Chapter 17 - Wei Wei’s Decision

During her days living in the castle, Wei Wei's most frequent contact was with Dolores.

The young lady of the count's household had grown up under her father's neglect, which had cultivated a personality that, to put it nicely, was reserved—but to be blunt, was timid and weak.

Dolores' timidity was most evident in her fear of strangers. Aside from the maid who cared for her, she rarely interacted with others, including her brother, Felix.

To Felix, this was completely unacceptable—nothing like how a noble lady should behave.

It also made him worry whether Dolores would be able to integrate into a noble society two years later.

When the butler reported that Dolores had been getting along well with Wei Wei over the past few days, Felix was surprised. At the same time, his desire to keep Wei Wei grew stronger.

Not to mention, he had indeed fallen for this young lady from the East at first sight and dearly hoped to win her favor.

If he didn't find a way to keep her here, he wasn't sure he would ever get another chance to pursue the woman who had captured his heart.

Felix's father was a count, and his mother was the daughter of a royal princess. His noble birth was undeniable. Though he was a second son and could not inherit the title, he was handsome, exceptionally skilled in combat, and a knight personally honored by the king. His future was bright, and back in the capital, he was highly sought after by noble ladies and their mothers alike. Yet in his twenty-four years of life, he had never once experienced the feeling of falling in love.

Despite being a grown man, Felix held a surprisingly romantic notion—he believed love should be a beautiful, fateful moment of love at first sight. If his heart didn't stir at first glance, then it wasn't the kind of love he wanted.

It wasn't that he couldn't appreciate other women's beauty, but whenever he looked at those widely praised as beautiful, he always felt that something was missing—some indescribable quality that would truly move him.

That was until he met Wei Wei. The moment he saw her, it was as if Cupid's arrow had struck him—his heartbeat raced, his blood surged with excitement, and he knew: this was what he had been searching for.

If Wei Wei knew what he was thinking, she would probably be unable to agree with it.

As luck would have it, her view on love was the complete opposite of Felix's. She had never believed in love at first sight, nor was she particularly fond of the idea of love growing over time. In truth, her stance on love had always been indifferent—something neither necessary nor particularly desirable.

To put it bluntly, she was the type who would prefer to stay single forever. If that wasn't possible, then she would simply choose someone she found decent enough to get along with and settle for a practical partnership.

Love had never been within her scope of consideration.

That said, Felix's proposal did tempt her.

Setting aside his obvious ulterior motives, accepting employment at the castle was indeed the best option for her at the moment.

She would be living in the County of Sardinson from now on, and besides purchasing a house and land, she also needed a respectable job.

However, the opportunities for women in this era were still extremely limited. Finding a suitable job was difficult—especially for an outsider like her. If she hadn't been lucky enough to meet Felix, the locals probably wouldn't have accepted her so easily.

And the range of jobs available to women was very narrow. Among them, the most respectable position was that of a noble family's private tutor.

Moreover, becoming Dolores' tutor would place her under the Williams family's protection, making her life in Sardinson much smoother—nothing but advantages.

Considering all these factors, the job was indeed a great choice.

Having confirmed her interest, Wei Wei began to evaluate whether she could teach Dolores.

What exactly did noble ladies of this era need to learn?

They often strolled through the gardens together. Dolores didn't speak much, but when Wei Wei asked her something, she would answer in a voice as soft as an ant's whisper, sharing bits of her daily life.

Apart from the mandatory etiquette lessons, she also studied dance and music. Additionally, she frequently did embroidery and read books. Beyond that, there didn't seem to be much else.

It was a textbook example of a noble lady's education.

Since they only conversed during their walks and Dolores spent the rest of her time attending lessons, Wei Wei, being a courteous guest, never insisted on observing her classes. As a result, she wasn't sure about Dolores' level of proficiency. However, if it was music or embroidery, she might be able to teach.

She originally hadn't known how to embroider, but after acquiring life skills from the system, she had secretly tried it herself. Sewing skills encompassed various embroidery techniques, and as long as it was Chinese embroidery—whether Shu embroidery, Xiang embroidery, Su embroidery, or Yue embroidery—she was proficient in all of them. Once she got started, she was absolutely at a master's level.

As for music, Wei Wei had majored in the konghou at university. However, before entering college, she had studied the harp.

Although she hadn't played the harp in years, regaining her skills wouldn't be difficult with some practice.

And since harps already existed in this era, she could teach Dolores if she wanted to learn. She could even teach the konghou if Dolores was interested—after all, her system inventory contained a konghou, which was a unique factional instrument in the game she played as a female healer. One of the reasons she had chosen that character was precisely because of its musical connection.

The konghou had once disappeared from China for a time, and when it was revived, its design and playing techniques bore many similarities to the harp. With her konghou as a model, finding a skilled craftsman to replicate one wouldn't be difficult.

Having confirmed that she did possess the skills to teach Dolores, Wei Wei felt much more confident about the job.

After pondering for a while, she finally voiced her decision:

"I can serve as Dolores' tutor, but I must decline the housekeeper position."

Felix, who had been watching her deep in thought with furrowed brows, had assumed she was going to refuse. When he heard her response, he let out a breath of relief.

Although she had rejected the housekeeper role, the fact that she was willing to stay was enough—other matters could be negotiated later.

"Then I'll leave Dolores in your care. If possible, I'd also like you to keep an eye on the kitchen."

Ever since tasting the food Wei Wei had prepared, Felix had been unable to forget it—he was eager to enjoy more in the future.

Wei Wei was more than happy to oblige. In fact, over the past few days, the castle's head chef, Bob, had frequently sought her advice, and she had been generous with her guidance for the sake of her taste buds.

Next, they discussed salary. Felix didn't go overboard with his offer—he set it at the standard rate for private tutors, with an additional stipend for overseeing the kitchen, totaling two gold coins per month.

It might not seem like much, but in this era, even the lowest-ranked baron's yearly income from his fief ranged between 200 to 500 gold coins, and commoners often struggled to earn even two gold coins in a year. For Wei Wei to receive twenty gold coins annually was already a substantial salary.

Wei Wei was very satisfied. From what she knew, maids like Qin and Penny earned less than two silver coins a month.

With her salary settled, she moved on to the topic she most wanted to discuss with Felix—land.

Felix had no intention of selling his private estate. Selling land was something only destitute nobles did—if he dared to do such a thing, his father would probably rise from his grave to beat him.

What he was offering Wei Wei was land within his estate—specifically, the fields allocated to his serfs for farming.

Serfs occupied a status somewhere between freemen and slaves. They did not own land but were granted plots to farm by the lord. In return, they had no personal freedom, could not leave the lord's estate, and were required to provide unpaid labor, cultivate the lord's fields, perform various corvée duties, and hand over a large portion of their harvest.

Felix intended to sell Wei Wei some land along with the serfs working on it.

This was an act of goodwill. If Wei Wei wanted to buy land, she would inevitably need people to farm it for her. Felix's arrangement saved her the trouble of hiring workers.

However, he made one condition clear—once the land was transferred to Wei Wei, she would not be allowed to sell it to outsiders. If, in the future, she no longer wanted it (which Wei Wei suspected was Felix's way of assuming she would mismanage it), she could only sell it back to the Williams family.

Beyond that, he also offered her a privilege normally reserved for nobility.

Sardinson County's tax system, like all noble territories, was complex. In addition to land taxes, there were various levies such as the poll tax, firewood tax, marriage tax, and the church's tithe—meaning one-tenth of the land's yield belonged to the church. Altogether, these burdens often resulted in the lord taking half or more of the land's total production.

Furthermore, both freemen and serfs were required to perform labor for the lord. If they refused, they had to compensate with grain or money, which was yet another significant financial burden.

Nobles, however, were different. From knights upward, the aristocracy was exempt from taxes. Instead, they fulfilled their obligations by serving their liege. For example, the knights of Sardinson County served Felix, and in return, their fiefs functioned as their salaries. Aside from paying the church's tithe, they were not subject to additional taxation.

If their lord was generous, they might even receive extra rewards.

Since Wei Wei was now going to serve as Dolores' tutor, she was, in a way, providing service to Felix as well. Therefore, he granted her tax exemption without any hesitation—it was a perfectly justified decision in his mind.