Episode 28
Once Benio gave his permission, Zamira entered the room accompanied by a maid.
'Huh? That woman?'
"I heard Young Lady Flora was here, so I ca to find you. The training for the new maid just finished a while ago."
It hadn't been long since she was introduced to Daphne, and now a new maid had arrived.
And it was soone she'd t before.
"Hello, Young Lady. My na is Elena, and I will be serving you from now on."
Flora blinked, hugging the teddy bear she had brought from the orphanage.
The maid standing next to Zamira was the sa woman she had bumped into in the corridor last ti.
'I had no idea this woman would beco my maid.'
To think the person who imdiately beca hostile upon learning she was the Young Lady Lucifer would now be her new personal maid.
Rembering the kind and joyful days with Daphne, Flora let out a sigh, "Phew."
"What about Daphne?"
"Daphne has been assigned new duties."
"I see. I liked Daphne too."
No wonder she had been taking such ticulous care of with a sad face these past few days.
"She's still young and has much to learn."
At Zamira's words, Flora nodded with a face that said it was a sha but there was nothing to be done.
"I understand. I look forward to working with you, Elena."
"Yes, I will serve you diligently."
"It's getting late, so I should be going now."
As Flora hopped up and climbed down from the bed, Benio looked at her with regretful eyes.
"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"
"Mm, today is a day for eating alone."
Flora waved goodbye to Benio and left the room with Elena.
Then, with sparkling eyes, she held out her hand.
"Elena, hold my hand."
"...Yes."
She saw Elena's brow twitch for a mont, but Flora, with the face of a bright, innocent child who knew nothing, firmly grabbed the offered hand.
'If she dislikes the Lucifers, she shouldn't have beco a maid for this family.'
At first, it seed like a position unrelated to her, so she tried to ignore it, but now that Elena was her personal maid, she couldn't just let it be.
'I could ask for a change, saying I don't like her, but I can't do that right from the first day of her assignnt.'
This was a ducal estate where you couldn't even light a lantern at night, so it probably didn't attract many maids looking for work.
So it was right for her to endure.
"Young Lady... This isn't the way to your room."
"Mm. This is the way to Dad, not my room."
When Athanas was ntioned, the hand she was holding tightened its grip.
Glancing up, she saw a cold, hard face, the forced smile completely gone. Flora sighed internally.
'Benio was right.'
While so people respect the lord, there are also those who hate him like this.
And so close by, too.
If she dislikes because of my birth, not my looks or personality, there's no real solution.
'But I still don't like being hated.'
Even if I'm used to being hated, it's still better not to be.
The closer they got to Athanas's office, the more Elena's face froze coldly, and the emotion of hatred beca increasingly clear.
She worried if Elena might have a dangerous profession like an assassin, but seeing how she couldn't hide her emotions, that probably wasn't the case.
'She can't even hide her killing intent. Sigh, I guess I have to step up.'
As much as she disliked it, now that Elena was her maid, she had to keep her around for a while, but it would be problematic if she kept reacting like this.
'No matter how poorly the Lucifers are treated within the Empire, Elena, you are a Lucifer maid.'
She had intended to observe a bit longer, but leaving her in that state would probably get her arrested for disrespecting nobility soon.
'Of course, I also dislike people who dislike , but since I'm the master now, I should at least try to be accommodating, right?'
To change the atmosphere, Flora, as the superior, magnanimously spoke first.
"Elena, do you have a family?"
Startled by the sudden question, she smoothed her furrowed brow and nodded.
"...Yes, I had a husband and a daughter."
She thought Elena was an unmarried Young Lady, so this was unexpected.
'Wait. "Had"? Don't tell ...'
Flora's eyes wavered violently.
'W-wait. No!'
And just as she feared, the words that followed were about a sad tragedy.
"My daughter was playing near the castle walls when she was attacked by a monster and passed away to God's embrace last year. If she were alive, she would be about your age, Young Lady."
"...And your husband?"
Oh no, she should have let it go quietly, but her mouth caused trouble without her realizing it.
"He died trying to save our daughter at the scene."
At the depressing, tragic story, cold sweat ran down Flora's back.
Th-this is bad.
'I, I was just trying to be friendly.'
She had no idea such a horrific story about her entire family dying to monsters would co out.
Even though Elena was the one who did wrong, Flora ended up feeling like the guilty one.
"Missing my husband and child every day, a year has passed. Just as I was about to be evicted for unpaid rent, I saw a notice that the ducal estate was hiring maids, applied, and ended up here. Thanks to His Grace the Duke, I can at least make ends et now."
She doesn't look grateful at all. What should I do?
With those final words, Elena fell silent, and the atmosphere beca the absolute worst.
'I, I can't leave it like this.'
A good master should handle their subordinates well, but she had ended up poking at a painful wound.
'Comfort her? No, why would I do that? Then just brush it off? No, she might think she's being ignored.'
Uh, what should I do?
No way to break this situation ca to mind.
Still, thinking that as Elena's master, she shouldn't disappoint her, her mind raced until a thought suddenly crossed it.
'But isn't it okay to show a bit of inadequacy? Even if I pretend to be clueless and offer comfort, she might just think "she's just a child" and let it slide, rather than feeling mocked.'
Flora is only four years old.
Thinking about it, the ones applying strict standards are the strange ones.
"Hey, what was your daughter's na?"
"Lisa."
Her expression grew distant as she thought of her daughter, and the corners of her eyes reddened as if she might cry at any mont.
"Elena, did you love Lisa a lot?"
"...Yes. I loved her very much. She was a daughter I'd cherish even if she hurt my eye."
"Then Lisa must be happy in heaven too. She'll see that her mommy still loves her very much."
Flora deliberately shook the tightly held hand vigorously.
Elena, who had been keeping her gaze fixed ahead in silence, looked at her, and when their eyes t, Flora grinned.
"So, let's smile. Then Lisa will be happy too."
"......"
Pretending to be a clueless child and offering comfort was good, but she didn't expect it to bring about a major change to break this atmosphere.
She lost her daughter, while the lord found the daughter he thought was dead. How envious and resentful must she feel?
For her, taking care of Flora in the castle might be more painful than being evicted from her ho.
'I'll let it slide for today at this point, observe a bit more, and then say I prefer Daphne and ask to switch back.'
And if Elena is moved to a different position, she might feel a bit more at ease too.
Thinking that, Flora knocked on the office door they had arrived at without her noticing.
"I asked to be brought to Dad, so Elena, you can say goodbye here."
"But..."
"Dad will also put to bed. So, goodbye."
Flora waved her hand and rcilessly slipped through the opened door.
Looking at the imdiately closed door, Elena hesitated for a mont, then her face beca gloomy and she let out a sigh.
'She has a bright personality. Lisa was a child who laughed a lot like that too.'
Rembering her husband and pitiful daughter who returned to God's embrace last winter still made her heart churn, and she felt like tears would burst forth at any mont.
On snowy days, monsters usually didn't appear, so playing near the castle walls was part of the daily life for the village children.
And Elena's daughter, Lisa, was one of those children.
But on the very day Lisa went out to play, an anomaly occurred, and monsters appeared despite the snow.
It just so happened that Duke Lucifer and his son were away on a long subjugation trip for a request from another territory, and the remaining knights were insufficient to stop the monsters.
In the end, Elena lost her husband, who had gone as a guardian, and her precious daughter Lisa to the monsters.
That's why Elena resented Duke Lucifer more than anyone.
'If they hadn't gone out for that subjugation then, my family could have been safe.'
Dominating negative thoughts kept her holed up at ho like an invalid for almost a year.
If that suspicious man hadn't suddenly visited, Elena would probably have died alone in that house.
〈Don't you want to see Duke Lucifer in sorrow? I can make him lose a child and suffer just like you.〉
The words of the mysterious visitor of unknown identity were enough to move Elena, who was living haggardly.
'Kidnap the Young Lady...'
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