"A maid outfit...? Are you seriously telling that I need to wear sothing so... commoner-like?" zzlen protested.
"zzlen, Lilith and Luke are right here, and you're talking like that?" Seraphine scolded.
"B-but it's strange, Sister Seraphine... Soone as noble as , a princess, wearing a maid outfit just doesn't suit . People will feel awkward because of the radiant aura I exude," zzlen continued, clearly grasping at straws.
"So, you're saying that you're not going to wear what everyone else has agreed to, using these excuses, zzlen?" Seraphine pressed.
"E-excuses? I was just stating the facts..." zzlen muttered, clearly not happy.
Right after finishing her lecture to Antonio, Seraphine turned to chastise her half-sister, zzlen. Although the personalities of Antonio and zzlen had slightly changed from the original, the fact that they were still troubleso siblings for Seraphine remained the sa.
The easiest way to handle soone like zzlen was to ntion the person she was currently most infatuated with.
"Now that I think about it, if Master Ethan is participating, Professor Harold might stop by the maid café as well," I said, casually dropping the hint.
"...Lilith?" zzlen perked up.
"Harold... will co?" she stamred, her tone suddenly shifting.
"Originally, it would have been ideal for you to greet him, but since you don't want to wear the maid outfit, I suppose I’ll handle it when Professor Harold visits," I said, keeping my tone neutral.
"N-now that I think about it, perhaps experiencing life as a commoner isn't so bad! After all, it's a festival! I’ll wear the maid outfit, just like everyone else!" zzlen declared with newfound enthusiasm.
"...Sigh."
Her change of heart was obvious to everyone, but at least we had convinced the stubborn princess to go along with the plan. With that settled, we agreed that the n—Ethan, the hero, Thomas, and even Prince Antonio—would wear butler uniforms and assist with the guests. Fortunately, Antonio wasn’t vain enough to refuse wearing a butler’s outfit.
"From tomorrow onward, Lilith will be responsible for training the won in their maid duties. She’s the most experienced maid among us, and everyone knows how diligently she serves Master Ethan," Seraphine announced.
"...Well, that’s true," Ethan agreed.
"I think that's a perfect idea!" said the hero.
"I-I think so too..." zzlen added, trying to regain her composure.
It seed no one had any objections to taking charge of the maid training. However, the question of who would train the n in their butler duties remained. This, too, was easily resolved under Seraphine’s guidance.
"As for the butler training, how about having Luke teach them?" Seraphine suggested.
"Luke? But Luke is a maid, not a butler," soone pointed out.
"Before he entered the academy, he served as both my butler and bodyguard. I’m sure he can handle basic guest service training. Of course, so may have issues with the fact that Luke isn’t a noble, but..." Seraphine trailed off.
"I don’t mind. Besides, if Lilith is training the princesses, I’m not going to nitpick about sothing like that," Ethan said casually.
"I agree. I'd rather have soone familiar like Luke teaching us than so stranger," the hero added.
"Thank you, Lord Blackwood and Hero," Luke said, bowing slightly.
"We’ll have the uniforms tailored to fit everyone. Please make sure to have your asurents taken before you leave," Seraphine instructed.
With that, the eting ca to an end, and we had a solid plan for the festival’s activities. As we were about to leave, Agnes, who had been watching with a strange expression throughout the eting, called out to .
"Lilith," Agnes said.
"Yes, Lady Agnes?"
"...Can we talk after this?" she asked quietly.
"Of course," I replied, a bit surprised by the request.
After the eting, I followed Agnes to a secluded spot where no one else could overhear us. Her gaze was sharp as she looked up at .
"Lilith," she began, "was what you said in the eting... true?"
"What do you an?" I asked, confused.
"The part where you said that normal maids don’t attend to baths naked. Is that true?" Agnes pressed.
"...Well, usually, yes," I answered, wondering where this was going.
Suddenly, a heavy pressure hit my chest, like an invisible force tightening around .
-THUD!-
"Ugh! What...?!" I gasped, feeling the tightness increase.
"Y-you tricked ?! I believed everything you said, Lilith!" Agnes shouted, her face flushed with anger.
"W-what are you talking about...?" I stamred, confused.
"You told back then that as a maid, it was normal to attend to a bath naked when Prince Antonio injured his arm! You said that’s what a maid is supposed to do!" Agnes accused, glaring at .
"...Oh."
It suddenly dawned on . That incident had happened so long ago that I had completely forgotten. At the ti, I had made up the rule to bring Agnes and Antonio closer together. It had worked, too, since their relationship had grown more intimate since then. However, I could understand why Agnes was upset now.
...I felt a little guilty for misleading her, but now was not the ti for apologies. I had to find a way to smooth this over.
"That was a misunderstanding, Lady Agnes..." I began.
"...What?" she replied, her voice still laced with suspicion.
"In a normal employer-maid relationship, it's true that such things don’t happen... But your relationship with Prince Antonio wasn’t exactly 'normal' at the ti, was it?" I pointed out carefully.
"...Go on," Agnes said, her eyes narrowing.
"You rember, right? The reason Prince Antonio hurt his arm in the first place was because of you. You felt guilty, so you took on the role of a maid temporarily. In that situation, a maid’s role is to accommodate the master’s feelings as much as possible, which is why... it wasn’t strange to attend the bath like that."
"...Really?" she asked, her expression softening a bit.
"Yes. If it had been under normal circumstances, I’m sure Prince Antonio wouldn’t have minded if you had worn clothes while attending to him. But given the special nature of the situation, it made sense for you to do what you did," I continued, hoping to convince her.
"...I see."
The pressure on my chest finally lifted as Agnes lowered her staff, a sign that she was calming down.
"Lady Agnes, you know I wouldn’t lie to you. Even if I had misled you back then, it was only to help you," I added, looking her in the eye.
"Do you rember how I helped you contract with the fire spirit during our first sester? Back then, I didn’t tell you everything, but that was for your own good, too. Are you going to hold that against as well?" I teased lightly, hoping to ease the tension.
"...Fine. I get it. I overreacted. Sorry," Agnes muttered, a bit embarrassed.
Even though she had a temper, Agnes was soone who softened quickly once she realized she had been too harsh. Despite everything, she was a friend I could easily understand and handle.
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