Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Servant Cedric (5) - Commodity Value
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Head Butler Bestiang was deep in thought.
It was about how to handle Cedric.
'Should I just leave him be like this?'
There were no issues with Cedric's work abilities.
No, in fact, he was overflowing with competence.
Laundry, garden maintenance, cooking, cleaning, and all sorts of miscellaneous manual labor.
No matter what task he was given, Cedric handled it with near perfection.
But there was one thing: he wasn't perfect when it came to 'respecting his master'.
To be precise, he was close to failing at that point.
In what world would a servant use the contract as an excuse to nitpick their master, talk back bluntly, and even tease them?
If word of Claudia and Cedric's relationship spread through Birka noble society, Claudia would instantly become a laughingstock.
Yet Bestiang couldn't easily conclude that he should dismiss Cedric.
"Cedric! Where are you! Get out here right now!?"
Today, as always, Claudia's shrill shout echoed through the mansion.
However, the servants who heard it neither panicked nor worried; they calmly focused on their tasks.
Just a few weeks ago, most servants would tremble in fear or even have fits at the sound of her voice—a truly astonishing change.
The reason was simple.
From the servants' perspective, Claudia's 'attention' was a disaster in itself.
Being noticed by her and ending up in good shape was as rare as a bolt from a clear sky.
But lately, Cedric was monopolizing all of Claudia's attention, which brought peace and stability to the other servants.
Some even prayed to the goddess for these peaceful days to continue.
Bestiang, who had always suffered headaches over staffing shortages due to Claudia's tyrannical ways, felt much the same as the other servants, honestly.
'Hmm, now that I think about it, the young lady already signed a three-month contract herself. As the butler, I can't just change that on my own. Of course not.'
Absolutely not trading his mustache and hair's peace for the young lady's troubles.
Having rationalized it that way, Bestiang leisurely enjoyed the small luxury of grooming his mustache.
Thanks to Cedric tanking the aggro, the servants were enjoying rare pleasant days.
Claudia thought.
'Did I perhaps poke something I shouldn't have?'
15 days by count, 138 attempts by number.
These were the humiliating records of defeat she had to etch each time she tried to torment Cedric.
She had attempted nearly every kind of abuse and prank possible in the mansion, and lost every single time.
Now, Cedric even seemed to be subtly enjoying her challenges.
No, he was definitely enjoying them. When she recycled old material due to running out of ideas, he openly showed disappointment.
No matter how much malice or pettiness she displayed, the sight of the servant brushing it all off like a gentle breeze had already crushed her pride to its limits.
"Miss, your omelet rice and Hamburg steak set is served."
Glancing irritably at Cedric as he served with his usual flawless movements, Claudia quickly turned her eyes to the table before her.
The food itself was innocent, even if the one who made it was guilty.
Juicy ground meat, fluffy eggs, and fluffy rice, as always.
And the intense sauce covering it all.
She was the type to tire of most dishes easily and demand new ones from the head chef each time, but she never grew tired of Cedric's cooking. She could eat it endlessly—especially this sweet-and-sour flavor was excellent.
After finishing her meal at the outdoor table in the garden and enjoying black tea tailored to her tastes—focusing on sweetness and easy-drinking temperature rather than aroma—she suddenly realized Cedric was staring at her with a strange expression.
"What? Fallen for my beauty all of a sudden?"
"Hahaha! The miss's appearance is indeed quite splendid!"
"Gah! Cough! Cough!"
Choking suddenly, Claudia coughed violently.
After wiping her mouth with the handkerchief Cedric offered, she eyed him with suspicion and wariness outweighing any joy.
"W-What? What trick are you up to now?"
"You've been the one pulling tricks every time, miss. I don't recall ever starting one first?"
"Don't call what your master does a 'trick'!"
"Let's move past the trivialities."
"Don't move past it!"
This guy was now openly ignoring his master's words.
Claudia glared at Cedric, but sighed deeply upon seeing his utterly shameless face.
"So, what is it really? Got something to say?"
"Nothing grand, but I was just curious about your goals, miss!"
"Goals?"
"Like what you want to try, what you want to achieve, or what kind of person you'd like to become. Those kinds of goals."
A bitter sneer curled on Claudia's lips.
"My biggest goal right now is slapping the cheek of this insolent servant to my heart's content."
It was her best shot at sarcasm, but Cedric's reaction was unexpected.
"Then you should make efforts befitting that goal, shouldn't you!"
Ignoring Claudia's dumbfounded reaction, Cedric continued calmly.
"The most straightforward way would be to train your stamina. At your current level—gasping and collapsing after just ten minutes of full sprint—you'll never catch me!"
"Learning magic is an option too. Spells like 'Vine Growth Magic' or 'Iron Spike Drop Magic' are extremely effective for restraining someone!"
"Training the blood beasts you're raising would be good as well. A competent hunting dog greatly reduces the hunter's efforts!"
Claudia fell silent.
A fair amount of time had passed since Cedric entered the mansion.
Which meant he had already grasped how Claudia's daily schedule flowed.
The life of a noble lady might seem like a fairy tale to commoners, but they had their own troubles.
They received education in basics like language, literature, and religion, as well as arts like music, dance, and painting.
They attended social gatherings for political activities and managed big and small affairs as the lady of the house.
However, Claudia fit none of that.
No tutors came to teach her, she didn't engage in religious activities, and she had no interactions with other ladies.
Apart from basic eating and sleeping, all she did was wander the mansion tormenting servants or play with blood beasts in the garden.
Even if she was Redbell's precious only child—no, especially because she was—they couldn't understand it.
Knowing that, Cedric was asking this way.
'Why do nothing and just waste time?'
Irritation flared in Claudia's eyes as she sat in complicated silence.
She snapped at Cedric.
"What do you know, blabbering on like that? You think a mere servant like you can solve my problems?"
The smile vanished from Cedric's beaming face.
He looked at Claudia seriously and spoke.
"As you say, miss, I might not be able to solve it."
"……."
"However, I can try my utmost to find a solution. At the very least, I can put our heads together and worry about it with you. Even if it's a fixed term, I'm your servant, and you're my master."
"……."
"So please, tell me, miss. What is tormenting you so?"
Claudia's lips trembled.
By noble common sense, Cedric's logic wasn't even worth hearing.
How could one bare their soul to an outsider who might leave anytime? Who knew if they'd spread strange rumors outside?
But to Claudia, who had half-abandoned her external reputation, his words rang quite plausibly.
Competent yet bizarre, eccentric yet meticulous.
If he was a type of man she'd never encountered before, maybe he knew some answer.
In the end, Claudia opened her mouth with a whatever-happens-happens attitude.
The Redbell Marquis had two wives in total.
The first was Julietta Plain.
Daughter of the Plain Viscountcy, the woman he married before elevating the Redbell family to its current glory.
However, after the Redbell family rose to prominence, she lost her life in an 'unfortunate accident', and the marquis soon took a new wife.
That was the second wife, Claudia's mother, Roberia Birka.
As her surname indicated, the second wife was a princess of the Birka royal family, and the marquis reportedly cherished her dearly.
It wasn't mere affection between man and woman.
The marital alliance with the royals was proof of his revival of the fallen Redbell, and a means to fuel even greater ambitions.
If a son were born between the marquis and Roberia, that child would have succession rights to the Birka throne.
The rights themselves weren't high-ranking, but considering the chaotic state of the current Birka royals and the marquis's political power, seriously claiming the kingdom itself was feasible.
But Roberia was frail, and bearing a child was a great burden on her.
The marquis spent a fortune securing means to bolster her health, and his efforts paid off—the couple managed to conceive their first child.
The problem was that the first child was a daughter.
By Birka kingdom law, royal women could bear children with succession rights but could not hold them herself.
The marquis was disappointed but didn't foolishly show it openly.
Believing they could have a second child, he acted devoted before his wife and showered affection on the first child.
Unaware she was unwanted, the girl grew up basking in her parents' love.
But her happiness didn't last long.
Perhaps due to the strain of forcing a second pregnancy, her mother couldn't endure childbirth and passed away with the sibling still in her womb.
The girl was plunged into grief, but the only family left to her turned her away.
No matter how she clung to her father or strove for his praise, he treated her as if she didn't exist.
"—Ah, to be precise, he didn't treat her as completely nonexistent. There was exactly one time when the girl's father showed concern for her."
"It was when she got a facial injury from a clumsy fall. For once, he helped her up and said, with a very grave face, 'Be careful not to get hurt.'"
"The girl thought, ah, my father does care about me after all. He was just acting strange from grief over losing Mother, but deep down, he still loves me."
"So the girl decided to be a 'good child'. No whining, no clinging, studying diligently—the perfect sort."
"And do you know what the girl's father said to her later?"
A cold sneer filled Claudia's mouth.
Transforming her unconcealable contempt and self-mockery into sharp thorns, she continued.
"'You're doing well. You know exactly how to raise your own commodity value. It's made things easier for me.'"
"'There are many nobles eager to take you as a bride. Do your best to charm them. Ideally, an old man about to die soon, or a man easy to adopt and control under your skirts.'"
Yes.
The marquis hadn't been worried about his daughter's well-being.
He'd been concerned about the value of his 'product' dropping.
The moment she realized that, all her past efforts felt utterly futile.
"There, I've told you my troubles as you wanted. So now say it. Should I keep 'diligently' working like this? Raise my commodity value so Father can sell me for a high price?"