Today’s Goal Is A Safe Divorce! - CH 59

“The Grand Duke doesn’t like the bedding made carelessly.”

“…The Grand Duke?”

“Yes, please don’t talk that respectfully. If His Grace finds out, we will be reprimanded.”

“Yes.”

Seeing Sebastian trembling, Elysia was forced to agree. It was still difficult for her to talk down on them though she couldn’t help it.

“Does he not like having maids other than Julia tidy up?”

“It’s not necessarily like that. Fortunately, Julia has worked for a long time, so it was tolerable to some extent… To be exact, he would be annoyed.”

Come to think of it, she remembered that Damon was not at all served by the servants, unlike her, who was served in the bath. If her prediction was correct…

“What was he annoyed about?”

“His Grace hates being touched by anyone.”

…As expected, she was right. She thought that he might not be like the original Damon since he had been touching her so casually.

“That’s why he was not being served…”

“Yes, he does not receive unnecessary service at all. He doesn’t even like the room touched.”

Although Sebastian was afraid of Damon, he seemed to like him subtly. Well, that was why he stayed with him and worked here like. Every time he talked about Damon, his twinkling eyes seemed to prove his loyalty to the one he served.

“By the way… I thought Julia and Sebastian were a little young…”

As a butler and a maid, the two were too young. It was usually done by skilled maids and attendants.

“Oh, we’re young enough to be butlers and chief maid, aren’t we?”

Elysia quietly nodded her head.

As in a Grand Duke family, they must have a butler and a chief maid, who were handed down from generation to generation, but it seemed that not all of the employees here had been working for a long time.

“It’s because all of the former employees were fired. Oh, it looks like Julia is coming.”

She did not even hear his answer as the sound of the knock came just in time. Why did they fill the place all with new personnel, that question remained unresolved.

“Your Grace, I’m sorry. The clean-up ended late, so I made you wait.”

“No, that’s fine.”

It was difficult for her to hear any further answers now that Julia had returned.

Although Sebastian was afraid of Damon, he seemed fearless. She seemed to be able to get the answer she wanted with a little poking. On the other hand, Julia was not like that at all. Elysia felt a firmness that didn’t seem like a single needle would go through Julia.

It was a pity for her, but she decided to listen to the answer next time. First of all, the reason for calling her from the first day.

“I’m sorry from the first day. I hope you understand, as it is too urgent.”

There was a sense of urgency in Julia’s voice. Elysia wondered what was urgent since there wouldn’t be anything she could do…

“First, I would like to discuss the general management of the Grand Duchy.”

“Management?”

Originally, it was right for the Mistress to manage the castle. Still, she hasn’t gotten permission from Damon yet. Oh, it was nonsense, but…

“But, I have not heard anything from the Grand Duke?”

“The Master entrusted everything to Madam.”

“…What?”

Elysia was surprised to hear that he had entrusted everything. She was not yet skilled enough to manage as a Mistress so it was absurd to entrust her to entirely manage such a large family like this herself.

“His Grace has told us to talk to Your Grace about everything from now on. We can go ahead as Your Grace wished.”

Before, he seemed to have spoken to her in the carriage on the way to the Grand Duchy that it didn’t matter if she overturned the Grand Duchy. Though what if he handed over the entire power to someone who really didn’t know anything…

“We eagerly waited for Your Grace’s presence.”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, I…”

Elysia wanted to run away from this place right now. It would have been different if she had been an ordinary noble though she had only been educated for a month.

“Madam, please save the castle!”

“What?”

“Please!”

“No… Even if you ask me to save…”

She had to be seen as completely incapable of saving the Grand Duchy at all. Elysia only waved her hand in the awkward situation. She was resentful of Damon for creating this situation. Sebastian and Julia looked desperate. However, that was it, and this was this… it was beyond her ability to do it.

“You don’t have to be pressured at all.”

“I’m sorry, Julia, but I—”

“That’s right. It is not difficult.”

Even though they told her not to feel pressured, their actions were the contrary. Elysia wondered how long they had waited for her to come. Still, she was a little reassured that their kindness to her was another reason.

“…But, I have never managed a house.”

It was better to disclose it from the beginning in case it was discovered later. It wouldn’t be long anyway, and rumors would spread that she was an illegitimate child. Of course, it would be known to the Grand Duke.

“I was never properly educated and….”

She was a little hesitant when she was about to reveal the truth. She was afraid that they might ignore her. She was ashamed to reveal that she did not know what other noble ladies would, of course, know.

“It’s okay.”

“That’s right, we don’t mean to leave it all up to Your Grace. So, don’t feel pressured.”

It was expected that she would have to work as a Grand Duchess though it was right that she felt pressured with the fact that she had to do the management from day one. Although she was educated by Estelle, Elysia still lacked a lot because she didn’t actually learn to do it on her own.

“Housemenagement is not that difficult.”

She felt that they were trying to appease her, lest she ran away.

Obviously, it was a lie to say that it was not difficult to manage a large castle like this. It wasn’t that Julia and Sebastian didn’t understand. They had been running the castle with a small number of people, so it must have been challenging for them.

She thought they were taking good care of it though…

“As you may have seen, the Grand Duchy is currently in short supply of manpower.”

“Why so little?”

She was wondering if there was any particular reason. If management was difficult, the number of manpower could be increased, but why not…?

“If there is not enough manpower, why not hire more?”

It wasn’t that they didn’t have enough money as they could just hire more people. However, Julia and Sebastian all shook their heads at her words. He even let out a small sigh.

“That is… There are circumstances.”

“Circumstances? What circumstances…”

…Was there something more significant than a lack of manpower?

“We are unable to recruit new manpower due to unavoidable circumstances.”

Since they didn’t tell her what was going on, she didn’t know what to do when they asked her to fix it. Now, they acted like Elysia was a great solver. They seemed to think that everything was going well if she did it alone.

Nevertheless, she was by no means a great person. Although she had been cleaning, she was a beginner who had never done house management.

“If I don’t know the circumstances, I can’t help you either.”

“The circumstances…”

It was strange for Julia to hesitate when she asked her what she was hesitant to tell what was going on—so was Sebastian. He acted as if he had told her everything until a moment ago, and at one point, he shut his mouth completely.

“It’s because of the Grand Duke.”

It was Damon’s name that came out of Julia’s hesitant mouth.

lysia was not at all surprised by that natural remarks. Of course, there was no other reason.

“The reason we run the castle with a minimum number of people is that the Grand Duke hates a lot of people.”

“Then, I apologize for not being able to be of any help.”

In the first place, he hated many people though there was no way she could have overturned it to a sharp number. She was not a God.

“Madam, please don’t talk that respectfully. If you do this, we will be scolded by the Master.”

“Well…”

Elysia was originally from the country of courteous people in the East so it would be difficult to talk down right from the first meeting. No matter how young they were, Julia and Sebastian were older than her. They were just younger compared to the general butler and chief maid.

“This morning, both me and the butler have been given a warning by the Matter.”

She was surprised to hear that Damon was concerned about that since she thought he wouldn’t care if she spoke respectfully or not.

“I see…”

Or, did he value status? She couldn’t remember very well. Even though the focus was on his evil deeds, it seemed that she wrote nothing personal about Damon.

“Exactly why new people can’t be hired… His Grace likes to be quiet, but…”

It was new to Damon’s liking to be quiet. It was not only that he didn’t really like crowded places that he didn’t even go to parties, it turned out he liked quietness.

“It’s because the new maids and servants like to touch His Grace’s body while serving him.”

“…His Grace’s body?”

“Yes, there are times when they can’t help but reach out when they’re in the audience with him.”

So, was that why Julia tidied up their bedroom?

“Unless they are skilled, they are bound to make mistakes…”

“What if they make a mistake?”

In fact, it was almost impossible to keep their hands away completely while serving.

“We can’t get a new one because they’re fired right away.”

Did he really just fire them? He wouldn’t have stopped at just firing. It would be at Damon’s mercy, and in the worst case, they could die on the spot… He was such a person.

“The same goes for the bedding. We have to make it as unobtrusive as possible, so we can’t have other people do it.”

“But Julia, I think it would be difficult for me to deal with those things.”