Chapter 3
Chapter 3
* * *
After Mathias left, rattling off a string of nagging complaints, I put a bandage on my forehead and took out the contract to review it again.
"Where is that clause? I can't see it no matter how hard I look."
Then, I noticed very small print on the contract, so tiny that you'd need a magnifying glass to see it. It was so intricately designed that it almost looked like part of the contract's design.
[Upon transfer of ownership, the new owner automatically enters into a contractual relationship with the entity residing in the mansion and must faithfully fulfill the contractual obligations as the 'Mansion Manager'.]
"The most important clause is disguised as a pattern!"
I can't believe I've been scammed!
* * *
The next morning, I rode the old bicycle from the warehouse, pedaling furiously towards the capital plaza. I felt like I wouldn't be able to calm down unless I confronted the real estate agent who had scammed me.
"How dare you scam me? I hope you become squirrel food while hiking!"
When I woke up, the wound on my forehead had completely healed. I wasn't sure if Mathias, that old busybody, had healed it, or if it was just a hallucination.
I arrived at the real estate building, pedaling with furious energy. No, it was an empty building.
I stood there with a dumbfounded expression.
"Where did it go?"
The real estate agency that had been there just yesterday had vanished overnight.
I asked the surrounding merchants, but they just clucked their tongues.
"Real estate scams are all the rage these days, so you've been hit too? How much did you lose?"
I didn't actually lose any money, but I lost my life and became a cleaning slave.
"Ha... It's not just a financial scam, it's a life scam."
I sat on a bench overlooking the river and felt a moment of despair.
The world had betrayed me.
After a moment of emptiness, I steeled my resolve. From now on, I would become a ruthless person. I would maintain my composure and become a cold-blooded person who only moved according to profit.
"Damn the world!"
My shout startled the pigeons, and they fluttered away.
Anyway, I had to hire a housekeeper if I didn't want to die. At the usual salary, I could hire two people.
Being a person of action, I immediately headed to the employment agency.
"The Garshiel Estate? Impossible. It's on our employment agency's blacklist."
The employment agency owner shook his head.
How much must they have tormented their servants in the past to be on the blacklist?
While I was bewildered, the owner asked.
"Are you, by any chance, living there?"
"Yes, I just moved in."
"Hmm. That place is famous for being haunted, so you must not be afraid. Even though buying a house is like reaching for the stars."
The owner clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry for me.
Hey, I was scammed too. I never dreamed there would be an obsessive-compulsive ghost.
"Do you know any sorcerers, voodoo practitioners, or exorcist priests? I want to get rid of it."
"Even a cardinal wouldn't be able to do anything about that place."
Damn it.
The owner, looking regretful, said.
"If you want to find someone to work, try placing a classified ad in the newspaper. There might be someone who comes without knowing anything. The newspaper company is right next door."
As recommended by the employment agency owner, I decided to go to the newspaper company and place a classified ad.
"How should I write it? Could you tell me about the working environment and conditions?"
The newspaper employee asked with a kind expression.
I nodded and answered carefully.
"Of course, it's hard labor, so they need to be strong, and the hospital is far away in the deep forest, so it would be inconvenient if they have any chronic illnesses or injuries. And it would be good if they could live in and focus on managing the mansion."
The sound of the typewriter was cheerful.
Since I set the salary high, people from other regions who don't know the rumors about the mansion will apply. Just one person, please. I'll grab them and never let them go for the rest of my life.
"It's done. It will be published starting tomorrow."
I smiled brightly in response to the newspaper employee's warm smile and came outside.
* * *
Two weeks passed. But there was no news. The mailbox was empty, and no one came. The newspaper company said that they hadn't received any inquiries either.
"Why...? The conditions are good."
During that time, I had been reformed into a person who didn't put off doing the dishes after experiencing a life of torment.
"You have to use hot water for greasy things."
If I slacked off even a little, the nagging fairy, Mathias, would appear without fail.
"Use lemon to remove blood stains."
"Clean the bathtub with lye."
"Is this what you call cleaning? Do it again."
"What's with your clothes? How many times have I told you to dress neatly even inside the house?"
I'm so tired. I feel like I'm going crazy. Do I have to live with that mother-in-law's nagging for the rest of my life?
That's when it happened.
Ding-dong-
While I was washing the dishes with tears welling up in my eyes, I heard the sound of the doorbell, which I thought would never ring.
I quickly turned around. My waist cracked, but I didn't care.
"Mathias, it looks like a housekeeper applicant has arrived!"
Mathias, who was leaning back on a fancy single-seater sofa, gestured imperiously for me to go out and see.
He acts like he's the owner of the house, doesn't he? Even though it's clearly in my name.
"Welcome!"
As soon as I flung the door open, I was met with a broad chest in a three-piece suit. It took me a while to raise my gaze before I could meet the blue eyes.
"Hello. Nice to meet you."
Smooth pronunciation, an attractive baritone voice.
The other person was an elegant gentleman with a sophisticated appearance. Jet-black hair and blue eyes added to the cold atmosphere. The sharp jawline, the sculpted nose that fell in a straight line, and the sharp eyes suited it perfectly.
In a word, he was an astonishingly beautiful man.
"What brings you to this remote mountain village...?"
I asked as if I were a mountain spirit. No matter how I looked at it, he didn't seem like someone who had come to work after seeing the classified ad.
To my disappointed eyes, the man said.
"I came after seeing the classified ad."
That noble-looking man?
"Really?"
He took out a small clipping from the newspaper from inside his coat and showed it to me.
"The conditions were right."
[A healthy individual aged 20-30.
Must not have taken medication, been injured, or had surgery in the past two years.
Prefers an introverted personality with few interactions with others and no one who would worry even if they couldn't be contacted for a long period of time.]
???
Damn newspaper company! What did you write!
And it looks like a human trafficking ad to anyone, and he came after seeing this? His first impression is good, and he's stiff but polite, so he doesn't seem like a bad person.
"You don't have any criminal records, do you?"
"No, I don't. Are you going to hire me?"
"As long as you're not a criminal, you're hired. Let's be together forever."
In a situation where no one is applying, there is endless housework, and my life is threatened, I had no choice. I will never let him go.
He handed me a document envelope with a possessive smile.
"Thank you. Here's my resume."
When I opened the resume and looked at the experience section, I stopped as if I had broken down.
[Main Experience]
Former) Commander of the Magical Special Forces
Former) Commander of the 2nd Army Corps in the Darcia Conquest War
Former) Deputy Chief of Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Allied Command
Numerous records of subjugating Class 1 Magical Beasts
National Ability User Class 1
[Aspiration for Joining and Future Plans]
I am planning to cleanse the corrupt empire.
Hick, what is this amazing spec? And what is the cleansing of the empire?
It seems I've hired a housekeeper who is too powerful and suspicious.
Why would such an amazing person come to do housework? I asked with suspicious eyes.
"By the way, what is the cleansing of the corrupt empire...? I don't see any experience as a sanitation worker."
The man pulled on his tie with a blank face and said.
"It's exactly as it sounds. I'm a bit of a clean freak and can't stand dirty things."
It didn't seem like it was related to street cleaning or environmental beautification at all, but I didn't have the courage to ask further, so I fixed my gaze on the resume again.
He prepared as if he were applying to a major company.
But as I looked closely at the resume, I felt a light bulb go off in my head.
Name: Dante Van Dyke
Age: 23 years old
*Family Relations
Father - Gerald II Van Dyke
Mother - Agnes Van Dyke
"Huh?"
The name, family relations, self-introduction, and growth process were somehow familiar.
I fully activated my brain and searched through my forgotten memories. Then something flashed through my mind.
The Last Princess
I finally realized what novel background this world was. Along with that, some of the content of the novel that I had forgotten began to come back to me.
A novel set against a backdrop of a crumbling class system, with an illegitimate princess as the main character.
The story is about a protagonist who lived as a commoner and realized that she was of royal blood, was recognized as a member of the royal family, and struggled to prevent the dismantling of the class system.
[Although the era has placed everyone on an equal footing, I will surely stand at the pinnacle.]
This one sentence represents her ambition.
But in the end, the royal family is completely dismantled, and the long history of the empire comes to an end.
And the person who destroys the empire and establishes a republic where everyone is equal is none other than Duke Dante Van Dyke, who was called the Devil Duke.
Of course, he had his reasons. The royal family used him like a war slave after he lost his parents and became alone at a young age.
In the process, hatred towards the royal family and the pro-emperor nobles accumulated.
Who is a bad or good person depends on whose perspective you look at it from.
"Mr. Dante Van Dyke."
It's a pity from my point of view. But why are you preparing for that while doing someone else's housework! I hid my bitter resentment and gave a harmless smile.
"Unfortunately, you have been rejected from the documents..."
"You said let's be together forever and now you're so fickle. Do you not like me? I want to hear a reasonable reason."
He's smiling, but only his mouth is smiling.
I was overwhelmed by the eerie gaze and took a step back in fear. A major disaster might occur if I just said no.
"A, actually, it was a pressure interview. You're hired."
I hired a mastermind as a housekeeper.
