“M-maid! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?!”

“Young master?”

 

Ethan suddenly popped out from the eastern training ground of the Blackwood mansion and rushed towards Dittmeyer and me.

Seeing him appear drenched in sweat, I could roughly guess why he showed up so late.

He must have been late because he was receiving swordsmanship training from Harold until just now. Considering Harold’s personality, he would always try to be serious when it comes to the sword.

 

“S-sorry! I wanted to check on you as soon as I saw you earlier, but I couldn’t leave in the middle of my father’s training….”

“…What are you suddenly talking about, young master?”

“My father is strict when it comes to swordsmanship. I couldn’t interrupt the training for personal reasons. I-I was worried, though….”

“Ah, no, young master. The part I was curious about wasn’t that you couldn’t end the sword lesson with the master midway.”

“Huh?”

“I asked the question because I couldn’t understand why you were apologizing for not being able to check on my well-being right away, young master….”

“……”

“……”

 

I asked because I was genuinely clueless, but the atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

For some reason, Ethan suddenly avoided my gaze and made an expression as if he was seriously pondering something.

In the awkward atmosphere, Dittmeyer quietly alternated his expressionless gaze between Ethan and me a couple of times. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

What the heck? When you suddenly act like this, it feels like I said something I shouldn’t have.

Should I think of it as a slip of the tongue and try to rectify it…?

 

“C-come to think of it, it also means that you cared about my safety that much, young master. It wouldn’t be strange for you to have said something similar to an apology in a flustered manner.”

“Th-that’s right. I-I only said it because I was really worried about you, Maid. It wasn’t with any strange intention….”

“…I think it’s something you can sufficiently say, Young Master, since you cherish Miss Lilith a lot.”

“I expressed doubt even though I couldn’t even express gratitude for your deep concern for me, so it was more of my fault than yours.”

“Ah, no, Maid! It’s not like you did anything wrong….”

 

The atmosphere is still awkward, but it’s somehow easing up.

I still had some questions about the suddenly awkward atmosphere, but I didn’t dare to pry further.

Since this was a moment when Ethan and Dittmeyer openly showed strange reactions, I had a momentary feeling that I shouldn’t be suspicious.

In the first place, it wasn’t only Ethan but also Dittmeyer who were in higher positions than me in terms of status.

It would be much better than awkwardly hearing some ‘truth I can’t handle’ and making things uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the two of them seemed to have had similar thoughts, and they quickly started to change the subject of the conversation without any prompting.

Among the three of us, the one who opened his mouth first with another topic was the young master of the Blackwood family.

 

“Ra-rather than that, Maid! Are you really not hurt anywhere? It seemed like you were riding quite fast earlier….”

“Yes, I’m fine. I was able to stop safely somehow after going around the Blackwood mansion’s yard once. Thank you again for your concern, Young Master Ethan.”

“Y-you managed to stop safely. I’m just glad you weren’t hurt, Maid.”

“It’s thanks to Head Butler Dittmeyer here throwing himself on the horse to stop me. I owe a great debt to the head butler.”

“…Good work, Dittmeyer. This time, our maid is indebted to you.”

“No, I was just doing what I had to do.”

 

As if to say that he wasn’t lying about wanting to check on me out of concern, Ethan sighed in relief as soon as he heard the explanation of the circumstances that nothing had happened to me.

This time, he started asking about the horseback riding that had just happened.

 

“By the way, Maid, why were you suddenly riding a horse earlier?”

“I was learning horseback riding from Head Butler Dittmeyer.”

“Horseback riding? So suddenly?”

“It’s not that I suddenly thought I should learn it. I had been thinking I should learn it for about a year now. It’s just that there hadn’t been an opportunity to learn due to the timing and circumstances between the head butler and me, and starting today, I had some free time for a while, so I started learning from Head Butler Dittmeyer.”

“Hmm….”

 

As soon as I answered that I was learning horseback riding from Dittmeyer, Ethan shifted his gaze to him with a strange look.

I don’t know why, but in Ethan’s eyes, there seemed to be a strange hostility that was hard to find normally.

On the contrary, Dittmeyer seemed to be strangely flustered by his gaze.

…What the hell is this atmosphere? Why does it feel like there’s lots of tension in the air today?

 

“Maid.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Did anything strange happen during the learning process?”

“Pardon?”

“You know. Horseback riding is a skill where posture and such are important. I was wondering if there was any strange physical contact during the teaching process.”

 

…What is he suddenly talking about?

Strange physical contact? Dittmeyer?

There’s no way that guy, who is a workaholic, would be interested in Lilith’s body.

I simply shook my head and refuted Ethan’s absurd speculation.

 

“I received a few corrections on my posture, but there was no strange physical contact like you mentioned, young master.”

“…Was there really none? Like him rubbing your thighs saying your legs’ positions are strange, or telling you to straighten your back while holding your waist.”

“If there had been anything like that, I wouldn’t have denied it. You can rest assured, young master, since Head Butler Dittmeyer instructed me verbally from beginning to end except for moments when it was absolutely necessary.”

“I-I see. If that’s the case, then it’s fine, yes.”

 

Today, Ethan is unusually observing the relationship between me and Dittmeyer with an awkward atmosphere.

I think the three of us were together like this in the carriage going to and from the Imperial Palace Masquerade Ball some time ago.

It was difficult to adapt to the awkward atmosphere that was completely different from that time.

Why is Ethan acting like this today…?

 

“You don’t have to worry, young master, since the thing you’re concerned about regarding me and Miss Lilith has never happened even once.”

“…Can I trust that?”

“You know that I wouldn’t approach Miss Lilith with strange intentions. Also, most of the servants in the mansion already know about the relationship between Young Master Ethan and Miss Lilith.”

“…Hmm, that’s right. Indeed, I was being too sensitive.”

“What servant would dare to do something inappropriate to the young master’s exclusive maid?”

 

…The relationship between me and Ethan… means the relationship between an exclusive maid and the young master of the house, right?

Somehow, just listening to what the two are saying, it feels like there’s a strange meaning implied.

I didn’t dare to ask, afraid that the already strange atmosphere would become even stranger.

I just hope this awkward three-way confrontation ends quickly.

Above all, it was a sorry thing for me that Dittmeyer, who took the time to teach me horseback riding, was receiving unjustified suspicion.

I added an additional explanation to Dittmeyer’s statement that nothing actually happened between us.

 

“The head butler is right, young master. In the first place, Head Butler Dittmeyer only accommodated my request to learn horseback riding.”

“…I see, I’m sorry for suspecting you for no reason.”

“…The only physical contact Head Butler Dittmeyer had with me during today’s horseback riding lesson was the moment he got on the back of the running Zeraon with me and took over my reins.”

“…What?”

“Ah, by the way, Zeraon is the name of this horse. Remember when I momentarily couldn’t stop the horse I was riding and it ran off? At that time, the head butler jumped on the back of Zeraon that I was riding, and took over the reins while embracing me from behind.”

“……”

“……”

“That was the only moment that could be called physical contact between Head Butler Dittmeyer and me, young master. Also, what he did was something necessary to stop Zeraon, so it can’t be called unnecessary physical contact.”

“……”

“……”

“……?”

 

…Why does the atmosphere keep getting awkward every time I say something today?

Around the time I was contemplating whether I should supplement more additional remarks here and explain the situation at that time…

Suddenly, Dittmeyer’s mouth opened hastily, and he started to utter something in a tone that sounded like an excuse.

 

“As Miss Lilith said, it wasn’t unnecessary contact but a necessary measure. If I had made a mistake, Miss Lilith could have been seriously injured along with the horse….”

“I know. I know, but….”

“I-I have something to discuss with the cooks regarding dinner preparations, so I will take my leave first, young master. Please continue the conversation between the two of you.”

“…Alright, go ahead.”

 

Ethan, who answered in a somewhat unpleasant voice, gave off an unusual atmosphere, and Dittmeyer hurriedly drove Zeraon and quickly left the place.

In the unusually awkward atmosphere today, I couldn’t quite grasp the situation and only observed Ethan’s reaction.

 

“…Young master?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Is there anything bothering you? For some reason, you seem to be in a very bad mood today.”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

“……”

 

This reaction itself doesn’t seem like the reaction of someone who has nothing bothering them.

But if a mere maid tries to guess her master’s emotions, she’ll be treated as an impudent servant.

Unable to do this or that, while observing Ethan’s reaction, a clue that could be used to infer why he was in a bad mood finally popped out of his mouth.

 

“M-maid.”

“Yes, young master.”

“About horseback riding, are you going to keep learning it in the future?”

“For now, yes.” [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

“…Do you have to learn it?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, no, that… I thought it might be a little dangerous for a woman to learn. Horses are animals that can become violent at times, and you could be in danger if you can’t control them like earlier.”

 

…Aha.

I was wondering why he seemed to be in a bad mood since earlier, but it was because of this.

It seems that Ethan is not very happy about me learning horseback riding.

The reason the atmosphere has been awkward all this time is probably because he was in a bad mood because of that.

Indeed, as Ethan said, learning horseback riding sometimes involves risks.

In fact, even earlier, there was a moment when it could have been dangerous if Dittmeyer hadn’t intervened.

If his exclusive maid gets injured and can’t work, it would be very inconvenient for Ethan, so it’s not like I can’t understand him worrying like that, but…

 

‘Still, I don’t particularly want to stop learning.’

 

As I said earlier, horseback riding is a skill that is useful in many situations if you learn it.

If I end up living as an adventurer, it’s undoubtedly a necessary skill, and even if I have a different job other than being an adventurer, there’s plenty of room for it to be helpful in transportation, travel, and such.

The problem is that even if I, a mere debt maid, insist on continuing to learn horseback riding, it’s impossible if Ethan doesn’t allow it.

Since I wanted to continue the horseback riding lessons as much as possible, I carefully tried to refute the part Ethan was worried about.

 

“You don’t have to worry about my injuries, Young Master Ethan.”

“Huh?”

“There was no risk of getting hurt at all thanks to Head Butler Dittmeyer teaching me kindly and in an easy-to-understand manner. In fact, even that incident earlier occurred due to my mistake, and there was generally no danger except for that moment.”

“S-still, you can’t say it’s completely safe….” [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

“Even if something dangerous happens, I believe that Head Butler Dittmeyer will control it well like earlier. You don’t have to worry, young master, since he has the skills to be able to get on a running horse and control it.”

“I-I see… So you thought of Dittmeyer like that, Maid…? That he’s kind to you, Lilith, and is a trustworthy person….”

 

…What?

Why does it seem like his mood has gotten worse…?