The heavy pressure of his Dragonblood bore down on me, and I sucked in a sharp breath before I could stop myself.
They said ordinary people couldn’t even bring themselves to meet his eyes.
The original’s descriptions had been no exaggeration at all.
I never imagined I’d meet Cain like this.
My mind had gone stiff with nerves, but my body carried out the mission I’d rehearsed in my head countless times with perfect precision.
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace…!”
“You know who I am?”
At that low yet sweet voice piercing into my ears, I raised my head just enough to peek up at him.
But…
He really was handsome.
Even without the Dragonblood, no one would be able to meet the eyes of someone who looked that unreal.
Come to think of it, I felt like I’d seen a man this handsome recently, too. Was it just my imagination?
But this was no time to think about that. I hurried to answer his question.
“I-I think there’d be fewer people who don’t know who you are…!”
In my nervousness I’d blurted out something ridiculous, but thankfully the Duke let it pass.
“Sit, for now.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Cain gave a slight nod and sat on the sofa across from me. I awkwardly followed suit and took a seat as well, but honestly, none of this felt real.
I came here to meet Cain in the first place, so I’m glad, but why?
It was too strange to put down to plain good luck. This was basically the company chairman showing up to interview a bottom-rung employee.
Pretending to look at the table, I stole a glance at him.
Cain sat with his legs crossed, his unhurried gaze skimming the papers. And just like that, the interview began.
“Looking this over, your résumé is rather plain. There’s no record of you studying at the Academy. Did you have a teacher?”
Ugh. He was going straight for the bone from the start.
“I… taught myself!”
“Taught yourself?”
Cain’s eyes narrowed slightly. The look in them was clearly suspicious.
I understand, but no matter how suspicious you are, you won’t find anything… Because it’s the truth.
Remembering the old saying—speak true, even if your mouth is crooked—I squeezed out my courage and spoke.
“Ye-es… Due to circumstances, I never had the chance to learn from anyone.”
Pharmacy was not an easy field to get into. The usual route was to learn through an apprenticeship or attend the Academy. After that, you took the national exam to prove your qualifications.
But I had skipped the first part.
To be precise, the marquis’s house never gave me a chance to learn anything, so it was skipped for me, but…
“Hmm.”
To my great relief, Cain didn’t dig any deeper. Instead, he only asked a few more simple questions after that.
I secretly wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt and answered as earnestly as I could. They were mostly straightforward questions about healing techniques and herbal knowledge, so they weren’t hard.
A little while passed that way.
Tap. At last, Cain set the papers he’d been holding down on the table.
“Let’s end the interview here.”
Urgh. At words that were as good as a verdict, I squeezed my eyes shut.
I failed after all, didn’t I?
An interview at a ducal residence wouldn’t end this easily. It must have ended quickly because I’d been rejected.
It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped.
The job was never my goal to begin with.
Right. The interview’s over now. Time to tell him my real purpose!
I was taking a deep breath to steady my nerves with that resolve when—
“I’d like you to start work tomorrow.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re hired.”
“Me…?”
Why…?
At the unexpected response, I pointed at myself with a dumbfounded look on my face.
Um, I haven’t even shown you anything yet…?
But before I could clear up my confusion, Cain took a pen from inside his coat and scribbled something on the papers.
“This much in wages should be enough.”
My eyes went wide on their own at a number far bigger than I’d imagined.
“Um… So this would be the monthly salary?”
“The weekly wage. Would you prefer to be paid monthly?”
I couldn’t hold back a groan. I’d heard the Asheln ducal residence was a good place to work, but this was beyond anything I’d expected.
Wow. So this is why they say if you’re going to be a servant, be one in a rich man’s house.
How much was this, all told?
With this much money, I could dress Melody in pretty new clothes every single day, and stack expensive macarons as high as a tower for her. And also…
I tried to imagine a few more things, but sadly, I ran out of ideas fast. They did say only people who’d had money knew how to spend it.
Either way, it was a tempting sum.
But…
“No, the wages are fine. More importantly…”
It’s okay, Viola. You can do this!
Think of Melody, sweet as a little bunny, waiting for you…!
My heart was pounding like a drum.
Steeling myself hundreds of times over in my head, I forced my heavy mouth open again.
“Before I say anything, I most earnestly request that you send the others away…”
Cain tilted his head slightly, as if this was unexpected. A subtle crack formed in his face, which had been as expressionless as a plaster statue.
“If you’re trying to catch my interest, you’ve succeeded.”
He said it in a low voice, then motioned to the servants.
In an instant, only the two of us were left in the drawing room.
Cain gestured at me with his chin, as if to say, Go on, then.
My mouth went dry.
I had no idea how I’d be treated once I said this. It was a secret of the ducal house, so my life might even be in danger.
But unless I spoke first, I couldn’t propose the contract.
After going over my plan one last time, I clenched my fists.
“I’d like to propose different terms.”
“…”
“I will cure your nephew—that is, Young Lord Jayden—of his Tamutar disease. In exchange, please protect a young Saintess candidate.”
Ha. A short, disbelieving laugh broke the silence. The faint interest in Cain’s eyes turned as cold as ice.
“So you’re a spy?”
N-no, I’m not?
Cain Asheln had two nephews.
Their names were Noah and Jayden.
They were the children his brother and his brother’s wife had left behind when they died in a sudden accident.
He might be living as the Duke now, but until a few years ago, Cain had never expected to lead this kind of life.
Because of his constitution: even among the direct line of Asheln, he had inherited an unusually strong measure of the Dragonblood.
His mere presence frightened people.
So from a young age, he had naturally chosen a life of roaming the empire and facing monsters rather than staying in the residence.
But when his brother, the heir, died, and on top of that his father died suddenly as well, everything changed overnight.
The dukedom, thrust onto his shoulders without warning. And two young nephews with no guardian but him.
None of it was what he had wanted, but Cain carried out his duties in silence.
Dealing day after day with the monster waves that broke out all across the empire, he protected the dukedom, and the empire along with it.
People feared their powerful ruler, but they respected him too.
His nephews, though, were the one thing that didn’t go as he wished.
To be honest, Cain wasn’t especially comfortable with Noah or Jayden.
He found young children difficult to begin with. How could he be at ease with creatures who cried and ran away even when he didn’t go near them?
Even so, he had made a fair effort. He might not be the best guardian, but he had done his best.
Even though he’d been so busy subduing monsters that he hardly had time to set foot in the residence.
Thanks to that, his young nephews had grown up, little by little.
Though they were still afraid of him, their uncle…
It hardly matters.
He was used to eyes that feared him. To be precise, it was stranger when they didn’t.
Maybe that was why.
Why the woman in front of him kept catching his attention.
“Tsk! Hold still, please.”
How absurd he’d found it when she’d put on that stern look, as if scolding a child.
He’d brought her into the residence afterward on the pretext of the ointment, but thinking about it now, it might have been just that—a pretext.
Because Cain had been interested in her from the very beginning.
A pharmacist this capable is rare.
Perhaps that was why, even after he’d returned to the residence, her fluffy pink hair had kept flickering before his eyes for no reason he could name.
But he swore he’d never imagined she would catch his attention again like this.
And even less that she would dare speak of Jayden’s illness.
“Spies these days have no fear at all. Daring to make me an offer like this to my face.”
A sardonic smile settled on Cain’s lips on its own.
“So. Where did you hear it?”
“P-pardon…?”
“Who sent you, I asked. Whose lackey are you?”
The woman’s eyes went wide and round.
So bold a moment ago when she’d proposed her deal. Now she was visibly trembling, as if completely overwhelmed by his presence.
The color drained from her pink lips.
“N-no. It’s absolutely nothing like that…”
“It isn’t?”
“Ugh, n-no…”
Even pinned down by his presence, she managed to force the words out.
Cain gave a faint snort of laughter.
Not even a sincere effort at a lie.
That Jayden had Tamutar disease was information he had kept in the strictest secrecy all along.
It was his nephew’s fatal weakness, so he had guarded the secret thoroughly.
It was impossible for a lone individual to find it out. She had to be a spy someone had sent.
Did the Temple send her? Or the imperial family?
This wasn’t the Emperor’s way of doing things.
But nothing short of a power of that size could explain it.
Even as he weighed the possibilities, the woman still showed no sign of confessing.
“I-I really am not!”
Still trembling, she did nothing but deny it.
“Do you think insisting you’re not is enough, in a situation like this?”
When Cain took another step closer, she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Why not try claiming you worked it out yourself, then?”
He murmured it like a warning. The woman, who had been struggling to hold his gaze, dropped her head.
Is she going to cry? It was impressive she’d held out this long, if anything.
But at that very moment—
“Yes! Th-that’s right! That’s exactly it!”
“What?”
At the unexpectedly bright voice, Cain’s brows drew together.
“It’s just as you said! I… deduced it!”
Her head snapped up, and she looked up at him.
Her body was still trembling as if she could barely withstand his presence, but her sprout-green eyes, fixed on him, were as steady and straight as the truth itself.
