The Arrogant Duke Buys the Devoted Love of the False Saintess - Chapter 5

After turning down Seigard the debt collector, I headed straight to work.

I was completely late. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on work today anyway.

Even though it’s called Lily’s workplace, first thing in the morning, I go to the employment agency to get introduced to a job and earn my daily wage. Since there’s no fixed location, you can’t exactly call it “late,” but the good-paying jobs get snapped up quickly. Having started late, Lily had already given up. Besides, with such a huge debt hanging over her, earning a daily wage wouldn’t make a dent in it anyway.

But the truth was, the only person she could talk to was her childhood friend from the orphanage who worked at the employment agency.

“Kinaaaaaaa…”

As soon as it was her turn at the reception counter of the employment agency, Lily clung to her childhood friend Kina and started crying.

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“Anshim? That guy ended up like that!?”

Kina was the same age as Lily and also from the orphanage.

After hearing the whole story, Kina’s eyes widened in anger.

Lily had been shown to a private room and was sipping tea. It was special treatment, but given Lily’s excellent reputation as a highly sought-after worker at the agency and the well-known duo of her and the capable Kina, no one bothered them.

Usually, after getting introduced to a job, Lily would head out to work right away, so she never had time to relax like this.

“That idiot… He was always quiet, and you never knew what he was thinking, but it turns out he’s full of bad ideas. Who would’ve thought he’d borrow money using the orphanage’s land as collateral…”

“Apparently, someone else put him up to it. Someone connected to the orphanage, too. Anyway, it’s an insane amount.”

Kina groaned and grimaced.

Lily could only feel utterly lost.

“There’s no way I can pay back such a huge debt. What should I do? I left the donated items with Dates, but they’ll only fetch a pittance.”

Among the items donated by nobles and the wealthy—things like ornaments, paintings, and hand-me-down dresses that couldn’t be used in daily life—Lily had entrusted them to Dates, who worked at a pawnshop. Honestly, most of it was just junk, barely worth anything, but it was better than nothing. The nobles seemed unable to imagine the lives of commoners, so their aid was always slightly off the mark. Lily thought it’d be simpler if they just gave money, but apparently, straightforwardly handing out cash went against some obscure noble virtue. And if you asked for food, expressing what you wanted outright was considered shameful from a noble’s perspective. She’d been taught by the Count that such things must never be done.

What a hassle.

Thanks to that, Dates reluctantly took the useless junk, dismantled it, and sold it off. The tricky part was that it couldn’t be done openly. If it got out that donated items were being sold, it would needlessly anger the nobles.

“Even if I sold myself, someone like me couldn’t earn that much money, right?”

“Selling yourself… Hmm, well, it’s not like there’s no option…”

“Huh, really?”

Kina crossed her arms, humming and hawing, then hesitantly spoke up.

“To be honest, I wasn’t planning to introduce this to you. It’s not really suited for someone who hates nobles like you…”

“Is the client a noble?”

Lily couldn’t help but grimace, and Kina grimaced back as if to say, “I knew it.”

“I figured you’d react like that. Well, it’s not like you could refuse anyway…”

“What?”

“Hold on, I’ll go get it from the director’s office.”

“It’s a letter of introduction, right?”

Normally, the letters of introduction needed for job placements were kept on shelves behind the reception counter, sorted by industry. The receptionist’s job was to pick one from there and hand it over.

So why would a letter of introduction be with the agency director?

“Because it’s not a normal letter of introduction.”

“Not normal?”

“Well, I’ll go get it. Read the contents, and if it seems okay, maybe you should give it a try. At the very least, if things go well, they might take on your debt for you.”