004
It was nice that there was no one in the shower room. The only drawback was that I had to rely on a single candlestick to wash myself.
I could hear someone snoring from the bed beside mine. Jessica, who was apparently my roommate, didn’t wake up even though I had gone back and forth twice.
The bed was fairly soft. The pillow did smell like old dust, but even so, after giving it a good shake and lying down, it didn’t cause much trouble sleeping.
I had been disappointed about possessing a maid, but maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought.
Wasn’t there a saying that even if you had to be a slave, it was better to be a slave in a nobleman’s household? Since this was the Grand Duke’s household, the treatment should be better than that of maids in other households.
‘I should unpack first thing tomorrow morning and think about what I should do from here.’
I decided to think about my various plans after getting some rest. I was too tired and exhausted to do anything right now. I firmly put the earplugs the Head Maid had given me into both ears and tried to sleep.
I wondered if I could sleep well after being dropped into a completely unfamiliar world, but surprisingly, because the journey had been so exhausting, my eyes slowly closed on their own.
“Hmm…….”
I fell into a deep sleep just like that.
However, before long,
―Aaaaaaah! Aaaaargh!
Startled by an enormous scream, I rolled out of bed.
“W-what? What is it?”
I rubbed my stiff eyes and checked the clock. It was only 2 a.m. It was too early to get up.
Just as I wondered if I had imagined it, another scream rang out.
I pressed a pillow against my ears as a temporary measure, but the boy’s screams pierced right through it.
“I can’t take this anymore! Seriously!”
If they were going to work someone to the bone, shouldn’t they at least let them sleep at the proper time? I opened my bloodshot eyes wide. Should I go out?
Should I go out and say something before coming back?
“No. They said I’d be fired if I went out.”
I took a deep breath, desperately trying to calm the anger boiling inside me.
Whether he screamed or not, I had to sleep if I wanted to work tomorrow. I picked up the pillow that had fallen to the floor, hugged it, and crawled back into bed.
They say the fastest way to fall asleep is to count sheep.
The classic method might be boring, but it was always effective.
I imagined a vast meadow.
The crease between my brows, which had been tightly furrowed, relaxed slightly.
Imagining sheep peacefully grazing in the meadow, I slowly began to count.
One sheep, two sheep, three sheep…….
‘Ah, this is actually calming me down a little…….’
―Aaaaaah! Aaaaaah!!!
“…….”
Calm down, my foot. The sound was even louder than before. I abruptly threw off the covers and snatched up the candlestick.
There was no way I could sleep like this. Following the Head Maid’s rules was important, but my right to sleep was just as important.
‘As long as I don’t get caught by the employees making their rounds.’
I would go out, quietly ask him to be quiet, and come back. Holding the candlestick, I solemnly opened the bedroom door. Outside the door was pitch-black.
Seeing the gloomy corridor directly shook my resolve.
I stood there awkwardly holding the candlestick when I heard ‘that sound’ again.
“Aaaaaah……! Aaaaaah! Uuugh……. Sob……
Uuugh…….”
Wow, I really couldn’t put up with this. I made up my mind. I had to say something about this. I flung the bedroom door wide open.
‘The crying sounds like they’re somewhere around here?’
If I went quickly and came right back, I could still get four hours of sleep. Holding the silver candlestick, I cautiously ventured into the corridor.
The farther I got from the bedroom, the louder the sobbing became.
After passing the shower room and walking around a mammoth statue holding ivory high above its head, I walked for quite a while.
A vast chapel appeared.
The screams were coming from inside.
I boldly opened the chapel door.
Whoever it was, the noise would be lower during the day—
…….
“What?”
The moment I opened the door, both the screams and the sobbing disappeared completely.
The crying that had been tormenting me stopped as if by magic. I stood still and waited for a moment, just in case. But it was quiet.
What should I do? Should I go back?
As I stood there pondering with the lantern in hand, a very ominous noise assaulted my sensitive ears.
Jingle. Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.
The keys struck against one another at regular intervals, accompanied by the sound of several people’s footsteps approaching.
Even without checking, I could tell who was walking toward the chapel.
I’m screwed. It’s the Head Maid.
Judging by the footsteps and the sound of them approaching, they would enter the chapel at any moment.
I hurriedly looked around.
Somewhere to hide. Somewhere to hide!
Quickly!
“We heard a sound from here!”
“I saw the light heading this way.”
“It was definitely the sound of someone’s footsteps!”
I rose onto my tiptoes and sprinted across the smooth marble floor.
I had to think.
A place where, even if they were searching for someone, it would be difficult to search this far. A place they would somehow hesitate to search, even if they searched everywhere else.
‘Near the altar!’
No one would touch the altar where golden castings and a delicately carved statue of the goddess stood.
Even if they searched everywhere, they would hesitate at least once for religious reasons. I dashed past the half-naked angel statues and raced toward the altar.
“Please, let there be somewhere to hide.”
I lifted the black velvet cloth covering something and squeezed my body underneath the altar.
Just before my vision was cut off, my eyes met those of the goddess statue painted on the stainless-steel ceiling of the chapel.
I’m not religious, but I’ll properly apologize to you later.
I’m sorry about this.
The moment I lowered the cloth, the chapel door burst open with a bang.
All the saliva in my mouth dried up in an instant. I covered my mouth with my palm to keep myself from making even the slightest sound.
“Search thoroughly.”
“Yes!”
“If there’s a hidden employee, you know what to do, right?”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
Wait a minute. I thought I’d only be fired? What are they going to do?
What are they going to do with the ones they catch?
“Did you find anything?”
“No, nothing.”
“What about near the angel statues?”
The employees searching even beneath the chapel seats gradually approached the altar where I was hiding. A black shoe suddenly entered my field of vision.
One of the maids was searching around the place where I was hiding.
“……!”
As the search narrowed in on the altar, I could hardly breathe.
Then someone asked,
“Under the altar? Did you check there, too?”
“Ah. But I’m a little hesitant to touch that place myself…….The goddess is there.”
“We’d have to lift the entire platform to search it thoroughly.”
Praying desperately that they would just let it go, I lay flat enough for my cheek to touch the floor when a cold breeze brushed against it with a whoosh.
‘Why is there wind coming from the floor?’
I carefully examined the floor and noticed that only the floor beneath the altar was made of a different material.
Everything else was marble, but this part had a rough wooden floor.
I rubbed my palm over the coarse floor for a while before lightly tapping it as if knocking.
Knock, knock, knock.
A hollow sound came from beneath the floor.
I brought my face closer to the floor again, and a cold breeze blew against it.
There was no way wind could come through an ordinary floor. There was a hidden space.
“Is there someone beneath the altar?”
“Ah, n-no, Head Maid. I was afraid the goddess above the altar might become angry if I touched it carelessly, so I didn’t get a chance to search that area.”
“Indeed, lifting a sacred altar is not the right thing to do.”
That was absolutely right. The goddess would be angry, too. How dare they! To put their hands beneath a sacred altar. It was far too blasphemous.
It wasn’t exactly the sort of thought someone hiding beneath an altar should have, but I crouched there and fervently agreed with the maids.
However, perhaps it was too soon to breathe a sigh of relief.
The Head Maid’s next words plunged me into despair.
“But if someone is hiding beneath the altar, that changes things. The goddess would not want a despicable little rat to defile her sacred altar, either.”
I could feel the employees, who had gathered in the very center, climbing onto the platform.
I frantically groped around the floor with my hands.
Where is it? If there’s a secret passage, there has to be some kind of button. Or a lever.
Anything would do. Please.
I wasn’t religious, but right now, I desperately needed a miracle.
‘There! A lever!’
The maids were right beside me. There was no more time to hesitate.
Rather than getting caught and having something terrible done to me, I decided to take a chance. I grabbed the lever and yanked it with all my strength.
At that moment, the floor disappeared.
