"I got it, Dad. I'll be off then," Zeph declared, pushing himself up from the chair.
However, the custom-made seat seemed determined to hold him captive, its plush cushions clinging to his form like an overprotective lover.
'Seriously, this blubber's puffing up like a balloon. How in the world does a custom-made chair get stuck?' he muttered, frustration etching lines on his face. His cheeks, round and rosy, squished against the chair's back padding, his body trapped between armrests.
"What's everyone gaping at? Help him stand up!" his father bellowed at the servants, as if instructing a bunch of bystanders to rescue a buffalo trapped in the mud.
"Y-young master?!" The maids scurried, their eyes wide with panic, as they tugged at Zeph's arms, legs, and any other available appendage.
Of course, one of them also tried to hold his neck but there wasn't any.
"Pull!" A maid cheered with her thin hands pulling the stuck bull.
"Young Master, let us help you!" Hurriedly arriving inside the room were the twenty servants who had brought him here, surrounding him before pulling him up.
Finally, Zeph was free from the chair's grip after a struggle that cost the lives of three servants.
Like they were technically alive but logically dead—exhausted to the point of appearing lifeless.
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Zeph finally entered his room and collapsed onto his bed, hands covering his face. "Sigh... Finally, that ordeal is over."
His eyes weren't teary; they were just sweating.
Definitely not crying.
More like swearing up a storm at that god for dumping him into this mess.
If only he had scored a decent body.
Then he could care less about being the protagonist or getting entangled in some mess.
He'd be out there, living life to the fullest.
Not stuck inside this chubby dude with a mana pool the size of an ocean.
Indeed, the body in which Zeph resided had a lot of mana, but seriously, who needed that much mana?
It was like having a bank account with infinite overdraft protection—great in theory, but a pain in reality.
By the way, let's clear up this villain business. Yeah, so the thing is, Real Zeph died really fast, hence the "villain" title?
Not exactly a grandiose entrance into the world of villainy and becoming the final boss but.
After the original owner of this body got tossed into the wild, he kicked the bucket, got resurrected by some dark sorcerer dude who also bit the dust because he couldn't control his own puppet.
This puppet, mind you, had more mana than the sorcerer himself.
Then there was this whole hero versus resurrected villain showdown.
But honestly?
Zeph couldn't care less. Heroes, villains—labels were for people with too much time on their hands.
He had decided to deal with his upcoming death first, or avoid it somehow.
Step one: He decided to scrap this absurd wedding plan.
After that? Well, he'd figure out what to do next. Perhaps take up knitting.
Or maybe learn to juggle flaming swords.
Anything to distract from the impending doom of feeling like a mere plot pawn.
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As the first rays of sunlight hit his face, Zeph groaned and muttered, "What a way to start the day."
"Oh, forgive me, young master. I was just collecting clothes for laundry," stammered a maid, her voice quivering with fear.
"Yeah, yeah, I know you come in the morning for laundry duty." Zeph thought to himself, 'This guy here doesn't even realize that half the maids are sent by his own mother.'
The Duchess, his mother, had her spies everywhere. And by spies, he meant maids. They flitted around the mansion like gossip-hungry hummingbirds.
Again? You see, his mother, the daughter of Duke Liander, married his father for political reasons.
Confusing, right? Well, this lad's father discovered a mana mine, and to gain control, the Duke schemed by marrying off his daughter.
Sounds like a plot from a novel, doesn't it?
A year after marrying the count, she gave birth to this... well, let's just call him a character.
Who knows how pent up his parents were to have him so quickly.
After giving birth, His mother returned back to her own duchy with the mana mine under her ownership.
And the count vowed to protect him just because he resembled his mother, as if he were more like a guarantee for his mother to come back one day.
The mana mine now belongs to Duchess Kassidy Liander, yes, the lad's mother.
Care for him? Not really.
She abandoned her husband once her mission was complete.
She doesn't care about this lad.
The maids are here to keep an eye on him, in case he's a genius. But that mission was called off a year ago, and now there's only one maid left in the entire mansion.
"How dare you! You're going to wash all the mansion's clothes," Zeph snapped, feigning the anger to make this last remaining spy maid to not snitch on him.
"...b-but" Maid's voice trembled under his roar.
"Get out!"
"Y-yes, young master." As she left the room, Zeph could hear her murmuring, "But I'm already the one who washes all the clothes."
Hearing those words from maid, Zeph realised that it was not enough to not awaken any suspicion from that woman. "Hey, wait! You'll wash them without using your hands and legs."
"O_o"
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"Hey, why is your face like this?" the head maid asked, noticing the perplexed expression on the young maid's face.
"Oh, Head Maid," the young maid replied with a sigh, "it's just that the young master ordered me to wash clothes without using my hands and legs."
The head maid raised an incredulous eyebrow. "What? Doesn't he know you wash the entire mansion's clothes alone?"
"That's why I'm bewildered, Head Maid," the young maid replied with a mischievous grin.
"In the first place, I don't even have to touch the clothes to wash them."
As she spoke, a magical spectacle unfolded before their eyes, where she effortlessly used her awakened ability to clean the clothes without lifting a finger or leg, leaving the head maid both amused and impressed by her magical prowess.