TNCFO 45

~Chapter 45~

She looked at Mia as if she had heard something strange.

“‘You’re cherished’?”

Mia almost blurted out a rebuttal, but she swallowed her words as she became confused. Shariette had just realized that the term “cherished” had been mostly used in the context of Lady Blanche.

For reference, in Lady Blanche’s world, “cherished” meant something like “extracted all the useful parts and then preserved the rest as a collection.”

Mia quickly waved both her hands and added, “It’s not that kind of ‘cherished’—just the normal kind!”

“The normal kind?” Shariette mumbled, almost to herself rather than asking a question.

She could understand what Mia was trying to say. These people were very different from the Argen family.

In the Argen family, she was a useful resource, but she couldn’t pretend to be a person in the same way.

Here, they sat together at the table, eating meals, drinking tea, and engaging in conversations. It was strange, fascinating, unfamiliar, and full of surprises.

It was hard to define, but the important thing was that observing, learning, and imitating this new way of living felt warm and, surprisingly, not bad at all.

Just as when she looked at the glimmering things stacked together, it gave her a sense of security.

“Well, but Shariette,” Mia said carefully.

The girl’s gaze was focused on the ring on Shariette’s finger, which was quite noticeable.

The red gemstone on the ring seemed to shout, “I’m connected to the Rubellot family!”

“What’s that ring?” Mia asked.

Shariette clenched and unclenched her left hand and answered.

“Noxian Rubellot gave it to me as a reward, like a bonus. It’s a holy relic, so it feels a bit odd, but I’ll keep it. It’s like having an extra life.”

She rambled on in an attempt to explain, but she didn’t mention how beautiful the ring made her feel.

‘If someone hears this, they’ll think I stole something valuable from someone else’s house.’

She didn’t mind being mistaken for a liar, but she definitely didn’t want to be misunderstood as a thief!

“Oh, I see. A reward… a holy relic from the Rubellot family as a bonus…”

Mia tried to respond calmly. It was clear now that the term “cherished” in this case made perfect sense.

Sure, she had saved the Duchess and the young lady, so she could definitely be treated like this, but something still felt off.

‘…It’s okay, right? She hasn’t been found out yet, has she?’

Mia nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

When she had been called by the young duke, Mia had specifically told him that Shariette was not “Shasha.” The young duke hadn’t said much in response, but he looked disappointed.

‘Oh, if she’d been found out, I’d be the one called in to answer for lying!’

But something still felt… uneasy.

Her intuition as a maid, one who had worked for top noble families and had years of experience, was tingling.

Mia looked at the ring again with its faint red glow.

‘It’s supposed to be a holy relic, but it looks so ominous…’

To Mia, the ring didn’t seem shiny at all. Instead, it gave off an unsettling vibe.

‘Is Shariette okay? Well, she’s always been a bit clueless about things.’

But if she kept wearing that ring, she would definitely appear to be part of the Rubellot family, no doubt about it.

And Mia’s instincts weren’t wrong.

A few days later…

“I need some materials related to the young duke’s treatment. May I go into the study? I won’t make a mess or steal anything,” Shariette asked as she approached the Duke.

The remnants of the past, the loose ends, had all disappeared now.

From the looks of things, people who acted as though they were about to cry because someone had barely survived death had also quieted down.

Shariette reminded herself of the purpose for being here in the first place.

Her goal was to solve the curse on Noxian Rubellot and escape.

She called it “settling the score.”

For now, her sleep-inducing medication had solved the insomnia issue, but the root cause hadn’t been dealt with yet.

She needed to research Eilard, the origin of the curse, and the relationship with Rubenscher to understand things better. She was hoping to dig through some literature.

“You don’t need my permission. Miss Verdette, there’s no place you can’t go in this manor,” the Duke said without question, readily granting her access.

Shariette was a little surprised by how easily he agreed.

“Are you not worried I’ll steal something?” she asked.

“Oh? So, you’ve finally found something you want? If you like it, take it,” he replied casually.

“….”

Shariette gave up on reasoning with the Duke.

‘Rich people are all the same.’

She stopped trying to argue about security with someone who couldn’t be reasoned with.

Actually, it was mostly Noxian who made her reconsider her intentions.

He had been acting strange lately.

Well, he was always a bit odd, but lately, he was acting even stranger.

For example—

“You still like books, huh?”

The voice that suddenly appeared behind her didn’t surprise her anymore.

This man had been showing up everywhere she went, saying strange things.

“Did you find any useful old books?”

“Not really. You’ve probably already looked through everything here,” Shariette answered, casually.

“If it were you, you’d probably approach it from a new perspective,” Noxian said.

He reached above Shariette’s head, and even though she pretended to reach for it, he easily pulled out a heavy book.

—Is what the sanctuary offers a blessing or a curse?

The cover seemed to be more important than the content, with gold borders on each corner, which made up a third of the book’s weight.

“I never said I liked books,” Shariette said, taking the book into her arms.

It wasn’t until then that she realized something odd.

“…‘Still like them’?” she murmured to herself.

A chill ran down her spine for a moment, but Noxian didn’t seem to care and casually replied, “Wasn’t your hobby memorizing books in their entirety?”

Ah, so that’s what he meant. Shariette relaxed and responded, “It’s not a hobby, it’s a skill.”

Noxian, who had been watching her expression closely, smiled slightly.

“Right, I’ll correct myself. It’s not that you like them, you’re more like a devoted follower.”

“What’s your basis for that?” Shariette asked, confused.

“You find everything in books. You search, read, memorize. Just earlier, you were buried in those papers for over three hours without noticing anyone had arrived.”

It was quite amusing to watch her absorbed in reading, lost in the words.

“I’m not a follower,” Shariette immediately disagreed, but she knew her response lacked confidence.

He was right. No, he was exactly right.

During her years in the Argen mansion, books were her only way of understanding the world.

Shariette had read every book she could get her hands on in the Argen family library.

The books she was allowed to read were mostly related to skills development or ones considered useless by their standards.

Occasionally, Blanche would toss her a book to read and ask her to summarize it, which was a rare stroke of luck.

So, once again, Shariette had come straight to the study.

‘But how does he know that?’ she wondered, scanning the room cautiously.

Noxian wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. He was looking at the books around them.

There were books on all sorts of topics—sacred relics, magic, herbs, and artifacts—but there were some odd ones mixed in.

For instance—

—Introduction to the History of the Eilard Kingdom: Focusing on the Transformation of Caldeon

‘She must have never lived outside of Argen Castle,’ Noxian thought.

Shariette had diligently tried to learn all she could about this new capital, and this book reflected that effort.

—Beginner’s Guide to Interior Design (1): How to Decorate Your Own Room!

‘This is kind of cute.’

Noxian recalled Shariette standing hesitantly in the hallway when she first came to the mansion, unsure about entering her own room.

‘She never expected to be given a room other than a laboratory.’

‘A civilized person would want their workspace and living space separate.’

‘What an improvement.’

Looking back, it was almost like fate that the room he had prepared for “Shasha” had ended up being given to Shariette.

In the end, it had returned to its rightful owner.

Noxian smiled to himself as he continued to browse the rest of the books.

Then, he paused when he saw another one.

—Ask the Flowers! A Dictionary of Flower Meanings in Love and Friendship

‘Flower meanings? Why is this here?’

Wait, what? Friendship and love?

He remembered the lily-of-the-valley Shariette had given him during his illness.

She had told him it was a “flower that brings happiness.”

‘This practical woman didn’t look up flower meanings herself.’

So she must have learned it from someone else, just like how she had learned that “flowers = hospital visits” from Josef.

Noxian’s eyes narrowed.