IBMDF 19

Chapter 19

Some of the maids, dissatisfied with the decision that had been made, asked again in disbelief.

“Really…? The newcomer is going to take that position?”

“Yes. Young Master Kalios wanted it, and the Duke approved as well.”

At Melissa’s firm answer, the maids could no longer say anything.

“Lizzie is no longer a temporary maid. She is now an official personal attendant serving the young duke. So from now on, treat her respectfully as a colleague.”

There was something pointed hidden in Melissa’s words.

Did she know I’d been looked down on by the other maids all this time?

Then Melissa turned to me.

“Since things have come to this, Lizzie, it’s time for you to move rooms as well. The room you’re using now was only temporary, so it must feel cramped.”

She handed me a new key and informed me that she had deliberately assigned me a room close to Kalios’s.

Then she warned me seriously.

“You understand what this means, don’t you, Lizzie? Never forget that if you behave carelessly, it will reflect directly on the young master’s reputation.”

“Yes, Head Maid.”

Melissa’s voice was stricter than ever before, so I obediently lowered my head.

“Good. That concludes this morning’s briefing. Dismissed!”

The atmosphere, briefly stirred by the unexpected news—

At Melissa’s booming voice, the maids quickly dispersed to their assigned areas.

* * *

“Ugh, this is so annoying! It feels like my arms are going to fall off!”

Mary irritably threw down the laundry paddle she had been holding.

After spending all day washing clothes, her entire body ached as though she had come down with a fever.

Dorothy, sitting beside her, wasn’t much different.

Looking at her hands covered in blisters, she whined miserably.

“Look at my hands! They’re getting uglier and uglier!”

Other maids clicked their tongues as they passed by the two grumbling at the washing area.

Mary and Dorothy felt humiliated by the way they were being treated like nuisances, but there was nothing they could do.

The story of how they had fallen out of the young master’s favor and been demoted to laundry duty had already spread throughout the mansion.

A few weeks ago, they had even tried to coax Kalios into restoring them to their original positions—

Only to end up being caned by the head maid instead.

“We will never behave improperly again!”

“We will never behave improperly again!”

It still felt as though those cries echoed in their heads.

The shameful marks from the beating remained vividly visible on their calves, not yet fully healed.

“How could the young master do this to us? We served him with utmost devotion for two whole years!”

And yet Kalios had coldly discarded them as though none of that loyalty mattered.

“This is all because of that blind wench!”

Mary suddenly said, biting her lip viciously.

Her eyes glinted cruelly as if Lizzie Swan herself were standing before her.

“That girl must’ve been stirring things up between us!”

Part of the reason they were acting out again was because of shocking news they’d heard recently.

“Did you hear? Lizzie Swan became the young master’s personal maid!”

“What are you two going to do now? You’ve really become abandoned dolls with cut strings.”

The moment they heard it, Mary and Dorothy felt their blood boil.

All day long they endured the other maids’ mockery and ridicule while grinding their teeth in resentment.

“No matter how I think about it, I’m furious. I feel like I won’t calm down unless we somehow drive Lizzie Swan out of the duke’s household.”

As Mary muttered while biting her nails, Dorothy lowered her voice.

“And exactly how are we supposed to drive her out?”

The two put their heads together.

But no matter how much they thought, they couldn’t come up with a method.

Nowadays they spent all day stuck at the laundry area and barely ever crossed paths with Lizzie Swan.

Then someone passed in front of them.

It was Brandon, Kalios’s attendant.

Mary and Dorothy’s expressions instantly soured.

Recently, rumors had spread that Brandon had grown close to Lizzie Swan.

…Wait a second.

Mary, who had been glaring at Brandon with displeasure, suddenly curled one corner of her mouth upward.

“Wait. I just had a good idea.”

* * *

After Duke Levanyion visited Kalios, many things changed.

First of all, my status changed from temporary maid to official maid, and my room changed along with it.

Before, it had been a tiny storage-closet-like room with barely enough space for a bed.

Now I had a proper room with a window.

Its size wasn’t much different from the rooms I’d used in modern times, so inwardly I was very satisfied.

As expected of a ducal household. Giving a private room like this to a maid…

Another advantage was that obtaining magic stones became much easier.

Even if the ducal family owned magic stone mines, they surely weren’t located near the estate.

They must have been transported over long distances—

Yet defective magic stones arrived at the mansion on a remarkably consistent schedule.

The quantity was irregular, so it wasn’t enough to illuminate the entire estate…

But it was enough to brighten Kalios’s always pitch-black living quarters.

Because of that, the reassigned servants found their work much easier.

“Has the young master finally gotten better? He used to throw a fit if someone even opened a window.”

“Haven’t you heard? Pulling back the curtains is still forbidden. Candles too.”

“That’s right. He only allows light from those strange stones.”

“What kind of stone is this? I’ve never seen one before.”

The servants often lingered curiously in front of the unfamiliar magic stones.

Anyway, with maids responsible for cleaning and preparing bathwater returning, my workload became much lighter.

…At least, it should have.

“Young master, there has to be a reason you’re doing this.”

That’s right.

Kalios declared that unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t use magic stones to light his room.

Because of that, I was still the only one entering his room and attending him.

I truly couldn’t understand it.

“Magic stones are only a temporary measure. My illness still isn’t fully cured. So I need to train until I can move perfectly in complete darkness—just in case.”

Wow.

I inwardly admired his determination.

Then again, in the original story he was the type to endure pain while forcing himself to train outdoors.

Maybe this was only natural.

“Well, if that’s what you think, Young Master, there’s nothing I can do… Still, it feels like such a waste of the magic stones. They were brought all the way here.”

The light leaking from defective magic stones couldn’t really be blocked, so in situations like this they were basically being wasted.

“…Then bring one over for a moment.”

Kalios, having finished his meal, set down his cup and spoke.

“Huh? Since when?”

There was only one occasion when someone as stubborn as him—insisting on living in darkness—allowed magic stones into his bedroom.

“Ah, you’re going to read again, aren’t you?”

Reading.

When I brought in a jar containing the magic stones, Kalios immediately opened a book.

Ever since magic stones became available, he spent most of his time reading.

Ugh. Looks like I’m in for another boring stretch of time.

When Kalios read, there wasn’t really anything for me to do.

Sitting around making baskets by myself had become unbearably boring too…

Yaaaaawn.

“…Do you really have to yawn with your mouth open that wide?”

Oops.

At Kalios’s words, I hurriedly snapped my mouth shut.

“What? Why are you looking at my face instead of reading your book?”

“When you open your mouth that wide, how am I supposed not to look?”

Embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head.

It was a habit I’d developed after spending so much time with Kalios in pitch-dark rooms.

Yawning without caring who saw.

Listening to Kalios speak with dead fish eyes.

Sitting with my legs spread wide—ahem.

“Ah, sorry. I unconsciously did it because I thought you couldn’t see…”

“What? So all this time you’ve been acting like that because you thought I couldn’t see?”

Yeah.

I’ve flipped you off before too, you brat.