The Butler Named Handsome
“Yes. Even if it’s wrong⋯⋯”
Handsome’s confident tone faltered when he noticed Chloe’s odd reaction.
“No, it’s because the name suits you far too well. Handsome. It fits you perfectly.”
Donghee fought to keep a straight face, pressing her lips together.
Only then did a bright smile bloom across Handsome’s face as he continued eagerly.
“My parents gave me this name so I would work hard and become rich.”
Clearly pleased by the compliment on his name, Handsome volunteered the meaning without even being asked.
Donghee thought the meaning was different from what she knew, but it hardly mattered. At least she wouldn’t have to struggle to remember his name.
At this point, she couldn’t help but ask another question.
“Do you happen to have any siblings?”
“Yes, I have a younger sister.”
A flicker of anticipation stirred within her.
“Don’t tell me her name is Beauty or Cutie?”
“How did you know? My younger sister right below me is Beauty, and the youngest is Cutie.”
When Handsome answered with wide eyes, Donghee finally felt certain. Whether it was the god who created this world or the system itself, they had clearly named the characters according to the flow of their consciousness. They must have disliked naming so much that they resorted to this method, and when even that became bothersome, they dumped the task on her under the pretense of quests.
Still, Handsome, Beauty, and Cutie were going too far. Then she remembered the name she herself had given Helsa and stopped her internal criticism.
Suppressing a laugh, Donghee answered seriously.
“Hand⋯⋯some. I look forward to working with you. If there’s anything you don’t know, ask the finance officer.”
“Yes, my lord. I will do my utmost to assist you.”
The handsome butler spoke so prettily that even his words sounded lovely.
Construction had barely begun when most of the houses in Morta Village were reborn in neat, tidy form. Instead of walls riddled with holes that let the wind whistle through and roofs that leaked rain in streams, sturdy walls now sealed every side, and roofs that kept out even the fiercest storms had been built.
People who had lost even hope while living in their crumbling homes wept openly on the day they moved into their new houses, offering thanks to the Lord of Grace again and again.
“Mother, there are no more holes in the walls!”
“When I close the window, the wind doesn’t come in!”
“The roof is sturdy too, and there’s even a fireplace inside the house!”
The fireplaces were something Donghee had specifically instructed Builder to include. The homes the villagers had lived in before had no separate fireplaces. On cold days, they had to huddle together on thin blankets and straw beds to endure the chill.
“Are we rich now too?”
“Thanks to the fireplace, we’ll be able to stay warm even in winter!”
Thanks to the lord’s special consideration, each household was allowed to gather the firewood they needed from the forest before winter began. Of course, to guard against potential dangers, they were required to go with knights when collecting wood, and a limit was set on how much free firewood each household could take to prevent indiscriminate logging. If anyone wanted more, they would have to purchase it separately or buy logging rights at Grace Castle.
Unlike before when they had no money at all, the villagers now had wages from working on the village repairs, so they could at least obtain the firewood and food needed to survive the winter. Moreover, word spread so quickly that merchants began appearing here and there, bringing various goods to sell in Morta Village.
Instead of the sounds of weeping filled with despair and sorrow, Morta Village was now filled with laughter brimming with hope. The once-quiet streets bustled with people moving diligently about their work.
Once the repairs on the collapsing houses were finished, Donghee began the full-scale paving of the village roads. Of course, she didn’t do the work herself—she simply gave the order—but Builder carried it out brilliantly.
“The budget is ample, so don’t worry. Make a road sturdy enough to last a long time. And don’t forget to dig drainage ditches on both sides so water can flow away.”
“Yes, my lord. The workers are already breaking stones into smaller pieces.”
“Are you planning to make a gravel road?”
“Yes. We’ll build sturdy wooden curbs on both sides of the road so the stones don’t wash into the drainage ditches, then fill the inside with gravel.”
It seemed likely the gravel would scatter again whenever carriages passed, but for now there was no better alternative. It would be nice if she could bring in concrete, but she didn’t know where to get it, and the thought of transporting something so heavy was daunting.
She would make do with whatever resources were available here!
Donghee resolved to make full use of the local resources by drawing on the knowledge she could obtain through hidden points. She couldn’t keep feeding everyone with supplies she personally brought through the front door forever.
“Make the road wide enough for one carriage to pass—no, wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side. The construction cost doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Roads should be wide. Definitely. Donghee’s principle was that they needed at least two lanes. That way, oncoming carriages or carts could pass each other without issue.
Builder left with an armful of additional tasks from Chloe, yet instead of looking tired, he seemed even more energized.
The road passing in front of the village was made into a wide two-lane road, while the alleyways running through the village were repaired while keeping their original width.
With the houses and roads now maintained, the village began to transform into an entirely new appearance.
A few days later, when she visited the village again with the knights and the butler Handsome, construction was in full swing. With the roads neatly repaired as well, the village had truly undergone a complete transformation. Instead of the muddy paths, wide, solid gravel roads now stretched out, and there was no trace of muddy water or sewage.
“My lord!”
“It’s the lord!”
“Waaah!”
At the cheer from one worker who spotted Chloe first, the others stopped their work, raised both hands, and welcomed her with enthusiastic shouts.
They were working so hard—surely they deserved a special meal?
When Donghee nodded, Handsome called out to the gathered crowd.
“The lord has specially prepared lunch for everyone today. Please gather at the village dining hall when it’s time for the midday meal!”
The new butler Handsome showed the workers the ramen Donghee had diligently brought from the convenience store.
“Waaah! Thank you!”
Watching them thank her without even knowing what the food was, Donghee made another firm resolution. She would make sure her people got to eat rice and meat soup.
A temporary kitchen had been set up not far from the construction site. Though it was called temporary, it had walls, a roof, a proper stove, and tables, so at a glance it looked like a large dining hall.
The head chef was in charge of preparing the special meal for the workers. Delma, along with the maids, was tasked with distributing the finished ramen evenly among the people. They had brought hundreds of bowls alone.
These were bowls mainly used by the servants of Grace Castle, which had been left unused and stored away as the number of employees decreased.
The workers brought the largest pots from the castle kitchen, placed them on the temporary stoves, and filled them with water. Since the method for boiling ramen had already been explained several times, the head chef, his assistants, and the workers helping them began boiling the ramen in an orderly fashion.
On one side, fried Dural, steamed Dural, and bread made with Dural were being prepared, filling the air with a savory aroma.
At first, the villagers had been reluctant to eat when they learned the main ingredient was Dural, but after seeing the people from Grace Castle eat the Dural dishes without hesitation, they gradually approached and accepted the food. Before long, just like Delma and the head chef had done, they began lining up with wide eyes to get more.
Not long after the water started boiling, enough ramen for many people to eat at once was ready. The ramen boiled in the large pots over five massive stoves was enough to feed fifty people at a time.
The workers seated around the tables stared at the ramen in their wooden bowls, momentarily speechless. The dish—wavy noodles submerged in a reddish, clear broth—was something none of them had ever seen before. Commoners rarely had the chance to eat noodles at all, and in a place where spices were as expensive as gold dust, they had almost no opportunity to encounter such strongly aromatic food.
“What kind of dish is this?”
“I don’t know, but it smells amazing.”
Even after seeing the well-cooked ramen, the workers hesitated to touch it. Watching them, Donghee accepted a bowl as if to demonstrate and sat down directly across from the workers.
Seeing a noble—moreover, a delicately raised lord—sit at the same table with them, the workers jumped up in shock.
“Sit, sit. It’s fine.”
Donghee gestured for them to sit back down, then picked up the fork the head chef had given her. Chopsticks would have been better, but since there were none, she had to make do with a fork. If the opportunity arose, she would ask Builder to make wooden chopsticks.
Donghee lifted a steaming strand of noodles with her fork, blew on it, and then, as the workers watched intently, put it in her mouth and slurped it up.