Chapter 10

A room that looked to be over 2,000 square feet at a glance. The highest quality wooden bed and silk blankets. Fancy tapestry decorating the walls. And the finest chandelier only found in ballrooms.

Such was the room that Rexid provided me after signing the contract.

To me, who had always stayed in temporary residences just trying to make it through each day, the comfort of the bed was unfamiliar, and also blissful.

As I sprawled out on the bed like a bear with a full belly, I started at the shiny rings on my fingers in satisfaction.

“You like it that much?” Rexid asked with a look of pity as he sat in an armchair in the corner of the room.

I answered right away, “I love it. Why didn’t you kidnap me sooner?”

I ended up grabbing all the jewelry I could as we left the vault. When I decorated myself as much as possible… with a bit of exaggeration, I almost had a hard time walking out of the vault. Not to mention rings, there were necklaces with pearl, diamonds, and rubies around my neck.

Rexid told me it was the treasure he got as a reward for taking care of some rebels from a small country located in the northern part of the continent.

“If you want something else, just let me know. I’ll take you down there again.”

“Whoa…”

Let’s see, how should I put this? Right, it felt like I was in a department store all by myself, with an unlimited VVIP credit card, with expensive items littered everywhere, but I didn’t have to pay for them. Maybe this was what it felt like to date the owner of a department building?

It almost felt bad for acting like it was unfair to get kidnapped when I’m receiving this kind of treatment.

But of course, I’m not getting it for free.

“So, where should I start?”

“Let’s discuss it after we eat.”

“Come to think of it, I’m hungry.”

“Our chef is quite skilled. If you have a favorite dish, let me know. I guess you’ve only had disgusting prison food for the last month.”

As Rexid finished talking, it became noisy outside the door.

“Isn’t this too much when we don’t even know if she’ll like it or not? Listen to your mother.”

“But… isn’t this too little? We’re not trying to feed a bird.”

“A bird? I’ve never seen a bird as big as thig.”

The voices of a middle-aged woman and a younger man echoed alternately.

Their voices were so loud that Rexid frowned a little.

“Stop bickering and come in.”

“Yes, young master.”

The door opened and the pair showed their faces.

A middle-aged woman with a cozy aura and a man wearing an apron came in pushing a trolley carrying an abundance of food on top of it.

Both of their gazes locked on me as I got up from the bed.

For some reason, the two looked surprised and stared at me for a while.

After a long silence, I awkwardly tilted my head.

“Hello?”

“Oh, o-oh my… our master finally…”

The woman became emotional and stared at me for a while with her mouth covered, then ran toward Rexid and pounded on his shoulder.

“You see, master? I told you if you tried your best, you’d be able to marry someone beautiful like her!”

“No, what? What are you talking about, Masha? Didn’t Owen tell you?”

The servant pounded her master’s shoulder, acting obnoxiously.

While the scene looked awkward, Rexid and the woman called Masha seemed friendly with each other.

“Just a month ago, you were being stubborn about not meeting a woman or getting married!”

“It's my first time meeting you, but you are beautiful, lady!”

The chef dodged Rexid and Masha’s quarreling and started to approach me.

“I am Chef Marco, in charge of the food in the castle. Would you kindly allow me the honor of placing my lips on the back of your hand?”

“It’s good to meet you, I’m… mmm…”

…Viper?

As I hesitated over how to introduce myself, my eyes peeked at Rexid. He was looking at me as well.

I had been alone ever since opening my eyes after birth, I don’t even know whose womb I came from.

Everything I said to Rexid on our way here was a lie, except for one thing: that I didn’t have parents to give me a proper name.

I lived by several aliases because I didn’t want to be known by one fixed name so…

As I continued to hesitate-

“Rosica,” Rexid answered for me.

Rexid’s face turned sour after throwing out an unfamiliar name. It looked like he was drowning in his thoughts.

‘Does this name have some kind of history?’

“Yes, that’s right. It’s embarrassing, but I don’t have a last name. You can just call me Rosica. Great to meet you.”

“Lady Rosica, it’s an honor!” Chef Marco quickly kissed the back of my hand.

He was a charming man with a thick brown beard and looked as if he was in his early thirties.

“Where are my manners? I should introduce myself. Lady Rosica, I am Masha.”

Masha, who looked old enough to be Rexid’s mother, looked extremely gentle.

All of a sudden, she grabbed my hand and moved closer as her eyes shined.

“Oh my, oh my… Back when I saw the Princess of Eisenbach with the royal delegation, I was surprised that a person could be that beautiful…”

“Ah, yes…”

“But today, I saw someone even more beautiful than her!”

It seemed like Masha’s specialty was making a fuss. She grabbed my cheeks, observed me with a hint of surprise, and added.

“Is this a person, or a fairy? Isn’t her hair like strawberry whipped cream, and her eyes like the sea at the Trancelona beach, don’t they, Marco?”

As soon as Masha asked, he nodded his head in strong agreement. It almost looked like it was going to fall off.

I usually wouldn’t get flustered easily, but I wasn’t immune to compliments on my appearance. It was kinda natural, since I hadn’t shown anyone my real face before.

I had to admit, the face that stared back at me in the mirror whenever I changed my disguise wasn’t too shabby, but if I’m asked if it was worth causing such a fuss over…

‘Am I pretty?’

I decided to postpone this judgment to prevent my ego from being overly inflated. Masha seemed like the type of person that gets excited easily and overly surprised about anything too.

“One flaw is that you are too skinny. Are you eating properly?”

“I told you we should prepare at least 4 servings, right mother?”

“You’re right. Eating three plates every meal doesn’t look like it’s going to be enough.”

Masha’s eyes and lips twitched as she grabbed my wrists and took pity.

While I was flustered, not knowing how to react, Rexid put a stop to all their fuss.

“Enough. If you can see how skinny she is, why don’t you give her a moment to eat?”

“Oh! You’re right, please excuse me. Marco, what are you doing?”

“Right away!”

When he locked eyes with Masha, Marco started unloading the food on the trolley one by one.

It was obvious that the dishes were of the highest quality, the kind that only wealthy nobles could have.

Masha led me to the table after seeing how big my eyes had gotten.

“I’m in charge of all miscellaneous jobs such as cleaning, laundry, and making the bed for our master who clearly isn’t fully grown yet.”

“Oh, he doesn’t know how to make his own bed?”

Marsha giggled at my playful reply.

Rexid, who was still sitting down, snapped out.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“He knows how to make his bed, I just want to look after him, that’s all. Now, sit here.”

Masha sat me down across from Rexid, placing the knife and fork in my hand.

I felt like a six-year-old.

“Marco is my son. I can do just about everything except for one thing. I have no talent when it comes to cooking.”

“The cooking skills that should have gone to my mother, came to me,” Marco said with his head held high, standing next to Masha as I sat in the middle.

“You won’t be disappointed. He was very famous when he was a chef for the imperial family. When the Queen of Eisenbach visited the empire, she generously sent a letter to the palace after tasting Marco’s chicken sauté.”

“The letter asked him to come to her kingdom because she couldn’t stop thinking about his cooking.”

He held his head held even higher at his mother’s compliments.

This kind of rowdy atmosphere was unfamiliar, but not necessarily bad.

However, Rexid lifted his knife and fork with a blank expression, as if he wasn’t satisfied.

“Masha was my nanny when I was staying with the imperial family, and she came with me to Drax when I was 15, it’s been 10 years already.

Next, Rexid pointed at Marco with his chin and continued.

“And the chef with a dirty beard is Masha’s son. He was working as a chef for the imperial family and then came here 3 years ago.”

“Ahhhh, I see.”

I was wondering why she kept calling him master, but it seemed to be an old habit from when she was his nanny.

“Not only do they look the same, but they talk the same too. I’m sorry, but you better get used to it. I told them to fix it but it seems that they can’t.”

“Mmm, it’s okay. I think they sound friendly.”

“Oh my, her heart is as soft as silk. How did our master and his foul mouth bring an angel like her as a bride?”

I had no clue what I said to make her think that I’m an angel with a heart as soft as silk… but just guessed that that was just how Masha was and laughed.

“What are you talking about, Masha? I asked you if you heard from Owen. She’s not a…”

Rexid, who seemed upset, paused and started murmuring.

“Bride… that’s not why I brought her here! And… Rexid looked at me and laughed as if it was ridiculous. “Heart as soft as silk? Angel? You’d pass out if you knew the truth.”

“Oh my, listen to that foul mouth. You’re trying to drive a wedge between us just as we were just getting close.”

Masha held my shoulders as she made fun of Rexid.

Eventually, Rexid sighed, giving up and cutting the steak in front of him.

“Regardless, it’s not like that so stop talking nonsense.”

Rexid tried to straighten things out, but the pair still looked at me with wicked smiles.

“Okay. Well, I am one of His Highness’ servants, so you can call me if you need anything.”

Marco sniffled like he felt proud for some reason, and Masha tapped on my shoulder as her lips twitched.

“That’s how it all starts.”

“Gah, seriously…!”

“You don’t know how surprised I was when I found out you were bringing a female guest.”

“So was I. His Highness was like that ever since he was young. He hated girls and avoided the Princess of Eizenbach whenever she came over to play.”

“Hey!”

“I wondered if he was just being shy because he was so young, but he didn’t meet any woman even as he got older...”

“That’s enough.”

Rexid clenched his jaw as he stopped Marco from speaking any further.