Exclusive Maid (2)

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Swallowing down every curse word that threatened to spill from my lips, I briskly made my way upstairs to the mansion without hesitation.

Fuck. Why me.

Fuck. What did I even do wrong.

Fuck. Why the hell am I becoming that disgusting bastard’s exclusive maid!

“Congratulations, Miss Lilith Rosewood.”

“Thank y-“

I wanted to destroy Dietmeyer’s fucking mouth, but that wouldn’t solve anything-it would only complicate matters further.

Suppressing all my tangled emotions, I quickly made my way to Harold’s office on the third floor.

What was I going to do once I got there? Fuck if I knew.

At the very least, I had to find a way to return this damn sex sl-no, this exclusive maid position.

I couldn’t understand why that bastard Harold had assigned me as Ethan’s exclusive maid in the first place.

Why?

At least in the original story, there was a somewhat understandable reason for Lilith becoming Ethan’s exclusive maid.

That disgusting bastard had taken a liking to Lilith’s appearance and whined like a brat to have her assigned as his personal maid-a plausible enough reason.

Under normal circumstances, someone as young as Lilith becoming Ethan’s exclusive maid would have been impossible.

After all, Lilith was only 18 years old now. In just a week, she’d turn 19.

Not only was she already too young, but strictly speaking, she was even slightly younger than Ethan. Though the difference was only a matter of days.

An exclusive maid was supposed to assist the noble they served in every aspect of their daily life, so naturally, the maid was expected to be much older than the noble-that was the general rule.

In the game’s setting, Ethan’s first exclusive maid wasn’t Lilith but a more experienced maid.

And when Ethan insisted on replacing her with Lilith because he didn’t like his current maid, that was a storyline that made sense.

Harold, being the doting father he was, couldn’t refuse Ethan’s demands and assigned Lilith-that was a plausible enough development.

But this personnel decision made no sense.

Harold, the doting father, giving in to Ethan’s demands and replacing his exclusive maid with Lilith? That could happen.

But Harold, the doting father, assigning Lilith-a debt maid with no proven track record-as Ethan’s exclusive maid? That was utter nonsense.

This shouldn’t be possible. This was a setting that made no goddamn sense.

Where the hell did things go wrong?

I might have unintentionally left a decent impression on Harold, but I’d also given him more than enough reason to think I was dangerous.

And yet he assigned me-a crazy maid who threw herself at a boar ten times her size-as his son’s exclusive maid?

Are you out of your mind? Are you fucking insane?

While mentally berating an imaginary Harold with endless questions, my feet somehow carried me to his office on the third floor.

Standing outside the door where he likely was, I took a deep breath.

“…Huuu.”

The noble who had assigned me as his son’s exclusive maid-a complete lunatic-was behind this door.

A debt maid of unknown origins, a madwoman who risked her life against a Level 10 monster-and this psycho made her his son’s exclusive maid.

I had to change this. If things continued as per the original plot, I’d inevitably reach a point of no return.

Of course, even if I avoided this exclusive maid position, I couldn’t be 100% sure I’d escape the future where Lilith gets broken.

Even if I managed to negotiate with Harold and get out of this assignment, Ethan’s stubbornness alone could overturn it at any moment.

It would’ve been different if that brat had never met me, but we’d already crossed paths multiple times.

If Lilith’s appearance had already caught that disgusting bastard’s eye, then this protest of mine might just be a futile attempt to vent my frustration.

“……”

Maybe it really was pointless.

Maybe it was better to just accept it and not waste time.

The Lilith in the game probably made the same choice.

If I tried to negotiate or request a reassignment, there was a good chance I’d only leave a worse impression on the nobles.

In fact, the odds of that happening were overwhelmingly high.

Thinking rationally, the best course of action right now was to accept the exclusive maid position and find another way out.

That would be the safest and most efficient method available to me right now.

…

…

…

Fuck that. What’s the point of just resigning myself to reality like that?

“I have no choice but to accept this.” “I have to let this go for this reason.”

And then when the time comes that I have no choice but to get assaulted by Ethan, I just take it? When I have no choice but to be collared, I just obediently submit?

Having seen “Ethan Richard Blackwood” in the game, I can say with certainty:

Giving that opportunistic pig bastard even a single opening is no different from offering yourself up to be devoured down to the bone.

To survive as Lilith, who suffered every possible horror across all routes, I couldn’t afford to yield even on the smallest things.

What’s the point of doing something that’s ultimately meaningless?

At the very least, I could make Harold think, “This girl’s a weirdo.”

Since the rumors hadn’t spread throughout the mansion yet, it was likely that only a few servants-like Dietmeyer-had been informed of my reassignment.

The only chance to reverse this was now.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

Even in this godawful situation, failing to observe basic servant etiquette would only make things harder to clean up later, so I rapped my slightly clenched fist against the office door three times.

Not long after, the voice of that damn bastard Harold responded from inside.

“Come in.”

*Click.*

As soon as I heard Harold’s voice, I opened the door and stepped inside.

The moment I entered, my eyes locked with his as he turned to face the door.

“……”

“……”

After the door closed quietly behind me, an awkward silence stretched between us.

Wondering if I was expected to break the uncomfortable silence first, I hesitated-but fortunately, Harold was the one to speak.

“Lilith Rosewood, was it?”

“…Yes.”

Fuck. He remembers me.

For someone like him-who shouldn’t care about others at all-to remember my name, there were only two possible reasons.

One, he decided it was worth remembering because I was someone he’d have to deal with long-term, like Head Maid Melissa or Deputy Head Butler Dietmeyer.

Or two, I stood out so much that he had no choice but to remember me.

And in my case, it was obviously the latter.

Regret over where I’d gone wrong in my conduct so far washed over me as Harold spoke again, giving me the floor to explain why I’d come.

“I don’t recall summoning you today. What brings you here?”

“…I have something to say regarding the reassignment notice I received from Deputy Head Butler Dietmeyer.”

“Your reassignment… Ah, regarding my son’s exclusive maid position.”

“Yes.”

“Go on, then.”

Harold fixed me with a gaze that seemed to say, “Go ahead, try me,” as he waited for my response.

I didn’t hesitate to confidently state my case, even in front of him.

If I didn’t seize this chance to protest now, I might never get another.

“I’m well aware that questioning your judgment is disrespectful, but I’d like to say one thing.”

“……”

“I am… utterly unqualified to be Young Master Ethan Richard Blackwood’s exclusive maid.”

“Hmm.”

“Therefore, I’d like to relinquish the position to a more senior maid who can serve the young master far better than I ever could.”

After listening to me in silence, Harold stared at me without moving.

His expression was so unreadable-not even a flicker in his eyes-that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

The suffocating silence was finally broken by Harold’s slightly displeased voice.

“So what you’re saying… is that there was a problem with my reassignment order?”

“……”

This was the critical moment.

In this conversation, I had to find a way to make Harold understand that I wasn’t fit for the exclusive maid position-without pissing him off.

If I came across as disobedient or revealed my true feelings about Ethan, my head could roll within days.

To survive as Lilith in this world, I had to speak confidently and firmly, even in front of Harold.

Steeling myself, I met his gaze and stated my case.

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

“Unfortunately, I am not as capable or skilled as you believe me to be. That is why I must reiterate-I am not suited to be Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid.”

“…You really are alike.”

“Pardon?”

“…Never mind. Continue.”

Harold looked at me with slightly widened eyes, as if he hadn’t expected me to outright contradict him.

Having come this far, stopping now would be the dumbest thing I could do.

With the mental image of shoving my head into a crocodile’s mouth, I forced myself to keep speaking, pushing out the words stuck in my throat.

Getting any more entangled with Ethan in this life was something I’d refuse even at swordpoint.