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Chapter 5
“Mr. Alex.”
“Yes! Yes, Head Maid!”
The monster whose name I had just called—no, not a monster. Alex—snapped to attention, legs together, back stiff.
“Hm…”
As I turned a page of documents, Alex flinched. The chandelier above struck his face and shook wildly.
‘That’s going to fall soon.’
“Chandelier. Hold it steady.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
He quickly grabbed it, stopping the swaying, then forced a nervous smile at me.
‘Good enough.’
He kept glancing nervously at me while hunched under the low ceiling. At least that was acceptable.
To explain how I even knew Alex’s name, we need to go back a few days.
Alex was enormous. I’d never measured him, but he had to be over four meters tall.
So, I assigned him to clean the outer walls of the mansion, along with the slime monster.
On the second day, I went outside to check—because who knew if he was actually working—and of course, he wasn’t. He looked down at me with a smirk.
“Head Maid, sorry, but this rag is far too small for me. If I use it, my arm will fall off before the walls get clean.”
The rag I had washed so carefully—he just tossed it onto the ground. Then he leaned his massive arm lazily on the wall and even crossed his legs.
‘What is he doing?’
Honestly, he wasn’t scary or impressive. He looked like a giant tree. If he didn’t speak, I would’ve mistaken him for one.
But then I noticed something strange.
For someone so huge, the ground beneath his feet wasn’t sinking at all. Even the grass stayed untouched.
Meaning—he was actually very light for his size.
So I waved casually.
“Come here and sit for a moment.”
“…?”
He looked puzzled but obeyed. When his giant body sat on the garden, the grass remained perfectly fine.
Perfect.
I tied dozens of wet rags all around his arm.
“W-What are you doing…?!”
I pulled his arm up and wiped the outer wall with it.
‘Yes! This works perfectly!’
The wall shone. His arm was basically a giant cleaning brush.
After using Mr. Jameson’s tentacles as cleaning tools the first day, I had discovered a whole new world.
These monsters were perfect for cleaning.
And so, I had found myself another free tool.
Even the slime monster, which had once just blobbed around on the grass, was now holding a rag and scrubbing away.
The next day, Alex came to me.
“Head Maid.”
“Yes?”
“My name… is Alex.”
“…What?”
With a serious look—and even a hand pressed to his chest—he revealed his name.
Didn’t he say his pride kept him from telling me before?
Back in the present.
While I read documents, Alex wobbled again—probably from holding the chandelier steady.
‘For someone so tall, he really is too light.’
I closed the file I’d already checked dozens of times.
“I inspected the outer walls earlier.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“They looked much cleaner than yesterday.”
“R-Really?!”
He was deeply moved.
“Yes. But there was some water stain at the far right corner of the second floor. Please clean that area as well.”
“Understood, Head Maid!”
“Good work today, Mr. Alex.”
“Thank you!”
Alex bowed so deeply the chandelier shook again, smashing into his face. His bark-like face even dented inward.
‘Sigh.’
Good thing his face looked like wood. If it were human, it would’ve been terrible.
I turned away, pretending not to notice. Behind me, a long sigh echoed.
At 6 p.m., after the servants finished their work, the monsters gathered quietly in the corridor. They waited until the new human Head Maid had gone to the dining hall.
They whispered, careful not to be heard.
“We can’t go on like this.”
“How are we supposed to live, being ordered around by some lowly mortal?”
“A creature that won’t even live a hundred years…!”
“I’ve been cleaning horse manure in the stables for a whole week!”
Their complaints grew louder and louder. Some shouted in outrage that they had even surrendered their names to the Head Maid.
Some grew teary-eyed, unable to believe it.
“Even if the master hired her, a human is still a human.”
“Exactly. If he needs a human servant, he could simply replace her with another!”
The loudest voice belonged to Jameson Diephon Croumachen.
With countless tentacle arms and a squid-like face, he was once a terror of the cosmic seas—feared as the Kraken itself.
But now, his tentacles trembled as he recalled the humiliation of being dunked into a bucket of soapy water.
Back then, he had been too shocked to react.
And strangely enough, for a brief moment, he even felt… peace.
But when he finally came to his senses and tried to kill the Head Maid, his mind almost shattered.
Why?
Even if his power was sealed by the master’s contract, killing one human should have been nothing.
There was only one answer.
“The master must have made a contract with her—to forbid us from killing her. That wretched, petty creature…”
Jameson hugged his shoulders with trembling tentacles. The other monsters went silent.
Once, he had been the ruler of the seas. Now he was just a squid-headed fool.
The great Kraken, who had sunk ships and devoured sailors, was now scrubbing floors because of one human woman.
The corridor fell silent.
Then one monster quickly added:
“But if we complain, surely the master won’t ignore us. He couldn’t have expected this.”
The mood shifted again.
“Yes, that’s right!”
“Let’s tell the master!”
Their voices grew loud, echoing together.
They marched up the stairs boldly—but once they stood before the Duke’s door, none dared knock.
Silence. Monsters stared at one another, waiting for someone else to act.
Creak—
The door opened on its own. The Duke himself had opened it.
The monsters froze.
“What is it?”
His voice was low, emotionless. Too quiet, yet every monster heard it clearly, sending chills through their spines.
Jameson, trembling, stepped forward.
“Master… It’s about the new human Head Maid.”
“Yes.”
“She keeps mocking us. Dunking my arms in buckets, using me as a mop… Surely this is too much?”
He couldn’t meet the Duke’s eyes, but his chest heaved with frustration.
The Duke leaned against the wall, quietly listening.
Encouraged, the monsters shouted their complaints.
“I had never walked on land before, but now my feet are swollen, Master!”
“I’ve been shoveling horse manure nonstop!”
“I’ve been scrubbing the outer walls every day… but honestly, it feels rewarding.”
“Shut up! Why are you even here?!”
Their voices clashed, turning into chaos.
The Duke frowned.
“The contract I made with the Head Maid is this: you cannot harm her.
The rest is up to you.”
He waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed, and closed the door.
“Ah…”
The monsters blinked.
And then, they realized—the loophole.
Wicked smiles spread across their faces.
