The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family

Chapter 038

“How can you know so much?”

The Young Lady spoke as though she could not believe it. As I taught her physics, my strongest subject, I made full use of the knowledge I possessed.

Naturally, there was no way she would not be astonished by the level of what I knew.

Besides, back in graduate school I had done a little tutoring for undergraduates, and I had also earned pocket money teaching at a private academy. In other words, I was fairly confident in my ability to teach.

“I am only grateful that you think so well of my meager talent.”

I lowered my head slightly. Thanks to me, the Young Lady had neatly finished the assignments she had been given in mathematics and physics. Perhaps because of that, it felt as though she and I had grown a little closer.

“Is there anything else you are curious about?”

“For now, no.”

“That is a relief.”

I moved to set the pen down, then instead supported it in both hands and offered it back to her politely. It was not because of some empty formality like, Since it is an object you directly handed to me, my lady, I must return it to you. No, I was attempting skinship with her.

Without any particular thought, she took the pen I held out.

At that moment, my hand and her fingers brushed slightly. A blue light flashed before my eyes.

Good! It finally appeared!

○ Sapiela de Adeline

Rank: ★★★★★

Level: 12

Traits: Elegance S, Refinement S, Etiquette A, Social Dance A, Sewing C, Painting C, ???

Status: Threshold of the Unknown

[Not Unlocked]

[Not Unlocked]

......

At last, a five-star talent had appeared. Then again, since she was called the Greatest Beauty in the Kingdom, perhaps this was only natural.

In truth, I was not all that interested in her level or traits. What I really wanted to know was the feeling she harbored toward me.

Threshold of the Unknown, was it? And what sort of expression was that supposed to be? Had there perhaps been some flaw in my approach after all?

But I concluded that was not it. If she had truly been wary of me in a negative sense, then her Status Window would not have appeared at all. It had to be a kind of wariness with a positive meaning.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“It is nothing, my lady. My apologies.”

I dismissed the Status Window and stepped back a pace. Then I bent at the waist respectfully, as though waiting for her next command.

Closing the book, Sapiela gave a small wave of her hand.

“That will be all. You may all withdraw. I am tired.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Ah, Arwen?”

Arwen stopped in place. Sapiela looked at her with a gentle expression. So she did know how to make such a face. She was unusually kind only with Arwen.

“I heard from the Head Maid earlier that starting today, you will be learning cooking at Rosetta?”

“How did you hear that?”

“I was told about it a little while ago. Why did you suddenly decide to learn cooking?”

Blushing as though embarrassed, Arwen lowered her head and answered.

“I have liked cooking for a long time. Dilen, who is here with me, introduced me, so now I am going to learn from Chef Ramsay.”

“Dilen?”

“Yes.”

She glanced at me. Her face seemed to say, You dared? But since I had nothing to hide, I merely smiled.

“Come to think of it, the two of you said you were from the same village, did you not?”

“That is correct, my lady.”

“It must be nice to have someone you can rely on when times are hard.”

It was a lonely sort of remark. Arwen and I both knew very well why she would say something like that. Beneath a life more glittering than anyone else’s lay a terrible loneliness.

With that one sentence, Sapiela waved her hand, and we were obliged to withdraw from her residence.

“So where are you going now?”

“My duty is to attend the Young Lady, but since she told me to go, I suppose I will loaf around for a while.”

“Dilen, you really have not changed.”

I had no memory of the original owner of this body, but perhaps the real Dilen had liked loafing around too. Then again, a wealthy idler was everyone’s dream.

“It is best to rest when you have time, so you can do well when work piles up. What about you?”

“I have to go to Rosetta. Chef Ramsay told me to come for sure.”

“He is a very strict man. Even if he scolds you, do not cry. Just do your best.”

“I am going to work hard!”

“Doing it well matters too.”

I raised a hand and we exchanged farewells, and I had just begun to turn away when Arwen, apparently still having something left to say, added one more sentence.

“When you were teaching the Young Lady earlier, you looked really wonderful. You were like a private tutor. I could not really understand what you were saying, but you seemed very good at teaching... when did you study all that?”

“Here and there, in my spare time.”

“Then later, would you teach me too?”

That sounded less like a request to teach her studying and more like a request to teach her something else. By now, I could dimly sense that Arwen had started harboring feelings for me that went beyond friendship.

Of course, I did not chase after women who left, and I was even less inclined to seize the women who came to me.

Still, this was not really a situation where I could simply snap at the bait either. Right now, I needed to strengthen the relationships around me a little more. This was a time that called for selection and concentration.

“Later, when I have time. Think in advance about what you are curious about.”

“Thank you!”

A green light?

The cute maid waved at me and disappeared from view. If I had to take either Young Lady Sapiela or Arwen as my bride, what should I do?

Suddenly, I remembered a famous line from a football star back in the world where I used to live.

I want both!

Without even realizing it, I was already drinking down a whole bowl of kimchi soup by myself.

***

To enjoy the unexpected leisure that had come my way, I stepped outside the mansion’s front hall. I had thought of hiding away in my quarters, but if I were caught doing that, it would only invite unpleasant talk.

For now, it was better to wander around here and there looking as though I were doing something.

More than anything, the mansion was so vast that there were still many places I had never visited. The rear garden in particular was so large that it was practically called a forest. Since I was now the apprentice assigned to attend the Young Lady, there were more places I could go than before.

Anyone who recognized me would naturally assume that the Young Lady had sent me on some errand.

“The weather really is nice. On a day like this, one ought to go boating on the lake.”

I went out into the garden beneath the pouring sunlight. I had heard that when the weather was good, Marquis Chronos sometimes took his family boating, and honestly, I envied him.

In other words, it was exactly the sort of weather made for an outing. It would have been wonderfully refreshing to lie in the shade cast by the garden trees and feel the breeze.

As I took in the scenery, my gaze suddenly fell on an annex rising off to one side. It was very old, and there was something faintly eerie about it too.

“What is that place used for?”

I had heard that the Adeline Mansion had many subsidiary buildings besides the main building. The grounds were so extensive that there were even separate training grounds for knights and soldiers.

That annex was probably used for any number of purposes. It could have been a dining hall, or perhaps a storehouse. Since the building looked that old and shabby, it was most likely a storehouse.

I was in the middle of examining it when, from far away, an apprentice with a very familiar face waved his hand.

“Dilennnn!”

......I have been caught by the wrong person.

I tried to turn away and pretend I had not heard, but he called my name once more, and I had no choice but to stop.

The person calling me was none other than Rohan.

“What are you doing over there?”

“What does it look like? I am carrying out the sacred duty of attending the Young Lady.”

Quite a few people now envied me—not only many of the apprentices, but even some of the butlers. Being allowed to attend Young Lady Sapiela was that rare an opportunity.

Naturally, from the point of view of Rohan, who liked women, it was the sort of thing that would make his stomach ache.

“A sacred duty? Strange, then. I do not see the Young Lady anywhere.”

Rohan looked around the garden and grinned. Apparently, he had caught on. When people say one must be especially careful around those closest to oneself, this must be exactly the sort of time they mean.

“And you thought you could deceive me, the information broker of House Adeline. According to my information, this is the hour when the Young Lady takes her nap. Which means that you were loafing around quite legally.”

“So what?”

“If you are free, lend us a hand. We are carrying things out of the annex, but we do not have enough people. It is heavy as hell.”

I turned my gaze toward the annex once more. From here, the entrance that had been hidden by the trees was plainly visible.

Under the direction of one butler, several apprentices were already at work.

At that moment, my eyes met the butler’s. I reflexively paid him respect. He looked back at me with a satisfied smile. There was a clear implication in that smile: Come over here and work.

At this point, there was no helping it. I rolled up my sleeves.

“Lead the way.”

“Tsk. If I had known it would end like this, I would have just hidden in my quarters.”

But I had a special ability.

My ability to handle mana.

Thanks to my steady training, my Mana Circuit was growing stronger and stronger, and reinforcing parts of my body was no longer a difficult task at all.

In a world where mages were extremely rare, the ability to use mana was an enormous advantage. As long as I was not found out and dragged off to the Mage Tower, of course.

In other words, when it came to lifting heavy loads, I was the best in this mansion. There were no resident mages in House Adeline.

First, I greeted the butler supervising the work.

“Good day, sir.”

“You are Dilen, were you not? I believe I have seen you once before.”

“Thank you for remembering me. Actually, I would like to support the work here, if that is all right.”

“Support the work? Are you not in the middle of attending Young Lady Sapiela?”

“I happened to have a little free time and was looking for something to do.”

I said something I did not mean in the slightest. I lowered my head slightly lest my expression betray me.

But what else could I do? Since I was already receiving good evaluations, I might as well receive even better ones. Even getting dragged into manual labor like this was something that would be noted in the scoring and earn bonus points later.

“Hahaha! Admirable. I have heard quite a bit about your reputation myself. They say you are an exemplary apprentice, and it seems that was true after all.”

“You flatter me, sir. Would you assign me a task?”

“We are moving the furniture inside out here, then hauling it over to the main building. Very simple. When you move things to the main building, just use that handcart there.”

“Understood.”

I went into the annex with Rohan. A stale smell rushed over us.

“So there was a place like this too. What was this used for?”

“I heard it was where the young masters and the Young Lady spent their childhoods. These days it is used as storage.”

“The young masters? Then I suppose the Young Lady has several older brothers.”

“She does. Men with a very definite presence, those ones. The Young Lady is composed and coolheaded, but her elder brothers are just...”

Speaking quietly, Rohan shook his head. I could tell roughly what he meant just by the look on his face.

In other words, they were difficult men to serve.

Suddenly it occurred to me that being highly rated as an apprentice might not necessarily be such a good thing. If I ended up getting assigned to attend the young masters...

The thought alone was horrifying.

“I will go help the others over there, so you just move whatever seems suitable. Since you are only helping out, do not overdo it.”

“So you still have a conscience in the middle of all this.”

“Hahaha. See you in a bit!”

Rohan and I separated.

There seemed to be an upper floor too, but just as I had guessed, the first floor was being used as storage. Dust had gathered here and there, yet the furniture scattered about was still in good enough condition to be used immediately.

When I entered one of the rooms, I saw Butler Apprentices paired off in twos, hauling furniture and household items outside.

“Grab that side properly!”

“Put some strength into it! It feels like I am carrying it alone!”

“Watch behind you!”

It was utter chaos.

I rolled up my sleeves again. I looked around for gloves, but there did not seem to be any suitable ones. It could not be helped. Still, it made me miss the coarse work gloves we used in the military.

Hummm!

I had mana.

After sending a small amount of mana through my arms, shoulders, and legs, I lightly lifted a large bookshelf. It was a bookshelf so big that it would normally have taken two adult men to carry it.

Perhaps that was why all eyes turned toward me in surprise.

If I was going to work anyway, it probably did not matter if I stood out just a little.