4.
“Make it as long as possible.”
Lady Levantia, whose face already looked slightly languid, gave me a bright smile.
A smile that was radiant, yet did not lose its elegance.
She really was pretty, that much was certain.
But this woman seemed to be misunderstanding something.
The only reason she’d gotten to keep receiving it by herself last time was because all the other maids had run away. And because she was the first noble to visit, so I’d been flustered too.
There was no rule that said, “Our dear Lady Levantia may extend indefinitely,” so what was this about “as long as possible”?
“By long, you mean…”
“I thought the last consultation wasn’t bad.”
She took one step closer to me.
“Like last time, about an hour… no, I think it would be fine if we had an even denser conversation than that.”
She lifted her chin, the corners of her mouth rising slightly.
Perhaps she assumed I would naturally accept, because she looked full of confidence.
She had probably never had anything she wanted refused before.
But conversely, seeing her like that only made me feel the need to establish firm rules.
At this rate, this woman was going to break my wrists.
“Shall I begin by explaining the rules?”
***
After we entered the consultation room.
I had her sit on the sofa and began to explain.
Partly to explain it to her, and partly to organize things for myself.
“So you’re saying that one consultation is considered over from the moment the counselor announces its end?”
“Yes, and…”
First, regardless of form, one consultation ended from the moment I declared it over.
Whether to extend it was entirely at the counselor’s discretion.
Even with this, I would still end up doing three consultations a day—in effect, three massages.
‘Even if it’s the same three times, doing them without rest actually hurts.’
If you don’t believe me, try kneading your parents’ shoulders for forty-five minutes.
Your arms will hurt like hell. Seriously.
In any case, this would make things much easier, since I could end the conversation at any point.
Of course, I could just say the consultation was over every time the hypnosis wore off, but—
‘Then my repertoire of lines would get too small.’
Sometimes, there were adult circumstances involved.
Ah, I should mention this too.
“And consultations are limited to three per day.”
“Ah, I know that. When I came before…”
“Mm?”
A moment of silence.
Lady Levantia’s eyes blinked once.
The faint stiffness around her mouth. The typical expression of someone who belatedly realized they’d misspoken.
“Pardon me. When ‘Helen’ came before, she said she couldn’t receive one because of the rule limiting consultations to three per day.”
She hurriedly chattered on, selling out Helen’s name.
“She asked me to tell you she was terribly disappointed…”
To use her own maid like this without so much as blinking.
‘She has no conscience.’
Helen seemed rather proud of the fact that she was the head maid of House Levantia.
To think she’d be used so cheaply.
It was a moment that made me newly pity the life of a maid in a romance-fantasy world.
And that shameless young lady, who had just sold out her maid, looked at me with a subtle gaze.
Her upper body leaning gently forward. Her slender fingers rubbing the sofa cushion.
At a glance, she was clearly expecting something.
“Still, it should be fine for one person to receive multiple consultations, shouldn’t it? Because last time—”
“No.”
She was subtly trying to destroy my wrists through consecutive consultations.
Before she could make it an established fact, I quickly cut her off.
Of course, if I thought about the money, it would make sense to run the business mainly for nobles like Lady Levantia.
Even if she didn’t lavishly toss me silver coins every time like before, the amount she could pay would be several times what a maid could.
But what if another noble came after that?
If someone from a ducal house came, should they take priority over a count’s house?
Even if their title was lower, should I differentiate based on the actual difference in power?
‘How the hell would I know any of that?’
I’d learned more than enough from Lady Levantia’s complaints about how troublesome high society was.
I had no reason to involve myself in the affairs of such a world. I would simply stick to my own rules.
It would be better to make them understand my rules than for me to understand them.
“Even if you feel the consultation is insufficient, as a basic rule, one person receives one consultation. I ask for your understanding.”
“Mmm…”
At my firm words, her face quietly turned sullen.
Her lips protruded slightly, and her gaze drifted pointlessly toward a corner of the ceiling.
Then, staring at me as though she couldn’t accept it, she pondered for a moment before her eyes lit up, as if she’d thought of a secret plan.
“I understand your intentions, Counselor, but I wonder.”
A relaxed smile. The confident eyes of someone who had found the answer.
“I’m quite sure the previous consultation wasn’t like that.”
Then her eyes probed me, as if to say, Isn’t that right?
She wasn’t wrong.
However, I was the one running the consultation room.
I was also the one who made the rules.
So I was going to do whatever I wanted.
But it probably wouldn’t be good to say that, so I paused for a moment as I chose my answer.
The longer the interval before my next words, the more her gaze focused on me.
The eyes of someone waiting. Anticipation mixed with anxiety.
“That was…”
I lowered my gaze slightly, then raised it again. As if hesitating before confessing something.
“Because it was you, Lady Levantia.”
“…Pardon?”
Her blue-gold eyes wavered faintly.
“I have met many people while providing consultations.”
In truth, I hadn’t met many at all.
“But it was my first time meeting someone who bore the weight of high society entirely on her own, while still trying not to reveal her hardships to others.”
It was also my first time meeting anyone with experience in high society.
“As I listened to your story, I found myself wanting to listen even more. Not as a counselor…”
I paused again, then spoke as if pouring out the emotions within me.
“But as a person.”
“…”
At that one sentence, Lady Levantia’s hand fan stopped.
No, it didn’t stop—her hand itself froze in midair.
Her earlobes flushed red.
A shy, pale pink hue bloomed along the line of her neck.
“But that was not a fair attitude for a counselor. That is why I have newly reorganized the rules this time.”
When I quickly added that, her lips trembled.
As if she were about to say something, then swallowed it back, then tried to speak again and swallowed it back once more.
“Hmph.”
In the end, she turned her head away.
“I see.”
Her voice was composed, but her hand fan began moving twice as fast.
‘That should be enough, more or less.’
People were inherently weak to the words, “It was because you were special.” Even if it was obvious flattery.
There was no way she, worn smooth by high society, hadn’t understood it, and since I’d given her some transparent flattery, she’d probably let it pass appropriately.
I’d told her before that reservations weren’t possible, and I’d more or less conveyed the basic rules…
‘Maybe I should organize the rules and stick them on the shop door later.’
***
“Then shall we begin?”
When I spoke lightly, as if refreshing the atmosphere, Lady Levantia turned her head to look at me.
Her face was slightly flushed.
But at the word consultation, she quickly straightened her posture. As expected, she must have been looking forward to it.
“So, what sort of concerns do you have?”
“Concerns…”
She put a hand to her chin and thought for a moment.
There was no heavy sigh like when she had come before. Instead, her eyes seemed to be choosing something.
“You know, Counselor.”
“Yes.”
“Next week, there is a tea party hosted by House Marquis Ceylon.”
“Yes.”
“To be honest, I don’t want to go.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because the marchioness’s tea tastes awful.”
…What now?
“Ah, of course, that’s not the only reason.”
She waved her hand again.
“A tea party is ultimately an intelligence war, isn’t it? Who is close with whom, whose family has been declining lately. A place where people stab one another with knives while drinking tea.”
With a small sigh, she launched into an impassioned speech.
“There may be people who enjoy such gatherings, but honestly, I find them exhausting. Especially when the marchioness subtly tries to probe me.”
“Probe you?”
“She keeps indirectly asking whether there is a man I have in mind.”
“That must bother you.”
“I’m completely sick of it now. As if anyone would say yes in that situation.”
Her lips jutted out in a pout.
The elegant smile from earlier was nowhere to be seen; right now, she wore a petulant expression suited to her age.
Still, this was much nicer to look at. At least it wasn’t an expression she had forced herself to make.
“Besides, she keeps asking how the tea tastes. With skills that are practically an insult to such fine tea leaves.”
“…”
“Well, I got through it by appropriately praising the tea leaves and the tea set.”
After endlessly tearing down the tea ceremony skills of the Marchioness Ceylon, she seemed to be hoping I would offer her a word of praise.
I handle these situations quite well, don’t I? Are you impressed?
No. I’m frightened by how black-hearted you are.
That said.
If the story this woman was telling me now had meaning, then I suppose it did have some meaning in its own way.
But compared to last time, the weight was clearly different.
If last time had been an eruption of everything she’d kept bottled up, today was closer to a story about small, everyday complaints.
It seemed that letting it out once before had made things a little better.
Even if it was amateur counseling, seeing her improve, if only like this, didn’t feel half bad.
So I exchanged conversation with her appropriately while watching for the right timing.
Around the time she had relieved herself by venting her minor complaints.
The moment when she was thinking, What else was there… and her tension dropped as she searched for grievances from daily life—
“My lady, by the way.”
Now was the time.
As I spoke to her, I focused her gaze on me and activated my ability.
[Perk: Hypnosis has been activated.]
[You can relax the target’s tension and induce light sleep.]
[The effect is amplified upon physical contact.]
[Applicable Target: Chloe Levantia]
[※ Upon repeated application to the same target, the effect accumulates.]
I waited for a moment as I watched her focus on me gradually blur.
She had to fall completely asleep before I could loosen up her body.
But…
‘What is that?’
[※ Upon repeated application to the same target, the effect accumulates.]
A translucent screen appeared above her as her body gradually tilted.
Inside it was a phrase I was seeing for the first time.
Something ominous.