Why Are You Looking at Me Like That?

"Haaah— I really went and did it—."

Immediately after the welcome party ended, I returned to my room and collapsed face-down onto the bed.

Although it took less than two hours to turn down the offers from the barons of each annex and exchange greetings with the other nobles,

the mental fatigue had inevitably reached its peak.

'I wonder if Big Brother Vincent is disappointed.'

I had also turned down the proposal from Baron Eretria of the Vincent family.

Considering how much louder their welcome cheers had been, they must have thought I'd join them, but...

my promise to Vincent had strictly been "to continue interacting," not an invitation to join his family.

"Lady Raebi."

"Ms. Jihye... um."

"No. Come out and wash up."

"I know... I do, but I want to take a shorter bath."

Please, just let me rest.

I hadn't rested at all—not in Egypt, not on the plane, and not even here in Korea.

Of course, not sleeping on the plane had been my choice.......

Anyway, I didn't want to be worked any harder. Who could have known things would be this hectic and busy?

I gave Han Jihye a teary, pleading look, and she opened her mouth with a gentle smile.

"Even after your bath, there's a briefing on tomorrow's schedule. You can't rest just yet."

"Thanks... huh?"

Huh? What briefing?

When I looked at Han Jihye with a stupidly frozen expression, she held up the remote in her hand.

"Or would you like to hear the briefing first?"

......No way. It isn't, right?

"Uh, how long will it take?"

"Thirty minutes if we hurry."

"Ugh."

'Th-thirty minutes.'

Too long.

A bath, removing my makeup, and a briefing on top of that.

It meant I'd need to set aside at least an hour and a half.

For someone who wanted to collapse on the spot and close her eyes, it was an unbearably cruel extension of my workday, so I spoke to her in a trembling voice.

"That's too long, Ms. Jihye. No, Sis... I feel like I'm about to collapse right now."

"You need to be clear about how you address me. And if you put it off now, tomorrow will be even more painful."

......

Whimper-

"Lady Raebi...?"

"All right. I'll do it..."

Honestly, I wanted to throw a tantrum.

But I'd caused a huge incident since earlier in the day, and she had kindly taken care of everything for me from beginning to end. How could I ask anything more of her?

Besides, she wasn't asking me to do anything unnecessary. Everything was something I needed.

Since Han Jihye couldn't have unlimited stamina either, I had no choice but to raise my stone-heavy body.

......

"Lady Raebi..."

But tears of self-pity dripped down my face. Han Jihye approached me and wiped it with a handkerchief.

Then, still crouching, she stared at the bath for a moment as if deep in thought.

Soon, she spoke with a bitter smile.

"......Then shall you receive the briefing tomorrow morning? You will need to wake up a little earlier than usual, though."

"Huh...? Th-that would be okay?"

It was a proposal like rain during a drought—or, better yet, honey itself. I looked at her with delight.

"Only this once. Also, please understand that the morning briefing requires some extra time, so you'll end up sleeping less. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

It's fine! If I can collapse and sleep right now, that's all I need!

I nodded, unable to contain my delight.

"I'll do that! It's fine! I'll sleep now! Then good ni...eep!"

"You still need to bathe. If you fall asleep in the tub, I'll carry you out, so please behave and come along this once."

"Okaaay..."

In the end, just as I was sneaking back toward the bed, she grabbed me and plopped me into the bathtub.

She was so quick with her hands that I was already completely naked.

Once my body began to grow languid in the warm water, Han Jihye rubbed soap lather over me and asked,

"......Lady Raebi. May I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"What you said in the central hall today. You do understand what it meant, right?"

......I do.

What I'd done was no different from declaring war.

A newly adopted youngster from 'Thebes'—and a youngster at that—had refused the barons' requests and told them to come to her instead.

Even though I carried Douglas Kim's name, an invisible difference in status still existed.

From now on, they would watch my every arrogant move,

and if the 'workshop' I mentioned wasn't anything special, they'd have a grand time tearing me apart.

'But that's okay.'

April had already approved of my work. According to Han Jihye, she had an exceptional eye for art, so at least there shouldn't be any errors in the design.

"The problem is..."

"Yes?"

"Ah, it's nothing."

The problem was the materials. And the space to use as a workshop.

The 'Piranian's Telekinetic Ring' I'd given April had cost 15,000 gold in materials alone. Considering that an Everlasting Tree cost around 600 gold, it was an insane amount.

......How was I supposed to get the money, and how was I supposed to secure a space?

With all those worries weighing on me, I fell asleep.

***

"A week-long vacation? Anna-ri?"

I heard something like a bolt from the blue the next morning. After finishing the morning briefing and enjoying a short tea break, Han Jihye spoke with a stiff expression.

We had already been coordinating dates to meet with the other nobles... If our only female guard left her post, I wouldn't be able to move around.

The carefully arranged schedule would all go to waste.

I asked in disbelief,

"Why an entire week...?"

"She says she can't help it—she has plans with her friends. I'm truly sorry, Lady Raebi."

"Friends......"

What should I do?

I had a mountain of things to do, and I was already stumbling over something this minor.

Employee benefits should generally be respected, but this could end up making a mockery of Thebes's nobles, so it wasn't something I could simply overlook.

'A brat who got some attention and lost her senses.'

They'd treat me exactly that way.

I decided to speak directly with Anna-ri and summoned her to the meeting room.

"......so it would be difficult right now. Can't you do something?"

Then her eyes went round.

"You haven't contacted the other nobles yet, have you? I think the greetings can wait."

"That's not the case. There haven't been any formal invitations, but word has already gone through the attendants. If you were going to take vacation, you should have told me a little earlier."

"......You've already exchanged messages after being here for only one day?"

'Is that a problem?'

Suppressing my resentment, I spoke.

"Phew... We're in the same annex. I've entrusted all the scheduling to Ms. Jihye, and because I asked to get through everything as quickly as possible, most of it was arranged overnight."

"I'm sorry, but this is the first I've heard of it."

......

She was right. I'd been busy all day yesterday, so we hadn't had a proper chance to talk, and I hadn't had time to tell her about the schedule either.

......But was this really reasonable?

Of course, people should be allowed to take vacation when they want.

But hadn't Anna-ri anticipated that I would be busy? Even moving house was obviously hectic for a while, and my entire status had been changed.

It was only natural that I would be busy, and she should have taken that into consideration.

'That is, if she had even the slightest intention of respecting me.'

More than anything, I was bothered that Han Jihye hadn't anticipated this situation. She was a professional and would have made the schedule based on common sense.

So who was ruining things with this unreasonable behavior?

The answer was clear.

"......Why are you acting like this?"

"Pardon?"

"Tell me honestly. You're doing this on purpose, Ms. Anna-ri. Have I done something to upset you?"

"That's a misunderstanding. My friends had already decided to throw me a party to celebrate my new job, and I merely agreed to it."

......So she was going to play it that way to the end.

I let out a short laugh. From that answer and her thoroughly irritated expression, I concluded that persuading her any further would be pointless.

There was no need to spend a long time with someone who wasn't compatible with me.

I firmly informed her,

"Don't hold it. That celebration party."

"......?"

"You're too busy for me to ask you to work. I'll have new security staff assigned."

Anna-ri's forehead visibly creased.

"It takes more than two weeks of screening to hire a new attendant. And you're still going to throw me out?"

"Yes. You only need to work until your contract expires. ...Ms. Jihye, when does Ms. Anna-ri's contract end?"

"The 17th of next month. Shall I stop the automatic renewal?"

"Please do."

.....Anna-ri.

A girl who had given up her schooling and obtained her Hunter license at eighteen.

After going to all that trouble to land such a difficult position, I couldn't understand why she was acting like such a child,

but whatever the reason, I refused to let her ruin my work.

It was a little troublesome, but I'd have to hire new personnel.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to get some fresh air."

"Ms. Anna-ri! What kind of attitude is that...?"

"Enough."

There was no point keeping her there anyway. She would only continue being sarcastic.

"My rank assessment is coming up shortly. Just return before it's too late."

......

Clatter-!

The chair was shoved back roughly.

Anna-ri stormed out of the room with a spiteful expression.

Afterward, I asked Han Jihye to call in the remaining attendants, and reconfirmed each of their schedules.

It would be troublesome if another situation like this arose.

But they merely looked puzzled by the question and had no other schedules or complaints.

Their reaction was essentially that we'd only known one another for a few days, so how could there be any such issues?

I told them about what had happened with Anna-ri and informed them that a new attendant would be joining us.

"......She really did that?"

Kang Hana's mouth fell open in astonishment. Kim Daeseok, the chef, also tilted his head with a puzzled look.

But there was one exception. Ahn Gihwan, who was also part of the security detail, gave me a bitter smile.

It was as though something that had been bound to happen had finally happened.

Finding it strange, I asked him,

"Mr. Gihwan, do you know something?"

"I do, but... I'm not sure if I should say it here."

'......'

If it concerned Anna-ri, it probably wasn't a major secret.

"It's okay. Tell me."

Ahn Gihwan let out a small sigh, then began speaking with an expression of resignation.

To summarize, a rumor had spread that 'Raebi was E-rank.' When Anna-ri heard it, her expression changed.

Her perpetually sunny expression disappeared, leaving only the oddly prickly appearance of an adolescent girl.

Ahn Gihwan noticed her obvious feelings and tried to persuade her, but rather than changing her ways, she merely treated him like an incompetent old geezer.

'Sheesh-'

"I think I understand. You've had a hard time, Mr. Gihwan."

"No. I should have persuaded her better..."

No. There was no need to persuade her.

If she had that kind of personality, it was bound to explode sooner or later. She didn't like the noble master she had expected because I was E-rank? What a childish thought, one that made the two-week screening process meaningless.

"Ms. Jihye, I have a question."

"Go ahead, Lady Raebi."

"......You said identity cards could be issued to commoners too, right? Can the rank on one be different from the rank on a noble's identity card?"

"It is possible. Of course, that applies to transformation-type ability users and some assassin types..."

"Anyway, if the stats can be changed, that's all that matters, right?"

"That's correct."

Then that settled it.

Since my high-grade item-crafting ability had already been exposed, there was no point hiding my rank from Douglas Kim's nobles.

Douglas would take care of keeping everyone quiet, so I had no reason to worry about it leaking outside.

'If Anna-ri went around blabbing, I'd be done for.'

Having made up my mind, I went to fetch Anna-ri and headed to the family's rank assessment center.

As we walked along, I reconfirmed one last thing with her.

"Ms. Anna-ri, you still intend to take that vacation, right?"

"I do."

"And you still dislike me because I'm E-rank."

"Yes, I do... huh?"

Anna-ri stopped in her tracks and turned to look at me. I smiled sweetly at her and said,

"We both know that already. Right?"

Anna-ri's brow furrowed again.

"......Yes. That's right."

She whipped her head forward again and resumed walking.

She moved at a quick pace, as if telling me to keep up on my own.

I followed close behind her, and as soon as we arrived at the rank assessment center, I gently nudged her aside and approached the employee.

"Huh? Oh, Lady Raebi? You came earlier than expected!"

The male employee, who had been staring blankly at his computer, welcomed me with obvious delight.

His fond gaze as he looked down at me, along with his fidgeting fingers, clearly conveyed his desire to 'pet me.'

He even knew my face... Was he especially interested in me?

"Hehe, hello. I'd like to take my rank assessment... where's the measuring device?"

"Just enter the room over there! I'll take care of it right away."

Following his directions, I entered the room beside the counter. Apparently, all I had to do was release mana inside, and my mana type and rank would be measured automatically.

Ka-thoom-

The heavy iron door slammed shut. I immediately cast Blade Nails.

'Still, let's not get excited. Just enough to register on the measurement.'

Woong- A mana wave spread in every direction once. The monitor installed in the room then displayed a message saying the measurement was complete, and a large 'B' appeared.

My types were magic and assassination, just as expected.

The method was a little different, but I'd already experienced a measurement once. I left the room with an unimpressed expression.

As I approached, the iron door automatically opened again, and the employee greeted me with a surprised expression.

"Wow! Amazing, Lady Raebi! Just as I thought, those idiotic rumors were... ahem."

"Haha..."

The employee awkwardly scratched the back of his head under Han Jihye's venomous gaze. Then he sat obediently in his seat and timidly muttered, 'I'll issue your identity card shortly.'

I gave him a soft laugh and thanked him, then approached the attendants.

I saw Kang Hana and Han Jihye looking especially delighted, while Kim Daeseok and Ahn Gihwan also had looks that said, 'Kiya!'

And...

"......Uh, well."

Anna-ri stood there, her face ashen.