The Hunter and the Mad Scientist

Chapter 5

“Actually, the Count didn’t pay all the money. There was a way to reduce costs otherwise butler Howard would’ve lied down on the Count shoes and stopped him! I would have liked to see that.”

Mrs. Lux giggled just thinking about it but Esperanza had no choice but to twist her face strangely. It was a story that was hard to laugh at, but also to be serious.

“There aren’t many magic tools in this mansion, but in terms of the quality of magic technology, it’ll be better than most dukes’ mansions. These words are profane, but they may be better than those in the royal castle.”

In Mrs. Lux’s words, pride in her master was smeared. He didn’t seem to be 30 years old, but a master with that ability deserved to be worshiped like that. He didn’t seem particularly nice to the employees, but he didn’t seem to save money either.

‘Well, I’ve been judging him based on how much I’ve seen.’

Esperansa, who laughed at herself, returned to the mansion because it was lunchtime and hinted to Mrs. Lux.

“I want to go out.”

“Oh, my I should call a tailor. There are some clothes that aren’t fashionable, but you still need a trendy dress. How about a blue dress or a dark purple velvet dress that matches your bright purple eyes? Or a dress covered in layers of lace?”

She stepped back from Mrs. Lux who started talking about dresses, hats, shoes and gloves that fit the dress…The unwritten rule of the aristocratic society that necklaces or earrings cannot be given freely was welcome.

“I can’t be indebted to the count forever, and I have some money, so I’m just going to buy a hat or something like that.”

“Don’t say that! The count told me not to spare money on the lady’s dress. Of course, you are now a guest of Count Avondale. Your honor is the prestige of the count.”

Obviously, he said, ‘It’s good no matter how much it costs’. No, why is that man trying to cheat people by spending money? No matter how much money he has.

“But I’m already so indebted to him.”

“Miss, my count has a lot of money. There are so many that even if you buy diamonds every day for a million years, you won’t lose a penny.”

This is certainly a lie.

“And if the count knows that you bought clothes with your money, we’ll be in trouble. I hope you spend your money for us.”

Let’s fill in the money later. There seemed to be no other way. If I didn’t spend the Count’s money, I thought I wouldn’t be able to see the tailor.

Mrs. Lux took care of everything in an instant.

“They said the tailor could come today!”

“Is that really possible?”

Consider Rosalind Railing’s quest. The so-called ‘two Rosalind Rails’. It was about catching a maid posing as Miss Rosalind Leiling and the fraudster who encouraged her.

The fake Rosalind hired a Hunter to bring something from the mansion where the real Rosalind was trapped. She didn’t know the identity of the object, but it was probably something like a family seal.

In the process, however, the Hunter discovers the real Rosalind, attacks the sudden dungeon, and saves the real Rosalind. The Hunter was Esperanza, and this incident also made Esperanza name as a Hunter known in the Nine Hodder.

When I received that quest, I remember that the fake Rosalind was nervous.

‘How sassy are the tailors! I made a reservation a few days in advance, but they won’t call you when you need it unless you add an extra dollar.’

So they called the tailor in one day.

“If you put extra money on it, there will always be time you don’t have. I’ll call her maid to comb your hair now. You’re such a pretty girl, and you have to wear pretty clothes.”

I don’t know how much extra money they put on top, but the tailor arrived at this early hour.

“Actually, there’s no way that the tailors have reservations early in the morning. I’m sure all the ladies who can make reservations are in dreamland because of the prom the day before.”

Mrs. Lux smiled.

“I want you to tailor the latest clothes for my lady, never mind the cost!”

Esperansa had several clothes to choose from and after choosing the clothes that suited her taste, it was Mrs. Lux’s job from there on.

Mrs. Lux sat there and put all kinds of cloth on Esperanza’s body, while commanding the tailors.

“You’re so slim that you’ll look good in any style. But if I had to recommend this kind of…….”

On the suggestion of a tailor.

“We can make it a navy and dark green satin that highlights the color of your skin. And for this thin dress, we have to make it white. It looks cool even if you wear layers.”

Mrs. Lux agreed.

“I’ve never seen such clear purple eyes in my 30 years as a tailor. Besides, since you are so pretty, you will win the hearts of the gentlemen whenever you go to the ball.”

Esperanza’s appearance was painstakingly customized. Although colored, it was not strange to wear any clothes so Mrs. Lux chose the cloth more passionately.

Esperanza chose two of her favorite dresses: a purple dress, a blue dress, and a white dress stacked with thin cloth. They were all clothes that accentuated the slim curves rather than over-inflated.

She also bought additional hats, shoes, gloves, etc. Fortunately, they were all ready-made. Except for outdoor clothes, she could rent the countess’ closet, so this was enough.

“I will send you the dress after completing it next week.”

“Will it be difficult until this weekend?”

Mrs. Lux raised her head proudly.

“Of course it’s possible.”

The extra money went back and forth while Esperanza bowed her head in ignorance.

“It’s just past twelve o’clock. Why am I so tired?”

“It’s because you didn’t eat. They’ll have a meal ready when you get down.”

“……What about Lord Avondale?”

She wasn’t confident to see the Count’s face as soon as she spent his money in a lump. Mrs. Lux wouldn’t have spent that much money without the Count’s permission, but I’m sure I saw the Count telling her not to worry about the cost, but…….

He didn’t mean for this kind of absurdity in the first place, did he?

* * *

Count Avondale did not open his eyes until the afternoon.

“Count…”

Millen stood in front of the door and looked at him like he was a lazy bum but the Count only slept at four in the morning and only after Millen begged.

“If you continue like this you’ll die before you turn 30.”

“I guess so.”

Instead of having breakfast, he smoked a paoran and fell into thought. In fact, he rarely smoked paoran last year as He smoked too often the year before last, so he quickly became tired even after studying until late at night.

But the reason he used Paoran again was because of those words.

‘I’ll die in a year…’

Others may not understand, but he believed it. He has no reason not to believe it, except for the unrealistic nature of time travel.

He didn’t think much about it when Esperanza said he would die the next year. He just thought that he didn’t have to take care of his health anymore since he was unmarried and had no heir, and no remaining relatives to protect.

When he dies, the estate will be inherited by a relative of a distant relative that he does not even know if they have Avondale blood flowing through their veins.

All he could do was to leave a letter of recommendation for his employees.

‘Shall I enjoy the rest of the year?’

The Count was determined and washed away the traces of insomnia from his face.

Perhaps because the Paoran was acting his head as still a bit fuzzy or maybe it was because he was immersed in his research while using his brain for a long time.

“The tea is ready in the parlor.”

“You’re trying very hard to get me out of the study. Both you and Howard.”

“The study is not good for you because there’s a lot of dust on the books.”

He couldn’t help it so instead of letting his employees work twice, he just went down to the first floor.

In the small parlor, there was a brilliant set of teacups and tea food carefully baked by the chef.

The heavy smell of black tea filled the air and the count stopped as he was entering the room rubbing his sleepy eyes.

There was a woman in the drawing room.

She was a perfectly grown lady with her dark brown hair up.

He did not know the identity of this elegant beauty, as he did not know the faces of most socialite ladies.

He involuntarily reached out, held her hand, leaned back slightly and kissed the back of her hand.

“Good morning.”

It wasn’t morning but he didn’t care.

“As far as I know, there is no scheduled visit……Where is the lady from?”

His reaction was a little strange for asking the obvious.

The lady with the concave features had her face twisted strangely as Millen shook his head with a white face, then ran and whispered in his ear.

“What?”

He approached again and examined the lady closely but from head to toe, there was no resemblance to yesterday’s woman.

“Aha.”

When the gaze that had fallen to her toes came back to her eyes, he recalled the clear purple eyes from his memory.