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Chapter: 10
Kaiden didn’t feel particularly good about himself. It felt like he was bullying an innocent person. His gaze drifted to the neatly arranged refreshments on the table.
“Don’t just drink the tea—have some of the snacks too.”
Seeing that she seemed unable to speak because she liked the tea so much, he encouraged her. It wasn’t as though he planned to touch them himself anyway.
Her eyes moved to the refreshments on the table. She swallowed unconsciously. Pretty desserts in all kinds of colors were clustered together, shimmering invitingly. Just imagining how good they must taste made her mouth water.
Only moments ago she’d been completely dejected, but now her eyes sparkled as she stared at the sweets. Watching her expressions change by the second, Kaiden clicked his tongue in disbelief.
She shone brighter at the sight of the desserts in front of her than at all the gold and jewels decorating the room.
‘So it wasn’t a misunderstanding after all…’
She was a naïve woman who couldn’t even properly look after her own share. The more he watched her, the more absurd it felt—enough to make him question whether everything he’d assumed about her had been wrong.
There was only one way to find out. It had been barely two days.
“Th-those snacks aren’t for guests, are they?”
“Is the person sitting in front of me not a guest? Eat while you listen. Your name is Milliana, you’re twenty-five years old, and you lived at the Rabie Orphanage until you came of age. Is that correct?”
“Yes… that’s right.”
Milliana answered absentmindedly, holding a small pastry in her hand. Her attention was far more on the dessert than on his questions. She took a bite.
“You were present during the incident earlier, so I won’t go into details. Heos doesn’t have a dedicated maid, and he seems to have taken quite a liking to you. And… you, too, have been showing considerable interest in Heos.”
He closed his eyes briefly, then delivered his conclusion.
“I am appointing you as his dedicated maid.”
Ian stared at Kaiden in shock. At most, he’d expected her to become one of the general maids or be assigned to cleaning duties. He never imagined Kaiden would give her the title of dedicated maid.
“A-a dedicated maid? Sir, there will be strong opposition. Maid duties are usually reserved for nobles, and a dedicated maid is—”
“Isn’t your own situation exceptional as well? There’s no dedicated maid at the moment, and she fits perfectly. Wouldn’t she be far better than maids who actively try to avoid taking care of Heos?”
“That’s true, but…”
After some deliberation, Ian decided to agree. Rather than forcing a maid to stay by Heos’s side, someone Heos liked—and who could genuinely care for him—was far more suitable.
Yet the person in question said nothing at all. Instead, the sound of quiet munching filled the air. Kaiden and Ian both turned to look at Milliana.
Milliana was completely absorbed in the dessert in her mouth.
Each bite filled her with bliss as the sweet flavor lingered. She pressed a palm to her cheek, savoring it, her eyes sparkling. Crumbs clung to the corner of her lips.
Kaiden blanked out for a moment. Her cheeks were puffed out as she chewed, stuffing them full. Ian sidled up and whispered in his ear.
“Does she look dangerous to you, sir?”
Kaiden shot him a sharp glare despite Ian’s grin. Clearing his throat, he rapped the desk lightly with his fingers. Startled, Milliana hastily set the pastry down.
“S-sorry! What were you saying?”
Kaiden spoke sternly once more.
“I’ll ask again. Are you willing to become Heos’s dedicated maid?”
“M-me? A dedicated maid?”
A crumb dropped from her lips.
“Do you refuse?”
“N-no! Absolutely not!”
Setting aside her surprise, Milliana focused on the significance of being allowed to stay by his side.
‘Does this mean he trusts me? Being the young master’s dedicated maid! If I stay with him, I’ll have more chances to give him the medicine!’
She would be able to remain at his side under the name of “dedicated maid.”
“I’ll be counting on you starting tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
With that, Kaiden dismissed her. Milliana quietly left the study.
“Yes!”
She let out a deep breath and clenched her fists in encouragement.
Then a sigh slipped out.
“I wasn’t found out… was I?”
Being offered such a shocking position was good, but not knowing what Kaiden truly thought made her uneasy. Realizing what she’d muttered, she clapped both hands over her mouth and hurried farther away, worried Kaiden might hear.
“Can I really do this?”
She’d accepted gladly, but her anxiety wouldn’t disappear. Still, she decided to shake off her worries. She was only here to fulfill her purpose and then disappear.
‘I’ll focus on how to give him the medicine. Like Master said, I couldn’t completely undo the tangled curse myself. Giving him Master’s medicine is the best option.’
The title of dedicated maid would make administering it much easier.
‘Should I shamelessly tell him it’s a supplement and make him take it? No… that won’t work.’
The knights would grow suspicious. Whether it was to prepare for his rampages or to keep an eye on Milliana, knights were always nearby.
They might seize it, claiming it could be poison. A simple taste test would be fine, but she couldn’t risk losing it. There was only one bottle. She had to be careful—extremely careful. She wanted to try only when the success rate was one hundred percent.
If he took the medicine—if the curse was lifted—then that horrifying future wouldn’t come to pass.
A lightbulb went off in her head.
‘The tea… or the snacks from earlier!’
She could slip it into food. The medicine was transparent and odorless; nothing would seem strange. She felt a twinge of guilt about deceiving him, but it was better than letting him become a future mass murderer.
‘Master, I’m working hard. You’re safe, right?’
Milliana desperately missed her master. She worried about the master she’d left behind in the future.
As she gazed out the window, the clouds seemed to take the shape of her master’s face. Then a sudden thought struck her.
‘…How do I get back to the future?’
The realization hit her like a blow. She’d come to the past to change a future where her master died. Her master had told her to cure the curse with the medicine so resentment wouldn’t fall upon a witch.
But then… what came after that? She’d never been told!
Milliana stopped in the middle of the corridor, stunned.
Just then, someone called out to her. Turning around, she saw a maid who used to work in the same area before Milliana started being summoned by Heos so often.
“What are you doing standing around? Even if the young master calls for you, shouldn’t you still do your job properly? I ended up doing everything myself again today!”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I did get some things done before I was called—”
“You call that an excuse? Don’t you still have work left? You seem awfully relaxed.”
The maid sneered. Milliana scratched her head awkwardly, reminded once again that she was still just a maid.
‘I should finish all my duties before officially becoming a dedicated maid… I can think about the future after I give him the medicine. Work first.’
She headed to do her share of the laundry. The other maids had already finished washing and were hanging their clothes out to dry.
“What? You’re actually here today?”
“S-sorry…”
Milliana reflected on how she’d neglected her own work because her attention had been focused on Heos.
“It’s fine. We didn’t touch your share.”
She hadn’t been slacking off, but she still felt bad.
“Well, you’re busy now. Taking care of the young master is important too.”
The fact that Heos kept calling for her had already spread everywhere. Milliana simply laughed weakly and began washing clothes by hand, filling a large basin with water. She had a lot to do.
Since this might be her last time doing this work, she tried even harder. Her lack of reaction irritated the other maids.
Deliberately slowing down, they whispered behind her back, making sure she could hear.
“Why does the young master keep calling her?”
“I don’t know. But it’s definitely special. He even remembers her name. He couldn’t even remember the dedicated maid’s name before.”
“And the head maid keeps protecting her, too. We work just as hard, don’t we? She even brags about how good that girl is at her job. It’s ridiculous… Maybe she’s good at sucking up to powerful people?”
“Could be. I heard the maids talking earlier—she got summoned by the Grand Duke.”
“What?”
The others reacted in disbelief. Milliana heard everything but stubbornly ignored them. Jealous stares pierced her back.
“Why would the Grand Duke summon her?”
“How would I know? Maybe he had something to say about the young master.”
“The young master is the problem. Why give attention to a girl like that and tire out the Grand Duke? Come to think of it, didn’t the young master call her ‘mother’?”
“That witch?”
At the word “witch,” her body jerked automatically. Her hands were submerged in cold water, but sweat trickled down her back.
‘D-don’t tell me they suspect me…?’
“Why? They don’t look alike at all.”
“Exactly! Just mentioning a witch made the Grand Duke overreact.”
“That wasn’t an overreaction. Even I thought it was strange. Why did she go near him? She got hurt because of her own mistake, then went around advertising it.”
The maids stared at the white bandage wrapped around her neck.
“Guess she wanted sympathy.”
“Oh, so that’s why she was called to the study?”
“That has to be it.”
Listening anxiously, Milliana finally relaxed when the conversation went in a completely different direction.
Who would ever suspect her of being a witch? She herself hadn’t known for twenty years.
She nodded to herself.
“She got hurt acting recklessly… and now she’s captured the young master’s heart and even the Grand Duke’s attention. Must be nice. I should learn to be that shameless.”
“But still… would that short-tempered young master really open up over something like that? Wouldn’t he be angrier, asking why she stopped him?”
What kind of image did they even have of Heos? He wasn’t like that at all.
Being mocked herself was one thing—but slandering Heos was another. She couldn’t understand it.
‘As long as the Grand Duke doesn’t abandon him, he’s a precious young master…’
And he probably wouldn’t abandon him. That was why he gave gifts and showed his face today. Feeling upset, Milliana scrubbed the laundry even harder.
