And then, several days later.
“The study seems to have gotten messy again. I suppose I’ll need to reorganize it.”
“From over there to here.”
“No, Lily, you stay here.”
“That ornament bothers me. Again.”
Instructions unlike usual kept spilling from the Grand Duke’s mouth.
No, more precisely, it was similar to the work I had done when I first became a personal maid.
At that, I thought once again.
‘……Why is he really acting like this?’
For now, it was certain that it started after our glaring contest at the training grounds.
I just didn’t know the reason.
‘Yashin doesn’t seem to know either.’
I casually probed just in case, and he spent two days straight talking about how great it was to spar with His Highness.
For reference, the realizations he gained from those sparring matches were passed on to me wholesale.
At this rate, what if I actually get transferred to being a knight?
I was starting to get scared.
“Sigh…….”
Just as I was walking down the corridor, letting out a deep sigh at the hopeless reality in many ways—
“Um, Lilian!”
A group wearing the same maid uniforms called out to me from not far away.
‘Charlotte, Melissa, Darlene…….’
Familiar faces.
We weren’t especially close, but we were on casual speaking terms from occasionally working together.
Last time, I’d taught them a tip for easily removing grease stains.
‘I wonder if it helped at all.’
While I was thinking that, the three had already come up to me.
Then they began whispering among themselves, exchanging glances.
“Are you really going to tell her?”
“Yeah, for something like this, the person involved should know!”
“But she might get hurt for no reason…….”
“Wouldn’t it hurt more if we kept our mouths shut?”
“I-is that so?”
At Charlotte’s rather firm words, the other two rolled their eyes with uncertain expressions.
It seemed they had something to tell me.
Judging by the atmosphere, it didn’t seem like good news.
“It’s fine, so tell me.”
I smiled as if it were nothing.
From experience, it’s better to hear these things.
Otherwise, you end up being the only one who doesn’t know and looking like a fool.
“Actually…….”
At that, Charlotte, who had been the most proactive, cautiously opened her mouth.
She explained things in a surprisingly logical manner, and the two beside her chimed in from time to time with their own opinions.
And so, after a while.
Having heard all of this, I asked back.
“So, what you’re saying is that Ivy has been spreading bad rumors about me?”
“Uh—!”
The three answered simultaneously.
“That you’re strange, Lilian, that you clearly have some kind of ulterior motive.”
“And she only gossips about it to people who seem easy to push around! Honestly!”
“Of course, they seem to just brush it off. Just in case you misunderstand…….”
The three added remarks one after another.
Their ways of expressing it were different, but the intent was roughly the same.
To summarize what they said, it was this.
Recently, Ivy had been jealous (?) of me and was going around badmouthing me to maids who were gentle-natured or who had joined later than her.
‘So that’s why?’
No wonder the reactions of some of the kids had been awkward these past few days.
I’d been so preoccupied because of the Grand Duke that I hadn’t thought deeply about it.
To think there was a backstory like that.
“Anyway, we thought you should know.”
Charlotte finished speaking and checked my complexion.
Like the others had said, she seemed worried that I might have been hurt.
‘I’m fine, though.’
Honestly, I felt nothing much.
It’s not like I’d never been badmouthed in my life, and she hadn’t directly harassed me yet.
Besides, Ivy’s behind-the-back talk was cute compared to my past life.
‘More than that, these guys are more surprising.’
We weren’t even that close with Lilian, yet they’d gone out of their way to find me and tell me the situation.
It was truly unexpected goodwill.
“Thank you, everyone.”
I expressed my gratitude sincerely.
At that, the three exchanged glances as if embarrassed and spoke.
“It’s nothing, really.”
“Right, honestly, we couldn’t even confront her directly.”
“Me neither…….”
Darlene, who was soft-hearted, hung her head with a sullen face.
At that, I hurriedly waved my hands.
“No, something like this should be resolved between the parties involved anyway! Just telling me is enough.”
This was sincere.
From what I heard, Ivy was the head maid’s niece or something?
It would be difficult for maids with short careers to stand up to someone like that.
Especially for a coworker they weren’t even that close with.
‘I did wonder why someone who snaps sharp words so often didn’t cause major friction.’
There was a reason.
Come to think of it, her eyes did look a bit like the head maid’s.
Or maybe not?
“Liliaaan……!”
While I was quietly picturing the head maid and Ivy’s faces, the three looked at me pitifully.
I’m really fine, though…….
‘Whatever else, it seems Lilian has some luck with people.’
With this kind of reaction, it seemed no matter how much Ivy badmouthed me, there’d be no problem.
Not just these three—the other maids said they brushed it off too.
So the rumors about Lilian would soon die down.
I unconsciously relaxed my tensed shoulders.
Then, a good idea suddenly came to mind.
“Ah, by the way, may I ask—”
I looked at the three and asked in the gentlest tone I could manage.
“Do you know where Ivy is right now?”
* * *
It was truly good fortune that Ivy had come to work at the Pellium Grand Ducal estate.
‘They say they’re a bit short-handed right now.’
A year ago, at her eldest aunt’s house, which she had stopped by while looking for work, she received a special offer.
Though it was her first time meeting her aunt since childhood, Ivy nodded without hesitation.
‘Yes, I’ll do it!’
She was already the unwanted child of the family, having broken off two engagements.
If that was the case, working at the estate of the Grand Duke, the Empire’s war hero, would be far better for her future.
‘And eventually…….’
She would claim the position of head maid of a grand estate, just like her eldest aunt.
Without fail!
“First, finish all the laundry here, and the remaining personnel to the kitchen—”
The work itself wasn’t difficult.
For her, who had done housework since childhood as the eldest daughter of a large family, maid work was simply the repetition of familiar actions.
If anything, the working environment was better than when she had occasionally worked at other estates.
“Your skills are quite good.”
Having finally earned the acknowledgment of her blunt eldest aunt, Ivy’s confidence hit its peak.
She could already see her future self as the head maid of the Grand Ducal estate.
And so, when she had been working at the Grand Ducal estate for nearly a year, one day.
“Hello, my name is Lilian.”
A squirrel-like, round-faced girl who was extremely shy joined as a newcomer.
In truth, half of those who joined as probationary hires either failed to adapt to the atmosphere here and left, or were thrown out.
That was why Ivy didn’t bother remembering most newcomers.
But the girl named Lilian was an exception she couldn’t help but remember, and the reason was simple.
“Kyaa, Lilian—!”
Because she was so bad at her work.
How bad, you ask?
She seemed like someone who had never encountered housework once in her life.
It was so bad that among the servants, there were even bets on ‘When will Lilian quit?’
‘Well, for someone like that, she seems to be getting along pretty shamelessly.’
Separate from her work skills, most people held goodwill toward Lilian.
She quietly appeared and helped them, or so they said.
‘Hmph! What’s so great about that?’
Of course, Ivy didn’t pay it much mind.
After all, she was someone who had earned her eldest aunt’s trust, and Lilian was a newbie who had just joined.
She couldn’t even do her work properly!
The one who had started to grate on her was about a month ago.
“By the way, Lilian, your laundry skills have improved a lot, haven’t they?”
“Good heavens, you already finished that?”
“W-what? Why is she so good……?”
Suddenly, Lilian had changed.
