Chapter 6
After that, without anyone telling him to, he started organizing the small garden on his own.
The head maid asked him a few probing questions, then returned to the kitchen looking half-defeated.
“…Hmm.”
Standing in the kitchen, she stared out the window at Lu with a troubled expression.
Meanwhile, Lu was talking closely with some contractor he had apparently brought in from somewhere. From the words “trees,” “fountain,” and “carp,” it sounded like he was planning a full-scale renovation.
A gardener hired to tidy up the garden… bringing in professionals to redo the entire thing?
I’m jealous.
Suspicious, good-looking, rich, and even owns a house. Meanwhile, I devoted my life to world peace and now barely scrape by as a maid.
And he didn’t kick out that assassin?
Could Lu be the client who hired someone to monitor Baron Weatherwoods?
That needed to be confirmed.
I pointed at Lu and said—no, declared:
“Fire him.”
The head maid slowly turned to me.
“Who? Mr. Lu?”
“Suspicious.”
“Are you talking about yourself?”
Myself? …No matter what, I’m not that bad.
“Of course, Mr. Lu is certainly not an ordinary person. In all my years doing this, I’ve never seen someone quite like him. Except maybe you.”
“Then fire him.”
“There’s no need to rush, Daisy. If he’s dangerous, Baron Weatherwoods will deal with it. Don’t worry too much.”
How is a baron who isn’t even here supposed to throw him out?
The head maid was far too naive.
I almost explained everything:
An assassin broke in last night. I beat him up and locked him in the house across the street. But today, Lu has that same assassin beside him. They must be spies sent to monitor the baron.
But I stopped myself.
If I said that, I’d sound suspicious too.
Normally, I wouldn’t care how others saw me.
But this was the head maid.
Only a strange household like Weatherwoods would even accept me.
If I got kicked out of here, I’d have nowhere to go.
Money really is dangerous.
It stops you from even exposing threats to your employer’s safety.
“Besides,” the head maid continued, “wouldn’t it be a loss to fire a gardener who’s willing to renovate the garden himself for half the pay? The Weatherwoods family isn’t exactly wealthy. Let’s watch him for now.”
She truly was a slave to money.
Money really is dangerous.
It makes you tolerate someone who might be a spy.
“Now then, shall we get back to work?”
Today’s task was cleaning the second-floor windows.
My least favorite job.
Second only to cleaning ceilings.
Like a loyal maid devoted to her master, I cleaned the windows while keeping an eye on the suspicious man.
If it meant protecting my one precious job, I’d do anything.
The “spy” was casually pulling weeds.
Even the way he pulled weeds looked suspicious.
So I watched him even more closely.
Normally, in situations like this, you pick a fight over something trivial, have a physical confrontation, and then force them to reveal their true intentions…
Like I did with the assassin last night.
But with Lu, I couldn’t find a single opening.
Not even the slightest gap.
Unbelievable.
He’s good-looking, rich, has a house—and no weaknesses?
What exactly is his goal?
That’s when it happened.
Lu, who had been gathering the weeds, suddenly looked up.
“Do you have something to say?”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it rang clearly in my ears.
He was dressed neatly in a white shirt and light yellow vest, yet somehow looked perfectly natural tending the garden.
Well, when you’re that handsome, anything suits you.
I couldn’t confront him physically, but I wasn’t about to act normal like I did in front of the head maid.
Leaning on the window frame, I asked:
“Who are you?”
“I already told you—Lu. Didn’t we introduce ourselves earlier, Miss Maid the maid?”
That nickname again.
Even knowing he’s teasing, it’s irritating.
“Not your name.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He looked like he was enjoying himself—but not entirely.
“Do you mean you want to know me more deeply? I don’t think we’re that close yet.”
“Stop dodging and answer. Who are you? Why are you here?”
It had been so long since I spoke this much that I was already out of breath.
“I’m your fan.”
What?
Tilting his head as he looked up at me, he smirked.
“You tied up a stranger in my house last night. I found it quite impressive. Honestly, I’d even like to award you for being a brave citizen of Midwintry…”
“You’re saying you came here because of that?”
There it was again.
I spoke too much without meaning to.
My own voice felt unfamiliar, making my shoulders tense.
Lu just shrugged with an irritating smile.
“As if.”
So he wasn’t going to answer easily.
Fine.
Then I’d have to confront him directly.
I jumped out the window into the garden.
“You.”
As I walked toward him, he calmly crossed his arms and suddenly called out toward the mansion.
“Head maid! Miss Maid the maid keeps slacking off and bothering me. Is this acceptable? Does Weatherwoods not respect employee rights?”
That underhanded move left me with only one response.
I turned around and walked straight back into the mansion through the back door.
My teeth clenched.
Suspicious and shameless.
And he had to mention the head maid?
Like a guilty thief, I focused intensely on cleaning the windows.
So intensely that I broke one.
The head maid didn’t scold me much.
She just deducted part of my salary.
Which ruined my mood for dinner.
As usual, only the head maid and I sat at the table.
“What about the gardener-cook?”
“He said he’ll eat separately. Since we eat dinner after official work hours, it seems he’ll continue dining on his own.”
So I won’t have to see him at night.
That part, I like.
I calmly swallowed the tasteless vegetable stew.
***
The next morning.
After finishing some morning tasks, I ran into Lu in the hallway leading to the kitchen.
Just like yesterday, he looked far too refined for a gardener—more like the owner of the mansion.
“Good morning, Miss Maid the maid.”
I ignored him and went into the kitchen.
I heard a faint chuckle behind me.
After looking around the kitchen, Lu said:
“Has today’s ingredients not arrived yet?”
The head maid, already there sipping tea, answered first.
“We don’t order ingredients. We go to the market ourselves. And today’s ingredients are right there.”
Lu looked at the wooden box under the table, filled with potatoes, carrots, and onions, and let out a short remark.
“…I thought it was leftover garbage.”
For the first time since arriving, he looked like he was experiencing hardship.
For the first time, I felt a sense of kinship with him.
Yes. This household only looks prestigious.
In reality, it’s just modestly poor.
Welcome to suffering.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s make lunch with this. At least we have butter, pepper, salt, herbs, and milk. Miss Maid the maid?”
He smiled and pointed at the box.
“Peel them.”
I quietly started peeling.
One thing I learned while living like a beggar—
You listen to the person who feeds you.
At least when they’re feeding you.
As I peeled potatoes, I watched him.
He opened cabinets and pulled out containers I had never seen before.
Were those always here?
After cleaning the dusty containers, he melted butter over heat.
Then, skillfully slicing potatoes thinly, he layered them neatly in the container.
He seasoned them with salt and pepper, then poured milk over them.
His cooking was so smooth and practiced that I found myself staring.
“Miss Maid.”
As he crushed dried herbs, he called me.
“Do you see that mouse on the wall outside the window?”
Suddenly?
I looked.
Sure enough, a small gray mouse was scurrying along the wall.
“That mouse peels potatoes better than you. You’re too slow.”
“…Hmm.”
He’s a cook.
Right now, not a gardener—a cook.
And possibly my only escape from the head maid’s terrible cooking.
Better not upset him.
I sped up.
After I finished, he repeated the same process two more times in separate containers.
All that was left was baking them.
And finally—
“Eat.”
The moment I tasted the potato gratin—
My body froze.
The flavor hit me like a shock.
How is this so good?
Unbelievable.
Lu was a truly skilled cook.
He knew exactly how to handle both good and poor ingredients.
The lifeless potatoes had turned into perfect gratin.
It was incomparable to the head maid’s cooking.
“You eat well.”
After watching me for a moment, Lu left for the garden.
Was he not hungry?
I finished his portion too.
A comfortable life and good food go hand in hand.
The head maid wiped her mouth and spoke dreamily:
“I haven’t had such a satisfying breakfast in years. Mr. Lu’s cooking is incredible. I almost feel bad for hiring him at half pay.”
Seeing her practically fall in love with the food, my sense of danger flared up again.
No. At this rate, she’ll fall for that fraud completely.
Maybe it was because it was him—
But even this amazing food felt like part of some scheme.
Sly bastard.
I don’t like working with someone this suspicious.
And I like it even less that he openly acts suspicious.
He’s confident.
Too confident.
I had two theories about him.
One—
Like the assassin, he came to monitor Baron Weatherwoods.
Two—
He knows my past and came after me.
…How likely is the second one?
