Chapter 6
6
“Mathias, would you like to go to the market with me? Since you like flowers, I’ll buy some pretty new seedlings and plant them for you.”
“Do I have to?”
Mathias asked indifferently, his eyes fixed on the newspaper.
It’s lonely going alone. I looked at him with lonely eyes before slowly turning away.
Then, a soft addition followed from behind.
“What’s the point of having an excellent servant? Take him with you.”
But I don’t want to go with Dante. The market vendors might later testify that I was involved in treason. And he’s tall and handsome, so I get compared to him.
I didn’t answer and slipped into the mansion.
* * *
“Are you going out?”
Dante asked as I came out after changing my clothes.
Wait, is that man holding the sofa with one hand right now?
For a moment, I imagined him saying, ‘Tch, did he figure out my plan? I hate perceptive people,’ and throwing me out the window.
“Strength, what’s the mat—…”
“I was just cleaning under the sofa.”
I shook my head quickly from side to side, maintaining my composure. No, it’s just a worry. That man wouldn’t be that violent.
Because he likes and is good at housework.
Even if there are many obsessive-compulsive masterminds, there aren’t any masterminds who do housework themselves, right? He’s just a simple person who feels happiness while wearing an apron and doing the dishes.
Maybe someone interfered with that small happiness and caused him to destroy the empire. He had to do housework, but they bothered him by telling him to go to war.
I calmed my heart with rationalization that had no basis and opened my mouth.
“Ah, I’m going to the market to b—…”
Instantly, he gently put the sofa down and stood upright.
“Grocery shopping is also my job, so I’ll go with you.”
“I’m going to meet a friend named Jean Pierre. He’s a job placement agency owner with 20 years of experience. He’s a bit shy.”
I quickly spat out a lie and immediately ran out, got on my bicycle, and left the mansion. I didn’t need to lie. Why do I feel intimidated and uneasy whenever I see that man?
“He’s really annoying! He’s too competent to kick out!”
I crossed the forest, furiously pedaling. I will definitely kick out the refined housekeeper who makes the homeowner feel uneasy!
While devising elaborate schemes and wicked plots to trouble him, I arrived in front of the newspaper office.
“But was it originally this close?”
At first, it seemed like it was quite a distance, far enough that I had to take a car for a while. I’m not a mountain biker, so how did I get here so quickly? Is it just my imagination?
I parked my bicycle, feeling bewildered, and entered the newspaper office.
Then, the employee who had placed the job advertisement last time greeted me happily.
“You really need to write it properly this time.”
I pointed out the previous advertisement, which had many misunderstandings, and conveyed the difficulties I had experienced because I couldn’t find anyone.
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I’ll correct it. But I heard there’s a scary presence in that house. Are you okay?”
“Oh, there’s nothing like that. The air is good, and it’s quiet, so I like it. Anyway, please write it positively.”
The employee nodded and said that he would write it well this time.
I wanted to check the advertisement before it went out, but wasn’t this world extremely analog? I had to find a replacement as soon as possible, so I decided to trust the employee’s confident promise that I could really trust him this time.
After leaving the newspaper office, I entered the market to buy food ingredients.
And I almost fainted at the murderous prices.
“6,000 Give for a tray of eggs? It was 2,000 Give in my neighborhood? Did you monopolize the distribution?”
“This young lady doesn’t know the prices in the capital! That’s the price everywhere!”
The merchant selling eggs clicked his tongue.
Why is everything so expensive? Are you trying to take advantage of an innocent person from the countryside?
In the end, I negotiated for 5,000 Give and turned around, and then I saw the clothes hanging on the stall. I wonder if clothes are expensive too. I need clothes because I’m currently wearing only two outfits to the extreme.
A clothing merchant approached me as I looked at the dresses and smiled kindly.
“You have a good eye. That’s a Cristan Tiol Design worn by a Count’s wife who leads the fashion in the capital, Londinium.”
“How much is it?”
“300,000 Give. If you buy the skirt here together, it’s 500,000 Give, but I’ll give you a special discount of 5,000 Give.”
What, it doesn’t look like it’s worth more than 20,000 Give at best. The rip-off is beyond imagination. I put my hand down and stepped back, giving a perfunctory smile.
“I’ll buy it next time.”
Then the merchant’s expression turned fierce, and he strode up to me.
“You have to buy it if you touched it. Don’t you know the market rules?”
“Excuse me?”
“The invisible hand. It means that touching it once has a big impact on the market price flow.”
“I didn’t even touch it.”
In response, two menacing men who had been standing far away and watching approached.
The man with the bushy beard said.
“I saw you touching it. It’s torn here. If you pay for it, we’ll pretend it didn’t happen.”
Isn’t this just robbery? I felt like I was going to have all my money taken away. I looked at them with a serious expression.
“Hey, if it tears when you touch it, is that even clothes? Get out of my way before you get torn too.”
I was so scared, but I had to say what I had to say. I had no choice but to be strong because it involved money.
As I slowly backed away, planning to run away, the bearded man grabbed my wrist and growled.
“Do you know who I am to act so fearlessly?”
I think I’ve become a little less afraid since I’ve been living with a dangerous mastermind.
“How would I know that? Do you know my aunt’s name?”
“Ha, you won’t give up until the end. I’m the person who manages this area by receiving protection money from the merchants. I can’t just let it go.”
He was a professional thug? This is a big problem. I quickly looked around.
Anyone handsome who can help me?
But no one was paying attention to this side. What a harsh society. I looked up at the man who was holding my wrist with serious eyes.
“Hey, your Namdaemun is open. The color is pink.”
“What?”
The man was startled and looked down at his crotch.
“Good manners.”
He let his guard down. In the meantime, I quickly shook off his hand and ran away, blending into the crowd in the square.
“Aah, my arm! I lost my arm!”
I heard a desperate scream and a crashing sound behind me, but I didn’t care. It looked like an insurance scam or extortion, or something like that, right?
“Günther! Are you okay? Catch that, that brown-haired woman!”
“There are more than one or two brown-haired women!”
They couldn’t find me, who had naturally blended into the crowd. They’ll probably forget what I look like by tomorrow.
It’s a great relief that I don’t have any individuality. If I had rainbow-colored hair, I would have been caught right away.
After confirming that the guys were no longer following me, I felt relieved and got on the bicycle that was parked nearby.
“It’s a relief, but all the eggs are broken.”
Without knowing what kind of consequences this commotion would create in the future.
* * *
While walking with my bicycle, I noticed the flower pots displayed in front of the flower shop.
In particular, the peach-colored roses are beautiful and pretty. I should apologize for trying to throw away Mathias’s precious Rilke Rose, and he would be happy if I planted them in the garden.
“Excuse me, how much are these roses?”
The florist wearing a brown apron smiled kindly.
“It’s 70,000 Give per one. It’s a breed grown in the imperial garden. The 20,000 Give nutrient solution is essential. The flower language is unfinished love in the next life…”
“I see. Rose, let’s be together in our next life! Have a good day!”
I gave up quickly.
I don’t even take nutritional supplements, but you want me to give them to flowers? How delicate are they that the flower language is about promising the next life?
I grumbled inwardly and loaded the plump chicken, onions, and potatoes that I had bought before the rip-off commotion onto the back of the bicycle. (Unfortunately, not a single egg survived.)
As I rode my bicycle along the fields with the crimson sunset, I noticed the wildflowers that decorated the roadside in colorful colors.
“Wow, it was a really pretty road.”
The scenery, which looked like an artist had dotted colorful paints on top of the colors of early spring, was like a painting. I had been so blinded by anger that I had only looked ahead, so I hadn’t noticed the beauty.
“I have to live with leisure. Look around, look at the sky.”
I admired the wildflowers swaying gently in the sunlight and wind for a while, then started digging up the soil and picking the wildflowers.
I should take them and plant them since they’re free. It’ll be the same whether they grow here or in my house.
* * *
As I arrived at the mansion and was about to go inside, I saw Mathias standing in the garden. He was looking at the Rilke Rose that I had replanted, and he looked quite uncomfortable.
“You planted them haphazardly. The lines aren’t aligned at all.”
I had a resigned look like a daughter-in-law who was used to her mother-in-law’s nagging.
“But I took care of them with great sincerity. I even gave them leaf compost.”
“What are you talking about when all you did was pick them and plant them? And what did you do to get so covered in dirt?”
I handed him the wildflowers that I had picked with their roots, grumbling.
“I was picking these.”
“Are you going to eat those too?”
“No? I was thinking of planting them in the garden.”
“To think you’re trying to plant weeds in my precious garden.”
Mathias gave me a disapproving look.
I didn’t care and started planting the flowers near the garden table where he often spent time.
“I saw a lot of wildflowers blooming on the way here, and they were pretty even though they weren’t expensive or rare. They have many advantages too. They’re strong, don’t require much care, and they’re free.”
Mathias sat in a chair at the table and watched me silently. His expression still seemed full of dissatisfaction.
I dug the soil with a trowel and asked.
“There were other contractors before me, right?”
“Yes, you’re the worst contractor. I want to terminate the contract even if I have to pay a penalty.”
He’s talking like he’s canceling the internet. I hope he pays the money and cancels it first. I glared at him with a pitiful look.
“I feel the same way? If you don’t like me that much, you can call the previous contractors back.”
“They’re all dead.”
It was a calm tone for a sad story.
Could it be that they suffered from that mother-in-law and died of a serious illness, or were they murdered because they didn’t like the cleaning condition…?
I Hired a Mastermind as a Housekeeper
