No Entry Except for the Master - Chapter 20

He needed to understand the reason behind this feeling of freedom—whether it was simply because Lilith wasn’t human, or because he could control her completely without restraint.

“And even if I report Rudy now, at most he’ll get a few months of disciplinary action. He dragged my mother into dirty rumors, and that punishment wouldn’t come close to being enough.”

It wasn’t as if he had any great affection for his mother, but she was one of the few humans Teia respected as someone worth learning from.

Teia had a firm belief: whatever he received, he would return threefold. And if it was resentment, even more so.

“So don’t worry.”

Seeing Teia’s refreshing smile, Cesar felt a strange sense of reassurance. He suppressed the uneasy thought that even his own personality might be warping under his master’s influence and exited the office.

—

“I’ll accept her since Your Highness recommends her, but…”

Louis looked suspiciously at Lilith’s résumé, which was mostly blank.

When Teia had said he’d appoint a dedicated caretaker for his pet rabbit, Louis had thought, Ah, Master is healing from heartbreak through his pet. He must be serious about it. So he had resolved to recruit the best trainer in the duchy.

But apparently, he had been more serious than he imagined—Teia had personally found someone herself. A completely unconvincing résumé, a youthful appearance with no sign of expertise, and a backstory that claimed she had been sold into slavery after her noble family fell into ruin. Louis couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

Though Teia was a capable ruler, he had a soft heart and often ended up betrayed. Louis worried constantly about that. (Of course, this was just part of the illusion most people believed—one Teia had intentionally cultivated.)

“You know how my rabbit’s a rare breed, so I had to look around for someone special.”

“Ah, I see. I’ll be in your care.”

Sensing the tension, Lilith smiled softly and delivered the greeting she had practiced diligently after Teia signaled her with a glance. Having always worked in the shadows, digging up others’ secrets, Lilith had no real social skills for the spotlight.

“Understood. Lilith, was it?”

“That’s right. I’ll introduce you to the rabbit, so you go ahead and finish what you were doing.”

Just as Teia, smiling brightly, was about to take her upstairs, Louis—who had been organizing resumes—hurriedly called him back.

“Your Highness. But, have you decided on the rabbit’s name yet?”

“Ah…! The rabbit’s name? I’m thinking of calling her Lily.”

Waving to Louis one last time, Teia left the room with Lilith. Louis, who was writing down ‘Lily (pet rabbit) – exclusive caretaker’ on the resume, circled both her name and the rabbit’s name alternately.

“His Highness really has no sense for names.”

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed the rabbit’s name was taken from the caretaker’s name. Louis sighed in pity. But only for a moment—then he nodded to himself, convinced that a person needed to have a few flaws to seem more human.

Thump. A seal was stamped on the resume, and at last, Lilith was officially hired to the estate!

Meanwhile, after following Teia into his office, Lilith exhaled the breath she’d been holding only once the door was fully shut. Her heart was pounding like crazy.

“How can you lie so shamelessly like that, Teia?”

“To avoid slip-ups in the future, you should start by changing how you speak. First, the title: call me ‘Master.’ As for your tone, it should be more polite and mature.”

He didn’t answer her question—instead, he immediately began correcting her. Lilith pouted without him noticing. It was her own small act of rebellion, bold in its own way, knowing that Teia wouldn’t see her with his back turned.

“Stop mumbling and come over here.”

Teia covered the rabbit cage with a black cloth that wasn’t see-through. Just one glance told her the fabric was of high quality—thick and adorned with ornate golden lace draped from every corner. Like a gift wrap, the cloth enveloped the cage completely, and rings at the end allowed it to be secured with a lock.

“Wow. Amazing! It’s so shiny—whoa!”

Mesmerized by the way the golden lace sparkled in the sunlight, Lilith stepped forward, only to trip on her skirt and land with a splat on the floor. Her knee throbbed painfully. Hngh… Her face crumpled in a near-tearful expression.

“Not just your speech, even your behavior needs work.”

A voice full of exasperated criticism rained down on her head. Lilith gingerly got up, lifted her long skirt, and shuffled toward Teia.

“No one’s going to believe you’re a noble-born slave like this. Maybe I should’ve just said you were a slave from birth.”

In both the duchy and the empire, most slaves came from defeated nations or were criminals.

Teia figured Louis would’ve strongly opposed the former, so he’d set her backstory as a ‘fallen noble lady sold into slavery after her father gambled away everything’—but judging by her behavior, they had a long way to go.