episode_0310

As winter vacation arrived, I returned to Blackwood Manor after a few months.

The familiar space of the old house where I lived during the release date, more familiar than my past life’s house, welcomed me back. I couldn’t seem to fall asleep on the first day back and eventually woke up a bit early from my bed.

“….”

The blurry numbers on the clock showed it was around 3:30, roughly.

I had barely slept for three hours, considering I had arrived at the manor late last night, had a simple meal, took a shower, and lay down on the bed.

“I can’t sleep.”

Was it because I had dozed off on Ethan’s lap in the carriage? Or was it because my body was uncomfortable with the change of bed after a long time?

Or maybe… it was just because the familiar warmth was not by my side.

I silently hoped it wasn’t the last reason. If I got used to having Ethan by my side every day, it might be harder to leave the manor in the future.

In reality, I didn’t necessarily have to leave Blackwood Manor even if I didn’t marry Ethan. But there was nothing particularly good about staying here.

If I stayed at the manor and continued working as a maid, I would only keep seeing Ethan and his future wife showing affection towards each other, which might distort my judgment for no reason.

It was better to follow the contract I had made with Harold before and leave for somewhere far away after my four years at the academy were over.

“Ugh, ugh…!”

Since there was nothing to gain by lying in bed after waking up once, I decided to start my day a bit early.

Back when I was a regular maid, waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning was common. So, waking up a bit earlier than that was not a big deal.

After combing my hair, putting on my maid uniform, and wearing the headpiece, I quietly walked to the exclusive maid waiting room. I had to be careful not to wake Ethan up from his sleep in the adjacent room.

“…Since I can’t sleep, maybe I should take a walk.”

As an exclusive maid, I couldn’t go too far, but I could take a walk around the manor.

With that thought in mind, I descended the manor stairs and walked to the lobby on the first floor, where I saw Dietermayer bustling around early in the morning.

“Lilith?”

“Good morning, Mr. Dietermayer.”

“…Dietermayer Colin Evercroft. It’s been a while since I heard that name.”

“Yes. I know. I was just playing around after a long time.”

“…?”

Dietermayer, who momentarily looked puzzled as if he had a question mark above his head, quickly composed himself and gave me a strange compliment or something that wasn’t clear.

“You’ve become a complete lady, Lilith.”

“…Is that a compliment, Mr. Head Butler?”

“In other words, it means you’re becoming more like a noble lady, so it’s not an insult.”

Seeing Dietermayer respond smoothly with a natural expression, it was clear that he was indeed the head butler.

As I quietly pondered the meaning of becoming a lady, Dietermayer continued to explain the meaning behind his words.

“It’s a good thing that you’re becoming more like a noble lady, Lilith. I appreciate your attitude as a maid, but when you think about the future, you can’t always act like a subordinate, can you?”

“…What?”

“It’s only natural that you, Lilith, will eventually be in a position opposite to that of a maid in a few years… Ah, ahem.”

“What? What do you mean by that, Mr. Head Butler?”

“No, it’s nothing. Forget what I said, Lilith.”

Awkwardly clearing his throat and mumbling, Dietermayer tried to brush off what he had just said.

Seeing the head butler who was adept at using one of the two most annoying ways of speaking in the world, I couldn’t help but want to dig deeper into what he was saying.

“Head butler? Why do you talk so provocatively and then stop midway?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Miss Lillis.”

“You just mentioned to me that I would be placed in the opposite position of maid duties. Are you implying that my job position will change within a few years?”

“I’m busy, so I’ll excuse myself for now. Let’s talk about this next time, Miss Lillis.”

“No, wait….”

Before I could even catch him, the head butler Dietmayer disappeared to another floor with swift steps.

With him running away like that, as a mere maid, I couldn’t find a way to catch him. Despite my noble status, in general, the head butler of Blackwood Manor holds a higher position.

Watching Dietmayer disappear to another floor, leaving behind lingering questions, I pondered the meaning of his last words in my mind.

“Does he know that I will leave the manor in 2 years?”

At this point, that was the only thing that made sense. As a full-time maid, there was no chance of me being promoted to a supervisory maid position.

The problem was how the butler knew about my graduation plans from Blackwood. I hadn’t even mentioned it to Isabelle or Katarina, as it was a plan I had made on my own.

Well, there was nothing I could do to find out how he knew. Butlers like him probably have a rough idea of how long their servants will work at the manor.

Clearing my mind of these complicated thoughts, I decided that a walk was the best way to shake off any remaining drowsiness.

-Whizz.

“Sigh.”

The early morning air of late winter wrapped around my body slightly chill, but wearing my winter maid uniform, it wasn’t too cold. Moreover, with magic imbued in my body, I could easily withstand the cold.

Moving my body a bit to warm up, I found the temperature comfortable enough to wake up.

Dressed in my winter maid uniform for first and second layer insulation with magic, I strolled around Blackwood Manor.

“Come to think of it….”

If I had faithfully fulfilled all the debt maid contracts, I probably wouldn’t be here now.

It had been about 8 years since I was first sold to this manor, and 7 years since I regained memories of my past life.

Of course, even after paying off the debt, I could have chosen to stay and work at Blackwood Manor. In fact, that’s what I’m doing now.

If Ethan had grown up exactly as he was 7 years ago, he would have probably fled the manor as soon as the contract period ended. But the reason I stayed at Blackwood Manor was that Ethan had changed so much.

…Somehow, it felt oddly rewarding to see how he was gradually transforming into a different person from the original. After all, the most positive change I had brought about in this world through my possession was none other than Ethan.

“If it weren’t for me, Ethan would probably be preparing for a battle with the Kettmjoshekwait even during this winter break.”

If the Kettmjoshekwait attacked the manor as in the original story, could Ethan and I win together?

If we had a 1v2 battle like in the original, it didn’t seem completely impossible. After all, Ethan and the Kettmjoshekwait were evenly matched in a 1v1 duel, with Ethan occasionally gaining the upper hand.

With my buffs and support, I should be able to suppress it sufficiently. …Well, now it was just a meaningless assumption.

Engrossed in such useless thoughts, I leisurely strolled around three-quarters of the mansion when Inyeong, who looked like someone wielding a sword in the training ground, caught my eye. Inyeong, the second most familiar man to me in this world by my standards.

-Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Hmm?”

The person wielding a sharp sword, slashing the air with a fierce swordsmanship, was none other than Harold.

As I approached, wary of being mistaken for a sword master, Harold, the head of the Blackwood family, noticed my presence and turned to me.

“Hmm, it’s you.”

“Good morning, sir.”

“You’re up early. Did you come out to train or something?”

…No way. I’m not even a swordsman.

As Harold, who seemed to be trying to include me in his early morning sword practice, I slowly shook my head and replied.

“I woke up a bit early, so I was just taking a walk, sir.”

“I see. If you had come out for morning training, I would have asked you to spar with me.”

“Your words alone are appreciated, but you know that my skills are no match for your swordsmanship, sir.”

Indeed, I couldn’t win a single match in Harold’s swordsmanship class last semester.

Of course, the difficulty of the lessons had increased compared to last year. The feint tactic I used back then was also difficult to use more than twice.

From the start, even with the same level of skill, a longsword had many advantages over a dagger. Even if Harold wielded the sword with one hand instead of two, it would probably be difficult to guarantee victory.

“That’s true. How about a sparring match with just one hand?”

“What?”

“If you use both hands and I use only one, it might be a good challenge. What do you think?”

“No, even with just one hand, I don’t think I can beat you…”

“If you can win a match against my single-handed sword, I’ll raise your last semester’s grade from a C+ to a B+.”

“Please be more specific, sir. It’s a serious matter.”

“I really like your attitude.”

And so, the early morning spar with Harold began somewhat abruptly.

Starting at four in the morning, my spar with Harold lasted for nearly an hour, with the atmosphere heating up. The result of my early morning spar with the sword master, in exchange for my improved grades, was…

*Cough! Cough, cough!*

The next day, it was the reason I spent the whole day lying in bed.