Chapter 6: A Resolute Return

Clint snatched the check from the stunned labor foreman. As Simon looked at him in surprise, Clint gave him a nonchalant wink.

Simon realized then that when a person is truly shocked, they lose the ability to make a sound. A wink. That single gesture from Clint felt like being tossed up to the ceiling and then slammed back down. He knew the man was handsome, but the way he pulled off such sudden flirtatiousness so naturally was something else entirely. Simon stared at Clint, deeply moved.

Clint explained leisurely, “You shouldn’t just throw money at them first. This isn’t how you handle a debt. You need to receive a formal certificate of repayment, and there are various other things to prepare.”

Clint glanced down at the labor foreman out of the corner of his eye. “Crucially, this man has nothing to do with it. The debt is owed to the Eragon Investment Company.”

“He’s right. That man has absolutely nothing to do with my debt,” Rut added, supporting Clint. It was a fact she had forgotten in the chaos of the situation.

“Is that so? He was acting so pompous I thought he was involved,” Simon replied naively.

Those words dealt a finishing blow to the foreman’s pride. His face turned beet red with shame.

“Let’s head back for now. I imagine you two have a lot to talk about.”

“But hey…!”

The foreman tried to interject but was blocked by Clint’s arm. Standing before a man of Clint’s superior height and build, the foreman shrank back.

“Do you still not realize this isn’t any of your business?”

Clint didn’t even make an overt threat, but that single sentence was enough to break the foreman’s spirit. He huffed with a flushed face but couldn’t mutter another word. It was all true, after all.

Ignoring the foreman, Simon took Rut’s hand and led her away. They returned to her house, where Lizzie greeted them with open arms. Clint set off somewhere with Rut’s nephew, Leri, saying he would take care of the debt processing. Lizzie disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Rut and Simon to sit across from each other in the living room. It seemed to be a thoughtful gesture to provide them with a quiet place to talk.

Simon looked at Rut. Her hair was disheveled, her skin was rough, and the dark circles under her eyes were heavy. Her hands were blistered in several places with traces of dried blood. Seeing the toll her hardships had taken made Simon’s heart ache.

“Thank you for your help, Master Simon,” Rut said, bowing deeply.

Simon accepted the greeting awkwardly. “It was nothing. Please, look at me.”

As Simon fidgeted restlessly, Rut raised her head. A brief silence fell between them. Simon didn’t know where to start; he had never had this kind of conversation before. Should he apologize first? Or mention the misunderstanding?

It was Rut who broke the silence. She spoke as if she couldn’t hold it back any longer.

“But Master Simon… what on earth are you wearing?”

“Huh?”

Rut stood up and began to straighten Simon’s clothes. Simon stood dazed, letting her hands work. It vividly brought back the days when she was his butler. Rut had always been very particular about his appearance so that he wouldn’t be looked down upon by others. Before he went out, she would always inspect him and adjust his attire.

“Being like this reminds me of when you were my butler.”

“…It does for me, too.”

Rut’s eyes grew distant as she recalled those times. Simon realized the moment had come to tell her why he had come all this way to find her.

“Actually, I came because I missed you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I’ve regretted letting you go just like that when you said you were leaving. I’ve been thinking about it constantly, and I only managed to find you today.”

“Master Simon…”

“The truth is, I was under a misunderstanding. I thought you were leaving of your own accord.”

Simon explained what Dalton had told him. He confessed everything, including the disappointment and sadness he had felt at the time.

“That… ah. So that’s why…!”

Rut recalled the situation back then and gasped as the realization hit her. There was a reason Simon hadn’t said anything when she was told she had to leave. It was all Dalton’s doing. He had lied to both Simon and Rut to drive her away.

‘It’s exactly what that man would do.’

Unbeknownst to Simon, Rut and Dalton had clashed several times. She knew Dalton disliked her, but she never imagined he would go as far as to manufacture such a misunderstanding with lies.

“Master Simon…”

Rut’s eyes grew red. I see. Master Simon didn’t want to send me away. Rut knew better than anyone that Simon was a passive person. For such a man to personally come all this way to find her… that fact proved to her that she was more than just a regular employee to him. The resentment she had carried melted away instantly.

“I didn’t want to leave the manor or you, Master Simon,” Rut said with all her heart.

“I know, thank you. And I’m so sorry. Even if I had known the circumstances… I might not have been able to help you back then. Still, I should have at least asked you what was going on. I’m largely to blame for the misunderstanding.”

“I am the same. Instead of just feeling hurt, I should have had a proper talk with you.”

By rights, she should have spoken with Simon, the master of the house. But Rut had believed Dalton’s words to be Simon’s will and hadn’t thought to confirm it with Simon himself. Perhaps she had implicitly assumed that Simon would naturally follow Dalton’s decisions. If they had talked honestly then, they wouldn’t have spent a year in misunderstanding.

“I am sorry.”

“No! I’m the one who’s sorry!” Simon hesitated before continuing. “Then… what if I asked you to come back? As my butler again.”

“But you already have a butler at the manor, don’t you?”

“Well… I fired him this morning.”

Simon briefly explained the morning’s events with an embarrassed face. As she heard of the former butler’s atrocities, Rut’s expression became terrifying.

“How could they let such a person be a butler, let alone serve you, Master Simon?! Has Lord Dalton lost his mind? So that’s why your clothes were a mess! This is unbelievable…!”

The butler was so filled with rage that even Simon flinched.

“Then, will you be my butler?”

“That is…” Rut looked troubled.

Returning to the Grayan manor. It was the very thing she had wished for all year. There was no reason for her to dislike returning as the butler of the Grayan family. She could do the work she had done her whole life, and with her increased wages, she could quickly pay back the money Simon had lent her. She could move her family to a safer home. Above all, she could look after Simon personally.

However, accepting Simon’s offer immediately meant contending with Dalton Grayan. If firing her was Dalton’s will, then rehiring her went directly against it. It would mean Simon standing up to and defying Dalton.

Simon was intimidated and afraid of Dalton. Much like a child with a parent, he struggled to avoid being disliked by him. Even considering that Simon was an orphan and Dalton was his only remaining kin, it was a bit excessive. Dalton, for his part, kept Simon firmly under his thumb. He hated nothing more than Simon not following his orders.

If Rut returned as the manor’s butler, a conflict between Dalton and Simon was inevitable. As Rut hesitated for that reason, Simon suddenly took her hands in his.

“Is it because I disappointed you? Is it because I came to find you too late? I won’t be like that anymore.”

As Simon appealed to her tearfully, Rut’s heart wavered, and she spoke honestly. “Lord Dalton will be displeased if I return.”

“That’s fine. It doesn’t matter.”

Simon didn’t hesitate for a second. That decisiveness startled Rut.

Simon had changed. The indecisive, frail Simon who feared Dalton was now so full of resolve. Looking again, that wasn’t the only change. His eyes, which had always been lackluster, shone brightly, and his thin, weak body felt charged with a newfound vitality. Vitality! It was an expression she thought would never suit Simon.

“…Master Simon, you have changed a lot.”

“I’m still as puny as ever. I feel like collapsing even now. I need your care, Rut.”

Simon pretended to be weak, but he couldn’t hide his altered aura. The butler smiled softly.

“Then… if you will give me the chance, I will gladly serve you again.”

Since Simon had shown such determination, she couldn’t refuse any longer.

“Yes!”

Simon threw his arms into the air and hugged Rut in his excitement. Rut patted Simon’s back. Lizzie, who had been secretly watching from the kitchen, popped out as if she’d been waiting and made a fuss about how wonderful it was.

The three began to talk comfortably about the past. Just then, Clint and Leri returned. Clint handed Rut a thick envelope. It contained the documents proving the debt had been paid. Seeing them, Rut finally shed tears.

She bowed repeatedly to Simon in gratitude. “I will consider this debt owed to you, Master Simon. I will work hard to pay you back.”

Simon nodded noncommittally. In truth, she didn’t have to pay it back. He wasn’t going to take his fortune to the afterlife, and since he was going to die anyway, helping someone like family was enough. You could even say he was just handing out an inheritance early.

Rut went into the room for a moment to talk to her mother along with Leri. The Rut family embraced one another, sharing the emotion of escaping an unbearable mire. it was a heartwarming sight.

“I’m glad it worked out,” Clint said. He looked as happy as if it were his own business. It was a side of him so different from the bad rumors circulating. He had also fulfilled Simon’s request perfectly.

‘He seems like such a good person, so why are the rumors so bad?’ Simon wondered.

A short while later, Clint returned to his office. Simon was sorry to see him go but couldn’t bring himself to stop him. He didn’t have a justification to keep him yet.

‘Next time, for sure…’

Promising himself there would be a next time, Simon returned to the manor. Though he told her she could start later, Rut wanted to return to the manor immediately upon hearing that the cook had also quit and Simon wouldn’t even have dinner. Consequently, Rut’s mother and her nephew, Leri, ended up coming along to the manor as well. They would stay there until the Rut family found a new home.

Simon returned to his room, threw off his cumbersome jacket, and leaned back on the sofa.

“Whew…”

The unaccustomed outing, the short bursts of running, and the stairs left his body aching. Honestly, on the carriage ride back, he had felt like fainting but had held on through sheer will so as not to worry Rut.

Now that he was alone and resting, exhaustion washed over him. The sun hadn’t even set yet, but so much had happened. Just as he was beginning to drift off into sleep, thinking he should rest for the day—

“Simon Grayan!”

A thunderous voice shook the manor. There was only one person who would act like that in Simon’s home.

Dalton Grayan.

Simon’s day was not over yet.