Chapter 24
“M-Master’s name, you ask?”
“Yes, I don’t think I was ever introduced.”
She could guess how he’d been treated for having the same hair color as her, and she understood well enough that he held a high status in the ducal family. But since he’d never actually told her his name, how was she supposed to know it?
As someone working in this place, it seemed only proper to know the name of the master, so she simply asked. But Cedric’s expression was quite strange.
It wasn’t just Cedric. The expressions of those from the tailoring room were just as odd.
Sensing the odd atmosphere before Sia could say anything more, Cedric replied,
“That’s understandable. Most people only know him as His Grace the Duke, and not his actual name. I understand.”
Having come to his own conclusion, Cedric straightened his shoulders and continued,
“Our master, the lord of the Blois territory and heir to the Blois Ducal House, is named Nox de Blois, Miss.”
“Thank you for telling me. By the way, Head Butler.”
“Yes?”
“From now on, please just call me ‘Sia’. Since I need to learn my duties from, being respectfully called ‘Miss’ by you doesn’t seem appropriate.”
“However…”
“Please.”
Sia, who had felt burdened by the ‘Miss’ title since yesterday, spoke firmly. Cedric had no choice but to nod and reply,
“First, let me apologize for summoning such unprofessional people and making you uncomfortable, Miss Sia.”
“…Just ‘Sia’ is fine.”
“I’ll have these people removed at once and call for new tailoring staff. For now, please look over these documents first.”
Before she could protest, Cedric handed her a thick stack of papers. Sia had no choice but to close her mouth.
“When you work, you can use this desk.”
After guiding her to the desk that had been prepared, Cedric led the staff from the tailoring room out.
Left alone, she sat at her spot. Letting out a deep sigh, she quietly organized her thoughts.
Everything since yesterday had been bewildering. She’d been surprised to learn the black-haired man who brought her here was the lord of this land, but now that she knew his identity clearly, her frustration disappeared.
“So, a man with the same hair color as me is a duke… Did I really luck out or what?”
She’d been scared she might end up being tortured or worse, but instead, she’d been given a job. She’d worked at Karin’s shop just to find work in this other world with nowhere else to go.
Again, she felt a bit guilty towards Karin, but here she had a much more comfortable place to stay than at Karin’s house, so why not try working properly here for now?
Maybe she could even catch the Duke’s eye and secure her position once and for all.
Her surprise had already vanished, replaced by a rush of motivation. The same drive that had once pushed her to work so hard for recognition at her company began to flare up again.
As she flipped through the documents, Sia tilted her head in curiosity as the content became more and more peculiar.
“What is this?”
She’d expected information about Nox, since she was to be his personal butler, but what was written in the documents exceeded her expectations. It was almost as if…
“…It’s like a childcare log.”
The documents were filled with detailed notes, as though carefully recorded for a beloved child.
If she memorized all of this, she’d know exactly what he hated, what he liked, his food preferences, favorite tea, favorite desserts, bedding style, preferred fabric and even clothing style—everything down to the smallest detail.
Stunned by the sheer volume and thoroughness, Sia clenched her fists as if vowing to herself and began reading in earnest.
Meanwhile, Cedric, having left the room, glared icily at the tailoring staff. He hadn’t dared call the master’s usual tailoring shop, so he’d gone for another well-known establishment in the Blois territory. But the result was infuriating.
“You really had the nerve to insult a guest of the ducal house.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
It wasn’t the one who measured Sia, but another staff member who bowed deeply and apologized. At that, Cedric instantly understood why the lowest-ranked staffer had been made to do the measuring.
They’d made the youngest handle it and kept themselves back, all because of her black hair.
Recalling the humiliation his master had suffered since childhood, Cedric’s expression grew even colder. For him, who had pledged his loyalty to the Blois house for so many years, such things as being a symbol of misfortune were irrelevant.
What mattered was that Sia, his master’s guest, had been made to feel uncomfortable.
“This is a waste of time. Leave immediately. Naturally, there will be no payment for your services.”
“H-Head Butler! Please, give us just one more chance…”
“What are you doing? Remove them at once!”
Cedric barked the order to the nearby staff.
The maids, who had been working nearby, hurried over and dragged them out.
“Please, I’m begging you!”
The youngest staff member—the one whose wrist Sia had grabbed earlier—paid no heed to her senior’s desperate pleas.
Her attention was wholly consumed by the enchanting scent now clinging to her wrist. She furtively licked at the mysterious powder left there.
An overwhelming wave of excitement washed down her spine.
It was blissful.
Her eyes went hazy as she was tossed outside the iron gates of the ducal house, and she found herself thinking.
Do you really become unfortunate if you touch someone with black hair?
But after touching her, I actually feel even better.
Lost in an ecstasy she’d never experienced before, the youngest staff member wondered for the first time,
‘Who was it that first said black hair was a symbol of misfortune?’
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