It Depends on the Woman (3)

As soon as I received the summons from Ethan through Dietmeyer, I headed up to the fourth floor of the Blackwood mansion.

Standing before Ethan’s door, I knocked three times to announce my arrival to the room’s occupant.

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Young Master, it’s Lilith.”

“…Come in, maid.”

After a brief silence, I entered and immediately took in the sight of Ethan’s room.

There was a time when this room would be a complete mess every time I entered, but…

Lately, whether I came in the morning or evening, it always seemed quite tidy.

Adding to that, the room’s owner, whose demeanor had completely changed from before, was sitting at the table waiting for me.

His slightly disheveled hair and tired eyes with faint dark circles.

His limbs, now leaner and more toned, and his stomach, which had slimmed down to the point where it was barely noticeable.

The young nobleman, who had transformed into a much more presentable figure compared to before, turned his gaze toward me as I entered.

Meeting Ethan’s eyes, I lightly grasped my maid skirt and bowed slightly in greeting.

“You called for me, Young Master.”

“…Yes, maid.”

As soon as our eyes met, Ethan cautiously averted his gaze, subtly turning his head to the side.

Looking at his profile, it was clear how much he had changed-his face had slimmed down, and his muscles had become more defined.

To someone seeing him for the first time, they would never believe this was the same Ethan.

Especially for me, who knew what Ethan originally looked like, the transformation felt even more jarring.

Though, having watched him gradually lose weight and build muscle over time in the mansion, I had grown somewhat accustomed to his current appearance.

“Maid, would you like to sit down? This might take a while.”

“……”

“…If you’re uncomfortable, we can just talk standing up.”

Ethan’s suggestion to sit at the same table gave me slight pause.

It wasn’t that I still saw him as a budding sexual predator like before-it was just a brief moment of hesitation.

…Well, Ethan had changed a lot compared to before.

He wouldn’t try anything inappropriate with Lilith now, would he?

After mentally concluding as much, I nodded and quietly took a seat across from Ethan at the table.

“Understood.”

In the original story, the reason Ethan had sinister intentions toward Lilith was likely because she was the easiest target in his situation.

As his personal maid, she was the closest to him, and the other maids around her were all strong-willed, making it difficult for the young Ethan to approach them.

Not to mention Eiria and Alicia, who had even manipulated their fellow maid Katarina, and Isabelle, who was too sharp to fall for Ethan’s tricks like the “foolish Lilith” would have.

If Katarina, the weakest link in the food chain, had been around, things might have been different, but in the original game, Katarina was likely sent to the Silverwood territory in Eiria’s place.

In many ways, the environment itself had been set up to make Lilith an easy target.

‘On the other hand, now he has no reason to tarnish his reputation by forcing himself on a commoner like me.’

With his current looks, if he set his mind to it, he could easily charm not just the other maids in the mansion but also pretty noble ladies from lower houses.

After all, he was a nobleman’s son-now that he had lost weight, Harold and Tanathia’s genes were clearly visible in his face.

Even from a man’s perspective, he was objectively handsome-how much more so for women?

There was no reason for him to force himself on a maid who openly disliked him.

…And honestly, this kind of worry was becoming meaningless anyway.

‘There’s no way I could win if Ethan seriously came at me now.’

A Lilith with a measly attack power of 13 and defense of 19 stood no chance against combat-trained, densely packed muscles.

If Ethan had just been swinging a sword around the mansion courtyard with Harold, that would be one thing, but Harold, being the noble he was, knew better than anyone in this world how to get stronger.

Once Ethan became somewhat proficient with the sword, Harold started taking him up and down the mountain behind the Blackwood mansion every time it rained.

He made Ethan hunt the monsters-slimes-that naturally spawned after rain to gain experience.

Of course, Harold wasn’t actually aware of the concept of “experience points.”

He was just passing down what he knew from experience-“this is how you get stronger.”

In any case, as Ethan’s personal maid, I often accompanied them on these trips and watched him hunt.

Each time, I kept a rough count of the monsters he killed and estimated what level he might have reached by now.

‘He must be at least level 7 or 8 by now. And since he can use both swords and body-enhancing magic, he’s practically even stronger.’

At this point, my vigilance was practically meaningless. If he really decided to attack me, I’d have no choice but to accept it.

Sure, I could resist once with a Mana Blast, but using such high-level magic in this mansion would spell my doom anyway.

It was better to just relax and pray he wouldn’t try anything.

“……”

“……”

Ethan, who had called me here to talk, remained silent, avoiding my gaze.

…Is making people awkward some kind of genetic trait?

For a moment, I almost snapped, but thankfully, before any words could escape my mouth, Ethan finally spoke up.

“…Maid.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“This coming Sixthday afternoon… are you free?”

“…Pardon?”

What kind of nonsense is this now?

Since when does a master ask his personal maid if she’s free?

As a personal maid, I didn’t have the luxury of setting my own days off or breaks-if I had other plans, they would naturally have to adjust to the master’s schedule.

Since Ethan had asked such a stupid question, it was only right to give him the most obvious answer.

“As your personal maid, my time is your time.”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant. I was just wondering if you had any other plans.”

“A debt-bound maid who can’t even leave the mansion on her own wouldn’t have any plans or schedules.”

“But you have close colleagues, right? I thought you might have made plans with them.”

…Well, it was common knowledge among the staff that I was close with Isabelle and Katarina.

There was nothing strange about Ethan bringing that up.

The problem was why he kept tiptoeing around the issue and watching my reaction.

What did it matter if I had plans with Isabelle or Katarina? He knew full well that, as his master, his orders took priority.

There was no way a young nobleman receiving education in academics and etiquette on different days of the week wouldn’t know such basic things.

‘I’m not sure what he’s trying to get at by asking this…’

I didn’t have any plans to begin with, and even if I did, I had to say I didn’t in this situation.

Making a noble feel like he had to tread carefully around his own personal maid wouldn’t end well.

“No, Young Master.”

“…Really? You’re not just saying that because of me, are you?”

“If you truly think I’m just saying that to appease you, couldn’t you just take the hint and accept it as it is?”

“…Sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

I blurted that out in frustration, but thankfully, it didn’t seem to set him off.

Well, he had heard worse from me before, and he wasn’t the type to get angry over something like this now.

If this were the detestable Ethan from [Luminor Academy], maybe-but not the one in front of me.

“Was there a reason you asked about my weekend schedule, Young Master?”

“…I received an invitation from the Imperial Palace.”

“Ah…”

The Imperial Palace… An invitation from the Imperial Palace around this time could only mean one thing.

“The only invitation the Imperial Palace would send you around this time… must be for the Third Princess’s birthday banquet.”

“…You knew?”

“I happened to find out, that’s all.”

To be precise, I knew because the Third Princess was one of the heroines in [Luminor Academy].

And it was well-known that the Emperor held banquets for his children’s birthdays, inviting noble heirs.

Given Ethan’s family status and his similar age to the Third Princess, it wasn’t strange for him to receive an invitation.

‘The Ethan from the original game must have received invitations like this too.’

After all, the Ethan from [Luminor Academy] was undeniably a nobleman by birth.

It was just that his repulsive appearance and hygiene made him unpopular.

And since he was aware of how ugly he was, he usually declined such events.

Of course, that was only the behavior of Ethan Richard Blackwood in the original setting.

Given how differently the current Ethan Richard Blackwood was acting compared to the detestable version, it wouldn’t be strange if he made a different decision now.

This Ethan had no lack of confidence in his appearance, had matured through proper etiquette training, and-most importantly-had recently been participating in territory management alongside Harold.

He likely understood better than anyone how important it was to show his face at official events.

In the end, Ethan asking if I was free on Sixthday probably didn’t have any special meaning.

‘He must be attending an external event on Sixthday and wants me, his personal maid, to clear my schedule and accompany him.’

Since I’d already figured out his intent, it was time to get to the point.

As his personal maid, I had no excuse to skip his external events anyway.

Wanting to wrap things up quickly, I casually brought up what he was likely going to ask.

“Is the banquet on Sixthday this week?”

“…Yeah. So I wanted to ask if you’d like to come with me.”

“Understood. I didn’t have any plans to begin with, but I’ll make sure to keep that day free, Young Master.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

It was strange to begin with that he was making such a fuss over this. Accompanying one’s master to external events was a basic, if not mandatory, duty for a personal maid.

Given Ethan’s recent activities, these kinds of external events would only increase in the future.

To make it clear that he didn’t need to call me in every time for permission, I elaborated on my earlier answer.

“You don’t need to ask your personal maid about every little thing like this. It’s our role to accompany you to external events no matter what.”

“…Huh?”

“If you’re done with what you needed to tell me, I’ll return to my waiting room now.”

Thinking the conversation was over, I started to rise from my seat-when Ethan suddenly grabbed my hand with a flustered expression.

“W-Wait, maid!”

“Is there something else you need?”

“No, it’s just… I think you might be misunderstanding something before you leave…”

“Pardon?”

“…You understood correctly, right? That you’re coming to the banquet with me.”

Why was he asking the obvious over and over?

I’d been working as a personal maid in the Blackwood mansion for over two years now-there was no way I wouldn’t understand something this basic.

It wasn’t even rare for nobles to bring their personal attendants to banquets.

To emphasize that further explanation wasn’t necessary, I nodded my head firmly up and down.

“Of course, I understand perfectly.”

“…O-Oh. Good, then.”

“I’ll return to my waiting room now. I’ll see you at dinner, Young Master.”

“Yeah. Go rest, maid.”

After ending the pointless conversation with Ethan, I immediately returned to my waiting room and rested until dinner.

…It wasn’t until three days later that I realized what Ethan had truly meant by “come to the banquet with me.”