HYCBV 04

Chapter 4

According to the chick, Felix was already cruising down his path of success. Pulling him off it wasn’t going to be easy.

Not unless I came up with a truly groundbreaking, creative act of chaos…

I hugged my head and worried.

As the chick had said, I was a pathetic, gullible servant—a human footstool for life.

I’d spent my entire existence meek, timid, flustered, and obsessed with what others thought of me.

‘Chaos… how exactly do I wreak chaos?’

Even if I made a detailed plan, when push came to shove, my voice would probably shake like a goat’s, my entire body tremble, and I’d inevitably fail…

It was then.

[Benefactor, are you troubled?]

The chick tilted its head and waddled closer.

“Chick.”

I spun to face it.

“You said you’d help me live more conveniently and efficiently, right?”

[Exactly!]

“Can you help me make chaos too? Like… really villain-style chaos.”

[…]

For the first time, the chick seemed hesitant. Its tiny wings drew inward.

[That… might be impossible…]

“Why not?”

[I can do anything—but only what I’ve learned. And right now, all I’ve learned are your memories…]

“You mean because I’m a hopeless gullible servant, I can’t bear the fruits of villainy? My soil is too barren to grow evil?”

[You truly are clever! I understand instantly!]

The chick wagged its stubby tail enthusiastically.

So basically, it couldn’t help with villainy because it hadn’t learned it yet.

Learn, huh.

“Maybe… I should go to the library and read a biography of villains…”

[Such a typical overachiever thought!]

The chick chimed in to my mutterings. Was that an insult or praise?

[But you know, nothing beats learning from a living, breathing example! Observing someone in action is the best way!]

A living example, huh. So I needed a chaos mentor? Someone I could watch as they wreaked havoc?

“This is tough.”

Two pressing tasks faced me.

First: Secure money immediately. Uncle had cut off my allowance—and even my meals.

Second: Find a human mentor for villainy, someone to learn evil firsthand from—before Felix’s flower road fully blooms!

The problem: both were urgent. Could I solve them at once?

Suddenly, a memory struck.

A few days ago, I had overheard the maids whispering.

“Did you see the job posting at the House of Kreutz?”

“I did. No requirements, no restrictions. Even commoners like us can apply. And the salary—wow. It’s insane.”

“Then what? They say the entrance exam is harder than the Empire University test.”

“What? How are we supposed to pass that? Ugh, forget it.”

There it was! A way to catch two rabbits with one stone!

The job posting was for the Duke’s secretary position, I was sure of it.

The Duke of Kreutz—what a man.

He had inherited the ancient House of Kreutz at a young age, and he ran the magical tower too—a genius among geniuses.

And above all…

‘They say his temper is terrible!’

A mad dog of a duke.

A calamity in human form.

A lunatic among lunatics!

Despite his impressive looks and lofty position, everyone secretly called him that.

How vile must his temperament be…?

I shivered.

I’d once passed him on the street. He had mercilessly beaten a grown man with nothing but his shoe.

Just recalling that demon-like figure made my knees weak.

And I was sure of one thing.

‘That’s the one.’

No one could be a better living mentor for chaos than Duke Kreutz.

The problem was obvious: his hiring exam was notoriously brutal—enough to make applicants tremble.

‘Honestly… I can handle the test.’

During my academy years, every time there was an exam, the predicted questions and answers I prepared for Felix always matched perfectly with the actual test.

I would glance at the test, pleased, while my own answer sheet was deliberately messy—to avoid overlapping with Felix’s answers.

Even for my life’s benefactor and fiancé, I had gone that far…

Now, recalling my own burning devotion made me feel utterly pathetic. Tears threatened to fall.

‘No time to regret!’

Even now, Felix’s flower path was unfolding smoothly.

I slapped my own cheeks and laid out a plan.

Step One: Become the Duke of Kreutz’s secretary. No qualifications needed, so my worthless grades wouldn’t matter.

Step Two: Use the secretary’s salary to cover living expenses.

Step Three: Absorb the Duke’s evil firsthand, like a sponge, learning all I could.

Perfect!

For the first time, a ray of hope pierced through my heart, shredded by successive betrayals.

My current state: zero gold in hand, D-average grades, and a path stretching endlessly ahead.

Had I been my timid old self, I’d be cowering and trembling. But now…

A fiery desire for revenge burned brightly, giving me strength.

I clenched my fists.

‘I will reclaim my family, and I will get revenge on Felix!’

But first…

‘Step one: get a job.’

“Useless little pests.”

CRASH!

A boot slammed the desk, denting it like a meteor strike.

The cowering assistants trembled.

“We’re sorry! Sorry!”

“You sorry lot.”

The man yanked one of them by the collar.

“Do you leave work like this?”

“Eek!”

The dragged assistant squeezed his eyes shut.

“Even street dogs are better than you. Did you leave your brains in your mother’s womb? Don’t you know how to think? Get out of my sight. I feel sick just looking at you.”

Under his ruthless command, the assistants fled, wiping their tears.

“Parachuting idiots. I should crush their heads.”

The man—Cayen Kreutz—sighed roughly and sank into his chair.

“Do you think the Tower is a nursery?”

The magical tower was under royal jurisdiction.

The problem? The royal administration was rotten.

Corrupt officials kept sneaking in their own incompetent protégés.

Thanks to their shameless stupidity, Cayen’s temper rotted further each day.

Tsk. He clicked his tongue. ‘What a pathetic organization. I can’t wait to leave.’

But he couldn’t, not yet.

He leaned back, brushing his hair aside, as sunlight hit his face through the window.

Thick eyebrows, sharp nose, perfect lips—an exquisite face. Yet the words coming out of it were as rough and ruthless as a street thug’s.

“Sir…”

His aide Aaron spoke cautiously.

“A candidate for the secretary position has arrived.”

“Secretary?”

Cayen raised an eyebrow.

The position had been vacant for two years.

The Duke’s secretary—a prestigious post with a hefty salary.

Initially, candidates had flocked like clouds to the reception.

But the terrifying exam and the employer’s apocalyptic temperament had left the position vacant, deserted.

“I don’t expect anyone to help me.”

Cayen rubbed his tired brow.

“Just hire anyone who can read words and understand my commands. Before I collapse from overwork.”

‘Then at least lower the difficulty of the exam…’

Aaron kept his thoughts to himself.

No choice.

‘To him, the exam isn’t to test ability—it’s just to filter for humans worthy of being his subordinate.’

Cayen’s standards for ‘human’ were so high that he hadn’t had a replacement for two years.

‘I’m about to die of overwork, really.’

Aaron sighed and headed to the reception.

“Wonder if this applicant will even last ten minutes…”

He already envisioned the blank sheet, tears falling from the future candidate.