episode_0079

“M-Maid! Are you okay?! Did you get hurt anywhere?!”

“Young Master?”

Emerging from the eastern training ground of Blackwood Manor, Ethan suddenly rushed towards me and Dieter, sweating profusely all over his body. I could roughly guess why he appeared so late.

He must have been delayed due to Harold’s sword training just now. Knowing Harold’s personality, he always takes swordsmanship training seriously.

“I-I’m sorry! I was worried as soon as I saw you and wanted to make sure, but I couldn’t leave my father’s training halfway…”

“…What are you suddenly talking about, Young Master?”

“My father is strict when it comes to swordsmanship. I couldn’t stop the training midway for any reason. I was worried, but…”

“Oh, no, Young Master. The part that I found questionable was not that you couldn’t finish your father’s swordsmanship lesson.”

“Huh?”

“Why are you apologizing for not immediately checking on my well-being, Young Master? I asked because I couldn’t understand.”

“…?”

“…?”

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet as Ethan avoided my gaze and seemed to be seriously contemplating something.

In the awkward atmosphere, Dieter silently exchanged indifferent glances between Ethan and me.

What’s going on? It feels like I said something inappropriate.

Should I think of it as a slip of the tongue and try to rectify it…?

“U-Upon further reflection, Young Master’s words could also be interpreted as showing concern for my safety. It doesn’t seem strange that you made a statement like an apology.”

“T-That’s right. I-I was just worried about the maid. It wasn’t meant to be anything else…”

“…Young Master, you must care a lot about Miss Lily, so it’s a perfectly understandable statement.”

“While I appreciate your concern for my well-being, expressing doubt about it was closer to my mistake than anything else.”

“Oh, no, Maid! You didn’t do anything wrong…”

The atmosphere was still awkward, but it seemed to be easing somehow.

Although there was still a lingering doubt about the sudden awkwardness, I didn’t probe further.

It was a moment when Ethan and Dieter openly showed strange reactions, so it seemed better not to have any suspicions.

After all, both Ethan and Dieter were people of higher status than me.

It was much better to avoid awkwardness by not delving into ‘unbearable truths’ than to feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately, it seemed that both of them had similar thoughts, as someone quickly changed the subject of the conversation without any prompting.

The first to steer the conversation towards a different topic was the nobleman from Blackwood.

“M-Maid! Instead of that, are you really not hurt? You seemed to be riding at quite a fast pace earlier…”

“Yes, I’m fine. After circling the courtyard of Blackwood Manor once, I managed to stop safely. Thank you for your concern once again, Young Master Ethan.”

“You managed to stop safely. It’s fortunate that you weren’t injured, Maid.”

“Thanks to Dieter, the butler, who threw himself to stop me. I am deeply grateful to him.”

“Good job, Dieter. This time, our maid has indebted herself to you.”

“No, I just did what I had to do.”

I wanted to check because I was worried, but it seemed like there was nothing wrong, so Ethan breathed a sigh of relief and brushed off his chest.

And this time, he immediately started asking about the horseback riding that had just happened.

“By the way, Maid, why were you suddenly riding a horse earlier?”

“I was learning horseback riding from Master Dietmayer.”

“Horseback riding? All of a sudden?”

“I didn’t think of learning it all of a sudden. I’ve been thinking about learning it for about a year. It’s just that the timing and conditions between me and Master Dietmayer didn’t match, and I started learning from him today because we finally had some free time.”

“Hmm….”

As soon as I answered that I was learning horseback riding from Dietmayer, Ethan shifted his gaze to him with a strange look in his eyes.

For some reason, there was a strange sense of animosity in Ethan’s gaze that was hard to find in his usual demeanor.

On the other hand, Dietmayer seemed to be oddly flustered by his gaze.

…What’s with this atmosphere? Why does it feel so tense today?

“Maid.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Was there anything strange during the learning process?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you know. Horseback riding is a skill that requires precise posture and such. I was just wondering if there was any strange physical contact during the teaching process.”

…What is he talking about out of the blue?

Strange physical contact? With Dietmayer?

That workaholic guy wouldn’t be interested in Lillis’ body in the first place.

I just shook my head in response to Ethan’s baseless speculation.

“I received corrections on my posture several times, but there was no strange physical contact as you mentioned.”

“…Really? Like saying that your leg position is wrong and patting your thigh, or grabbing your waist and telling you to stand up straight.”

“If there was anything like that, I wouldn’t deny it. Master Dietmayer taught me everything verbally except for the necessary moments, so you can rest assured.”

“I see. Okay then.”

Ethan awkwardly observed the relationship between me and Dietmayer with a particularly awkward atmosphere today.

It felt like the three of us were together in the carriage going to the royal ball not too long ago.

It was difficult to adapt to the completely different awkward atmosphere from back then.

Why is Ethan acting like this today….

“Master, you have never had any concerns about me and Lillis, so you can rest assured, Master.”

“…Can I trust you?”

“You know that I wouldn’t harbor any strange feelings towards Lillis. Also, most of the mansion’s staff already know about the relationship between you and Lillis.”

“…Right. I was being too sensitive.”

“Which staff member would dare to do anything frivolous to the Master’s exclusive maid?”

…Talking about our relationship, they mean the relationship between the exclusive maid and the master, right?

It feels like there’s some hidden meaning in the conversation between the two, but I didn’t bother to ask, fearing that the already strange atmosphere would become even more awkward.

I just hoped that this awkward three-way meeting would end soon.

Above all, it was also unfortunate for Dietmayer, who had taken the time to teach me horseback riding, to be unjustly suspected.

In fact, I added further explanation to Dietmayer’s statement that nothing had happened between us.

“The butler is correct, Your Grace. In the first place, Butler Dietmayer simply accommodated my request to learn horseback riding.”

“…Yeah, sorry for doubting you for no reason.”

“…During today’s horseback riding lesson, the only physical contact I had with Butler Dietmayer was when he mounted behind me on Zeraon’s back while we were riding, and he took the reins from me.”

“…What?”

“Oh, by the way, Zeraon is this horse’s name. Remember when I couldn’t stop Zeraon and he ran off earlier? At that moment, Butler Dietmayer jumped on Zeraon’s back from behind me, embraced me from the back, and took the reins.”

“….”

“….”

“That was the only moment of physical contact between Butler Dietmayer and me, Your Grace. It was necessary to stop Zeraon, so it can’t be considered unnecessary physical contact.”

“….”

“….”

“….?”

…Why does it feel like the atmosphere gets awkward whenever I speak up today?

As I pondered whether I should further elaborate and explain the situation at that time, Dietmayer suddenly spoke in a hurried manner, starting to justify himself.

“As Miss Lillis said, it was a necessary measure, not unnecessary contact. If I had made a mistake, Miss Lillis could have been seriously injured along with… ”

“I know. I know, but…”

“I, I have some matters to discuss with the cooks regarding dinner preparations, Your Grace. I will excuse myself first, and you two can continue your conversation.”

“…Sure, go ahead.”

Ethan, who responded with an irritated voice, and Dietmayer, who hastily led Zeraon away and left, exuding an uncomfortable atmosphere, leaving me unable to grasp the situation amidst the awkward atmosphere today.

“Your Grace?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Is there anything that bothers you? You seem quite irritated for some reason today.”

“…No, not really.”

“….”

This reaction doesn’t seem like that of someone who has nothing to worry about.

But it would be impudent for a mere maid to try to read her master’s emotions and thoughts.

As I cautiously observed Ethan’s reactions, a clue finally emerged from his mouth as to why he was feeling irritated.

“M-Maid.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Do you plan to continue learning horseback riding in the future?”

“For now, yes.”

“…Is it necessary to learn?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, no, I just… I thought it might be a bit dangerous for a lady to learn. Horses can be unpredictable at times, and if you can’t control them like earlier, you could be in danger.”

…I see.

I was wondering why he seemed unhappy since earlier, but it was because of this.

It seems that Ethan was not particularly pleased with me learning horseback riding.

The awkward atmosphere throughout the day was probably due to that, making him feel irritated.

Indeed, as Ethan mentioned, horseback riding can involve risks during the learning process.

In fact, earlier, there was a moment that could have been dangerous if not for Dietmayer’s intervention.

As a full-time maid, if I were to get injured and unable to work, it would also be inconvenient for Ethan, so it was understandable for him to have such concerns.

‘But that doesn’t mean I want to stop learning.’

As I mentioned earlier, horseback riding is a useful skill to have in any situation.

If I were to live as an adventurer, it would be an essential skill to have, and even if I were to have a different job other than being an adventurer, it would still be helpful in various ways for transportation and movement.

The problem was that as a mere debt maid, it was impossible to continue learning equestrian skills without Edan’s permission.

Because I wanted to continue the equestrian lessons as much as possible, I cautiously countered Edan’s concerns.

“You don’t have to worry about my injury, Master Edan.”

“Huh?”

“Thanks to the kind and easy-to-understand teachings of Head Butler Dietmayer, there was no risk of injury at all. In fact, the initial incident was just my mistake, and apart from that moment, there was really no danger.”

“Well, I can’t say it’s completely safe…”

“Even if something dangerous were to happen, I trust that Head Butler Dietmayer will control it well, as he has the skill to control a horse even while riding at full speed. So, you don’t have to worry, Master.”

“Y-You really think of Dietmayer that way, as a maid…? Thinking of him as kind and trustworthy…?”

…What’s going on?

It seems like the mood has somehow worsened…?