Take Responsibility

The bustling sounds of conversation could be heard in this place, which was the maidservants’ quarters. Among them, in the largest space, the first-floor dining hall, Senior Lani looked at me with a worried expression.

“Alice… Are you feeling very tired?”

“Huh? Me?”

As I rolled up the pasta on my plate and put it into my mouth, its savory and tangy taste stimulated my palate.

‘Hmm… I should make pasta for Miss later.’

Come to think of it, it was one of the dishes I often made while living alone, so I was confident in making it deliciously. But strangely, I hadn’t made it for Miss yet.

But to say I was tired… I tilted my head slightly and looked at Senior Lani.

“Am I really that worn out?”

“Really? You seem a bit more tired than before.”

I felt somewhat surprised by Senior Lani’s keen observation. I couldn’t even tell what had changed on my own face…

Is this what they call a woman’s intuition?

“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve just been staying up a bit later these days.”

As I chuckled and spoke, Senior Lani grasped my hand firmly with eyes that seemed to sink somewhere.

“…Okay. If you need any advice or anything, feel free to come to me anytime.”

“Yes, Senior. You really don’t need to worry.”

Honestly, my workload has decreased significantly since I was a maidservant, and Miss has been more cooperative than I expected. And she’s surprisingly cute.

What can I say… It feels like raising an endlessly sensitive and irritable but irresistibly cute kitten.

But since I couldn’t say such things to Senior Lani, I just kept those thoughts to myself.

“Oh, who’s this?”

While Senior Lani and I were having the rest of our lunch, a familiar voice came from behind.

When I turned my head with a mouthful of food, a maid with freckles and blond hair was looking at me with a sneer and said,

“Isn’t that a face going to be disappear from the Grand duke’s territory soon?”

“Um… Hello.”

Her name was Andy, right?

She was the one who told me to become Miss’s personal maid.

“Andy! Stop talking nonsense!”

Senior Lani slammed the table and stood up, glaring at the blond maid. But Andy just shrugged her shoulders after letting out a snort.

“You’re pretending to be kind again. Honestly, you know what will happen to that girl, don’t you? Knowing and still acting like this makes you worse, don’t you think?”

Andy’s words made Senior Lani tremble slightly.

“N-no… I…”

“Honestly, if you really cared about that child, shouldn’t you have become her personal maid yourself? Isn’t taking care of her after becoming her personal maid just hypocrisy?”

Senior Lani took a step back with trembling eyes. Then Andy, with a more twisted smile, poked Senior Lani’s shoulder.

“Please, don’t act fake. I feel sick every time I see you.”

Senior Lani looked at me with a face full of guilt. I sighed briefly at her expression and reached for the abandoned glass to take a sip. And then, suddenly.

“Kyaaah?!”

Without hesitation, I splashed the blonde maid, and she immediately stepped back with a sharp scream.

“You seem a bit rough, so I thought I’d calm you down.”

Andy, with a fierce grimace, looked at me and quickly approached me.

“You… Are you crazy?! How dare you… to senior..!!”

“It’s not senior anymore. Don’t you know I’ve been assigned as a maid?”

“So what? You’ll die soon anyway..!!

Crack!

With a sharp sound of yanking flesh, Andy’s head snapped back.

In front of her, Senior Lani stood with a furious face.

“Enough. If you cross the line any further, I’ll report everything to the lady.”

“You… you bastard!!”

Andy raised one hand high and aimed it at Senior Lani’s cheek. Of course, before she could hit him, I grabbed her wrist.

“You… won’t let go?”

I pulled Andy closer, looking intensely into her eyes.

“Hey, I’m trying to treat you like a senior, but even that has its limits.”

“Y-you..”

I opened my eyes a bit wider and looked at Andy.

“You..?”

“Y-you… b-benef..”

Andy’s eyes trembled violently.

When I let go of her wrist, she hastily stepped back and started to flee.

“It… It’s a total mess. Let’s see what happens..!!!”

And she disappeared.

I smiled at Senior Lani, who had been watching the situation dumbfoundedly.

“Senior, you’re not really bothered by what she said, are you?”

With my playful tone, Senior Lani’s face blushed slightly.

After some commotion during lunch, where the young lady declared she’d starve herself, and a brief struggle ensued, we finally managed to feed her potato stew. Now, after the mansion’s lights had all gone out, leaving only the quiet night air, it was already an ambitious early dawn, marking 3 a.m. on the clock.

I rubbed my eyes once and stretched my arms up for a stretch.

“Aahh…”

I yawned lightly and personally poured us a cup of tea in the evening.

“When will they show up, anyway?”

Even though I have a bit of innocence in me, I know everything.

I heard that the maids who became the exclusive servants of the Duchess were found dead and went out.

I’m not a fool to the extent of sleeping soundly without any thoughts after hearing the news of the maids being found dead.

When we first met, the Duchess wasn’t lying down with her neck sword hugged in her arms, nor was she sleeping on the bed. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, dozing off.

At first, I wondered why she slept like that, but as time passed, I could easily think of a reason.

The threat of assassination.

Perhaps she couldn’t sleep deeply because she was wary of assassins coming.

Despite her young age, the Duchess has twice experienced poisoning, and according to the maids’ accounts, there are people who occasionally invade the Duchess’s room at night.

If the Duchess just paid a little attention, such assassination threats would disappear cleanly… but what can I ask of that bastard? Eventually, the constant threat of assassination became Adrielle’s everyday life.

“..Have you had no trouble during this time?”

Adrielle said that probably because she thought I, who became the exclusive maid, would be concerned too.

I thought maybe she was saying it out of concern for me.

Of course, it could be otherwise.

“But really, there hasn’t been any trouble…”

For the past week, I’ve been awake in the early hours, waiting.

To see if the assassin really comes.

Anyway, I could sleep when Adrielle went out for training in the morning, so I wasn’t that tired.

But the result was nothing.

Of course, it’s only been a week so far. But during that time, I couldn’t even find a single strand of the assassin’s hair.

“But what can I do about it?”

Even if they come only once a year, if you don’t know when it will happen, there’s no other way but this.

Once you lose your life, that’s it.

Well, maybe when I can afford a good magical tool for assassination prevention later, who knows, but right now, I don’t have the luxury.

It seemed like I had to sleep like this until the young lady grew up completely.

Anyway, even in my previous life, I only slept four or five hours a day, so it was okay. There were times when I passed out from exhaustion after working three jobs a day, but… it’s not like that now, so it’s not a problem.

“Sleep is a luxury for Koreans.”

I drank another cup of tea and leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.

And so, as the ambitious hours of dawn passed by again,

By the time I thought another meaningless day had passed.

Creak-

It was a very faint sound, but the sound of the corridor window opening was clearly audible in my ears.

I immediately opened my eyes and got up from my seat.

Carefully moving my feet to avoid making any noise, I silently pulled the slightly open door closed.

As I cautiously stuck my head out into the hallway, my eyes widened at the sight of a person, whom I had been eagerly waiting for. Clad in a black robe from head to toe, the figure appeared suspicious even though he tried to look inconspicuous. He was walking towards the young lady’s room with careful steps.

Despite being an assassin, the figure seemed rather sturdy from behind, and my heart began to race like a girl embracing her first love. Is this what they call excitement? It’s somewhat amusing to express excitement in such a situation. Yet, the thought that a week of effort had not been in vain made a smile continually dance on my lips.

With a shallow laugh, I cautiously followed the man in the black robe. Whether he didn’t sense my presence or not, the enigmatic man was diligently examining the door handle in front of the young lady’s room without any suspicion.

“…Locked thoroughly for no reason. Quite troublesome.”

“Isn’t it? I personally secured it,” she replied.

“Yeah, thanks for making it a hassle…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the man froze in place.

He suddenly turned his stiffened head to look at my face, then hastily retreated as if fleeing.

“What… who are you?!”

Frowning at his reaction, I brought a finger to my lips.

“Shh. You’ll wake the lady.”

Is this really an assassin? What kind of assassin isn’t stealthy? Nevertheless, I observed him as much as I could under the black robe.

Brown eyes.

A mole beneath his eyebrow.

A robust physique for an assassin.

After identifying all the distinctive features, I smiled at him.

“You know… because of you, I couldn’t sleep at all. Would you take responsibility?”

“Y-you… if you don’t step back politely, you’ll regret it.”

Drawing a long sword from his waist, the man aimed it at me with intense hostility.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I asked.

After scanning me from head to toe with a smirk, he replied, “Normally, witnesses are eliminated, but… you have too beautiful a face to die like this. I’ll grant you special mercy.”

Ah, such an extravagant line. It seems like it won’t work. Thinking that further conversation would be meaningless, I slowly approached him.

“Don’t make a scene, okay? The lady might wake up.”

With an annoyed expression, the man extended his sword.

“It seems another maid will become a corpse here.”

Ignoring his bold statement, I glanced at the round moon outside.

“Hmm… it’s my first time competing against people, but it shouldn’t be much different.”

After all, avoiding and striking are the same.

Taking my gaze away from the moon, I smiled at the man.

“Open sesame.”

Take ResponsibilityThe bustling sounds of conversation could be heard in this place, which was the maidservants' quarters. Among them, in the largest space, the first-floor dining hall, Senior Lani looked at me with a worried expression.Alice Are you feeling very tired?Huh? Me?As I rolled up the pasta on my plate and put it into my mouth, its savory and tangy taste stimulated my palate.Hmm I should make pasta for Miss later.'Come to think of it, it was one of the dishes I often made while living alone, so I was confident in making it deliciously. But strangely, I hadn't made it for Miss yet.But to say I was tired I tilted my head slightly and looked at Senior Lani.Am I really that worn out?Really? You seem a bit more tired than before.I felt somewhat surprised by Senior Lani's keen observation. I couldn't even tell what had changed on my own faceIs this what they call a woman's intuition?There's nothing to worry about. I've just been staying up a bit later these days.As I chuckled and spoke, Senior Lani grasped my hand firmly with eyes that seemed to sink somewhere.Okay. If you need any advice or anything, feel free to come to me anytime.Yes, Senior. You really don't need to worry.Honestly, my workload has decreased significantly since I was a maidservant, and Miss has been more cooperative than I expected. And she's surprisingly cute.What can I say It feels like raising an endlessly sensitive and irritable but irresistibly cute kitten.But since I couldn't say such things to Senior Lani, I just kept those thoughts to myself.Oh, who's this?While Senior Lani and I were having the rest of our lunch, a familiar voice came from behind.When I turned my head with a mouthful of food, a maid with freckles and blond hair was looking at me with a sneer and said,Isn't that a face going to be disappear from the Grand duke's territory soon?Um Hello.Her name was Andy, right?She was the one who told me to become Miss's personal maid.Andy! Stop talking nonsense!Senior Lani slammed the table and stood up, glaring at the blond maid. But Andy just shrugged her shoulders after letting out a snort.You're pretending to be kind again. Honestly, you know what will happen to that girl, don't you? Knowing and still acting like this makes you worse, don't you think?Andy's words made Senior Lani tremble slightly.N-no IHonestly, if you really cared about that child, shouldn't you have become her personal maid yourself? Isn't taking care of her after becoming her personal maid just hypocrisy?Senior Lani took a step back with trembling eyes. Then Andy, with a more twisted smile, poked Senior Lani's shoulder.Please, don't act fake. I feel sick every time I see you.Senior Lani looked at me with a face full of guilt. I sighed briefly at her expression and reached for the abandoned glass to take a sip. And then, suddenly.Kyaaah?!Without hesitation, I splashed the blonde maid, and she immediately stepped back with a sharp scream.You seem a bit rough, so I thought I'd calm you down.Andy, with a fierce grimace, looked at me and quickly approached me.You Are you crazy?! How dare you to senior..!!It's not senior anymore. Don't you know I've been assigned as a maid?So what? You'll die soon anyway..!!Crack!With a sharp sound of yanking flesh, Andy's head snapped back.In front of her, Senior Lani stood with a furious face.Enough. If you cross the line any further, I'll report everything to the lady.You you bastard!!Andy raised one hand high and aimed it at Senior Lani's cheek. Of course, before she could hit him, I grabbed her wrist.You won't let go?I pulled Andy closer, looking intensely into her eyes.Hey, I'm trying to treat you like a senior, but even that has its limits.Y-you..I opened my eyes a bit wider and looked at Andy.You..?Y-you b-benef..Andy's eyes trembled violently.When I let go of her wrist, she hastily stepped back and started to flee.It It's a total mess. Let's see what happens..!!!And she disappeared.I smiled at Senior Lani, who had been watching the situation dumbfoundedly.Senior, you're not really bothered by what she said, are you?With my playful tone, Senior Lani's face blushed slightly.After some commotion during lunch, where the young lady declared she'd starve herself, and a brief struggle ensued, we finally managed to feed her potato stew. Now, after the mansion's lights had all gone out, leaving only the quiet night air, it was already an ambitious early dawn, marking 3 a.m. on the clock.I rubbed my eyes once and stretched my arms up for a stretch.AahhI yawned lightly and personally poured us a cup of tea in the evening.When will they show up, anyway?Even though I have a bit of innocence in me, I know everything.I heard that the maids who became the exclusive servants of the Duchess were found dead and went out.I'm not a fool to the extent of sleeping soundly without any thoughts after hearing the news of the maids being found dead.When we first met, the Duchess wasn't lying down with her neck sword hugged in her arms, nor was she sleeping on the bed. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, dozing off.At first, I wondered why she slept like that, but as time passed, I could easily think of a reason.The threat of assassination.Perhaps she couldn't sleep deeply because she was wary of assassins coming.Despite her young age, the Duchess has twice experienced poisoning, and according to the maids' accounts, there are people who occasionally invade the Duchess's room at night.If the Duchess just paid a little attention, such assassination threats would disappear cleanly but what can I ask of that bastard? Eventually, the constant threat of assassination became Adrielle's everyday life...Have you had no trouble during this time?Adrielle said that probably because she thought I, who became the exclusive maid, would be concerned too.I thought maybe she was saying it out of concern for me.Of course, it could be otherwise.But really, there hasn't been any troubleFor the past week, I've been awake in the early hours, waiting.To see if the assassin really comes.Anyway, I could sleep when Adrielle went out for training in the morning, so I wasn't that tired.But the result was nothing.Of course, it's only been a week so far. But during that time, I couldn't even find a single strand of the assassin's hair.But what can I do about it?Even if they come only once a year, if you don't know when it will happen, there's no other way but this.Once you lose your life, that's it.Well, maybe when I can afford a good magical tool for assassination prevention later, who knows, but right now, I don't have the luxury.It seemed like I had to sleep like this until the young lady grew up completely.Anyway, even in my previous life, I only slept four or five hours a day, so it was okay. There were times when I passed out from exhaustion after working three jobs a day, but it's not like that now, so it's not a problem.Sleep is a luxury for Koreans.I drank another cup of tea and leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.And so, as the ambitious hours of dawn passed by again,By the time I thought another meaningless day had passed.Creak-It was a very faint sound, but the sound of the corridor window opening was clearly audible in my ears.I immediately opened my eyes and got up from my seat.Carefully moving my feet to avoid making any noise, I silently pulled the slightly open door closed.As I cautiously stuck my head out into the hallway, my eyes widened at the sight of a person, whom I had been eagerly waiting for. Clad in a black robe from head to toe, the figure appeared suspicious even though he tried to look inconspicuous. He was walking towards the young lady's room with careful steps.Despite being an assassin, the figure seemed rather sturdy from behind, and my heart began to race like a girl embracing her first love. Is this what they call excitement? It's somewhat amusing to express excitement in such a situation. Yet, the thought that a week of effort had not been in vain made a smile continually dance on my lips.With a shallow laugh, I cautiously followed the man in the black robe. Whether he didn't sense my presence or not, the enigmatic man was diligently examining the door handle in front of the young lady's room without any suspicion.Locked thoroughly for no reason. Quite troublesome.Isn't it? I personally secured it, she replied.Yeah, thanks for making it a hassleBefore he could finish his sentence, the man froze in place.He suddenly turned his stiffened head to look at my face, then hastily retreated as if fleeing.What who are you?!Frowning at his reaction, I brought a finger to my lips.Shh. You'll wake the lady.Is this really an assassin? What kind of assassin isn't stealthy? Nevertheless, I observed him as much as I could under the black robe.Brown eyes.A mole beneath his eyebrow.A robust physique for an assassin.After identifying all the distinctive features, I smiled at him.You know because of you, I couldn't sleep at all. Would you take responsibility?Y-you if you don't step back politely, you'll regret it.Drawing a long sword from his waist, the man aimed it at me with intense hostility.Are you trying to kill me? I asked.After scanning me from head to toe with a smirk, he replied, Normally, witnesses are eliminated, but you have too beautiful a face to die like this. I'll grant you special mercy.Ah, such an extravagant line. It seems like it won't work. Thinking that further conversation would be meaningless, I slowly approached him.Don't make a scene, okay? The lady might wake up.With an annoyed expression, the man extended his sword.It seems another maid will become a corpse here.Ignoring his bold statement, I glanced at the round moon outside.Hmm it's my first time competing against people, but it shouldn't be much different.After all, avoiding and striking are the same.Taking my gaze away from the moon, I smiled at the man.Open sesame.