After managing to clear up the whole misunderstanding with the help of everyone else, Jackal and his family headed to their new home to settle, which allowed me to punish Chloe with, and let's just say a lot of thrusting was involved.
When night rolled around, I prepared a small feast for our two families, a way to celebrate Jackal's new job; Chloe wasn't able to attend, as she was still dealing with the earlier punishments. At the end of it, everyone but me and Rancor ended up drunk, which left us with the duty of handling our family before sleeping in for the night.
Now that it was morning, I rose from my bed, sitting upright and stretching with a yawn. "Mhm, that was a good sleep." Scratching my head, I glanced at Yuki sleeping to my right and gently tried to wake her up; unfortunately, my lust was put on hold since she was knocked out like a rock. 'Haa, unlucky.'
Softly sighing, I refrained from kissing her, as it was hard to hold myself back, before standing up, entering the master bathroom, where I took a quick shower and handled my morning hygiene routine. Leaving the bathroom, I opened my wardrobe and got dressed while stealing looks at Yuki. 'So fucking sexy.'
Brushing my hair back, I tied it in a loose ponytail before leaving room, though just as I did, I froze when I saw Jackal standing right outside my door; however, he looked much different. He was wearing a stylish suit, his hair was slicked back, and his facial hair was neatly trimmed; all in all, he seemed very professional. "Um, what are you doing here?" So as not to awaken Yuki, I quietly closed the door while staring at Jackal.
"I'm your steward, Sir Alexander." I could feel myself visibly cringe at how he addressed me. "Sir? Don't call me sir, I could feel my soul physically age a decade." "It's a matter of status; you're my boss, and so, I should address you as such." "Please, just address me as Alexander. Having you, of all people, call me 'Sir' is uncomfortable."
Shivering lightly, I walked down the hallway, heading to my office while Jackal followed. "Heh, yeah, I agree, it was a bit weird." "Then why did you call me that?" "Hey, believe it or not, I've got a family to provide for. We're basically homeless right now with no wealth to our name; I have to make a good first impression on my boss." I could only groan at his response.
Arriving at my office, which was large and overlooked the front of the estate with a panoramic window, I sat down at the seat while Jackal stood opposite of me. "What do you think? Does it fit me?" "Eh, not quiet. You look too inexperienced, like you've never experienced years of stress." "T-Thank you?" I couldn't exactly tell whether Jackal was giving me a compliment or not, but I just went along with it.
"Anyway, what exactly is my job as a steward?" As Jackal innocently asked that question, I just silently stared at him. "You came here all the way without knowing what being a steward actually is?" "I mean, I vaguely know what a steward is; they're like a glorified servant, right?"
"Technically, yeah, but being a steward comes with a lot more authority and responsibility. You'll be in charge of financial management, property upkeep, staff management, legal and administrative tasks, and some other stuff." Leaning back in my chair, I finished speaking and glanced at Jackal, who was staring at me in surprise. "What?"
"Nothing, just didn't expect such a thorough answer." "Heh, I'm not the same young man from back then, I'm nearly 31. I'm a grown ass man now." "Touché." After a bit of reminiscing, I stood up and approached a large portrait of me and my wives, then swung it open, revealing a safe built into the wall.
"Isn't that kind of predictable?" I couldn't deny Jackal, as I thought so as well, though this wasn't the actual vault. "Yeah, but I'm not storing all my wealth in here; think of it like a wallet. A tiny portion, but easy access." Inputting the code into the safe, I swung it open, grabbing a sack before tossing it to Jackal, who quickly caught it.
"Hmm, silver? Why are you storing silver in there?" Seeing his confusion, I folded my arms and smirked. "You sure that's silver in there? Why don't you look again?" While still confused, Jackal reached his hand into the sack, grabbing one of the coins, staring at it, only for his eyes to widen as he slowly looked at me.
"T-This. T-This is P-Platinum." "Yep. Part of my reward was 100 platinum coins." His eyes widened even further, looking as if they were about to pop out. "1-100 coins? T-There is only 5-5." "You don't keep all your money in a wallet, do you? The rest is in the vault in the basement."
Returning to my seat, I watched Jackal closely inspect the platinum coin before slowly regaining his composure while returning it to the sack. "That'll be yours to do your job." "A-All of this?" "Yeah, it's only 5% of my wealth." "That 5% is more money than I've ever held in my life. Even if I account for all the money I've earned throughout my life, it probably isn't even half a platinum."
"Oh, well, speaking of that, I intended for your salary to be about 10, no, 12 gold a year. One gold a month, yeah, that's easier to manage." Tapping the armrest, I leaned back, propping my feet onto the desk while Jackal stared at me before rubbing his face. "Did you just make that up on the spot?" "Yes." Snapping my fingers, I faintly smirked, causing him to lower his head and sigh.
"Haa, well, I'm not going to argue against that." Wryly smiling, Jackal set the sack on the table while sitting down in one of the two seats. "For you to be giving me a salary of 12 gold a year, you must have a good income. What is it? 1 platinum a year? 2?" My entire expression froze, and my body went stiff at Jackal's question. "Do you not want to tell me? I'm pretty sure I should know your income so I could do my job better as a steward."
"1-100 platinum a year." "WHAT! 100!? That's so–" Jackal stopped shouting mid-speech as he furrowed his brows before quietly eyeing me. "Your reward from this country's king was 100 platinum… Alexander Vestalis, are you going to sit there and tell me you have no source of income?"
Inwardly cursing at Jackal being too observant, I awkwardly averted my gaze. "You're freaking kidding me. Aren't you a Noble? A Count?" "I just became a Count less than a month ago. What do you expect from me? You think I had this all planned out in advance." Shooting Jackal a glare, he blankly looked at me before sighing.
"Okay, okay, fair enough. At least tell me you've got some sort of idea?" "W-We've got a 100 platinum to work with, no?" "Ugh, are you sure you're not that same brat from before?" I just clicked my tongue and remained silent.
"Okay, well, better late than never, I suppose. Got any ideas for some income? Buy a shop or something? Isn't that what other nobles do?" "How do you expect me to do that? There are several nobles in Cassandra; they've long since been in control of this city's economy. How am I supposed to enter that?" "Understandable. Hmm, if you can't enter Cassandra's market, you'll need something that'll allow you to enter the market. You've got something that you think might be marketable?"
Other than my blood, there was nothing I found that could be marketable, and I had no intention of selling my blood. "Unfortunately, no." "Well, maybe you don't have to enter the market; rather than selling a good, what about a service?" "A service? Hmm."
The thought of a service seemed even harder for me to achieve; I mean, what could I possibly provide that others haven't? 'Let alone a magical world like this, even in my past life that would've been difficult.' Propping my head up from my armrest, I furrowed my brows in thought, only for me to suddenly stare at Jackal.
"Hey, Jackal, do you like plays?" "Plays? They're not exactly my cup of tea, but I don't mind a good play." "Okay, but what if you were able to watch a play whenever you wanted at home?" Jackal raised an eyebrow, looking at me as if telling me to further elaborate. "What if you could choose whichever play you wanted to watch?" "What are you getting at, Alexander?"
"I'm saying, what if I make a service and then sell it as a good?" "Huh?" "Basically, I'm saying, what if you could watch a moving picture of a play, whenever you wanted, in the comfort of your own home?" Even though the television wasn't my invention, at this very moment, I felt like it was. 'Oh, I'm going to get so filthy rich.'