking, and your everyday etiquette—where did you learn them?”

At that point, I had no idea why he was asking such a question, so I took the contract and answered as if it were obvious.

“My father taught me.”

The crease between Sir Fret’s brows deepened.

So his warm expression could change like that. I found it strangely surprising as he asked another question.

“Did your father, by any chance, have connections with high society?”

“No, not at all.”

I shook my head lightly.

If anything, he had avoided getting involved with nobles as much as possible.

Forcing myself to dig through fading memories, I continued,

“Oh, when I was young, a certain noble lady would visit occasionally. But that was all. My father was an entirely ordinary man… Why do you ask?”

“Because your etiquette is unusually perfect—almost like that of a noble.”

“…What?”

I tried for a while to understand what he meant, then burst out laughing and waved my hand dismissively.

“That can’t be. I’ve never even brushed hands with nobles.”

Well, aside from recently meeting your superior a few times. I added inwardly with a hint of playfulness.

“I see…”

Sir Fret tilted his head slightly.

“You never know. Perhaps your father knew the etiquette of high society.”

“That could be.”

Seeing how puzzled he looked, I offered a vague agreement. His attitude softened immediately.

“Of course, it could simply be that my judgment is lacking.”

“In any case, since you say it isn’t so, I won’t ask further.”

With a gentle smile, Sir Fret escorted me out.

Crossing the courtyard surrounded by multiple buildings, we finally reached the main gate.

It’s absurdly large.

After glancing around the massive estate that couldn’t be taken in at once, I secretly clicked my tongue and asked,

“By the way, is there no need to go to the other annexes? It’s just that no one has given me a separate tour.”

Sir Fret stared at me, so I quickly added as if making an excuse. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to ask that.

Fortunately, he answered right away.

“You may access most areas. However, aside from the main building, I would prefer that you refrain from entering other places unless given specific instructions.”

“Understood. Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Sir Fret. Thank you for today.”

I finished my greeting and was about to step past the main gate when—

“Ah.”

Sir Fret called out to stop me.

“I believe someone as perceptive as you will follow my request well, but…”

His voice was as gentle as ever, yet somehow carried a chill.

“No matter what happens, you must not set foot in the basement of the western annex.”

It sounded like a warning.

A week had already passed since I started working at the Schultz Ducal House.

The excitement of my first day had long since faded.

“Ha…”

Sitting at my desk, I let out deep sighs as I gazed at the dry, brittle lawn outside. Servants bustled busily across it.

‘I should’ve just asked for physical labor instead.’

That would have been far more comfortable than this.

But when the Duke of Schultz offered me the position, I had been too overwhelmed to make demands. Nor did I have the audacity to ask anything of him.

All I had thought was that I would do my best at whatever work I was given.

‘I didn’t think it would really be just document sorting…’

I glared at the stacks of papers I had finished organizing long ago.

Every time they rustled in the breeze slipping through the window, it felt like they were mocking me.

In short—I was bored out of my mind.

The work assigned to me at the ducal house was extremely minimal.

I simply sat in my assigned office and sorted documents by date. It wasn’t difficult at all—nothing like what Sir Fret had implied.

During my pharmaceutical studies, I had handled far more paperwork, so this was effortless.

Because of that, my reputation among the servants was terrible.

On my first day, while leisurely drinking tea by the window, I made eye contact with one of them.

“Miss Prim seems very much like a noble lady.”

In other words, they were saying I had it easy—that it didn’t suit someone of my station.

And that wasn’t all.

“You even have your own private office.”

I was the only one assigned a private office. When I found that out, I had been extremely flustered.

I even tried several times to help the other servants, feeling embarrassed to receive such high wages for so little work.

But every time, I got the same response.

“No, we couldn’t possibly burden you with such labor, Miss Prim. Of course not.”

Their voices were sharp, yet their attitudes were impeccably polite, making it hard at first to tell whether they were sincere.

Before long, I painfully realized they had completely excluded me.

“Someone like us couldn’t possibly dine with Miss Prim. Please, go ahead.”

Naturally, they didn’t include me during meals or breaks either.

I hadn’t expected deep bonds like those who shared rooms, but I had at least hoped for some level of friendliness.

Though my father had given me love and kindness, he had never allowed me to grow close to others.

“Ha…”

Watching the servants playfully tossing around a straw laundry basket, my expression stiffened slightly.

They noticed me and their faces immediately turned cold.

I stood up and drew the curtains. The fabric felt unusually rough under my fingertips.

Their behavior wasn’t exactly bullying. Honestly, I would have felt the same in their place.

It was understandable.

Receiving the same pay while doing vastly different work—it couldn’t sit well with them.

And on top of that, even Sir Fret continued to treat me with excessive politeness.

I had asked him several times to be more casual, but his answer never changed.

“I’m used to this. It’s more comfortable for me this way.”

With that ever-present smile, he said it so naturally that I eventually gave up insisting.

At this point, there was only one way for me to work comfortably in this estate.

I released the curtain.

I wasn’t sure if a mere servant could just go see the master, but it seemed best to meet the Duke of Schultz first.

Meeting the Duke of Schultz wasn’t particularly difficult. When I asked Sir Fret, he readily agreed to relay the request.

As I opened the door at the end of a long corridor, the faint, bitter scent of tobacco—like the one at my father’s funeral—tickled my nose.

Tapestries hung along the arched walls.

“You asked to see me. Is there a problem?”

A smooth voice flowed from behind an ash wood desk in the center.

I stared at the man before me as he folded his newspaper and looked up.

It had been a while since I last saw him, but the Duke of Schultz looked sharper than I remembered.

Perhaps it was because he had helped me back then, but he hadn’t seemed this cold before.

His face, bearing the strict discipline characteristic of the Dochilia navy, was expressionless yet faintly tinged with boredom—and oddly captivating.

Because of that, I found myself more stiff than before when facing him.

Now that he was my employer, it was only natural to be even more formal.

The Duke straightened slightly in his chair.

“I’ve heard from Fret that you’re doing your work well.”

Meeting his gaze made my palms grow damp. Trying not to show my nerves, I straightened my back and spoke.

“The problem is that there isn’t enough work.”

“That is a problem?”

His brow furrowed. I nodded.

“The workload is far too little compared to the salary I receive. I have an obligation to work more. That’s the problem.”

A faint crack appeared in his expression. His eyebrow lifted.

“Obligation?”

He rolled the word on his tongue as if tasting it. Slightly intimidated, I continued.

“I came here as a servant. To be honest, it’s uncomfortable. The other servants don’t look at me kindly either.”

“……”

“And to be frank, these days my head is filled with thoughts like, ‘What will they say today?’ Even after I go home, I feel uneasy the entire time.”

That was the truth.

I had to work in the afternoons too, and I often lost my appetite from worrying about others’ eyes—despite it having been only a week.

I let out a quiet sigh.

“Surely the Duke of Muisen wouldn’t go so far as to deliberately give me special treatment just to ease my grief.”

Without noticing how his expression was changing, I added,

“Besides, Sir Fret treats me like a superior, which is also very uncomfortable.”

A faint scoff slipped from his lips, cutting me off.

Only then did I look at him properly.

He rested his chin on his interlocked fingers.

His blue eyes slowly traveled—from my dark green dress embroidered with white thread, to my gray silk stockings, and down to the tips of my neat shoes.

His tightly closed lips finally parted.