Priest Lumiere looked stunned at the male lead’s reaction.
“Young Grand Duke Rupesk. This is wonderful news for the Temple.”
“It’s dangerous while we still haven’t identified who’s behind this. For Rowell too.”
At the male lead’s warning, the mastermind backed him up.
“Rupesk is right, Lumiere.”
“My lord.”
“If we make a fuss and end up losing a promising new talent, that’s the Temple’s loss.”
“…”
At that, the priest gave a reluctant nod.
“Yes… I’ll keep this to myself. Miss Rowell.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I’ll take responsibility for looking into which house you’re from. I’ve already confirmed your divine power’s wavelength, so it shouldn’t be difficult!”
“I see…”
“I’ll be sure to bring you good news!”
“Thank you.”
He looked thrilled about it, whereas I felt nothing but conflicted.
My parents might have abandoned me — or maybe some terrible accident had torn us apart.
Once my assessment seemed to be over, the male lead turned back to me.
“Rowell, you heard it yourself just now… your ability is quite remarkable. Calling it a countermeasure against black magic itself wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”
“Ah, I see.”
“If word of it gets out, the Mage Tower might try to take you by force.”
“What happens if I end up dragged to the Mage Tower?”
“…Those people love their research.”
“…”
Translated out of romance-fantasy-speak, that meant I’d end up pickled in formalin.
Die in a workplace accident, or get hauled off as some bizarre research subject.
Nothing but thorns as far as the eye could see.
And like a slave with every escape route sealed off, I finally surrendered.
“Haah… I’ll sign the… employment contract.”
At that, the male lead’s eyes lit up like a man who’d just had a marriage proposal accepted…
Looking down at the contract in front of me, all I could do was sigh.
I honestly don’t know anymore.
Even so, the hand holding the pen wouldn’t stop trembling.
Why was writing the name “Leila Rowell” this hard?
“Rowell. Do you have a hand tremor?”
The male lead asked, entirely serious.
The two of us were standing far too close together.
The way we were looking at each other was far too intense, too.
The male lead, with the heart of a man grabbing hold of someone to suffer alongside him in hell.
Me… with the heart of someone thrashing for their life off the edge of a cliff.
“Want some help?”
“…I’m fine.”
Get your hand off.
Seamus, meanwhile, signed his without any fuss at all.
And so our two employment contracts ended up in the mastermind’s hands.
“Well, that settles the new hires.”
The mastermind looked thoroughly satisfied.
“Looking forward to working with you, Miss Rowell. And you as well, Mr. Finley.”
I couldn’t say the same.
My grand plan of coasting through easy work had just failed, and my spirit felt trampled flat by an elephant.
Should I just show them tomorrow what a truly terrible work attitude looks like?
They said no unauthorized absences, but nothing about being late, right?
Fine. My shift starts at nine — I’ll stroll in at nine-fifteen and take a solid forty-five minutes over my coffee.
But the mastermind’s smile only grew brighter.
“Ah, that’s right. Miss Rowell, Mr. Finley.”
“Yes?”
“…Yes.”
“Just to be safe, both of you should commute from the palace dormitory for a while.”
What kind of nonsense was this now.
People whose family homes were far from the capital were allowed to live in the dormitory, that much was true.
But the orphanage wasn’t especially far…
“You’ve been caught up in a black magic incident, so security needs to be airtight for a while. We can’t very well cause trouble for a place full of children, can we.”
“Ngh.”
Put that way, I had nothing to say back.
If security personnel assigned because of me started crowding around a place already busy caring for a dozen-odd children—
Ah. I don’t even need to imagine it.
There was no bigger nuisance than that.
“And you, Mr. Finley?”
“…I already live in the dormitory.”
At this rate I’d be seeing him from morning until night, every single day.
But the moment that thought crossed my mind, the male lead nodded along.
“Given how things stand, I’ll come by every morning to pick the two of you up myself.”
…I beg your pardon?
Workaholic or not, that was still a lot. Coming all the way to the dormitory to fetch his juniors?
And in person, every single morning?
While I stood there gaping like an idiot, the male lead’s eyes lit up as he looked at me.
“Rowell, you’ll need to go get your things from where you’re staying, won’t you?”
“Ah, yes… I’ll need to explain the situation to the director there, too…”
“Understood. I’ll come with you.”
“Sorry?”
“I’m your mentor from here on, aren’t I. It’s only right that I see this through.”
This romance-fantasy world clearly had the definition of “mentor” completely wrong.
Since when does a mentor handle their junior’s moving arrangements?
That same day, toward early evening.
The male lead really did come with me all the way to the orphanage building.
Honestly, I hadn’t wanted to bring him along, but I didn’t have the mental energy left to stop him.
I should at least set one condition, though.
Before stepping out of the carriage, I turned to the male lead, firm.
“I’ll go in first and pack my things — could you come in after I call for you?”
“Hm? Why not go in together from the start?”
“Please come in only once I call you.”
…Because if I didn’t say something in advance, he’d get a front-row seat to the full chaos.
Not that I was embarrassed by the orphanage’s children, to be clear.
“Sis, welcome back!”
“Whoa, Leila’s here!”
Even without a drop of shared blood…
Even before my “past life” memories came back, I could never have been embarrassed by the children I’d helped raise.
[Congratulations on the new job!]
[Sis really is the smartest one!]
They were about the only ones who’d celebrate anything I succeeded at, too.
It’s the adult I need to keep him from seeing, not the kids.
“Leila!”
Director May was bearing down on me at a brisk clip.
Judging by her expression, she was worked up enough to fry an egg on her forehead.
“What took you so long! I told you to help bathe the children the moment you got off work!”
“Weren’t the other teachers—”
“They’ve all gone home already!”
Right, which was exactly why she’d handed the job to the one person who didn’t get paid overtime the instant I walked in.
When I didn’t answer, Director May’s face soured.
“By the way, how much is your salary going to be? Once it comes in, you’re to hand it straight over to me without me having to ask.”
“It hasn’t even been a month yet, so I don’t know the amount for certain.”
“Don’t talk back!”
“…”
“That’s not what a grateful child who knows how to repay kindness sounds like, is it? You’ve been so strange lately.”
I looked back at her, unmoved.
The “old” me — the me from before my past-life memories returned — used to be obedient.
Because this person was my guardian.
She’d pulled me away from studying to run errands every single day, and still, I’d wanted her approval.
[Director, I got an award this time!]
[Oh, did you? Go change all the children’s diapers.]
[Um, Director, I wanted to sit the civil service exam, so… if I could just have a little time to study…]
[What? You want to be some model official without looking after your siblings first? You know it’s always the kids who can’t study who whine about not having enough time.]
[…Ah. Yes.]
It was infuriating, but genuinely — as far as guardians went, this one hadn’t been the worst.
At least there was never any hitting.
Instead, she’d think nothing of shaking me awake in the middle of the night or before dawn to put me to work.
Bathing the children, washing bedding soaked through in the night — the exhausting jobs none of the salaried teachers wanted.
Even chalking it up as repayment for being raised, there had never been so much as a word of acknowledgment for any of it.
And even now, she hasn’t once asked if I’m all right, when I clearly don’t look it.
Then again, that was relationships for you.
Let me at least get ahead of the situation. I’ll need to warn her to compose herself before he comes in.
“Director, there’s something I need to tell you…”
“Oh — oh my.”
But before I could get the words out, her eyes went round.
A faint flush even rose across both her cheeks.
What on earth is she looking at?
Oh. No.
The male lead, who I’d told to wait by the carriage, had somehow already made his way up behind me.
One look at him and I understood exactly why she’d stopped mid-scolding to fluster like this.
Because he’s the single most handsome man in this world.
Black hair stirring faintly in the evening breeze.
Deep red eyes, features arranged in flawless harmony.
A handsome man carrying an air of cool, melancholy elegance.
Director May leaned toward me, whispering, thrilled.
“Leila. Who in the world is that?”
“A senior from where I work. From house Rupesk—”
“Oh my goodness! Then why is he here?!”
Director May shot me a look that all but screamed could it be!
You can just put that idea straight back where it came from.
That man was nothing more than a work-obsessed mentor straight out of a romance fantasy novel.
“Rowell.”
“I did ask you to wait just a little lon—”
“Sorry. Waiting for you turned out to be more than I could manage, so I came out.”
A mentor with a genuine gift for saying the strangest things.
