“There's a carriage from the Duke's family outside?”
Aren't I supposed to start work tomorrow?
I was surprised, but everyone else practically lost their minds.
Especially Felix.
“W-What? Croitz?”
Felix jumped like a fish sprinkled with salt.
Come to think of it, his first-choice career path was joining the Croitz Knights.
“Why would Duke Croitz be looking for you?”
Why indeed?
Because he's the one paying my salary now.
But I had no intention of kindly satisfying Felix's curiosity.
Instead, I chose to be deliberately mysterious.
“Who knows? Why do you think?”
“Ha! You've been annoying me all day!”
Felix finally raised his hand.
Just then—
“...Miss Violet?”
An unfamiliar voice froze everyone in place.
Turning around, I saw a knight standing stiffly in the distant lobby beyond the open reception room door.
The crest of House Croitz was engraved on his armor.
“It's... it's really a Croitz Knight.”
Felix muttered in shock and immediately released my collar.
Unfortunately for him, the knight wasn't blind.
The knight strode over and positioned himself protectively in front of me.
“Were you in danger, Miss Violet?”
“Haha, you've misunderstood. Nothing dangerous was happening. We were simply having a discussion. He's my fiancé, after all.”
This was a first.
I'd never seen Felix look so pathetic.
“Your fiancé? That only makes it worse. What kind of man treats his fiancée this way...?”
The knight looked at Felix as though staring at a filthy criminal.
So that's how normal people see this.
My classmates, my relatives—everyone had always acted as if Felix's treatment of me was perfectly natural.
They said I should be grateful for having a fiancé who was so far above my station.
That's why the knight's reaction, which was probably the normal one, felt unfamiliar.
The knight looked Felix up and down.
“You appear to be a swordsman.”
Then he asked,
“What is your name?”
“Pardon?”
“You haven't declared an affiliation. A graduate from this year, perhaps?”
Felix's face turned pale.
The knight continued examining him.
“A man entrusted with a sword should protect ladies, not threaten them. Are you unaware that violating knightly conduct can result in the loss of your qualifications?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
Oh? Loss of knight qualifications?
If that happened, everything Felix had worked toward during six years at the Academy would be meaningless.
Of course, his family had gained considerable influence recently, and Felix had made plenty of useful connections.
This incident alone probably wouldn't strip him of his qualifications.
Not wanting to give his name, Felix tried changing the subject.
“When fiancés argue, things can get heated! To talk about revoking my qualifications over this is ridiculous!”
“His name is Felix Roheim.”
I smoothly interrupted.
“I was so frightened. He was about to hit me. If the knight hadn't arrived, I definitely would have been struck.”
I pointed at the front of my dress, stretched from where Felix had grabbed me by the collar.
Naturally, I made sure to look pitiful and fragile.
Though honestly, I really had been one second away from being punched.
“Someone who carries a sword tried to strike a defenseless lady?!”
The knight stared at Felix as though he were the lowest scum alive.
“And all these servants simply stood by and watched!”
The servants shrank under the knight's incredulous gaze.
“W-We were afraid of Young Master Felix...”
“However frightening he may be, was he more frightening than the lady who was about to be struck by that shameless fist?”
The knight barked in disbelief before politely turning back to me.
“Forgive my presumption, but I would advise dismissing servants like these as soon as possible.”
Yes.
That was already the plan.
The moment I reclaimed this family.
The servants looked resentful but didn't dare argue with a knight from House Croitz.
Once again, I was reminded how much authority the Croitz crest carried.
Felix nervously interrupted.
“K-Knight! You've misunderstood. There were circumstances—”
“Felix Roheim, was it?”
The knight stared at him.
“I'll remember that name.”
“...!”
Felix visibly flinched.
Hopefully this meant his dream of joining the Croitz Knights was over.
[Benefactor, things are becoming interesting!]
They really are.
Pipi and I shared our thoughts happily.
After standing frozen for several moments, Felix desperately tried again.
“No, Knight! Please wait! You should hear my side too!”
But the knight completely ignored him and turned fully toward me.
“Lady Freesia. We came despite the impropriety because there is an urgent matter that requires your assistance.”
His respectful attitude was completely different from how he'd treated Felix.
Not only Felix, but all the servants stood there with their mouths hanging open.
What in the world happened?
I was curious.
But Felix was probably dying of curiosity too.
There was no reason to satisfy him.
I answered solemnly.
“That's fine. I'll come immediately.”
“Thank you!”
“W-Wait!”
I heard Felix following after me.
Then I deliberately shut the door in his face.
BANG!
Wow. That felt amazing!
So this was what it felt like to dismiss someone right in front of them.
I could get addicted to this!
I didn't forget to thank Pipi.
Thanks, Pipi. Without you, I would've just stood there stammering again. I didn't look like a pushover at all, did I?
[Not at all! You looked extremely rude and unpleasant!]
Right?
Hehehe.
Chuckling to myself, I climbed into the Croitz family carriage.
Not long afterward, we arrived at—
“Waaaah!”
“I'm dead! I'm definitely dead!”
Complete chaos.
People were sobbing.
Others were sprinting around wildly.
I stared blankly at the knight.
“...What exactly happened here?”
“Well—”
“Eh? Miss Violet?”
A familiar voice called out.
It was Aaron, Kaien's aide.
Aaron looked terrible.
Dark circles hung beneath his eyes like bruises, and his hair was so disheveled it looked like a bird's nest.
“Miss Violet? What are you doing here? Aren't you scheduled to start tomorrow?”
“That's what I thought too, but this knight said something urgent came up and brought me here.”
“Ah, I see.”
Aaron clicked his tongue.
“I ordered them to gather every available person because of a major incident, but I didn't realize they'd summon you as well. There must have been a misunderstanding. My apologies.”
The knight also awkwardly apologized.
No, no.
The fact that you arrived in a Croitz carriage at exactly the right moment already makes you my hero.
“We're not such a hopelessly exploitative workplace that we'd drag in a new employee on her day off before she's even completed orientation.”
Aaron spoke firmly.
If not for the dark circles hanging off his face, he would've looked like a dependable senior colleague.
I glanced around at the disaster unfolding around us.
Then gathered my courage.
“Um, Senior?”
“Yes?”
“Since I'm already here, if there's anything I can help with, I'd like to. Even simple repetitive tasks might be useful.”
“Miss Violet...”
Tears shimmered in Aaron's exhausted eyes.
A moment later, he roughly wiped them away.
“Sniff... Thank you. That truly means a lot.”
I hadn't expected him to be so moved.
He must have been under tremendous stress.
“In that case, Miss Violet, would you follow me?”
“Yes!”
Perfect.
I secretly clenched my fist.
People always say crises create opportunities.
Right now, thanks to my uncle confiscating everything, I didn't even have clothes to wear tomorrow or money for food.
And there was absolutely no way I was going crawling back to Felix and begging, just as my uncle wanted.
I'll help out in this mess, make a good impression, and then...
I'd ask for an advance on my salary!
My determination hardened.
Aaron looked at Freesia as they walked side by side.
The previous evening, he had informed a junior colleague about her recruitment.
“Freesia Violet? Wait, you mean that Cinderella Tragedy girl?”
“Cinderella Tragedy?”
“They were famous at the Academy. The valedictorian and his fiancée. They'd been together forever, but everyone thought the girl was way beneath the guy's level, so people called it a Cinderella story.”
“I see.”
“But here's the crazy part. On graduation day, the guy proposed to another woman! His fiancée was completely betrayed. That's why people call it the Cinderella Tragedy.”
Apparently Freesia had been obsessed with one man throughout her entire Academy life.
Suddenly, her barely-passing grades made a little more sense.
She clearly has outstanding theoretical knowledge if she scored perfectly on the recruitment exam...
But theory and practical work were worlds apart.
Aaron had no expectations that Freesia would excel at real work from the start.
Still, Miss Violet should know what kind of place this is.
It wouldn't hurt to give her a preview.
Like a vaccination before the real illness.
Thinking that, Aaron opened a door.
“His Grace is going to kill me... I'm going to be murdered...”
“Mother, forgive me... your unfilial son dies today...”
“Please spare me! I've made a mistake! Please spare me!”
The mages inside looked half-crazed.
Some frantically carried stacks of documents.
Others pounded away at calculation devices.
One mage was even writing his will.
Freesia cautiously asked,
“What exactly happened here?”