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Chapter 3
He hadn’t been worried about me—he was only concerned about the hassle of having to hire another servant.
So much for being “considerate.” Cancel that! Cancel!
I bit my lip hard, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Then, carry on.”
And just like that, the Archduke who had so thoroughly rattled me walked away with a calm, unhurried stride.
I glared at his retreating back for a moment… until something terrifying struck me.
“The cleaning…!”
Sleep vanished from my body faster than a splash of cold water.
If the housekeeper caught me and Anna, we’d both be punished as a pair. My steps sped up instinctively.
Tap-tap-tap—
The corridor was longer than I remembered. I broke into a half-run, but oddly enough, my breath didn’t hitch in my chest.
So the rumors about my stamina were true…
A little suspicious, wasn’t it? Could it be some sort of spy training that this body had undergone?
Just as my doubts began to grow, I caught sight of Anna’s round head at the far end of the hallway.
“Anna!”
I jogged up, pretending to be out of breath. She spun toward me, ready with dramatics.
“You were so close! You nearly got caught!”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Ugh… Good thing the housekeeper left the moment His Grace returned.”
“Oh, r-right. Haha…”
Well, now I didn’t know if I should thank the Archduke or curse him.
I forced a laugh and took the broom back from Anna. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice how awkward I was.
Days passed.
In that time, I blended more naturally into the circle of maids, and the work became smoother.
“Lillian, these dishes need—oh, you’ve already done it?”
“Lillian, don’t forget the grease stains on those—wait, you’ve finished?”
“What the…? Since when are you good at this…?”
The maids stared at my dishwashing show in disbelief. Anna, however, looked immensely proud.
“Hmph! That’s three months of practice finally paying off!”
Actually, it was just my part-time job experience. But that wasn’t something I could say aloud, so I simply smiled quietly.
And then a sharp, cold voice cut through the air.
“Tch. Making a fuss over finally doing the bare minimum.”
Her name was Ivy, if I remembered right. Midnight-blue hair, about the same age as Lillian.
Ah. So that’s why she’s been glaring daggers at me lately.
Clearly, Ivy didn’t like me.
“You—what did you just say—!”
“Let it go, Anna.”
I caught Anna before she could storm over. I was already used to this kind of malice. Honestly, what felt stranger was how few people disliked me in this world.
Well, I don’t have the time or energy to worry about her anyway.
I sat Anna back down and continued scrubbing the dishes, while my eyes swept over the rest of the maids.
Could one of them have slipped that coded letter into my things?
Anna, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Ivy…
They all looked like ordinary girls.
Then again, Lillian didn’t exactly look like a spy either, did she?
The unfairness stung. I scrubbed harder.
Scritch, scritch—
By the time the plates gleamed, I’d picked up something more important than clean dishes: valuable gossip.
“The Emperor sent another gift this time—”
“No way!”
“He really is…”
Apparently, Archduke Pelium was the illegitimate son of the current Emperor.
Despite being a bastard, he’d risen to the rank of Archduke thanks to the Emperor’s favor—bolstered by his achievements on the battlefield.
Some said the Emperor himself, once born of a mistress, had been determined to protect another illegitimate child. He had overridden all opposition to grant Pelium the title. The Archduke’s victories in war had provided the perfect justification.
“Still… won’t that cause trouble? He won’t just sit still.”
“Well, considering the Archduke just received a mine as a gift…”
“Don’t worry, His Grace must already be prepared.”
I tilted my head and glanced at Anna.
“‘He’? Who are you talking about?”
Anna leaned close, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“The Crown Prince.”
Ah. Of course.
Suddenly, the picture was clear: the legitimate heir versus the beloved bastard. A classic trope in any historical drama.
Normally the Crown Prince is the protagonist, but…
In this case, our Archduke was stuck in the opposite role.
The legitimate successor, wary of his half-brother who had both military glory and the people’s favor. No wonder the Crown Prince would be watching Pelium closely.
Could it be the Crown Prince’s faction who planted me here as a spy?
It would make sense.
The world of power struggles is really something else…
I sighed inwardly, then recalled the Archduke’s impossibly handsome face.
So it’s true—beauty comes with misfortune. Even that face can’t save him from the Crown Prince’s shadow. Poor guy—
“Lillian! Come wash these too!”
Correction: my life, scrubbing dishes beneath that “poor” Archduke, was the real tragedy here.
Night fell.
A figure in black moved silently across the outer wall of the west annex. Unlike the main building, its security was lax—perfect for an intruder.
He slipped in through an unlatched window and padded toward the bed. The maid inside was fast asleep, oblivious.
“……”
He watched her for a long moment, then slowly drew a dagger. Its edge gleamed, sharp enough to pierce a slender neck in an instant.
Whoosh—
The blade dropped—
Thunk!
—into a pillow.
The girl’s eyes snapped open. A fist shot forward.
The intruder tried to retreat, dropping the dagger, but he was too late.
Crack!
A punch slammed into his skull, rattling his brain. Dazed, he staggered—
Only to be caught, his arms twisted behind him, forced to his knees. The dagger he’d just held was now pressed against his throat.
In less than a minute, the hunter had become the prey.
The man gave a dry, bitter laugh.
“I heard you woke after two days… Seems you haven’t changed.”
The blade pressed deeper. Blood welled, but he didn’t flinch.
Instead, he spoke calmly.
“It’s His command.”
He tossed something to the side. She reacted instantly, throwing the dagger at it—
Thud.
Paper fluttered, pinned to the wall by the blade.
By the time she turned back, the man had already wrenched free and leapt out the window.
A chill wind whistled through the open frame.
The maid stood staring, eyes unfocused, then trudged back to bed and lay down as if nothing had happened.
“…Ugh…”
I woke shivering, my body chilled. My eyelids felt heavy, but I forced them open.
The window was half-open, letting in the dawn air.
“…Did I… leave that open?”
I couldn’t even remember. I’d fallen asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.
“Idiot…”
Muttering at myself, I shut it quickly. Catching a cold would be disastrous. For people like me, our bodies were our only assets.
Still… Lillian’s body is supposed to be sturdy. Guess I’ll just have to trust that.
Shaking my head, I turned back toward the bed—
“…Huh?”
Something was embedded in the wall.
I squinted.
“What… is that…?”
I stepped closer, heart pounding. And when I saw it, I froze.
“H-hhiiik—!”
A dagger.
A dagger pinning a secret letter to the wall.
And from its blade…
Blood was dripping.
