Episode 63

"I cannot hire you."

"Pardon?"

The atmosphere was nice just a moment ago!

The butler nodded resolutely.

"Since you are a friend of the young master, I have given it considerable thought, but it seems it will be difficult."

"Has a personal maid already been assigned? If so, any other position would be fine!"

"That is not possible."

"...May I know the reason?"

"It is because you do not fit the ideal candidate profile for the Zephyrite family."

"What on earth is this ideal candidate profile—"

"Then, please enjoy your meal."

How could I?

Before I knew it, I was already inside the dining room.

"Sonnet! Have you arrived?"

As soon as I sat down, the table was laden with an abundance of dishes.

As usual, it was just the three of us in the dining room.

‘The Zephyrite lady must have gone to stalk the princess or prince.’

The only person to attend to here was the youngest young master.

‘I thought things would go smoothly this time.’

Why couldn't the young master’s recommendation work? Do I have to perform a kneeling act again like before?

"Sigh..."

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't get the job."

Screech.

The sound of a knife scraping a plate sent chills down my spine.

The boy, holding a fork and knife in each hand, shouted.

"Why!"

"They said I don't match their ideal candidate profile."

"What ideal candidate profile in our family? It's the first time I've heard of it."

"If there is such a thing, they should display it with the family ideology in front of the mansion."

What nonsense is he talking about?

Ute muttered incomprehensibly, furrowing his brows.

"They must be desperate enough to borrow even a cat’s hand. Why?"

"Ute, what about you? Did you hear something like that too?"

"No. They told me to start work next week."

"Huh?"

"I was in a much more favorable situation than Sonnet."

His gentle, downcast eyelashes blinked slowly.

Ute smiled sweetly, looking at the young master.

"Didn’t the young master say that he wouldn't get examined by a male doctor?"

"Don't call me that, it's creepy!"

"He said he wouldn't allow it even if his arm was broken."

'He's as stubborn as a fortress.'

When I think about it, this guy wasn't in his right mind either.

‘Well, if he were, he wouldn't have kissed like that in the training center.’

The butler had a point in worrying over Lapis’s safety.

"Are there no female doctors?"

"He made advances on every female doctor he met…"

That was how it turned out.

I understood the unspoken words instantly.

‘At least Ute's touch was bearable.’

It seemed the efforts to check his twisted back in the fall had paid off.

‘Ute forfeited his sleep at that time to nurse him.’

Even if offered money, he refused. His professional spirit was commendable.

"The butler was incredibly welcoming when I claimed to be a physician."

"Understandable. The mansion seems oddly filled with male servants."

Causing trouble with female servants and despising male ones.

"But Sonnet, now I only look at you."

"That's not a necessarily good thing."

Excessive attention from an employer can suffocate a servant.

"You trust my true feelings, right?"

"Yes. I know well enough how much you like women."

Lapis’s face crumpled as I gave him a smile.

Ute laughed silently, unable to breathe.

"Anyway, we can't do without Sonnet! A household without Sonnet is just bleak and— Ah!"

"Hey, young master. Sonnet is more important to me, you know?"

"I like her more!"

"She is more precious to me!"

"Way more to me!"

"I!"

...Why are they competing over this?

Two men arguing over who likes me more made my face feel like it would burst from shame.

"So, what about my job?"

This was not at all reassuring.

After barking for a while, Lapis pounded his chest and declared.

"Anyway, I will firmly rebuke Sage."

"Um..."

"Leave it to me!"

---

"I failed."

Three hours after boldly leaving the dining room, Lapis returned to the parlor.

Ute tilted his head at the news of defeat.

"Strictly speaking, aren’t you above him?"

"That’s true. But the personnel rights are almost entirely entrusted to Sage..."

His youthful lips curled up sheepishly.

"He almost raised me on his back since I was little, so it’s hard to speak firmly to him..."

"You mean it feels like you're committing pseudo-filial impiety."

"Pseu, what?"

"Well, if they said no, there’s no helping it."

I redirected the conversation that was drifting elsewhere.

"What was the reason?"

"Well..."

"What was it? Because I'm not from the capital?"

His usual loose mouth was tightly shut. His trembling golden eyes clearly gauged my reaction.

"It's okay. I've been rejected for that reason several times."

Most preferred candidates were born in the capital when qualifications were similar.

That wasn’t the only point of contention.

"Is it my height? My appearance?"

Being noble, they might obscurely bundle it under ‘ideal candidate profile’, but their true intentions were obvious.

"I've been told many times that my eyes don't look friendly. That’s why I groomed my eyebrows like this."

I touched my noticeably grown bangs in thought.

"Or—"

"Well, whatever it is, plrgh…"

Ute nudged Lapis in the ribs, giving a blatant hint.

"N-no, it's not that! It's really not! Sonnet has no problem at all!"

"How is there no problem? If there wasn’t, I would have been hired."

Both of them, already pale, turned completely ashen.

‘Is my not being hired such a big deal… it is, though.’

Ute's finger prodded Lapis’s side explicitly.

"That is, well, um, seriously..."

Lapis sighed deeply and swept his face.

"He said because you don't have a father…"

"Okay, got it."

The person who answered wasn’t me.

Ute, who always bore a happy smile, dropped it as he pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Hm? I'm just stepping out for a bit to… the Labor Department? Employment Office? Something like that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Isn’t there something like that? If not, I’ll just bang a drum in front of the mansion...!"

"A drum? Sit down first!"

His red lips jutted out, visibly irked.

Grabbing Ute's hand to prevent him from dashing out—purely for my own satisfaction—I resumed the conversation.

"Did they say I couldn’t be raised solely by my mother?"

"Precisely, it’s not ‘because’ you don’t have a father, but that you ‘don't know’ who he is."

"Huh?"

"Our family… has many enemies because of my sister. Other families have even hired people to find faults or cause trouble."

"..."

"So we conduct thorough family background checks. It is the minimum level of verification."

"I did wonder why they asked for details on siblings and grandparents."

Nowadays, mansions do not bother to inquire about servants' personal connections.

"So it’s not Sonnet’s fault or a problem at all! Rather, it’s our family’s, my sister’s problem…!"

"Right. In this day and age, not knowing your father is possible! What a ridiculous regulation!"

"Exactly what I'm saying! Our household is a bit strange that way, so, Sonnet?"

Thunk.

As expected of a wealthy family, their cake was top-notch.

‘So, it’s because I don’t know my father...’

I put down my fork and glared out the window.

"Is that how it is?"

---

Late evening.

A man walking along a path pressed his temples.

'I may soon lose even this small amount of leisure time.'

This was the twenty-sixth collective resignation of servants.

Twenty main house servants had simultaneously quit, unable to bear the only young lady of the marquisate’s temper.

Sage Wedon secretly dubbed this incident the 'Great Servant Escape.'

'Rumors have spread, so even raising the salary doesn’t help recruit them.'

Even so, he couldn’t just hire unqualified people.

The marquis and the eldest son had long stopped paying attention to the townhouse matters.

Sage, a distant relative and friend of the marquis, was the only one pulling his hair out over these problems.

'At least the youngest master has brightened up.'

A child who used to always wander outside the mansion, unable to settle down.

That child now laughed cheerfully within the house, behaving like any other child his age.

The reason for this change was clear...

'Sonnet Posa.'

The smile that had gently lingered on the man’s lips vanished.

Before he knew it, the long-missed lilac-colored hair stood right before him.

'Sage. Don’t just study all the time. Go for a walk once a day, hmm?'

"Meril—"

The man bit his lip.

No matter how much this girl resembled his first love, she was not her.

"Here you are."

"It seems like you're on a walk. I'll be going now."

"Wait a moment."

The bright blue eyes stared directly at the man.

‘She is not Merilyn.’

This girl is just the daughter of a woman who left Sage Wedon without a word. She has nothing to do with him...

"Dad."

---

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