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After that, he began tidying up the garden of his own accord, even though no one pressured him to do so.
The head maid, after asking him about various suspicious points, returned to the kitchen. She looked half resigned.
“Hmm.”
Standing inside the kitchen, the head maid gazed out the window at 루 with a troubled expression.
In the meantime, 루 was in close discussion with some contractor he had brought from who knows where. Judging by the words drifting over—garden trees, fountain, koi—it seemed he was planning some large-scale construction.
A gardener hired to maintain the garden bringing in professionals to overhaul it entirely?
‘I’m jealous.’
Suspicious, handsome, rich, and with a house of his own. Meanwhile, I dedicate my life to world peace and barely scrape by as a maid.
‘And that kind of guy didn’t throw out that assassin?’
Could it be that the client who requested surveillance of Viscount Weatherwoods is 루? It was worth confirming.
Instead of the head maid, who couldn’t quite decide what to do, I pointed at 루 and spoke—no, declared:
“Fired.”
The head maid slowly turned to look at me.
“Whom? Mr. 루?”
“A suspicious person.”
“Are you referring to yourself?”
Myself? …No matter what, I’m not on that level.
“Of course, Mr. 루 is certainly not an ordinary person. In all my years doing this job, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone that unique. Except perhaps someone like you.”
“Then fire him.”
“There’s no need to rush to dismiss him, Miss Daisy. If he were dangerous to the estate, Viscount Weatherwoods would remove him. Please don’t worry too much.”
How would a viscount who doesn’t even exist drive that man out?
The head maid was far too naive.
I was about to explain: ‘An assassin snuck in at dawn. I beat him up and locked him in the house next door. But when I checked today, 루 was keeping that assassin by his side. They must be spies sent to monitor Viscount Weatherwoods.’—but I shut my mouth.
If I said that, I’d sound suspicious too.
Frankly, I don’t care how others see me. But if the other party is the head maid of the Weatherwoods estate, that changes things.
‘Only a household as strange as Weatherwoods would take me in.’
If I get kicked out even from here, I’ll have nowhere to go.
Money is dangerous like this. It prevents me from even revealing the existence of a spy threatening the master’s daily life.
“Besides, wouldn’t it be a loss to fire a gardener who offers to renovate the garden himself at half wages? The Weatherwoods family isn’t exactly flush with money. Let’s observe him for now.”
The head maid was truly a slave to capital in this era.
Money is dangerous. It makes people tolerate even someone who might be a spy.
“Well then, shall we start our work?”
Today’s task was cleaning the second-floor windows. For the record, it’s my least favorite chore—second only to cleaning the ceiling.
Like a proper maid devoted to her master, I did not forget to keep an eye on the spy while cleaning the windows. If it meant protecting my one precious job, I would do anything.
The spy was lazily pulling out dead weeds in the garden.
Even the way he pulled weeds looked suspicious. So I watched him even more closely.
‘In situations like this, you’re supposed to pick a fight over something trivial, have a physical confrontation, and then coax out their true intentions.’
Like I did with the assassin at dawn.
But with 루, no such opportunity presented itself. Astonishingly, he didn’t show even the slightest opening.
Ridiculous. Handsome, rich, with a house, and not even a single flaw?
‘What exactly is his objective?’
At that moment—
루, who had been sorting the weeds he pulled, suddenly lifted his head.
“Do you have something to say?”
His voice was ordinary, yet it rang clearly, as if lodged directly in my ears.
Dressed in a white shirt and a pale yellow vest, fully focused on gardening—it suited him… perfectly. Then again, what wouldn’t suit a handsome man?
I couldn’t have a physical confrontation, but acting like nothing was wrong was only something I did in front of the head maid.
Resting my chin on the window frame, I asked him:
“Who are you?”
“If you mean my name, I already introduced myself as 루 earlier. Maid, the maid.”
“Maid, the maid.” I knew he was teasing, and it annoyed me.
“Not your name.”
루’s eyes narrowed slightly. His expression should have looked amused, but it didn’t quite seem so.
“Do you perhaps want to know me more deeply? I don’t think we’re that close yet.”
“Stop being slippery and answer. Who are you? Why did you come here?”
It had been so long since I spoke this much that I was already out of breath.
“I’m your fan.”
What?
Tilting his head as he looked up at me, he smirked.
“Last night, you tied up some pervert and left him in my house. Locking up a complete stranger so boldly was quite impressive to me. Honestly, I’d like to award you the title of ‘Brave Citizen of Midwintery,’ but…”
“You’re saying you came to the estate because of that?”
Again. It was so absurd that I ended up speaking at length without realizing it.
My own voice felt so unfamiliar that I shuddered. Meanwhile, 루 shrugged with an infuriating smile.
“As if.”
So he had no intention of answering honestly. Then I’d have to interrogate him face-to-face.
I leapt out the open window into the garden.
“You.”
As I strode toward him, he, who had been leisurely watching with his arms crossed, suddenly shouted toward the house:
“Head maid! The maid, the maid, keeps slacking off and bothering me. Is this acceptable? Does Weatherwoods not protect the rights of its employees?”
At such shameless behavior, there was only one reaction I could have.
I turned right back the way I came and entered the kitchen through the back door.
I ground my teeth.
‘Suspicious and underhanded bastard.’
And he had to bring up the head maid?
Like a guilty thief, I threw myself into cleaning the windows. I worked so hard I ended up breaking one—but the head maid didn’t scold me much. She only deducted part of my wages for the month.
As a result, my mood during dinner was quite low. As usual, only the head maid and I sat at the table.
“Where’s the cook-slash-gardener?”
“He says he’ll have dinner separately. Our estate eats after official duties are done, after all. It seems he’ll continue dining separately.”
No need to see him after sunset. That, at least, I liked.
I swallowed the tasteless vegetable stew without concern.
The next morning.
After finishing the morning tasks, I ran into 루 in the passage leading to the kitchen. Like yesterday, he greeted me, looking far too polished for a gardener—more like the master of the house.
“Good morning, maid, the maid.”
I ignored him and went into the kitchen. A small laugh followed behind me.
After looking around the kitchen, 루 spoke:
“Has today’s ingredients not arrived yet?”
The head maid, already downstairs sipping tea, answered first.
“We don’t order ingredients, Mr. 루. We go to the market ourselves. Today’s ingredients are over there.”
루 looked at the potatoes, carrots, and onions piled loosely in a wooden box under the table and let out a short remark.
“My, I thought it was leftover food waste.”
For the first time since being hired yesterday, he looked like he was facing hardship. For the first time, I felt a sense of kinship with him.
That’s right. This household has a grand name, but it’s actually quite poor. You walked into hardship, you fool.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s make do with this for lunch. At least we have enough butter, pepper, salt, herbs, and milk. Maid, the maid?”
Smiling, he pointed at the box.
“Peel them.”
I peeled the ingredients without complaint.
Living like a beggar for the past month had taught me something: it’s best to obey the person who feeds you. At least while they’re feeding you.
As I peeled the potatoes, I watched 루.
He opened cabinets and took out square containers I’d never seen before, then a seasoning holder I’d never noticed.
‘Did we even have those in this kitchen?’
After cleaning off the dust, he melted butter slowly over the fire. Coating the container with butter, he skillfully sliced the potatoes thinly.
He layered the potatoes neatly, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and covered them with milk.
I watched, entranced by his skill—
“Maid.”
He called me while crushing dried herbs.
“Do you see the rat on the wall outside the window?”
Suddenly? I turned to look. Just as he said, a small gray rat was scurrying along the wall.
“That rat peels potatoes better than you. You’re far too slow.”
“…Hmm.”
He’s a cook. At least for now, he’s a cook.
The only escape from the head maid’s terrible cooking.
I sped up.
He silently waited until I finished, then repeated the same process twice more in separate containers. All that remained was to bake them.
Finally—
“Eat.”
The moment the potato gratin, with its intoxicating aroma, touched my tongue—
I froze at the overwhelming sensation of ‘taste’ piercing through my mind.
‘How is this so good?’
It was true. Incredibly, 루 was a masterful cook.
He knew exactly how to make the best use of both good and poor ingredients. The lifeless potatoes had been reborn as perfect gratin in his hands.
It was incomparable to the head maid’s cooking.
“You eat well.”
After watching me quietly, 루 left for the garden.
Not hungry? I finished his portion as well.
Comfortable living and satisfying meals are inseparable. The head maid wiped her lips and murmured in a half-dazed voice:
“I haven’t had a more satisfying breakfast in years. Mr. 루’s cooking is truly remarkable. I almost feel guilty for hiring him at half wages.”
Seeing the head maid practically enchanted by the gratin, my sense of crisis flared again.
‘No. At this rate, she’ll fall completely for that fraud.’
Because it was him, even this delicious food felt like part of some scheme.
‘What a sly fox.’
Living under the same roof with someone this unsettling doesn’t suit me.
‘And the fact that he openly radiates suspicion makes it worse.’
So confident, huh?
I had two hypotheses about 루’s identity.
One: like the assassin, he came to spy on Viscount Weatherwoods.
Two: he knows my past and came after me.
‘…How likely is the second?’
