episode_0004

Harold Richard Blackwood.

The owner of the mansion that currently employs me, and the father who will undoubtedly make me his exclusive maid in the future.

No, scratch that. Since regaining my memories, there’s no way I’d ever become that bastard’s exclusive maid, so let’s cancel that part.

Anyway, he was the only man in this mansion who didn’t send me uncomfortable glances.

“Please come in, sir.”

Instinctively ingrained in me after a year of working in this mansion and to survive, I found myself naturally bowing to him, knowing I had to be diligent in my maid duties.

With a curt “Fine,” Harold passed by me and headed straight to the table in the study.

Seating himself at the innermost chair in the room, he reached for the documents on the table.

From his reaction, one could roughly infer that he was a man who didn’t harbor any particular emotions towards anyone, not just me.

His eyes themselves were vacant, as if they never truly locked onto anyone, devoid of emotion. I had never witnessed those eyes change their focus even once in this world.

Although I had seen it a few times back at the Luminor Academy in my past life.

“…What are you doing now, Edan?”

“The maid isn’t listening to me at all and keeps trying to go somewhere! Rilis is my exclusive maid!”

“No, sir. I’m just trying to wash Young Master’s bedding…”

“Shut up, shut up! Don’t answer me!”

*Smack!*

“Ouch!”

“…So, are you now wandering around the mansion with a leash around your exclusive maid, whipping her?”

“Yes! Rilis belongs to me! So she can’t go anywhere else!”

“Sigh…”

The only time Harold’s eyes showed emotion was when incidents involving Edan occurred.

Though the emotions conveyed through his gaze were mostly a mix of disdain and pity rather than positive ones.

I couldn’t fathom why he put up with that perverted idiot, Edan, but Harold, being my father, was a relatively decent person compared to Edan.

Not that I ever thought Harold would be on my side since regaining my memories, but as I mentioned before, Harold was a damn fool for his son, Edan.

“…Don’t be late for lunch. I asked you to prepare your favorite tomato soup today.”

“Okay!”

“Just a moment, sir! What about me…?”

“Tell another maid to take care of Edan’s bedding. Your top priority from now on is to accompany Edan.”

“Excuse me?”

“Hurry, Rilis! Before lunch, you must inform everyone that Rilis belongs to me!”

“Just a moment, Young Master! That area is the male servants’ waiting room…”

*Smack!*

“Ouch!”

Damn it.

Every time I delved into the Rilis route, scenes of abuse and the broken Rilis haunted me, making expletives involuntarily spring to mind.

Known for its extreme polarization, the Rilis storyline, where I was supposed to ‘save’ the abused and mentally shattered Rilis, was infamous.

To me, a unicorn, this plotline was undoubtedly extreme dislike.

As evident from the recent flashback, escaping from and breaking free of Edan was my top priority, and Harold was definitely not an ally but more of an adversary.

While he was somewhat decent in areas unrelated to Edan, when it came to matters concerning Edan, he was an absolute fool of a father who never intervened, no matter what his son did.

Building a rapport with Harold in Edan-related matters was actually risky.

From the very beginning, he didn’t seem like someone who could build rapport easily.

“……”

Harold, who had called me over, suddenly sat in the study and began reading through documents.

Glancing around, a few papers slipped from his hand onto the table. Just before picking up another stack of documents, he opened his mouth.

“Master.”

“…Ah, yes. I had something to tell you.”

…Judging by his reaction, if I hadn’t intervened, I would have ended up standing in the study like a statue for another two hours.

This method of speaking up when the other party wouldn’t be uncomfortable was knowledge Isabelle had imparted on me as a servant.

Harold, who momentarily set down the documents he was about to raise, moved his body up and down as if ‘observing’ me.

As if he had figured out the cause, he nodded slightly and said,

“Starting tomorrow, work in the kitchen for a week. Tell the head maid that I instructed the transfer.”

“What?”

“Just because many people ask unnecessary questions due to your appearance, until they leave, it means work in a place where you won’t stand out.”

“Ah….”

“Do you have any complaints?”

“…No, none.”

Complaints? How could there be any? I would welcome it with open arms.

The fact that I wouldn’t have to see those wretched faces for a week was excellent news for me.

I almost wanted to start jumping around right here and now.

Of course, even though Harold might look at me like a lunatic, I couldn’t do that.

“That’s all for the instructions. Your senior will still be in the kitchen, so learn what you need to do from tomorrow morning and leave after work.”

“Yes, understood!”

“You may step back.”

“Then I’ll step back now!”

I hurriedly left, concealing a smile that almost lifted the corners of my mouth, closing the study door behind me and exiting quickly.

As I walked towards the kitchen, the smile never left my face.

Not having to deal with those lowly servants anymore was, of course, a relief, but what made me even more excited was the fact that I no longer needed to spend meaningless days.

Being transferred to work in the kitchen, a space strictly off-limits for a first-year junior maid, meant one thing.

Finally, it was time for Lily Rosewood’s body to try something.

Kitchen duty.

In this world, maids had various tasks, including kitchen duties.

Cooking itself belonged to the chefs, so junior maids had no place there, and their entry into the kitchen was strictly prohibited.

However, serving or dishwashing fell under the maids’ domain, so I often went as far as the prep room next to the kitchen.

Sometimes, especially when there were many guests in the mansion, even preparing ingredients became part of a maid’s role.

Tasks like washing fruit or peeling vegetables could be done by anyone, regardless of cooking knowledge, as the number of chefs was limited.

Working in the kitchen during such a busy period meant not only doing prep work and dishwashing but also being able to enter the kitchen directly, which was a great opportunity for me.

It meant that the stage was set for me to use magic with Lily’s body.

“I thought my skin was going to crack from holding back.”

It had only been a week, but ever since I found out I could use magic, my body had been itching with anticipation.

The problem was that due to various circumstances, I couldn’t just use magic however I pleased.

It was obvious that if anyone caught sight of a scene where magic was being used through Lillis’s body, it wouldn’t end with just a minor disturbance.

In this world, the ability to use magic was limited to those of noble bloodlines only, and among commoners, there were very few who could use magic, if any at all.

It wasn’t something explicitly stated by law; it was simply the way things were set up. Noble blood contained a special mana that allowed for the use of magic, and such ridiculous settings were attached to it.

If there happened to be a commoner who could use magic, they would likely be a protagonist at the Luminaire Academy or at least a character of main importance.

…And the character I had possessed, Lillis Rosewood, was one of the main characters at the Luminaire Academy.

The fact that this common maid, who seemed to have nothing going for her except her face and figure, could become the main heroine of the Luminaire Academy was naturally because Lillis could use magic.

“…On the contrary, the reason I kept rolling like a dog throughout the game was also because I could use this magic.”

How Lillis could use magic, and why she became able to use magic, causing her to roll around like a dog, would be explained later.

What was important now was that with my work location moved to the kitchen, for the first time, an environment was created where I could use magic.

Magic in this world was a blessing reserved for nobles.

If it were to be known that a commoner like Lillis could use magic, whether liked or not, attention would inevitably be drawn.

For gaze to fall upon a powerless common girl like her in such a manner would undoubtedly lead to an unfavorable outcome.

Placing a common maid who uses magic among the noble elite full of superiority complexes was no small matter.

Furthermore, since the magic Lillis used was mostly support-type magic like buffs or shields, it was practically impossible to resist with magic in situations where personal safety was threatened.

Therefore, the fact that I could use magic had to be kept strictly hidden.

Not only from Harold and other nobles but even from my closest companion, Isabelle.

“I always played as the protagonist, so I didn’t know, but from Lillis’s perspective, the constraints are no joke…”

If the issue was merely avoiding being caught by others, then using magic where others’ gazes couldn’t reach would solve it.

The problem was that most estates in this world were protected by a ‘magic detection barrier.’

Within the estate, no matter where you used magic, you could be discovered through investigation.

Regarding when, where, and by whom magic was used.

However, within this vast and expansive estate, there was one exception.

The kitchen, where the ‘magic detection barrier’ had been lifted to allow for the use of various magical tools, was an exception.

Finally, the moment had come for me to fulfill the pent-up desire of releasing my magic.

“After a long and arduous period of persecution, I was fed up.”

The sensation of crimson magic flowing through my entire body.

From now on, it was time for the stage of the mage Lillis to unfold.