The Villain Family’s Strongest Butler
Chapter 7
-“Rest well today, and brace yourself starting tomorrow.”
The old man quickly finished drafting the contract and left the room.
Starting tomorrow already?
‘He’s determined to work me to the bone, is that it?’
In truth, looking solely at the terms of the contract, there was nothing unfair to me.
And then, the necklace.
Clink. I toyed with the necklace hanging around my neck.
‘It’s similar to the color of my eyes right now.’
The gemstone hanging from the gold chain was, at least.
Was it a sapphire? Or some other special blue-hued jewel?
The old man had called this necklace a safeguard.
-“You shall speak of nothing concerning the Grand Ducal household, you shall enter nowhere outside permitted areas, and naturally, leaving the estate without permission is strictly forbidden.”
So many things I couldn’t do.
Yet it was true that my unrevealable identity and current predicament had forced matters to this point.
‘The shackles on my hands and feet are gone, but now I’ve got something even worse around my neck.’
Is this how a dog feels wearing a collar?
‘Though it’s a bit too pretty to be called a dog collar.’
Still, giving me this necklace must mean they don’t intend to kill me right away.
Obey, and I’ll let you live. Something like that, was it?
‘Yeah. Even if it’s a nuisance, it’s better than being locked in a dungeon with chains on my hands and feet.’
Phew. Only then could I let out a breath of relief.
‘So this is the room I’ll be staying in from now on.’
I took a look around the room.
A decent amount of sunlight streamed in through a sizable window. A bed that was far from shabby, and a desk that looked quite sturdy.
It wasn’t particularly spacious, but for me right now, it was more than generous.
The voices drifting in through the window blended with the warm air inside, creating a tranquil atmosphere.
As I gazed blankly at the sky outside, idle thoughts crept into my mind through the quiet lull.
‘Too much has happened in such a short time.’
Just when I thought I was consumed by dark magic and died, I woke up alive.
‘And just when I thought I was glad to be alive, I was in an enemy nation.’
And now, I was inside the mansion of the most dangerous man in this enemy nation.
‘Me… a maid?’
And the maid of none other than the notorious Grand Duke Vallot… !
I buried my face in both hands.
With a rattle, the necklace around my neck swayed along with the movement.
Damn it, dog collar.
The necklace served as a stark reminder of the reality I was in.
‘Standing before the Grand Duke, wearing a dog collar he fastened on me, and becoming his maid.’
How hilarious. Really, truly hilarious.
If Serhin ever learned of my situation, how hard would he laugh?
‘Sia, I told you to bring back the Grand Duke’s head, but you came back with his shackle around your neck?’
Did you have a penchant for that sort of thing, Sia?
For some reason, I could almost hear Serhin’s mocking voice ringing in my ears.
‘Even when I return, I’ll definitely have to keep everything that happened here a secret.’
Phew…
Whatever. I should be glad I’m still alive.
‘Right. This isn’t a bad situation at all, all things considered.’
I clearly remembered the words I had blurted out in the Grand Duke’s office.
Dropping honorifics was just the baseline; I had even fueled his suspicion with vague evasions.
And yet, the Grand Duke had spared my life.
‘As I thought.’
The Grand Duke seems to know who this body belongs to.
‘Otherwise, there’s no way he would have let me live after committing such insolence right to his face.’
It was the second question.
-“Do you… remember me?”
Out of the three questions, that one had been intensely personal.
‘The Grand Duke definitely didn’t ask if I knew who he was.’
He asked if I remembered him.
At a casual glance, they might seem similar, but the underlying meaning was completely different.
‘Unless the Grand Duke has a massive ego, he wouldn’t ask something like “Do you have any idea who I am?!"’
And considering he asked only after sending both the old man and the priest away…
‘It proves that the question was extremely private, intimate, and secretive.’
Which means it’s a relationship kept hidden even from his closest aide, the old man.
‘Ah, I wish I could crack open the Grand Duke’s head and look inside.’
Or maybe I should pick a day to dose the Grand Duke with truth serum myself.
‘And then ask him.’
Whether he remembers me. Whether he knows me. Who I am.
Not a bad idea, is it?
But that plan, too, was only possible once this body could function properly.
I slid down from the bed and took a seat right in the middle of the hard floor.
‘I’ve escaped immediate danger to my life.’
Now, I needed the resolve to move on to the next step.
Turning this body into one built for survival.
To do that, I had to carve out every single spare second from now on to train.
‘Work starts tomorrow, he said.’
And he told me to rest well today.
Then this time right now is my chance. A chance to awaken the aura slumbering within my body.
I glanced out at the sky through the window.
Though today felt impossibly long to me, the sky remained bright and serene.
It was just past lunchtime.
‘Time is of the essence.’
Let’s awaken the aura before night falls. If that fails, I’ll stay up all night to do it.
‘Since aura has already manifested in this body, all I have to do is wake it up. Just a nudge, just a tiny bit.’
An ordinary person could never awaken aura in an untrained, unconditioned body.
Far from awakening it, rashly attempting to do so more often than not resulted in death.
‘Well, that’s for normal people.’
I am different.
This was also my first time awakening aura in an unconditioned body.
But as long as my unyielding willpower remained, I wouldn’t die easily.
‘Still, I won’t let my guard down.’
I slowly closed my eyes.
‘Phew…’
My consciousness instinctively began reaching out for the dormant aura.
Taking only the shallowest of breaths, I gathered all my senses and focused.
My vision was dark.
Naturally. A body that had never channeled anything could only be pitch black.
In a way, it was a blank slate.
Like an untouched snowfield where no one had set foot, or an empty void of space where not a single star had yet been born.
Inside the human body exist tens of thousands of pathways unseen by the naked eye.
Sending and circulating aura throughout the body via those dense, intricate pathways was the fundamental stage of aura usage.
I decided to start with that foundational step.
As if feeling my way through the dark, I carefully focused on the energy emanating from my heart.
And then, I felt it. The faint thrumming of my heart, and another presence slumbering within it.
A thread-thin wisp of energy rippled around my heart, almost tickling it.
It was blue aura.
As azure as a crystal-clear autumn sky without a single cloud. It also looked like the waters of an emerald lake so clear you could see straight to the bottom.
It gave off a refreshing coolness that felt as if taking a sip would clear away all congestion.
‘That color is definitely…’
Amazingly, it was the exact same color as the aura I had used in my previous body.
‘No way. It’s probably just a similar shade.’
An aura’s color is determined by a person’s disposition, but that didn’t mean aura colors were unique like fingerprints.
Although the odds were low, encountering someone with the exact same aura color was entirely possible.
‘Or maybe the aura color turned out similar because the soul is the same.’
Perhaps because it resembled the aura from my previous body.
I felt a swell of warmth and familiarity. As if, somehow, I had returned to those days.
Composing my emotions once more, I quietly gazed at the blue energy.
‘In any case, that means this is my aura.’
Well, since things turned out this way…
‘Let’s get along from now on.’
After all, every first meeting is unfamiliar.
‘Who knows? Maybe our meeting today will make history.’
Coaxing that haze-like aura, I approached it cautiously.
‘There’s a good one. Be gentle now, okay?’
I caught my breath for a moment.
Then, very slowly, I embraced the aura nestled near my heart.
‘That’s it. Good, aren’t you?’
As gently and tenderly as possible.
Delicate and careful as if soothing a young child, reverent and deeply respectful as if welcoming a noble being.
Did my sincerity reach it?
The drifting aura began seeping into my heart in its entirety.
What do you know, it was far more docile than I had feared.
‘Phew, thank goodness.’
It was right as I breathed a sigh of relief.
Crack—!
‘…Huh?’
A sound of something fracturing came from my chest.
What on earth is that sound? Did a bone break?
‘No, this is more like…’
The sound of thin, fragile glass cracking.
‘Could it be… my dog collar?’
But I had no luxury to check.
Far from opening my eyes to look, an excruciating agony slammed into my chest starting with that shattering sound, rendering me utterly helpless.
The aura had begun to rampage.
Even drawing a single breath was an agonizing struggle.
‘I take back what I said about being docile! I take it back!’
I hastily gripped my slipping consciousness and focused on the aura inside my body again.
‘Fine. Let’s see who wins.’
I survived in an enemy empire, and right in front of the Grand Duke no less—do you think I’d die to a mere burst of aura?!
‘I am going to survive.’
No matter what!
At that moment.
Spuuurrrttt—!
‘Uh…?’
I sprayed a fountain of blood from my mouth and collapsed backward.
