Chapter 1
“Shasha. I heard today is your last day of work.”
“Yes, that’s correct, Baron Armond.”
The baron’s index finger, wearing a ring with a large gemstone, held the handle of a teacup.
That handle.
When I cleaned it, it looked like there was so much empty space.
But in his hand, it looks completely full.
Sip—
While the teacup slowly touched his lips and then moved away, I tightly clenched my hands on my knees.
I had to resist the urge to wipe his lips, which were shining with tea.
“Why are you quitting?”
“I feel I’m lacking in many ways to continue working at the Armond estate. I wish to leave and learn more elsewhere.”
As if there’s anything to learn from being a maid.
It was just a polite way of saying I was leaving.
Not that the baron would understand.
“Your pay was one million francs per month, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, my lord.”
Conscience, are you still alive?
One million francs was barely enough for a single person to survive for a month.
I didn’t even want to answer honestly.
After possessing this body, I found myself already hired as a maid, without even a proper contract.
And despite the so-called “one million francs,” he deducted wages strictly for breaks and meals and even took lodging fees.
The paid leave he bragged about was unpaid, too.
But it’s all goodbye now, so I’ll let it go.
“I’ll raise it to 1.2 million francs.”
Haha. Funny.
Not funny at all.
“I’m sorry, my lord.”
The baron’s confident expression froze. His eyes widened as if he finally realized something.
I almost frowned but forced the corners of my mouth up.
If he were going to stop me, he should have thought about where I was going first.
The baron seemed anxious now and spread all five fingers wide.
“I’ll make it 1.5 million francs.”
“I’m sorry.”
Try harder. I’m not staying.
All this time, everyone else worked half-heartedly for their pay.
I was the only one scrubbing and polishing everything to be spotless.
Do you know how exhausting that was?
That damn… past-life work habit!
In my previous life, I was the owner of a successful cleaning company in my early twenties.
I was even just about to buy my own house before being dragged into this world.
Still, thanks to that, I saw an incredible job posting while out buying cleaning supplies.
And I passed right away, so maybe it worked out.
Thank you, Baron.
While I was lost in thought, the baron’s face turned red.
Like an angry toad.
“Where did you get hired that you would refuse even 1.5 million francs? Just because you clean well, I spoiled you too much! How dare a mere maid—!”
“The Vermagnion Ducal House.”
“…What?”
The baron, who had been shouting and standing up, instantly deflated.
The spit he had sprayed in anger was now all over the table.
Ugh. Disgusting.
My eyes kept drifting to the filthy table.
Honestly, I was already done with this place.
But still…
Sigh.
This damn work habit.
I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out two neatly folded towels and a bottle filled with liquid.
Spray, spray—
I sprayed the table twice and wiped it down.
Then once more with a clean, dry towel.
Done.
I smiled in satisfaction at the spotless table.
Then—
I lifted my head and saw the baron staring at me with his mouth wide open.
Oh, right.
I was in the middle of quitting.
Ahem. Where was I?
Right.
When did you ever spoil me?
“The Duke of Vermagnion offered me five million francs a month. All I did was clean once during the interview.”
“……”
“And I was hired as the head maid.”
How about that?
Now he won’t try to stop me.
With five million francs, he’d rather hire three maids for one million each and spend the rest on himself.
“V-Vermagnion… Ducal House…”
As expected, the baron couldn’t say anything more. He trembled and covered his mouth.
Probably shocked by the amount alone.
“Well then, I’ll be on my way, my lord. Thank you for everything.”
As if.
It was awful. Let’s never meet again.
Baron Armond. Or Almond. Whatever.
I bowed, determined never to see his face again, and left the reception room.
Humming happily, I held the black envelope containing the contract the Duke himself had given me, recalling the interview day.
***
As expected of a ducal estate.
Even though they were hiring just a maid, the interview process was extremely thorough.
The servants of the Vermagnion estate led each applicant into separate rooms.
They didn’t say a single word.
Even that felt impressive.
The strange part was this: you entered an empty room, cleaned it alone, and left.
The next day, you received a letter telling you whether you passed or failed.
Naturally, I passed.
The final interview was with the Duke himself.
My first impression…
It was overwhelming.
The moment I opened the reception room door, silver hair fluttered softly in the breeze from the window.
When his unfocused red eyes looked at me, my breath caught.
“I greet the Duke.”
“Sit.”
A flat, emotionless voice with no rise or fall.
He was the first person I had seen since coming to this world who was so mysterious and beautiful it was unreal.
Honestly, I wasn’t nervous at all.
I was too busy trying to close my slightly open mouth.
Thankfully, his gaze moved to my resume.
“Where have you worked?”
“I currently work as a maid at Baron Armond’s estate.”
“I see.”
It was such a brief response that I couldn’t tell if he liked me or not.
The moment I entered, I had already decided to work here.
“I want to work here.”
“Do you have a reason?”
“This place is too—”
“Too what?”
I took a deep breath.
Calm down. Calm down.
But I couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“It’s filthy. Even this reception room!”
I wanted to show how good I was at cleaning.
No, honestly—I just couldn’t stand it.
I should’ve known when I saw the handprints all over the door handle.
Yes.
What shocked me most wasn’t the Duke’s looks.
It was that the window behind him wasn’t transparent at all.
It was cloudy with dirt.
That was the real shock.
I walked toward the window as if possessed.
Oh no.
Before I even got close, I was horrified.
“These water stains! Who cleaned this and left all these marks?”
It looked even worse up close.
This was worse than not cleaning at all.
A wet cloth must be wrung out at least five times, then finished with a dry cloth.
That’s a basic rule of cleaning.
Always. Absolutely.
This looked like someone had just wiped it once with a soaking wet rag.
I decided.
I have to clean it.
If I ignored it, I would dream of dozens of water-stained windows haunting me.
I pulled out a cloth from the pouch I always carried for moments like this.
I rolled up my sleeves, a wet cloth in my left hand and a dry cloth in my right.
Ready.
I took a breath and started cleaning the nearest window.
…and immediately got angry.
“They didn’t even clean the corners!”
Who cleaned this so carelessly?
Just wiping the middle like that and getting paid?
No shame at all.
“Is there not even a head maid here? Who lets this slide?”
I regretted not bringing more tools.
If I had known, I would’ve brought something sharp to scrape the window frames.
After angrily cleaning three or four windows—
“……”
Only then did I realize.
This was an interview.
Ah.
“Pass.”
