Pitiful Maid Katarina (2)

Katarina Rain.

One of the senior maids who had started working at Blackwood Mansion a year before me and Isabelle.

In other words, she was one of the three who had dumped their kitchen duties on me while they slacked off.

“……”

“H-Hiiieeek…!”

The moment our eyes met, she let out a single tear and gasped in shock.

Why were so many troublesome visitors coming to the kitchen today of all days?

If they were going to dump their work on me, they should’ve at least done it properly. I never imagined she’d come to spy on me this early in the morning.

“Senior Katarina, that’s you, right?”

“Y-Yes… That’s me…”

“……?”

“N-No… I-I’m sorry… So sorry…”

“……?”

I asked again, finding it odd that she suddenly started using honorifics, but she only lowered her posture further and apologized to me.

Though she seemed timid, she didn’t strike me as the type to use honorifics with a junior maid.

Just yesterday, she had been speaking to me casually. Her sudden change in attitude was baffling, to say the least.

Katarina Rain.

To be honest, in the original game, she wasn’t just lacking in presence-she didn’t exist at all.

I only learned of her existence after starting kitchen duty recently.

She never appeared in the main story of 『Luminor Academy』, nor in the sub-stories, Lilith’s solo episodes, spin-offs, or even fan works.

She probably wasn’t even drawn in the official illustrations. At best, she might have been an unnamed background character in some cutscene.

So, when I saw her next to Eiria and Alicia, I was a little surprised.

Unlike Katarina, those two were characters you’d encounter in Lilith’s route.

They were the maids who bullied Lilith alongside Ethan and kept watch to prevent her from escaping-that was their role in 『Luminor Academy』.

Having seen Lilith’s ending dozens of times, I was quite familiar with their names and appearances, but I had never noticed Katarina around them before.

She must have left for some reason before the main story began.

Well, regardless of her original setting, based on my impression now, she was honestly an annoying character.

To me, she was just another one of the three senior maids who had dumped their kitchen duties on me.

In the long run, Eiria and Alicia were more likely to be bigger nuisances, but for now, what she’d done to me wasn’t much different from the other two.

…No, in some ways, she might be even worse.

Especially since she was suspicious of me perfectly finishing the kitchen work two days in a row and had come to spy on me.

“Senior Katarina.”

“Y-Yes!”

“What brings you to the kitchen this early? Weren’t ‘seniors’ supposed to start work at 6 AM?”

“I-I’m sorry… Forgive me, Lady Lilith…”

“…Lady Lilith?”

“N-No… L-Lilith, miss…”

…I can’t even hold a proper conversation with her.

Every time she speaks, she acts like she’s committed some grave sin, making it impossible to get anywhere.

First, I needed to figure out why this senior maid was acting so submissive toward me.

It seemed best to clear up any misunderstandings one by one.

“First, let me ask you something, Senior Katarina.”

“P-Please speak casually…”

“What’s with this ‘miss’ nonsense? And why are you suddenly using honorifics? You didn’t do that yesterday.”

“U-Until yesterday… I didn’t realize Miss Lilith was a noble…”

…A noble? Me?

Her sudden dangerous remark sent a chill down my spine.

Curious about what else might spill from her loose lips, I decided to listen quietly.

Depending on what she said, I might have to “silence” her forcibly.

“…Senior Katarina, why do you think I’m a noble?”

“I-I saw it…”

“…Saw what?”

“M-Miss Lilith… using magic…”

“Magic?”

“You cleaned the dining hall with Clean Magic and… peeled potatoes in the kitchen using magic… Only nobles are blessed with the ability to use magic, so Miss Lilith must also be…”

…Ah.

So, she just assumed I was a noble because she saw me, a non-noble, using magic.

She didn’t have any real proof that I was a noble.

That was a relief. At least I wouldn’t have to “forcibly” silence her.

Still, getting caught using magic wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“Senior Katarina.”

“I-I’m sorry, Lady Lilith… Please forgive my sins…”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say. Calm down first.”

“I really didn’t know… And I didn’t do it willingly… I’ll handle all the kitchen work from now on…”

“I get it, so just listen to me first, senior. We can’t have a conversation like this…”

“U-Unlike Eiria and Alicia… I’ll definitely be punished…! Once the master finds out I dumped work on Young Master Ethan and Miss Lilith…”

“Just shut up and listen to me first, damn it!!”

“H-Hiiieeek…!!!”

Frustrated that she wouldn’t listen and just kept rambling, I raised my voice without thinking.

Finally, Katarina stopped trembling and clamped her mouth shut.

Some people just don’t get it unless you’re blunt.

“First, I understand what you’re trying to say, Senior Katarina.”

“……”

“Right now, I’m busy preparing today’s ingredients, so can we continue this conversation tonight? We can clear up your misunderstandings about me then…”

-Dripdripdripdrip…

…The sound of water?

Thinking the kitchen might have a leak, I listened carefully, but the sound seemed to be coming from inside the preparation room.

Realizing it was much closer than expected, a curse slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

“Ah, fuck.”

“I’m sorry… S-So sorry…”

Katarina, who had collapsed to the floor, was now soaking her maid dress from the waist down, forming a yellow circle on the preparation room floor.

…These bitches are all the same, her and that brat.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After using Clean Magic to erase the traces of the idiot maid who pissed herself from a single harsh word.

I spoke to Katarina, now wearing a cleaner maid dress than before, in a deliberately irritated tone.

“…Don’t wet yourself next time.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

“And stop apologizing while avoiding eye contact. It just makes me more uncomfortable.”

“……”

“Sigh…”

Katarina, now silent after being told not to apologize.

She wasn’t exactly likable to begin with, but my opinion of her had dropped significantly after that incident.

Dealing with that brat was annoying enough, but now I had to clean up a senior maid’s piss?

Am I a kitchen maid or a babysitter?

At least I could use Clean Magic. Without it, I would’ve had to mop up that stinky liquid myself.

Washing a piss-soaked maid dress would’ve been impossible.

As a man, I couldn’t bring myself to touch her underwear, so her panties were probably still damp.

But if she had any sense, she wouldn’t complain about that now.

Honestly, washing her maid dress was already a big concession on my part-a weird sense of guilt for making her piss herself by yelling.

“Senior Katarina.”

“P-Please speak casually…”

“We’ll talk in detail after work, but stop using weird titles like ‘miss’ with me. It’s awkward.”

“H-How could I dare treat a noble lady like that…?”

“…If I say stop, then stop.”

“……!”

I deliberately hardened my tone, and Katarina finally nodded hurriedly.

I was starting to get a feel for how to handle this timid maid.

Some people just don’t get it unless you’re firm and direct from the start.

Right now, she had two major misunderstandings about me.

First, that I wasn’t just a maid but a noble lady in disguise.

Second, that Ethan and I had handled the work they dumped on us together.

The second misunderstanding didn’t matter much, but the first one was better left uncorrected.

Since she’d already seen me use magic, there was no way to explain that away.

It was more effective to let her keep thinking I was a noble and use that to keep her quiet.

“First, the fact that I’m a noble must not be revealed to anyone else, Senior Katarina.”

“……Huh?”

“Don’t ask why. If you act suspiciously, and word gets out that I’m a noble, I’ll have no choice but to suspect you first. …A mere maid wouldn’t enjoy openly opposing a noble, would she?”

“I-I swear I won’t tell anyone that Lady Lilith is a noble! I-I promise!”

“If you really want to keep it a secret, drop the ‘Lady’ title and switch back to casual speech.”

“H-How… How could I…?”

“…Do it.”

“Eeek!”

Katarina reflexively clutched her thighs and flinched.

But my stern approach seemed to work, as her next words weren’t laden with honorifics or grand titles.

“O-Okay… Lilith…”

“Good job, Senior Katarina.”

“……”

It was still a bit unsettling, but this should be enough to keep her quiet for now.

I’d have to call her aside after work to talk in detail.

Right now, I had vegetables to peel, so I couldn’t waste any more time chatting with Katarina…

“…………Ah.”

When I glanced at the time stone, a sigh escaped my lips.

The number 5 was already clearly visible, and 6 was starting to appear faintly.

Outside the hallway, the sounds of servants preparing for an early morning.

Between dealing with Ethan and Katarina, I’d wasted far more time than expected.

The time stone showed that less than 30 minutes remained until the other two senior maids arrived for work.

…And I hadn’t even started peeling the vegetables that should’ve been done long ago.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy…”

Thirty minutes until Eiria and Alicia arrived.

To avoid suspicion, I had to finish all the vegetable prep in that time.

And with only this pitiful-looking maid to help.