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Chapter 32

2024.07.02.

“Will he be all right?”

Without hesitation, I passed through the main hall and climbed the stairs to the second floor, muttering to myself.

The mansion looked perfectly fine from the outside when I returned.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if he might have gotten hurt somewhere else.

“He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t show it even if he was injured.”

Ever since I found out that there was no one by Dietrich’s side, I couldn’t stop worrying about him.
Was this… pity?

“No. It’s not pity.”

It wasn’t that I wanted to treat Dietrich kindly because I felt sorry for him.
And I certainly didn’t want to take care of him out of sympathy.

Besides, I wasn’t in any position to pity anyone.
I was one misstep away from ending up shattered to pieces along with Harpe!

I was too busy just trying to survive — I didn’t have the time or luxury to pity or resent anyone.

I glanced around the second floor, but as usual, there was no one there except for the servants going up and down the stairs.
It felt as if only ghosts lived on this floor.

After walking down the quiet corridor, I finally arrived at Dietrich’s study and knocked on the door.

“Lord Dietrich, are you there?”

But there was no response — not even a “come in” or “who is it?”

I had deliberately spoken politely in case someone was watching, but it seemed there was no one inside.

Where on earth does he keep going?

Because of Dietrich’s constant absence, my mood was swinging wildly several times a day.

“But why am I so upset about this?”

Because I couldn’t confirm that he was safe and uninjured?
Or because he returned but didn’t even acknowledge me?

I sat down on the floor and clutched my head, but no clear answer came to mind.

He’d said this morning that he was going out — maybe he hadn’t come back yet?

“Ugh, if only the original novel had detailed what Dietrich Delgado did every day!”

I could barely remember the time when I hadn’t cared about him at all.
Now, my only concern was one thing —
Dietrich Delgado’s daily life.

Where did he go, what did he do — how could it be that I barely saw him in this mansion?

“Didn’t Mari say he went out this morning and hasn’t returned yet?”
Or maybe he’s already in his bedroom.

I jumped up and headed for Dietrich’s bedroom this time.
As soon as I arrived, I knocked lightly, but again, no answer.

That confirmed it — Dietrich wasn’t in the Delgado mansion.

Then where was he?

I slid down the white wall beside his room and sat on the floor.
A hollow feeling crept over me, draining away every ounce of energy.

Summer had begun, and the days had grown long. The sunlight was now turning the sky a deep golden hue.
As darkness began to spread, I stood up.

I wanted to just wait there for him, but I couldn’t.
Even if no one was around, someone might see me — a mere kitchen maid — loitering in the main house. That would definitely look strange.

“Right… Dietrich is the leading heir to the Delgado dukedom.”
Of course he was busy.

He lived a completely different life — not one of peeling potatoes and stirring soup.

“We live in different worlds.”

The only reason I could talk to him so easily was because I was the Spirit of the Sword.
But wearing a maid’s uniform, the difference between us was painfully clear: employer and servant.

A servant couldn’t just barge in to see her master whenever she felt like it.

“I really feel the difference in our status now.”

I straightened my clothes.
I had no energy left, not even to talk to anyone.

“Dietrich, you awful man. Is it really that hard to just tell me you’re back?”

If he’d called for me, even if it was tiring, I would have run to him just to hear why he’d taken Harpe with him.

And if I’d met him, I would’ve told him about meeting Nocturn Frey while he was away in the North.

“Oh, right — I met Nocturn Frey, didn’t I?”

That had been such a flustering moment.
Yet, strangely, now I didn’t have time to even think about Nocturn, the person I used to adore.

Because Dietrich kept stirring up my thoughts, I couldn’t even focus on fangirling properly!

Annoyance rose in me again, and I snorted, stomping down the stairs.
The walk back to the servants’ quarters felt heavier than usual — though I hoped it was just my imagination.

I didn’t want to admit that I was upset simply because I hadn’t seen Dietrich.

But that night, I couldn’t sleep a wink.

I heard a rumor about Dietrich in the most unexpected place.

After finishing our ingredient prep early, Robert and I brought a bottle of chilled raspberry juice for Mari out to the yard.

“Mari’s going to love this,” Robert said.

“Yeah, it’s raspberry juice, after all.”

The best part of working in a hot, stuffy kitchen?
I got to eat or drink all the leftovers!

But since Robert and I had already downed three glasses each, we decided to give the rest to Mari.

Today was laundry day, and the sun was scorching.
I could only imagine how hot and tired Mari must be hanging all those sheets outside.

Just thinking of her made me feel sorry for her —
a glass of cool raspberry juice would definitely bring a smile to her face.

Smiling, I quickened my steps toward the yard.

The kitchen wasn’t far from there; soon, I could see the wide yard filled with lines of hanging laundry.

“Mari!”

Robert waved cheerfully and ran toward her.
Mari, who was always mature and composed, and Robert, who was endlessly cheerful and clueless, bickered constantly — yet had grown close quickly.

“What brings you two here?” she asked.
I grabbed the back of Robert’s collar and held up the bottle.

“Ta-da! Raspberry juice!”

“What? Really? Raspberry juice?”

“Yep! We brought it for you!”

The word “raspberry juice” immediately caught everyone’s attention.
The other maids, flushed red from the heat, glanced our way.
Their eyes said what their mouths didn’t — they wanted a sip too.

But when they realized the bottle was in the hands of a kitchen maid they’d barely spoken to, they awkwardly turned away.

Even though I’d been working at the Delgado mansion for a while, I hadn’t talked much with the other maids.
There wasn’t any particular reason — I was just always in the kitchen, and aside from Mari, I rarely saw the others.

I looked down at the bottle in my hand.
There was plenty — enough for everyone here to share.

“It’s hot anyway…”

There wasn’t any bad blood between us. Sharing wouldn’t hurt.

Letting go of Robert’s collar, I waved at everyone and called out loudly,
“Everyone, let’s share the raspberry juice!”

All eyes turned toward me. I raised the bottle high and smiled brightly.

“Hey, you’re the new maid, right? Heidi?”

At my suggestion, the maids who’d been hesitant before now sat around me in a circle.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“I’d heard about you — you moved from the main house to the kitchen so quickly that I never got to see you. Only heard about you from Mari sometimes.”

“How’s kitchen work? I heard it’s so hard everyone avoids it.”

“By the way, your eye color is so pretty!”

Once they had a sip of the cold juice, the awkwardness melted away. Their eyes sparkled with curiosity as they fired off one question after another.

Their questions were simple —
Where I came from, how kitchen work was, if I had a lover — the usual chatter young women could laugh about endlessly.

It had been so long since I’d had such a cheerful conversation with anyone besides Mari and Robert.

After a while, it was clear they’d warmed up to me completely.
Talking with people my age like this actually lifted my spirits.

“Come to think of it, I’ve been too focused on one person lately.”

Cold-hearted Dietrich — I should just forget about him.
If he didn’t even bother to tell me when he’d be back, why should I care?

I tried to focus harder on the conversation — enough that even Robert muttered, “Wow, you actually get along with them?”

Before I knew it, the topic of our chatter shifted to our employers — the Delgado family.

Then, one of the maids who worked near the Duchess’s chambers leaned in and whispered conspiratorially,

“Oh, by the way. Have you all heard? About Lord Dietrich — about his peculiar tastes?”