Chapter 5: At the Duke’s Heel.

“Follow me.”

As the King’s Brother completely disappeared up the stairs, the butler turned around and started walking.

I couldn’t continue my thoughts because I was busy following him.

What did it matter anyway?

Whether the King’s Brother was a royal infinitely distant from power, or a Duke as he claimed, there was no change in the fact that he held a status that could take my head off in a single stroke.

I had to stay alert.

Though I had finally come to dress, eat, and sleep like a human, I was by no means perfectly safe.

“In principle, an exclusive servant stays in a room attached to the master’s quarters, but the Duke has never had a servant stay in his quarters. You will be given a room that is easy to access the main building from, so make sure you are never late for the Duke’s summons.”

The butler told me the things I needed to know.

I didn’t realize we were walking quite a long distance because I had to memorize the schedule to follow, such as wake-up times and meal times, along with the structure of the building.

Having started from the main building and circled the annex once, the place we returned to was the room closest to the entrance leading to the main building.

“This is your room. I will send clothes for you to change into, so wash up in the communal bath in the basement and discard the clothes you are currently wearing. Make sure not to be late tomorrow morning. Your lessons will take place after the Duke’s dinner, so be prepared.”

Even after the butler left leaving behind long instructions, I couldn’t rest immediately.

I looked for writing instruments in the room.

If I didn’t write it down right away, I felt like I would forget everything he had said entirely.

Fortunately, I found paper, a pen, and ink, and started taking notes in Hangul.

Unlike the spoken language sounding somehow familiar, I didn’t know the written characters of this place at all.

The letters and numbers engraved on coins were all the characters I knew.

I wanted to learn more, but there were neither letters I could read nor anyone to teach me.

Only now was I barely able to escape being illiterate.

Looking at the letters written in Hangul, a bitter smile formed.

The letters written by a hand unfamiliar with the pen were so crooked that even I found them hard to recognize.

After receiving the clothes to change into, I headed to the bathroom.

It was the first time I took a bath since coming to this world.

The hot water felt like it was melting my limbs.

Feeling like I would fall asleep right there, I forced myself to get up.

As I was about to leave the bath, I stopped in my tracks.

My reflection was visible in the mirror clouded by steam.

A child with gray hair and green eyes was facing me.

I soon turned my eyes away.

Sudden fatigue washed over me.

Even though it was usually the time I would be in the middle of working at the pub, I wanted to quickly return to the space given as my room and close my eyes.

I hurriedly changed without even a moment to feel the texture of the new clothes.

I ran down the long corridor.

The butler had said I would need to learn how to walk without making noise, but I only cared about returning quickly.

Returning to the room, I closed the door and latched the lock.

The clicking sound seemed to calm my rapidly beating heart.

Although it wasn’t a spring mattress, I lay down on the soft bed and closed my eyes just like that.

It had been a hectic day.

****

From the moment I opened my eyes the next day, I had to spend another hectic day.

I had some confidence in customer service in my own way, but the butler constantly pointed out my attitude.

It would have been a problem even if a kid who came from the countryside and worked at a back-alley inn had a perfect attitude from the start, but what was being criticized was my body itself.

“Straighten your waist, back, and shoulders, and pull in your chin. More, more, more.”

This young body was already showing symptoms of rounded shoulders and forward head posture.

More shocking to me than the butler’s scolding that fell every time my posture slouched was the fact that I hadn’t known my body’s condition.

I was a merchant who had to care about appearances.

Even if just to offset slightly the fact that I was excessively young for a jeweler.

I had managed my attire, hairstyle, perfume, and of course, my body itself.

Even though it was a body different from my original one, I hadn’t realized at all that the body moving by my will had hardened with bad habits.

“Relax your heels when you walk. You are someone who must serve by the Duke’s side to make him comfortable, not a stage actor showing off your presence in front of others. Do not make footsteps carelessly. The Duke enjoys freshly brewed hot coffee every morning. Even without you making a sound, he wakes up at the sound of the grinder, so you must prepare it with care.”

Points about every single one of my movements and work instructions poured down without even giving me a moment to breathe.

I had to take the coffee set out of the cabinet the butler unlocked, place it on a wagon, fill a glass pitcher with water, and move it without sloshing.

I had only walked about 10 meters, but my back was soaked with sweat.

Every unbalanced part of my body grated on my nerves.

It felt as if I had only now properly recognized that this body was my own.

My gait, not yet refined, caused water to spill from the glass pitcher and wet the back of my hand.

I found a clean cloth, wiped the wet pitcher, and placed it on the wagon.

I suppressed the urge to sigh.

The butler seemed to glance at me, then without a word, pushed the wagon and took the lead.

I started walking again, putting strength into my waist.

A slouched body cannot be corrected overnight.

While I was planning an exercise routine in my head, the butler stopped walking and knocked on a door, perhaps having arrived at the destination.

After waiting for a moment, the butler opened the door.

The room was very dark.

“Open all the curtains.”

The butler informed me of my task in a small voice that was barely audible.

Thanks to the carpet soft enough to bury my ankles, I didn’t have to try hard to reduce my footsteps.

I paused for a moment because the curtains were much heavier and thicker than I expected.

To avoid making noise, I opened the curtains slowly.

Only then could I properly see the appearance of the room.

It was a room with an atmosphere that exactly resembled the King’s Brother’s first impression.

Dark brown furniture occupied the space heavily.

The curtains, carpet, and bed canopy were all black.

It was like the room of an old businessman who wanted to appear imposing.

The biggest VIP of my shop was a loan shark who dominated the streets of Myeong-dong.

Everyone called him ‘Chairman’, and the hobby of that Chairman, who had tremendous cash mobilization power, was collecting gold items.

Things like gold toads or gold turtles, which I couldn’t understand why they were made or bought but sold because they helped greatly with sales, were that gentleman’s taste.

I had entered that gentleman’s private office just once.

The office of the gentleman who liked flashy gold items so much was unexpectedly plastered with heavy mahogany furniture.

It was a room designed to intimidate guests.

I couldn’t forget the expression he made while laughing, saying there were too many guys who came to borrow money yet shouted loudly.

He looked like an old beast opening its mouth exaggeratedly to show off that its teeth were still intact.

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of the grinder.

The noise ringing in the space that seemed to absorb both light and sound felt foreign.

I thought I understood why the King’s Brother said he woke up at this sound.

“Good morning.”

The King’s Brother’s voice as he walked out from behind the canopy rang out energetically, just like the day before.

Perhaps he was actually already awake and waiting.

It seemed like he hadn’t slept at all.

The butler transferred the cold water I had filled in the glass pitcher into a pot.

Come to think of it, it was strange.

There was no place to light a fire inside the bedroom.

Autumn had deepened, so it made no sense for the master’s bedroom to have absolutely no heating device.

While suppressing the urge to tilt my head at the slightly cool temperature, I almost shouted out loud.

I covered my mouth with my hand and stared intently at the butler’s hand.

“What is so surprising?”

The King’s Brother looked at me and laughed as if amused.

Only then did I ask the King’s Brother.

“How is that possible?”

“Magic made it possible.”

A person from the era of boiling water with coal in a fireplace would have called it magic if they saw a cordless electric kettle.

I was exactly in that state.

Steam was pouring out from a pot with no heat source.

A red gem was shining, not an LED indicator light, on the pot held in the butler’s hand.

I couldn’t take my eyes off that gem.

If my eyes weren’t wrong, that was definitely a ruby.

****

A month had passed since I dropped in as the King’s Brother’s direct servant like a parachute, after being called ‘Country Bumpkin’ or ‘Hey’ while carrying beer mugs at the inn.

I wore clean clothes that didn’t make my skin itch, though they were a bit stiff; I came to feel what satiety was again; and I slept deeply, though not for very long, in a soft bed free of bugs.

My head was also still attached to its place, so this could be called a successful employment.

“Brew it strong and fast today, Jay.”

Today too, the King’s Brother, who got out of bed at the sound of the grinder, demanded as he flopped onto a chair.

“It seems the Duke needs strong coffee not just today but always, but you also seem to need patience.”

“Fast.”

“I cannot control the water at my will, but I also pray for the water to fall quickly.”

Even at the silly conversation, the butler ironed the newspaper without much comment.

Partly because he had gotten used to the conversation exchanged every morning, but also because he knew I was putting my heart and soul into meeting the employer’s needs.

“The reason I made you my exclusive servant is partly because of your subtly impolite way of speaking,” he had said.

It was what the King’s Brother said seeing me, who didn’t speak unless asked first and answered by carefully choosing words.

It was a confusing remark whether I should reflect on being impolite as a service worker, or be happy that my strategy was correct.

Speaking somewhat boldly at the pub was to leave a strong first impression.

Now that I succeeded in getting the job, I judged that I should lay low, but the King’s Brother found such a version of me boring.

There were things I came to realize while watching the employer from up close.

There was no one by his side who could talk back trivially or say no.

Neither parents, siblings, nor close friends.

Even the butler answered “Yes” even when his attitude revealed he didn’t agree.

Every time that happened, the King’s Brother made a subtle expression.

The drunkards who acted overly familiar and hindered his moves, and the surrounding people who only obeyed him.

Comparing the King’s Brother’s reactions to the two groups, I gradually gauged the extent of tolerance he could show.