The Survival Strategy of the Contract Duchess - Chapter 125

The Duke’s mansion was busy every single day. Because the number of employees had originally been tailored solely for Kyler for a long time, everyone was diligently working together to prepare for the grand banquet.

Still, thanks to the family’s past prosperity, most of the furniture and supplies needed for the banquet were being stored.

And most importantly, this Duke’s mansion had a very large banquet hall.

I had thought that only the knights’ quarters were in the direction I didn’t often go, but there was a very large building before the knights’ training ground, deeper inside.

“There will be a lot of dust. I’ll ventilate it, so please wait a moment.”

Rose moved first. She unlocked the large door and pulled hard on the door that had been closed and neglected for a long time, revealing the interior of the large building.

There was a banquet hall in a space about half the size of the building where they lived. It was hazy with floating dust, but its scale was immediately apparent.

Maids with cloths covering their noses and mouths entered in an orderly fashion through the open door. And with quick movements, they began to open the windows first. After opening all the windows, they took a breath and looked inside.

“Is waiting a little enough? I think we need to stir things up inside.”

Minnie cautiously added a word from the side. She doubted whether just opening the windows would ventilate everything.

“Well, this place is well-designed, so the ventilation is very good. It has to be to manage this large space.”

“Ooh,” the young maids couldn’t help but exclaim.

“It’s said that dust doesn’t settle easily but still, it will be hard work to wipe away all that dust.”

The maids, each carrying dust cloths and hand cloths, had determined faces. Because they had heard that they might have to spend several days cleaning.

The servants who went to get wood would join the cleaning when they returned.

“It seems like a tremendous effort is needed to reuse a space that hasn’t been used for a long time. I’ll help too, so don’t stop me.”

And among them, Sasha was also burning with determination. The maids were speechless when Sasha, whom they thought had simply come to see the building, offered to clean. And they looked at Rose, but Rose just shrugged.

It wasn’t that Rose hadn’t tried to stop her, but Sasha wasn’t the kind of person to listen to such words.

Come to think of it, Sasha was wearing a plain, charcoal gray dress. It was a color that was resistant to dust, and she didn’t have a petticoat, so it seemed very comfortable for her to move around in. Everyone lost their will to stop her.

“It would be a disaster if the hostess of the banquet got sick.”

“If I get sick now, I’ll get better in about three days. I’ll be fine on the day of the banquet.”

Rose made one last attempt, but it was neatly rejected.

“Okay, look. It’s completely different inside, right?”

After a few minutes, Rose said, looking inside, and everyone looked inside the door. As Rose said, the hazy interior had completely disappeared.

Even the innermost platform, which was not visible before, was now clearly visible.

“Wow, it’s amazing!”

“Okay, the rest is up to us. Let’s go in.”

Connie covered her mouth with her hand and exclaimed, and Sarah took the lead and went inside.

Among them, Sasha grabbed a dust mop. Rose, who couldn’t let her touch the mop with her bare hands, reluctantly handed it to her.

“You know? You mustn’t grip it too hard, because calluses shouldn’t form on your hands. Rather, wipe it gently several times.”

It had taken more than half a year just to make Sasha’s originally rough hands soft, so Rose extremely disliked Sasha’s hands being ruined.

But Sasha knew that it could change like that, and because her hands were originally rough, she had nothing to lose.

“Okay, Rose. Don’t worry and let’s get to work. Huh?”

With a light smile, Sasha ran to the water facilities attached to the banquet hall. On both sides of the banquet hall, there was space where you could do simple, odorless cooking or laundry.

It really contained many things for the banquet.

It was a banquet hall for nobles, but Sasha liked it even more because it seemed to be designed with consideration for the servants to work comfortably.

Five maids and one duchess awakened the giant banquet hall that had been sleeping like an old relic.

It wasn’t perfectly clean with just one wipe with a wet mop, so after going back and forth several times, the sparkling floor was fully revealed.

It was said to be the leading family in this great empire. How splendid and majestic it must have been in the past. I had guessed it when I saw them drawing water from the back and creating a stream, but seeing this banquet hall today made it feel even more real.

The thought of gradually restoring it with my own hands filled me with a sense of accomplishment.

I would decorate this large banquet hall beautifully, and people would gradually come in and fill the large banquet hall. How nice would it be if everyone chatted and praised Ignote’s banquet hall and said that the banquet was comfortable.

That was the kind of banquet she imagined.

As she imagined, a sparkling path appeared behind her before she knew it. It was also surprising that the banquet hall was gradually revealing its true form around the maids who were diligently moving their hands.

It was even better because it was a place that allowed me to enjoy the pleasure of doing things with my own hands. It was a pleasure I wouldn’t have known if there was someone who frowned, saying that such a sight would tarnish the dignity of the duchess.

Of course, I was sweating a bit. After steadily exercising hard, ‘Sasha’s’ body, which had been on the verge of being sickly, had become healthy before I knew it.

–

“Ugh!”

And two days later, Sasha finally groaned on the bed she had climbed up to go to sleep.

Kyler, who was climbing up next to her, stopped moving and quietly held his breath, thinking he had touched something.

“I told you!”

He held back the words that were about to come out, “Didn’t I tell you not to?” Seeing Kyler unable to finish his sentence, Sasha chuckled. She had to hold back from making a proper laugh because her back would vibrate.

“Thank you so much for holding back those words. It was really fun until just now.”

“Cleaning is fun. There will never be another noble like you.”

Kyler had a smiling face, but there was unavoidable pity in his voice. With his hands, he swept back her sweat-soaked hair and neatly arranged it, and pulled the blanket up further, carefully covering it right below her chin.

“Do you know how big that banquet hall is? Ah, come to think of it, have you ever seen it, Kyler? That banquet hall?”

As she was about to explain, she realized that this person was the owner of this place. She thought that he would already know the place where he had lived since he was born.

“When I was young, banquets were often held there. Especially because of the memories I had when I was young, I remember it as an even bigger place. It was a really big and splendid place.”

He seemed to be recalling the banquet hall for a moment, without taking his eyes off Sasha. Sasha, who was imagining the banquet hall following his gaze, cried out, “Aisy.” Just as she was twisting her body, she touched her lower back, which had severe muscle pain.

“That won’t do. Lie down on your stomach.”

Kyler heard her groan, which she had tried hard to swallow, lifted the blanket, and made her lie down on her stomach. Sasha lay down without complaint. She thought it would be better to move as he told her to, rather than constantly worrying him.

Kyler placed his large hands on her shoulders. Exercising muscles and working muscles were different, and he had expected this to happen from the moment she confidently rushed in with the increased stamina from exercising.

“Relax. Leave your body in my hands.”

“I’m confident about that.”

Kyler chuckled at Sasha’s cute answer, who was letting all the strength out of her voice. Because her face was buried deep in the pillow, it sounded like a mumble.

“Hmm, I want to learn how to do this.”

Sasha, who had been getting a massage for a while, suddenly said that. Learn massage? This was not something you could do alone. If you wanted to do it alone, you would have to learn how to use tools instead of your hands.

“Why are you learning this?”

Sasha couldn’t have failed to notice his voice, which had suddenly turned fierce. She chuckled, but then cried out, “Ah!” because the muscles that hadn’t fully loosened were stimulated.

Kyler shook his head and massaged that part again.

“Kyler uses his body often, so he must have painful areas similar to me. I want to massage you, not someone else. This feeling is so good.”

Kyler quietly lowered his lips to the nape of her neck, which was making another fading voice.

She was going to learn to massage him, and Kyler already felt like his body was melting at those words.

“I can’t even touch you as much as I want because it hurts, Hmm? Don’t be sick. That’s the first thing.”

“What is that why you’re telling me not to be sick?”

Sasha was still shaking her body and laughing with her face buried in the pillow. There was a sound of “Ah, ah, ah,” but the laughter didn’t stop until much later.

“Hmm. There are things I’m worried about, but that’s also true.”

Sasha liked his honest answer. She didn’t feel like scolding him because she always felt affection when he hugged her, which was why she liked it.

Sasha turned her head and looked at him with one eye peeking out.

“I’ll work hard to get better all day tomorrow. Tomorrow night, please hug me.”

Kyler looked at her and let out a deep sigh. It was also a problem that his beloved woman was too lovely.

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