TMDO 06

TMDO

Chapter 06

I’d given some vague excuse, but I still had no idea why a thicket had suddenly appeared. I’d stayed in the main house for nearly a month—yet I hadn’t expected to be unable to even enter the building.

I calmed my trembling pupils and decided to smooth things over. I was afraid that if this pure-hearted man realized he’d gotten lost, he might burst into tears.

“By the way, where is this place? The garden?”
the man asked in a bright, innocent voice. I really wanted to know too—where exactly we were.

I couldn’t understand why there was a jungle-like thicket inside the estate. The grass and trees were so dense that it wouldn’t have been surprising if a tiger leapt out.

Hiding my flustered feelings, I spoke confidently. There was no situation that couldn’t be talked through.

“You must be tired, so let’s leave sightseeing for later and head back to the lodgings.”

“I’m not really tired, though….”

The man tilted his head innocently, completely unaware of my inner turmoil. Since I couldn’t exactly guide him through a forest I didn’t recognize, I racked my brain and came up with another excuse.

“We have a busy schedule tomorrow, so it’s better to get plenty of rest the day before.”

“Ah, I see… Lily, you’re really thoughtful.”

Thankfully, he seemed to believe me—but his praise made my conscience sting so badly I felt like I might die.

Either way, we had to find the exit, so I started walking in the opposite direction from where we’d come. But the man didn’t follow me—he just stood there.

Wondering why he wasn’t moving when I was in such a hurry, I turned back to look at him. He hesitated, then spoke.

“Shouldn’t we head toward the exit if we’re going to the lodgings…? Why are we going deeper inside?”

“…?”

I was sure I was walking in the opposite direction from where we’d come, yet he said something strange. When I looked at him in confusion, he flailed a bit, picked up a fallen branch, and started drawing on the dirt.

“We’re here, and the exit is this way. But Lily started walking to the right, so….”

Looking at the crude map he’d drawn, I realized he wasn’t wrong. I froze in shock.

I’d followed behind Deriksha the entire month—I hadn’t realized I was this severely directionally challenged. If not for this man, I might’ve ended up lost in the very estate where I worked.

Watching my reaction, he cautiously spoke up.

“…If you’re confused, should I lead the way?”

“Please….”

No matter how innocent he was, he’d clearly figured out that I was lost. Embarrassed, I covered my face with one hand and trailed along behind him.

After walking silently for a while, he glanced at me and began offering excuses on my behalf.

“It really is huge, since it’s a ducal estate! Even I was getting confused! And, um, we just wandered into the thicket by accident, but it was so pretty…!”

He kept talking, but the more he tried to comfort me, the more embarrassed I became.

You don’t have to be considerate—just please be quiet….

I obediently followed behind him, and before I knew it, we were back inside a building.

Seriously—someone who came to the ducal estate for the first time today was better at finding his way than me. I almost let out a hollow laugh, but I held it in.

“I think the guest rooms are over there. Thanks to you, Lily, I had a really enjoyable trip here. Thank you!”

Of course you did—we wandered around for an hour thanks to me, when it should’ve taken five minutes. I forced a smile and saw him off as he entered the room.

Ah… I should’ve just stayed quietly next to Lu. Worried that Monica might assign me another guest if I went back toward the entrance, I headed straight for the annex instead.

A person with no sense of direction should just quietly clean….

The morning of the ball—the busiest day of all. I was lying in my quarters.

Yesterday, after guiding the man and trying to forget my embarrassment, I’d rushed to the ballroom and single-handedly finished an amount of cleaning that would normally take dozens of people.

While I was admiring the spotless ballroom in quiet satisfaction, I heard applause behind me. Startled, I turned around.

Standing there, having opened the doors at some point and entered the ballroom, was Young Master Odin, staring at me with a blank expression.

I’d deliberately gone to the ballroom at a time when no one would be around because I wanted to finish without being seen. I never imagined he’d come by personally to check on the condition of over a hundred servants.

As I accepted his applause with a sense of pride, the words that followed made my expression crumble.

‘Lily, you’re on leave tomorrow.’

It was forced leave.

“…I’m bored.”

Rather than lying alone in my empty quarters, I wanted to at least clean something—but because of Young Master Odin’s firm insistence that I not overdo it, I couldn’t even help with the ball preparations.

With no electronic devices and no books, all I could do was lie there staring blankly at the ceiling.

As I followed floating dust with my eyes, the bell beside my bed rang.

This was definitely the bell Lu used to summon me. He’d never called for me first in the past month, so I felt puzzled.

But if my master called, I had to go!

I quickly changed into my maid uniform and rushed out of the room. Work that rolled in when I was bored felt oddly welcome.

In no time, I arrived in front of Lu’s room. I knocked, heard permission to enter, and opened the door—only to find Lu standing in the middle of the room, wearing unfamiliar clothes.

“…What are you doing?”

My disbelief slipped straight into my voice. Without saying a word, Lu handed me a plain dress. Then, with no explanation, he casually said,

“Put it on.”

“…What?”

“If you walk around in a maid uniform, you’ll stand out too much.”

“What will?”

His words skipped all context, leaving me blinking in confusion. At my clueless question, Lu replied irritably.

“What do you think? I told you I was running away.”

His bold declaration left me speechless. He’d complained to me the day before about wanting to run away before the ball, but I never thought he’d actually do it.

Looking closely, the clothes Lu was wearing were old, the kind a commoner boy might wear. With a hood pulled low over his face, he didn’t look like a young master of a ducal family at all.

So he really meant it…? I examined the dress he’d given me. Unlike Lu’s worn clothes, the dress looked new.

“If you’re running away, why are you taking me with you?”

“You need someone to carry your luggage, don’t you?”

When I glared at him with a sour expression, Lu continued with a mischievous grin.

“I’ll take you to see the festival. In exchange for keeping your mouth shut, I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat.”

I was already too busy filling my stomach with the expensive food from the ducal estate—telling me to follow him just because he’d buy street food was ridiculous.

Still, I was a maid who had to follow her master’s orders, so I quietly headed to the dressing room.

The dress Lu prepared was a light green, similar to the color of my eyes. It wasn’t particularly flashy, but my hair color alone already stood out—paired with a bright dress, I’d probably be noticeable from afar.

You really have no basics for being a fugitive.

With a sigh, I braided my hair to one side. I tried to make it look softer, but it didn’t make much difference.

After changing, I followed behind Lu. With his hands shoved into his pockets, he strode ahead confidently.

“Everyone will be at the ballroom, so if we leave through the annex’s back door, no one will notice.”

“What about the guards…?”

“I’ve already bribed them.”

Guards who’d help a young master run away. I briefly considered reporting them to Monica later.

Once we left the corridor, the back door came into view. The scenery felt oddly familiar—then I realized it was right next to the building with the guest rooms.

A face suddenly came to mind, and I stopped walking.

“Why aren’t you following?”

Lu turned around to look at me. Keeping my gaze fixed on the guest room building, I spoke.

“…You don’t have to buy food, but could we bring just one more person?”

Lu looked at me, puzzled.

“Thank you so much for inviting me to see the festival! You kept your promise to go together!”

Damian spoke with a bright smile. Having unintentionally kept my promise, I returned an awkward smile.

“But who’s the person next to you?”

Damian asked, looking at Lu beside me. I glanced at Lu, wondering if I should tell the truth, but Lu made a zipping-his-mouth gesture—telling me to hide the fact that he was the second young master of the ducal family.

After some hesitation, I made something up.

“Um… he works in the kitchen. We both got time off, so we came out together.”

“I see. Nice to meet you! I’m Damian Olivier. What’s your name?”

Instead of answering, Lu stared straight at me.

What—was he telling me to make one up? I didn’t know why he was dumping everything on me, but I thought quickly.

If I used his real name, there’d be no point in hiding his identity. So I chose the most common, ordinary name I could think of.

“His name is… Emily.”

“What?”

I didn’t know why a woman’s name popped out of my mouth. Instantly turned into “Emily,” Lu frowned at me.

“I see! Nice to meet you, Emily!”

Meanwhile, Damian accepted my words without the slightest doubt. I held back my laughter and whispered to Lu,

“If you’re going to lie anyway, it’s better to hide your gender completely.”