Two days later.
Baptiste Manor.
In Palieu, the Flower Capital, the midday August sun made the air above the stone-paved streets shimmer with heat as a carriage slowly came to a halt before the manor, situated in a bustling, prime district.
This was the ancestral residence of the Baptiste family, handed down through generations. The morning glory wrought-iron gates out front had been coated with a light patina of rust by the passage of time, while tall poplars flanking both sides of the entrance stood like sentinels guarding the dignity and serenity of the garden grounds.
A blonde young woman stepped down from the carriage.
She wore a light, sleeveless summer dress that cut a flawless silhouette from her shoulders all the way down to her neatly trimmed nails.
Its loose cut looked airy and effortless.
Owing no doubt to her routine exercise, the subtle contours of her figure were nothing short of ideal.
She had not been home for a whole month.
Her name was Christina, the eldest daughter of this household. Beside an elder brother five years her senior, she had a younger sister, and her cousins lived under the same roof as well.
The Baptiste household was, by all accounts, quite a large family.
Christina loved her family dearly.
The previous month, she had traveled east to the Aloran Kingdom to begin her first year at the Aloran Royal Academy.
With a public holiday currently underway, she had returned home.
In the Aloran Kingdom, a public holiday usually lasted a week, which amounted to nine full days when combined with the preceding weekend.
By skipping just two days of classes, she could piece together an eleven-day mini-vacation—more than enough time even for a trip back to the Posen Kingdom.
Although the Baptiste family had never enjoyed a particularly sterling local reputation, lounging in endless wealth and luxury off their ancestors' merits and foundation, her family had always treated her wonderfully.
They had doted on her since she was a little girl.
Consequently, she had ended up known locally as the villainess Christina Baptiste.
As she grew older and interacted with peers her own age, Christina had gradually come to realize that some of her family's conduct and habits were downright foolish.
For that very reason, she had chosen to study abroad in the Aloran Kingdom.
In that new environment, she felt as if she had been granted a fresh lease on life.
People there harbored no prejudices against her; on the contrary, the poise and etiquette drilled into her since childhood led everyone to view her as a true, refined gentlewoman.
"How wonderful."
The summer midday air of Palieu brushed against Christina's face for the first time in what felt like forever.
Her month of academy life had been thoroughly enjoyable, yet not a single moment passed without her missing the Flower Capital.
At the first opportunity, she had rushed back.
She believed her family would surely be just as lovely as ever.
Christina proudly flicked back her long blonde hair with the back of her hand.
Everything really was up to one's own efforts.
So long as she worked hard, she could definitely become an earl's daughter of stellar renown.
One day, she would shake off the notorious label of "villainess."
"Oh, right. Senior Karen is supposed to be coming to the Posen Kingdom for the Platinum-rank card maker exam too. I wonder if I'll get the chance to see her," Christina murmured to herself as she carried her small travel bag.
At the Aloran Royal Academy, that third-year Gold-rank card maker senior was hugely popular, adored and pursued by countless admirers, and the very model of an angelic young woman Christina aspired to become.
Not long after entering the academy, Christina had heard plenty of stories about the upperclassmen.
And of course, there was also that academic exchange to Ikerite last year, from which only half the delegation had returned.
Rumor had it that the student council of Ikerite Academy was a pack of unimaginable beasts who would stop at nothing.
The Dean of Ikerite's School of Sages was likewise plagued by constant scandals, his reputation swinging wildly like a bungee jumper, with ever more outrageous headlines surfacing by the day.
After much deliberation, Christina had passed on the drama-ridden Ikerite Academy, opting instead for the relatively placid Aloran Royal Academy.
In that brief span, the driver who brought her back had already unloaded her larger luggage, and familiar maids came forward to greet her and relieve her of her bags.
"Milady, the master and mistress are both at home. It happens to be lunchtime right now. Since they weren't sure what time you would arrive, they didn't wait, but if you head straight to the dining hall now, you should be just in time to join them," the maid said.
"Sounds good. Oh, by the way, has anything changed around the manor this past month?" Christina nodded.
Today was Saturday, so her family would most likely all be home.
"Hardly anything. If there is one thing, a new butler has arrived."
"Understood."
Chatting and laughing with the maid, Christina walked into the courtyard, where neat flower beds greeted their eyes.
From passionate red roses to fresh bluebells, every blossom swayed gracefully in the summer breeze. Carefully manicured hedges flanked the pathways, making every step feel like walking through a fairy tale.
In the distance, the intricately carved window frames and balcony balustrades of the manor blossomed with stone flowers—every detail a testament to master craftsmen and the master's opulent grandeur.
Gazing at her family's mansion from afar, warmth and excitement welled up inside Christina.
Although life studying abroad in the Aloran Kingdom was fulfilling, whenever she thought of this home, an uncontrollable sense of belonging flooded her heart.
Before long, she stepped inside Baptiste Manor.
Passing through a series of corridors and porticos, she walked straight into the spacious dining hall on the ground floor.
Spanning over a hundred square meters and faintly scented by antique furniture, the room received soft, natural light through tall windows, illuminating the tablecloth and silverware. A long dining table occupied the center, laden with Posen delicacies. Dappled light danced across the tableware, and the crisp clatter of porcelain lent a touch of vitality to the tranquil afternoon.
"I'm home!"
Christina waved with a bright smile toward her family gathered in the room.
Her family was seated around the dining table: her father in the head seat, her mother, elder brother, and younger sister on one side, and her uncle and cousins on the other.
"..."
Two seconds passed, yet the dining hall remained just as quiet. The family along the long table merely glanced up at her, offered faint smiles, and returned to their meal.
There was none of the enthusiastic, all-hands welcome she had anticipated.
"?"
Christina wondered if there had been something wrong with how she entered.
"Christina, have a seat," her father, Earl Baptiste, instructed her simply.
"Oh, alright."
Temporarily taken aback, Christina quickly recovered her senses, pulled out a chair beside her little sister, and sat down.
The moment she took her seat, a maid promptly served her utensils upon receiving a nod.
Everything seemed normal.
Her family observed immaculate dining etiquette; no one rose from their seat, calmly acknowledging her return as though consciously emulating some standard of elegance.
This unexpected tranquility planted a sliver of doubt in Christina's mind, making her wonder if she had missed some new family rule.
"By the way, who is this?"
Glancing toward the side of the dining hall, Christina asked her father at the head of the table.
She had noticed a man in butler's livery whom she had never seen before, standing by the dining hall wall, poised as if awaiting orders and ready to attend to their every need.
He was a handsome, gentle-looking young man with brown hair, and his emerald-green eyes radiated an approachable aura.
"Mr. Rocky McCarthy, the new butler of our manor," Earl Baptiste answered tersely.
"..."
Christina noticed that not just her father, but other members of the family as well, would unconsciously glance toward Butler Rocky whenever they were about to speak or make a decision, as though dreading the thought of offending him.
This butler held a status far above ordinary servants, even to the point of influencing the behavior of family members.
Though full of questions, Christina maintained her manners at the table, attentively observing the family and surroundings to seek answers in the details.
And the butler, seemingly aware of her curiosity, occasionally glanced back with quite a friendly expression.
Lunch progressed slowly under this subtle atmosphere.
Christina could not put her finger on what was wrong, but she felt an undeniable creepiness prickling at her skin.
Just as she was trying to adapt to the unnaturally quiet table, a small accident suddenly shattered the fragile peace.
Clatter!
Christina's uncle—a gentleman she had always regarded as graceful and unflappable—accidentally knocked over his water goblet.
Evidently, because her silent exchanges with the butler had caused his gaze to pass over the uncle's direction a few times, the uncle had grown noticeably nervous.
Clear water rapidly spread across the tabletop.
Every member of the family turned their eyes upon him, Christina included.
It was hardly a big deal; she simply hadn't expected her uncle to make such an uncharacteristic blunder.
What caught her completely off guard, however, was that her uncle's face instantly went deathly pale.
In his panic, he actually shot up from his chair in what looked like pure instinct, bowing deeply toward the brown-haired, green-eyed butler, his voice trembling as he apologized profusely: "I am terribly sorry! Please forgive my carelessness!"
His attitude was nothing like an apology to a servant; it was the terrified deference of someone facing an elder of supreme authority.
Christina's eyes widened. The air in the dining hall seemed to freeze solid.
She looked at the rest of her family in horror.
And yet...
Not one of them spoke up. Their expressions were conflicted and tense.
"Mr. Rocky, I truly am dreadfully sorry!"
The uncle hurriedly dropped to his knees on the floor, trembling as he repented before Butler Rocky.
"It is quite all right,"
the butler replied with a gentle smile. Crouching down, he helped the uncle to his feet, quickly cleared and wiped the table, tucked the uncle's napkin back in place, and invited him to resume dining.
"Please enjoy your meal."
Though his voice was not loud, it carried an irresistible authority that compelled the uncle to obey without question.
Immediately after, a blissful smile blossomed across the uncle's face. He sat back down and began feasting with gusto, just like a child who had just received praise from their teacher.
Meanwhile, the brown-haired, green-eyed butler merely retreated to his station against the wall.
"...?!"
At that moment, Christina experienced unprecedented terror and bewilderment.
Though it was a summer noon, a bone-chilling cold gripped her whole body, and her spine stiffened reflexively.
What on earth was going on?!
The entire dining hall reeked of a bizarre, sinister atmosphere—as if this were no longer her familiar home, but rather a place desecrated by the descent of some evil entity, turning Earl Baptiste's noble house into a banquet platter for an evil god.
It was wrong in every conceivable way, yet no one else in the family thought there was anything amiss with the uncle or the butler, blithely continuing to enjoy their lunch.
The quiet dining hall made Christina squirm in her seat.
Putting it charitably, her family seemed to have undergone some deep spiritual purification, attaining true peace and finding fulfillment as if they had discovered faith; putting it bluntly, their mental states had undergone a grotesque mutation!
She half-suspected her entire family had turned into cultists!
When Christina glanced toward the wall once more, the brown-haired, green-eyed butler stood in his spot, awaiting instructions—or like a puppeteer behind the curtain, smiling silently as he watched his marionettes act out the farce of a family dinner.
Christina dared not say another word.
Swallowing the fear rising in her throat, she forced herself to look on the bright side and come to terms with reality.
At the very least, this was downtown Palieu, the Flower Capital.
If someone dared to commit atrocities openly in an earl's residence, the city's entire security apparatus would have to have collapsed first.
Before the clock on the wall even struck one in the afternoon, the Baptiste family finished their meal.
As usual, everyone gradually vacated the dining hall to attend to their own affairs.
Now that the family had dispersed, things felt ordinary once more, and Christina's racing heartbeat finally slowed.
The butler named Rocky also began his duties, directing the household servants in their afternoon tasks.
Even though Christina felt that danger was perhaps not so imminent, she could not shake the feeling that something was deeply wrong with this household.
The eerie scene during lunch had been anything but normal!!
Just picturing those eerily vibrant emerald-green eyes made goosebumps break out across her flesh.
Strolling nonchalantly along the ground floor of the mansion, Christina cast covert glances toward her father and mother, who were still seated in the dining hall.
They were chatting casually with Butler Rocky after the meal.
Christina couldn't make out what they were saying, but her father smiled delightedly at Butler Rocky like he had found a kindred spirit, while her mother blushed slightly at his compliments.
Shortly after, Butler Rocky exited the dining hall.
Her older brother, Kyle, approached him next.
"Mr. Rocky, do you have time this afternoon?"
"Of course."
"Then I'd like to book some of your time."
"Certainly. Allow me to check my schedule."
Christina watched in utter disbelief as the butler and her brother walked past and headed toward the second floor.
Even her brother, an incorrigible playboy until now, was acting like a proper gentleman, treating him with utmost deference and addressing him as "teacher."
Walking beside the butler, her brother looked like a student walking with his professor, discussing academic topics as they went.
She had only been away for a month!
And right after, her little sister and cousins swarmed around Rocky, clamoring for him to play with them.
And Rocky patiently coaxed and tended to each and every one of them.
In the distance...
"How many days has Mr. Rocky McCarthy been working here?"
Christina quickly waved over a maid attending the parlor and asked, her gaze fixed on the butler's receding figure.
"Three days,"
the green-haired demon maid replied with a slight curtsy.
"Or two and a half days, to be precise? Young Master Kyle only brought Mr. Rocky back at noon the day before yesterday," the demon maid glanced at the clock and added.
"..."
Christina felt as though she had laid eyes upon an evil god, her scalp prickling with sheer numbness.
Just then, Butler Rocky turned around.
It seemed nothing escaped his notice, as though he had eyes in the back of his head.
His gaze swept over, meeting Christina's eyes directly.
Christina hastily dropped her gaze, concealing her trembling eyes.
"Young Master Kyle, if you will excuse me for a moment,"
Butler Rocky said politely to the young blond master beside him, patting the younger children on the head.
"No problem, go ahead,"
Young Master Kyle replied amicably, clapping Butler Rocky on the arm.
With that, the butler strolled toward Christina in the parlor.
"Miss Christina, are you feeling well?"
Butler Rocky descended from the broad staircase leading to the second floor, arriving in the parlor to inquire after Christina and the maid.
"I'm fine,"
Christina said, eyeing him with extreme vigilance.
Subconsciously, she had already primed a spell capable of preemptively countering mental magic.
"Miss Christina, first of all, I am not a mental-type mage,"
Butler Rocky smiled wryly.
"If you suspect that I have been using magic in this manor, you are more than welcome to take your family members for an examination. I will not stop you."
He spoke with a tinge of hurt in his tone.
"..."
Having her primed spell detected left Christina feeling rather awkward.
After all, she was educated and possessed a fair understanding of mental magic.
Achieving genuine mental domination was a million times harder than mere physical manipulation via mind control.
Furthermore, mind-controlling magic required extraordinarily high tiers and grades along with stringent prerequisites; casting it in a residential district of Palieu would undoubtedly trigger the municipal surveillance barriers.
On top of that, her family possessed ancestral protective barriers.
It truly was improbable.
"Well then, Miss Christina, if you have any instructions, feel free to call on me at any time. Of course, my working hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, from eight in the morning until five in the evening, with my break from one to two in the afternoon,"
the butler spoke courteously, taking his leave of Christina and the maid.
For a long time, Christina remained standing in the parlor.
"You may go back to your duties,"
she told the maid. Frowning in thought, she walked along the ground-floor corridor of the manor.
No matter how she looked at it, something was off.
Her family was acting as though they were being manipulated.
Her father and mother were mild, merely displaying an unusual fondness for Rocky.
Her brother and uncle were the truly bizarre ones.
If not mental magic, could he be an apothecary?
Suppose he slipped special drugs into the family's meals to induce hallucinations and achieve short-term manipulation!
That would bypass magical tiers entirely and avoid triggering mana detection barriers.
The more Christina considered it, the more plausible it sounded.
Her pace quickened as she headed toward the kitchen.
After all, the demon servants in the house showed no signs of abnormality; only her family members had changed!
The servants didn't eat the main courses served at the family table, and precious drugs capable of influencing human will wouldn't be wasted in large quantities.
Besides, some of the demon maids in the house were Tier 6 powerhouses; attempting to control someone of such high tier would multiply the difficulty tenfold.
"Oh? Milady?"
The demon cook-maid in the kitchen noticed Christina's entrance and bowed to her.
Before she could receive any orders, she saw Christina raise a finger, gesturing for silence.
"Keep watch at the door and don't let anyone in."
Christina slipped inside and began her inspection, stationing the demon cook-maid at the entrance.
Feeling nervous, she rummaged around, rifling through overhead cabinets one moment and crouching down to sift through lower drawers the next.
The moment she found evidence, she would report the butler immediately!
However, she failed to notice that in the overhead cabinet she had hurriedly opened, a storage box was left halfway hanging out.
It began to teeter precariously.
Just as Christina noticed a shadow suddenly expanding across the floor, sensed something amiss, and felt a chill creep up the back of her neck—
"!"
She shut her eyes.
Yet the anticipated agony of a blow to the head never came.
When she opened her eyes again, a figure stood beside her, watching her with concern.
"Milady, that was dangerous."
Butler Rocky had materialized in the kitchen without making a sound, his hand steadying the storage box right before it plummeted.
"!"
Christina scrambled to her feet and took several steps back before darting over to the cook-maid, clutching the maid's arm.
"Butler, why are you here?"
Christina asked the brown-haired, green-eyed butler, her heart still pounding with lingering fear.
"I... felt a bit peckish and wanted to grab some afternoon snacks. The master already granted permission."
Butler Rocky averted his eyes, answering with slight embarrassment.
"Peckish?"
Looking at his reluctant, awkward lie, Christina felt he looked more like someone being coerced into fetching snacks under threat.
The servants' lunch had barely just ended; how could he be hungry already? Did he eat six meals a day?
Of course, Christina snapped back to her senses: she couldn't afford to be duped by this man's honeyed words.
"Replace all the ingredients in the house. I don't like eating stale food,"
Christina demanded of the demon cook-maid.
"But... Milady..."
The cook-maid looked troubled.
"I felt the ingredients weren't very fresh today, which is why I came to check."
Seeing the maid waver, Christina was at a loss for how to persuade her.
"Do as she says,"
Lanqi glanced at the demon maid and instructed.
"Yes, sir!"
The demon maid answered briskly without hesitation, curtsied respectfully, and withdrew.
"...?"
Christina stared at the butler.
On what grounds?!
Which one of us is the eldest daughter of the Earl's house?!
Now Christina finally realized it.
It wasn't just her family.
Everyone in this entire house, high and low, had succumbed to an eerie, total submission before this new Butler Rocky!
After retrieving a large box of foil-wrapped pastries from the freezer, Butler Rocky hugged the box and began walking back.
"What magic did you use to make everyone in this house obey you?!"
Refusing to back down, Christina followed him out of the kitchen and demanded from behind.
"Sincerity,"
Lanqi replied.
"Are you mocking me?!"
Had the butler not just saved her a moment ago, Christina would have blown her top right then and there.
She still found this man utterly eerie and dangerous.
"Someone asked me to teach your brother a lesson, so I came to teach him. As you can see, he is gradually transforming into a proactive, promising young man,"
Lanqi added with complete candor.
"..."
Christina was rendered somewhat speechless.
That was pure mob slang, wasn't it?!
She knew her brother Kyle was a natural trouble magnet, so offending someone wasn't out of the ordinary.
Still, Christina was sure that whoever asked Rocky to "teach him a lesson" meant giving her brother a beating or putting him in his place—not literally tutoring him in academics!
For a moment, Christina couldn't even tell whether this Rocky was a good person or a villain.
Unwittingly, the two had walked all the way to the room at the end of the ground floor, right beside the tool shed.
"Very well, Milady, please halt your steps."
Butler Rocky stood just inside the doorway of the butler's break room, his gaze gesturing toward her feet, signaling Miss Christina not to step over the threshold.
Christina naturally stopped short.
Before she could even open her mouth, Butler Rocky closed the door with a smile.
The sign on the door indicated it was his lunch break.
Even when she lingered for a moment, she heard not a single sound from within.
Not even the rustle of eating pastries.
The man had clearly erected a soundproofing barrier inside the room.
"What kind of person is he...?"
Christina could only turn back in frustration.
So far, the butler hadn't revealed the slightest slip-up.
...
For the rest of the afternoon, Christina sat on the sofa in the parlor on the ground floor, pretending to read.
In reality, filled with unease, she tracked Butler Rocky's working figure out of the corner of her eye.
Yet as the minute hand completed revolution after revolution, she failed to catch the slightest irregularity.
On the contrary, watching him only reinforced her conviction regarding his consummate professional caliber.
He directed the other servants methodically while throwing himself whole-heartedly into his own duties, keeping the Earl's manor running like a finely meshed clockwork machine, ensuring every member of the Baptiste family was thoroughly satisfied and provided with everything they needed.
Not a single motion was wasted.
If she had to score his butler service, even she could only award him a perfect hundred out of a hundred.
He was precisely the kind of person who, having taken your money, would get the job done flawlessly no matter what.
Before she knew it, she was lounging on the sofa, munching on potato chips while reading.
The potato chips on the table had been delivered by a maid, who seemed to have noticed her relaxing with a book and figured she might fancy a snack.
"Wait."
Christina's hand froze mid-chip.
Delivered by the maid... didn't that mean she had been instructed by the butler?!
She hastily tossed the half-eaten chip into the wastebasket, treating it like an ominous, cursed object.
Just as Christina was gripped by suspicion, she heard footsteps echoing from the distant corridor leading to the reception hall.
"Rocky, it's almost three-thirty."
Her brother Kyle walked over holding a textbook, calling out to Rocky from near the wall.
"Young Master, please wait a moment. Once I finish helping the Madame select her evening gown, I shall join you for your fashion design lesson,"
Butler Rocky checked his watch and answered the young blond master.
"No problem, I'll wait for you in my room!"
Kyle laughed heartily, waving to Butler Rocky.
On the sofa in the distance, Christina held her book in one hand, steeped in skepticism.
"..."
Christina had a vague idea why her brother wanted to learn fashion design.
It was nothing more than wanting to make new clothes for his beloved demon maids.
Her brother had toyed with the thought in the past, but Christina had never imagined he would actually buckle down and seek instruction on his own initiative!
Palieu, the Flower Capital, was recognized as the fashion capital of the Southern Continent. The annual Posen Fashion Week was one of the most prominent events in the entire Southern Continent's fashion world, gathering numerous premier fashion houses and designers to set the trends across the continent.
Fashion designers and patternmakers were highly promising professions.
At the same time, Palieu was an important educational and scientific research center in the eastern Southern Continent, home to many world-class higher education institutions and research academies, such as the Posen Polytechnic Institute and the Palieu Superior University of Design.
Previously, when the family had hired professional design tutors from Palieu for her brother, he hadn't even bothered to stick with it for two days.
Now, he was behaving like an eager scholar thirsting for knowledge, looking as though he were preparing to sit for academy exams all over again!
"Where on earth did Brother Kyle hire this guy from...?"
She sat upright on the sofa, murmuring in utter bewilderment.
Even the instructors at the Aloran Royal Academy lacked the exquisite grace that emanated from this man's every word and deed.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but Christina lay on the sofa, unable to find rest.
Her mind was flooded with questions and worries.
The midday sun over the courtyard of Baptiste Manor gradually deepened into a rich golden-orange. Carried by a whiff of floral fragrance, the sunlight filtered into the ground-floor reception hall, announcing the arrival of sunset over Palieu.
Sunset hues crept across Christina's cheeks.
Just then, she noticed a figure walking past the parlor.
"Butler!"
Christina called out, stopping the butler, who held a briefcase and looked ready to leave.
"Miss Christina, is there something I can do for you?"
Butler Rocky paused his steps.
"What did you really do to my family?"
Christina sat up, rose to her feet, and walked over, determined to have an open, frank discussion with him.
Regardless of what his objective was—whether he harbored good intentions or ill will toward her family—she could not oppose him with force; just as the rest of her family had already been completely won over by Butler Rocky, any forceful resistance on her part would likely be nothing more than a moth darting into flames.
If they could talk, she had to find a way to negotiate.
"I am simply doing my utmost as a butler,"
Butler Rocky answered.
"No, you're lying! You definitely did something to them! It's like... like you brainwashed them!"
Christina clenched her fists and pressed him.
The way this guy was playing house with her felt like pure mockery.
She had never seen a butler who could make an entire employer household act like addicts.
"..."
The butler turned around, a hint of regret showing in his eyes.
"Miss Christina, so that is how you see me."
He let out a long sigh.
"I have a question. Before considering others, have you ever considered yourself? Has every act of your will truly been decided by you?"
Setting his briefcase temporarily on a low table, the butler prepared to have an earnest conversation with her.
"Born into the prosperous Baptiste family, you received a fine education, were praised as a gifted lady, and held qualifications to inherit a portion of the family estate, destined to ultimately become a prominent figure of power and status in Palieu. That was roughly the roadmap of your life, was it not?"
"My will is decided by me, of course! If it weren't, I wouldn't have gone to study in the Aloran Kingdom!"
Christina retorted immediately.
His words rubbed her the wrong way.
While not overtly offensive, she instinctively rejected such a characterization.
"As I see it, you must love Palieu, and you must love the Baptiste family; otherwise, you wouldn't have rushed back on holiday after only a month of school,"
the butler analyzed, as if shifting topics.
"Of course I do,"
Christina admitted.
This was the one thing she would never deny; she took immense pride in being the eldest daughter of Earl Baptiste's family.
"Consider this: you clearly love Palieu and your home, yet you chose to study in the Aloran Kingdom. Was it to escape the reputation of the Baptiste family? If the answer is yes, then in a sense, doesn't that show how deeply you care about the opinions of others and your family's negative renown? You made that decision reluctantly under the influence of others. Can that truly be called an act of your own authentic will?"
The butler posed the question to Christina with utmost sincerity.
"..."
Hearing this, Christina fell into a brief silence.
Seeing that she offered no reply,
"In contrast, the family members you secretly look down upon live very comfortably. They have never let their decisions be swayed by the opinions of others the way you have. Haven't you noticed that they are far more at ease than you?"
Butler Rocky continued his inquiry, his voice as gentle as ever, lulling one into a near-trance beneath the setting sun.
"M-my situation is different from theirs! But I don't look down on them—I definitely don't!"
Christina shook her head vigorously, denying Rocky's assertion.
"Then here is the question: was it your family who was brainwashed, or was it you? Could it be that the one who is truly abnormal is actually yourself?"
Butler Rocky gazed at her and asked.
"Brainwashed... is it my family... or me...?"
Holding her head, she stumbled backward two steps.
Was the worldview she had grown up with, the values instilled by her family, and the guiding principles she lived by truly correct?
"No... that's not right!"
Cold sweat broke out across Christina's back.
She shook her head violently, as if yanking herself back from the edge of a precipice.
Just then, if she had truly believed him and begun questioning and dismantling her established cognitive framework, this unhurried man would have immediately taken over her mind!
"There is definitely something seriously wrong with you!"
Christina shouted, pointing at Lanqi.
She seemed to understand now: this man truly wasn't using magic, yet he possessed an uncanny, bewitching power of his own.
He was just like a cult bishop infiltrating their home with unspeakable, hidden motives!
Recalling reports in the news that two or three Cardinals of the Resurrection Church were suspected of lurking within the borders of the Posen Kingdom, fear mounted with every passing second.
Yet none of the Resurrection Church's bishops possessed brainwashing abilities, making the whole thing baffling.
"What will it take to cancel your contract?!"
Christina demanded.
At least Butler Rocky seemed like someone she could reason with. Even if her brother had provoked someone and brought this monster upon their household, there had to be a way to show him the door.
"Your brother paid fifty thousand pounds to hire me on a five-year long-term contract. If either party breaches or terminates the contract prematurely, the penalty is also fifty thousand pounds,"
Lanqi said, cradling his right elbow with one hand and stroking his cheek with a troubled look.
"Even if I fire you, I have to pay you fifty thousand pounds?!"
Christina asked in disbelief.
In theory, such an eventuality should never arise.
Who in their right mind would fire a butler they had paid so much to hire?
The clause had clearly been written to deter the butler himself from breaking the agreement.
"Correct. After all, if I were to be dismissed, it would be quite embarrassing for me. When applying for future employment, prospective employers reviewing my resume would suspect I had committed grave professional negligence,"
Lanqi answered somewhat bashfully.
Opening his briefcase, he retrieved a contract and handed it to Christina for inspection.
"F-fifty thousand pounds..."
Christina flipped through the terms and quickly found the clause, where the exact penalty amount was clearly stated.
She was still a student; her savings from allowance were nowhere near that sum, and unlike her elder brother, she had not yet inherited any family assets.
If she asked the family for money claiming she needed it to dismiss Butler Rocky, her relatives—who were all utterly smitten with him—would never agree!
The butler took the contract back from the stunned Christina and returned it to his briefcase.
"Well then, Miss Christina, my duties for today are concluded."
Lanqi donned his hat and stood turned in the dusk, a gentle amusement dancing in his emerald eyes.
"According to the contract, any family member can requisition up to two extra hours of your time each week, and you can participate in competitions as our household's retainer—so you're coming with me to fight in a match!"
Christina summoned all her courage and yelled.
She had done her absolute best to memorize every scrap of information she spotted on the employment contract.
Even though she had never won any prize money in Palieu's familiar arena tournaments, and Rocky looked like he possessed zero combat ability, she simply hoped to put him through the wringer, making things so miserable that he would throw in the towel and terminate the contract himself.
Even if Rocky might deduce her intentions, this was the only card she had left to play.
"..."
"Very well, let us be on our way,"
Lanqi said with a smile.
As long as it was a term of the contract, he would never refuse.
Chapter 673