18

Aurelius marquis family. Owners of the empire’s largest merchant guild/house. And the marquis’s daughter, the marquis’s young lady, so beloved she wouldn’t feel pain even if put in his eye.

‘She asked to see me?’

A mere merchant guild’s employee wouldn’t cause this kind of fuss just for a bit of success in cosmetics. It would make more sense if the marquis himself were curious about me.

‘What would a young lady who doesn’t touch business want with me?’

Could she be asking me to do another tedious task? That’s the most likely scenario.

But suddenly the vice-head interrupted.

“Introduce yourself with your full name. It’s proper when dealing with the marquis family.”

‘What, didn’t he complain that adding surnames unnecessarily was a nuisance that interfered with work?’

Still, without showing it, I introduced myself again.

“Cornelia Libertas.”

“The Libertas family? I’ve never heard of them.”

“A humble family. Practically commoners.”

I had no wish to dress it up, so I said nothing but the plain truth. The butler, Penel, nodded.

“I see.”

For some reason his tone seemed to please him.

The butler added an explanation.

“Our young lady seems to like this cosmetics venture. So, would you consider coming into the marquis household to work under her?”

‘What?’

I couldn’t understand how a cosmetics business led to working for the marquis family. Suspicion started to creep in.

“May I ask why you’re making such an offer to me? The Daijo merchant guild must have had similar success stories before. It’s a bit hard to accept.”

The butler sighed softly. He suddenly looked ten years older.

“Our young lady wants to lead trends. She’s always searching for something new. But there’s no one in the marquis household who can match her tastes. How could this old man know the marquis family young lady’s preferences?”

But given her position, she had many sources of information.

“They exchange a lot of trend information in society. I’ve heard trends usually start with the royal family and high nobility. Through interactions with young ladies of her age she could get far better information than I can. There are also maids.”

But the butler shook his head.

“No, no. In truth, our young lady doesn’t open her heart to others easily, and she doesn’t have many friends…”

That was the point.

‘She wants me to be her playmate?’

Me, come all this way just to tidy up after someone else? I’m busy, you know.

Seeing my displeased expression, the butler hurried to smooth things over.

“That’s not what I mean. I don’t mean she has a problematic personality…”

The vice-head quickly interjected.

“There just hasn’t been anyone who pleased her.”

Well, it’s clear she has a lot of personality quirks.

“My status aside, you probably won’t find me satisfactory.”

The butler waved his hand as if to reassure me.

“A fallen noble is still a noble. Status won’t be an issue. Besides, our young lady doesn’t judge people by status. I think you could understand her well and be a good companion. That’s why I’m asking.”

Please don’t let this come to me because of some status-based judgment.

But I couldn’t refuse the boss’s daughter.

‘She won’t like me anyway, so I won’t have to think about the aftermath.’

A few days later, I visited the Aurelius marquis family. Butler Penel greeted me warmly.

“Thank you for coming. The young lady is in the second-floor salon. Follow me.”

I followed him up the stairs calmly. The great marquis house was astonishing—lavish but not so ostentatious that it felt unfair.

‘Even if I saved my whole life, living in a house like this would be unlikely.’

But I wasn’t discouraged. My goal was to be comfortably well-off, not to have a mansion like this. So I glanced around with genuine admiration as if it were someone else’s place.

I wasn’t especially nervous about meeting a high noble. You walk into your boss’s office proudly after a project’s success.

‘As long as I show the proper respect, they won’t fire me out of the blue.’

Standing before the salon door, the butler gave me a warning.

“Our young lady is a bit eccentric, but not a bad person. Don’t be surprised and just act as you normally would—there should be no problem.”

‘Now this fellow is confessing the truth!’

I had suspected it, but hearing it outright was a little startling.

Before I could compose myself, the door opened. A woman with luxurious long brown wavy hair sat at an antique table; she exuded sophistication.

“Come over here and sit.”

Nobles are nobles—the air around her made it clear she was raised differently, and I flinched without meaning to.

‘Calm down. All humans are equal. All humans are equal…’

After a little mind control, I bowed properly before the marquis’s young lady.

“Hello. Aurelius marquis’s young lady. I am Cornelia Libertas of the Daijo merchant guild.”

As the vice-head had said, I introduced myself by full name. When I sat and raised my head, I met icy blue eyes—an animalistic, predatory glare.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kiara. The Aurelius Marquis family’s very precious first daughter.”

‘Her self-introduction is already out of the ordinary.’

Even with years of work experience, I’ve rarely met the chairman’s daughter.

So the marquis’s young lady is like a chaebol’s daughter in the modern world—something I haven’t really experienced.

I felt Kiara’s persistent gaze studying me.

‘What is this?’

I’d washed my hair, showered, worn freshly laundered clothes, even put on a bit of makeup from Black Dia products—how loyal is she to my brand?

But the prolonged, scrutinizing stare began to make me uncomfortable.

‘Is she really a weirdo?’

Creak.

The marquis’s young lady sprang up from her seat and walked straight toward me. I was too surprised to react.

Thud.

‘Thud?’

When I came to, my face was in her arms. She stroked my hair gently, then lightly poked my cheek with a finger.

I was genuinely flustered.

“M-My lady?”

The coldness in her eyes had vanished, replaced by the look of a satisfied cat.

“Just from your hair I can tell you ran the Black Dia business. I’ve never seen a girl who pulls off a bob this well!”

“…Excuse me?”

“You’re really cute!”

The situation was spiraling out of control. I calmly freed myself from her embrace and gently held her wrist.

“I appreciate the compliment, but it’s inappropriate to do this upon first meeting.”

Even between the same gender, hugging a stranger is rude. There must be etiquette rules against it. Kiara widened her eyes, then smiled brightly and returned to her seat.

“Sorry. You’re just so cute. I’m a bit weak for pretty and cute things. I’ll try to restrain myself, though it may be hard.”

Her trailing comment left a bad taste, but she surprisingly and breezily admitted her mistake.

Perhaps, as the butler said, she wasn’t a bad person.

‘But she is eccentric.’

Kiara propped her chin with one hand and gave a slight wink.

“I like you even more in person. Your willingness to come in without fear, the way you look at me confidently, how you express displeasure logically—you’re Cornelia, right? Start working at the marquis household from tomorrow.”

It was a sudden assignment.

Given the cosmetics brand launch incident alone, my future didn’t look particularly smooth, so I calmly raised questions to refuse.

“With all due respect, I’m practically a commoner and won’t meet your standards. And if my duties would be to check your schedule and be your companion, I’d be better off focusing on Black Dia at the merchant guild.”

Kiara let out a short, deflating laugh.

“I’m not asking you to be a personal maid or housemaid. Not a companion either—I don’t have that hobby. What I need is an aide to lead social trends with me. I like your hair, your makeup, your clothes. It’s a style unseen in the capital, but it suits you.”

Somehow she seemed to have fixated on me.

‘I wish the crown prince or some male lead would fixate on me instead. This is oddly turning out otherwise.’

The marquis’s young lady’s recruitment pitch continued.

“You said you took the name of a gem I like when naming the cosmetics brand, right? Depending on how I lead society, it could greatly affect Black Dia. It’s both an opportunity and a risk. But there’s no one in this household who speaks my language. Maids know trends, but they can’t devise strategy. I think you’re the right person.”

Is she asking me to be a stylist? That’s a field I’m far from professional in.

‘I’m just an office worker who likes fashion and beauty and watches YouTube a lot!’

I even lived on cheap cosmetics because I had no money and satisfied myself vicariously through videos.

As if reading my thoughts, Kiara spoke.

“I’m telling you to become my aide.”

“Gasp.”

It was a fairly significant position.

‘Wait, hold on. So becoming the marquis household’s aide means… becoming an aide to a chaebol (rich) family?’}