Chapter 12
Today had been especially exhausting for Lou.
During class, he had asked the teacher, who was worried about hair loss, about his hair and ended up writing a reflection paper. Then he helped a friend sneak out of the Academy to meet his fiancée and ended up writing another reflection paper.
There was no swordsmanship class today, but his wrists ached from all the writing.
Lou had thought the best thing about the Academy was that there was no distinction of social rank, but at this point, he found himself missing his title.
As soon as Lou returned to the dormitory, he collapsed onto his bed. He didn’t want to move. Three more reflection papers were left to write, but he decided to delay them as long as possible.
Suddenly, Lou’s dorm room door swung open.
“Letter.”
Odin came in, threw a letter, and left without a word.
What the…?
Lou stared in disbelief at the door.
Even though they had agreed to ignore each other at the Academy, Odin just threw a letter and left? Lou couldn’t help laughing at his brother’s childishness.
Though bored from a day full of theory classes and not wanting to read, Lou crawled over to pick up the letter from the floor, hoping to delay writing reflection papers even a little.
“Huh?”
Lou’s eyes widened as he checked the sender. He couldn’t believe it. A maid who probably didn’t know how to read had somehow sent him a letter?
Blinking, Lou opened the envelope. Inside was a neatly handwritten letter.
After reading it carefully, Lou laughed. The tone was unmistakably hers.
Forgetting that just five minutes ago he had said he was tired of letters, Lou read it two or three times.
“Ah, really…”
He folded the letter, ruffled his hair, and couldn’t stop smiling. He finally got up and went to his desk, completely forgetting about the reflection papers.
He thought about how to start his reply, and a sentence came to mind that made him smile as he wrote:
“To the rude maid, Lily.”
It was a sentence he liked very much.
“To the rude maid, Lily.”
Should he even read it? How could this young master make a letter feel unreadable from the first sentence? Truly impressive.
I turned my attention to Deriksha. Now was the time to focus, not on Lou.
For the first time in two months since possession, I recalled the novel’s story.
The title was “I Became the Duke’s Maid I Only Dreamed of.” Cheesy and cringe-worthy, but it fit Deriksha perfectly.
I sighed. All I could recall now were the main characters.
The heroine was Deriksha, a commoner maid who would marry the male lead and live happily.
The male lead was, predictably, Odin Leofrum. Amazingly, Odin’s first love had been Deriksha in the garden when they were seven. The story began when he reunited with her ten years later and made her his personal maid.
I felt a baseless confidence that Odin and Deriksha would end up together—and now I knew why.
Even so, it wouldn’t happen for a few years. The story dragged a little with a secondary male lead…
“Was there any curse word in the letter?”
Deriksha waved her hand in my view.
I stared at her. Until now, I hadn’t paid much attention, but knowing she was the heroine, I noticed everything—her delicate beauty, her strong personality, her occasional gentle side. She was definitely the heroine.
“Why did I only now realize Deriksha is beautiful…?”
“…Is that a compliment?”
I sighed again. Knowing the identities of the main characters was one thing, but I still had no idea what role I played.
Ideally, I wanted to help Deriksha reach her happy ending safely. But without remembering the original story fully, there was nothing I could do.
I paused mid-step, thinking. Two months later, Odin would graduate from the Academy. There would be another ball to celebrate graduation and his coming-of-age ceremony.
Would I see Demian then? He sent letters nearly every day. With that kind of handsome appearance, he couldn’t just be an extra.
I recalled the other young men at the ball. Except for Odin, Lou, and Demian, all their faces were blurry in my memory.
“Lily, seriously.”
Deriksha lightly tapped my shoulder, annoyed.
“Why are you spacing out? Do you remember what I just said?”
“Uh… I don’t want to work?”
“No, that’s not it!”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
“If something’s troubling you, tell me. I’ll listen.”
If I said, “You’re the protagonist, and the male lead is Odin, and I’m trying to help you end up together,” Deriksha would probably think I’d gone mad.
So I sighed and avoided her gaze. I resumed walking silently, and Deriksha blocked me, determined.
“Lily, I’m your friend! If something’s wrong, talk to me!”
Her words made me smile. Deriksha always acted indifferent, but when I was truly troubled, she showed kindness like this.
I couldn’t tell her. All I could do was try to help her reach her happy ending.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“…Really?”
“Yes, really. I’m just tired.”
I linked arms with Deriksha. She looked suspicious but let it go.
My goal was her happy ending. Even if everything went smoothly, she had a difficult journey ahead.
The hardest part for Deriksha in the original story was the conflict between the male lead and the secondary male lead.
So there was only one thing I could do to ensure her happiness: prevent her from meeting the secondary male lead.
A month remained until the Academy’s vacation. That meant only a month until the ball.
For Deriksha’s peaceful happy ending, I had to stop her from meeting the secondary male lead.
I picked up my pen and wrote a letter. The message was simple:
“Do not attend this ball, Demian.”
The letter arrived quickly. Demian, shocked, had written back nervously, asking if he had done anything wrong. His handwriting was shaky, showing how nervous he was. Luckily, there were no tear stains.
I calmly explained my reasoning. Through letters with Demian, I learned about the Baron Olivier’s family situation. Despite being extremely poor, the Baron had been wasting money gathering unnecessary information.
The truth was obvious: the Baron wanted to profit from other nobles’ secrets. Corruption ran rampant—it was typical for a merchant family.
And yet, such a kind son was born into this family. During his childhood, Demian had been treated as a noble, but his family was practically ruined.
Thus, he couldn’t attend the ball. Traveling from the east to the Duke’s mansion alone would cost as much as my monthly salary.
I wrote all my reasons carefully, and in the end, my excuses were filled with sincerity.
After finishing, I leaned back, covering my face with my hands, exhausted.
I didn’t want to doubt Demian, but for now, Deriksha was my top priority.
I had to set my priorities straight as someone possessed and as her friend.
“Time flies so fast since entering the Duke’s mansion.”
I paused sweeping, and Deriksha stopped wiping the floor to look at me.
“Deriksha, don’t you feel the same? It’s almost been four months since I started maid work.”
“You only feel that because it’s monotonous. What’s there to maid work? Clean in the morning, clean at noon, clean in the evening. Of course the days fly by.”
Deriksha had a point. I nodded. Four months had already passed since starting as a maid. It felt like yesterday we were watching the festival with Lou and Demian.
“Then tomorrow will feel slower? The young master you’ve been waiting for is coming.”
“Shut up!”
“I said Lou, not you. Feeling guilty?”
I joked, and Deriksha threw the mop she was holding. I caught it and casually wiped the window. She stared at me, dumbfounded.
Vacation was almost here. Tomorrow, Odin and Lou would return to the Duke’s mansion.
