"Do not expect to be treated kindly by me, young lady, or you'll regret ever agreeing to work with me."
Looking at Renon, I noticed that Killian's eyes showed at least some emotion.
Renon was looking at me sizing me up, but there was no disdain or even suspicion in his eyes.
I think the Duchess had thought of me and introduced me to the most 'functional' human being she could find.
"There are only two things I want from you: competence and fairness. If you keep those, I won't mind if you call me stupid."
"In that case, I'm glad to hear it."
"I guess that's enough introductions, then, so let's get to work, shall we?"
Renon nodded slightly and turned back to his desk.
I spread the receipts out on the wide desk and began sorting them by year.
With a window but no direct sunlight, Renon's cool office was quiet, as if time had stopped.
Aside from the rustling of receipts as I unfolded them, and the sound of Renon scribbling in pen or flipping through papers, there were no distracting sounds.
'It's peaceful.'
With so much going on, the quiet hours of simple work felt more relaxing than ever.
While I was so focused, Renon called out from behind me.
"Miss."
"Yes, what's up?"
"We're done for the day. You can go home."
"Huh? Is it that time already?"
I hadn't noticed the passage of time in the sunless place.
"Let me just wrap this up and then I'll be back."
Part of me wanted to work a little longer, but if I stayed, Renon, who was also acting as my watchdog, couldn't go home either.
I hurriedly stuffed the receipts into the box, double-checked to make sure I hadn't dropped anything, and handed the box to him.
He looked down at it for a moment before taking it from me.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"You're welcome, Renon. See you tomorrow."
I said goodbye to Renon and walked out into the hallway.
Anna was waiting near Renon's office to take me back to my room.
I felt like I'd been dragged back to reality.
'I don't remember reading an extra named Renon Filch in the original story, so I won't get caught up in any weird episodes, right?'
I went back to my room, feeling more relaxed than before.
The door was halfway open.
Anna ran in ahead of me to check on the 'intruder' and nodded to me with a reassuring look on her face.
"You're here."
"Killian?"
I hadn't seen Killian in three days.
"What are you doing...... in my room.....?"
"Can't I come by?"
"No, well, I'm not saying you can't, but...... eh?"
Glancing at Killian, I walked into the room and saw that he was fiddling with something, and involuntarily snatched it away.
Two wooden dolls in freshly made clothes fell to the floor with a clatter.
Killian's expression hardened subtly.
"Ah, haha! It's just a hobby, a hobby! It's a skill I'm a little embarrassed to show others...... so why are you trespassing in someone else's room in the first place? Anna, put that away. Now."
I had a male doll dressed like Killian and a female doll dressed like me face to face, and I made them kiss, and when Killian saw it, I was so embarrassed I wanted to die.
As Anna quietly put the dolls away, I glanced around, trying to avoid his eyes.
"So...... how have you been doing?"
It was kind of awkward.
Before, I would have been more tongue-in-cheek, but now I felt embarrassed to look him in the face and found it hard to talk to him.
"You seem to be doing well."
"Thanks to Mother, I've started helping her aide, Sir Renon Filch, do you know him?"
"Of course, we grew up together."
"Really?"
"His father is Theo Filch, a butler who manages the duchy's estates. He used to manage this mansion, but then my father let him take over the estates altogether, and Renon stayed here and became a tax clerk."
Oh, I see.
I nodded, but Killian's gaze was sharp, as if he were dissecting me.
"What's wrong, Killian?"
"Nothing. Have you eaten yet?"
"No, I haven't."
"Then......."
Just as I was expecting him to ask me to join him for a meal, there was a sudden knock on the door.
Anna opened the door and there stood Lizé.
"Ah! Killian, you're here."
She was beaming, still beautiful, but I felt uncomfortable looking at her.
I felt bad that she thought I was the culprit, and I felt bad that I'd taken the "virgin" keyword away from the second male lead, Killian.
"Lizé? Why are you here.....?"
"Cliff asked me to bring you over to eat with him, I think he has something to tell you. Oh, and Edith, do you want to come?"
Lizé, spotting me late, hurriedly asked me, but I could tell she was just being polite.
"Do you mind if I just barge in?"
"Cliff will probably say it's okay, probably......"
If you were going to use the word "probably" twice, don't say it at all, Lizé.
Although, being the good-hearted Lizé that she is, she couldn't help but invite me along, no matter what Cliff's wishes were.
I considered going along, but I don't want to see Killian take care of Lizé any more than he is right now.
"I'm afraid Sir Cliff will feel uncomfortable. I think he needs to talk to you two separately. Next time you invite me over, I'll join you."
"Would you like to? I'll be sure to eat with you next time, Edith...... then, Killian?"
Lizé called out to Killian as if to say, "Now we can go."
Killian sighed heavily, nodded, and followed Lizé out the door.
He glanced back at me briefly before closing the door.
I locked eyes with him, and for some reason, I couldn't move from my spot.
I wondered why he had come to my room and what he wanted to tell me.
"Miss, I will have your meal ready soon."
"Ah, yes. Okay, thank you."
If it weren't for Anna, I would have stood there for a while longer.
I checked the wooden dolls that Anna had set aside and was greatly relieved to find nothing broken.
I felt a little embarrassed when I realized that I had unknowingly checked the male doll first.
***
For the past three days, Killian hadn't been able to stop thinking about Edith.
The urge to barge into her room and lust after her, to wonder what she was doing, was overwhelming.
But he didn't, because he, too, needed time to organize his feelings.
If he did, he'd be tempted to give in to Edith's seduction.
'I took physical relationships too lightly. I never thought I would get so caught up in it, losing my mind like this.'
All the years he'd spent not having any contact with anyone, thinking that Lizé was the only woman for him, had been completely destroyed in one night.
'And by the woman I despised the most......!'
And yet, instead of regretting it, I couldn't help but want to do it again.
Today, I couldn't take it anymore and went to Edith's room.
When she didn't respond to my knock, I opened the door and walked in, slightly intoxicated by her rose scent, and noticed a strange object on the table.
'What is it, a doll?'
A smoothly polished wooden doll lay there, dressed in plausible clothing.
At first, I didn't think much of it, but then I realized that the male doll had black hair, a white shirt, and black pants, while the female doll had brown hair and was wearing an indoor dress. It even had a necklace with a red gemstone, suggesting that it was modeled after Edith herself.
'So, the male doll is......?'
Assuming the female doll was Edith, it was easy to guess the identity of the male doll.
'......me?'
And the two wooden dolls were facing each other, kissing.
The tips of my ears prickled with heat, but at the same time, I couldn't help but smile.
'You know how to do cute things.'
My heart tickled.
If Edith hadn't come back into her room with Anna and roughly pushed the dolls away, I might have impulsively kissed her.
'What was it that you hated so much – me seeing the dolls, or me entering your room without permission, or just me?'
On the night Edith seduced me, I thought she liked it too, but I was nervous thinking what if she didn't?
She was my first woman, and I didn't know all the psychological implications of her reactions.
'What if I was clumsy? What if I hurt her? What if she was just enduring an unpleasant night with me? No, no, what the hell! What am I thinking......!'
As I struggled to organize my thoughts, I remembered the story of a woman who controlled men by dominating them with her body.
I wonder if this is what Edith intended.
"......Killian. Killian!"
"Oh! You called me?"
"Yeah...... I've called you a few times...... is something wrong?"
Lizé was looking at me with concern.
Cliff looked puzzled.
"Nothing, what were you talking about?"
"What's making you so unfocused? We were talking about that woman."
"That woman?"
"Is there anyone else we can call 'that woman' besides Edith Riegelhoff?"