To Live Like That, Part 3
Taking a single step into the front garden, I found myself instantly inside the mansion.
I was sitting in a chair, and across from me, a woman who looked like a strict dormitory matron pushed up her glasses.
"Your credentials are quite impressive."
In her hand, she held my resume.
I had no idea what was actually written on it. Kate's subconscious must have filled in the details on its own.
Well, to even apply to be her personal butler, the credentials would have to be extraordinary.
"However! People with good credentials are a dime a dozen. What we require in a butler is practical capability and the capacity to support. Not only general housekeeping and cleaning, but whether you can serve the young lady with modesty and meticulous care..."
I nodded at her endless spiel.
"I excel at those things."
"You certainly don't lack confidence. Very well."
"...There's no need to intimidate him so much, Selly."
A soft voice drifted in from somewhere, followed by the rhythmic clicking of high heels.
Kate.
Making an entrance like the protagonist of a play, she glanced down at me with remarkably cold eyes.
"I've changed my mind. You may leave. I don't think I have any need for a butler."
"..."
This isn't good.
As I racked my brain for a way to persuade her, a sudden thought struck me.
I quickly reached into my inner pocket and pulled out another piece of paper.
"In the past, I served under Colonel Percival."
Kate, who had been about to turn away, froze. She looked back at me, her eyes narrowing slightly as she asked in a low voice,
"...Percival?"
"Yes."
I held out a document resembling a letter of recommendation. Kate walked over, her heels clicking against the floor, and took it from my hand.
"He used to call me 'old sport' quite often."
It wasn't entirely a lie. I didn't really know what 'old sport' meant—something about a line from The Great Gatsby, apparently.
"...It was my uncle's favorite book."
A faint smile played on Kate's lips.
A shared memory. This was a crucial condition for getting her subconscious to accept me.
"In that case,"
Kate sat down next to Selly.
"I will give you just one test."
She gestured to Selly with her eyes. Selly pulled something out from beneath the drawer.
A kettle, teacups, tea leaves... utensils for brewing tea.
"Would you brew some black tea for me?"
Now it was certain.
She loved black tea far more than I had imagined.
"...Yes."
I picked up the tea leaves. Having grown reasonably proficient over the past two weeks, I brewed the tea exactly as I always did.
Become delicious. Become delicious. I even infused a bit of my Flame of Cognition, but the perception of the flavor ultimately depended entirely on Kate.
Her subconscious had to react to it.
"Here you are."
"Thank you. Let's see."
Kate lifted the teacup and took a sip. Her expression was highly subtle. For a moment, I wondered if I had failed, but it was quite the opposite.
Her lips twitched before she finally burst into a chuckle. As if realizing she had breached etiquette, she covered her mouth with her hand, brushing away the lingering smile.
"It is... delicious."
I stared at her quietly.
The Kate here was somehow different. She didn't seem like the cold, authoritative, and aristocratic Kate I knew.
Was it because she was happy?
"Thank you."
From now on, I had to find out. What did she want? What on earth made her so happy that she wished to remain here?
Perhaps she wanted a fated love, or perhaps she desired the Haleford family's conquest of the world. Maybe she hoped for a daughter or a child who resembled her, or perhaps she prayed for a miracle where Percival returned to life.
I had to shatter all of it. I had to trample and crush those dreams to let her know that the happiness she sought did not exist here, of all places.
There is no paradise at the end of a flight from reality.
A fake is merely a fake, and an illusion can never become the truth.
"Now then... did you say your name was Seo Un-ha?"
Kate smiled faintly at me.
"You're hired."
Whoosh.
Time and space shifted like the turning of a book's page. We were now in a study on a spring day. Kate was handling paperwork under the bright, warm sunlight. It was so sudden that it took me a moment to adjust.
It really moves just like a dream.
"Un-ha?"
Kate suddenly gestured toward me.
"Yes, milady."
"A cup of tea, please."
"Understood."
I heated the kettle to the perfect temperature and placed the black tea leaves in the cup. I poured the hot water precisely and waited. Not too strong, not too weak. There was no need for a strainer. Reaching out, I used my mana to draw out the spent tea leaves.
I served the tea to her. Taking a sip, Kate offered a gentle smile.
"It's always delicious. Thank you."
"It is my duty."
Clink. Kate set the teacup down. Her face was filled with deep satisfaction.
Surely her happiness isn't just because of the tea.
Whoosh.
It was summer. The blazing sun created shimmering heat hazes outside. Even the interior of the mansion felt stiflingly hot.
Stepping out of the study, Kate fanned herself with her hand and spoke.
"Un-ha. I think the air conditioning is broken."
"Yes, milady."
I walked down the hallway aimlessly. Just by walking, I somehow ended up in a maintenance room, where I tapped the air conditioning unit a few times with a tool.
It was instantly fixed.
I returned to her study.
"Is it to your liking now?"
"Yes. Phew, what a relief."
Kate let out a sigh of relief. Wiping away beads of sweat with a handkerchief, she lay down on the sofa.
It looked like she was going to take a nap.
The Kate here didn't seem rushed at all. She didn't look precarious, nor did she have any of her usual sharp edges. The spaces we passed through were entirely mundane. A woman who detested waste was now wasting all of her time.
These clumsy, disjointed scenes felt strangely unnatural.
Whoosh.
Autumn. Kate was looking out the window. With a knitted blanket draped over her shoulders, she stared at the falling leaves, lost in thought. The scene was like a painting.
"My Lady."
I called out to her. She merely tilted her head in silence.
"Please stay exactly as you are."
"...Hmm?"
I pulled an easel out of nowhere, setting up a canvas and a palette.
Swish, swish. I waved the brush a few times, pretending to paint, and an oil painting exactly as I imagined it materialized on the canvas.
The subconscious was incredibly convenient.
"It is finished."
I showed her the canvas. It was Kate, gazing at the falling leaves. The oil portrait was so beautiful it looked as if it had been painted by a master of the modern era.
"...Ah."
Her face filled with deep emotion.
"Thank you. I will treasure this."
The Kate of this subconscious was a gentle soul. There was no calculating, no suspicion, no intent to exploit others. She was simply spending her days in pure innocence.
Which meant she was missing a few screws.
Whoosh.
Winter, spring, summer, autumn, winter.
And spring, summer, autumn, winter once more.
In the blink of an eye, several years passed. Though my actual perceived time was only a matter of hours, Kate's subconscious had steadily accepted my presence over those simulated years.
The proof of that was this very room.
"...The family head's private chambers?"
When I came to, I was standing in the private chambers of the head of the Haleford family, cleaning tools gripped in my hands.
It meant Kate's subconscious trusted me enough to allow me into her most intimate personal space.
"..."
There were many framed photos in her room. I scanned them as I cleaned.
A young Kate smiling brightly while holding a stuffed animal, a photo of her looking tense on horseback, another of her gripping the helm of a yacht...
"Most of them are from when I was a child."
Kate appeared behind me. I quietly stepped back and bowed my head.
"My apologies, milady."
It was the diligent gesture and posture of a proper butler.
No matter how startling the situation, a butler must always maintain absolute composure.
"It's fine. Frames are made to be looked at. You may look."
If she insisted.
I pointed to one of the frames arranged in chronological order.
"My Lady. This is..."
"Yes. That's Labyrinth Exploration NaN. I was twenty-one then."
It was a photo from the show. A picture of Kate winning first place.
So she did have that kind of ambition after all.
"I didn't expect Lady Ka... Katherine to participate in such a program back then."
"To be honest, neither did I."
Kate gave a bitter smile. I looked at her.
The current Kate seemed so at peace. What exactly was making her this happy?
"It's just the past now. I didn't enter to win, but I ended up winning anyway."
"Winning was not your goal?"
"No."
I suddenly grew curious.
"If not to win, then why?"
"...It was an order from the family."
"What kind of order was it?"
Kate stared at me in silence. Ah, damn. My old habits had slipped out without me realizing. The habits from my days of interrogating and questioning people.
Her expression turned remarkably stern.
"I have a few questions for you as well, Un-ha."
"Yes, milady. Ask anything you wish."
I straightened my back, placing one hand over my chest like a butler in a movie.
"...You said you were on the battlefield with Percival, correct?"
Percival. His full name was Percival Alistair Haleford. Rank, Colonel.
Kate's uncle.
"What was Percival like?"
Kate was asking about Percival. If she sought him even in her subconscious, he must have been a deeply precious memory to her.
"Colonel Percival was..."
He used to talk about his niece quite often.
A cute kid, a child who shines brighter than anyone, the most brilliant talent in the Haleford family, he would say.
"He was a man who cherished his family deeply. He treated his soldiers like family, and many of them followed him faithfully."
"...I see."
Kate picked up one of the frames. It was a photo taken with Percival. A younger Kate, her face full of warmth and joy, was hugging him tightly.
"I miss him. I yearn for those days."
"...Were you very close?"
This was something I hadn't known. It left a bitter aftertaste.
Kate let out a soft sigh.
"To me, he was the only breathing room I had. Most of these photos were taken by Uncle Percival."
A bittersweet smile settled on her face.
"You must have been devastated."
Percival was no longer of this world.
He had died back when I was still on active duty.
"...I was. But people die eventually, always."
Kate turned to look at me.
"Could I trouble you for a cup of tea?"
"...Yes, milady."
I felt a profound sense of dissonance about this entire situation.
It was strange. In her subconscious, Percival remained dead.
Yet, this labyrinth was supposed to reproduce the happiness she desired. If Percival was so precious to her, shouldn't he have been brought back to life here?
Why hadn't he?
Swish, swish.
As I brewed the black tea, watching the liquid turn a deep crimson, I pondered.
The current Kate was different. She was letting her life drift by like water. She was far too leisurely for an ambitious noblewoman in her twenties.
There had to be another reason.
The most decisive clue to waking her up...
"Cough!"
Kate suddenly coughed. I whipped my head around. My eyes widened.
There was blood smeared on her lips.
"...Oh dear."
Kate smiled sheepishly, like a mischievous child caught playing a prank.
"Don't be too startled."
In that instant, I realized.
I finally understood Kate's true desire.
"Because I am content."
What she wanted to obtain from this subconscious labyrinth was, perhaps, a peaceful death.
"No need to look at me like that."
Deep down, she was someone who wished for her own death. Someone with no lingering attachments to life.
Someone who simply wanted to escape all the heavy responsibilities thrust upon her and wait for the day her existence faded away.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."
Had a person like Kate desired this kind of peace over fierce competition? Had she dreamed of a life where she could simply be grateful for the everyday and fall into a peaceful sleep?
"I will be leaving forever before long."
Like an elderly person passing through the winter of their life, Kate calmly accepted her own demise.
And then...
Debut Group in Jeopardy
⚠️ Warning: A strong candidate for the debut group is at risk of being lost.
⚠️ Penalty: Failure to resolve this will result in the termination of ID Seol Ha-woon's regression.
🎁 Reward: Upon success, a new reward will be granted.
A completely new MoMo status window, the likes of which I had never seen before, materialized before my eyes.