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She sighed and got up from my seat. Yeah, she was not the one to leave anyway.

“Sir Leone’s opinion is also needed,”

“This is my opinion as a professional educator.”

Her efforts to mediate were easily thwarted.

“I think Leone doesn’t like it.”

“I don’t think Leone would hate having Trixie by his side. I know.”

Adler said plainly. They weren’t able to see what was in front of them. Should she say with her mouth that Leone was uncomfortable with her?

“I know the results, so I just have to report every day like now. Do what Benjamin is comfortable with.”

“All right.”

“And Trixie. Before attending the training, please come to the study. I have something to say.”

“Ah, yes…”

It was sorted out in the middle of the day.

She tried to follow Adler, but she looked back anxiously. Benjamin came closer to Leone and was talking to him. She couldn’t hear them.

“I will give you a vacation.”

As soon as we sat across from each other in the study, what Adler said was quite unexpected.

“A vacation? You told me to participate in education earlier.”

“Not now, when we leave here… Well, two and a half months from now. After that.”

“May I ask why?”

“I need some preparation to take you to the capital and to be next to Sir Leone.”

Adler only talked superficially, but she got a rough idea. It’s not anywhere else, it’s the golden castle. It was absurd for a commoner to be near the prince. It wouldn’t be a problem for ‘noble family’ servants or ‘titled’ servants who had been by Leone’s side for a long time, but an excuse was needed to be appointed as a commoner.

Of course, if Leone liked her and nominated her because of her outstanding abilities, she could have stayed in the imperial castle. However, as such, it was a good prey for the nobles.

A commoner’s maid appointed by the prince himself.

There were a lot of nobles who thought commoners were foolish and easy to use. Her existence itself would be transformed into a street of political use, and more people would approach her. Even if she didn’t hold hands with them, it was no different than giving a few more tricks to those who threatened Leone’s safety. Adding to that the past of being kicked out of the family…

She was able to damage Leone enough.

“Do not worry. Vacation pay will come separately.”

“Pardon?”

“… Do you really need extra money?”

Adler added, assuming her silence was calculating payroll.

“Oh, no.”

At the startling question, she unknowingly denied it, and then she thought, ‘Oops’.

The more money the better!

“How long will the vacation be?”

She had regrets about money, but she shook it off and asked. It was a useless vacation for her because she did not want to go to the capital because she was afraid of losing her life, but she asked anyway.

In front of Adler, who had recently become very sensitive about the assassination, there was no need to show off that she was thinking of leaving. It was important to do it naturally.

If she didn’t, he might think she was a traitor.

Now, the first step was to obtain a promise from Adler to expunge the marriage record.

“It will take up to fifteen days.”

Adler will probably choose the most inconspicuous time to introduce her.

“Sir Leone has a private villa in a nearby resort town famous for its hot springs. If you go down to the other side of this mountain and take a carriage for three or four hours, it will be right there.”

“Wow, hot springs…”

“The servants there are old vassals, talk a lot, and the city isn’t even busy with tourism right now, so it should be fine.”

Two and a half months left now. It’s a short period of time, and considering Leone’s reaction earlier… She was not sure if the deal she was betting on Adler would turn out well. But she was in a hurry as she was. If not, it should be done. For a petit bourgeois like her to survive in that cruel world.

“Hey, Adler.”

“Yes?”

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“Please speak.”

“Actually, I am very anxious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe, maybe. How would you feel if Leone was fine in front of strangers?”

All she could think of was that. A security that Benjamin could not give. The face-to-face training she did with Deoksoon. Adler cheered with both hands, then fell backwards and broke his nose.

“I want more… There will be none.”

Adler’s eyes grew dim, as if wandering in his imagination. With a sad and happy smile.

“I can train like that.”

“… I beg your pardon?”

“Keep his aggression as low as possible and be okay with strangers. We will conduct face-to-face training.”

“Really, is that possible?”

Adler looked at her with eyes full of anticipation. Well, she had to do it. It’s a problem that implied her life too.

“If I can do this training instead…”

“If I succeed, I won’t be able to do anything-”

“Please speed up the expungement of the marriage record.”

“Yes? Suddenly?”

Adler asked with a serious frown.

“I am very worried.”

“… Are you talking about your husband?”

“Yes. My husband is a pretty persistent person, and he has nightmares every day. I’m worried that he’ll come after me… As you know, under Imperial law, a married woman is the property of her husband. Even if I’m dragged away, there’s nothing to stop him.”

Half of it was sincere, half of it was a lie. He didn’t have nightmares or anxiety. How could that stupid human being chase this far? And he’s the kind of person who wouldn’t even think of picking her up. He thought it was better if she was gone.

Was he looking for her, chasing her and taking her?

At that time, it would be a situation where she should be suspicious of what was behind Jamie. Of course, that couldn’t be the case, and it was a ridiculous assumption. So now she was buying sympathy with a lie.

‘I’m sorry, Adler…’

“… Mmm.”

What mattered to that person was not her personal circumstances, but Leone’s well-being, so this appeal was close to a gamble. She watched his complexion anxiously.

“Well, I guess it could be.”

“Yes?”

Adler nodded with a sigh. It was so easy. It was to the point where she had to ask herself without realizing it.

“I thought I should say it once.”

“What… do you mean?”

“Trixie. your husband, that… A man called Jamie?”

“Yes.”

“Did he love you very much?”

“Yes?”

Love? Jamie? It’s nonsense. Even after making a loud noise in surprise, a foolish laugh came out of nowhere.

“That’s like a stupid dog, no. I mean…”

As she was about to spit out harsh words, she calmed her down when she barely realized that her boss was sitting in front of her.

“Hmmmm. Not at all.”

“Well. The man. Don’t you live in a town outside the capital?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“The fortress seems to be actively moving around the capital. They said they were looking for you.”

“… Pardon?”

She didn’t want to go to the capital because her life was precious, but now she really didn’t want to go. What was he going to do with me…? Of course, it wouldn’t matter if the marriage record was expunged. No, did it really matter? Something was embarrassing.

“I would like to tell you not to worry because I will be able to protect you well from here, but I think it is worth worrying about. He seems to be quite reckless.”

“Is it Jamie? You say that person is looking for me?”

Every word Adler added was absurd. There was no way Jamie would go out and find her. That person was the one who went to the temple to pray for her to die!

“They say he goes around asking questions while explaining how you look. Over there, in the back alley where the Information Guild gathered, several people said they had received requests. Those who gather in that back alley are quite rough, but they say they come in and out without fear.”

What she said to Adler was only loosely made up. Jamie was not a tenacious man. However, as Adler’s words continued, the words that said that Jamie was persistent were becoming more true than lies.

‘Strange.’

Jamie was stupid, inactive, terribly lazy, and poor. That kind of person gave money to the information guild and asked them to find her? Why would Jamie do for her what he wouldn’t do for a cared girlfriend? What was it? What extras among the extras were doing so much…?

No matter how much she thought about it, nothing came to mind. Could he be in debt and try to sell her out?! She didn’t have anything to sell to Jamie. Or was he running out of living expenses, so he was trying to enslave her…? Either way it was terrible.

“I don’t know the details of what’s going on, but my husband is definitely… He used to make a big deal out of it sometimes when his head was spinning. I get even more anxious. So could you please pull out the record expungement?”

It’s a good opportunity to appeal to her fear right away. She asked in a more melancholy voice.

“I understand your anxiety, and he is also very suspicious.”

Adler looked at her and sighed.

“Trixie. Are you not going to quit your job?”

“Yes? Why would I quit?”

She hated lying, but she couldn’t help it. Originally, she was going to ask for the marriage record to be expunged, and she was going to be half honest. She said she wanted to quit before going to the capital, and that she would somehow socialize Sir Leone until then. Then she thought Adler would be relieved.

“In the first place, the expungement of the marriage record was meant to hold you back.”

“Haha. People have a grudge. How do you ask for such a big thing and throw it out?”

This lie was a survival instinct. Looking at Adler’s eyes, it seemed that I shouldn’t even bring out the ‘I’ in ‘want to quit’. She didn’t know if Leone became a little ‘human’. Before that, she had a feeling that it would never happen.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

It’s true that she needed money, but what she desperately needed was the expungement of marriage records. 

He seemed to have loosened up a bit while she’d been here. So it was possible.

“Yes. Trixie is also very attached to Sir Leone… “

“It can’t be. That’s because I’m a bit sensitive. I didn’t ask for it, so please understand.”

Adler said in a tired voice.

‘Ah yes, I understand.’

“Then let’s make a conditional contract.”

“What conditions?”

“As soon as I confirm your face-to-face training performance, I will help expunge your records. Even tomorrow.”

He was also a hot hire.

“However, instead of speeding up the expungement of the marriage record, Trixie has to repay me and Sir Leone 20 million gold if the one-year term of the previous contract is violated.”

“… That… ”

No. Look at that. How would she pay back twenty million gold? Even if she didn’t spend a single penny on her salary from there for the rest of her life, it would be difficult.

“Do you have any problem?”

She had to shake her head at Adler’s question.

“Nope. Not at all. I will keep the contract anyway.”

Now she couldn’t even try to be really honest.

‘I’m sorry, Adler.’

It was because of her lack of qualifications as an educator that she had not been able to take full responsibility for his son, Leone… It was the path she chose to live, but she felt really sorry when she faced the tiredness on the face of this knight who had no place to turn to.

“…Do not worry.”

Even as she reassured Adler, her conscience hurt quite a bit.

“Yes. You can sign here.”

She finished signing it full of guilt. Unlike the time when she was worried about how to jump right away, it seemed that running away would not be difficult now.

Thanks to the holiday Adler arranged for me, she was free, and very sorry.