Unexpected Outing (1)

About a week had passed since I returned to the Blackwood Territory with Ethan.

The past week had been so leisurely that it could almost be considered a vacation.

First of all, my duties as Ethan’s exclusive maid at the mansion weren’t any more demanding than what I did at the Academy. In fact, I was more accustomed to these duties, having performed them for a longer period than my Academy work.

Of course, my personal time had almost disappeared, as I was constantly following Ethan around all day, assisting him.

“Lilith…?”

“Ah, yes. Please tell me anytime if you require my assistance.”

“No, I didn’t call you for that reason. I was just wondering if you weren’t getting bored just sitting there.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been stuck by my side for days since we returned to the mansion. I’ve been holed up in my father’s office all day recently.”

“……”

If I were to say I wasn’t bored at all, that would, of course, be a lie.

Ethan was currently spending eight hours a day handling Harold’s duties, and even though we were in the same room, our conversations only happened once or twice an hour.

In that sense, Ethan’s question about whether I was bored wasn’t incomprehensible, but it wasn’t so boring that I couldn’t bear it either.

I could simply pass the time by reading magic books in the Blackwood Mansion’s storage or knitting as a pastime.

“You don’t need to worry, Ethan-doryeonnim. As your exclusive maid, where would I go if not by your side?”

“You could rest by yourself for a bit, or go for a holiday stroll with Isabelle or Katarina. Lilith is no longer a Debt Maid, so she’s free to come and go from the mansion.”

“I can get enough rest in this place, and I’ve been socializing sufficiently with Isabelle and Katarina outside of work hours, so it’s fine.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s a relief, but…”

Even as he said that, Ethan subtly turned his gaze towards me, looking at me with a worried expression.

As soon as I saw that peculiar gaze, the thought suddenly crossed my mind: perhaps I had been mistaken all this time.

‘Was my presence in the same room making him uncomfortable all this time?’

Indeed, if it was Ethan, who had been growing more like Harold lately, that possibility was quite high.

Harold was famous for not having an exclusive maid because he found it bothersome to have someone around. I should have considered the possibility that his son, Ethan, inherited that personality.

I was so clueless, just bothering him for days for no reason.

“I apologize, Ethan-doryeonnim. I failed to grasp the true meaning behind your words until now.”

“Huh? True meaning…?”

“Ethan-doryeonnim, you must be the type who gets bothered by others while working. I will withdraw so as not to disturb you further. Please call me again whenever you need me.”

“Huh? Th-that’s not it! It’s not that Lilith’s presence bothers me at all!”

“You don’t need to be considerate, Ethan-doryeonnim. I will step back for a moment so as not to be a hindrance. Please call me again when you need me.”

“……”

Just a moment ago, Ethan had indirectly implied that my presence in the same room made him uncomfortable, but as soon as I offered to withdraw, he seemed flustered instead.

Wondering if he had something more to say to me, I waited for a moment. Then, he suddenly emptied the teacup of black tea and pushed it towards me.

“Lilith, I’ve finished my black tea. Could you go to the dining room and bring me a fresh one?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, and on your way, please deliver these letters to Dietmeyer. There’s no one else I can ask besides Lilith.”

“Ah, yes.”

“It’s reassuring to have Lilith always by my side. If I were alone, I would have been tired from constantly going in and out of the office.”

“You speak the obvious.”

“Now that I think about it, it might be better if Lilith just stays by my side. I’d appreciate it if you could just wait in the office even after you’ve run the errand. …Just like before.”

“…Understood. Since Ethan-doryeonnim truly needs my help, I suppose there’s no other choice.”

“Yes. I really need Lilith’s help, so please continue to wait in the office. I’m counting on you.”

“Of course, I will do so, Ethan-doryeonnim.”

Honestly, why did he pretend to be bothered when he was just going to say he needed me in the end?

Thinking he was an insincere person in many ways, I left Ethan’s office, holding the teacup in one hand and the letters in the other.

As expected, he can’t do without me.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Harold’s return to Blackwood Mansion happened that very evening.

It seemed he had returned as soon as he finished his overdue work at the Academy, riding proudly back to Blackwood Mansion.

Unlike Ethan, he was a character capable of personal horseback riding, so he didn’t bother traveling by carriage.

Well, it was indeed a long distance, requiring almost an entire day’s travel by carriage from the Island of Knowledge, but with personal horseback riding, travel time could be reduced by 60-70%.

It was just last night that Harold returned, having ridden for half a day from Luminor Academy to Blackwood Mansion.

Naturally, Harold, being a workaholic, immediately took his place at his office desk upon returning, bringing Ethan’s temporary acting head-of-house role to an end after just one week.

…Thanks to that, I, who had been spending time in the office with Ethan, also found myself with nothing to do, so I was waiting in my personal room like this.

‘I really have nothing to do now.’

In fact, if I put my mind to it, I could have asked Ethan for permission to go out and hunt monsters in the back mountains, or done something else that would help my growth, even if only a little.

At the very least, that would result in much more obvious and visible growth than simply reading in my personal room like this.

However, I didn’t want to obsess over growth to the point of neglecting my main duties.

First, now that my level was somewhat on track, monsters in the Blackwood Mansion’s back mountains would only give me a minuscule amount of experience points.

Since I had recently leveled up once, I was destined to accumulate over a thousand more experience points for the next level.

This was because it was concluded that to level up with monsters appearing in the Blackwood back mountains, I would have to hunt every day for almost two weeks straight.

Rather than abandoning my exclusive maid duties to do such a thing, it was better to just stick by Ethan’s side.

Besides, passing the time by reading magic books in the Blackwood Mansion’s storage, like this, was helpful in its own way. Not all meaningful information for living in this world came from visible numerical growth.

‘It’s nice to have some leisure after a long time.’

It was a sense of mental ease I hadn’t felt in a long time, having escaped the daily grind of competition and assignments at Luminor Academy.

After all, the Blackwood Territory itself was a peaceful setting, mostly unrelated to the main story, except for the ‘Ethan Subjugation Battle’.

By now, that Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot fellow must be participating in the main story with Celista and Silena.

In 『Luminor Academy』, there were many events during summer and winter breaks where one could progress the story by interacting with various heroines. 

As I was enjoying my peace of mind, completely unrelated to the troublesome events of the main story, then.

A knock, whose rhythm I could now recognize just by the sound, came from outside the door.

-Knock, knock.

“…Ethan-doryeonnim?”

“I have something to say for a moment. Do you have time right now, Lilith?”

“Yes, Young Master. I am always on standby.”

“Then, please come to my room for a moment so we can talk. I’ll be waiting inside.”

“Yes, Ethan-doryeonnim.”

It wasn’t mealtime yet. Was he planning to go out for some external activity?

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

-Knock, knock, knock.

“I’m coming in, Ethan-doryeonnim.”

“Yes, come in.”

Creak. With the sound of the door opening, I stepped into Ethan’s personal room.

It was a familiar sight, in some ways as familiar as my own personal room, as I visited it every morning and night to tidy his bed.

And Ethan, sitting at the table as if waiting for me, naturally came into view.

“For what purpose did you call me?”

“First, could you come here and sit for a moment?”

“……Yes.”

What is it?

I recall that most of the conversations Ethan had with me while I was seated at the table were quite important.

It was the moment I briefly wondered if he was going to take me to some noble exchange meeting again, just like last time.

“Lilith, do you happen to have any plans for tomorrow or the day after?”

“No, as Ethan-doryeonnim’s exclusive maid, my schedule is fundamentally cleared.”

“Really?”

“Do you perhaps have plans to go outside the territory?”

“Ah, yes. My father has returned, so I no longer have duties to attend to, and now that Lilith is also free, it seems like the best time. It wouldn’t matter if I went alone, but it would be better in many ways if Lilith came with me.”

…It was a thought I had just entertained in my mind, but it seemed he truly intended to disguise me as his fiancée and take me to another noble exchange event.

For the record, I had already given up on correcting the rumors circulating everywhere that I was Ethan’s fiancée. That issue had already completely left my hands.

Due to Luminor Academy’s unique closed amplification network, it wasn’t a rumor that would die down even if I refuted it.

If Ethan, who was also the subject of the rumor and a scion of a ducal family, were to step forward himself, he could certainly stop it from spreading outwardly. However, Ethan didn’t seem to have any intention of denying the rumors circulating between him and me.

He probably wasn’t denying it because it was a favorable situation for political leverage. If rumors spread that a ducal family’s scion of marriageable age had no fiancée, troublesome issues were bound to arise during negotiations among nobles later on.

Not only would he have to deal with nobles who used the fiancée position as a bargaining chip in almost every interaction, but it was also easy to sour relationships by refusing engagement proposals from friendly nobles, and he would always have to accept relationships with new aspiring acquaintances with double and triple suspicion.

In that sense, now, with me acting as a breakwater as his fake fiancée, was the period when Ethan could move most freely.

Therefore, taking me to another noble exchange meeting was a perfectly understandable action.

His goal must be to take me to a noble gathering once more to confirm that the rumors weren’t just idle gossip circulating within the Academy.

…Well, if Ethan wants it, I suppose there’s no helping it.

I didn’t particularly want to go around acting as his fiancée, but for Ethan, it would be a politically important act.

More importantly, I had no intention of marrying a man in the future, so whether I ended up with the label of Ethan’s former fiancée or not made no difference to me.

So, for now, I had no choice but to readily agree to Ethan’s request as his exclusive maid.

“Where are you planning to go, Ethan-doryeonnim?”

“I won’t go too far. We’re going to Grainstone Village.”

“Grainstone Village?”

“Yes. It’s a nearby village, so we’ll depart tomorrow. Do you know where it is?”

“Yes, I know where it is, but…”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Lilith?”

“…Can noble exchange meetings be held even in such a small village?”

“…Noble exchange meeting?”

“Pardon?”

“There’s a blacksmith shop owned by a Half-Dwarf in Grainstone Village, so we’re going there to get Lilith a new dagger.”

“……Ah.”

Ah!

Ah, aah, aaah!