Merry Christmas to all my readers! To celebrate, I’m treating you to extra chapter updates. Please enjoy this special release of four bonus chapters! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

(Lurelia’s Christmas Bonus – Update 2/4 🎉)

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“Is the bathtub in the bathroom a magic bathtub by any chance?”

“Ah, unfortunately it’s not, but I know a good place. If you wish, I can introduce you to a bathtub specialist.”

“Then send a catalog to the Count’s mansion.”

“Yes, understood.”

“I think I’ve seen enough. I’ll take this mansion. Since Casto handpicked and sent this place, there shouldn’t be any defects.”

“I’ll check the remaining parts.”

“Oh, as expected, you’re reliable, Demian.”

“Shall I help too?”

“No. Please escort the young lady first.”

“Yes, butler.”

“Ah! Then I’ll send another carriage after escorting the young lady first.”

“Do that.”

Demian stayed behind to thoroughly inspect the mansion, while I returned to the agency with Irena and the knights.

And before anyone could snatch it away, I immediately signed the contract and had the house documents notarized.

“How would you like to make the payment?”

“I’ll pay in full.”

Wait, don’t I sound too cool? Buying a house in full payment.

Intoxicated by my newfound wealth, I swiped a blank check for the extremely expensive mansion.

“Yes!”

Giaman brought the contract with his chubby cheeks twitching in excitement. It was an incredibly swift movement.

So the contract was concluded swiftly even before Demian returned.

As I was taking a short break, sipping the tea Giaman served, Demian finally returned from his inspection.

“There’s nothing that needs fixing. It’s a decent mansion.”

“Really? That’s good. Thanks for your hard work.”

If Demian had checked, it was trustworthy. He might be cheeky sometimes, but he was a butler who did his job very well.

“Did you make the contract?”

“Yes.”

“How did you handle the down payment?”

“I bought it in full payment, why?”

As soon as I finished speaking, Demian narrowed his eyes and looked at Giaman.

Gulp-

“Haha, well, the young lady willingly said she’d pay in full…”

Giaman visibly panicked and fumbled.

“Do you think the Count’s young lady is a joke?”

“Haha, of course not!”

“Cancel it immediately.”

“Yes!”

At Demian’s cold rebuke, Giaman hurriedly ran off to prepare the contract again.

As it turned out, the official contracting method was to pay half of the original down payment and then pay the remaining half on the actual move-in date.

Demian lectured me until my ears bled, saying that paying everything at once like this increases the chances of being scammed.

“Alright, I don’t usually do this, but I was just too excited this time.”

I made an excuse, tired of listening.

“Sigh, young lady. I’m really worried. How are you going to live from now on?”

Demian frowned and held his forehead.

“I said I won’t do it again, didn’t I?”

“Sigh, now we need to hire reliable servants, and I’m worried about this too. I wonder who else will scam you.”

“Hey, I haven’t been scammed yet. And why are you so worried? Just take it easy.”

“That won’t do. Especially since you have no connections in this place, if you bring in the wrong people, dangerous situations could arise.”

I’ve noticed it before, but Demian becomes sensitive about matters concerning my safety.

“Demian, you’ll make a really good dad.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Then how should we hire people?”

I brushed it off without further explanation.

“…In the Count’s mansion, we officially post job openings. It should be the same for smaller mansions. But it’s extremely difficult to hire trustworthy people.”

“I see. That’s really troublesome.”

I casually agreed without much thought. I really didn’t have any particular ideas.

As Demian, who noticed this, was about to show veins popping on his forehead, Irena, who had been hesitating, suggested:

“Um, then how about buying slaves instead?”

“Huh? No way.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Naturally, the first response was mine, and the second was Demian’s.

“Slaves? I don’t like that.”

Here, slavery was legal. Nobles employed commoners as servants and maids, while nobles with poor finances or commoners purchased slaves to use as lifelong dependents.

The Epine Count’s mansion was considered wealthy, so neither I nor the previous Lora had ever seen slaves.

“Slaves are the safest option. In the past, there were slaves who killed their masters and ran away, but now it’s impossible for them to harm their masters thanks to magic restraints and magical contracts.”

“Hmm, but I don’t like it. They’re human beings too.”

“Young lady!”

“Young lady, that’s a very dangerous statement.”

In this world, slaves were not considered human. They were treated worse than dogs and cats.

Mainly powerless minority races, people captured as prisoners of war, and rebels became the slave class, and unless someone paid their ransom, they had to live as slaves for life as their master’s private property.

Therefore, acknowledging them as fellow human beings was a statement that could get you beaten by both nobles and commoners.

“Anyway, that’s how uncomfortable I feel about it.”

“It might be because you haven’t seen slaves yet. They’re more obedient than you think, and if you choose well, they’re quite alright.”

Irena said frightening words with a gentle face. Her words clearly revealed the era and ideology they were living in.

“How about visiting the slave market at least? There’s really no better method than this.”

“That’s right, young lady.”

“Young lady.”

Demian and Irena looked at me intensely. I tried to avoid their sparkling gazes but eventually gave in.

On the other hand, I was also curious. What would the slave market look like?

“…Alright, I get it. If there’s no other way, I guess we should go.”

Click-

Just then, Giaman entered.

“Oh my, I’ve brought the new contract. Don’t worry this time!”

His clumsiness helped hide my complicated expression.

“What happened to your 20 years of serving clients with honesty and trust?”

“Hahaha! It means you can trust me even if you pay in full, something like that.”

“Shut up.”

And so, after finalizing the contract again under Demian’s meticulous guidance, we headed straight to the slave market.

I made a feeble attempt at resistance.

“Already? I’m not mentally prepared yet.”

“Young lady, it’ll be fine.”

“Isn’t there a saying that you should strike while the iron is hot? It’s better to act right away when you’ve made up your mind.”

Do they have that saying here too?

I looked at Demian suspiciously, but he only wore an expression of wondering why the young lady was acting like this again.

“Um, couldn’t we go tomorrow?”

“By tomorrow, you’ll probably think of ways to wriggle out of it.”

“When have I ever thought of ways to wriggle out of things?”

Just as I was about to argue, the coachman shouted loudly.

“We’ve arrived!”

“It seems we’ve arrived.”

“It’ll be fine, young lady.”

“Right, we’ve arrived…”

I entered with a gloomy face as if I were the slave being sold at the market. The knights followed behind.

Contrary to my preconceptions, the building was in the heart of the city. The entrance was guarded by mercenaries.

After having our identities confirmed by them and entering, we came upon a splendid lobby. In the lobby, handsome guides in uniforms were waiting in two lines, one for women and one for men.

I could see that when guests arrived, male guides would attend to female guests, and female guides to male guests, leading them somewhere.

“It’s cleaner than I expected?”

I had imagined a dark and gloomy atmosphere, but it was different from what I thought. A guide approached me as I was looking around. He led us inside and politely asked:

“Welcome. What kind of slave have you come to see?”