Chapter 94: Even the Zibn Family Can't Squeeze People Like You Do
"Haaah~!"
Accompanied by a sleepy yawn, Cocotte stretched her limbs languidly.
She blinked, and looked at the contract paper being held out toward her.
"?"
Still half-drowsy, Cocotte lifted her head with a completely blank expression and looked at the person before her.
A tall, slender figure, and a head of fine hair.
A woman.
If Cocotte rembered correctly, Viktor had ntioned he had a younger sister.
Their scents were quite similar—this had to be the person in question...
"You're Lea..."
"Cocotte Yadh—I haven't got it wrong, have I?"
Leah spoke first with a smile, which left Cocotte montarily dazed.
Leah pointed at the contract and said:
"You only need to sign your na right here."
As she said it, Leah produced a pen and held it out to Cocotte.
Cocotte took the contract in a daze and looked over the text on it—then snapped awake quite considerably and sat up straight:
"Working for the Clavena Family, 8 hours a day... 2 days off a week... als and lodging provided..."
Cocotte's hands began to tremble uncontrollably once she had finished reading.
"This... this... this—this isn't right!"
"Hm? What's wrong with it?"
Leah looked at the contract with a touch of puzzlent. This was already the standard terms given to their lowest-level workers in the Clavena household.
She looked at Cocotte, and her expression shifted as though sothing had dawned on her:
"Ohhh, I think I understand."
Cocotte heard this and exhaled with relief—only to watch Leah swap out the contract and hand her a different one.
Black words on white paper, written with perfect clarity:
Full rest all day, but should the Clavena Family encounter difficulties, the signatory is required to resolve the trouble.
"This one is relatively more free."
"Viktor ntioned that you're a 4th-Tier Mage and a forr Council mber—this role does seem to suit you better."
Cocotte was starting to lose her mind.
"No no no no! Why do I have to work at all?! I'm supposed to just sleep—that's literally all I need to do!"
Leah's smile didn't waver.
"Right, but Viktor said the Clavena household doesn't keep idlers."
"Of course, you don't have to sign."
For a mont, Cocotte felt as though salvation had descended upon her.
But then she caught a glimpse of Leah's smile shifting into sothing that carried a rather unfriendly edge, and a sinking feeling crept up from the pit of her stomach.
"Viktor said that if you don't sign, he'll tell your clansn where you are."
"Ah, well—I don't really understand any of that myself, I'm just the ssenger."
In this mont, Leah's smile, in Cocotte's eyes, was utterly demonic—seeping straight into the soul.
"So—3 choices. Which one do you pick?"
Cocotte lifted her head, slowly closed her eyes, and let the tears roll freely down her cheeks.
These were tears called "heartbreak."
These were tears called "bitter grievance."
If she could choose again, she would sooner sleep amidst Endymion's chaotic magical currents than ever set foot in Viktor's Manor.
He was an absolute bastard!
Cocotte opened her eyes—a few glistening drops still clung to the corners.
Since resistance was futile, she might as well comply.
"The 1st one looks exhausting—I'll take the 2nd!"
"Really?"
Leah's smile grew even more radiant.
"Really!"
Cocotte gave an extrely definitive nod.
Only then did Leah have Cocotte sign her na on the 2nd contract.
This contract carried a magical restriction—Viktor had apparently attached so kind of magic to it.
After all, only the Magic Power of a 4th-Tier Mage could restrain another existence of the sa Tier.
The mont Cocotte finished signing and set the pen back in Leah's hand, she collapsed straight back into her cloud.
"I've signed it—there shouldn't be... anything for to do now, right?"
She distinctly rembered the contract stating she could rest all day, and would only need to work if sothing ca up.
Uh... only if sothing cos up?
Cocotte suddenly realized sothing.
If sothing ca up every single day.
Then wouldn't she be working... every single day?
"It's over."
Cocotte had no way to take it back—her na was already on the contract. She lay there filled with profound regret, replaying in her mind the wording trap she had walked straight into.
Leah bead at her pleasantly and said:
"Well then—get ready for your first day of work."
***
The Carriage drew slowly to a stop before Duke Livi's Manor.
Cocotte sat atop her cloud, dozing.
A Servant spotted the visitors and went rushing inside to announce their arrival.
Very shortly, Duke Livi appeared at the front gate of the Manor.
Upon seeing Cocotte, he paused slightly.
"Council mber Yadh?"
Cocotte covered her mouth mid-yawn and gave Duke Livi a passing glance:
"Oh oh—it's you."
During her ti as Council mber, Cocotte had not encountered many other Mages.
But Duke Livi was one of the few she had a clear mory of.
He had once visited the City of Mages and learned so powerful magic to bring back to the Empire.
Though the specifics of that, Cocotte no longer had much recollection of.
She said with a faint air of mournful complaint:
"Don't address by that title—I'm not a Council mber anymore."
"I see. Understood."
Duke Livi gave her a nod, the picture already clear in his mind.
Viktor had beco the new Council mber, but the Mage Council could hardly break its own rules for Viktor's sake alone.
There would inevitably have been a sacrifice—soone stripped of the Council mber title.
And before him stood that sacrifice: Cocotte.
Even so, Council mber or not, she remained a formidable 4th-Tier Mage—a forr Council mber at that.
The proper degree of respect was naturally warranted.
But this particular combination, if he was being honest, struck Duke Livi as rather peculiar.
Viktor's younger sister, accompanied by a forr Council mber, arriving at his door...
No matter how he thought about it, sothing seed odd.
"Duke Livi, I've co to help you."
Leah said.
Previously, Duke Livi had been prepared to use his influence to help her get out of her predicant.
Of course, once Viktor had stepped in, that matter had effectively already been resolved.
So in the end, Duke Livi had not actually helped Leah with anything.
But still...
Duke Livi had stood up and made his position known before Viktor had even returned.
Even if his help had ultimately amounted to nothing, it was a gesture of goodwill—and Leah intended to honor it.
Duke Livi, seeing Leah co all this way, was visibly moved. He was also perfectly aware that he had done almost nothing.
But he wasn't the sort to be falsely modest about it—if the other party had co to offer help, that was a welco thing.
"Miss Leah, I've taken note of your kindness."
Cocotte watched the exchange between the 2 of them from the side, utterly lost.
She had no idea what the 2 of them were talking about, and could only lie quietly on her cloud listening to them exchange pleasantries.
Before long, under the Duke's guidance, Cocotte and Leah were led into a room.
The mont the door opened, a fresh, natural fragrance rushed into Cocotte's nose.
"This is..."
"My daughter, Erika's room."
Duke Livi answered Cocotte's unspoken question.
The mont Cocotte stepped inside, what greeted her eyes was a delicately beautiful golden-haired young girl, lying in bed, sleeping peacefully.
Only—strangely—
Vines and flowers were growing across her body. The plants had even spread outward, coiling across the floor and up the walls.
The entire room was now thoroughly surrounded by blossoming clusters and wild greenery.
One of the flowers on her body continued to ripple its petals in a steady rhythm—as though it were breathing.
Warm sunlight poured through the room and spread across Erika's form.
Cocotte's eyes lit up imdiately.
Such rich, concentrated natural energy—sleeping in this room for a single night would surely be blissful.
But she was, at heart, an Elf with a reasonable sense of responsibility. She knew this was her working hours, and she couldn't slack off without cause.
Even half-dead with drowsiness, she couldn't actually lie down here.
"My daughter changed to this state just a few days ago."
"Strange plants grew across her body, and she fell into a coma at the sa ti."
Duke Livi's brow was deeply furrowed, his worry plain on his face.
He had scoured the Royal Capital for physicians over these past days—but every doctor who ca said Erika had nothing wrong with her.
Even a magical examination showed her in a state of perfect saturation.
Leah looked at the flower-covered Erika and gave a quiet nod.
Given the current situation, there was nothing to explain—what ordinary person could have flowers growing out of their body?
So she reached into her bag and produced a red potion bottle.
She had asked Viktor for 5 bottles back when they were questioning Chuer—but not a single one had ended up being used.
Those 5 Crimson Potions had simply been carried along ever since.
"Duke, try having Erika take this."
Duke Livi took the potion.
He naturally knew of this little red bottle's remarkable properties—in fact, one could even say that had been precisely why he had reached out in the first place.
The Duke had no choice but to place all his hope in this potion.
He stepped through the flower-covered floor, gently lifted Erika upright, and slowly tipped the red potion into her mouth.
Once it was done, everyone watched Erika.
But the hoped-for recovery did not appear.
"Hm?"
Leah stared at Erika in a blank daze, struggling to believe what she was seeing.
The potion had instead caused Erika's life force to grow even more vigorous—and the flowers covering her body had actually increased slightly.
"It... had no effect?"
Even a potion of Viktor's make, the kind that could cure all ailnts, had no effect... what could possibly heal Erika?
Duke Livi felt sothing close to despair, though he refused to let it show.
Leah, anwhile, turned the situation over in her mind with a faint sense of unease.
"Is there any chance this isn't actually an illness?"
She had seen the potion's miraculous effects with her own eyes.
Even soone on the verge of death from poison could be pulled back from the brink by it.
If even the potion had no effect, then perhaps these flowers growing on Erika's body were...
Harmless?
Leah was no expert, of course—it was nothing more than a conjecture.
At this mont, Cocotte was looking at the wildly blooming flower-bed flourishing around Erika with a clearly startled expression.
"What incredible vitality—what did you just feed her?"
Leah suddenly snapped to attention.
Right—she didn't understand any of this, but wasn't there a ready-made 4th-Tier Mage right here beside her?
"Cocotte, your shift has started."
"Huh?"
The idle Elf looked confused—after all, even she herself hadn't quite worked out what kind of condition this actually was.
Duke Livi likewise looked toward Cocotte with a asure of hopeful expectation.
"Council m... Miss Yadh—please, help Erika."
"Ughhh, stop talking, I'll help! I'll help, alright?!"
Being a forr Council mber, Cocotte's sense of moral obligation was not small.
Leaving soone to suffer when she could act—that was simply not sothing she could do.
Most of the magic Cocotte had studied fell under Natural Magic, capable of bestowing powerful and lasting Buffs on companions and herself.
And so she settled onto her cloud and floated until she was directly before Erika.
Under the watchful eyes of the 2 waiting figures, she drew on the natural energy within her body and constructed a Magic Formation in the air.
It was a relatively simple magical detection—primarily intended to examine the energy structure of the strange flowers.
Very quickly, the expression on Cocotte's face grew gradually more serious.
At last, she withdrew the magic, wiped the sweat from her brow, and slowly exhaled 1 word:
"Druga?"
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