Chapter 4: A Servant Chosen by the Duke’s Pheromones.

Given a bit of time and financial leeway, I was confident I could survive well even in this strange world.

That is, provided I had the leisure to learn the language and common sense of this place.

However, that leisure was exactly the hardest thing for me to find here.

I had to struggle just to secure food, clothing, and shelter immediately.

The King’s Brother held what I needed most and was waiting for my response.

Furthermore.

“Ah, I still don’t know your name. What should I call you?”

Since falling into this world, he was the first person to ask for my name.

The traveling troupe called me Spotty, and Billy called me Country Bumpkin.

Customers referred to me with words like ‘Hey’ or ‘You’.

“Please call me Jay.”

I used to like the name quite a bit, which meant ‘ruling over jade.’

To the point where I would sometimes write out the Chinese characters to show people who asked if I was a Korean living abroad.

Maybe the reason I like gems is because of my name.

Although my father said he named me that simply to mean ‘make a lot of money.’

A name, what is it really?

It felt like my existence itself was being acknowledged for the first time.

“Jay.”

It must be because my body has become that of a child.

Since hormones aren’t something I can control at will.

I felt a bit like crying.

“Do you have any belongings to pack?”

“N-no, I don’t.”

“Let’s go.”

My throat felt tight, and I ended up making a sound like a goat.

I was embarrassed by my body not being controlled according to my will.

Heat rose to my face, but the King’s Brother turned his back without acknowledging it.

Without even a moment to cool off, I had to follow behind him.

It was around the time we were passing through the pub door.

Cheers were heard.

The vibrations were strong enough to resonate on my back.

Startled, I looked back to see the people who had been prostrate now all standing up and shouting hurrah.

“Just as I heard, the King’s Brother is truly benevolent. That kid’s luck has turned.”

“To see with my own eyes what I’ve only heard in rumors, today I must drink until my nose is crooked!”

Beer orders flooded in.

I saw Billy, who had entrusted all physical labor other than cooking to me, carrying beer mugs with his arm muscles fully pumped.

People snatched the mugs from Billy as if taking them by force and guzzled the beer down as if they had made a pact.

After emptying their glasses in an instant, they giggled and shouted, “One more!”

It was behavior unrecognizable from those who couldn’t move a muscle on the floor just a moment ago.

They were simply rejoicing in the fact that they had coincidentally become witnesses to good fortune.

At that pure delight, I felt goosebumps on my back.

When I turned my head forward again, leaving behind the things I couldn’t understand, I made eye contact with the King’s Brother who was waiting for me.

“Don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with them. They just don’t remember the fact that they were crushed by my pheromones or the conversation you and I had.”

The King’s Brother spoke in the lightest of tones, but I couldn’t accept anything he said.

Not knowing what I should even ask back, he simply looked at me standing blankly with a picturesque smile.

On the way to the King’s Brother’s residence, I was graciously put into the same carriage as him.

Smelling, stained, and in shabby clothes.

I was worried I might stain the velvet seats woven from real silk, not synthetic fiber.

However, the King’s Brother’s story, which began with him saying he needed to teach me simple common sense immediately because I knew too little, was enough to shake my mind so that I could no longer be conscious of my appearance.

“Do you mean pheromones can really do such things?”

My brow furrowed on its own.

The stories about Alphas, Omegas, Betas, and pheromones were nothing but astonishing.

Another gender distinction besides male and female.

That pheromones could literally dominate another person’s consciousness.

Since I had seen it directly in the pub, I couldn’t say the King’s Brother had excellent qualities as a storyteller.

However, I couldn’t fully believe his words either.

“You don’t believe me?”

There wasn’t even time to answer.

I ended up bouncing off the seat cushion.

It was an accident caused by the sudden braking of the carriage.

Having bumped my nose against the King’s Brother’s chest again, I tried to hurriedly get up.

“Do you hear the horses crying?”

The King’s Brother asked, grabbing my shoulder.

When I raised my eyes to look at him, he spoke again.

“Isn’t it strange that the running horses stopped suddenly, but you can’t even hear the sound of them snorting?”

I felt like I had become a fool.

Only after hearing the King’s Brother’s words did I realize it was strange that it was quiet outside the carriage.

“Even now, you don’t smell anything from me, right?”

“…Yes, that is correct.”

I was led by the King’s Brother’s hand and sat down in my seat like a real child.

Taking his hand off my shoulder, the King’s Brother returned to his seat, his eyes curving like crescent moons.

“You have big eyes.”

Even though the King’s Brother teased me with a smile for having my eyes wide open, I couldn’t retort.

My surprise wouldn’t subside.

I looked around.

Following the sound of the coachman urging the horses with a “Giddy up,” the sound of the horses snorting could be heard.

It felt like senses that had been locked away were reawakening.

“Can you believe my words now?”

“…Yes, I have no choice but to believe.”

I muttered weakly.

I was aware that this wasn’t an attitude to show in front of the King’s Brother, but I needed time.

Time to understand and accept this unbelievable phenomenon.

“Actually, I find you more fascinating. You’re clearly a smart child, so how can you know absolutely nothing like this?”

The King’s Brother didn’t lose his smile even at my disrespectful attitude.

He was intrigued, as if looking at something extremely rare.

“It’s almost like you came from another world.”

I blinked.

“It’s a metaphor, so don’t look at me like I said something taboo.”

His eyes were still twinkling with mischief.

I shouldn’t be deceived by that seemingly light atmosphere.

A sense of crisis signaled to my brain, which felt oversaturated.

Instinctively, I knew I had to speak only the truth.

“It is true that I came from a place no different from another world. My hometown is a rural fishing village, but due to a typhoon, famine struck the village, so I followed a traveling troupe to the capital to find a way to make a living. When I first came here, I thought it was a completely different world. There were so many things I was seeing for the first time in my life. Moreover, a year ago, when I was still in my hometown, I was very sick, and when I got up from my bed, I couldn’t remember anything. I even forgot how to speak, so I had to stay silent for a while.”

There was no need to explicitly say I really came from another world.

Telling a story he wouldn’t believe would only be suspicious.

“I heard you were staying at an inn…”

He was a person who came to find me after hearing rumors about my talent.

Naturally, he would have investigated me, and the Q&A just now was likely cross-verification.

But the King’s Brother’s expression was strange.

It wasn’t a face that was hearing my background for the first time.

If it were, I would have doubted the King’s Brother’s ability.

Or I would have attached a ‘not trustworthy’ label to the employer who was acting too skillfully.

Either way, I would have concluded he wasn’t someone I could rely on for long.

“You are brave.”

The King’s Brother was empathizing with me.

The one who was flustered was actually me.

“It’s not such a special story. There are many kids whose parents sell them off themselves. Still, I looked for a way to live according to my own will.”

It was true that I was tired and exhausted, but excluding the part that I had a life on Earth, it was also true that this was something commonly experienced by children of my body’s age in this world.

It wasn’t a special story worthy of pity from the King’s Brother, a high-ranking person in this world.

“You must have struggled a lot. You worked hard.” Still, having my hardship acknowledged felt a bit special.

****

My new employer, who seemed to only deliver warmth, flustered me as soon as we returned to the mansion.

“What do you mean by that?”

If I could, I wanted to ask if he was in his right mind.

If I hadn’t had experience in service jobs, I would have blurted out my inner thoughts as they were.

“You have a look that seems to want to ask if I’m sane? But my judgment is perfectly correct.”

Setting aside my lack of facial expression management for a moment.

I couldn’t help but doubt my new employer’s mental state.

Could he really be a strange person?

Is he bringing in street kids like me because he can’t find servants through normal procedures?

I had no choice but to doubt.

Because to me,

『Is becoming my exclusive servant that dislikeable to you?』

He told me to become his exclusive servant.

How long has he even known me?

There is a limit to being bold.

To make a child he just met his exclusive servant.

Even as an exclusive servant, I don’t think I’ll be handling any great secrets.

Still, if it were me, I would never assign a position in this way.

It wasn’t a matter of liking or disliking it.

It was also strange that he asked my intention instead of getting angry and asking if I dared to refuse the master’s order.

“Can you trust me?”

“Not yet.”

An immediate answer returned.

I was somewhat relieved by the firm answer.

If the employer had a serious problem with judgment, I, the employee, would have a hard time.

Of course, doubts about the decision to make me an exclusive servant still remained.

“Could you explain what you mean by that?”

At that moment, the butler, who had come out to greet the master and suddenly ended up taking on the training of the exclusive servant, requested with a very polite attitude.

I admired him inwardly.

Such an unwavering attitude despite the sudden increase in workload.

“Jay doesn’t react to my pheromones either.”

“I see. I will educate the child as you commanded.”

The stubborn-looking butler accepted it in an instant.

And this short conversation was a hint to me as well.

I swallowed the words that it would have been better if he explained from the beginning.

It seemed he intended to see my reaction in the first place.

“Do you have something you want to say?”

When the King’s Brother looked at me again, I asked without hesitation.

“Are the King’s Brother’s, um, pheromones stronger than others?”

“Yes.”

“But there are times when you can’t control them?”

“Correct.”

The King’s Brother nodded with a smile.

He looked like a teacher praising a student who did their homework well.

I understood what he was trying to say.

“So, the conclusion?”

At the King’s Brother’s prompting, I opened my mouth again.

“Since I am not much affected by Your Highness’s pheromones, I have the qualification to be a servant.”

“Right.”

The King’s Brother gave me a passing notification and signaled to the butler with his eyes.

The Q&A with me must have been a way to introduce me to the butler.

“It will be rewarding to teach him.”

“Let him wash and rest for today. Even if the effect is small, he took on quite a lot of my pheromones.”

“Understood.”

And it must have been a test for me as well.

“I’ll be in the study, so guide Jay first.”

“Yes.”

“Ah, addressing me as Duke is sufficient. Duke Westell.”

The last remark was directed at me.

The butler’s expression as he looked at me, a parachuted servant who didn’t even know the correct honorific for the master, was surprisingly calm.

He seemed to be a very loyal person.

As for me, I tried hard to keep a calm expression.

Now that I see it, the King’s Brother seemed to dislike the honorific ‘Your Highness.’

Even at the pub, he seemed to show a more intimidating appearance when called Your Highness.

Why?

Is it because of the pheromones that are strong but he can’t properly control?