Early morning. Ethan’s room.

I woke up, staring at the now all-too-familiar ceiling of this room, and, as usual, I got up from the bed to prepare for work.

‘…I don’t even bother to sleep in my room at Blackwood Manor anymore.’

At the Academy dorms, it was unavoidable that we shared the same bed. But here at Blackwood Manor, there’s a separate room for me and another one for Isabelle, and it’s an unspoken rule that we use separate rooms.

…Well, it’s not really a “rule” per se. A maid sleeping in the same bed as her master either means she’s the master’s secret lover or being used as a sex maid for more intimate purposes.

‘…Am I both?’

Luckily, in my case, I’m not officially his lover—only a temporary one—and I’m only treated as a sex maid when I’m giving him his "rewards." So, it’s kind of a half-and-half relationship.

The reason I’ve been waking up in Ethan’s room recently is simple: I’ve just gotten too used to it.

After returning from the Academy, I tried sleeping in my room a few times, but I had trouble sleeping most nights, often waking up early in the morning. I’ve just become too accustomed to dorm life, and now I’ve picked up a bad habit.

‘…I’ll have to fix this eventually, after I leave the manor.’

But for now, there’s no need to rush.

Besides, Ethan didn’t just allow it—he practically welcomed it with open arms. So, for the past month, Ethan’s room has effectively turned into a double room for the two of us.

Of course, all my belongings as a maid are still in my personal room, so I’ll need to head over there to get ready for the day.

Snore, puuuu…

‘I guess he’s gotten used to it too. He sleeps so soundly even with me next to him.’

Deciding to wake Ethan after I’ve officially started my workday, I slipped out of the bed in my pajamas and quietly left Ethan’s room to head to my own.

I should hurry up and get back to my room before Harold sees me. If he sees me leaving Ethan’s room in the morning, who knows what he’ll think of me…

Creak.

‘…He’s not here.’

The door to Harold’s room was firmly shut, as I confirmed through the crack in the door.

Feeling safe, I quickly tried to make my way back to my room, but the plan fell apart just as I took my first step.

‘I need to get back before Harold sees me…’

"Good morning, Lilith."

"……?!!"

Suddenly, Harold’s voice came from behind me, sending a chill through my body. I froze momentarily but quickly tried to regain my composure, greeting him as naturally as I could.

"Good morning, Master."

"I saw you leaving Ethan’s room. Did you sleep there last night?"

Harold went straight to the point, asking bluntly. I tried to stay calm and answer as nonchalantly as possible, knowing that revealing the truth about my relationship with Ethan could be dangerous.

If Harold—who would do anything for his son, even pretend to be dead—found out that Ethan was infatuated with me, it would leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

"We shared a bed, but nothing happened that would cause you concern, Master."

It wasn’t a lie. Last night we only slept together, nothing more. That’s the truth.

"Concern? Why would I be concerned about anything between you and Ethan?"

"Because someone of Ethan’s noble blood shouldn’t be involved with someone as lowly as me, a commoner maid. Isn’t that a natural concern for a noble father with a grown son?"

"You’re quite hard on yourself, Lilith. I’ve never thought of your relationship with Ethan in that way."

"You haven’t?"

…Maybe this was a trap.

Perhaps Harold was trying to lull me into a false sense of security, only to turn on me later and accuse me of having an inappropriate relationship with his son.

After all, Harold was a man whose true intentions were hard to read, so I couldn’t let my guard down.

"So, are you saying, Master, that you wouldn’t mind if Ethan were involved with a prostitute from the back alleys?"

"Hmm, I wasn’t implying that at all. But are you equating yourself with a prostitute, Lilith?"

"I’m not, but as an unknown commoner woman, I’m not much different. You’re well aware that my baronet status is just a fake title created so I could attend the Academy, aren’t you, Master?"

"Yes, I am."

Harold nodded slightly, almost as if to refute my earlier statement.

"In other words, now that I, the head of the Blackwood family, have vouched for your status, it shouldn’t be an issue anymore, should it?"

"But that doesn’t mean you know everything about me. You have no idea how I lived before being sold to the Blackwood family."

"How could I know the past of every single servant in this household? Are you saying you really did work as a prostitute before losing your maidenhood?"

"No, that’s not the case."

"Good. Then there’s nothing to worry about. Even if you had such a past, it’s not something I’d be concerned with. What matters is Ethan’s opinion, not mine."

"......"

"Even if your relationship with Ethan were purely physical, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad experience for him. But if Ethan wanted something more from you, I wouldn’t oppose that either."

"No, Master. As I said, nothing inappropriate happened with the Young Master last night..."

I tried to deny it, knowing that nothing good could come from revealing too much. But Harold cut me off and suddenly started talking about his own past.

"The first time I met Tanacia was at the Luminor Academy. As a member of the swordsmanship department, I had no reason to cross paths with a student from the magic department, but somehow, we kept getting involved in various incidents."

"……What?"

"Just listen. It’s just a story."

This felt like a story far too long to be sharing with a maid in her nightclothes, but Harold didn’t seem to care. He leaned against the window in the hallway, reminiscing.

As a mere maid, I had no choice but to listen quietly to the head of the Blackwood family.

"I first met her in our second year, in the alley between the dormitories for the swordsmanship and spearmanship departments. Tanacia was standing there, wand in hand, defending a girl behind her from some seniors in the swordsmanship department."

"......."

"Later, I found out that one of the new girls in the swordsmanship department came from a family with a long-standing grudge against the upperclassmen’s families, and they were bullying her. Tanacia, with her strong sense of justice, couldn’t just walk away when she saw that."

"......."

"Of course, I don’t deny that Tanacia was an outstanding mage, but magic is at a disadvantage in close combat with swords. The seniors were much greater in number. I could see she had taken down a few thugs, but the ringleader, the one orchestrating the bullying, stood there smirking at her."

"......."

"What do you think I did when I saw that smirk?"

Even though the story of Harold and Tanacia’s past wasn’t covered much in Luminor Academy, I could already guess what Harold had done.

Considering that Tanacia became Harold’s wife, the answer was practically half-given already.

"Did you step in to defend her and take on the seniors of the swordsmanship department?"

"Why would you think that? I’m not the kind of person who goes out of his way to interfere with other people’s business."

"If you hadn’t stepped in, Tanacia wouldn’t be your wife today."

"Hmm. Aristocratic marriages aren’t usually based on things like that. Is that your only reason?"

"Also… if you had run away from that situation, I doubt you’d be telling me this story now."

"Hmm?"

"Men are embarrassed to reveal their weaknesses in front of women, so if you were ashamed of what happened back then, you wouldn’t be sharing this story with me… oops."

I immediately realized how audacious my words were and clamped my mouth shut, quickly bowing my head.

"S-sorry! I spoke out of line, being just a maid, how dare I…"

"It’s fine. You’re right. If it were an embarrassing story, I wouldn’t be telling you about it."

"......"

"As you said, instead of ignoring the situation, I chose to step in and save Tanacia. At the time, I didn’t really know why I did it. I was just acting on instinct."

"I see…"

"It wasn’t until much later that I realized why I did it. I simply wanted to make a good impression on her."

"I… I understand…"

"Yes. On her, a mere baronet’s daughter from a remote, undeveloped region, not some marquess or duke’s daughter."

"......"

"I’ve never thought that just because I’m the son of a duke, I should marry someone of a similar rank, Lilith. I still don’t think that way."

"Ah, I see..."

Suddenly, after sharing his past, Harold casually made his way downstairs.

Left alone in the hallway outside Ethan’s room, I could only stare blankly at his retreating figure.

‘So what am I supposed to do with this…?’

It was such a bizarre experience, having Harold appear out of nowhere, say what he wanted, and leave.

…At least it seemed like the fact that I had been in Ethan’s room last night had blown over.