Chapter 20
Episode 20
......Rihart?
Did he rampage again like last time after eating the fruit?
The thought that crossed my mind at that moment was selfishly not concern for him, but relief that I was no longer his meal attendant.
If this had happened while I was still on duty, I might not have gotten out unscathed.
"The monster's gone mad! I-I can't do meal duty anymore! Please...... please switch me out!"
As the maid wailed loudly enough to shake the mansion, everyone stopped working and approached her.
"Ella, what happened?"
A maid who approached the tearful girl asked, and Ella clung to her desperately.
"Please! Switch with me! Yeah? I'll do all your work instead......!"
"Ella, what are you...... What are you saying right now! You're the one on meal duty this time!"
"......Hic, but I, I just can't do it! It's too scary!"
The flustered maid tried to pry Ella off, but Ella clung to her tenaciously.
What on earth had happened?
I silently sent words of comfort to Ella in my mind.
As I tried to refocus on my work, ignoring Ella, our eyes met.
"You......! Rosie!"
Ella, who had been clinging despite attempts to shake her off, suddenly released the maid's skirt and approached me.
Her eerie demeanor made me step back reflexively.
"You attended his meals before me, right?"
Ella grabbed my hand and looked at me pleadingly.
"Please! Switch with me! You did it fine before......!"
"Ella! What are you saying! Rosie already did her meal duty! You know once is the limit, no seconds......"
"I heard the butler even offered you the exclusive maid position!"
The other maids tried to restrain Ella by grabbing her shoulders, but she roughly shook off their arms.
"Ow!"
Ella's long nails left a long scratch on another maid's arm.
The injured maid looked at Ella reproachfully, but Ella ignored it completely, staring desperately only at me.
"Rosie, the butler will let you switch. So please...... okay?"
"......"
"Why aren't you answering! This is because you turned down exclusive maid duty—now it's on me! Don't you feel sorry for me at all!"
She tried to persuade me, but when I showed no sign of yielding, Ella turned angry at me instead.
I pondered how to handle this awkward situation.
"It's your fault! All your fault! Because of you, I......!"
"Enough, Ella."
"Enough what! Because of you......!"
"What is this commotion!"
Having heard Ella's uproar, the butler who happened to be nearby approached and shouted.
"Butler......! I just can't do meal duty anymore! Please switch me with Rosie."
"Ella."
"I'm scared to death! Why me of all people......!"
"Ella! Enough of this!"
Ella, who had been noisily wailing despite the other maids' attempts to stop her, finally fell silent at the butler's stern command.
"Everyone else has dutifully carried out their duties to the end. If I make an exception just for you, what becomes of the other maids?"
"But......"
"No buts. If you refuse your duty after I've said this much, I can't overlook it."
Ella clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head.
The situation was resolved, but her resentment toward me left me uneasy.
"Wait, Ella."
At my words, Ella looked at me with puzzled eyes.
I went to the kitchen without further explanation and brought back some potatoes.
"......What's this?"
"Potatoes."
"So why are you giving them to me......"
Ella looked at me like I was crazy.
After she'd just acted like a madwoman herself, her gaze made me feel wronged.
"He seemed to like peeling potatoes."
"That monster?"
"Yeah, take them."
Ella looked at me skeptically but reluctantly took the potatoes and left.
The other maids watching this scene looked baffled.
A few hours later, Ella headed to Rihart's room with the potatoes I'd given her.
I hoped they would work.
Ignoring Ella and focusing on my work didn't last long before she emerged from the basement.
Carrying the mashed potatoes.
......He didn't eat them?
Ella approached me with a dark expression. Bracing myself for her outburst, I half-emptied my mind......
"Thank you, Rosie."
"Huh?"
"He seemed to like the potatoes, just like you said."
They actually got eaten?
I'd given them half-doubting myself......
I stared at the mashed potatoes in Ella's arms.
The clear marks of being shredded by a knife made me smile awkwardly.
Does he like them like that......?
"I'll have to bring potatoes from now on."
"......Y-yeah."
"Thanks."
After thanking me, Ella picked up the mashed potatoes again and headed somewhere.
The maids continued watching the scene with incomprehension.
* * *
A few days had passed since I was freed from Rihart's meal duty.
In that time, I'd thrown myself into party preparations, and Ella emerged from Rihart's room each time carrying mashed potatoes.
I tried to hide my bitter expression at the sight and focused on my work.
Time passed, and the moment arrived when the servants' efforts paid off.
The party began.
* * *
Jet-black hair reminiscent of the night sky and blood-red eyes.
The man leisurely checked his appearance in the mirror.
Spotting a wrinkle in his collar, his elegant fingers straightened it properly.
"My sister has to find me pretty too."
"......"
"What's wrong, Asel?"
"......To be honest, I don't think that maid is your sister."
"Your thoughts don't matter."
The man—Yurta—smiled happily at his neatly arranged hair and hummed cheerfully.
Asel, his subordinate following him, felt only distress.
Two years ago, Yurta had been at the academy.
While he was away, his sister had run away, and upon hearing the news, Yurta had scoured everywhere like a rat hunt for two years.
When she still didn't appear, he posted a bounty, risking damage to her honor.
Yet there was no news. Then, a single word from the guard.
A maid with the same name, pink hair, and pink eyes at the Evantes Marquis Family.
That one phrase had brought him here.
"What if that maid isn't your sister?"
"I'll kill her."
"......Killing another family's maid isn't wise. Marquis Evantes might think you're looking down on his family."
"But she deceived me."
Reasoning was futile.
How was a maid not being his sister deception, and what justification was there to kill her?
Moreover, he needed to stay in Arjen Evantes Marquis's good graces right now.
Arjen held the powerful position of finance minister.
The finance minister managed imperial lands, and that authority was what Yurta needed.
The Hertas family had ventured into commerce, but lacked 'mines' in their territory.
Having incurred the family head's wrath and lost his heir position, Yurta sought to regain it by securing mining rights through Arjen.
He'd planted a spy to find weaknesses for blackmail if negotiations failed, but nothing substantial had emerged yet.
Thus, falling out of Arjen's favor would be problematic, yet Yurta turned rogue at any mention of his sister.
Asel found it frustrating.
What the hell about that sister......!
But voicing it would mean his head wouldn't stay attached.
"......As you wish."
He gave up on the conversation.
Silently pitying the pink-haired maid of the Evantes Marquis Family.
