Chapter 5
**I Became the Blind Maid of the Ducal Household**
At Melissa’s voice full of anger, Mary, who had been about to argue further, clamped her mouth shut.
“Normally, this kind of offense deserves strict punishment, but considering the years you’ve worked in this mansion, I won’t fire you on the spot.”
Mary and Dorothy let out sighs of relief at Melissa’s words, but she wasn’t finished.
“However, for arbitrarily abandoning your post and lying about it, your wages will be cut in half for the next three months.”
“Head Maid!”
Mary and Dorothy’s shocked screams filled the break room.
“Furthermore, from now on, you will receive direct orders from me on the first floor. You are not to go anywhere near the young master’s room. I cannot allow people like you to be around him.”
“Head Maid, please no!”
“Just this once, have mercy!”
“Shut your mouths! You should be grateful you’re not being thrown out! Let me warn you—if this happens again, you’ll be doing laundry all day long!”
Melissa’s voice was resolute. There was no maid in the household who could change a decision once she had made it.
Mary and Dorothy, who knew this better than anyone, had no choice but to leave the room sniffling.
I tried to slip away before they came out, but I was one step too late.
“You…”
Spotting me standing outside the door, Mary and Dorothy spoke in voices dripping with hostility.
Hey, you two are the ones who disappeared during work hours without a word.
Shouldn’t you be the ones apologizing to me?
A tense silence stretched between us. Though they said nothing, I could feel it clearly.
The inexplicable hatred they harbored toward me was enormous. And then…
Thump.
A deliberate, forceful impact struck my shoulder. Caught off guard by the sudden contact, I staggered for a moment.
After deliberately ramming into me hard, Mary and Dorothy walked past without another word.
Seriously, what the hell? Why are they taking it out on me?
I rubbed my shoulder in bewilderment.
“Guess people like this exist in every world.”
I muttered to myself, thinking back to the people in my previous world who had been unnecessarily cruel to me for no reason.
What hurt more than the bumped shoulder was the bitter realization—once again—that this was the kind of reality I had to live with.
***
“…Last time you were creepily giggling to yourself.”
“Huh?”
“And now why are you sighing like that?”
Callios asked from the darkness.
This was the first time since I started this job that he had spoken to me first.
For a second, I wondered if he might actually be worried about me, but…
“I don’t want to hear it, so go rest somewhere else.”
He said coldly.
“Yes, sir.”
Yeah, figures. No way he’d worry about me.
“…Haa.”
“What? Are you doing that on purpose?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
I trailed off, unable to straight-up tell Callios what had happened in the break room.
Ever since the friction with Mary and Dorothy, my mood had stayed low and refused to lift.
The thought that I’d have to keep working alongside people who so openly disliked me made sigh after sigh escape me.
“Then what is it?”
“Just… work is hard.”
When he pressed again, I unintentionally let my true feelings slip.
“What?”
Callios repeated shortly, then fell silent for a moment.
Ah, right.
There was a clause in the contract saying servants must not show their emotions or complain in front of their employer!
I hurriedly tried to backtrack.
“I’m sorry. My mind’s just a mess right now… Haa. Ugh, sorry. That slipped out without thinking. I promise I won’t sigh anymore, Young Master.”
Callios let out a big, frustrated breath.
“…So why exactly is work hard?”
“It’s nothing, Young Master.”
“Tell me quickly. Or I’ll seal your mouth so you can never sigh again.”
Why is he suddenly so curious? Since when did he care about my problems?
I was puzzled by his persistent questioning after I failed to change the subject.
But I couldn’t tell him the truth about Mary and Dorothy.
Callios was already practically confined to his room because of his illness.
With most of the lower servants forcibly reassigned, if he found out even the remaining maids were slacking off and unreliable, it might seriously wound his pride.
“Well…”
“Hurry up.”
No choice. I’ll just make something up.
“…There are some annoying servants who keep bothering me even though I’m not interested…”
“What?”
After letting out a single dumbfounded word, Callios went quiet again.
…Did I make it too obvious?
I could almost picture his expression—like he’d just bitten into a hundred bugs.
After an awkward, sweat-inducing silence…
“I thought it was something serious.”
Huh?
Breaking the silence, Callios let out an incredulous scoff, then flopped back onto the bed with a thud.
Soon after came the sound of him pulling the blanket up as if preparing to sleep.
Hmm?
Even though I’d just thrown it out as an excuse, his reaction somehow felt… a little offensive?
“…Um, Young Master. You asked first—why aren’t you saying anything now?”
“Aren’t you misunderstanding something?”
“Huh?”
Callios yawned deliberately loud enough for me to hear before continuing.
“You probably don’t need to worry about that kind of thing. You’re definitely ugly.”
Excuse me? Suddenly calling me ugly? Have you seen my face? Have you seen it?!
I gritted my teeth.
“…You haven’t even seen my face, Young Master.”
“I can tell without looking. Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘A person’s appearance follows their heart’?”
He continued.
“If someone has a kind heart, their face becomes beautiful along with it. If someone has a rotten personality, their face turns ugly to match.”
His oddly calm tone sank deep into my ears.
“A maid like you—who talks back to her master and has lewd thoughts during work hours—is obvious. You must be ugly.”
Is that so?
“Though it feels weird saying this about myself…”
I tried hard to hide my rising anger as I began my defense.
“Not long ago, a fellow maid told me I’m quite the beauty.”
I emphasized the word “beauty” especially hard.
“That maid should go see a doctor.”
“It’s true! I’ve never been called ugly anywhere I’ve gone!”
“Sure, whatever. There’s no way to confirm anyway.”
Callios even let out a snort of laughter.
This is on purpose. He’s deliberately trying to rile me up.
“…Why is there no way to confirm? You can just check yourself.”
I felt around on the bed where he was lying, found his hand, and pulled it toward my face.
“Go ahead and touch it!”
“What are you doing!”
Startled, Callios jerked his hand away.
But I grabbed it again and pulled.
“I’m giving you the chance to confirm for yourself!”
“Are you insane? Get away!”
Suddenly my face squished like steamed bread. Callios was roughly pushing my face away with his palm.
“Ugh! Tilda definitely said so! My nose is straight! My lips are plump!”
“Get off!”
Callios shoved me hard. I tumbled dramatically off the bed.
Ow, my butt!
I rubbed my bruised backside on the floor and groaned.
Callios, panting after pushing me away, shouted,
“You! Don’t come near me again. Approach forbidden! Got it?”
Seriously.
I’m the one who’s wronged here. I just wanted to tell him the truth about my face!
“No answer?”
“Yes, sir.”
But what could I do? As a lowly maid, I had no choice but to obediently agree.
In the end, the false stigma on my appearance remained firmly in place.
***
Ow, my butt.
Even after quite some time had passed, the spot that hit the floor still ached.
(‘It’s not bruised, right? Or cracked bone or something?’)
Grumbling to myself, I carried the empty dishes from Callios’s meal down to the kitchen.
“Wait there.”
