WHCP 34

Chapter 34

Mio and Rosa’s eyes simultaneously turned to one spot.

Thud!

The bag, which had been wobbling, toppled to one side. As its lock popped open, a red-furred fox squeezed through the gap and bounced out. Rosa shouted loudly.

“No wonder! The bag felt so heavy!”

Mio muttered in exasperation.

“Roy… you came all the way here?”

Roy whined and circled around Mio, as if blaming her for leaving him behind.

“I told you to wait patiently. If you had….”

She had tried to return as quickly as possible.

As she bent down and lifted Roy, she saw actual tears hanging from the corners of his eyes. Seeing that, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him to go back. Mio wiped the baby fox’s tears and thought:

‘Still, the fact that he doesn’t speak in human words shows the training wasn’t completely ineffective.’

Roy continued to make pitiful whining sounds but maintained his fox form until the end.

The most basic training Mio had done with the foxes was to maintain a single form while at Moro Mansion.

If they were human, they were to think only in human words; if in fox form, only in fox words. Perhaps Roy simply had a different approach that suited him better than Rosa.

Watching this, Rosa stepped forward unusually.

“Um, Master… Since he came all the way here, I’ll hide him safely in my room. If I share my portion of the food with him, no one will know Roy is here.”

Roy began to whine vigorously, as if agreeing. Mio put him down on the floor and let out a shallow sigh. It wasn’t just trusting the foxes—another worry had been added.

‘Alright. As long as they’re together, nothing should happen.’

Roy was a bit clumsy, but he wasn’t the type to seek out danger. Mio smiled wryly.

“Okay. I’ll tell everyone that I brought a fox with me, just in case. But that doesn’t mean you can run around everywhere, Roy. Got it?”

With permission granted, Roy excitedly started running around here and there. Mio spent some time watching his playful antics.

“The sun’s going down fast…”

Stepping out of the servants’ quarters, dusk was already falling. Jamie, who had been waiting outside, approached Mio.

“From tomorrow, Miss Rosa will start working in earnest, so today is the only chance for you to take care of Mio.”

Jamie joked, lamenting that the day was already almost over.

“Rosa still has a lot to learn. I’ll need your help a lot from now on, Jamie.”

Mio replied, joking that it might become troublesome, and Jamie smiled brightly.

“That’s good news.”

“By the way, regarding decorating the mansion, I’ve decided to handle it myself. I wanted to check if there’s a servant in charge to coordinate the budget and details.”

“I’ll tell Simon. He handles all financial matters.”

“Simon really is versatile…”

Jamie said admiringly. Simon handled everything from butler duties to chef responsibilities, and now even money management? An enviable talent.

“He’s the smartest among us. So far, it’s been possible because the Moro estate is small and there were only three of us working. But with more people joining… it won’t be possible for just the three of us, right?”

Jamie murmured seriously, then added regretfully:

“That’s why the Duke should hire more servants quickly. Wasting days worrying about hiring someone better… if we had already hired them, we wouldn’t just fire them immediately…”

Although Aletheia later canceled the plan due to worsening health, if there had already been people hired, she wouldn’t have let them go. Mio simply responded with an awkward smile.

‘I guess it’s better to stop worrying about the staff in this mansion…’

After all, once the safe issue is resolved, Mio and the foxes will leave anyway.

Returning to the main building, Mio spent a long time discussing the mansion’s budget with Simon in the drawing room. One thing became clear: Aletheia was wealthier than she had imagined.

‘Inherited wealth, rewards from the royal family for military service, and annual estate taxes…’

With little money being spent in Moro Mansion, the accumulated fortune was immense.

‘So this is what a materialistic mindset feels like.’

Mio had thought she wasn’t materialistic, but seeing the number of zeros made envy well up inside her.

‘Now I see why the Duke praised Duon’s wealth.’

She nodded to herself, realizing she had been worrying over nothing. There was no need to fret that Aletheia spent a little extravagantly.

Even the total cost of what she bought at Duon’s store wouldn’t have made a dent in his finances.

‘Anyway, it’s good that there’s no financial limit for decorating the mansion.’

Even though it wasn’t her mansion and the money wasn’t hers, she would decorate it with the most precious things in the world.

‘Who knows? If it becomes known that Moro Mansion is full of rare treasures, maybe some girl will want to marry Aletheia.’

That would solve the problem perfectly.

‘Aletheia gets a lover he truly loves, and I can leave without regrets after the story ends.’

Mio dreamily went upstairs. It was getting close to bedtime. Only then did she notice something strange—Jamie, looking extremely tense, was standing in front of the bathroom.

“Mio, it’s not much, but I prepared as best as I could. If anything’s missing, please tell me immediately. I’ll run and do whatever…”

Opening the door, Mio was greeted by the smell of oils and flowers filling a bathtub sprinkled with petals. Shocked, she slammed the door.

“W-What is this…?”

“Oh, come on. You know… today is your first…”

“No! That’s not it! Jamie!”

Mio shouted desperately.

‘I was just going to comfort Aletheia and help him sleep, like earlier today!’

She had planned to sit next to him and take a nap, not knowing how the “fixed position” effect might activate. If he instinctively climbed onto the bed like before, it couldn’t be helped.

‘A-Aletheia isn’t expecting anything, is he?!’

Damn it. She had been so focused on the safe that she didn’t consider how it looked for her to enter this house. Even without a legal marriage, it was effectively the same as being married!

‘I can’t believe I could be this stupid…!’

She should have clarified that before entering the house. Now that she was inside, the chance to negotiate was gone. What now?

Seeing the frozen Mio, Jamie opened the bathroom door fully again. Seeing Mio jump, she seemed to relax.

“No need to be embarrassed, Mio. I’ve never bathed anyone, but I’ve treated wounded soldiers on the battlefield. I think these two tasks are quite similar. As long as you’re careful, no one will get hurt.”

What kind of nonsense was this? She meant she would treat Mio like a wounded soldier in the bathtub? Mio shook her head violently. Lies to avoid this situation began to spill out naturally.

“No need. Lete… I mean, Aletheia and I already agreed on this. We’re not married yet… so this is just… you know? Aletheia is still a patient. I just came in purely to nurse him!”

“Oh, a nickname, I see. Already…”

Jamie laughed, covering her mouth, showing no interest in Mio’s excuses.