Episode 67
Laszlo had that same thought.
'It seems these days I'm working and just waiting for the time to go home.'
Previously, he felt more comfortable when he was in the palace, so he would do work that DeMarcus did not ask for and stay in the palace.
But now, he was so eagerly awaiting the time to leave the palace that he no longer knew why he had done so before.
'It's good that I renovated the palace.'
The days seemed to have turned the palace upside down.
Edel was spending much more money than Laszlo had expected, but he had no objection to that, because he was so pleased with the result that he felt he had never spent money so well before.
Although the annoying things had completely disappeared, the house looked more luxurious, and living in it was more comfortable than before.
His office, which had been empty, was now a comfortable and convenient place to work, and his bedroom, which had been decorated in dark red, was now very comfortable.
Not only were his rooms improved, but every place in the palace became amazingly clean and comfortable.
'Because of that, even Linnea and all the servants seem to have changed in some way.'
Linnea, who used to be a mischievous girl, had recently become very quiet. She no longer acted shyly while watching him as before, but seemed to have matured.
'Is she trying to imitate Idil? Really.'
Laszlo chuckled softly as he remembered Linnea standing in the same way as Edel.
The servants who received the new uniform treated him with greater respect than before. Previously, they would simply run away in fear, but now, if they saw him from afar, they would stop in their tracks and bow in greeting.
When he left the palace, Idil and the new head of the servants were there to greet him.
"Are you back safe and sound?"
“I put in a lot of effort today as well.”
Edel was an outstanding maid, greeting him respectfully and following him to his office to briefly inform him of the important matters that had occurred that day.
Thanks to her, everything is working properly now.
'If I had refused the Emperor's offer to give it to me, I might have lived a chaotic life for a longer time.'
Perhaps he hadn't even cared for Linnea. It wasn't even certain if he had married her properly…
While he was thinking about that, his horse reached the gate of Crises Palace and stood in front of the entrance.
When he got off the horse, a servant quickly approached and grabbed the horse's reins, and as he walked towards the entrance, the door opened automatically and Edel and the head servant appeared.
"Are you back safe and sound?"
Idil, who had her blonde hair neatly pulled back and was wearing a black and white dress, looked beautiful without the need for any adornment.
Laszlo was taken aback by this fact and took a deep breath before answering.
"Um. Was there anything special?"
“There were no special incidents. This afternoon, the two county-appropriate outfits I ordered from arrived, as did the invoices from the flower shop, the fruit shop, and the butcher shop. Please check the invoices by the day after tomorrow.”
"Are the servants okay? Are there any problems with them?"
“Yes, no problem. But since they worked so hard during the palace renovation, I wanted to suggest giving them special bonuses and a vacation.”
Laszlo shook his head as he opened the door to his office.
The oil lamp had already been lit, and there was tea prepared on the table.
Every time he noticed this attention to detail, his heart would flutter.
"Sit down first."
He sat in the main seat at the meeting table and pointed to the chair next to him. Edel came and placed in front of him the documents that he had to review and poured him a cup of tea.
He didn't have much knowledge of tea, but lately he had been enjoying his time when he came home and drank the tea that Idil poured for him.
"Okay, how much do you think the reward and vacation should be?"
“I am thinking that the bonuses should range from 200 to 400 ringgit based on rank, and for holidays I suggest adding one day for everyone. In this case, the total amount paid as special bonuses would be 6,400 ringgit.”
"I hope you didn't count your bonus at 400 either, did you?"
“…Sorry, I’ll assume I don’t have a reward.”
When Edel replied, Laszlo frowned.
"I don't understand the reason for this sudden response."
“Ah, well… I calculated my bonus at 400, but then I thought about it and realized that I already receive a good salary…”
“You’re misunderstanding again. I meant that the amount is too small. Put your reward at 1000 ringgit. That will make the total exactly 7000 ringgit.”
"What?"
Idil was surprised for a moment and began waving her hands quickly.
“No, no, that’s not it! I don’t need all that money, the amount I receive is already enough!”
“As a housekeeper, you may encounter situations where you need money. You may have to pay bonuses to people who complete extra tasks, or perhaps someone will ask for a loan for emergencies. If you don’t have money, what is the value of your position as a housekeeper?”
Laszlo said this while flipping through the papers in front of him. With his insistence, Idel couldn't refuse and accepted the proposal.
After signing the payment invoices and special bonus documents, Laszlo took a sip of tea that had become lukewarm.
Although he did not add sugar, the tea tasted sweet and filled his mouth with a fragrant aroma.
"Actually, I'd like to give you something extra."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean a reward. I know better than anyone how much hard work you do."
Repairing the chaotic Crisis family and bringing them back to normal in such a short time was no easy task.
Now, the Crisis family has 25 servants working, including Idyll, after previously lacking even basic staff.
Thanks to the new chef and high-quality ingredients, the quality of the food has changed a lot, and thanks to the new gardener, the neglected garden has begun to change gradually.
The new head maid, Margaret, was experienced and had a kind personality, which made all the maids really appreciate her, and Linnea's own maid, Colette, was skilled and made an effort to be a good companion to Linnea.
Because the servants did their work diligently and without any leniency, the house was always clean, and the servants' loyalty increased because Idyll appreciated their efforts.
“This is how noblemen live, and it’s all thanks to you.”
“I just did my duty.”
“But this is not easy.”
Laszlo started searching in his jacket pocket.
“I thought a blank check might be too heavy for you, so I chose something that seemed appropriate…”
He placed a small box in front of Idil and gestured for her to open it.
Although she felt somewhat confused, she opened the box because she could not refuse.
“H-this…!”
“Did you like it? If you didn’t, you can keep it as a financial reserve and sell it later.”
Inside the box were diamond drop earrings, large in size and looking clean and shiny, indicating that they were definitely not cheap.
"Sir! This is too much!"
“The woman who tried to destroy this house didn’t hesitate to steal an entire mansion, and you’re just making a fuss over earrings?”
“Because they are not ordinary earrings…!”
“Ah, I don’t care. Don’t tell me you want me to get it back in an inappropriate way.”
Laszlo did not seem willing to back down from offering the earrings.
"Why do you care about me so much?"
Idil was genuinely wondering.
I might have looked like a decent maid compared to Marsha, but I couldn't accept the idea of receiving all that money and jewelry just for doing my job. Even Laszlo himself, it seemed, couldn't quite explain it; he rested his chin on his hand and stared at the earrings for a while, muttering:
"Well... I might have felt a little affected."
He then went back to shuffling through the rest of the papers, and after realizing he had signed them all, he neatly gathered them and handed them to Idil. When he noticed she hadn't touched the earring box, he closed it himself and placed it in her hand.
“If you refuse too strongly, I will feel hurt too.”
Edel's eyes widened at this, but he only smiled slightly before heading back to his desk. Finally, Edel bowed gratefully.
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome."
Edel carried the papers that needed processing and left the office. Laszlo, after being left alone, began to rummage aimlessly in his office, then sighed and buried his face in his hands, grumbling to himself.
"What a fool I am."
If there had been no way for his voice to reach outside, he might have banged his head on the desk.
The earrings he gave to Idil were ones he had seen in a jewelry store when he was with Linnea. Upon seeing them, he remembered Idil and imagined how the earrings would look dangling from her ears, and how wonderful they would be.
At that time he left the store because of Linnea, but the earrings kept on his mind all the next day, to the point that he dedicated part of his time during working hours to go back and buy them.
As Idell had guessed, the earrings were expensive, but he never regretted the amount paid for them.