The Male Lead’s Secretary Is Too Good at Her Job

Author: isuzuuy

I wasn’t drinking wine.

But I could say with absolute certainty that if I had been, I would have spat it out right then and there.

“You’re the first woman who’s ever set foot in my home.”

That completely unexpected statement brought everything I was doing to a halt.

I stammered out a question.

“B-but, there’s a guest room…”

“I move from room to room when I sleep. It’s a habit I picked up as a child to avoid danger, and I still have it.”

“The guest room is so luxurious…”

“That’s just my hobby. I like renovating spaces.”

“And the people on the first floor…!”

“Fidel gave them a heads-up. He told them my secretary would be coming, so they shouldn’t ask unnecessary questions.”

And just like that, every mystery had been solved.

I was the first woman to enter Rashak’s home.

Not the female lead from the novel, but me.

“You seem surprised.”

Apparently, even my astonished expression amused him. He smiled and took another sip of wine.

I remained frozen in place. I’d dated Allen for a long time, but this was the first time in my life anyone had ever said something like that to me.

Rashak spoke in an amused voice.

“Don’t worry. I don’t get involved in personal relationships with people I work with.”

“……”

“What happened earlier was because of the assassin.”

He was referring to the physical contact we’d had when we were talking about going into my bedroom and bathroom at my house.

…Honestly, I couldn’t complain about that.

If he hadn’t held me up like that, my legs would have been shaking so badly that I’d have collapsed on the spot.

“Then… I look forward to working with you.”

“Looking forward to working with me? You mean keeping our distance from each other?”

“Yes, well… something like that.”

I spoke while gauging his reaction, and Rashak gave a casual nod, as though it were only natural.

Thanks to that, I was able to finish my meal feeling much more at ease. Then—

“By the way, were you like this at your previous workplace, too?”

“Pardon? Like… what?”

“That habit of trailing off at the end of your sentences.”

His words made my fingertips go cold.

I turned my head with difficulty, and my eyes met his.

“You seemed to be getting better while dealing with the Sterling matter, but you’ve gone right back to how you were in just one day.”

His voice was as low as before.

But the content of his words was completely different from what we’d been discussing until now, and I couldn’t help freezing.

Even moving my lips was difficult.

“I suppose it can sound a little… unpleasant.”

“I’m not talking about my personal preferences. If you’re going to work as my secretary, you’ll face situations like the one at Sterling countless times.”

“……”

“People might take you lightly. And I don’t like seeing my secretary being disrespected.”

I couldn’t simply deny what he said.

I’d encountered plenty of people who looked down on me throughout my life.

Ren oa had done the same thing just a few days ago…

“But you haven’t answered my question. Were you like this at your previous workplace, too?”

I struggled to answer.

“…Yes, I was.”

“Then I don’t know how you ended up developing that habit.”

I didn’t know, either.

But personally… I suspected it had started when I was very young.

After all, most of my childhood memories involved being scolded by my parents.

No matter what I said, my parents called it an excuse, so keeping my mouth shut was always the best option.

If I stayed quiet… eventually, at least, they’d stop scolding me.

“…I’ll try my best.”

For now, that was the best answer I could give.

I simply wasn’t confident that I could change overnight.

Still, as Rashak had pointed out, I hadn’t stammered as much when interrogating people at Sterling. If I kept reminding myself of how I’d acted then…

“You don’t need to.”

“…Pardon?”

“I’ll fix it, so you don’t need to.”

Confused by his inexplicable statement, I could only blink.

“Just do your job. I’ll take care of everything else.”

“E-even though it’s my own speech habit?”

“I said I’ll fix it.”

“How?”

Rashak chuckled.

“When I teased you a little while ago, you spoke perfectly clearly. Don’t you remember?”

He was right. When he’d made that bizarre joke about the assassin being one of my ex-boyfriends, I immediately snapped, “No, they weren’t!”

Could it be that this man…

Was that why he’d made such an absurd joke? To see whether I’d stop stammering when I got riled up?

While I was torn between admiring and being horrified by his meticulousness, he set down his wineglass.

“Hiel Cavernon.”

His voice was low once again.

But the atmosphere suggested he was about to say something serious, so I lowered my hands and cautiously met his eyes.

What he said next was…

“As I told you before, now that you’ve entered into a contract with me, both your schedule and you belong to me. That means your speech habits belong to me, too.”

What…

What kind of bullshit was that?

“Trust me with it. If you just leave it to me, your speech habits will be corrected before you know it.”

It was the strangest thing I’d ever heard in my life.

Someone else was going to fix my speech habits without me even realizing it?

And yet, reflected in his golden eyes was absolute confidence.

I remembered something he’d said once.

‘Don’t worry. I’ve never given up on something once I’ve made up my mind.’

“A-all right.”

I regretted saying it the moment the words left my mouth. Hadn’t I just stammered again right after he’d pointed it out?

But instead of criticizing me, Rashak smiled.

He seemed pleased with my answer.

“I’ll do the dishes.”

“Would you? I actually have to head out right away.”

Afraid I’d start stammering again, I nodded vigorously. He said, “Then I’ll leave it to you,” and got up from his seat.

“Get some rest. This building is safe, so don’t worry.”

After putting on his coat, he strode toward the front door and disappeared.

Rashak’s home, now that I was alone in it, still felt… incredibly unfamiliar.

But I wasn’t particularly frightened.

Was it because I felt overwhelmed by the expensive things surrounding me?

Or was it because his words, “Trust me with it,” had made me genuinely want to do just that?

…I don’t know. I’ll just do what I usually do.

And what I usually did was avoid thinking too far ahead and deal with whatever was right in front of me.

I carefully gathered the dishes and began washing them.

The next morning.

As usual, I woke up at six.

Perhaps because I was in an unfamiliar place and because of everything that had happened, I hadn’t slept particularly well.

But lying back down wouldn’t guarantee a good night’s sleep, either, so I began getting ready for work early.

After washing up in the private bathroom and changing my clothes, I cautiously headed toward the kitchen when—

Holy crap, what is this?

The sunlight pouring into the entire kitchen brought me to a stop.

The kitchen ceiling… was made of floor-to-ceiling glass, like a greenhouse.

I hadn’t noticed at all the night before because it had been dark. I’d also been nervous about staying in Rashak’s home, and after he’d pointed out my speech habits, I’d spent most of the time looking down.

So he really does like renovating spaces.

Perhaps even his decision to occupy an entire floor of a building rather than live in a mansion was meant to accommodate his particular tastes.

The sunlight isn’t even too glaring… Did he enchant the glass ceiling with magic, too?

Surrounded by this literal extravaganza of money, I continued preparing breakfast.

There was no sign of Rashak. It seemed he hadn’t come back at all.

I was wondering if things in the interrogation room had gotten complicated when—

Bang!

I heard a door opening from the living room.

I put down the bread I’d been eating and walked over. The homeowner had returned, after all. I couldn’t just sit there doing nothing.

…But the person standing at the entrance was someone else.

“What? Who are you?”

Curly golden hair. Eyes lighter than mine, almost the color of olive green. Skin as white as Rashak’s—or perhaps even paler, to the point of looking sickly.

The man who’d suddenly appeared immediately frowned at me the moment he saw me.

I didn’t frown, but I was just as bewildered. Rashak had told me…

‘You’re the first woman who’s ever set foot in my home.’

…Right.

He hadn’t said anything about men never coming in.

“Who… might you be?”

“Who are you? Why are you in Rashak’s house?”

He looked rather thin, and his clothes seemed a little oversized, but they were expensive. He was probably a nobleman.

I greeted him politely.

“I’m the boss’s secretary. My name is Hiel Cavernon.”

“Secretary? Oh, the one he hired recently?”

Judging by how casually he referred to Rashak by name, they seemed to be close.

He gave a slight nod as if he’d understood, strode over to the sofa, dropped into it, and said,

“Tea.”

“…Pardon?”

“Bring me some tea. You know how to make it, don’t you?”

“I don’t know where anything is…”

“What? You’re his secretary, aren’t you?”

He looked at me as though I were utterly useless.

I thought he was about to say something else, but instead, he abruptly stood up, walked into the kitchen, and opened an ivory-colored cabinet to find the tea leaves for me.

“Here, see? It’s right here. Hurry up and make some.”

Then he swept past me without another word.

…Excuse me, stranger, but you’re so thin you look like a paper doll that could flutter away in the wind.

Whatever. I’ll just make the tea.

After finding the teapot, I boiled some water, placed everything on a tray, and carried it into the living room.

When I filled a teacup and handed it to him, he raised one eyebrow before accepting it.

“Hmm, at least you seem to have learned some manners. Where are you from? The North? The West?”

“Why… are you asking…?”

“Of course I need to know. You could say I’m a master of this house, too.”

I couldn’t help pausing.

A master of this house.

And Rashak’s statement that he didn’t let women into this place.