Chapter 14

“Um, Mr. Joseph.”

“Yes, Lord Hudson.”

“Please prescribe some of that stomach medicine for me. A lot of it, if possible. A lot.”

“…Drug abuse is not good… Haa, yes. I will give it to you.”

Everyone’s faces seemed to have become gaunt in just a short while, but…?

It was a not-so-bad entrance to the ducal estate.

* * *

“Wooow.”

“Wooow!”

“Wooow!”

My admiration didn’t stop every time I looked around.

The ducal residence was truly a magnificent place.

Everywhere was filled with ivory marble, and the blue decorations placed here and there were incredibly cool.

The statues were cool, the decorated flowers were pretty, and…

Everything was just cool!

‘This is really my first time in a place like this.’

Even though it’s my second life, it was my first time in my life visiting such a luxurious mansion.

If it’s this scale, I could believe it if someone said it was a palace of a small kingdom.

As I continuously exclaimed ‘wow’, the Duke let out a small laugh.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes. Sparkwy… wike youw face, Duke!”

At my comment, half flattery and half sincere, the Duke’s hand lightly pinched my cheek.

‘But he seems to be in a good mood, right?’

Hehe.

But separate from liking the cool ducal residence, the pressure grew.

‘Can I get along well in a place like this? Can I do a great job at playing the role of the Duke’s daughter?’

Even if I force my head into clothes that don’t fit, it doesn’t mean I can wear them.

Grr.

‘Whatever. I still have to try my best.’

The fortunate thing was the reaction of the people in the mansion.

Actually, I was worried they wouldn’t believe in the existence of an illegitimate child who appeared out of nowhere.

“…So you are the Young Lady. Yes, I see. I look forward to working with you, Young Lady. I am Joseph, the ducal family’s physician.”

Mr. Joseph the doctor was like that too.

“…I also greet you. I am Hudson Woo-ugh-, the Duke’s aide. Please call me comfortably. Kuff.”

Mr. Hudson with the gaunt face was like that too.

“Hello, Young Lady.”

“I look forward to working with you, Young Lady.”

“Kyaa! So cute… Khem. I look forward to working with you, Miss.”

All the servants I encountered also greeted me as ‘Young Lady’ without a care.

‘Rather, they accept it so nonchalantly that I’m the one who’s more puzzled.’

I definitely thought there would be people who doubted or opposed it.

Well, whatever, is it a good thing?

Unaware that all of this was thanks to the Duke, who was wearing a bloodthirsty smile behind me, I just ran my positive thinking circuits wildly.

“Take her, wash her up, and feed her something.”

“Yes, Duke!”

The Duke handed me over to a maid named Ena and disappeared.

“See you later, Marshmallow.”

With a short greeting.

Held in Ena’s arms, I waved my hand vigorously at the receding Duke.

‘An attitude of working hard even when out of sight.’

I am the thorough four-year-old Melony!

“I look forward to serving you from now on, Miss. It is truly an honor to serve you!”

“Yeah. Pwease take cawe of me…”

“Hup. So cute.”

“Huh?”

“No! I mean, I am the one who really, really looks forward to your guidance!”

Fortunately, Ena seemed to be an energetic and affectionate person.

‘Ah, being like this makes me think of Sister Jeanne and Ricky.’

After the Duke’s shocking declaration, things happened so frantically that I left without even properly saying goodbye, which bothered me.

Especially, I didn’t even get to see Sister Jeanne’s face…

‘It would be nice if I could hear news about them.’

I briefly thought about asking the Duke, then quickly folded the thought.

‘Already thinking about asking for favors!’

Pull yourself together, Melony.

Be careful, Melony.

I need to be careful not to get comfortable without realizing it and start being greedy!

“Here, we’ve arrived, Miss.”

While I was pulling myself together, we had arrived at the bathroom.

‘This place is… everything is huge.’

It was my first time in my life seeing such a huge bathroom and bathtub.

There were a few more maids in the bathroom who had arrived beforehand.

“We will wash you first, then change your clothes.”

“Yes.”

I obediently followed their words.

Since they were people I would be spending time close to from now on, I needed to make a good impression.

Reputation in the mansion is important for becoming a full-time employee, after all.

But when it actually came time to take off my clothes and get into the water, I hesitated for a moment.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Young Lady?”

“Huh? That is…”

“……?”

“Mmm. It’s nothing.”

After hesitating for a moment, I smiled awkwardly and shook my head.

The moment the water touched my toes like that.

“…Huh?”

I widened my eyes and looked down at the water my feet were in.

“How is the bathwater, Miss?”

“Weally… wawm.”

At my dazed answer, Ena trembled all over.

“Did you hear that? She said it’s warm. Wow, my heart is getting warm.”

“Snap out of it, Ena. We need to focus on work.”

“Ah, right. I need to focus. If you need anything else, please let me know, Miss!”

Ena, who supported my body so I could get into the water easily, asked energetically.

‘Something I need?’

Shake, shake.

“I don’t need anything. It’s so nice awweady. This is my fiwst time with wawm watew and nice-smewwing soap.”

It was a sincere sentiment without a single ounce of falsehood.

‘My worries were ridiculous…’

Because every bath I experienced in the past was unpleasant.

Inwardly, I had a bit of a fear of bathing.

In prison, I washed together when the sisters and brothers washed, but because water was precious, I had to wash quickly. At the orphanage-.

“Why do I have to wash these things! So annoying, seriously.”

The anger-laced touch painfully rubbed my body. I could only escape the rough touch once my skin turned red.

‘It felt like I had become laundry.’

Furthermore, the water was as cold as ice, so after the bath, I had to shiver for a while.

It was cold. My skin stung.

‘I really hated it.’

But bathing here was different.

The water was warm, the soap was fragrant, and the bubbles were fluffy.

The touches of the two people rubbing my body were also soft and careful.

This kind of bath was a first in my life.

“To think it’s my first time washing with warm water…”

“From now on, I’m pro-warm water. Warm water even if I die from the heat. I accept rebuttals with death.”

“Huh? What did you just say…”

“Haha, it’s nothing, Miss.”

“That’s right, Miss.”

The two of them laughed and waved their hands.

‘…Strange.’

It seemed like she muttered something with a really bloodthirsty face.

Tilting my head, I carefully reached out and kneaded the bubbles floating on the water.

‘Hup. It’s fun…!’

It was truly a shocking delight.

It felt like playing with mud, but with cotton candy.

To think I could feel such a luxurious sensation.

Unknowingly focusing and kneading, I had somehow completed five bubble bears.

The two people who discovered the bear family I made widened their eyes.

“Oh my goodness! That’s so amazing, Miss! To make bears out of bubbles, you must be a genius of the century!”

“I know, right. Our Young Lady is truly dexterous.”

“…R-Really?”

Is it that skilled?

Of course, half of it is probably empty words.

‘…Even I think I made them well.’

I looked down at the bubble bear family with a bit of pride.

Hehe.

A smile naturally rose to my lips.

‘As expected, I must become a full-time employee.’

It was an awesome bath that set my determination ablaze once again.

* * *

Hudson Grey. 28 years old.

The third son of the Grey Count family.

After graduating as the top student of the Imperial Academy, he planned to work in the Imperial Treasury Department, but-.

“150 million shillings. All in cash.”

“Ha, to think you thought I’d be swayed by money. You saw right through me! I’ll follow you.”

It had already been 8 years since he went crazy over money and became Contie Panteyebe’s aide.

‘So many things happened.’

Yes, so many things happened.

The former Duke, who wanted to pass down the title, and the Duke, who said he didn’t need it, fought every single day.

After Contie somehow became the Duke-.

Going to catch the Duke who suddenly bolted without a word in the middle of work.

Failing to catch the Duke and handling the work on his behalf.

Stopping the former Duke and the current Duke from fighting, overcoming the generation gap.

Even dealing with Duke Hilton, who barged in claiming to be a rival at the drop of a hat, on his behalf.

Thanks to that, his nervous gastritis had long since become chronic.

The reason he didn’t quit this job despite all that was the pride of being the aide to the Empire’s top ducal family… yeah right.

‘The salary is too tempting.’

It was because the salary was too high to quit.