Ekaterina then took out a paper and handed it to the older craftsman.

This is your employment contract. I prepared it in consultation with our familys legal counsel. If you do not receive the treatment as promised here, you can sue for breach of contract under the empires laws. In the imperial capital, the craftsmen of the workshop receive a fixed salary no matter how much work they do. Still, for this contract, I have introduced a piece-rate system in addition to the basic salary. If you do your work without straining yourself, we have calculated that you will be paid more than other workshops. And so if you work hard, you will be rewarded for your hard work.

She continued.

However, you must never work too hard. Please keep that in mind. We also state that you will not be laid off without just cause and that we will pay you compensation if you are injured on the job and impaired from working. Since there is no signature from either of you, please take it home and take a good look at it. Please discuss it with your family and decide whether you want to return or not.

I handed them out to the other three craftsmen, who were quite impressed.

3rd Person POV

Rev signed the employment contract on the spot.

With a prototype glass pen that he helped to develop.

Ekaterina smiled at the spirit of the four craftsmen as they stared at her curiously.

She wished that they would return to Murano Workshop.

Looking back, those were the days of excitement.

Ekaterina thought to herself as she listened to the teachers talk in the school classroom in homeroom.

1st Person POV (Ekaterina)

Today was the end of the school ceremony.

The first semester was over, and tomorrow would be the summer vacation.

It seemed as if the entrance ceremony had been just yesterday, and the days had been so long.

Many things happened, such as the events and projects.

At the time of the entrance ceremony, all I cared about was that I had to break Otome Games flag of destruction and doom. That was my only thought.

And the flag of the destruction of the empire, that was, the event of the appearance of magical beasts. However, that was cleared, or rather, Flora-chan cleared it for me.

As for the doom flag at that time, I thought that I wouldnt go near the heroine or the prince, and I wouldnt talk to them. I remember thinking that way.

Well, hahaha.

Yeah, I was utterly goofing off I conversed with her almost every day.

The heroine, Flora-chan, was now my best friend, which was not an exaggeration.

I believe we became close friends.

She was kind, hardworking, and brilliant as well, yet reserved, but with a strong core.

She was a good girl that even a woman in her 30s like me could respect.

And I even talked to her almost every day.

Thats because the other side kept calling out to me! And for the sake of Flora-chan, who was with me, I had to raise the intimacy level.

The villainess was rooting for the heroine and the prince!

The prince always eats one or two lunches that she brings to big brothers office.

He might be slim, but he eats a lot.

Even after discovering that the big brother didnt like sweets, I still made him something sweet because I knew he would like it.

No, it was because I wanted to eat it myself.

There were others who had a sweet tooth, too.

I always thought the prince was a good boy, too.

I think he had a lot of insight.

But I think he might be astute, but he never shows it; he just takes a step back.

He was born with the destiny to become a top executive, so I think he decided to control himself so that he wouldnt become a one-man operation.

That kind of self-control at such a young age was impressive in a different way from my big brother.

And the two of them have a good rivalry in terms of grades.