Chapter 21 - The Tsundere Villainess Dreams of Romance (2)
Chapter 21 - The Tsundere Villainess Dreams of Romance (2)
“How about it? I promise you’ll receive top-tier treatment.”
“Uh…”
“Does that mean you agree?!”
“N-no!”
Holy shit. One wrong word and I almost got devoured whole.
“Then… are you rejecting my offer?”
The fiery glow in her crimson eyes instantly cooled to an icy chill.
How dare… The unspoken words echoed in my mind like auditory hallucinations.
Damn it. If I refuse her offer now, it’ll look like some commoner has the audacity to reject the generous proposal of a duke’s daughter…
“What exactly would my duties—”
“Let’s start with page boy.”
The elderly butler who’d maintained perfect composure until now visibly flinched for the first time.
“Page boy… Even considering his assistance, isn’t that excessively generous treatment?”
“Um… what’s a page boy?”
“Simply put, a butler-in-training,” the butler explained. “We take in sons from lower noble families wishing to serve House Herthe and train them as proper butlers. My lady, a page boy position is far too prestigious for a commoner. Perhaps starting as a hall boy would be more—”
“And what’s a hall boy?”
“…Commoner candidates for butler positions. The work is considerably harder than a page boy’s, and even after completing training, their roles remain limited.”
“I see… Then the page boy position does seem too good for someone like me. I know absolutely nothing about noble etiquette—just a country bumpkin.”
“Precisely, my lady. I urge you to reconsider—”
“Krabel.”
The old butler stiffened when she addressed him by name.
The sharp look she gave him carried the elegant arrogance befitting a ducal heir.
“…Forgive my impertinence.”
Hey, butler dude. Don’t fold so quickly! Weren’t we supposed to talk her out of this together?
“I apologize, but this seems too sudden. I need time to consider—”
There was something dangerous about Parmela’s current demeanor.
From the butler’s reaction, I could tell her offer was unusually generous, but…
My instincts, honed through countless brushes with death, kept sounding alarm bells.
“…”
Parmela stared at me with evident dissatisfaction.
“…Monthly salary: 40,000 gold.”
“?”
“Guaranteed Sundays off, plus one additional day per month.”
“My lady! What are you—”
“Silence, Krabel. After one year as apprentice, guaranteed promotion to full butler.”
“…!”
“Separate stipend for maintenance expenses beyond salary. And…”
“Even I, as head butler, don’t receive such benefits…”
With a snap, she unfurled her fan.
“Contract period: three years. Just three years serving our estate. After that, you’re free. If you wish, I’ll even provide a letter of recommendation guaranteeing your status. A ducal house’s recommendation? Any employer would be forced to accept you—a veritable magic key.”
My resolve… wavers.
40,000 gold monthly means 480,000 annually, nearly 1.5 million over three years…
More money than I could earn in a lifetime of normal work. You’d need to be a top-tier adventurer to approach such sums.
Even if I spent 500,000 living luxuriously in this world, the remaining million would be enough to build a fine three-story home in Bainwood’s residential district and furnish it completely.
The conditions aren’t bad either.
As someone from Korea’s 9-to-5, five-day workweek culture, six days weekly isn’t ideal, but…
This is a fantasy world.
A place where labor laws are nonexistent, worker protections unheard of, and in some backward regions, even the concept of “human rights” doesn’t exist.
“…”
…Not… bad?
Just three years. Endure three years, and I can spend the rest of my life as wealthy middle class.
Plus gain ducal household service experience and a personal guarantee from the duke’s daughter herself.
Too sweet an offer. So sweet I know there must be hidden strings attached.
“…I’ll include severance pay.”
“I pledge my loyalty.”
Thus, the former Heavenly Demon became… a ducal butler-in-training.
“See? See, Krabel? My brilliant rhetoric and negotiation skills left Theodor utterly defenseless, binding him to my side!”
“…From my perspective, it looked more like material temptation. What meaning is there in love bought with coin?”
“Don’t be obtuse! The beginning doesn’t matter—only the result! Living under the same roof for three years as mistress and butler, closing the distance between us… Theodor and I will… giggle. Of course by then he won’t even think of leaving. Ah, Theodor. How charming you looked, agonizing over such generous employment terms with such commoner sensibilities…”
“…”
“Something to say?”
“…No. As my lady wishes, I shall obey. I’ll immediately prepare Theodor’s employment as page boy.”
“Good. See to it.”
“Yes.”
“…Oh.”
“Further instructions?”
“Not quite. Did I mention? Last night I immediately sent Edgar a letter breaking our engagement.”
“WHAT!?”
-“Having found true love, I hereby terminate my engagement with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“So… it’s finally come to this.”
Crown Prince Edgar of the Arkesia Empire murmured meaningfully.
Last night, his fiancée Parmela Herthe had sent him a letter via emergency artifact.
What could possibly warrant using such precious magic just to deliver a message at this hour?
When Edgar hastily unfolded the letter, he found just one line announcing the engagement’s end.
Placing the letter on his study desk, Edgar sank deeply into his plush chair and stared at the ceiling.
After reading it, his mind flashed back to age twelve—right after their engagement was arranged—when his father the Emperor privately counseled him.
“The Herthe ducal house carries peculiar traits passed through their bloodline.”
“The special flames they wield, you mean?”
“…No. While that power is indeed a Herthe characteristic, that’s not what I refer to.”
In memory, the Emperor paused gravely, as if debating whether to continue.
“More precisely, it manifests only in their female line.”
Thus began explanations the young Edgar struggled to comprehend.
“Originating centuries ago with Parmela’s distant ancestor Esmera Herthe.”
Summarized, the Emperor’s account went thus:
For reasons unknown, Herthe women occasionally inherited strange traits across generations.
These included preferring twin-tails, possessing kind yet deeply guarded hearts they concealed behind haughty exteriors that bred misunderstandings, but…
“The strangest aspect? Without fail, Herthe women exhibiting these traits never married their arranged fiancés.”
They didn’t hate their betrothed, but showed no interest, or were abandoned when the fiancé’s feelings changed, or external factors forced annulments…
Their relationships with status-matched fiancés always ended disastrously.
Instead, they invariably dreamed of romantic, fateful encounters:
The commoner butler who always cared for them, the enemy soldier met on battlefield, the reclusive archmage who cured her terminal illness then vanished…
The Emperor listed examples of who these Herthe women ultimately married instead.
“Esmera Herthe’s personal butler Renit Herthe—who married her—termed this female tendency ‘tsundere villainess.’”
“What… does that mean? ‘Villainess’ I grasp, but ‘tsundere’ is unfamiliar.”
“Records indicate Renit came from another world. Perhaps it’s a term from his homeland.”
Tsundere… villainess. Edgar turned the strange phrase over in his mind.
Frankly, he’d understood barely half the Emperor’s words, but his wise father wouldn’t speak so without reason.
“But… why tell me this?”
“Recall Parmela’s hairstyle.”
“Ah.”
As shock left the prince gaping, the Emperor patted his shoulder pityingly.
“Should she break the engagement, don’t take it too hard.”
“Then why arrange it knowing it would fail?”
“Hard for you to understand now, but… imperial stability. The Herthes have loyally served Arkesia’s throne for over a millennium. The benefits of marital ties alone are incalculable…”
Their talk concluded thus:
“Frankly, even I find it absurd. More plausible than fairy tales, perhaps. Maybe just baseless worry—Parmela may yet remain your crown princess.”
“But if she ever ends your engagement, let her go. We’ve already agreed with House Herthe to treat this as nominal. Afterwards, I’ll arrange a suitable new match.”
“…No, Father. I can’t accept that.”
Now nineteen, Edgar’s recollection ended with him rejecting the Emperor’s advice.
Tragically, upon first meeting his fiancée at twelve, Edgar had fallen for Parmela at first sight.
Parmela. Those crimson lips, those eyes even redder—so radiant they seemed to dye her golden locks scarlet.
Parmela. That slender yet distinctly feminine silhouette even her red dresses couldn’t conceal.
Parmela. Though always indifferent toward me…
How could I forget those occasional, adorable smiles she gifted me?
Pacing his study, Edgar’s heart burned with passion for Parmela.
Until that passion grew uncontrollable, transforming into jealous flames…
“…I must see this ‘true love’ with my own eyes.”
Flames now directed at a rival whose very name remained unknown.