Chapter 04
It had already been a week since the young masters arrived. Thanks to the evening lessons for the main residence’s maids, I had learned a fair amount about them.
Young Master Odin was studying economics at the Academy as the next head of the family, while Ru was majoring in swordsmanship in order to receive a knighthood after graduation.
The Academy followed a four-year system: students enrolled at fourteen and graduated at seventeen. That meant Young Master Odin would graduate in about three months and begin his successor training.
As for Ru… he was only a first-year, so he would be staying at the Academy for quite some time. It was hard to imagine that the small boy right in front of me would someday receive a knighthood.
I stared at Ru, who was sitting at the tea table reading a book. Swordsmanship training would mean getting covered in dirt and sweating profusely—could someone with germophobia really endure such an environment?
“Young Master.”
“What.”
“Since you’re a germophobe, is it really okay for you to take swordsmanship classes?”
Ru lifted his gaze from the book and looked at me.
“My father told you that, didn’t he? That I’m a germophobe.”
“Yes.”
“……I’m not a germophobe. I just—”
After thinking for a moment, Ru spoke again.
“I just hate dirty things.”
That’s basically the same thing.
“Ru.”
At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out. Ru and I turned our heads to see Young Master Odin, who had entered the room without us noticing and was now walking toward us.
“Did you never learn how to knock?”
“Father said he’s holding a ball during the last week of vacation. Did you hear?”
“What?”
Ignoring Ru’s provocation with ease, Young Master Odin dropped shocking news.
A ball meant tons of food, tons of guests, and dancing, didn’t it? For a maid, it was the worst possible event. Ru seemed to feel the same way, his face scrunching up as he asked Odin,
“Why all of a sudden? Is it Abel’s birthday?”
“It’s my last vacation, so he said he’s holding it to celebrate my graduation.”
“Then hold it after you graduate! Why celebrate a graduation in the middle of summer?!”
“Anyway, just know that.”
Having said only what he wanted to say, Young Master Odin left the room. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to give me a brief greeting.
He even greeted a maid—something he didn’t even do for his own younger brother. This household really was something else.
“Do you hate balls that much?”
I asked Ru, who was slumped over the tea table. He lifted his head and glared at me with fierce eyes.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“It’s nice to meet your friends after a long time, though. And you get to eat good food.”
“I hate crowds. Ugh, maybe I should just run away.”
For such a little kid, he sure said strange things. Even if he ran away, the only place he could go would be the nearby commercial district—and since the ducal servants frequented that area as often as the annex, he’d be caught immediately.
“Hey.”
Ru, who had been lying limp, spoke up. I lowered my head and looked at him still sprawled over the table.
“Sit over there.”
The place Ru pointed to with his chin was the chair directly across from him. Was he serious? Now he wanted to sit at the same table as a maid?
When I gave him a sour look, Ru straightened up and shrugged.
“Why? We’re going to be together for a month. Wouldn’t it be better to get along?”
How could someone like this be a noble? I almost asked if he was crazy, but instead held my tongue and calmly tried to persuade him.
“You’ll get criticized if you sit at the same table as a maid.”
“There’s only you and me in the room.”
Ru replied shamelessly. Abel, who always greeted people politely, and Young Master Odin, who never forgot his manners—were all the people in this household lacking awareness of social rank?
Perhaps sensing my disbelief, Ru took a sip of black tea and said,
“At the Academy, there’s no distinction of status, so I don’t really care.”
“This Empire is really going all out, huh.”
“What?”
An Empire where the boundaries of status were blurring… Even for the Sharond Empire, which claimed to pursue an egalitarian society regardless of rank, it was hard to understand. The place I had lived before wasn’t like this.
…The place I had lived before?
“What were you thinking about? Your expression kept changing.”
“I think my memories are coming back.”
“Oh, right. You said you lost your memory.”
I didn’t know who he’d heard it from, but I was relieved I didn’t have to explain further. I naturally pulled out the chair and sat across from Ru, sinking into thought.
Something felt just on the tip of my mind, but the memories wouldn’t connect, leaving me frustrated.
“You don’t even know where you’re from, right? What if you’re actually a runaway noble? Blonde hair isn’t that common.”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen many blondes around the estate. Most commoners had brown or black hair, and even the ducal family had dark reddish hair—so my bright blonde stood out.
Still, it wasn’t unheard of. Monica and Mr. Drum were blond as well.
I firmly shook my head.
“True. If you were a noble, you’d already know me. Balls held at the ducal estate invite all the nobles of the Empire.”
“Wow. That sounds like hard work.”
“Only for the servants. Father tells us to treat the servants well, but he himself works them like crazy.”
Ru clicked his tongue quietly. The reason the young masters and ladies were kind to servants was probably because of the Duke’s education.
Still, I’d thought Ru was particularly harsh to servants—especially after seeing him cut Monica off on my first day.
Yet his unexpectedly easygoing side intrigued me, and I stared at Ru sipping tea across from me.
Was he just sensitive because of puberty?
“If you’re curious about something, you can ask.”
Noticing my gaze, Ru spoke casually. I couldn’t very well ask why he’d been so rude on the first day…
After rolling my eyes, I decided to ask indirectly.
“You don’t seem to have much hesitation around servants, Young Master.”
“I told you, I don’t care about status. Most of my friends at the Academy are commoners.”
“I thought you were very discriminatory because you were cold to Monica on the first day.”
At my words, Ru’s eyes widened as he stared at me. Then he suddenly burst into laughter, resting his chin on his hand as he replied with amusement,
“I just don’t like Monica.”
That answer was completely unexpected.
* * *
I headed to the training grounds with Deriksha to deliver sandwiches as snacks for Ru and the knights during sword training.
The training grounds were right next to the laundry area. Because of that, young maids in the middle of washing clothes swarmed toward us, lured by the delicious smell.
“Stop following us already! Didn’t you just finish lunch?!”
Unable to take it anymore, Deriksha shouted. A maid with short black hair twirled her hair and replied on behalf of the others.
“No one ate~ There’s a ball coming up, right? We’re all dieting, so we skipped meals.”
“Do you think sandwiches won’t make you gain weight?”
“Who said we’re eating them? We’re just following to smell them!”
At the maid’s confident reply, Deriksha scoffed.
After finally shaking them off and continuing toward the training grounds, a question suddenly came to mind.
The maids wouldn’t have many chances to meet nobles, and even if they did, compared to well-dressed young ladies, the chances of catching a noble’s eye were slim. So why diet?
“Deriksha, what does a ball have to do with dieting?”
“Oh, on the day of the ball, they let us eat expensive food freely. After it’s over, everyone gains weight, so they’re managing it in advance.”
That actually sounded great. I’d been grumbling about how hard the preparations would be, but if we got to eat lots of expensive food, work might feel worth it. The ducal household really did have excellent benefits.
“By the way, you haven’t been losing your memory lately, right?”
I shook my head at Deriksha’s question.
It had already been over three weeks since I started working as a maid. Time had flown by unbelievably fast. It felt like just yesterday I’d been drifting in a dreamlike haze, yet now I was completely used to being Lily.
This was clearly a novel, and Lily was a character in it, but it no longer felt like a simple case of possession.
Lately, I’d even started thinking that maybe I had originally been Lily, and my past-life memories had simply overlapped… but that was probably going too far.
“I think I’m actually recovering my memories little by little. When I talk with Young Master Ru, a lot of memories come back.”
“…Young Master Ru?”
Deriksha looked at me in surprise. Nearly all the maids knew that Ru was sharp with Monica, so his reputation among servants wasn’t great.
But the Ru I spoke with daily during tea time was just a gruff-talking adolescent boy—his personality wasn’t bad at all.
“What about you? How are things going with Young Master Odin?”
“Are you crazy?!”
Deriksha shrieked and smacked my arm.
“What if someone hears you?! Do you want me to get fired?!”
“There’s no way you’d get fired over something like that…”
I rubbed my stinging arm with a sulky expression. I’d only asked because she talked endlessly about Young Master Odin every night at the dormitory.
I pouted and glared at Deriksha.
“I told you before—I’ll like him on my own and end it on my own. I don’t expect anything.”
“No, there’s a chance.”
“Based on what?”
She was right—judging by status alone, it was a hopeless unrequited love. Yet for some reason, I felt confident.
“Won’t things work out somehow?”
At my optimistic words, Deriksha narrowed her eyes and stared at me. Maybe staying quiet would’ve preserved her trust in me better.
We soon reached the training grounds. Ru, wearing a serious expression as he trained, caught my eye.
Only two days remained until the ball. I still couldn’t get used to the excited atmosphere around the estate.
* * *
The day before the ball arrived. The ball itself was tomorrow night, but for the servants, it started today.
We guided guests from distant regions to their rooms, prepared food, and scrubbed the floors until they shone.
I endured it only because the Duke promised expensive food and bonuses—otherwise the workload was so intense it made me want to form a union.
“I’m going on strike.”
Forming a union felt disrespectful to the Duke, so I decided on a strike instead. Ru looked at me like I was ridiculous.
“…What?”
“We’re really short on hands because of the ball preparations. I think I need to go help out at the annex while we’re preparing.”
“How is that a strike? You’re still working.”
“I’m striking from my exclusive maid duties.”
I shrugged as I answered. At my joking tone, Ru stared at me with complete disgust.
“Anyway, can I go work?”
“No.”
I blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer. What kind of employer stops someone who wants to work?
Resting his chin on his hand while sitting at the tea table, Ru said,
“I’m bored.”
Seriously—unbelievable. I decided to ignore Ru’s words without hesitation.
