Earl Hashar was in his early forties this year. He was just an ordinary man in his forties, but honestly, with that Mediterranean hairstyle and that melancholy face, if Anne hadn't introduced him in advance, Duanmu Huai would have suspected he was already in his fifties or sixties…
Hmm, maybe people who dealt with numbers always looked older? At least judging by his appearance, he was clearly the type who worked himself to death, a man who would exhaust himself in service until the end. He probably even had a will prepared at home, just waiting for the day he died of overwork… not impossible.
After all, Duanmu Huai heard he was the Minister of Finance—or was it Chancellor? Forget it, not important.
"Regarding that matter earlier, I truly must thank everyone for your help, especially Your Highness the Princess and Sir Knight… if not for your keen insight, my little daughter would have already…"
At this point, Earl Hashar was already shedding old tears. Hmm… well, it was understandable. After all, in city melodramas, there were plenty of storylines where the female lead, after being rejected from marriage, ended up looked down upon or bullied. Duanmu Huai wasn't part of the noble circle, but he could imagine it.
"Please don't say that, Lord Hashar. We only did what we ought to do."
Anne quickly spoke up, signaling the earl not to dwell on it. Only after receiving the Princess's reassurance did Earl Hashar rise to his feet, though he still lowered his head in shame. He expressed his gratitude once more, and after some small talk, he finally gathered his courage to bring up his request.
"Well… actually, this old servant has an impolite request."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"It is… regarding my daughter, Odelle."
As he spoke, Earl Hashar looked at his daughter.
"I believe Your Excellencies already know—no matter what, my daughter has no way of marrying now…"
"That doesn't have to be so absolute."
Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.
"Even if not now, maybe in the future. Perhaps she'll find a good husband?"
"In truth, after this incident, my daughter has already lost faith in marriage. Therefore… I must be bold and request…"
At this, Earl Hashar looked at Duanmu Huai, hesitating.
"Please allow my daughter to become your exclusive maid, Sir Knight!"
"…Hah?"
At this unexpected request, Duanmu Huai froze. Instead, Anne jumped up excitedly and clapped her hands.
"Right! Why didn't I think of that before?"
"…"
Whose side are you on?!
Because of Anne's sudden betrayal, Duanmu Huai finally only said he would consider it, then sent the father and daughter away. Once they had left, he stretched out his hand and tugged hard at Anne's cheeks.
"Uwah uwah… it hurts, it hurts! Mercy, mercy—!!"
"Really, nothing good comes out of your mouth. Whose side are you on?"
After kneading Anne's face a bit more, Duanmu Huai let go and glared at her unhappily. Rubbing her red cheeks, Anne pouted.
"What's the big deal? Having an exclusive maid is great! In fact, if Earl Hashar hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. You're a noble now, Sir Knight, you also need an exclusive maid."
"What do I need a maid for? Besides, don't you two not have maids either?"
"Who said I don't? I have maids at home! Guleya does too, right?"
"Ah…"
Suddenly dragged into battle, Guleya blinked, then nodded.
"Yes…"
"Even so, letting a young lady work as a maid is too unreliable."
"Tsk tsk tsk, you're wrong about that, Sir Knight."
Anne puffed out her chest proudly.
"Maybe you don't know, but in fact, almost all the maids in the Royal Palace are daughters of noble families."
"…Is that so?"
"Of course! After all, it's the Royal Palace. How could they hire people of unknown origin? Investigating every commoner would be a waste of time, so they pick staff from trusted noble houses instead. So even if they're young ladies, they're not lacking in daily skills!"
"Oh, I see…"
At first, Duanmu Huai was surprised, but thinking about it, it made sense. The Royal Palace was too important to let strangers in. Especially maids—they might not seem important, but they were responsible for the royals' daily needs. If someone with ill intent slipped in, it could endanger the entire royal family.
On the other hand, if the maids were nobles' daughters, then their families' reputations were on the line. If anything happened, it would implicate the entire family. Naturally, they wouldn't dare cause trouble inside the palace.
"In that case, why not just send her to the palace as a maid?"
Duanmu Huai truly had no desire to stuff more people at his side.
"That won't work. Now that the incident has spread, if Odelle went to the palace as a maid, she'd be bullied by others. Otherwise, Earl Hashar wouldn't have specifically come to you. Because not only do you have high status, but you're also strong. Plus, you don't have an exclusive maid yet. Isn't that perfect? Or maybe…"
Anne glanced curiously at Olgis.
"Is Miss Olgis your exclusive maid?"
"Well… not really…"
Strictly speaking, Olgis wasn't Duanmu Huai's maid. She didn't light his fire, cook his meals, help him change clothes, or bathe him. To Duanmu Huai, Olgis was more like a subordinate, a comrade in arms.
Definitely not a maid.
In truth, Duanmu Huai did have a maid, except… her mind wasn't very stable. Because of that, after recalling her card, Duanmu Huai hadn't planned on bringing her out again anytime soon.
Calling her a maid was misleading—she was more like a killing maniac.
If possible, Duanmu Huai would rather never use her again…
"That's why I think having an exclusive maid is convenient. You can leave many things to her."
"Like what?"
"Like delivering messages, receiving letters, meeting others on your behalf, handling finances and internal affairs… Surely you don't think a maid's only job is cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry?"
Isn't it?
Looking at Anne, Duanmu Huai really wanted to say that. In his mind, a maid was no different from a servant.
But truthfully, he didn't really know what palace maids did. Like when he watched Qing dynasty dramas, he couldn't figure out what the countless palace maids and noble consorts were actually for. Cooking and cleaning? Slaughtering chickens and pigs? Or like waitresses in a hotel, just serving food and pouring tea?
To Duanmu Huai, it was a mystery.
"Like last time, when you wanted to find Miss Lorena, didn't you have to send Miss Olgis to deliver the message? If you had a personal maid, you wouldn't need to trouble your companions with such things."
"Ugh… you do have a point…"
Duanmu Huai couldn't help but sigh. Just as Anne said, summoning Lorena directly wasn't difficult. But if he needed the Holy Church's help, someone had to explain things properly first. And well… Olgis hadn't explained much. According to Lorena, all Olgis had said was, "There's a demon, master wants your help."
Not exactly an ideal messenger.
"How about this!"
At this moment, Anne clapped her hands as if she had thought of a perfect plan.
"We're heading west anyway, right? Let's take Odelle with us! That way, you can personally experience what an exclusive maid can do. Consider it a trial. If you're satisfied, she can become your maid. If not, you can just let her go later, no harm done."
"We're not going there for fun."
"Don't worry, I know Odelle's ability very well. She's not as strong as me, but at the Academy of Magic, she was considered outstanding."
At Anne's words, Duanmu Huai was left speechless. Clearly, she was eager to shove Odelle into his service. But… was that young lady really that strong?
Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai reached out his hand and swiped through the air. Soon, a card appeared before his eyes.
[Black Swan · Odelle (Gold)]
[Cost: 6]
[Attack: 6]
[Defense: 5]
[At the end of your turn, deal 2 damage to all enemy units]
"…"
Seriously?!
Duanmu Huai was stunned. Sure, 2 damage wasn't much, but this was an area attack! Anne and Guleya's attack power surpassed Odelle's, but theirs were either single-target or area-based. As for full-area attacks, the only card in his hand capable of that was [Relic of Divine Might], which required synergy with [Sky Castle] to unleash such power.
Yet a noble young lady could wield a weakened version of a full-area attack?
And that title—Black Swan…
Staring at the card, Duanmu Huai hesitated, then made his decision.
"Fine."
He looked at Anne.
"Let's do as you say. I'll see what she's capable of first."
(End of Chapter)