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Chapter 3
It was a peaceful morning.
That was, if Theodore was not currently thrashing around under Claire’s grip while trying to kill her.
“So this is where the butter knife went after it disappeared during dinner.”
Claire tightly grabbed Theodore’s wrist with her strong grip, forcing the knife to fall from his hand before casually kicking it away.
“I brought your meal.”
“Get out! Eat it yourself!”
“No. This meal belongs to you, Young Master.”
Claire was not shameless enough to steal food from a skinny raccoon.
“It’s a mushroom sandwich. They said it also has minced deer meat in it.”
That sounds delicious. Stealing it feels wrong, but maybe eating the leftovers would be okay?
Claire unconsciously swallowed her saliva while pulling Theodore’s hand away before he could claw at her eyes.
“I would appreciate it if you held the sandwich instead of my eyeballs.”
This raccoon really requires a lot of work.
Claire effortlessly lifted Theodore and sat him down in his chair.
The moment she did, Theodore grabbed the metal kettle on the table and swung it toward her head.
“Oh dear. Excuse me.”
With an expressionless face, Claire caught the kettle with one hand, forced Theodore back into his seat, and looked down at the kettle.
Just yesterday, they had replaced the ceramic teapot with a sturdy metal kettle because Theodore kept smashing the old ones and trying to use the broken pieces as weapons.
“You should not use kettles to hit people.”
As she said that, Claire gripped the kettle with both hands and squeezed.
Creeeak.
The iron kettle crumpled like paper, and the liquid inside dripped through her fingers.
Placing the flattened kettle back onto the table, Claire showed a faint smile.
“Shall we eat now?”
Theodore’s gaze trembled as he stared at what used to be a kettle.
After hesitating for a moment, he slowly picked up the sandwich.
Claire quietly sighed in relief.
‘Mission complete. Breakfast served successfully.’
There was one thing Claire had learned while dealing with wild animals in the mountains.
‘Once they realize they can’t win, they naturally submit.’
So if someone suffered from madness, all she had to do was respond with even greater madness.
She quietly hid the destroyed kettle inside her apron pocket.
‘I’ll just say the young master broke it.’
After finishing Theodore’s meal service, Claire pushed the trolley down the hallway.
‘Still, he ate quite a lot today.’
More than half a sandwich.
That was the highest amount Theodore had eaten in a single meal over the past week.
Claire stared proudly at the empty dishes when someone suddenly blocked her path.
“You there.”
A bold voice reached Claire’s ears.
She lifted her eyes from the dishes and turned her head.
A young girl who looked around nine years old stood there. She had blue eyes, red hair, and wore a pink dress that suited her perfectly.
Seeing those familiar blue eyes reminded Claire of someone.
‘The youngest child of the Voltier family… Isabella, was it?’
The way the girl frowned deeply and failed to hide her discomfort made her resemble Theodore.
‘Maybe siblings really do make similar expressions.’
Claire bent slightly and greeted Isabella politely, but Isabella only continued staring at her with a frown.
‘Should I say something first?’
Claire thought quietly for a moment, but nothing came to mind.
‘Maybe I should just stay silent.’
A short silence passed before Isabella finally spoke.
“You’re the new maid assigned to my brother?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How are you still unharmed?”
It’s the result of repeated dominance training.
Those words nearly came out, but Claire remembered Angela and held herself back.
“The young master is merciful.”
“My brother?”
Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
Claire said nothing and simply waited for Isabella to continue.
Isabella glanced briefly at the plate that showed traces of food being eaten before speaking again.
“Everyone who has served my brother before failed to last even three days.”
She raised suspicious eyes toward Claire.
“You’ve lasted over a week, but I don’t think you’ll be any different.”
Claire quietly looked down at Isabella, who was not even tall enough to reach her stomach.
Honestly, watching such a tiny child try to sound intimidating was amusing.
‘She’s sharp-tempered too.’
In truth, Isabella’s fierce glare felt even less threatening than Theodore’s.
She was trying to act strong, but it was obvious she was trembling.
‘This one feels like a red baby raccoon hissing at people.’
Claire could not understand why humans who were not even beastmen resembled small animals so much.
If Theodore was the type to bare his teeth fearlessly without understanding how scary the world was, Isabella seemed like the type who pretended to be fierce because she was too afraid.
‘Though they’re both raccoons in the end.’
No matter how much they puffed up their fur, they only looked cute in front of a giant brown bear.
“If you’re planning to neglect my brother while collecting your pay, then leave now. Otherwise, you’ll regret it. And don’t even think about taking advantage of him for personal gain.”
Not scraps. Proper wages.
At Isabella’s words, dissatisfaction and anxiety rose together inside Claire.
‘Wait… she’s not firing me, right?’
Now that she thought about it, even if Isabella was small, she was still part of the family that owned the mansion.
At this rate, Claire might lose her comfortable first job.
Growing nervous, she hurriedly spoke.
“I have no intention of leaving. I’m not interested in taking advantage of anything. I only want to properly serve Young Master Theodore.”
If she could calm and feed the fierce raccoon well, she could earn enough money to live comfortably for years.
Claire had no intention of letting such a valuable opportunity disappear.
But Isabella’s expression suddenly changed.
Blue eyes filled with a strange mix of resignation and hope.
“…I’ll watch and see whether those words are truly sincere.”
Thankfully, she had avoided getting fired for now.
At Isabella’s cold reply, Claire visibly relaxed.
She bowed politely toward Isabella as the girl turned and walked away.
‘That scared me. I really thought I was about to get fired.’
Claire sighed in relief as she raised her head.
Then she noticed something strange about Isabella’s walk.
‘Hm? She’s limping.’
It was difficult to notice at first glance, but when Claire focused, Isabella’s steps were uneven, like someone enduring pain.
“Ah.”
Claire quickly found the reason.
Her gaze dropped to Isabella’s shoes.
The shoes were too large, and each step caused the back of them to rub painfully against her soft skin.
‘That looks painful.’
Watching pitifully, Claire suddenly grabbed Isabella.
“My lady.”
Isabella stopped and turned around.
Claire quickly walked over and sat down on the floor.
“Your feet are injured. It hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”
“W-What are you…”
Startled, Isabella stuttered.
Soon, she hid her feelings and answered coldly.
“This doesn’t hurt at all.”
“But your walking looked uncomfortable.”
Isabella bit her lip tightly.
“So what are you trying to say? If you think it’s funny, then just walk away.”
“Hm? I just wanted to help. Walking is uncomfortable for you, isn’t it?”
At Claire’s calm reply, Isabella’s expression instantly softened.
Beneath the sharp look she always wore, softer and rounder eyes appeared.
Still dazed, Isabella leaned against the wall as Claire guided her there.
Only when Claire lifted her left foot onto her knee did Isabella snap back to her senses.
“You—!”
“Just a moment.”
Claire tore a long strip from her apron, removed Isabella’s shoe, and carefully wrapped the cloth around her foot.
“We don’t have medicine, but this should hurt less for now. Your shoes seem too big, so you should replace them soon.”
After wrapping the other foot as well, Claire stood up.
“There. All done.”
The cloth sticking awkwardly out of the shoes looked strange, but at least the pain was gone.
Isabella stared silently at her feet before her face suddenly turned bright red.
She opened and closed her mouth as if trying to say something, but eventually gave up.
Then she quickly fled down the hallway as though running away from Claire.
“Hm. I guess it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Claire watched proudly before her expression slowly stiffened.
“That’s strange.”
A prestigious count family ruled by a margrave.
A family wealthy enough to pay even ordinary maids extremely high wages.
‘And yet the young lady of that family is wearing shoes that don’t even fit her?’
Even Claire, who had spent her entire life in the mountains, could tell something was strange.
‘Whatever. It’s too troublesome.’
But that was as far as her thoughts went.
She would leave once she earned the money she wanted anyway.
Getting more involved would only make things troublesome for everyone.
Claire placed her hands back on the trolley.
She still had afternoon duties waiting for her.
