"H-h-how did you know?"
Vincent continued to caress Jasmine's head. He didn't look at Anastasia and replied, "How I know isn't important. What's important is how everything will be from here onwards."
"Young Master Vincent—"
"You can drop the act. I know you don't have an ounce of respect for me or for this family and are just doing it for the sake of your job." Vincent's eyes were sharp as he stared into his maid's flickering blue eyes.
Anastasia didn't know what to say anymore. She was at a complete loss of words. From the moment she entered the room, she was in Vincent's complete control.
'Should I kill myself now or kill this man first and then kill myself?' Anastasia gritted her teeth and thought.
Death was cheap for a regressor and she could always restart.
Vincent could not read minds but he had a rough guess on what this girl might be thinking. It was easily readable from her face.
Vincent shook his head and said, "If you think you can kill me now and restart, you're very much mistaken."
"Why?" Anastasia frowned and asked.
Vincent went back to staring at his cute fiancé's sleeping face. She had her brows knitted as if she was having a nightmare. He gently ran his hands over her head to ease her problems.
"It's because you don't have the ability. There's nothing in this room you can use to kill me and by the time you grab something, I can alert the guards and get you killed."
Anastasia bit her lower lip, hard. 'What is happening this time? How are things so different and how did this timid Young Master get so bold? What caused such a change!?'
Anastasia calculated and she knew she couldn't escape even if she wanted to.
If she tried to physically strangle Vincent, there was the young lady of the Forger Family beside him. She would be alerted and may end up taking action herself and then calling the guards.
Anastasia was confident that she couldn't fight the Forger Family's young lady. This woman was really strong.
Vincent may not know it and couldn't guess it from Jasmine's behavior, but this young lady was an absolute unit on her own.
She had been a blacksmith before she could even walk. Holding heavy iron was as easy as breathing for her and naturally, her strength wasn't something to look down upon.
She was a famous person in Anastasia's every run and there were many tales of her.
Anastasia wasn't stupid to fall out with such a person at this point of time.
Looking at Jasmine sleeping soundly, she turned to Vincent and saw his shrewd red eyes in a new light.
'He called me here when she slept for his safety. He probably doesn't know how strong Lady Jasmine is but kept her by his side so I wouldn't do anything reckless. How did he suddenly become so scheming? He wasn't like this before and just died a week later from today.'
Anastasia took a deep breath and asked, "What do you want, Young Master Vincent?"
"Talking to smart people saves a lot of time." Vincent smiled. "I'm glad you aren't thinking of ending yourself and restarting."
"You can't stop me from restarting." Anastasia shook her head and said, as a matter-of-factly.
Vincent's smile widened when he heard that. "I can't stop you from dying, but every time you restart, you will be a maid of the D'Arc House. I can have you killed immediately. How many times do you think you can restart?"
Another chill ran down Anastasia's spine. This time, she fervently trembled and hugged her arms, feeling genuinely scared at the thought of this.
Vincent was successful. While the iron was still hot, he striked, "If you make an enemy out of me, nothing good will come out. How about we cooperate instead? I don't know what your end goal is, but mine is simply to live a life of calm and peace with my ladies."
"You know the future events while I am the son of a Baroness and have all the necessary resources to help you with whatever you want. Cooperate with me and I'll ensure you achieve your goals and are never treated poorly. I'll remove the maid tag from you immediately once you agree so you don't have to do the menial tasks of serving my family anymore."
Anastasia did not answer and contemplated for a while.
Vincent did not disturb her.
'...do I have any other choice in this life or in future?' Anastasia did not take Vincent's threat lightly. Nobody knew of her power to regress and she had no clue how Vincent found out. She could only guess that he may have a power that allowed him to know he is repeating the events.
'I don't know how scheming he is, but from the small glimpse I just saw, I don't want to take any risks. What if he's just as big of a schemer as those church people or royalties?'
The very sight of knowing she would be immediately killed upon restarting scared her. Her powers would mean nothing and she would end up going mad.
'Though, if he's as scheming as them, maybe he can go against them?'
Anastasia was already on Vincent's side but she was now calculating how she could turn the situation to her favor.
She understood one fact well, and it was that there was no escaping Vincent. She couldn't tell whether he was bluffing or not but she didn't want to take a risk.
Cautiousness was her second nature and she would be on a complete losing side if she died now, restarted, and fell into Vincent's clutches. He would know that she wasn't willing to cooperate and may end up doing who knows what to her.
'Since I can't escape him, I can only join him. He also is sincere by allowing me to not be a maid anymore. He's also willing to help me achieve my goals. Well, let's see what he wants in return. I'll answer him based on that.'
This could be said to be her fourth life. Anastasia had long grown out of her immature self and thought things more rationally. She weighed the pros and cons and came to a decision to cooperate.
"What does Young Master Vincent want from me? If it's anything unreasonable, then I won't agree." Anastasia was firm and took her stand.
Vincent smiled. 'Success. My bluff worked out! Now I just need to reap the benefits of my hardwork.'
"What I want is information. Nothing more. I will not ask you to do unreasonable things like charge into a lion's den and die."
This sounded really good and made Anastasia somewhat suspicious. But then again, even if Vincent were to ask her for something, she had nothing on her to give. She was just a maid at this point of time.
Also, she knew Vincent didn't lack anything.
If it was information, she had tons of it.
Anastasia finally heaved a sigh of relief and stood up, then bowed to almost ninety degrees as a show of respect and cooperation. Nobles took such gestures seriously and she wanted to show her sincerity lest he had some other thoughts and caused trouble to her in her later runs.
"Please accept my sincerest apologies for being rude in the morning and I hope you will let bygones be bygones."
"Sit down. It's not a big deal." Vincent said calmly and waved his hand.
Anastasia didn't sit. She stopped bowing and said with a serious tone, "I have a request before we start our cooperation."
"And that is?"
"You should treat me as an equal. That's all. Not someone inferior to you as if I'm a lowly slave or someone you can easily trample upon." Anastasia's brows knitted as she recalled some uncomfortable memories.
Vincent raised his eyebrow in interest. This looked like trauma he could exploit.
[...]
[The host is a S-tier scumbag.]
Vincent ignored the system and said, "What if I refuse?"
"Then I will just die. Even if you kill me in the restarts, I'll just die. I'll keep dying, there's nothing more to it. Isn't it only death? I'll go through it as many times as it happens." Anastasia left no room for negotiations and was firm.
Vincent was pleasantly surprised by this and raised his eyebrows in amusement.
"Sit down, Miss Anastasia." He commanded and did not give her a reply yet. "And keep your voice down. My fiancé's tired and needs a good rest."
Anastasia felt somewhat bitter after hearing that. She reluctantly sat down and fidgeted in her seat. Her reaction just now was extreme and she hoped it didn't give Vincent other thoughts.
Vincent rubbed his temples and said, "You do know how statuses work and how sensitive of a topic it is for the nobles, right?"
Anastasia nodded. She knew.
"Then, what makes you believe I'll treat you as an equal? Once you stop being a maid, you'll be a commoner and I won't see you as anything else but a commoner. You won't get to command me or alter my decisions."
Anastasia bit her lip after hearing that. This topic was very uncomfortable and what Vincent said had truth to it, she didn't want for this to happen.
Vincent sighed visibly. "Miss Anastasia—"
"Young Master Vincent, how about this then?" Anastasia interrupted. "If I continue being your maid, you will treat me with respect and kindness, not order me around as you wish or make me do something unreasonable. I'll be your personal maid and this way, you can relieve me off my duties for your family by keeping me by your side. And when I wish to venture outside or move on my own, you'll allow me to do it."
This was sudden but Anastasia had no other card to play at the moment.
If she became a commoner, she would firstly be thrown between them and would struggle to find a backer.
In the previous times, she was taken in by other nobles purely due to her identity as a maid of the D'Arc family. Her current status was above the commoners but she was still a commoner nonetheless.
By being a maid, she was keeping her backing safe.
In a week's time, the D'Arc House will cease to exist. It would be a great pity if she became a commoner at this point of time.
Vincent, upon hearing this, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If this girl had pushed him more, he would've had no choice but to accept.
During negotiations, one should not let their emotions get the better of them. Anastasia's only mistake today was this.
Vincent continued to keep a stoic expression and said, "Very well. From today, you are my personal maid and are to tend to all of my needs. I will let you wander freely but won't allow it if there's important work present."
Anastasia nodded. She just wanted to get this over with because she didn't think the House of D'Arc had any high chances of survival.
Vincent smiled. "Then, since all of the trivial matters are taken care of, let's get to the main topic"
"Where were you planning to go tomorrow night?"