Chapter 1
Taking care of others was the most difficult task, but for Cloud Sebastian Beaumont, it came effortlessly. Having served as Count Knight’s butler since the age of fourteen, he had long since perfected the craft of attending to others as part of his role.
Although taking care of others came naturally to him, spending every moment with Count Knight was more than he could handle.
His master was like a ball of insanity. Cloud could never anticipate his next move or tell whether he was merely acting crazy or truly eccentric. Yet beneath this unconventional behavior, Count Knight was genuinely kindhearted. People often misunderstood him because he avoided taking credit for his actions, especially his good deeds, but he was the most compassionate man Cloud had ever met.
Perhaps that’s why he remained as his butler. He wanted to care for and support this eccentric man who preferred to perform his acts of kindness in secret.
Throughout his years of service to Count Knight, Cloud came to understand one thing: his master was a lonely man bearing deep emotional scars. He had endured, witnessed, and felt too much. They had suffered together, fought side by side, and survived together...
That’s why Cloud’s primary concern was ensuring his master’s happiness.
Years had passed since he made a vow to protect his master’s happiness, until finally she appeared—her name was Sweet Monday Canja Lopez—the kindest woman Cloud had ever met.
Seeing his master happy with Lady SM made Cloud vow to take care of her as well. What he hadn’t anticipated was Lady SM’s considerable responsibility: her own butler, Jacques Sotelo, a pompous and spoiled Marquess who hardly behaved like a butler at all.
So now he had to care for three people: his eccentric master, his master’s lady, and... the insufferable, domineering Marquess, Lord Jacques.
While managing three people was within Cloud’s capabilities, dealing with the pompous, demanding Marquess left him more exhausted than he’d ever felt before.
Just like today... his patience was wearing thin. Count Knight and Lady SM were out, perhaps on a date or at the café—who knew? And he was left alone in the house with the Marquess.
Cloud had to maintain proper etiquette. Jacques was a Marquess, after all. He needed to maintain a cordial relationship with him. The Marquess could influence Lady SM due to her kind nature, and if Lady SM was affected, it would inevitably impact his Lord as well.
But he never anticipated that maintaining proper etiquette could be this challenging.
“I don’t know how...” These were Lord Jacques’ favorite words, and they were particularly irritating when delivered with his commanding tone.
Though Cloud knew that letting this spoiled Marquess get under his skin wouldn’t do anyone any good.
So Cloud took a deep breath, calmed himself with a gentle exhale, then asked, “You don’t know how to peel a shrimp?”
Lord Jacques shook his head. “They’re always served peeled to me.” He examined the shrimp as if it held the secrets of the universe. “How do you do it?” The Marquess carefully picked up one shrimp and held it close to his face, studying it. “Wow... so many legs.” The Marquess then looked up at Cloud, “How does one eat this thing?”
Cloud could have explained it step by step to this spoiled Marquess, but decided not to, because this pompous Marquess would never understand any of it and it would only drain him.
So he just silently unwrapped all the shrimp for him and put one unwrapped shrimp on the Marquess’ plate.
“Eat it.”
Like an obedient child, the Marquess ate the shrimp. “Good?” He asked while still peeling shrimp.
The Marquess chewed slowly and nodded. “Yeah, it’s good.”
Unconsciously, he put another shrimp on the Marquess’ plate. “You’re really spoiled rotten, huh?”
“Yes.” He admitted casually while eating the food Cloud was putting on his plate.
“Then why did you want to become Lady SM’s butler?” Cloud tsked. “You don’t even know anything.”
“She was my first friend and I like her.”
Cloud shook his head. What a simple reason. “You think being a butler is some kind of a play?” Is this guy even thinking? He’s really annoying. “And about Lady SM, you like her... like romantically?”
“Yes.”
That put him in a sour mood because Cloud knew it would affect his Lord if he ever finds out. Count was very possessive of Lady SM. He stopped peeling and feeding him shrimp. “Eat up and wash the dishes after you’re done.”
“I don’t know how,” Lord Jacques said with that bossy attitude again.
Cloud froze on his step, trying really hard not to snap at the Marquess. “Figure it out yourself, my Lord.”
He would lose his patience if he kept talking to the Marquess. He’s just too clueless! He doesn’t know anything! He has to distance himself from the Marquess before he gets on his nerves!
He left the kitchen and cleaned the house to pass the time. He had already finished cleaning up the second floor and was now moving to the first floor when he heard a loud shattering sound coming from the kitchen.
What is that Marquess doing again?!
Cloud doesn’t want to be annoyed again so he stayed in the living room, cleaning, until he heard Lord Jacques’ voice behind him.
“Cloud, I broke three plates, two glasses and then one mug.” Lord Jacques said it like the plates owed him for breaking them. “How much are those? Let’s go buy a replacement.” He asked as if he was going shopping and hadn’t broken anything!
Leave them be, Cloud replied without turning around, afraid he might not be able to contain his irritation any longer.
“How much are they—”
“How about you start with ‘I’m sorry’?” He stopped vacuuming and faced him. “I’m sure you’re not used to it, but this is not your house, so say it.”
“I rather pay for it.” It seems that he hates the idea of saying sorry. “Why say sorry if I can pay it back?”
Cloud pressed his lips together. This guy was really trying his patience. Be nice, Cloud, be nice. “Those are just cheap plates, just say you’re sorry then we’ll call it quits.”
“I’ll pay for it,” he said with emphasis.
He massaged his temples. “Whatever. Go buy them yourself,” he said dismissively before returning to hold the vacuum. “You can buy those outside. Take a cab and stop at the nearest home depot.”
The Marquess didn’t say anything and just went back to the kitchen, while Cloud focused his attention on cleaning.
After he was done cleaning the second and first floor, he moved to the kitchen to prepare for their meal later. Automatically, he looked around to look for Lord Jacques. When he didn’t see the Marquess there, he had a bad feeling but ignored it. He left the kitchen to search for him but even after going around almost the entire house, he couldn’t find even a shadow of the Marquess.
Cloud tsked as he stands at the bottom of the staircase.
“Fuck...” he let out a harsh breath, “where did that pompous ass go?”
Lady SM had entrusted him to his care. Why does he have to be responsible for that grown ass man, anyway?! He’s too old to need a babysitter!
Still massaging his temples, he headed to the security room to watch the CCTV footage inside the house.
After seeing the footage, Cloud called Shun. But before he could call Shun, he saw that the Marquess had called him several times. He probably called while Cloud was cleaning. He had only just picked up his phone again after all this time.
Cloud was about to call Lord Jacques back when he realized that the Marquess might not know where he was. Knowing that pompous ass, it would be better to call Shun for help.
So he called Shun.
“911,” he said when Shun answered his call. “What happened?” he asked quickly.
“Lady SM’s Butler went out,” he explained while grinding his teeth. “He’s clueless and a sheltered motherfucker. Can you track him down for me?”
“I’ll track his phone. Give me a sec.”
While waiting for an update from Shun, he went to the garage then drove his car out of the gate and left the village.
“That motherfucker...” Cloud muttered, “going out when he doesn’t know shit...”
He slowed down his driving when he received a message from Shun.
From: Hellion
His coordinates.’
Below was Lord Jacques’ location.
Cloud sighed heavily before following the coordinates sent by Shun. The coordinates took him to a relatively quiet area. About an hour away from the village.
Cloud frowned. “What the fuck did that Marquess do this time?”
Cloud didn’t have to wait for an answer because he immediately saw Lord Jacques. He was sitting on the side of the road with his head down.
He looks like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road.
He stopped the car near him, got out of the car and walked towards him. When he stopped in front of him, he held back a sigh of irritation.
“What are you doing here, Lord Jacques?”
He slowly looked up at him, frowning for a few seconds before a smile spread across his lips as if he was happy to see him. “You actually came looking for me.”
Cloud was taken aback by the Marquess’ smile that it made his irritation disappear — he was that stunned for a couple of seconds. Who would have thought that this pompous bossy Marquess can smile genuinely like that just because Cloud went looking for him?
What a spoiled brat.
He cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?” he asked again.
He stood up and dusted off the back of his pants. “I took a cab like you said and I told him where I want to go so I could buy those fucking plates and glasses and mug. But the driver messed with me and just drove around. When I realized what he was fucking doing, he just randomly dropped me off here and left me angrily when I tried paying with my card because I don’t have cash with me.”
He stared at the person in front of him in disbelief. This man was really sheltered.
He doesn’t even know that most taxis don’t accept cards.
Cloud was baffled.
“Then he took my favorite watch. My Dad gave that to me,” the Marquess added, which made him look at him stupidly. “I didn’t resist because I have no other means to pay, so I just let him. And I’d been calling you, you didn’t answer.”
Now he’s flabbergasted. The Marquess doesn’t even mind that he was robbed.
Cloud’s pretty sure that his watch can buy even twenty taxis. He shook his head in disbelief. “Come on. Let’s go.”
He went back to the car first and the Marquess followed him. When he got into the passenger seat, he didn’t leave right away because he was waiting for him to put on his seatbelt but he didn’t move.
Cloud tsked in annoyance. “Put your seatbelt on, Lord Jacques.” He controlled himself from grinding his teeth in irritation.
“What?” He looks clueless.
He firmly closed his eyes to control his irritation before calmly turning to the Marquess. “Seatbelt. Put it on.”
Finally, he moved. But his irritation just fired up when he saw him clumsily trying to put the seatbelt on.
In short ... he doesn’t know how.
After fumbling with the seatbelt and not knowing what to do with it, Lord Jacques finally turned to him. “Help me put it on.”
Cloud knew that shock was written all over his face as he stared at the Marquess, dumbfounded.
He stared at the Marquess in disbelief as he was still trying to put on the seatbelt. He’s now trying to enter his body in between the two straps.
Before he could explode in annoyance, he removed his own seatbelt so he could move freely closer to the Marquess.
Cloud, then, leaned in, their faces were so close as he helped Lord Jacques put his seatbelt on.
Cloud stilled for a couple of seconds when he smelled the Marquess’ scent. They’re that close that he can even smell the sandalwood scent coming from him.
Cloud cleared his throat. “Remember how to do this,” he said while fixing his seatbelt. “I’m not doing this for you again. I’m not your butler. If you wanna stay with Lady SM, you have to know this much.”
“My limousine doesn’t have a seatbelt at the back and someone always puts it on for me whenever I’m riding shotgun, which is very rare, and when I’m driving alone, I don’t wear seatbelt, so ... I don’t know how.”
Cloud went still again when he felt Lord Jacques’ breath fanning his face as he spoke. So even his breath smells good. Cloud wanted to shake his head at all the thoughts entering his mind.
He just kept quiet and finished putting on the seatbelt before adjusting back in the driver’s seat and putting his own seatbelt back on, then drove the car forward.
“I thought you trained to be a butler, but you don’t even know how to put a seatbelt on?”
“About that,” the Marquess trailed and confessed. “I lied.”
“Figures.”
“But I know a little,” the Marquess quickly added. “I mean ... I can clean, I think. I did clean Lady SM’s café.”
“Yey. Good for you,” he said in a sarcastic voice then shook his head. “How are you planning on helping Lady SM when you don’t even know how to put a seatbelt on?”
“You’ll help me.”
Cloud couldn’t help but laugh. The way the Marquess said it, there’s no room for resistance. It’s like he doesn’t even have the right to say no.
Cloud scoffed. “You’ve got guts.”
“I’m a fucking Marquess.” He said dripping with confidence. “Of course I’ve got guts. Teach me everything you know. I’ll pay you.”
Cloud chuckled. “Ah, you think I’m cheap?”
“I’ll pay you millions.” He tried to entice him. “I know you need money. Your Lord is broke, right? Your accounts are frozen too.”
“I don’t need your money.” He said while calmly driving. “But sure, I’ll help you.” It’s better than being annoyed all the time because the pompous Marquess doesn’t know anything. He needs help around the house anyways.
“What do you want in return?” He’s a persistent motherfucker alright. “Nothing is free in this world — I know that much.”
For some reason, Cloud was amused and wanted to play with the Marquess a little. “Fine. Since you’re persistent, I’ll take your offer. From now on, you’ll be the one buying food for the house. You’ll pay all the bills. Everything I need and want, you’ll buy it. Since you’re buying my services with money, I’ll take advantage of it. And from now on, you’re not a Marquess to me, but a Butler in provision. Not only that, I will drop the honorific and just call you Jacques, except if we’re in public.”
“And here I thought you’re a good man.” Lord Jacques commented with sarcasm.
Cloud smirked. “Oh, Lord Jacques, I’m far from being a good man. I’m wicked and I’ll take advantage of you as much as I can. So be prepared, if you want my services, I’ll tell you this, I’m not cheap. And don’t expect me to be nice to you either. I’m gonna scold you whenever I want. Your title means nothing to me.”
Well. That’s a lie. After saying those things, Cloud thought, Oh, shit. This is gonna backfire on me someday. I’m sure of it.
“Sure. Whatever,” said the Marquess as if he didn’t care how Cloud would treat him. “I just wanna stay by milady’s side.”
Cloud glanced at Lord Jacques. So this pompous ass really likes Lady SM romantically. If his boss finds out about this, he’ll surely go ballistic. Lord Knight was a crazy motherfucker, Cloud was sure that his Lordship will make it a big deal.
“You can’t like Lady SM,” he said while keeping his eyes on the road. “Why not?” Lord Jacques demanded.
“Because she’s with my Lord already.”
“They’ll break up someday.”
He shook his head. “That’s not gonna happen. I know my boss, he’s not gonna let her go, so I suggest you move on.”
The Marquess was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. “Have you ever liked someone?”
“Nope.” His answer was faster than lightning.
“Then you don’t have the right to tell me to move on.”
“Fine.” Even though his tone was condescending, for some reason, he felt the need to say more. “Unlike you, Mr. Romantic, I don’t do relationships. I’m busy. It takes a lot of time and effort. Dating is tiring. I’m more of a ‘I’ll fuck you ‘till you drop and I’m gone’ kind of guy.”
“You’re a fucking asshole, you mean.”
Cloud chuckled. “Yep. I’m a fucking asshole and a self-proclaimed whore.”
“Such colorful words...” Lord Jacques muttered sarcastically.
“You cuss at my lord all the time,” Cloud said.
“Yeah, because he’s a motherfucker, while you... “ the Marquess tsked, “I thought you were nice.”
Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not. He drove even faster.
“Don’t pretend to be nice again. I hate those kind of people.”
Cloud glanced at the Marquess, “Ah, so you like the honest kind — I’m not that though. I’m not nice, I’m dishonest, I’m a user and I’m as wicked as my master.”
“In short, you’re a bad person.”
“Yep.” Cloud grinned at the Marquess. “And this bad person is gonna teach you Butler 101.”
“Whatever.” Lord Jacques was silent afterwards.
“Come on now, don’t be silent with me.” He teasingly cooed at the Marquess. “It’s a one hour drive back home. Since it seems that we’ll be staying in the same house for a while and I’m teaching you how to be a butler, let’s get to know each other. What do you say?”
“Fuck off.”
Cloud wondered what it would look like when he gets really angry. That’ll be a very amusing sight for sure.
“Though I already know you,” he continued speaking, “so, how about you get to know me?” He said while playfully wiggling his eyebrows at the Marquess.
“Eyes on the road, you motherfucker.” Lord Jacques hissed.
Cloud tsked. “Now, now, that’s not the proper way to treat the person who’s gonna help you.”
“I’m paying you,” he said with emphasis.
“So? I’m still doing you a favor.” Cloud remained calm. “Do you think it’s easy to teach someone like you who knows nothing?”
“I’m a fast learner.”
“We’ll see about that.” He smirked and continued driving.
The Marquess was silent the whole ride, so was he. When they entered the village and returned to the house, Lady SM and his crazy boss were already there.
He saw how the Marquess’ face lit up when he saw SM in the living room. He secretly shook his head.
He likes her that much?
He went straight to the kitchen to prepare food when the Marquess came in.
“What are you doing here?” He frowned at him. “Shouldn’t you be in the living room, with Lady SM?”
He walked closer to him. “You agreed to teach me how to become a Butler like you. Let’s start now, so I can properly support milady.”
He sighed. Why did he think teaching him was a good idea? Looking at the Marquess’ determined face now, he wants to take it back.
This ... is not amusing at all.
“Well?” He spoke, breaking Cloud’s thoughts. “What do I need to learn first?”
“Depends.” Cloud washed his hands at the sink. “What do you want to eat for dinner?”
The Marquess paused. “Why are you asking me?”
“Just tell me so I can cook it for you,” he said.
“But—”
“I already know what my Lord and Lady SM want to eat,” he said then faced the Marquess who was looking at him curiously. “Now tell me what you wanna eat.”
The Marquess blinked at him. “I thought you’re not nice.”
“What’s so nice about asking you what you wanna eat?”
“Nobody has ever asked me before,” the Marquess said in an almost whisper, “my meals are already planned for the whole month.”
Cloud’s face grimaced. “The hell?”
“Yep.” He laughed softly. “It’s for my health, according to my family’s nutritionist.”
“Uh-huh...” Cloud hummed, still shocked at the planned meal for a whole month. “So...” he forced himself to ask, “what do you wanna eat?”
“Vegetable salad.”
He winced. “Someone finally asked you what you want to eat and you want to eat some salad?”
“Well, I wanna try it. Some say it’s good, I wanna taste for myself,” the Marquess explained but there was a strange emotion on his face that Cloud couldn’t read. “If you don’t know how to make it then—”
“For your fucking information, Lord Jacques, I’m a fucking chef, that means I can cook anything, even you, if you piss me off.”
The Marquess chuckled. “What happened to the ‘I’ll call you Jacques from now on when we’re not in public’?” He reminded him of what Cloud said while they were in the car.
He grinned at the Marquess sarcastically. “Don’t be so cheeky, you motherfu—” he stopped then sighed and shook his head as he spoke, “it’s not even worth cursing at you.”
Lord Jacques laughed and for a couple of seconds, Cloud was just staring at him, unaware of what he was doing until the Marquess spoke. “So... how can I help you? What do Butlers do in this situation?”
Cloud cleared his throat then pointed at the fridge. “Get one cucumber, two tomatoes, five radishes, one jicama and six lettuce leaves. Then get some bell pepper on the side, green onion and garlic.”
The Marquess immediately complied while Cloud prepared the food for his crazy boss and Lady SM.
Cloud was planning to make the vegetable salad first, but because the Marquess was taking a long time, he’s now getting ready to cook Pork Chops with Raspberry Sauce.
Cloud sighed and left what he was doing to check what was happening with the Marquess.
And he found the Marquess peeking inside the ref while there’s a phone in his one hand. There was something on his phone that he would look at first before looking inside the fridge.
“What are you doing?” He asked, confused.
The Marquess immediately stood straight while the fridge remained open. “Finding the ingredients you mentioned.”
Cloud frowned. “And how long do you think it takes to find those ingredients?”
The Marquess glanced at the ref. “I don’t know what the other ingredients look like, only tomatoes, so,” he showed Cloud his phone, “I was asking ChatGPT what they look like.”
Cloud didn’t know whether to laugh or be irritated at the Marquess. Those ingredients are not even hard to recognize. Just perfect. Note the sarcasm.
But in the end, Cloud chose to be calm. There’s no point getting angry at the man who really doesn’t know anything because he was raised with a golden spoon in his mouth. “What else can’t you find?” He asked.
“Cucumber—”
“—Oh—”
“—what does it look like?”
“It’s green and it looks like a big fat dick,” he explained to the Marquess what it looked like. “You can’t miss it.”
And to his shock, the Marquess takes out a big and long green fruit.
“Is this it?” Lord Jacques was holding a bitter gourd.
He looked at the Marquess blankly, annoyed. “I said big fat dick, not long small wrinkled dick.”
“Oh.” He put the bitter gourd back in the fridge then took something else out and immediately showed it to him. It’s a cucumber this time. “I’m sure this is it.”
He shook his head while looking at the Marquess, “I don’t think I’ll get out from teaching you Butler 101 unscathed. You, my Lord, are driving me crazy.”
The stupid idiot just smiled at him.
Cloud approached the Marquess, this time, he wasn’t surprised by his good smell when he got close. The scent of sandalwood really smells good on him that Cloud has to stop himself from sniffing. He cleared his throat then took his phone and searched for an article using google.
When he found what he was looking for, he handed the phone back to the Marquess. “See this article? It’s a list of all the fruits, vegetables and spices with pictures. Memorize them.” After saying that, he brought the ingredients for the Vegetable Salad to the island counter and started cooking dinner.
While cooking, he would glance at the Marquess and occasionally shake his head.
Cloud was ransacking his mind, trying to remember if he ever found a man’s scent and breath that made him freeze and appreciate it. But no matter how much he searched his mind, he couldn’t find any. Never in his life did he ever find a man that made him want to sniff his scent — though if it’s women, he has a long list of them.
I’m having a bad feeling about this. This will not turn out good. Cloud can already feel it, and normally, he would listen to his gut, but for some reason, he discarded it.
It’s just teaching the Marquess how to be a Butler... what could go wrong?
Translator's Note: Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This is my first time translating and using Blogger so let me know if there's parts that could be improved on (but please be gentle UwU). Of course, if you appreciate the story, please support the author Mx Cecelib. Thank you! See you on the next chapter!
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