I'm An Uncouth Lady, But I Helped The Villainous Young Lord But He Ended Up Liking Me

Chapter 33 – Duke’s son, you will have allies (Nazelbert’s Point of View))

The maids came to the mansion the following week.

They are still wary of Nazelbert and Agnes because of the rumors about the former lord.

According to the rumors they heard in town, the former lord was known to assault his servants, was strict about the nature of their work and was reluctant to pay them wages. Though they wouldn't do that here...

At this point, they would have to catch up and make them understand.

Kelly, the lady-in-waiting, is in charge of training new employees.

Since there is only one person who can train the servants, they decided to hire only a few maids to start with. As they become accustomed to their work, the plan was to gradually increase the number of maids.

Mocca will be in charge of the cleaning and garden department, Marilyn will be in charge of the kitchen and serving, and Laurie will be the leader of the laundry department. However, since there are so few of them now, they were all working together on the job.

Agnes said that she plans to have Meyza learn various recipes.

Fortunately, the previous lord was a gourmet, so there were plenty of recipe books in the mansion.

The newly hired members all worked diligently, and the mansion became cleaner and cleaner.

Nazelbert could not hide his amazement at the changed hallways and entrances.

The mansion, which was full of creepy ornaments when he first arrived, has been cleaned up and the number of tidy rooms continues to increase.

In addition, the rooms began to be furnished with easy-to-use, tasteful furniture, selected by Kelly...... from wherever she got them from.

It seems that a merchant, a man named Belle, has been able to provide some furniture. He also seems to be taking care of picking up unwanted items.

However, since there is still not enough manpower, Agnes herself sometimes changes into a maid's uniform and cleans the room, and sometimes goes shopping nearby.

She says that she can go out easily in a maid's uniform, but Nazelbert is worried that she looks too good in it.

Kelly told him that she is very popular with the men in town because she works hard at everything and is a bit of a softy.

Perhaps because her life has improved since moving away from her parents' house, Agnes is becoming healthier and more beautiful by the day.

That may be one reason.

Along with the hiring of maids, for some reason, Henry also started coming in and out of the mansion. Of course, he had a job to do.

With his help, Nazelbert was able to bring Baron Quiggionne and other corrupt minor nobles to justice.

Until now, it had been impossible for Henry to oust them alone, even with the evidence he had.

But Nazelbert knew his main goal for coming to the mansion was Meyza's lunch.

Meyza, who used to work at Henry's favorite restaurant, is the cook at the lord's mansion. Whenever he works at the mansion, her lunch is always included.

Henry seems to be a serious man, but it seems that he is also rather carefree.

While eating together, he talks with Nazelbert about recent events.

Meanwhile, Agnes was learning to make jam from Meyza in the kitchen.

She had tried to make jam from a book before, only to end up scorching the pan.

That was cute, though.

He wishes he could be with his wife, but that's not possible because he has to work. Nazelbert is checking the current status of the territory with Henry. There is still a lot of work to be done.

"Lord Nazelbert. Since the beginning of this year, the fences for livestock ...... especially for cavalry beasts have been damaged by magical beasts. Due to budget and manpower shortages, we have not been able to keep up with the repairs."

"Is this due to the aging of the fences?"

"That's one thing, but once the beasts got a taste for livestock, they learned that it was more efficient to break down fences in human villages than to hunt in the forest, and they appear more frequently than before."

"I see, most fences in Sutrena are made of wood. It would be nice to have a metal fence as they use in the royal capital, but the ...... problem is the budget. This territory has no money."

Due to the extravagance of the previous lord, funds are in the red. The previous lord's extravagance has left the estate in a financial mess.

"Lord Nazelbert is correct. We are working to get sturdy fences, too, but we don't have enough to spread them out......."

"I see. Then maybe Agnes and I can do something about it. Can you list the areas where the damage is most severe?"

"Yes, sir."

As his rapport with Henry improved, Nazelbert became more accepted at the fort. It is not as uncomfortable as it used to be.

After lunch, he put away his papers and went out into the garden to find Agnes and Henry in front of the field.

She had finished making jam and was then surveying the crops.

"...... So I magically enhanced it too much and ended up with a very hard vegetable. I don't think this one is edible."

Agnes showed Henry the huge turnip she had just pulled out.

"Maybe we can find another use for it."

"By the way, what is your magic, Henry?"

"I can change the color of materials. It won't help much. The material remains the same, only the color is changed."

"Can you magically change the walls of my house? There are a lot of walls and floors that are out of place, perhaps because of the previous lord's taste. They are all primary colors and golds, and they are all over the place and look garish."

"I can help you in my free time."

The discussion turned from crops to the renovation of the house.

Before coming to the frontier, Agnes had not had much contact with other people. But the reason for this was her family's rules that made it difficult to get along with other ladies of the same age, and because of the bad rumors about the "Potato Lady", she tended to be shunned in social circles.

So she was happy to come here and talk to a variety of people.

Henry, too, has had a soft spot for Agnes ever since she saved him when he had fallen on the street.

"Truly, Lord Nazelbert and Agnes are people who are quite different from what they are rumored to be. I am ashamed of myself for not seeing the truth and being misled."

"Rumors ......?"

"Yes, we had received news of a man who has committed a crime and has been disowned by Her Highness, and an ugly young lady who defended him."

Nazelbert stiffened involuntarily. This is not a story that Agnes would want to hear.

But Agnes tilted her head curiously and answered Henry.

"That is a hoax. Not about me, but the thing about Lord Nazel, it is an outright lie!"

"As I thought."

"I can't say it out loud, but it is all due to the selfishness of Her Highness the Princess, and Lord Nazel is a one-sided victim. The letters from the castle are censored, so they were probably rewritten to suit the royal family."

"That makes sense. Thank you, Agnes."

While he was staring at her, Agnes suddenly turned to Nazelbert.

"Ah, Lord Nazel! Have you finished your paperwork?"

Agnes was so cute as she ran up to him that he involuntarily reached out both hands and hugged her. Surprised, she panics with a bright red face.

Despite being the daughter of an aristocrat, she was a strong and athletic person in every sense of the word.

That's what is so great about her!

When he is with Agnes, he feels like everything is going to start turning out for the better.

Right now Nazelbert wanted to thank the princess for breaking off the engagement.