Chapter 07
I thought I’d be dragged off to prison, based on experience.
“Lacey, what kind of major trouble have you gotten into now?”
Contrary to my expectations, I was thrown into the Head Maid’s office. A shrill voice hammered against my eardrums one after another.
“And why has the Chief Aide been locked up in the prison *again*?”
Again?
So he wasn’t scared at all because he was a regular at the prison, is that it?
“Ow!”
The Head Maid made a terrifying expression and grabbed my arm tightly.
It was a grip so strong it made tears well up.
“You didn’t do something that would cause trouble for the Maid Division, did you?”
She shook me back and forth violently, completely ignoring my screams.
“Can’t you answer quickly?!”
“I, I was just trying to help the Family Head…!”
“How insolent! Who taught you to talk back?!”
Shaken mercilessly, I felt nausea rise up.
“Blegh…!”
“O-oh my.”
As I covered my mouth and crouched down, the Head Maid quickly let go of me.
“W-well, be prepared. Since things have gotten noisy, I can’t just let this slide.”
What do I do now? It seems like the situation is just getting more complicated…
***
Chapter 3. Even if you take the wrong path, if you reach the Euphorian capital, it’s fine.
The punishment I received was a transfer of workplace.
I should be grateful that my situation is better than Fritz, who was locked in a dungeon, right?
That thought changed less than an hour after I entered my new workplace, the laundry room.
“Ugh, it’s hot…”
Sonya, who found out about my situation, was very sorry. It meant the person she could swap cleaning duty for the Consciousness Room with was gone.
But when I heard my new assignment was the laundry room…
“W-well, if you work diligently, you might be able to return to being a cleaner. So, have hope. Ah, do you want my sausage?”
Offering her favorite menu item was practically a sign of mourning.
And for good reason, because in Canis Castle, the laundry room was called the servants’ grave.
The steam constantly billowing out made it hard to breathe.
“H-help me…”
It was my third day since the transfer.
I just couldn’t get used to this highly humid environment.
“Laundry from Knight Order 1 is here!”
“From the stables quarters too!”
Looking at the endless pile of laundry, I realized anew the fact that this place was both a castle and a fortress.
Does the laundry ever end? Will I be able to return to my quarters today?
My head was spinning, maybe from lack of oxygen.
It wasn’t an avoided department for nothing.
But being sent to the laundry room was a punishment. It was obvious that I couldn’t get out right away unless I made some groundbreaking achievement.
The problem was that the punishment period wasn’t set.
So how long did I have to endure?
“This damn, blasted laundry room. They need to move me to another department or something.”
A woman who looked to be in her thirties, who was stacking laundry, suddenly threw it down on the floor.
“Ugh, you’ve been saying that for four years now.”
“Yeah, why did you cause trouble? If you hadn’t, you would have been on a solid career path.”
“……”
It seemed like it would be quicker to just break the contract.
“Hurry up and move your hands! It’ll be dawn at this rate!”
“Stop rushing me! I already have a headache from the guests’ laundry being piled on top!”
Maybe I’ll be crushed to death under a mountain of laundry before I even get to check the lifetime contract.
“Hey, newbie! Go get the laundry collected from the guest rooms!”
“Ah, yes!”
“Not you! The basket over there, near the entrance!”
“Yes!”
I quickly ran towards the entrance following her pointed finger. I found the basket with the ‘Guest Room’ tag among the ones lined up.
As briefly taught, I spread the laundry on the floor and began untangling the knotted parts.
“Aren’t you bringing it soon? We don’t have time to dawdle!”
Even though they’d get angry if I brought it all bunched up.
“Yes, yes.”
I answered half-heartedly while continuing to work with my hands.
By the way, a guest for that personality-disordered man? And one staying long enough to be given a room? I wondered who it could be.
“Huh?”
Just then, I caught an item that was about to flutter down.
“What’s this?”
It was a silk handkerchief. It was slightly yellowed, as if it was quite old.
“Why is this mixed in here?”
I heard that clothes or handkerchiefs are easily damaged, so they are washed in a separate area.
“Newbie! What is that in your hand?”
At the scolding tone, my shoulders flinched involuntarily.
I turned to see the maid supervising the laundry room staring wide-eyed as she approached.
Her gaze fell on the hand holding the handkerchief.
“Don’t tell me that’s…”
Her eyes sharpened in an instant. Don’t tell me she misunderstood that I stole it…
“N-no. This was stuck in the bedding…”
“Why are you fiddling with trash?”
“Trash?”
At a glance, one might mistake it for trash.
But anyone with a discerning eye would quickly recognize it.
Even though the color had faded, it was clean without any stains, and the silver Calla lily embroidery on the corner was perfectly intact, not a single thread loose.
It looked so well-cared for that it was admirable.
“But Supervisor, this is…”
Moreover, this wasn’t an ordinary silk handkerchief.
It was a handkerchief made by a boutique secretly known among the highest echelons and wealthy of various countries.
The boutique’s name, location, and owner were kept secret.
However, since a Calla lily embroidery was always placed somewhere on their products as a symbol, people called it the Calla Boutique.
Especially, silver thread embroidery signified a limited edition.
It was said that even royalty found it as difficult as plucking stars from the sky to get one of these.
It was so rare that even the Queen had to mobilize all her connections just to procure one limited edition parasol.
So, just who was the owner of this handkerchief?
“Tch.”
At the sound of her clicking her tongue, my lips sealed shut.
“I heard you were insolent to the Head Maid. Talking back seems to be a habit of yours.”
“……”
“Can’t you see it’s embarrassingly shabby? As a subordinate, you should have the sense to discreetly throw it away.”
Because that boutique’s products were sold secretly in extremely small quantities, even the demand for second-hand items was hot.
There were even rumors that people didn’t mind even if it was half-rags.
There was no way something like that would be carelessly discarded.
“How do you expect to work as a maid without even that much sense?”
I just held the handkerchief tightly and listened quietly.
If I got marked now, I might be pushed into even harder work.
“If you want it that badly, then you take it.”
I sharply lifted my head.
“Re…really?”
“Yeah. It’s going to be thrown away anyway, so who cares who takes it.”
Having said that, the supervisor completely lost interest in me.
Is it okay to handle it so carelessly like this?
I’d heard Canis was stingy towards outsiders. I didn’t expect they’d be like this even to guests invited to the castle…
“Newbie! Why are you so slow?”
“Yes, yes! I’ll be right there!”
I quickly put the handkerchief in my pocket and finished the task I was doing.
As I unfolded the bedding, I glanced sideways at the room name tag attached to the basket.
〈Anarose〉
It was a name I could never forget.
***
By the time I finished my allocated work for the day, it was already past dusk.
Normally, the standard procedure would be to head towards the smoking dining hall, but using the excuse that I didn’t feel well, I headed towards the west wing of the castle.
“Please, let me in.”
“Go back.”
And I was immediately blocked at the entrance.
Perhaps because it was a building where guests stayed, the security was tighter than other places.
“I dropped something while cleaning during the day. May I go in to look for it?”
“Retrieve it during your work hours tomorrow.”
No budging, huh?
I lifted my apron and held it to my eyes.
“It’s a precious keepsake my mother left me. Without it, I…”
I even squeezed out a sorrowful voice. Even I thought my acting was convincing. Surely this would earn some sympathy.
“If it’s that important, you should have been more careful with it.”
…It was useless.
Like master, like soldier, I guess. The security was impenetrable.
Seeing no sign of it giving way, I had no choice but to turn back. If I caused a disturbance here, it seemed like it would only increase the severity of my punishment.
“You think there’s no door other than here?”
There was an emergency exit I had noted while cleaning five days ago.
I deliberately hid my body in the forest and went around. Fortunately, there was no guard.
It was good that I managed to sneak in quietly, but…
*Crash*
*Clatter*
*Smash!*
When I actually arrived at the room and was about to knock, I felt a slight regret.
Were the soldiers who stopped me earlier actually guards isolating a wild beast?
But I couldn’t let the effort of coming this far go to waste.
I closed my eyes tightly and knocked on the door.
“We’re busy, so come back later!”
Was it a couple? A deep male voice came from inside.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t even seen the guests from a distance while working.
I didn’t know who they were or why they had come.
Judging by the fact that no banquet was held, they probably weren’t that important guests.
But still…
“Come back later?”
After getting through those guards?
Even if I managed it once, I wasn’t confident I could succeed twice.
I had to finish this today, no matter what.
I sharply turned my head, looking around. The long corridor was empty except for me.
*Ahem, ahem.* I cleared my throat and raised my voice.
A destructive noise, as if someone was breaking the room, was still coming from inside, so…
“By any chance, have you lost an item?”
Unbelievably, the commotion stopped.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Footsteps approached frighteningly fast.
“What did you just say?”
The door flung open and a large hand reached out. As my shoulder was grabbed, I almost let out a scream.
“Did Ash Canis send you?”
