Looking at Elise lying in his arms, Ian studied the blonde girl.
Although she had a delicate face and looked quite beautiful in the standard maid uniform of the Duke’s Mansion, her skin was frighteningly pale.
Though she was a girl of fourteen or fifteen, her frame was extremely petite and frail.
“Why is this child so thin? Is the maid’s work too exhausting?”
Ian asked Annie, confused.
“The workload for the maids at the Duke’s Mansion is indeed a bit much,” Annie nodded, speaking the truth.
Due to Ian’s notorious reputation, many maids would faint from terror the moment they heard they were to enter the Duke’s Mansion.
This made recruiting new maids increasingly difficult.
Furthermore, more and more people within the mansion could not withstand Ian’s cruelty and resigned from their positions.
The maids currently serving at the Duke’s Mansion were mostly those in desperate need of money, forced to work there just to make ends meet.
Consequently, the workload in the mansion was such that one person was often treated as two.
It wasn’t just Elise; even some of the maids who had awakened Magic were beginning to struggle under the pressure.
After hearing Annie’s words, Ian lowered his head and thought for a moment before speaking to her.
“Since that is the case, start recruiting more maids tomorrow. As long as they are willing to come, we will offer double the usual wages.”
“As for the maids currently employed at the Duke’s Mansion, their salaries will be doubled, and their workload will be halved.”
“What do you think of this arrangement?”
Ian asked Annie after he finished speaking.
“Understood. I will post the recruitment information tomorrow,” Annie responded respectfully.
Since her own Young Master had given the order to raise the maids’ wages, Annie, as the Head Maid, naturally would not refuse.
The maids standing nearby were all overcome with excitement upon hearing Ian’s words.
They never expected happiness to come so suddenly.
Ian had not only refrained from punishing Elise, but he had also given them a raise.
“Kasha, tell me, am I really not dreaming?”
A blue-haired maid pinched the cheek of the girl who had asked the question.
“Ow! Kasha, what was that for?”
The pinched maid clutched her face and spoke to Kasha angrily.
“I’m just helping you realize that this is indeed reality,” Kasha stated indifferently.
Watching the excited, playful maids, Ian couldn’t help but show a slight smile.
This way, his image among the maids should improve significantly, right?
Ian did this to cultivate their loyalty.
If a genius truly emerged from among these maids, they would be better equipped to help him.
Of course, even if he knew no genius would appear, he still would have done it to make up for what they deserved.
Ian looked down again at the still-unconscious Elise in his arms.
He noticed that she seemed a bit dirty, as if she hadn’t bathed in several days.
Perhaps she was so busy with work that she forgot?
‘What a poor girl,’ Ian sighed and said to Annie, “Annie, take this child and give her a bath.”
“Yes, Master.”
Annie had also noticed that Elise was a bit dirty.
Following Ian’s order, she carried Elise toward the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Ian finally had time to prepare for tomorrow’s events.
He still had many things to do to prepare the Magic tests for these new maids.
***
Inside the bathroom of the Duke’s Mansion, Annie was washing Elise’s body.
Feeling the warmth on her skin, Elise slowly opened her eyes.
“Where am I?”
Elise rubbed her eyes with her hands.
Hadn’t she fainted during the Young Master’s dinner?
Where was she now?
“You’re awake?”
Annie’s gentle voice came from behind her.
“Head Maid?”
Elise recognized Annie and hurried to stand up respectfully.
“Sit down first. It’s hard for me to wash you if you stand up.”
“Yes, yes.”
Elise did not question Annie, habitually obeying her orders.
“Do you remember what happened earlier?”
Annie asked while wiping Elise’s body.
Hearing Annie’s words, Elise recalled the moment before she fainted.
She had fainted while the Young Master was enjoying his dinner—she was surely going to be fired!
Thinking of this, she quickly turned around and pleaded with Annie, “Head Maid, please don’t fire me. I promise it won’t happen again.”
Annie was stunned for a moment before she reacted.
“Silly child, I’m not going to fire you.”
Now it was Elise’s turn to be confused.
Was the Young Master going to punish her instead?
“No matter what the Young Master wants to do to me, I will accept it.”
‘Uh, has this child misunderstood something?’
Looking at Elise’s frightened little face, Annie marveled at how such a cute creature could exist.
She gently patted Elise’s head and said, “The Young Master isn’t going to do anything to you. Don’t you remember that the Young Master fed you?”
Elise rubbed her small stomach and felt full.
‘Was the warmth I felt on my stomach back then… from the Young Master feeding me?’
‘Wait, was the “mother” I saw actually the Young Master? And did I call him “Mother”?’
Recalling the scene from earlier, Elise’s face turned beet red, and she hid the lower half of her face in the bathtub.
“Elise, I would like to thank you on behalf of all the maids.”
“Thank me?”
Elise was puzzled.
“Because of you, the Young Master raised our wages and reduced our workload. You could say you’re our big hero, Elise,” Annie said with a smile.
“A big hero? Did I… help everyone?”
“Of course, Elise helped everyone.”
Hearing Annie’s words, Elise popped her head out of the water again.
She turned her gaze toward the bright moon outside the window and reminisced about the past.
‘Mother, you once said I should be someone useful to others. Now the Head Maid says I’ve helped everyone. Does that mean I’ve become useful?’
At that thought, Ian’s figure involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
Thinking of that handsome figure, Elise’s face flushed with shyness, and she couldn’t help but sigh.
‘The Young Master is truly very kind!’
***
The next day, at the training grounds of the Duke’s Mansion, Ian sat in a chair with a Magic orb placed on the table in front of him.
“Everyone line up. We will awaken your Magic one by one.”
Annie stood to the side, responsible for maintaining order.
However, as the maids stepped forward one after another to test, Ian’s mood shifted from initial anticipation to growing disappointment.
[Blessing of the Wind God — Wind-attribute healing magic affinity increased]
[Blessing of the Fire God — Fire-attribute cooking magic affinity increased]
‘None of this is useful!’
‘This won’t help me pass the Adelan Magic Academy’s Entrance Test at all!’
Ian complained inwardly as he watched the talents being awakened.
Although these talents were considered quite good for ordinary maids, they were a far cry from the talents Ian was hoping for.
Finally, after a long time, a familiar face appeared before Ian.
“Young Master.”
Ian recognized her. “Ah, it’s you. Place your hand on the Magic orb, and you’ll be able to awaken your Magic.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Looking at Elise’s thin frame, Ian felt she was likely unrelated to any powerful Magic.
However, awakening Magic early would at least give a pitiful girl like Elise the confidence to not be bullied.
Even if he couldn’t find a god-tier genius, Ian felt his actions had some meaning.
At least awakening Magic early was a good thing for them.
Meanwhile, Elise was cheering herself on in her heart.
‘I must awaken a powerful Magic!’
‘I must become someone useful to the Young Master!’
Elise made up her mind, then she slowly reached out her hand toward the Magic orb.