Villain Family’s Strongest Butler

“You are here, Your Grace.”

In the Grand Duke’s study.

Cardian entered the room, taking off his coat as he did so. He had just returned to the estate after a week’s absence.

Count Norbert Millard, a vassal of the Vallot family, took the cloak from Cardian and spoke.

“Was the task well done?”

He looked around.

“But I don’t see your aide anywhere?”

Cardian sat down at the desk and answered.

“The work isn’t done yet. I left Ed to take care of it.”

“Ah,” Norbert sighed sympathetically.

“So you returned alone in a hurry because of the newly discovered survivor.”

Cardian nodded.

“She was found on Teridana Beach.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Norbert poured tea into a prepared cup and placed it before the Grand Duke, stepping back with a precise and clean motion.

“I’ve ordered her to be brought to the estate, but… what do you intend to do?”

Cardian rubbed his forehead.

“There are only two possibilities. Either she’s connected to black magic or she’s a monster.”

Either way, it meant death.

The sharpness in Cardian’s voice made Norbert swallow dryly.

Black magic. And the black sorcerers who use it.

A year ago, after centuries of hiding, the black wizards reappeared.

For the first time in 400 years.

Armed with even darker magic, they began their assault on the continent, starting with the Remart Conflict Zone.

At the time, the Kadea Empire and the Tenassis Empire were engaged in a fierce war in the Remart Conflict Zone.

“They must have chosen it because it attracted the attention of the entire continent.

Perhaps they thought it was the perfect stage to announce their return to the world.

As a result, countless knights perished in the Remart Conflict Zone.

Among the fallen was a knight Cardian had often mentioned – Sia, if he remembered correctly.

The Grand Duke had witnessed that knight’s death firsthand, and afterward, he would often stare blankly out of the window, lost in thought.

As if mourning a fallen comrade.

Eventually, the Remart Conflict Zone was overrun by the black wizards.

And exactly one year after that fateful day, the village of Trensha, near Teridana Beach, was attacked by Black Wizards and left in ruins.

That was just a week ago.

There were far too many casualties.

Cardian had sent knights to the devastated village to search for any survivors.

In the chaos of dealing with the aftermath, something seemed to have shaken Cardian as well.

“It was the first time I had seen His Grace so unsettled.”

Cardian had left Norbert to clean up the village and disappeared with his aide, Ed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, no survivors had been found for some time. So there was no big problem when the Grand Duke left, and Norbert could handle the situation on his own.

But today, of all days, a survivor had appeared.

The news of the survivor’s discovery forced Cardian to return immediately.

Norbert spoke up.

“I thought Your Grace was trying to keep me from retiring by dumping work on me.”

“That’s unlikely.”

Cardian chuckled, and Norbert’s voice dropped with seriousness.

“If you plan to interrogate her, it might be better to take her to the dungeons on my estate than to keep her here at the Grand Duke’s residence.”

The Vallot estate already had a reputation for being cruel and merciless.

Even if that reputation was only a rumor.

“Better to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”

Cardian looked at Norbert, who was muttering with concern.

“I wouldn’t put an old man like you in charge of interrogations.”

Norbert puffed out his chest.

“I’m still strong.”

“Weren’t you planning to retire and wander the countryside?”

“Indeed. But today, of all days, a survivor shows up.”

“So pack up and go. We’re not so short of manpower that we need to overwork our elderly vassals.”

Cardian’s amused words made Norbert pout.

“It saddens me, Your Grace. Even if I were to draw my last breath, I am your man.”

“Is that so? Then why don’t you take the vacant position of butler at the Grand Duke’s estate?”

At these words, Norbert, who had been looking at Cardian with heartfelt eyes, straightened up immediately, his expression serious.

“Ah, well, let’s not go that far. I must stay alive if I’m to continue to serve you.”

“Anyone who heard you would think I was sending you to your death.”

“It is the truth.”

It had been more than five years since the butlers of the Vallot estate began to die.

All because of assassins who targeted the Grand Duke.

The Vallot family had many enemies.

With Cardian, the head of the family, in constant danger, it was inevitable that the butlers who protected the estate would be caught in the crossfire.

More than fifty butlers had already lost their lives.

Normally, butlers for high-ranking aristocratic families were born into good households, received a high level of education, and graduated from butler academies.

“But those who are skilled in swordsmanship or magic are rare.”

Usually, those who were skilled in swordsmanship preferred to become knights, and those with strong magical abilities chose to become mages.

It was extremely rare to find someone who was both a capable butler and a skilled swordsman.

Or rather, it was almost impossible.

“Although it’s fortunate that His Grace is unharmed…”

Professional butlers, lured by high salaries, had come and gone only to leave as corpses.

None had lasted a month at the Grand Duke’s side.

As a result, what had once been considered the best job in the realm was now known as the butler’s graveyard.

“But the estate won’t fall apart just because a butler’s position is vacant.”

However…

The estate couldn’t function without staff, and the family couldn’t be run by its head alone.

“The longer the butler’s position remains vacant, the more unstable the estate becomes.”

And the burdens shared by the grand duke and his adjutant would only grow.

“We must find a butler quickly…”

Norbert sighed, worried that they might end up hiring some vagrant from the back alleys.

“I’ll find a butler somehow, Your Grace.”

Norbert continued, his voice calm but full of determination.

“Either I will train a butler academy graduate in swordsmanship! Or I will teach a swordsman how to be a butler! Either way, I’ll fill the position!”

Cardian smiled.

“I look forward to it.”

But he knew it was almost impossible.

Norbert smiled bitterly, understanding Cardian’s unspoken thoughts.

To teach a butler swordsmanship, or a knight the duties of a butler, would require considerable time and effort.

“Finding someone willing to learn a new field outside of their expertise will be even more difficult.”

What they needed was someone who could learn both swordsmanship and butler duties from the start…

“But who would be foolish enough to take on such a task?”

It already took an immense amount of time and patience to master one area…

Norbert’s worries deepened.

Just then, Cardian took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

“They’re late.”

“I told them to wash and change her before bringing her in.”

Norbert looked at the door and spoke coolly.

“We don’t know what she brought back from Teridana Beach.”

Cardian nodded.

Just then someone knocked on the door of the study.

Knock, knock-

“Your Grace, the patrol from Teridana Beach has arrived.”

“Come in.”

The study door opened.

—

A shiver ran down my spine.

Just hearing the Grand Duke’s command made my hair stand on end.

Wow, is this for real? Is he really the Grand Duke?

“You may enter, my lady.”

The knight who had escorted me to the study spoke politely.

I nodded and stepped inside.

A tall man sat with his back to the sunlight streaming through the window.

Though his body was shrouded in shadow, his purple eyes shone in the darkness.

“Those eyes…”

I knew those eyes.

The cold gaze that stared through the narrow slit of a helmet every time we faced each other in battle.

“Cardian Vallot…!”

It was him. The Grand Duke in the flesh.

My fingertips trembled slightly.

It was like standing in a dark forest, face to face with a predator whose strength was immeasurable.

This wasn’t the static expression from the portrait; this was the living, breathing Grand Duke.

“Wow… Who was the artist who painted this portrait?”

I thought the artist had been forced to exaggerate his appearance, but…

“The artist did not do him justice.”

The Grand Duke in the portrait was nothing compared to the real man in front of me. The artist should be beheaded for failing to capture his true appearance.

“I almost regretted not seeing him without his helmet before I died.

But now I was grateful to be alive, or rather, to be revived.

But…

“Why is he looking at me like that?”

The Grand Duke’s look was strange. Yes, strange was the right word.

It wasn’t the suspicious look you give to a potential threat.

His eyes were slightly wide, his brows furrowed as if in confusion, and his jaw clenched as if holding something back.

“Could it be…?”

Is that face his type?

“Well, he is a man.”

The appearance of this body isn’t something you come across every day.

As I nodded to myself, the knights began their report.

They detailed the date, time, and place of my discovery, who found me first, and the condition I was in at the time.

But even as the knight reported, Cardian couldn’t take his eyes off me.

Why is he staring at me? Just say something.

I stood a few steps away from Cardian and waited for him to speak.

“….”

“….”

The silence continued even after the report ended.

What’s going on?

The old man standing next to the Grand Duke and the knight who had finished the report both seemed uncomfortable.

I felt the same.

Considering my situation, the long silence made me more and more nervous.

“Did he find out?”

At first he seemed shocked to see me, but now he was staring at me with an intense, almost burning gaze.

I’d already dismissed the idea that he was only staring at me because I was beautiful or his type.

No, my current appearance bore no resemblance to my past self.

“Don’t be afraid.”

I’m not the “Sir Sia” this Grand Duke knows.

At that moment, the Grand Duke slowly rose from his seat. His look at me became threatening.

Then he spoke to the knights standing outside the door.

“Restrain them.”

Huh? Restrain them?

I raised an eyebrow, and the knights who had been waiting outside rushed in.

“Pardon us.”

Clank, clank! Heavy shackles were quickly fastened around my wrists and ankles.