It was only her name that had been called.
But to Eki, it felt like the Duke's voice had echoed through her mind dozens of times.
The unending hum of that low tone made her stagger, and she barely managed to steady herself by gripping the bedframe.
"Yes, Master…"
[[Come to the office.]]
"…Understood."
The gentle voice no longer lingered.
Yes, gentle. That was what was strange.
Although to say "usually" was a stretch—after all, it had been over a hundred years since she had fallen out of the Duke's favor, and she hadn't even seen his face in all that time.
Now, she had been forcibly assigned the role of roommate to this newly arrived human Head Maid.
Though, for something forced upon her, it was a role she found herself oddly satisfied with.
'....'
Eki glanced once more at Shasha's face, peacefully asleep and completely unaware of anything. With a determined nod, she picked up the doll that had fallen to the floor and hugged it tightly to her chest.
Then, with soundless steps, she made her way toward the office on the second floor.
"Mr. Jamison, Mr. Parkan. Today, please take care of the cleaning of the central staircase on the first floor."
"Yes, understood, Head Maid!"
Good, loud voices. That's the spirit.
"Then for the railing of the stairs, you should—huh?"
It felt like a gust of wind had blown past.
The monsters who had been standing right in front of me vanished in a flash as I was flipping through the work sheets.
Hey, wait! I haven't even explained how to polish the railings yet!
Looking around, I saw them already sprinting off into the distance, as if running away from me.
'Were they always that fast?'
I stretched out a hand toward their retreating backs, then awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
But "run away" wasn't quite right—because in that brief instant, they'd not only reached the central staircase, but Jamison was already scrubbing the steps while Parkan was polishing the railing, working together seamlessly.
'....'
I quietly closed the paperwork that listed out every task assignment for the week. What I had just handed over was the last assignment for this week.
Something felt… off.
From my first day here, the staff had generally followed my instructions, but except for Jamison and Parkan, the results had been less than satisfactory.
I later discovered that they had just been pretending to work hard. When I went to check after tasks were "done," I'd find dust piled up in the corners, or I'd catch them lounging around when they should have been working.
But today…
Today was truly strange.
Even just now, the twins who were sweeping the second-floor hallway met my eyes, then hastily turned away.
'Their sweeping seems a bit faster than usual.'
They used their huge talon-like feet to hold down the dustpan, their massive wings flapping as they swept dust across the floor.
If they had human bodies, they never would have been able to sweep that quickly.
Honestly, I wanted to tell them to just use those gigantic wings instead of a broom, but I bit my tongue.
'Weren't they the ones who used to sing instead of working?'
Anyway, they were all really working hard now. I didn't even need to double-check—the mansion was visibly cleaner.
It was too smooth. Too perfect.
'Well… if they're working hard, I shouldn't question it.'
Good work is good work, I decided.
Compared to my first day, when no one had even shown up on time, this was incredible progress.
Actually, I had something far more important on my mind than whether the staff was doing their chores correctly.
Important enough that my heart thudded in my chest with nerves.
Today was the day.
The weather was nice, the breeze slipping through the slightly open window was cool and pleasant, and I'd even woken up feeling refreshed.
Then Eki had delivered the blow.
"Shasha, the Duke said you're to give him weekly work reports from now on."
"Ah… what?"
"The first report is today."
"What???"
Eki had told me this while I still had sleep in my eyes.
Sure, I had every detail of the staff's duties neatly recorded and organized, so there wasn't anything to panic over.
But facing the employer was always nerve-racking.
I realized it had already been a week since I'd last seen the Duke's face.
'But wasn't it common knowledge that the less you saw your employer, the better?'
Lost in such useless thoughts, I suddenly found myself standing in front of his office.
'Huuuu…'
I took several deep breaths, then knocked.
Knock, knock—
"Duke, this is the Head Maid. May I come in?"
"Yes, Shasha. Come in."
Forget what I said earlier about not seeing him being best. I take it back.
Just the sound of his voice wrapping around me so gently made my tension melt away like a lie.
That flat, emotionless tone I'd heard before was gone—now it was smooth, almost tender.
Entranced, I pushed the door open.
The Duke sat with his legs crossed in an armchair, fully visible from where I stood.
As always, his half-lidded eyes stared lazily at me.
Those unfocused red irises revealed nothing of his thoughts, and I found myself momentarily frozen.
Only belatedly did I clutch the documents tightly to my chest and bow.
"I, I greet you, Duke."
My voice trembled like a goat's bleat.
'Seriously? I didn't even shake during the job interview—why now?'
Thankfully, with my head lowered, he couldn't see the embarrassed mess of my expression.
I quickly forced my face into something calmer before raising my head.
Fortunately, the Duke didn't seem to care much about my awkwardness. He wasn't even looking at me anymore.
He gestured toward the chair across from him.
"Come, sit."
"Yes, sir."
Again, this overwhelming, jewel-encrusted chair… I glanced at it nervously before carefully sitting down.
Thankfully, I had changed into a freshly laundered maid uniform before coming.
"How goes the work in the mansion?"
"Everything is very satisfactory, sir!"
I had no idea what exactly he meant by such a broad question, but I answered quickly. And it wasn't just empty words—I really couldn't find any fault with the way things had been going.
The Duke glanced at me, then reached for the handle of a steaming teapot.
To my shock, he poured tea into the empty cup before me.
He didn't tell me to drink it. But when he leaned his chin on one hand and gazed at me steadily, the meaning was clear.
"…Thank you."
But wait—wasn't there supposed to be a specific etiquette to drinking tea? I wouldn't know, I'd never learned!
I blew on it lightly. Then—ugh. The smell was off.
I peered into the cup. The liquid was pitch-black, with strange unidentifiable lumps floating inside.
'Am I even supposed to drink this?'
Honestly, I couldn't. Not with my life.
But under his unwavering gaze, I couldn't just set it aside either. So I lifted it to my lips, only pretending to sip before setting it down again.
"It's delicious, ha ha."
Truth: I don't want to drink this. Truth: If I do, I might die. Sorry.
"..."
The Duke's lips curved upward. His eyes folded into crescents, his smile almost dazzling.
It was the first time I'd seen him smile so beautifully. For a second, I was nearly entranced—but then a chill ran down my spine.
Tap, tap. His gloved fingers drummed against the table. Tap, tap, tap. The rhythm quickened.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.
I couldn't handle the mounting tension anymore. I blurted out, far too loudly:
"Truly, I am so very pleased with this mansion, Duke! The staff obeys me so well, too!"
Tap.
The Duke's finger froze midair.
"I see… I understand."
He nodded as if satisfied. I clamped my mouth shut, silently praying he would take that as my final word.
But I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. My heart pounded so hard it was painful.
Yes, this atmosphere… I'd felt something like it back at Baron Armond's mansion.
The day before payday, he'd suddenly summoned me. He'd muttered absurd excuses and then cut my wages in half.
Wasn't this exactly the same?
Suddenly demanding weekly reports not written in the contract, and wearing that grave expression—
'What if he's preparing to slash my wages too?!'
Sure enough, the strange tea had been just a power play to unsettle me.
Silence pressed down on the room.
A thousand possible questions raced through my head as I prepared answers. I even regretted not having added a clause forbidding wage deductions.
And then finally, his lips parted.
"Then tell me—why have you not cleaned my office or chambers?"
"..."
Defeat.
The papers slipped helplessly from my grasp and fluttered to the floor.
---
End of Chapter 7
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