Now all I had to do was secretly follow the Grand Duke around based on this information.
‘You could call it close surveillance.’
Fortunately, Lilian’s body, befitting a spy, had an outstanding talent for suppressing her presence.
It was so effective that even the sharp-eyed head maid never noticed my movements at all.
The problem, however, was…….
‘Lilian, you start from here.’
‘When you’re done, could you help me with this side too?’
‘The head maid is coming!’
‘Huh! Please just finish this up, Lilian!’
‘Lilian—’
A maid was busy.
Truly, extremely, very busy!
With tasks piling up every day, no matter how much I wanted to do overtime, I was in a difficult position to manage it.
If I could squeeze in some spare moments, it would be during break time, after meals, and after work was done—roughly that much.
‘Though this too fluctuates depending on how fast the work finishes—’
Regardless, it seemed clear that some advance preparation was needed to make the most of these spare moments.
‘Faster! More efficiently!’
In the end, I began sharing my shy, hidden housekeeping tips with everyone.
Well, honestly, they weren’t anything grand.
Things like telling them that using baking soda when washing dishes makes grease come off better, or that cleaning window frame corners is easier with a brush.
But even just that made the work speed noticeably faster.
And…….
“Hey everyone, Lilian’s about to start!”
“Everyone, focus.”
“Watch and learn well!”
I became the ‘God of Dusting.’
Flap, flap, flap—!
Two dusters shaped like tennis rackets mercilessly sliced between the blankets.
I held my breath to avoid inhaling dust and swung both arms without rest.
Swiftly and precisely.
Whoosh—
In doing so, there could be mishaps where the blanket got caught in the duster, but that wasn’t a big problem for me.
I just had to alternate between the two dusters and strike downward.
“Wow, she’s so fast!”
“Her wrist snap is no joke!”
“W-what is that girl?”
At the sight, the maids working alongside me admired me, and the servants passing by were astonished.
I felt needlessly proud.
‘No, wait a moment.’
But was this…… right?
It had clearly started because of close surveillance, so why did it feel like I was just doing more work?
For a moment, I felt a surge of emotion.
Did I really have to go this far just to see the master’s face once?
What even is life!
“Lilian, can you do this carpet too?”
“We dusted it once, but it doesn’t seem like enough.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there!”
……Still, I had to do the work.
In the end, I swung the duster toward the carpet once again.
* * *
At the same time.
Raymond, passing through the second-floor corridor, paused for a moment.
“……Her hands are invisible right now……”
“……No, how……?”
“……That’s why it’s amazing……”
Unclear murmuring came from outside the window.
The atmosphere was a bit more clamorous than usual.
‘Hmm.’
He absentmindedly looked out the window.
And then he couldn’t help but make a dumbfounded face.
“What on earth is she doing……?”
A brown-haired maid spectacularly dusting with both hands.
The servants admiring her.
And then the burst of applause that followed.
‘Why……?’
Raymond simply could not understand this situation.
Just then, the adjutant following behind heard his muttering and answered.
“She appears to be dusting the carpet.”
“I know that.”
At the absurdly obvious answer, Raymond’s brow furrowed.
But his adjutant—and once a man who had traversed battlefields with the Grand Duke—Dylan paid it no mind.
He was already accustomed to his superior’s reactions like this.
“Ah.”
Then, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he let out an exclamation on his own.
“So that’s the maid Peter mentioned.”
Peter would be…….
Someone Raymond also knew well—the head chef of the Grand Ducal estate.
Dylan, who had been supplied nothing but combat rations like animal feed on the battlefield, had a tendency to be particularly obsessed with fine cuisine.
His becoming close friends with the head chef despite the age gap was in the same vein.
In any case, if it came from the head chef’s mouth, it was bound to be fairly accurate and intimate information.
Raymond gestured to Dylan as if telling him to continue.
“She’s quiet and diligent, but her work wasn’t particularly good, which was a shame—but recently, her skills have improved tremendously.”
Dishwashing, cleaning, laundry, and so on…….
He listed several examples of the tasks maids typically did.
“Starting a few days ago, she also seems to have suggested quite a few fresh methods.”
“……”
“What was it……. Baking soda? Baking powder? Something like that, I think. Well, I wouldn’t know much about that sort of thing.”
Dylan playfully shrugged and laughed it off.
But his superior hadn’t been properly listening for some time now.
‘Suddenly, is what she said…….’
While the Grand Duke was lost in thought, Dylan’s words continued.
“Peter seems to want to bring her into the kitchen as a maid—”
He’s rambling again.
Raymond opened his mouth as if cutting him off.
“Look into it.”
“Pardon?”
Dylan looked at his superior with a puzzled face.
At that, the Grand Duke lightly tapped the window with his finger and spoke.
“Look into what she’s scheming.”
* * *
Ugh, my whole body ached.
No matter how sturdy Lilian’s body was, doing two or three times more work than others inevitably took its toll.
‘And I didn’t have any particular gains today either…….’
Except for being praised for dusting well.
A sigh escaped me on its own.
At this rate, it would be impossible to find out anything about the Grand Duke even if I were given five months, not five days.
Trudge, trudge…….
Even though I was clearly on my way back after finishing work, my steps were heavy.
It felt like clocking out after being saddled with a pile of work I couldn’t even do.
Just as I was seriously contemplating my aptitude like that.
“Greetings, Miss Lilian.”
Startled!
I unconsciously drew my body back.
But soon, after confirming the other person’s face, I blinked foolishly.
“Adjutant?”
I had run into him a few times while passing through the main building.
The Grand Duke’s adjutant, Sir Dylan.
We had never exchanged greetings directly, but just from the maids’ mentions, his identity was easy to figure out.
“This is the first time we’ve exchanged formal greetings like this.”
“I-is that so…….”
Why were we exchanging formal greetings?
The Grand Duke’s adjutant was by no means a leisurely position.
Why would someone like that come looking for me?
I hid my wariness and smiled awkwardly.
Then Dylan naturally continued the conversation.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Peter. That you’re a very diligent and polite friend.”
The head chef?
I knew he liked me, but it was a more generous assessment than I’d thought.
“I understand you’ve just finished your probation period.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“For that, your talent as a maid seems quite outstanding. Enough that Peter is eyeing you for the kitchen.”
“The head chef is just looking upon me favorably.”
Contrary to my worries, the conversation continued quite amicably.
Just as my wariness was gradually easing—
“By the way—”
He drew out his words, then soon looked at me straight and spoke.
“Why did that talent only shine just now?”
“……!!”
“And so suddenly, at that.”
Gulp.
I swallowed reflexively.
Otherwise, a scream seemed like it would burst out regardless of my will.
“For someone who was clumsy at work, the change seems a bit too large to write off as a process of becoming accustomed. In skill, and in personality.”
“……”
“You act as if you’ve become a whole new person, so I couldn’t help but be curious.”
“……”
“What exactly is the reason?”
Thump, thump, thump.
My shriveled heart pounded irregularly.
“Th-that is…….”
My gaze fell downward without my realizing it.
It felt as though he had already come knowing everything about Lilian’s true identity.
