Perhaps it was because they were close enough for their breaths to touch, but Marie felt slightly dizzy.

In the novel, she had lived as a Confucian girl who had never once broken the rule of boys and girls not sitting together after the age of seven.

“Oh my, Miss!”

Gretel, who happened to be leaving the entrance with the servants, made a fuss and held the door open to create a path.

The gentleman only carefully set Marie down after he had completely entered the mansion.

Only then did Marie raise her head to see the face of her savior under the light.

The man who was staring at her with green eyes swept back his wet blonde hair.

‘Blonde hair and green eyes. Where have I seen this setting before?’

While Marie tilted her head with a sense of déjà vu, Gretel, who recognized him first, shouted.

“I heard we had a guest, but it was you, Hans? How long has it been!”

“Have you been well?”

“When did you grow up like this? And so handsome too! You could get married tomorrow, seriously.”

Gretel joked around as if addressing a much younger sibling.

It made sense since there was almost a ten-year age gap with Hans, and they had parted ways when he was just an eight-year-old child.

“Did you say Hans?”

Marie asked loudly without realizing it. At the same moment, her eyes met Hans’s.

Hans, who had been smiling comfortably at Gretel, suddenly became formal and greeted her.

“It’s been a while, Miss Marie.”

“Oh, yes……”

Marie scratched her chin and awkwardly trailed off.

For her part, she felt an inner closeness and was glad to see the adult version of the male lead whom she had been rooting for since reading the original work, but when he acted so formally, it felt awkward to act friendly on her own.

“Hans, what happened? There’s not a single word from you all this time.”

Gretel asked.

It was the question Marie wanted to ask.

“Actually, during that time, the Baron sent Hans to study in the capital. He finished school and was working in the capital when he heard that the Baron was critically ill, so he wrapped up his work and came back.”

Although Gretel had asked the question, the butler answered while looking at Marie.

“You wrapped up your work and came back?”

This time, Marie couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked again.

“Yes. He said he would work as an attendant at the Baron’s residence. He will officially start working next week. After I retire, Hans might succeed me as the butler. He has the highest education among the attendants.”

There was only one educational institution in the capital—the Imperial Academy. The Academy was a higher education institution where children of nobility and a select few commoner prodigies received education.

Marie’s father, Baron Klein, and all three of her older brothers were Academy graduates.

‘He graduated from the Academy to become a butler at the Baron’s residence?’

Even to repay a debt of gratitude, his loyalty seemed excessive. But well, Hans would eventually recover his memories this year and return to the imperial palace, so it wasn’t a bad development.

Before that, it was a golden opportunity for Marie to make a good impression on Hans.

‘Isn’t it human nature to curry favor with royalty?’

Having reached that thought, Marie opened her closed lips.

“Hans will need a room.”

“Yes, Miss. I’ve already cleared a bed in the servants’ quarters.”

“No. His attendant duties start next week, so until then, he’s a visitor to the Baron’s residence. Please give him a guest room to use this week.”

“I’ll do so, Miss.”

The butler’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before following his mistress’s order. It was certainly a generous treatment for a servant.

Feeling pleased with herself, Marie tucked her loose side hair behind her ear and slowly looked up to the side.

‘How about that? Can you see my tremendous loyalty? Aren’t I admirable?’

But the male lead had already disappeared from sight.

“Huh? Where did he go?”

Hans was already climbing the stairs following the butler.

As Marie looked around searching for him, he stared down at her, and the butler walking ahead stopped.

Following his gaze, she saw Marie.

“She’s quite a thoughtful person, isn’t she?”

At those words, Hans turned his gaze away like someone whose secret had been discovered.

“She must be busy with matchmaking these days, yet she still takes care of you.”

“……Matchmaking?”

“Since she’s been in society since turning eighteen, Miss doesn’t have many social seasons left. She needs to receive a proposal within that time, and with the Baron not having many days left, he’s trying to hurry her marriage through matchmaking.”

Among the six siblings, only Marie remained unmarried. While the Baron might try to marry off his youngest daughter for the sake of appearances, once the Baron was gone, her sisters and brothers wouldn’t care about Marie’s marriage.

“That’s why I pray to God every night before bed to send Miss Marie a good match.”

“I see.”

Hans nodded halfheartedly. In truth, he hadn’t properly heard what the butler was saying.

From the moment he heard the word “matchmaking,” his expression had hardened and showed no signs of softening.

※※※

After bathing in hot water, Marie changed into comfortable clothes and sat in front of her vanity.

Gretel, who had been struggling with a towel to dry Marie’s long, voluminous hair, wiped the sweat that had dripped onto her forehead.

Once her hair was dry, she combed it neatly with practiced hand movements.

From dressing to hair combing, nobles had to receive help from attendants for everything—that was the rule of this era.

For Marie, it was truly an incomprehensible noble lifestyle.

It was one thing to think of Gretel as a kind of beautician for a day or two, but having to rely on others even for the most trivial things became frustrating.

When Marie surrendered her body to Gretel like this, she often imagined herself not as an employer but as a dog.

Thinking that way made her feel much more at ease.

“About Hans. Hasn’t he changed a lot?”

“Yes, he has. He used to be pretty and cute, but now he’s become a man.”

“No, not his looks. Doesn’t his personality seem colder?”

“I’m not sure?”

“I felt like he was keeping his distance from me. He wasn’t like that before.”

To that, Gretel responded as if it were obvious.

“When he was young, he didn’t know any better, but now he’s grown up and knows everything, so of course he should show proper respect to you, Miss.”

“I don’t like that kind of formality between friends.”

“Come on, Miss. How could Hans be friends with you? If you had met outside, maybe, but as long as he works as an attendant at the Baron’s residence, it’s even more impossible.”

We must become friends. Marie muttered inwardly as she watched Gretel chattering away, oblivious to others’ feelings.

“I’m sure he already feels your kindness from how you’ve treated him without reservation. Your eldest brother would be shocked if he knew you gave him a guest room!”

“So what? My sisters and brothers are all people who hate talking with me, so they won’t even scold me.”

“No, no, Miss.”

“Wait, did I thank him?”

Marie tilted her head to one side while surrendering to the hair combing.

“What?”

“Hans carried me in here earlier. Did I thank him?”

“I don’t think you did.”

Excited at finding an excuse to visit Hans’s room, Marie jumped up.

“Oh my goodness, what was I thinking! I forgot to thank him!”

She slapped her forehead, putting on a performance.

“I’ll go thank him quickly and come back.”

“Miss, what about reading to the Baron?”

“I’ll do that too when I return!”

Marie dashed out of the room to avoid being caught by Gretel, then peeked her head back through the open door.

“So, where is Hans’s room again?”

※※※

As Marie got closer to Hans’s room, her heart kept pounding for some reason.

‘What if I’m trying to act friendly and it backfires instead?’

But they say out of sight, out of mind. Conversely, she thought that showing her face often would help their relationship grow closer.

When she reached her destination, she saw that the door was half open.

It was customary for guests to leave their doors slightly open when they were out, signaling that the room could be cleaned.

Marie thought he might have stepped out and entered the room.

And at that moment, her eyes met Hans’s as he was coming out of the bathroom. The only fortunate thing was that he was at least wearing bottoms.

“Wh-what the?”

Marie exclaimed hurriedly.

“I’m not the one making a surprise visit here.”

“I’m sorry! The d-door was open, so I thought you had gone out……”

“I guess I didn’t close it properly, and the wind must have pushed it open more.”

“I-I see!”

“Are you going to keep staring like that?”

At Hans’s question, Marie finally realized her unmoving gaze and turned her eyes elsewhere.

Her voice had only grown louder, while her bright eyes had been boring into his sculptured body.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ve already seen everything, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything!”

She looked ready to stab her own eyes if he wanted.

Hans, appearing largely unbothered, took out a shirt that had been placed on top of the drawer and put it on.

“If noble lords and ladies want to feast their eyes, we commoners have no reason not to show ourselves. Would you like to see more, Miss?”

He moved his hand to open one side of his shirt.

“No! That’s fine! And what’s with all this talk about commoners and such? Why are you being so bitter?”

“Just look now instead of ambushing me at some late hour again.”

“What?”

What does this prince take me for?

“I’m leaving! Good night, guest!”

As Marie huffed and was about to exit the room, footsteps were heard in the corridor. She froze in place.

A master’s daughter with a servant who hadn’t fully fastened his collar, at such an hour.

‘What if our male lead’s marriage prospects are ruined because of me before he even meets the female lead? No, before that, I’ll be the one kicked out!’

While her imagination ran wild, Hans quickly pulled Marie in and closed the door.

Marie once again found herself with her face bumping into his chest, caught between the door and Hans.