Chapter 41
Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Succeeded in Getting a Job
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I must have misheard that.
It felt like I'd just heard Rapina sis say she was washing her hands of everything.
It was an utterly absurd proposal that made me doubt my own ears.
Stunned, I looked at Ruena.
Her eyes were resolute, without a hint of wavering.
Convinced I'd heard right, I muttered in a daze.
"...Aide?"
"Yeah! I'd love for you to stay by my side, Celen!"
"...Me?"
"Yes, Celen—!"
Ruena's eyes sparkled as she pressed on enthusiastically.
"Just now! You knew about something I didn't even know. Caldwell? I really had no idea about that merchant group."
"Oh, that was... I just happened to learn it while helping big bro with his work...."
"And thanks to you, the office is all neat and tidy now!"
That was an undeniable fact.
The pigsty that used to be the office now at least looked like a place where someone lived.
I sighed and stretched Ruena's cheek.
"If you know, then at least clean up while you're at it."
"Ow... But... if I do it, it'll get even messier...."
"...Fair point."
She was the type to knock over the tea table and spill the inkwell just opening a door.
If Ruena tried cleaning...
In a way, it might actually turn out spotless.
Because most things in the office would end up broken and tossed out.
What am I going to do with her...
Would she ever be able to get married like this?
Forget marriage—could she even function as grand duchess?
I let out a long sigh as I gazed at my hopeless childhood friend.
Startled by my reaction, Ruena fidgeted with her fingers and grumbled plaintively.
"I want to ask the butler or maids to clean, but... I can't have them touching the documents carelessly. Important papers can't be leaked or lost...."
"True. But usually, the head steward handles that, right?"
"The head steward is Father's man, not mine."
Her unexpectedly pragmatic answer left me momentarily stunned.
Ruena was right.
The person handling family documents and giving advice had to be someone she trusted completely.
Our house was no exception.
House Noir was especially insular, never keeping anyone without Noir blood close.
As a result, big bro was overworked, and even I was roped in as a backup, facing a severe manpower shortage.
We're suffering because our family is such a mess, but...
Our Noirs had always been a den of thieves, but House Eliad would be just as clannish.
The more you have, the more you hide.
So—
I could understand why she harbored these worries in secret.
It was only natural for Ruena, just starting her duties as heir, to want her own people.
Though why me, of all people...
As I scratched my neck, Ruena smiled brightly and approached.
She strode over without hesitation and gently but firmly took the hand I'd absentmindedly dropped.
"That's why I need you, Celen."
"...What?"
"You're my person."
I was speechless at Ruena's firm declaration.
Her personality had changed a ton, but...
Some things never changed.
She always sprang these things on people out of nowhere.
And—
Every time she did,
my ironclad facade crumbled without fail.
Why can't I ever get used to this?
I desperately rebuilt my facade and stared at her.
Ruena beamed back at me.
A bright, innocent smile I'd never seen when we were kids.
My heart skipped a beat, but I gritted my teeth and ignored it.
Thankfully, she didn't notice as her eyes sparkled expectantly.
"Yeah. No one else but you, Celen! You're smart, good at math, know so much... and you can handle the stuff I hate too."
"Stuff you hate? Like what?"
"Hmm, like... cleaning, organizing, tidying the desk...."
So basically shoving cleaning on me no matter what.
I couldn't help but chuckle in disbelief.
She needed a janitor, not an aide.
I swallowed a deep sigh as I looked into her sparkling eyes.
"...Hey. Do you want an aide, or are you hiring a personal cleaner?"
"Both!"
"Both?!"
Her confident reply left me speechless.
One was a backup plan.
The other was aide-slash-janitor.
It was an outrageous bombshell, but both paths looked bleak for me.
What now...
Both were equally daunting.
Helping big bro with House Noir affairs,
or working as aide to the next head of House Eliad.
One had less pressure but would last until I dropped dead,
the other had huge pressure but at least had an end in sight.
I could quit whenever I wanted.
The problem was—
This was House Eliad business, not something to take lightly.
The kingdom's top powerhouse.
A pinnacle even the imperial family couldn't trifle with.
A house with incomparable dignity and weight to ours.
Aide to their heir...
The mere thought made my head shake.
No one could take that position lightly.
Especially not me, whose life goal number one was to slack off moderately.
It was a different league from helping with family matters.
Mistakes,
casual actions,
offhand remarks.
Everything demanded utmost caution,
and carried responsibilities that couldn't be brushed off.
She's bearing that pressure too.
I'd vaguely known for a while.
The weight of the seat she occupied and the crown above her head.
Helping with family duties made it clearer.
So, for that reason—
I put up with her whims and true nature without complaint.
If I couldn't even tolerate that much, she wouldn't have breathing room.
This wasn't out of fear for my life.
It was loyalty as her childhood friend who'd watched over her for over ten years.
Having spent more than half my life with her,
memories and bonds had built up, like it or not.
That's why I couldn't help indulging her.
But—
This is something I can't do.
I glanced at Ruena.
Playful eyes brimming with earnest desperation.
As always... not an ounce of heir-like dignity, but—
Ironically, those eyes made her burden feel all the more vivid.
That must be why she framed it as janitor work.
A light disguise to shrug off the unbearable weight.
Regrettably... I wasn't so dense as to miss it.
Sorry, Ruena, but not this time.
Yeah.
Absolutely not.
Aide to the Eliad heir?
I'm just the third son of a run-of-the-mill barony.
For my so-so birth,
slacking off moderately without burdens suited me best.
It was the life I'd aimed for all my life.
"Celen."
"What."
"I drew up the salary and terms like this...."
"I'll do it."
My mouth moved faster than my brain.
But,
still...
...it was too much money to turn down.
Even a rough calculation showed—
A sum I might never earn in a lifetime, achievable in just ten years.
With that much, I could slack off forever.
I, who'd always pursued moderate slacking,
couldn't resist the source of eternal slacking right in front of me.
But House Eliad work.
As I hesitated, wondering if I'd messed up—
Ruena, holding the contract, beamed brighter than ever, eyes shining.
"Really? You'll really be my aide?"
"Wait, I didn't say I'd actually do it—!"
"What are you talking about? You just said 'I'll do it'—!"
"...It slipped out reflexively."
"Hmm...."
Ruena stared at the contract, then scribbled something with her pen.
One tweak from her, and the amount ballooned 1.5 times.
A Noir like me couldn't defy that sweet grail.
"......I'll do it."
"Yay—!"
Ruena clasped my hands tightly and grinned ear to ear.
Meanwhile, I sighed inwardly and hung my head.
Too late for regrets; the water was spilled.
Now there was only one way.
Work diligently as her aide,
and when she marries someday, hand over all duties to her husband and quit.
Then live off the money forever.
It'd be rougher than other paths,
but compressing decades of toil into ten years wasn't so bad.
I just hoped I wouldn't lose my head in the process.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In the Eliad mansion after Celen left.
Ruena, who hadn't smiled since he departed,
now gazed at the contract in her hand with a faint smile.
"Good work."
"Yes."
Ruena handed the gatekeeper the promised reward.
For striking up a conversation with Celen,
buying her time to prepare the office and herself.
True to Eliad form, the gatekeeper took his pay and left swiftly.
Celen probably still had no idea.
How much effort she'd put into setting the stage to keep him.
The servants,
the copied documents,
her own disheveled state and the office.
She'd orchestrated it all.
A meticulously staged trap to catch Celen.
Ruena looked down at the contract with satisfaction.
It went as planned.
No, better than planned.
Celen's information gathering, advisory skills, judgment.
Undeniably exceptional talents even Father couldn't fault.
Yet her lovable childhood friend remained utterly objective-blind about his own worth.
"Celen, your flaw is not knowing your own value."
Ruena shrugged, recalling how she'd persuaded his family, House Noir, beforehand.