“Oh, Lilith… She didn’t have to rush upstairs so suddenly without even listening to an explanation…”

 

Isabel Grace, a senior maid of the Blackwood family.

Left alone in the hallway, continuing her unfinished sweeping, she muttered to herself, thinking about her friend who had just gone upstairs.

She was thinking about Lilith Rosewood, her best friend and colleague, who had gone up harboring some misunderstanding between herself, Young Master Ethan, and Isabel.

Shortly after Lilith went up without Isabel being able to stop her, the sound of knocking on the young master’s door was heard from upstairs.

Not long after, the sound of the door opening was heard, along with the young master’s voice, so it was already too late for Isabel to intervene.

 

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

 

Isabel was worried about Lilith going up while misunderstanding the young master’s offer to become a ‘dedicated maid’ as an offer to become ‘Ethan’s exclusive maid.’

It was true that she had received an offer from the young master to become a dedicated maid and accompany him to the academy…

But that offer was somewhat different from becoming the young master’s exclusive maid.

 

“It wasn’t about becoming the young master’s exclusive maid, but about acting as Lilith’s dedicated maid…”

 

After Lilith enters the academy, it will be difficult for her to fully perform the duties of the young master’s personal maid.

Of course, being a fellow student of the academy is a great advantage in terms of being able to work and assist one another during work hours, but being an academy student is not such a leisurely position to take on all other maid duties as well.

Ethan was also worried about this aspect and wanted to bring Isabel along in addition to his exclusive maid, Lilith.

While Lilith, as Ethan’s exclusive maid at the academy, was active with her, Isabel would be assigned separate tasks to do while staying at the dormitory.

She was planning to give Lilith instructions for tasks such as cleaning, laundry, or meal preparation to divide the work.

 

“But Lilith suddenly asked me if I had become the young master’s exclusive maid… In the first place, there’s no way the young master would have someone other than Lilith as his exclusive maid…”

 

It was already a well-known fact among the servants that Ethan had personal feelings for Lilith.

It’s just that Ethan had asked the servants to keep it a secret from Lilith, so everyone was keeping quiet about it.

In fact, any servant who had seen Ethan and Lilith together even once or twice could already guess the young master’s feelings for his personal maid.

Only the insensitive maid, Lilith Rosewood, herself, had not realized this fact. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

 

“…Still, it’s fortunate that what Lilith said was just a misunderstanding.”

 

When Lilith first asked her to refuse the offer, one can’t imagine how much her heart sank.

She almost received a deep emotional wound, thinking that Lilith really disliked for Isabel to become her dedicated maid.

That statement, which could only make her imagine that perhaps she alone thought of Lilith as her best friend, was enough to wound the tender heart of Isabel.

Fortunately, through the conversation that immediately followed, Isabel was able to quickly realize that it was a misunderstanding, but Lilith had gone upstairs to face the young master without fully resolving that misunderstanding.

Still, once she starts talking directly with the young master, Lilith’s misunderstanding will inevitably be cleared up soon.

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

…She had no idea what was about to unfold in Ethan’s bedroom upstairs.

The innocent maid couldn’t even begin to imagine it.

Knock, knock, knock.

 

“Young Master Ethan.”

 

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

 

“Young Master Ethan. Young Master Ethan.”

“M-Maid?! Is that the Maid?”

“May I come in for a moment?”

“J-Just a second! Wait a minute… no, 30 seconds!”

“…Understood.”

 

One, two, three…

I counted in my mind, opening and closing my fingers, waiting for Ethan to signal that I could enter.

At the same time, I was considering several ways to persuade Ethan in my head.

…First, I should apologize for being inadequate as a personal maid until now.

Although it’s uncertain whether the affection that had gone out to a greedy maid who only thought of using him would return, it would still be better than asking him outright to choose her as his maid instead of Isabel.

And then, I should firmly promise to faithfully carry out my duties as a personal maid from now on.

Saying that, from now on at the academy, I will stay by his side as much as possible and assist him constantly.

 

‘…To be honest, Isabel would probably do better at both the personal maid duties and assisting Ethan.’

 

That’s probably why Ethan was trying to make Isabel his dedicated maid instead of me in the first place.

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

For Lilith, who falls short of Isabel in both work and personality, the only thing she can offer is…

 

Click.

“Y-You can come in, Maid…”

“…Excuse me.”

 

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

I needed to talk to him anyway, so I quietly entered Ethan’s room.

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

 

“You came to talk about something, Maid?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Let’s sit down and talk first. Seeing how urgently you came, it must be really important.”

“……”

 

Ethan, seated at the table chair, extended his hand towards the opposite seat.

Normally, I would have sat down without much thought and made eye contact to talk after his permission was given, but now I couldn’t simply accept his offer.

For me, who needed to apologize first for not properly performing my duties as Ethan’s personal maid until now, the place I should be was not on such a luxurious seat as a chair.

 

Swoosh.

 

“……”

“M-Maid?!”

 

Ethan called out in surprise as he saw me lowering my posture without a word.

I silently knelt on the floor and bowed forward, ignoring his reaction.

With my head completely pressed to the floor of Ethan’s room, I conveyed my apology for not fulfilling my duties as a personal maid until now.

 

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

“M-Maid?! What are you doing, get up quickly!”

“During the past three years of serving you, I failed to properly understand what you wanted and wasted time. I have no words to express my regret, even if I had ten mouths.”

“What on earth are you suddenly talking about…?!”

“I’m not sure if this apology of mine can soften your heart, but please forgive this lowly maid for only being able to offer such an apology.”

 

I delivered a sincere apology with my head bowed tightly to the floor.

Honestly, there was no guarantee that apologizing while prostrated like this would be effective, but it was the only method of apology that came to mind right now.

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

 

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

“No. I cannot rise from this spot until I receive your forgiveness, Young Master.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know what I’m supposed to forgive…! I need to know what wrongdoing you’ve committed to forgive you!”

“If I must say, the entire three years I’ve spent as your exclusive maid is practically all my fault.”

“That’s why I’m asking, why do you suddenly need to apologize for that…?!”

 

Ethan came down to the floor with me when I showed no sign of getting up from my prostrated position.

Then, he grabbed both my shoulders that were pressed to the floor, trying to lift my body somehow.

His strength, which had grown considerably over those three years, was enough to lift my body off the floor.

 

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

“…There’s no need to force yourself to say such things for my sake, Young Master Ethan.”

“I’m not forcing myself to say anything…”

“If you truly weren’t disappointed in me, then why did you ask Isabel if she would become your personal maid?”

“……I-Isabel?”

 

Ethan showed a somewhat flustered reaction to my counter-question.

Seeing this, I quietly confirmed in my heart and mentioned the content of the conversation between him and Isabel that I had accidentally overheard.

 

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“……”

“However, on my way back after finishing my meeting with the master, I accidentally overheard you, the young master, and Isabel talking in the corridor.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes.”

 

As soon as I confirmed that I had heard his conversation with Isabel, Ethan showed an even more flustered expression, unable to hide his embarrassment.

As I thought… he was trying to make Isabel his personal maid in secret from me.

…Because I, over the past years, had failed to properly assist Ethan.

 

“From now on, I will be even more devoted to my duties as your personal maid, Young Master.”

“M-Maid, you’ve been doing more than enough until now.”

“Then all the more so! I will strive even harder not to neglect my duties as your personal maid from now on!”

“I-I’m sorry, Maid. I had no idea that offer would hurt your pride this much…”

“…Even if it’s just this once, it’s fine. So please, I beg you, couldn’t you employ me as your exclusive maid just one more time?”

“……Huh?”

“I know better than anyone that I’m an inferior maid compared to Isabel in many ways. Not only is Isabel superior to me in performing household chores, but she also has a bright personality that makes everyone smile, which is a virtue I lack.”

“W-Wait a moment, maid. Shall we reorganize the conversation first…?”

“I shamelessly beg you. Even after entering the academy, I do not want to give up my position as Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid.”

“Listen, I w-wasn’t really trying to make Isabel my exclusive maid…”

“…If you make me your exclusive maid once again, I can offer you even things that Isabel cannot give you.”

“Things Isabel doesn’t have… w-wait a moment, what are you-?”

 

While Ethan hesitated, not understanding my words, I grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards my chest.

The thing that Isabel doesn’t have, but Lilith does…

It’s the fact that Lilith had only a miserable and vulgar body.