Crisis (1)

“…That bastard Ethan probably didn’t start grooming Lilith with any specific intention from the beginning.”

This was the first conclusion I reached after firmly resolving to behave properly as Ethan’s personal maid.

Although this pig bastard had been conditioning Lilith since he was nineteen, my speculation was that it likely didn’t begin as sexual abuse with any particular goal in mind.

Looking back at the occasional flashback scenes from the game, the level of harassment tended to grow increasingly severe and perverse as Ethan got older.

Given that his mental age was effectively that of an elementary to middle schooler despite his actual age, it was unlikely this pig bastard had any special sexual knowledge.

It was more plausible that he started by trying to get Lilith’s attention, and at some point, it escalated into sexual harassment.

Or maybe as he grew older and naturally became aware of sex, he began using Lilith-conveniently available-as his personal sex slave.

In that case, what if I just didn’t react at all to Ethan’s antics from the start?

After all, the more someone responds to attention-seeking behavior, the more the perpetrator wants to keep doing it.

Conversely, if I remained utterly indifferent, Ethan’s attempts to harass me for attention would likely fizzle out quickly.

If I could endure the first few provocations, he’d probably try other ways to get my attention, and by then, I could respond appropriately-maybe preventing him from becoming the irredeemable trash he was in the original game.

“For now, I’ll try ignoring him as much as possible.”

At this point, I had no choice but to accept the position of Ethan’s personal maid under Harold’s pressure.

So the only option was to navigate this as peacefully as possible.

While I could probably beat Ethan in a physical fight, considering the Blackwood family’s influence and Harold’s power, I had no means to handle the fallout.

My goal wasn’t to rehabilitate that bastard-I didn’t care how he turned out.

I was just trying this approach because it might slightly improve my chances of survival.

Besides, he had testified for me during the disciplinary committee with Aeria, and surprisingly, he might not have been completely rotten at his core.

…Back when I first accepted the position of that damn bastard’s personal maid, I had been naive enough to think that way.

It only took a month for my complacent mindset to do a complete 180.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

About a week had passed since I reluctantly became Ethan’s personal maid under Harold’s pressure.

In the game, Lilith Rosewood had finally turned nineteen, officially reaching adulthood.

Just like Ethan, who had celebrated his birthday about ten days earlier.

‘Fuck.’

Naturally, “becoming an adult” in this game world as Lilith wasn’t a good thing.

For other characters, maybe, but for Lilith, reaching “legal adulthood” meant her fate was practically set in stone.

For me, “growing older” only served as a reminder that I was no longer safe.

Both Ethan and Lilith had now passed the age where they could be considered “minors,” meaning Ethan’s perverse advances would escalate from this point onward.

‘I need to stay alert. One wrong move, and I might end up naked on a leash being paraded around the mansion.’

That was entirely possible with Ethan. Of course, I wouldn’t just take it lying down if it happened.

The only silver lining was that I had barely seen Ethan at all over the past week.

Normally, personal maids were selected from a pool of candidates and underwent special training before being assigned, but this reassignment had been rushed.

So I was put into the role first, with training to follow.

After a week of Melissa’s intensive training, I had at least gained the basic knowledge required for Ethan’s personal maid.

Having this foundational knowledge would prevent any future issues.

Even if I somehow escaped Ethan’s conditioning, I might still keep the personal maid position, so it wasn’t a waste.

Unfortunately, Lilith was still a debt-bound maid, and escaping the Blackwood mansion legitimately would take over six more years.

“…Sigh.”

Anyway, today was effectively my first real day working face-to-face with Ethan.

Taking a deep breath outside Ethan’s door, I knocked three times at his designated wake-up time.

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Young Master Ethan.”

“……”

“Young Master Ethan? Are you there?”

“……”

I could hear movement inside, but…

Given Ethan’s personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if he slept in until afternoon.

No doubt he was still sprawled lazily in bed.

Generally, maids and butlers weren’t allowed to enter a noble’s room without permission after knocking.

Except for personal maids, personal butlers, the head maid, and the head butler.

As Ethan’s personal maid, responsible for cleaning his room, collecting laundry, and other tasks, I had the authority to enter without explicit permission.

So, whether he answered or not, I opened the door without much thought.

-Click.

“Young Master Ethan, it’s time to wake-“

“WAAAH!!”

“KYAAH?!”

The moment I stepped inside carelessly, a sudden shout came from beside the door.

Caught off guard, I yelped and fell backward.

When I regained my composure, I was met with the sight of that little bastard grinning smugly down at me.

“Ahaha! Scared you, didn’t I, maid?”

“…Young Master Ethan?”

“If you get scared that easily and fall over, what kind of maid are you? Stupid maid!”

“……”

‘Fuck, I want to punch him so bad.’

Seeing Ethan’s smug face as he laughed at me after startling me made my blood boil.

My resolve to handle this peacefully nearly crumbled on the first day.

‘He’s still just a kid. This is normal boy behavior. Calm down, calm down…’

Boys his age often pulled pranks to get attention.

Of course, noble children his age would never do something like this, but Ethan had zero manners to begin with.

Getting worked up over every little thing would make it impossible to do my job properly.

Reacting strongly was exactly what this little bastard wanted.

So I forced myself to stay composed, standing up calmly and responding indifferently.

“Young Master Ethan.”

“Hm?”

“Please refrain from dangerous pranks like this in the future.”

“No!”

…Of course he’d say that.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

A month had passed since I officially began working as Ethan’s personal maid.

After a month, I was starting to feel my patience wearing thin.

Naturally, it was all because of that damn bastard Ethan.

‘I want to quit.’

Contrary to popular belief, being a personal maid didn’t mean being on duty 24/7.

If that were the case, who would clean the rooms, do the laundry, or handle meals and sleep?

There were only three main situations where a personal attendant had to stay by their noble’s side:

One, when the noble was eating.

Two, when the noble was outside the mansion.

Three, when the noble directly summoned their attendant.

Outside of these, personal maids or butlers didn’t need to stick around.

Some nobles even avoided summoning their attendants to preserve their personal time.

A few didn’t even bother having personal attendants at all.

Of course, none of this applied to me as Ethan’s personal maid.

Against my wishes, Ethan summoned me constantly for no reason.

“Lilith, the Young Master was looking for you earlier.”

“L-Lilith… Young Master Ethan is calling for you…”

“Miss Lilith Rosewood, a message from the Young Master.”

…This damn little bastard, I swear.

Despite my hopes of avoiding entanglement, this piece of trash summoned me almost hourly for three weeks straight.

It was more than enough to break my initial resolve to handle things peacefully.

He’d even barge into the adjacent personal maid’s waiting room if I stayed there too long.

Whenever I tried to take his laundry to the cleaning staff or fetch supplies to clean his room, he’d call me back, disrupting my work.

If he had anything meaningful to say, fine.

But all he did was hide behind doors to startle me or trip me-childish pranks meant to piss people off.

Indulging this brat’s nonsense once or twice was one thing.

But enduring this shit multiple times a day, every day for weeks, was infuriating.

‘I shouldn’t have reacted that first time.’

If I hadn’t exaggeratedly fallen over, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten so smug and kept escalating.

…What could I do? I had only myself to blame for carelessly entering his room that first day.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just punch a noble brat like him-I was just a commoner maid.

“Haaa…”

Bracing myself for whatever nonsense was coming, I sighed and stepped into Ethan’s room, maintaining at least the minimum decorum of a maid.

“…What did you call me for this time, Young Master?”

“……”

“……?”

I expected Ethan to jump out yelling as soon as I opened the door, but strangely, he was nowhere to be seen.

After scanning the room, it seemed the little bastard had vanished entirely.

Did he call me here to prank me and then forget, leaving?

Just as I was feeling exasperated at Ethan for no-showing his own maid, I felt someone’s hand brush against my butt from behind.

-Slap!

“…Eek?!”

“You let your guard down! You let your guard down!”

Startled by the hand slipping under my skirt, I let out an involuntary shriek.

The culprit, Ethan, was already running down the stairs, escaping.

“…Fuck.”

…That damn little bastard.