The Unyielding Position (4)

“Oh, Lillith…. There was no need to go up so suddenly without even listening to the explanation….”

Isabel Grace, a Junior Maid of the Blackwood Family.

Alone in the corridor, sweeping the floor she hadn’t finished, she muttered to herself, recalling her friend who had just gone upstairs.

Thinking of Lillith Rosewood, her closest friend and colleague, who had gone upstairs harboring some misunderstanding between herself, Young Master Ethan, and Lillith.

Immediately after Lillith went up, before Isabel could even stop her, a knock was heard on the Young Master’s door from upstairs.

Not long after, the sound of the door opening was followed by the Young Master’s voice, so it was already too late for her to intervene.

“Still, the misunderstanding must have been cleared up by now, right?”

Young Master Ethan’s proposal to her, asking if she would become an ‘Exclusive Maid’.

Isabel was worried that Lillith had gone up misunderstanding that proposal as an offer to become ‘Ethan’s Exclusive Maid’.

It was undeniably true that she had received an offer from Young Master Ethan to become an Exclusive Maid and accompany him to the Academy.

But that was a slightly different proposal than becoming the Young Master’s Exclusive Maid.

“It wasn’t about becoming the Young Master’s Exclusive Maid, but about acting as Lillith’s Exclusive Maid….”

After Lillith enrolled in the Academy, it would become difficult for her to fully carry out the Young Master’s Exclusive Maid duties.

Of course, being a fellow Academy student would be a great advantage in terms of being able to work and assist him during the day, but being an Academy student wasn’t a leisurely position to also take on other maid duties.

Ethan was also concerned about this, which was why he intended to take Isabel in addition to Lillith, his Exclusive Maid.

While Lillith would be active at the Academy as his Exclusive Maid, he planned to have Isabel remain at the residence to perform other tasks.

He was going to instruct her with duties such as cleaning, laundry, or meal preparation.

“But Lillith suddenly asked me if I had become the Young Master’s Exclusive Maid…. From the start, there’s no way the Young Master would choose someone else as his Exclusive Maid over Lillith….”

It was already common knowledge among the servants that Ethan harbored personal feelings for Lillith.

Everyone had simply kept silent because Ethan had asked them to keep it a secret, especially from Lillith.

In fact, any servant who had seen Ethan and Lillith together even once or twice could already pretty much guess the Young Master’s feelings for his Exclusive Maid.

Only the oblivious Maid Lillith Rosewood remained unaware of that fact.

“…Still, it’s a relief that Lillith’s action was just a misunderstanding.”

When Lillith first told her to refuse the offer, her heart had sunk.

She had truly thought that Lillith disliked her becoming Lillith’s Exclusive Maid and almost suffered a great emotional wound.

That remark, which inevitably made her imagine that perhaps only she considered Lillith her closest friend, was enough to wound Isabel’s tender heart.

Fortunately, through the conversation that followed immediately, Isabel quickly realized it was a misunderstanding, but Lillith had gone upstairs to face the Young Master without having cleared up that misunderstanding.

Still, once she started talking directly with the Young Master, Lillith’s misunderstanding was bound to be cleared up soon enough.

Thinking that this would surely be the case, Isabel finished sweeping and quietly went downstairs to empty the dustpan.

…What would happen next in Ethan’s bedroom, on the floor above her?

That innocent maid young lady couldn’t even begin to imagine.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Young Master Ethan.”

-Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

“Young Master Ethan. Young Master Ethan.”

“Ma-Maid?! Is that the Maid?”

“May I come in for a moment?”

“J-Just a moment! One minute… no, wait 30 seconds!”

“…Understood.”

One, two, three….

I counted down in my mind, clenching and unclenching my fingers, waiting for Ethan to signal that I could enter.

At the same time, I thought of several ways to persuade Ethan.

…First, I should apologize for being inadequate as his Exclusive Maid so far.

I didn’t know if the affection I had lost for a greedy maid who only thought of using me would return, but it would still be better than simply asking him to choose me as his maid instead of Isabel right away.

And then, I would make a firm promise to faithfully carry out my duties as his Exclusive Maid from now on.

I would tell him that at the Academy, I would stick by Ethan’s side as much as possible and assist him at all times.

‘…Honestly, Isabel would probably be better at both the Exclusive Maid duties and assisting Ethan.’

That’s probably why Ethan tried to make Isabel his Exclusive Maid instead of me in the first place.

In the end, the only possibility was to use something that Isabel didn’t have, but I did, to win Ethan’s heart.

If Lillith, who was inferior to Isabel in both work ability and personality, had anything to offer, it would at most be….

-Click.

“Y-You can come in, Maid….”

“…Excuse me.”

Ethan, looking somewhat flustered, let me into the room, as if there had been some commotion inside.

Since I needed to talk to him, I quietly entered the room with Ethan.

As usual when we talked, Ethan sat at the table on one side of the room and gestured for me to sit in the opposite seat.

“You came to tell me something, Maid?”

“…Yes, Young Master.”

“Let’s talk while sitting down first. It seems like a truly urgent matter if the Maid came so frantically.”

“…….”

Ethan, sitting in a chair at the table, extended his hand towards the opposite seat.

Normally, once he gave permission, I would sit down without much thought, make eye contact, and talk, but in my current situation, I couldn’t simply accept his offer.

For me, who first had to apologize for not properly fulfilling my duties as Ethan’s Exclusive Maid, a luxurious place like a chair was not where I should be.

-Swoosh.

“…….”

“Ma-Maid?!”

Ethan called out to me in surprise, seeing me lower my posture without a word.

Despite his reaction, I silently knelt on the floor and bowed my body forward.

I even pressed my head to Ethan’s floor and conveyed my apology for not fulfilling my duties as his Exclusive Maid until now.

“I am truly sorry for everything until now, Young Master Ethan.”

“Ma-Maid?! What are you doing? Get up quickly!”

“For the past three years serving you, I have failed to properly understand what you desired and wasted time. I have no words to offer, even if I had ten mouths.”

“What are you suddenly talking about…?!”

“I don’t know if this apology can appease your heart, Young Master, but please forgive this humble maid for being able to offer nothing more than this apology.”

A sincere apology, uttered with my head bowed low to the floor.

Honestly, there was no guarantee that such a deeply bowed apology would work, but this was the only method of apology that came to my mind right now.

Whether it worked or not, offering the most heartfelt apology I could express was the first thing I had to do.

“Ma-Maid, I don’t understand what you’re saying at all! Please, can you just sit down and talk? Huh?”

“No. I cannot rise from this spot until I am forgiven by the Young Master.”

“But I don’t know what I’m supposed to forgive! I need to know what you did wrong to forgive you!”

“If I must say, the entire three years I spent as your Exclusive Maid were all my fault.”

“So why is that suddenly something the Maid needs to apologize for?!”

As I showed no sign of rising from the floor, Ethan instead came down to the floor with me.

He then grabbed my shoulders, which were pressed to the floor, and lifted me up, trying to make me stand.

His grip, which had grown considerably over three years, was strong enough to lift my body from the floor.

“Maid, get up. I’m not angry with you at all, and I don’t know what wrong you need to be forgiven for.”

“…You don’t need to say such things forcibly out of consideration for me, Young Master Ethan.”

“I’m not saying it forcibly….”

“If you truly weren’t disappointed in me, then why did you ask Isabel if she would be your Exclusive Maid?”

“……I-Isabel?”

Ethan reacted with a slightly flustered expression to my counter-question.

Seeing his reaction, I quietly confirmed my suspicion and mentioned the conversation I had accidentally overheard between him and Isabel.

“I did not intend to eavesdrop.”

“…….”

“However, on my way back from my meeting with Master, in the corridor, I inadvertently overheard a conversation between you and Isabel.”

“…Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

As soon as I confirmed that I had overheard his conversation with Isabel, he couldn’t hide his increased embarrassment.

As expected, he had deliberately tried to make Isabel his Exclusive Maid in secret from me.

Because I had not properly served Ethan during the past years.

“From now on, I will be even more faithful to my duties as your Exclusive Maid.”

“Ma-Maid, you’ve been doing perfectly fine until now.”

“Then all the more reason! I will work even harder from now on and never abandon my duties as your Exclusive Maid!”

“I-I’m sorry, Maid. I never imagined that proposal would hurt your pride so much….”

“…Even if it’s just this once. So please, I beg you, would you not hire me as your Exclusive Maid just one more time?”

“……Huh?”

“I know best that I am a maid with many shortcomings compared to Isabel. Isabel is superior to me in performing household chores, and her bright personality, which makes everyone smile, is also a virtue I lack.”

“W-Wait, Maid. Let’s try to clarify this again, shall we…?”

“Shamelessly, I beg of you. Even after enrolling in the Academy, I do not wish to yield my position as Young Master Ethan’s Exclusive Maid.”

“But I w-wasn’t exactly trying to make Isabel my Exclusive Maid….”

“…If you would take me as your Exclusive Maid once more, I can offer you even what Isabel cannot.”

“What Isabel cannot… W-Wait?”

While Ethan, who didn’t understand my words, hesitated for a moment, I grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards my chest.

What Isabel didn’t have, but Lillith did.

It was nothing but this humble and vulgar body that only Lillith possessed.