Chapter 1: Farewell, Cage
Cold rain hit the window in a messy, noisy way, and the bell on the wooden cabinet kept ringing.
Peiya reached out to take the bell, afraid it would wake Miss Anna.
If that happened, what waited for him would only be a cold slap and endless blame.
Just as he bent down to pick it up, a voice without warmth came from behind him.
“No need. Your contract is over. This is your payment for the past three years. Take the money and disappear from my world.”
Anna spoke quickly. It was rare for Peiya to see her so flustered.
The girl’s long black hair was messy on her shoulders. She had put on a white evening dress in a hurry, and even the buttons were done wrong.
It was clear she had just woken up and rushed to get dressed.
When Peiya saw the letter in her fingers, he understood that her “first love” had come back.
Three years ago, Anna’s beloved suddenly disappeared, and she went almost crazy looking for him.
But there was no news at all. After that, she was always sad, until she met Peiya at the Adventurers’ Guild while forming a team.
Looking at the young man who looked somewhat similar, an idea came to her mind.
“From today on, you will play the role of Ron. But outside, you are not allowed to use his name. Do you understand?”
Anna placed a bag of gold coins on the table.
Peiya, who was struggling to make a living, hesitated for a moment, then nodded and accepted.
From then on, he became a substitute for her lost love, living as someone else for three years.
And today, he was finally free.
“Alright. I’ll go pack my things.”
Peiya calmly took the check. It wasn’t much money, but it should be enough for him to buy the magic medicine he needed to treat his hidden illness.
Anna froze for a moment. At first, she had been worried that this substitute would cry and beg her not to make him leave.
After all, without her, he might never enter the world of the rich again. That kind of gap was not something most people could accept.
But Peiya’s reaction was too calm. It even made her feel a little annoyed.
Was he doing this on purpose to upset her?
“Peiya, I know you might feel unhappy, but I’ve treated you well these years. Every time there was leftover food at home, didn’t I leave it for you? In your old life, you could never enjoy such good food. If you still want to eat it in the future, I can ask the servants to pack it for you.”
Pack leftovers for him?
And she called that a reward.
Even though he had heard this kind of scolding many times, as he was about to leave, Peiya still couldn’t stop his eyebrow from twitching.
As expected, Anna was still the same Anna.
In the past, she had even given him half a bottle of shampoo she had already used as a reward.
She said it was something only high-class people used, and that it would help remove the “lowly smell” from his body.
There were many more things like this. Peiya didn’t want to think about them anymore. In the end, it was just a deal.
Money in one hand, service in the other.
So when facing her cold, rain-like scolding, Peiya did not argue back. He clearly understood the difference between employer and employee.
Anna also seemed used to this “perfect substitute” who could handle many roles at once.
It seemed that no matter what task was given to him, he could handle it well. She started to trust her own judgment more and more.
With this kind of understanding between them, the two spent three years together under the master-servant contract.
“Miss Anna, if there’s nothing else, I’ll go get my things.”
“When you leave, be quiet. Also, you’d better change your face. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease.”
“But our contract has already ended.”
“Fine then. In the future, you’re not allowed to use anything I gave you before, except daily necessities.”
“……”
Peiya was speechless. Even someone with a good temper couldn’t endure this kind of treatment.
“Miss Anna, the contract was very clear. After it ends, I will leave on my own and will not continue to bother the employer.”
Peiya repeated, word by word, the line that had been emphasized many times in the contract.
All along, he had been very careful about his role as a servant.
Even when Anna was drunk, he never touched her. And he never imagined things that weren’t real.
He understood his own position better than anyone else.
Seeing how calmly Peiya replied, Anna bit her lip. After so many years, she still couldn’t make this guy bow his head.
She had thought he would show a little regret, and then she could take the chance to offer him a new contract, so that he could stay. After all, it was hard to find such a good worker.
But she didn’t expect him to leave so decisively. Did he only care about money?
“Do you think the money I gave you is too little?”
When someone starts to test whether a bowl will break, it means it is already broken.
Clearly, Anna could no longer hold back today. She truly didn’t understand what Peiya was thinking.
Peiya put away the dismissal contract and said calmly,
“If I thought it was too little at the start, I wouldn’t have accepted this job. Since I accepted it, I naturally fulfilled my duty. Now that the contract has ended, I will disappear from your world as agreed. We will not disturb each other again.”
“Fine. I was even thinking of letting you stay one more night. But since you don’t appreciate it, leave now. Disappear from my sight.”
Peiya nodded. Like before, he went to another corner of the manor. The room there was very different from the main area.
It was filled with old, worn-out furniture, worse than some servants’ living conditions.
Only the clothes he wore, which perfectly copied the appearance of her lost love, could be considered luxurious…
The reason he lived in such a poor place was because Anna had been worried he might get too deep into the role and not be able to come out. She said he needed to reflect on himself at all times.
Only by living in such an ordinary room could he always remember his status as a servant.
Peiya let out a relieved sigh. After leaving this place, he would no longer have to live in a “doghouse.”
While he was packing, a shadow suddenly appeared at the door. It was Sean, holding a bag of chicken legs in his mouth.
Sean was not a person, but a dog. More precisely, Anna’s dog.
In the past, when Peiya had free time, he would play with it.
Over time, Sean would come to find him whenever it was free. That was also why Peiya joked that he lived in a doghouse.
“Sean, where did you get this from?”
“Woof! Woof!”
He almost forgot, Sean couldn’t understand human language.
Peiya took the bag and saw from the label that it had been taken from the kitchen.
“Do you want to eat the chicken leg?”
Peiya took one out, but Sean just sat there, not showing any sign of eating.
“Is it for me?”
“Woof! Woof!”
Sean jumped up excitedly.
Maybe because they shared a similar fate, Peiya didn’t feel sad about leaving Anna. But seeing Sean like this, he suddenly felt a little reluctant to go.
“Good dog. Listen to your new master in the future. Alright, this chicken leg is your reward today.”
Peiya removed the skin and tried to feed it to Sean, but the dog still didn’t move.
“Then we’ll share it.”
Peiya ate the clean half and gave the other half to Sean.
After eating, Peiya gave the big dog one last hug, then left this cold place without looking back.
He was finally free.
………………………
At the same time, Anna stood by the window, watching Peiya’s figure disappear into the cold rain.
She clenched her fist without thinking, her nails digging deep into her palm, yet she felt no pain.