I Became the Villain’s Wife - Chapter 36~

Chapter 36~

Translator: Lioness

“But then, what’s that?”

Eun-woo replied looking at her hands with an, “Ah!” as if she suddenly remembered the real purpose of coming here.

Her calm face was again colored with shame.

“Oh… this, this is the month’s supply details of all what I spent. In fact, I really wanted to give this personally… because I know earlier I was hasty. Once again, I’ll be asking for your benevolence.”

“Hmm. I got it. Give it to me.”

She was a bit surprised, and took back the note. Tashian raised one brow, without hiding his questioning face, looking at her unusual behavior again.

“Oh… No. I’ll put it on the desk, so Johannes could take care of it later.”

Tashian did not answer. He looked at her with an undefined face.

He didn’t like the fact she was trying to hide something from him, but as if he had any choice.

“… Are you perhaps hiding something I shouldn’t see? What’s that about? Are you preparing to have a war with another family without my knowledge?”

Her actions were very uncommon for him and softly asked her. Hearing his words, she couldn’t help but to blush even more.

“That’s… still not the reason. Nevertheless, please don’t look at it.”

It was human nature to be more intrigued when one said that they shouldn’t be curious. Especially since it was the first time she reacted cutely.

Tashian couldn’t control his immeasurable curiosity and reached out to the note she was tightly holding.

“Just what is it about? It made me even more curious!”

“Don, don’t look at it, Tashian!”

No matter how much she moved her hands, preventing him from having his hands to it, she couldn’t keep up with his agility. Eun-woo had no choice but to stare at the scene, where this large man in front of her with amazing reflexes snatched the note from her hand like a hound.

Putting the note in his hand, he unraveled the folded paper without any hesitation. Eun-woo then hurriedly reached out her arm and tried to stop him, but the note was already raised high enough beyond her reach.

“It, it’s better not to see it…!! Tashian!”

Eun-woo became contemplated and screamed desperately.

As expected, his face soon after, stiffened. He couldn’t hide his embarrassment and immediately folded the notebook.

His face turned pale like a priest who entered in the sanctuary that he should not have, and soon turned red like a boy who made an irreversible mistake.

Eun-woo was curious if he had ever been so embarrassed in his life. But anyways…

“See? I told you it’d be better not to see it!”

Eun-woo snatched the note from his hand again, which had hardened like a stone statue, and muttered sharply to hide his shame. Her face was as red as a ripened tomato.

The note, of course, contained details of the necessary items she needed to purchase this month.

Most of them were household items such as soap, cloth, and needles which she ordered every month, so there was nothing to be ashamed of, but the problem was the last word written.

〈Three new women’s underwear.〉

Only awkward silence flowed into the Duke’s office.

Soon after, Eun-woo, the first to get out of shame, opened her mouth first. She couldn’t hide her embarrassment and mumbled as if she was about to hear the Duke, who was unable to say anything.

“… Please do your best to save my belongings.”

“Uh… Umm… I’ll do my best..”

Then it was silent again.

She could not withstand the suffocating atmosphere, and soon left the Duke’s office like a wind. Without closing the door, the wind outside permeated through the opened door of his office. The wind gently turned the note on the floor and shook it.

Tashian bent down and picked up the note he had touched a while ago. Shortly after, in his closed office room, his low laughter, which had never been heard before, rang out quite long.

***

“The Master was definitely not forced to take over the Marquis’s duties. When the Master first listened to the Marquis’ plea, and took a look at the family affairs, he was stupefied on how the family of that size had been able to live with such careless minimal management and not enough control.”

She listened to Johannes who was endlessly talking, which seemed to hit her bones.

Less than a few minutes after their class began, she already felt like she wanted to sit on her knees as if she had already become a sinner.

“The master, who admired the sight, eventually handled the duties of the marquis from that year, and eventually came to this point.”

“…. So, did the Duke handle the work of the marquis as well as the work as a Duke, who got delayed in returning here?”

Eun-woo once again bowed her head without wanting to lift it again, at the elegant voice heard by her side.

Selena was pointing out the mistake of Marquis Diego Miller one by one in a steady and straight voice.

“That’s right.”

Eun-woo regretted calling Selena to attend this class together briefly.

Since the victory-celebrating banquet, she and Selena have become quite close and have continued to exchange letters once in a while, as it went back and forth between each other’s mansions.

Having a relationship with Selena, who was bright and deeply considerate in learning, has helped Eun-Woo, who was relatively weak in the basic common sense of the world, especially here.

Today, she also invited Selena in hopes that it would help her successor’s class. Therefore, Eun-woo, who was expecting a synergistic effect of learning, was feeling that something was wrong with her decision.

“It’s something that made me ponder, but it seems that rumors circulating that the Duke was very busy were still unavoidable. It was said that right after his position as the Commander-in-chief was lifted, he became busy as the Head of the family alone, when his duties were pushed back due to war… moreover, the Crown Prince constantly needs his presence, thus he was being called out almost every day. His Excellency must have been lacking ten bodies now.”

‘I know everything… so please, just close the little mouth of yours, Selena.’

Eun-woo had no choice but to straighten his back, which kept shrinking.

Johannes, who was watching the scene quietly, opened her mouth with a clean voice.

“Now that Lady Miller has been informed about the circumstances of the Duke and has learned how to deal with the work in the family on behalf of Marquis Miller, it is a great pleasure for me to serve His Excellency. This Johannes will do my best to pass on everything I know, to these two young ladies.”

‘No, I don’t think I need that much…’

Eun-woo endured what she had to say as she watched Selena glistening with joy at a new opportunity to learn next to her.

“This Johannes is very honored to have you two here in my class. In fact, there are cases where many ladies don’t pay much attention to the family’s work because it’s their father’s or brother’s work, which is complete nonsense which spreads in the social community. In fact, even in history, many women have bravely and boldly maintained their families on behalf of their fathers, brothers, and even husbands. Countless women have managed and supervised their families smoothly and successfully.“

Listening to Johannes, Eun-woo blushed when she remembered her behavior of sleeping late and walking in the garden with the maid in the duke’s mansion.

“Of course, according to the imperial law of Hellasium, the work of the Head goes to the child who is considered as the most suitable for inheritance regardless of gender, hence there is no negligence in the spirit that a lady is taking over her brother’s work. Rather, it is worth praising such a young lady for taking responsibility for her family’s work.“

Eun-woo gained hope again from her words. She listened to Johannes with a proud face.

“There are many people who often regard the work of the Head of the Family as simply sitting in the office and stamping ink on documents, which is a very big illusion.”

Johannes explained the thick pile of parchment she was holding to Eun-woo and Selena, respectively.

“Honestly, most of the housework requires your two feet to run the Mansion smoothly and manage it well, and supervise everything with your own two eyes.”

“Are you talking about working abroad and going out?”

Selena asked in a straight voice. Johannes then nodded.

“That’s right. First of all, let me explain the salaries of servants and maids, which are the top priority. It is expected that the young ladies must be familiar with the structure of the duke’s residence here. And know what’s inside of each room. I’m sure you’re also aware that four or five servants are deployed.”

“In the case of the Great Hall, the boudoir where the duke lives, or the bakery that makes rice crackers or bread with wheat, I heard that at least ten or twenty servants were allotted.”

Eun-woo listened carefully to Selena’s words and listened carefully to Johannes’ answer.

“You know it well. To give you a separate example, the interior and exterior rooms on the third floor where the ancestors stayed are composed of 20 to 30 rooms, respectively. There are maids in charge of managing and cleaning the place in each room. Additionally, we need kitchen servants who’d work in the kitchen, and servants who manage weapons, food stores, barracks, and spice stores, differently. Banquet rooms and official dinner rooms, which are not usually used, should be regularly managed in preparation for the future.“

“In short, it must be tremendous hard work just to solve the meals of so many servants.”

Eun-woo brought out the thought that came to her mind. Johannes smiled brightly.

“That’s why kitchens and bakeries have several times more people than other rooms. It’s because it’s not enough to provide food for the people here, considering the big number of people who reside here.”

“Then where did all those people eat now?”

Eun-woo quickly shut up because she was shy even after spitting out such a question. Seeing that, Selena hurriedly opened her mouth.

“Lady Miller, you have nothing to be shy about. People don’t really care or wonder about anything unless it’s information they need in their lives. Not long ago, my father passed away and there were many things I didn’t know until I took care of the housework.“

“Lady Wellwood is right. You don’t have to be shy. I’ll answer the problem of servants’ residence. Highly-ranking noble maids or servants of all ages usually live in a side room next to the bedroom inside and outside the landlord. And low-ranking servants from commoners sleep together in a room in their servants’ accommodations. Heads of various major departments, such as the butler or chef, will be given personal bedrooms and offices. The room given next to the office of the Duke is my office. Usually, servants have accommodations near their department. The servants in the kitchen have rooms near the kitchen, and the servants working in the hall have rooms near the hall too.”

Eun-woo recalled at first glance that she had heard that the newly changed servants’ quarters of the Duke’s servants, such as Anit, who had been brought from the marquis, were clean without any dust.

“The very basic task of managing these numerous servants, taking responsibility for convenience, food, clothing, and shelter, and paying them occasionally is the beginning of what the landlord has to do.”

Eun-woo stopped flinching his hand while writing hard at the word ‘start’ which fell out of her mouth. Johannes immediately moved on to the next, as if she couldn’t afford to wait for her.