Clausette Baltezar stared at the hand offered to him, then turned away with indifference and sank into a nearby sofa. The piece of furniture was so dilapidated—barely holding its frame together—that it was embarrassing to call it a sofa at all. A grating creak echoed the moment he sat, but he deliberately ignored it, crossing his legs with an arrogant air as he scanned the small man before him.
“You knew who I was, yet you didn’t come out to greet me?”
At his voice, heavy with dissatisfaction, Roselia De Hessink bowed her head with an awkward smile.
“I apologize if I caused any offense. You arrived so suddenly without notice, and I was busy finding a clean room to host you.”
Clausette raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the implication that he ought to have sent word.
“Can you guarantee you wouldn’t have run away if I had notified you?”
It was a debt of 5,000 Verang. A single Verang was enough for a commoner family to scrape by for a week. In fact, commoners rarely even touched Verang; the lower denomination of Gran was more familiar to them. 1,000 Verang could buy a decent house on the outskirts of the countryside. Even if this entire baronial estate were sold off, it was clear it wouldn’t fetch 2,000.
Unless she possessed exceptional abilities, she might spend her entire life paying off the remainder. If she hadn’t run away despite knowing that figure, she could be considered to have nerves of steel.
Furthermore, he had heard that the eldest son, Antonio, was a college dropout and a drunkard who possessed no skills and simply squandered money. Well, looking at that delicate face, it was obvious he’d lived a frivolous life in the back alleys, banking entirely on his looks.
Just as he was judging the young baron at his own whim, Roselia, masquerading as Antonio, replied with a faint smile.
“Even if I ran, you are the type of person to employ people to track me down until you received your due, aren’t you?”
At Roselia’s words, which pinpointed the nature of the Duke of Baltezar with surgical precision, Alejandro, standing nearby, brightened with surprise. Clausette, seemingly intrigued by her unexpected candor, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
“It seems you know a thing or two about me.”
“Is there anyone in the Rugvelzet Empire who doesn’t know the Duke of Baltezar?”
Roselia did not back down. As she continued to speak, Clausette leaned back against the sofa with an amused expression.
“Did the Baron Hessink mention the debt he owed me?”
He had assumed she couldn’t have stayed without knowing the amount. Besides, he didn’t think the pride-filled Baron Hessink would have revealed his own failings to his children.
However, an unexpected answer came back.
“Yes. I heard.”
Clausette’s gaze turned toward Roselia once more, surprised.
“The amount, too?”
“5,000 Verang, right?”
“It is surprising that Baron Hessink left such talk for his eldest son, but it seems we can communicate.”
As Clausette had guessed, the Baron had not spoken to his children about the debt at all. This was information she knew entirely through the original novel.
In the original, Roselia had been unaware of the situation until the Duke of Baltezar stormed the mansion with his servants and dragged her off like a piece of baggage to the duchy estate. Her fate had been to work off the debt that remained even after the estate was sold.
Thus, Roselia had ended up working as a maid in the ducal residence, only to be used by the Duke, framed as an imperial spy, and ultimately killed by the male lead, the Crown Prince.
But as long as she possessed Roselia’s memories, that was out of the question.
“I will repay the debt.”
At her resolute expression, Clausette curled his lips in a mocking smirk.
“By what means? Even if we liquidate this estate, we’ll be short by at least 3,000 Verang. How do you plan to make up the rest?”
His tone was less of an interrogation and more of an expectation of what she might say. He wore the expression of someone curious if a cornered rat was merely putting on a final act of desperation, or if it truly had something hidden away in another hole.
Roselia smiled inwardly, watching Clausette tap the armrest of the sofa. It was a gesture the Duke of Baltezar often made when he was intrigued. Since she clearly remembered that detail, Roselia smiled faintly.
“One year.”
At her confident voice, Clausette looked up at her, puzzled.
“I will repay the 3,000 Verang within one year.”
The hand that had been tapping the armrest stopped dead.
“You’re going to pay back 3,000 Verang in one year?”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed at his cold expression, which now radiated annoyance as if he’d heard something absurd, replacing his previous intrigue.
“By what means?”
His cold navy eyes seemed to pierce through her. She truly felt the sensation of being overwhelmed by his gaze alone.
But it wasn’t something she had thrown out without a thought. Her strength lay in the fact that she knew the contents of the novel.
She had been a fan of the heroine and had reread the novel ten times. Since the setting was rife with imperial politics and friction between nations, she remembered almost all of the major events.
For instance, the location of a magic stone mine that would be discovered in half a year. Or the approximate location of the Laphelios Empire’s merchant ship that had sunk in the southern sea while transporting gold.
Roselia met Clausette’s piercing gaze with a confident smile.
“I haven’t been spending my time in the back alleys in vain.”
“You intend to pay back 3,000 Verang with mere rumors floating around the back alleys?”
Seeing him frown as if he found it unbelievable, Roselia smiled and continued.
“Sometimes, rumors from the back alleys are closer to the truth.”
She had never actually heard such rumors, but it was a suitable excuse. However, information regarding magic stones or the merchant ships of neighboring empires were major issues that could influence national affairs. She had no intention of getting entangled in such complex problems just to pay off a debt, so she redirected her interest toward artwork.
The female lead, the Crown Princess, had a great interest in art. Since the scene where she purchased works from unknown artists to decorate the imperial palace was described, it wasn’t hard to remember the names of several pieces and artists.
The works of unknown artists that were treated like trash in this period would become incredible masterpieces hanging in the imperial palace in just a few months. Art was little more than a hobby for the Crown Princess and the nobility, so there was little danger of it significantly affecting national affairs or the main story.
“If I cannot repay the 3,000 Verang within one year, I will live as a servant of the Baltezar Duchy for the rest of my life.”
At this, his curiosity was piqued by her confidence. Did she really know something? He was intrigued by her self-assured expression, as if she had gold hidden away.
“So, how do you plan to obtain that money?”
“I plan to purchase artwork that will become the finest in the Empire, using the information I have and my own eye for value.”
Clausette looked at her as if listening to the life goals of a ten-year-old boy, and Roselia hurriedly coughed before continuing as if declaring war.
“First, let’s make 500 Verang within two months. Will you trust me then?”
At her resolute expression, Clausette looked at the floor, lost in thought.
In truth, he had nothing to lose. If she brought 3,000 Verang in a year, it would be a welcome result, but even if she couldn’t, it wouldn’t change his current situation much. If she had no property or ability to pay, he had intended to work her for the rest of her life anyway.
He couldn’t guess what trick she planned to use, but there was no reason to stop her if she insisted on paying the debt within a year.
Having finished his calculation, Clausette looked at her with an indifferent expression and nodded.
“Fine, I’ll take your word for it.”
At Clausette’s acceptance, Roselia cheered inwardly and beamed. But her lips fell back into an awkward line at his next, soul-piercing question.
“But, what money will you use to buy the artwork?”
“That is… a good question. Every business requires seed money.”
Of course, she had saved up some money bit by bit, hiding it from the Baron and Antonio, but it was still absurdly little to purchase artwork.
“If you lend me just 20 Verang, no, 2,000 Gran, I will turn it into 500 Verang within two months!”
Clausette’s expression turned suspicious at her audacity, sounding exactly like a back-alley swindler.
“So… you want to owe me yet another debt?”
“Yes.”
Clausette let out a dry, incredulous laugh, staring at her as if she were insane. Could it be that what she picked up in the back alleys was the silver tongue of a con artist?
“Fine.”
“If you lend me just 20 Verang, I will truly make it 20 times in two months… Wait, what?”
“I said I would lend it to you.”
In reality, 20 Verang was no more than dust to him. The 5,000 Verang the Hessink family owed was a level of money that could disappear or appear with a snap of his fingers. Since he dealt with the Imperial Family and other nations, the figures he handled were astronomical, unimaginable to the average person.
As such, he had the leisure to watch her desperate struggle with curiosity. He had no intention of waiving the debt, but he wanted to see just how far her struggle would go.
“It seems our conversation is finished for now. I shall take my leave for today.”
As Clausette said this and rose, two servants who had been waiting outside entered the room.
Thinking they were coming to take the sofa that wasn’t even worth the money for the Duke to sit on, Roselia tilted her head in confusion but bowed politely to Clausette as he headed for the door.
“Thank you! I will certainly make 500 Verang within two months—wait?!”
At that moment, the two servants who had stepped close to her grabbed both her arms. As she was dragged off by the two men like a criminal being arrested, Roselia struggled with wide, startled eyes.
“H-hey! Why are you dragging me?! I said I’d pay the debt back!”
To her indignant cries, Clausette, walking ahead, turned his head with an impassive look to gaze down at her.
“How can I trust you? What if you give me smooth words and just run away?”
“No, I’m telling you, I’ll pay it all back!”
“This mansion is going to auction anyway and is no longer the property of the Baron’s family. Where did you intend to live while paying off the debt?”
“…….”
She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
As she stared blankly with her mouth shut like a mute, Clausette shook his head as if tired and continued.
“Pay the debt, just as you said. Where I can see you. For now, I will provide a room in the ducal residence for you to use as an office; live there. And by the way, I hope you don’t forget that until you pay off the debt, you are in a state of servitude to me.”
“Servitude… that is unfair…!”
“What is unfair about it? My 5,000 Verang has evaporated; am I not in a more unfair situation? Now that Baron Hessink is dead, all responsibility for the barony lies with you, his kin. It might feel unjust for you, but I hope you understand my position as well.”
Everything he said was annoyingly correct, so Roselia had to keep her mouth shut.
“Keep this in mind. Until you pay back the 5,000 Verang, you are as good as a servant of the ducal estate.”
Having said that, Clausette turned without a shred of regret and walked out with a steady, commanding stride.
Watching him disappear with that long, elegant gait, towering over her by more than a head, Roselia was left in a state of utter desolation.
She had tried to change her fate of being dragged off as a maid by cross-dressing… but now she was being dragged off as a servant. Didn’t that just mean she was entering the ducal estate anyway?!
There was nothing she could do now. While she paid off the debt, she would have to avoid revealing her identity and ensure she stayed as far from the Duke as possible.
It was unimaginable, but as long as she avoided any absurd catastrophes like falling for that god-awful Duke… or becoming intimate with him… she would be fine. Of course, she had no intention of doing so, which was a relief.
However, it was highly unlikely that every situation would go according to her wishes.