002

‘Her condition is much more serious than I thought…’

Even Sion, who knew nothing about heartbreak, could vaguely sense it. Hers was the face of a woman who had lost everything after losing one precious thing, sinking into unfathomably deep sorrow.

He was facing a woman who had been consumed by sadness for so long that she had grown numb, reaching a state of emotional void where she could no longer feel any other emotions.

“The young lady seems a bit tired. Let’s all leave.”

Adollo gestured to Sion and Kanna, either reading something in her blank expression or simply trying to defuse an awkward situation. Until the end, Agate neither spoke a word nor even turned her head.

“Kanna, I’m busy with the end-of-month accounts, so please show Daniel around the mansion today. He seems clever, so explain his duties to him as well.”

Adollo gave Sion a final nod before going on his way. Sion didn’t particularly want to know what that nod meant.

“Um… please don’t be too disappointed that the young lady didn’t acknowledge your greeting. She used to be kind and friendly, but now she doesn’t interact with anyone.”

“I’m not disappointed. I was briefed on the situation beforehand. However… the young lady’s sorrow seems much deeper than I expected, which concerns me. As her butler.”

Originally, originally. This “originally” kind and gentle young lady had lost her fiancé three whole years ago. Surely it was time to stop adding such unnecessary qualifiers.

“I… I see. That’s good then. I was worried you might have been hurt by the young lady’s attitude.”

Kanna was a maid who looked young enough to be under twenty. With freckles dotting her cheeks that flushed a honey color and her lips fidgeting nervously, she was the very picture of a shy young girl.

Once again, Sion was a sinful man today. Even captivating this young girl. How exhausting.

Come to think of it, he was incredibly fortunate that the lady wasn’t the type to blush and leer at him lustfully. He could keep maids at a proper distance, but if his employer developed feelings for him, shaking them off would be nothing short of troublesome.

“Would you show me around the mansion now, Miss Kanna?”

When Kanna’s eyes met Sion’s bright smile, her face turned tomato-red. Just before her face seemed about to burst, she shook her head vigorously as if her neck might snap.

“Leave it to me!”

Learning the layout of the mansion was Sion’s most important task. After all, the places where wealthy people hide their valuable treasures tend to be similar. Once he could see them, estimates automatically appeared to his experienced appraiser’s eye.

Indeed, structurally, the Irone family villa in Ponten wasn’t much different from other villas. However, after touring the entire estate with Kanna’s help, Sion was genuinely perplexed by the absence of any suspicious gaps worth noting.

The mansion was as empty as Agate Irone’s room, as if protesting that its only master was this sickly, whimpering Agate Irone. In that wide-open interior, there was no visible place where valuables or a safe might be hidden.

‘Surely… this is still the great noble House Irone… Perhaps the Duke’s slush fund is hidden somewhere precisely because it looks so unremarkable.’

In truth, more valuable than precious items were gold bullion or cash. Ultra-expensive valuables were actually more troublesome because trying to sell them made it easy to get caught.

“Thank you, Miss Kanna. Thanks to you, I could see the mansion’s structure at a glance.”

“If you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime!”

The bright and innocent maid now seemed unable to meet Sion’s eyes, as if harboring her first love, and kept tapping her toes on the floor for no reason.

‘I’ve completely surveyed the interior. It will take about two weeks at most to find any hidden places or secret safes.’

Unfortunately for the innocent young girl, the captivating young man was only busily calculating worldly matters in his head.

“Is there anything I should be careful about when serving Lady Agate?”

While his mind thoroughly planned his swindling operation, his mouth naturally continued the conversation to prevent any awkward pauses.

“Actually, the young lady… has been unable to speak since three years ago, overwhelmed by her immense grief. It’s important that you and I anticipate her needs first to ensure her comfort.”

“…Could it be mutism?”

Sion’s eyebrows curved appropriately in a sorrowful manner.

“…That’s right.”

D*mn that old man, he’d omitted the most important detail. The fact that the lady couldn’t speak was something a butler should have been informed about first and foremost. But if she couldn’t speak, she wouldn’t bother him with various demands, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

He had seen many people whose mouths he’d wanted to sew shut for the filth they spewed, so her keeping her mouth shut on her own was actually better the more he thought about it.

“I’m quite perceptive, so I’ll serve the young lady without any inconvenience, haha.”

“Oh! And sometimes she wanders outside at night. She even goes dangerously far from the villa, so you must monitor—I mean, watch over her carefully.”

‘D*mn. Mutism and sleepwalking—this is getting annoying.’

Truly, this lady was something else. Sleepwalking was a particularly troublesome condition. He had planned to conduct his real work in the dead of night when everyone was asleep. Having to monitor whether dear Lady Agate Irone was wandering around outside in a half-asleep state was nothing short of a disaster.

Sion’s sculptured face twisted momentarily when no one was looking, then quickly regained its composure as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Had there ever been a time in his swindling career when he’d hit a wall from the very beginning like this? It had already been a week since Sion started working as a butler in Ponten.

It had been exactly one week of living a double life—a skilled butler to the young lady by day and a petty thief searching the mansion by night—but neither day nor night brought any satisfying results.

He had been certain that Duke Irone’s slush fund was hidden under his nose in this utterly ordinary countryside villa. His professional eye had never been wrong before.

Yet despite searching the mansion every dawn with muffled footsteps and breath, all he found was dust-covered books. With each passing night, he became more convinced that this villa was truly just the unremarkable countryside retreat it appeared to be, insulting his natural swindler’s instincts.

If that were all, it might have been fortunate. Sion, who could handle any profession or character without difficulty and was skilled at manipulating others, had met his match at the final stage. And of all people, it was his employer.

Agate Irone hadn’t just lost her voice. She must have also soaked all her brightness, kindness, and humanity—qualities that seemed like unbelievable legends now—in sorrow and consumed them whole.

If she couldn’t speak, she should at least gesture or write to express herself, but she did none of these things. Agate simply sat in front of the window all day with her characteristic blank expression, staring intently at the outside scenery as if she were living merely because she happened to still be breathing.

And as the maid Kanna had said, despite this, she somehow still wanted the meticulous service befitting a noble lady. Her occasional eye twitches, glances, body movements, and hand gestures had to be interpreted to provide for her convenience. No wonder the salary had been set so high.

Sion found it amusing that he was actually succeeding at this ridiculous job. His competence manifested itself regardless of time and place, with no sense of propriety.

“You must have been truly exceptional even abroad. Serving the young lady can’t be an easy task.”

Kanna marveled as she followed Sion, who was going to fetch the poetry book that Agate was known to enjoy after seeing her thin, branch-like fingers extend across the desk.

“Indeed, handsome people really do work efficiently. I wonder where this blessing rolled in from, hohoho.”

Head maid Molly approached, having noticed Sion had come out. Somehow, whenever Sion stepped into the hallway, maids would abandon whatever they were doing and rush out as if they somehow knew he was there.

The only thing he had gained from his week as a butler was the somewhat burdensome affection of the villa’s women.

Additionally, as expected, the foolish officers were completely ignoring Ponten and diligently digging only in major cities and border areas—a misfortune that was also a blessing.