The Villain Family’s Strongest Butler
Chapter 14
The savory aroma of fresh bread and the rich, sweet scent of caramel syrup filled the air, mingled with the fatty meat roasting in the oven and stew seasoned generously with spices. The kitchen was in a frenzy of preparation to welcome the Grand Duke.
With rapid, rhythmic beats, Merial, the young kitchen maid, held a large mixing bowl tucked under her arm, vigorously whipping fresh cream.
Spotting me, Merial grinned, flashing her white teeth.
“Freya-nim! The eggs are so fresh today! Do you think even the chickens know it’s a special day?”
“That’s only because you look after them with so much love, Merial.”
At that, Merial blushed and gave a soft giggle.
“Oh, Freya-nim, really…”
How shy of her.
After offering Merial some warm encouragement, I headed over to the head chef, Lend.
“How is the lamb looking?”
“Splendid, Freya! Changing food suppliers was definitely the right call. The prices are lower, and the quality is far better.”
Lend let out a hearty laugh.
The very first thing I did upon becoming butler of the Grand Duchy was overhaul the supplier transaction system.
‘Even if Master was filling the vacant butler position, there’s only so much one person can do.’
Master was a vassal of the Grand Duchy, not its butler. As legendary as he was in the butler world, traveling back and forth between Millard County and the Grand Duke’s Residence made it difficult for him to delve deeply into the internal affairs of the Valot Grand Duchy.
Still, Master’s mere presence seemed to have kept the merchant guilds dealing with the Grand Duchy on their toes.
Compared to the long period during which the butler post had sat empty, nothing had gone terribly wrong—management had simply grown a bit lax.
Even so, I had no intention of overlooking even the smallest detail. The food supplier was the one I had severed ties with to make an example.
‘Those who mess with food deserve no mercy.’
I smiled with satisfaction.
“I’m glad to hear it. Please let me know immediately if any issues arise with the ingredients in the future.”
“Of course!”
“Ah, and His Highness the Grand Duke and the knights will arrive within two hours.”
“That fast?!”
“Judging by their marching pace, it may not even take two hours, so please ensure the meal can be served right away.”
“Understood! I’ll have everything ready to serve right on time, so leave it to me!”
Lend thumped his chest with a thick fist, telling me to trust him.
I offered a faint smile and turned around.
‘Kitchen inspection complete.’
From the annex to the Main Building’s kitchen.
‘Flawless.’
Leaving the kitchen, I headed toward the central hall. Imagining the Grand Duke’s movements as if I were in his shoes, I traced his path step by step.
From the edges of the stairs to every curve along the banister.
Everywhere my eyes landed, I ran my white-gloved hand across it to check.
Reaching the top of the fourth-floor stairs, right before the fifth floor’s entrance, a strange sense of exhilaration washed over me when I saw not a single speck of dust on the tips of my gloves.
‘Perfection itself.’
From the first floor to the fourth.
It couldn’t be any more flawless. It was thrilling—just as exhilarating as winning a battle. No, perhaps even more so.
Smirking down at my fingertips, my gaze suddenly drifted toward a black iron door standing a short distance away.
The fifth floor.
-“The fifth floor of the Main Building is strictly off-limits, so don’t even think about going up there.”
Master’s nagging voice echoed in my head.
Mmh. Once again today, I found my patience being tested as I stared at that iron door.
Though it was nothing more than a massive iron slab, it had relentlessly provoked my curiosity over the past two years.
‘What a wicked temptation!’
Had that iron door ever been left open even by chance, I might have walked right in without a second thought.
Yet throughout the Grand Duke’s absence, the door had remained strictly sealed.
‘I thought I saw his aide go in from time to time, though…’
I didn’t consider a butler to be inferior to an aide. So one day, my turn to cross that threshold might come as well.
Why else did I become a butler?
To earn the Grand Duke’s trust and unravel the mystery of this body. And to take the Grand Duke’s head and present it to Serhin.
Once you become the butler, you can stand closer to the Grand Duke than anyone else. Close enough that an outstretched hand could reach the pulsing vein of his neck.
It was solely for that purpose that I became a butler.
Of course, getting to this point had been anything but easy.
Once Master switched tracks from maid training to butler training, he ran me into the ground with relentless determination.
‘He was said to be the founder of the Butler Academy, wasn’t he?’
They said the number of students who had fled during Master’s training could fill Lake Redianar on the mountain behind the Grand Duke’s Residence several times over.
I could wholeheartedly relate to that.
Had I lacked a clear goal, I might have fled as well.
-“A butler who doesn’t know the exact count of spoons, forks, and knives has no right to exist!”
-“No right!”
-“If a silver candlestick loses its luster, the family is ruined! Polish and polish until your fingerprints wear off!”
-“Polish!”
-“The color of the fifth lamp on the second floor of the East Annex?”
-“…Pardon?”
-“At the four o’clock direction from the garden fountain, how many fingers is the goddess statue curling?”
-“…”
At that rate, he surely would have demanded I count the Grand Duke’s hair strands eventually.
Just like that, I crammed every scrap of information about the estate into my head and recited it as naturally as breathing.
Master was satisfied only when I could pinpoint the location of every tiny vase tucked into the corners of both the Main Building and the annexes.
Sprint after sprint across the vast estate cost me my toenails hundreds of times over.
Just running around the Grand Duke’s Residence was enough physical conditioning on its own without needing any separate workout routine.
‘My nose bled so often from sheer exhaustion that it grew raw.’
I endured through pure grit.
After all, butler was a position that others had to graduate from an academy to obtain.
‘For someone like me with an unclear identity to become the Grand Duchy’s butler, I had no choice but to pay with blood and sweat.’
The sheer obsession to become a butler at any cost kept me going.
Along the way, my aura went berserk, bringing me to death’s door countless times, and I lived with chronic dark bruises from torn leg muscles.
Ah, wait.
Bracing a hand against the wall, I lowered my head.
Damn it.
Remembering what I went through made my nose prickle with unshed tears.
‘Stop it. What good does reminiscing do now?’
I had already achieved my goal, and now the Grand Duke was returning.
Soon, all my past efforts would bear fruit.
I glanced once more at the black iron door.
Truly, desperately, burning with curiosity.
‘My goal is right before my eyes—I can’t afford to get thrown out at the final hour by meddling with that.’
I wasn’t so curious that I would wager my life on it. Forcing my curiosity down, I turned away.
In truth, I had touched the lock on that iron door a few times under the pretense of cleaning.
That was enough. Enough to quell my impulsive urges.
Having confirmed that all preparations were complete, I returned to my quarters and checked my attire one last time.
It was the most critical task.
After all, this would be my first face-to-face meeting with the Grand Duke since becoming butler.
I was appointed butler six months ago.
Back when the Grand Duke was still on the battlefield.
-“His Highness gave his permission in advance.”
That was all Master had said.
At first, I was suspicious. I wondered if the plan was to place me in the butler’s seat so I would be killed by some infiltrating assassin.
Yet watching Master put me through such grueling training convinced me otherwise.
I smoothed the frill wrapping around my collar with my fingertips and cinched the tie at my waist tighter.
After checking the ornate metal chain and the Pocket Watch hanging from its end once more, I met my own reflection in the mirror.
Two years. It had already been two full years since I began living in this new body.
By now, I was quite accustomed to it.
‘Running with this body, wielding aura, handling a sword.’
However.
-“Conceal it as much as possible. Hide it and keep hiding it, and one day that secret will save you when you are in peril.”
Following Master’s advice, I never revealed the realm of skill I had attained.
The Grand Duke probably had no idea how remarkably I had grown.
Hmph. I gave a soft snort of amusement and stepped out of the room.
Before long, the vibrations of the earth drew closer. The Mars Knights, led by the Grand Duke, had reached the main gates of the Grand Duke’s Residence.
Every servant ceased their work and came out to welcome him and celebrate his return.
Along the path connecting the Main Building to the main gate, countless servants stood lined up in orderly fashion.
Seeing the servants lined up as straight as if measured with a ruler filled my chest with a sudden surge of emotion.
Among them stood I.
A complete stranger—an enemy, if one chose to call me that.
With a heavy, grinding metallic groan, the massive iron gates of the Grand Duke’s Residence parted open. Soon, the procession marching through came into view.
Dark gray armor engraved with the Grand Ducal crest, topped with helmets fashioned like pointed demon horns.
It was the Mars Knights, the knight order of the Valot Grand Duchy, returning from their victory parade in the capital.
And leading at the very front of the Mars Knights was, naturally—
‘Grand Duke Cadrian Valot.’
Slowing their march, the Grand Duke and the knights came to a complete halt only upon reaching the front of the Main Building.
With a heavy, rhythmic cadence, the warhorses stamped their hooves in unison.
The entire estate seemed to tremble.
Feeling that heartbeat-like resonance reverberate through my entire body, I gazed at the Grand Duke mounted atop the lead warhorse.
Astride his pitch-black steed in jet-black armor, the Grand Duke looked like the Grim Reaper descended from above to claim my head.
The cool purple eyes looking down at me gleamed—not with suspicion, but as if observing something novel.
Ah. It was the Grand Duke of the battlefield, a man I had never expected to face again alive. My fingertips tingled.
After looking down at me for a long moment, the Grand Duke raised a hand. At once, every horse ceased its movement.
As the tremors shaking the earth and rattling my chest died down, absolute silence descended.
I felt as though I were being suffocated by the overwhelming tension.
Only then did the Grand Duke dismount from his horse.
