A Position I Cannot Yield (1)

About a month had passed since Seraphine and Ethan told me they would get me admitted to the Academy.

Although it was only a month, quite a lot had happened during that time.

For instance, Ethan and I had briefly visited the Imperial Palace after defeating the King Serpent and returned (though I, whose status was still undetermined, had to hide my identity), and in that process, a considerable amount of compensation was given not only to Ethan but also to me.

…And, with the arrival of that compensation, my status as an exclusive maid had become temporary.

It was unavoidable. The amount received for defeating the King Serpent this time was so large that it automatically settled all the remaining debt Lillith had.

Since the compensation given to me, who had no noble status and belonged to the Blackwood Family, naturally had to be delivered through the Blackwood Family, it was automatically used to repay the remaining debt, even against my will.

When I subjugated Hookfang, it was solely thanks to Security Captain Ser’s goodwill that I could receive that money. Normally, when a Debt Maid receives money, it’s natural for it to first be used to repay existing debts.

As a result, my remaining contract period was now just over two weeks.

During these two weeks, I had to somehow negotiate. For Ethan to take me as his exclusive maid and admit me to the Academy with him.

That’s why, now, about three years after I began my life as Ethan’s exclusive maid, I was putting my heart and soul into my duties as Ethan’s exclusive maid more actively than ever since taking on this position.

To somehow persuade Ethan to re-employ me as his exclusive maid.

“Have you finished your meal, Young Master?”

“Ah, yes.”

“You have a Swordsmanship Duel with Master this afternoon, don’t you? I will prepare your training clothes in advance.”

“…Are you, uh, coming to today’s training too?”

“Yes, because that is an exclusive maid’s duty.”

“You never really came to watch before, but recently you’ve been coming so diligently. It’s hot these days too….”

“Until now, Young Master, you never told me it was alright to come and watch.”

“…But I haven’t specifically told you to come watch these days either.”

“…However, as your exclusive maid, I believe it is the most basic posture to be on standby in case anything inconvenient arises for you, Young Master. Don’t you agree?”

“……”

Ethan looked at me with a bewildered gaze at my textbook-like answer.

I knew it too. How brazenly I was speaking in front of Ethan.

Still, if I could secure the position of Ethan’s exclusive maid, I could be even more brazen than this. It was a truly essential position for me, who would be entering the Academy with an ambiguous status like a baronet.

“Perhaps, is it rude for me to observe your Swordsmanship Duel, Young Master?”

“N-no, I didn’t mean it was rude, it’s just that you seem to be working too hard lately.”

“Of course, one must do their best in their duties, mustn’t they? To assist you as your exclusive maid even after entering the Academy….”

“I-I’ll go change into my training clothes before it’s too late! Maid, go to the training ground and wait first!”

…Lately, whenever I mention the exclusive maid position at the Academy, he always avoids the topic like that.

If it were Ethan from the original story, he wouldn’t have hesitated at such a suggestion; he would have ordered me to follow him first.

It was fortunate that he hadn’t grown into a fat pig consumed by lust, but his extreme shyness was a bit disappointing.

Still, the position of Ethan’s exclusive maid was too important to yield, so these days, I stuck close to Ethan as much as possible, trying to appeal my competence as an exclusive maid.

Of course, my working hard recently didn’t mean I had been slacking off before. I had never particularly displeased Ethan as his exclusive maid, and I had diligently performed all my mandatory duties without fail.

It was just that I felt that alone wouldn’t be enough to get hired, so I was working even harder these days.

In fact, excluding the time for changing clothes, bathing, and sleeping, I was practically attached to Ethan for 16 to 17 hours out of 24.

Among those duties, observing Ethan and Harold’s daily Swordsmanship Duels had also been added to my tasks.

-Thwack! Thwack!

“Kuh, huff…!”

-Thwack! Thud! Thwack!

“Kuh, ughhh…!”

-Thump!

“Guh, aaargh…!”

Ethan, who had been gripping and swinging the wooden sword in his hands, dropped the sword after his wrist was struck by an attack from Harold.

Unlike Harold, who calmly swung his sword without a word, Ethan collapsed to the ground, looking utterly exhausted.

Dietmeyer, who had been observing their duel, raised a hand and temporarily halted the sparring.

“It’s the Master’s victory! We’ll take a short break!”

“…I’ll give you five minutes, then pick up your sword again.”

“Haa, yes, yes…”

Ethan painfully clutched his struck wrist and got up, while a family Healer immediately rushed to him and cast a healing spell.

And I quietly approached Ethan and carefully wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

“……”

“……”

Ethan, who had been bewildered and unsure what I was doing when I first offered him the handkerchief, now silently accepted it as my actions continued for about ten days.

It was important to build affection little by little in this way.

Even if Ethan didn’t feel the absolute necessity to take me to the Academy as his exclusive maid, I had to at least show him that I was useful as an exclusive maid, so he would have at least some desire to keep me.

…Actually, I already knew there was a much easier way than bothering with this affection-building work.

That is, by using this body, Lillith’s most striking asset, to stimulate and tempt a man’s instincts.

Naturally, I would never use this method.

‘No matter if the opponent is Ethan, that’s a bit much, isn’t it?’

It wasn’t that I particularly disliked it because it was Ethan. Rather, I even had the thought that if it were Ethan, it might be somewhat better.

The current Ethan was completely different from the disgusting Ethan I had seen in the game, from head to toe, and he was certainly a decent guy, both in appearance and personality.

But simply put, I couldn’t help but dislike being embraced by a man, regardless of that.

More than anything, all the effort I had put in so far to avoid a future of being pinned down by a man would feel utterly in vain.

I had chewed garlic in the kitchen in the middle of the night, gotten into brawls with people like Aeria and Alicia, and even risked my life fighting monsters like Hookfang.

It felt like, at this point, carelessly using my body just because it ‘didn’t matter’ was completely out of character for me.

‘Of course, whether I do such things with Ethan or not, the future I’ve already changed will continue to unfold.’

The absurd growth I achieved as Lillith, saving Lizzie who should have died.

And Ethan’s unrecognizable change, though I don’t know where the influence came from.

Thinking about those things, I sometimes wondered if being embraced by Ethan as a condition for entering the Academy and receiving protection wouldn’t be so bad these days.

Of course, no matter what, that was too much of a harlot-like idea, so I discarded it completely soon after thinking of it.

And for some reason, Ethan didn’t seem to like me acting that way either.

If Ethan had even the slightest such feelings for me, he would have had countless opportunities to force himself on me using his status and power long ago.

The fact that he hasn’t done such a thing until now must mean that the current Ethan isn’t that interested in my body.

“Sparring, begin!”

Meanwhile, as soon as the break ended, Ethan and Harold’s swordsmanship training immediately moved on to the next duel.

As expected, Ethan was once again knocked down by Harold’s sword without managing to land any significant attacks.

-Thump!

“Aaaaargh…!”

He must have fallen seven or eight times just during today’s training.

Seeing him fall without managing any decent attacks made me feel strangely sorry for him.

But I couldn’t really blame Ethan; it was impossible for him to have an equal match against Harold, who was a Sword Master, to begin with.

Rather, for his age, Ethan was fighting incredibly well compared to his peers.

The mere fact that he could hold his own for 10 or 20 minutes in a duel against Sword Master Harold was already an unbelievable feat.

To the point where I even wondered if Ethan might be stronger than the protagonist by current standards.

“Hah, hah, hah…”

“…Let’s end today’s training here.”

While I was thinking such thoughts and observing the two exchanging blows, Ethan and Harold’s Swordsmanship Duel eventually concluded.

I quietly wiped the face of the man who was drenched in sweat from hours of training.

“You’ve worked hard, Young Master.”

“Yeah…. Thank you, Maid…”

…Come to think of it, it felt like this even when I first observed Ethan receiving swordsmanship lessons from Harold.

Back then, I never imagined Ethan could grow up so normally.

I couldn’t help but feel how diligently Ethan had worked all this time, every time I observed his training these days.

What exactly made Ethan so determined was still difficult to guess.

“You seem to have sweated a lot, so I will prepare your bath immediately. I’ll get your clothes ready for you to change into right away and send your training clothes for laundry….”

Thus, I intended to spend the entire day attending to Ethan, hoping to make him reconsider the exclusive maid position.

However, my plan was effortlessly thwarted by Harold’s sudden voice.

“…Lillith, you.”

“Yes, Master?”

“After you finish preparing Ethan’s bath, come straight up to my office.”

“……Yes?”

“There’s something I need to tell you regarding your recent work attitude.”

“…Understood, Master.”

…What is it?

Did I, perhaps, do something wrong?