Philip, recognizing the source of the humming, spoke with amusement.

Geneve, who had been half-heartedly wiping the stair railing, was startled by the sudden voice and looked up.

Two incredibly handsome men were looking down at her from the second floor.

“Who are you?”

The slightly taller man with black hair asked in return, “And who are you?”

Even after seeing her maid uniform, he asked who she was, so did that mean he knew the composition of the staff here well?

“Shouldn’t the ones who entered without permission introduce themselves first?”

The man smirked and responded with another question, “Did you put up that advertisement?”

Geneve, caught off guard by the unexpected question, looked around in surprise.

“Are you here to apply as a contract fiancé?”

Eva would definitely make a fuss if she found out, but fortunately, she was in the kitchen with Mila making pickled vegetables.

Geneve hurriedly ran up the stairs and grabbed the man’s arm. “Get out now. You can’t just barge in like this. Are you also an applicant? Come down quickly.”

She tried to grab the arm of the man standing behind, but the black-haired man blocked her and said, “We waited, but no one came out. And I…”

“How old are you?”

Wanting to conduct the interview before Eva showed up, the question burst out of her without preamble.

“Hey, I…”

“Oh, come on, we’re short on time. What about you in the back? How old are you? What’s your education? Your job? We can’t offer much pay, but you just need to accompany me and greet people. It’s not hard.”

“I graduated from the Royal Academy. My age is…”

Kaiden glared fiercely at Philip, who was answering smoothly while holding back laughter, and said, “Let me speak first…”

“Which one should I pick? I didn’t expect two applicants to show up at once.”

Moreover, the men’s appearances were far too striking for this sort of application, which surprised her even more.

The two stood arrogantly and confidently as if nothing in the world could scare them, and they were so handsome it was almost breathtaking.

Not only were they good-looking, but their clothes and accessories also looked incredibly expensive at a glance.

As Kaiden frowned deeply as if seriously contemplating something, Geneve unknowingly swallowed hard.

Philip, seeing that, couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Hahaha… Hahahaha!”

Instead of correcting the maid’s misunderstanding, he waited to be chosen, which was just too funny to endure.

Kaiden glared at Philip, who was laughing uncontrollably, then tried to speak again.

“Let me introduce myself first…”

Geneve stopped the black-haired man as he stepped down one stair.

“Stop!”

Throwing aside the rag she couldn’t stand the sight of anymore, she said, “Please give me a moment. Even if it’s a contract fiancé, he’s someone I’ll be showing to my father. I should at least take ten minutes to think.”

“You need ten minutes? Wait, are you saying you still haven’t decided which of us to choose?”

Geneve clicked her tongue as she looked at the black-haired man who seemed about to steam from his nose.

“Is this job that important to you? If things are that bad, how about selling your clothes?”

“Pfft, hahahaha!”

Philip, who had been watching the exchange with great interest, burst into laughter again.

“Why do you keep laughing?”

She was starting to get annoyed.

Just as she was thinking of sending them away, a shocked voice rang out from behind.

“Your Grace?”

It was Eva’s voice.

All three turned their heads in unison toward the sound, not having noticed who had come during their argument.

“Oh my goodness, without even a word…”

Eva, babbling, hurried over and bowed deeply.

“Your Grace, I’m glad you’ve returned safely. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Eva Hammond, head maid of House Javier.”

“Ah, Mrs. Hammond. Of course I remember. Have you been well?”

“Of course. I’m delighted to see you again. I’ll prepare your meal and room immediately.”

Startled by the unexpected identity of the man, Geneve quickly descended and hid behind Eva.

“No need. I won’t be staying long. I didn’t give notice because the visit came up suddenly.”

“Excuse me? What brings you here…”

She could feel the man’s gaze beyond the flustered Eva.

“Someone placed an ad with this address without permission.”

Ruined.

Fearing she might be kicked out, Geneve quickly stepped forward and begged for forgiveness.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Geneve, a newly hired maid. I posted the ad without permission, not realizing it was wrong. I intended to run a cancellation notice tomorrow.”

“You were going to cancel it?”

“My brother scolded me, saying it was inappropriate.”

Eli, with his rigid noble mindset, hadn’t said anything like that.

He probably hadn’t even considered that placing an ad without the owner’s permission was wrong.

He had simply been furious at the reckless danger of bringing a stranger as a contract fiancé.

“Then what was all that earlier? It looked like an interview.”

As Eva stared at her in shock, Geneve clasped her hands apologetically and pleaded again, “They were already here anyway…”

Trailing off and glancing around, she quickly added, “Eva and the others had no idea. I acted entirely on my own. Since I was working here, I thought placing an ad would be fine. I didn’t think it through.”

Kaiden deliberately put on a sterner expression to hide his curiosity. “Why do you want a contract fiancé anyway?”

At his question, Geneve hesitated for a moment and then answered honestly, “My father is trying to marry me to someone I don’t want. I needed a temporary fiancé to avoid it.”

Attendants who had worked in noble households for generations formed their own cartel.

So it was common for marriages to be arranged based on family and wealth.

Assuming she came from a decent family, Kaiden brought up another issue.

“But I never received any report about a new hire. What’s going on here?”

At his question, Eva stammered with a flustered face, “W-Well, that is…”

“I’m working without pay. That’s why it wasn’t reported to the steward.”

Kaiden’s expression turned cold at her bold response. “So because you’re not getting paid, you think you don’t need my permission?”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I thought there wouldn’t be a problem since her identity was clear. Please forgive me.”

It was only natural for the owner to be angry.

Still, seeing Eva bowing low and apologizing, Geneve felt it was unfair.

“Managing this big house with just Eva and the butler Patrick is too much. You should be glad to have free labor in such a situation.”

Startled, Eva clamped her hand over Geneve’s mouth. “Your Grace, I’m sorry. This child is still immature…”

“She’s not wrong.”

“Pardon?”

Eva, who had been trembling, looked at the Count—no, the Grand Duke of Dumar—in surprise.

She had only seen him once since he became their master, so she didn’t really know what kind of person he was.

According to the steward, he was extremely meticulous, cold, and intimidating.

But now, was he really saying he understood their situation?

Before she could feel reassured, the Grand Duke’s sharp tone returned.

“Let’s say hiring free labor was understandable due to the difficulty of managing this house with just the head maid and the butler. That would be acceptable if there had been an improvement. But why does it look to me like that’s not the case?”

“What do you mean?”

In response to Eva’s question, Kaiden swept his hand along the stair railing and held it out.

Dust clung to the smooth fingers of the Grand Duke’s callus-free hand.

“Ah!”

Eva let out a groan at the sight of the dust.

Geneve had no choice but to lower her gaze.

She had boasted about being free labor but hadn’t even done her share, so she had nothing to say.

“The bedroom and study were both a mess. If the master’s spaces are like that, the rest doesn’t need to be seen. Watching how the stairs were cleaned earlier explained everything.”

She wasn’t cleaning but lazily waving the rag around.

Embarrassed by his remark, Geneve tried to think of a way out of the situation, when a sudden question came to mind.

Why was Eva calling him ‘Your Grace’ in House Javier?

Curiosity must be resolved immediately.

“By the way, why are you calling the Count of Javier ‘Your Grace’?”

“What are you saying, girl!”

Flustered, Eva smacked Geneve on the back.

“Why would you ask that now? And how could you not know about His Grace?”

Geneve pouted and tried to recall the contents of the novel.

But no matter how hard she thought, the name Count of Javier never came up.

Of course.

She had fled to a place where she wouldn’t be involved in the story, to live a different life.

“Let me explain.”

Kaiden quieted the two bickering women and came down the stairs.

Then, with an arrogant demeanor, he introduced himself.

“I am the Marquis of Rowden, the Count of Javier, holder of several other titles, and the Grand Duke of Dumar.”

The maid’s jaw dropped.

“Dumar?”

“Geneve! What kind of way is that to speak?”

Eva, shocked, smacked her back again, but Geneve didn’t even feel the pain.

Kaiden watched the stunned maid staring at him with a strange sense of satisfaction.

There were only four people in the world who dared speak impertinently in front of him.

His grandfather, his uncle, and his friends Philip and Freddy.

But this maid, who wasn’t even a noble, had talked back sharply, only to freeze in shock the moment she heard the name Dumar.

For the first time, he felt his heart race.

He smiled kindly, expecting the rude maid to now offer a proper greeting.

But instead, completely unexpectedly, the woman said, “Grand Duke Dumar? This can’t be happening…”

Kaiden’s smile froze at the absurd remark. “What do you mean, ‘this can’t be happening’?”

Seeing his expression, Eva panicked and smacked the maid’s back again. “What are you saying now? Hurry and greet His Grace properly!”

Despite Eva’s urging, the maid mumbled incomprehensibly and then suddenly shouted, “I quit!”