Chapter 09
For someone said to be vicious, her methods of torment were rather childish. Having tea service sent back a few times was nothing much, really.
There are people who adopt orphans just to use them as servants. There are also those who sell people for money to the elderly.
And there are those who do both.
If one were to truly consider wickedness, those people were a hundred times worse.
*’Besides, by adjusting my tea-making method to match Lady Julieta’s complaints, my skills improved rapidly.’*
In other words, Julieta hadn’t been finding faults with no basis whatsoever.
If she had truly only wanted to make Janette’s life difficult, she could have used completely unreasonable excuses.
*’Thanks to her, it was helpful.’*
Janette was not someone who felt ashamed when her shortcomings were pointed out.
If a flaw was pointed out, she just needed to learn and correct it.
In that sense, Julieta’s nitpicking had served as good lessons for her.
No matter how she thought about it, it seemed the Lady wasn’t as wicked as the rumors made her out to be.
As Janette smiled faintly, a thought suddenly crossed her mind—the request she had entrusted to Theo.
*’By now, the contract deposit should have arrived at the Viscount’s estate.’*
The request she had given to Theo was related to Simon.
She had asked him to retrieve the money from that gambling addict using a ‘very reasonable’ method.
Janette’s eyes, looking up at the pitch-black night sky, sparkled like stars.
—
***
After Janette left for Ludwig.
The Viscount Graham household was in an uproar.
“Where on earth did that girl disappear to?!”
“How dare she run away, forgetting the kindness we showed her!”
There were still six months left until Janette’s coming of age. They had even promised the Count of Verdin that they would hand her over the moment she became an adult!
“We need to send people to find her. She couldn’t have gone far at this point.”
“I suppose so. Damn it. This is such a tight spot for money…!”
The atmosphere was leaning towards sending people out to track Janette immediately, but only Simon was hopping from foot to foot.
*’I can’t let that happen…!’*
The employment contract deposit hadn’t arrived yet. And that wasn’t all.
If his parents heard that Janette had become a maid at Ludwig, they would certainly start demanding the deposit right away.
He had to hide the existence of the deposit for at least a month. For the sake of his precious money!
As Simon stamped his feet, he recalled the advice Janette had given him.
—
*”If your parents ever ask about me, tell them you sent me to a convent.”*
*”What? A convent?”*
*”Yes. If you say that you caught me trying to run away and sent me to a convent, they’ll be relieved. There’s no place harder to escape from than a convent.”*
—
At the time, he wondered if she had to go that far, but now it seemed like a brilliant solution.
Simon grabbed his frantic parents and recited the lines Janette had prepared.
His parents, who had been furious at the part about her attempting to run away, let out a sigh of relief when Simon said he had placed Janette in a convent.
“Good. You did well.”
“So, where is this convent?”
“Oh, well, that is…”
*Gulp.* As Simon rolled his eyes, the sound of the doorbell rang from outside, and his eyes snapped open wide.
“I’ll! I’ll get it!”
For the past few days, he had been running to the door like Pavlov’s dog whenever he heard the doorbell.
It would be a disaster if his parents ran into the person delivering the deposit.
And finally.
“Are you the guardian of Miss Janette Graham?”
“……Yes! Yes! That’s me! I’m Janette’s guardian!”
The wait had borne fruit.
Simon’s eyes glinted with greed.
—
That evening.
Simon immediately went out. In his hand was a money pouch containing a huge sum of 30 million eccles.
*’It’s been so long since I’ve played!’*
He hadn’t been able to gamble because he had no money. If only there was someone he could borrow from…
The rumor that ‘you shouldn’t lend money to Simon’ had spread, making it difficult to find anyone willing to lend.
Simon, full of excitement, headed to his usual gambling den.
“Oh, if it isn’t the young master. What brings you here? You brought money, I hope?”
“Of course! I brought plenty, so show me to a high-stakes table.”
At Simon’s triumphant words, the attendant exclaimed, “Oh!”
“Well then, I have just the right opponent for you. There’s a big spender who’s been showing up around here lately. He’s got a huge pot. How about it?”
“Great. Lead the way immediately.”
The owner watched Simon’s eyes gleam with madness and clicked his tongue inwardly.
*He’ll be cleaned out again today.*
Sure enough, a few hours later.
“Waaah!”
Simon screamed and tumbled through the alley.
A muscular man, much larger in build, looked down at him with a sneer.
“If you don’t have money, you shouldn’t come to places like this.”
“Yo-you cheat! You must be a cheat! How could you have won all that money…!”
“I’m not the cheat, you’re just the idiot.”
*Crackle.*
As the hulking man cracked his knuckles, a frightened Simon clamped his mouth shut.
The man, after thoroughly mocking the pathetic sight, flicked a finger at his henchmen behind him.
“Boys. Take care of him. We need to teach him exactly what happens when you lose a game and get cheeky with no money.”
“Yes, boss.”
At the sight of them slowly approaching, Simon trembled violently.
“D-don’t come! Stay away! Ple-please, help!”
*Waaah!*
A pitiful scream echoed loudly through the dark alleyway.
—
A week had passed since her first day at work.
Janette’s daily routine continued in a similar fashion each day. After a sound sleep in a fluffy bed, she would arrive at work on time.
“You’re here again.”
With Julieta’s prim greeting that served as her unique salutation, the day would begin.
As if she hadn’t given up on driving her maid Janette away, Julieta’s fault-finding continued daily.
For instance, matters related to grooming—
—
“Pick out the clothes I’ll wear. You know a maid must also attend to her lady’s appearance, right?”
“Pick again. I don’t like the color.”
“The lace is so tacky! Don’t you know the latest designs?”
“Who brushes hair this roughly? Do you even apply oil properly before brushing? It’s all a mess!”
“Find out the most prestigious salon in the capital right now!”
—
Or writing letters—
—
“I don’t like the envelope. This one is too coarse?”
“Ugh, the scent is strange. This won’t do. Spray some perfume and let them all dry. Be careful not to let the paper warp.”
“What is this handwriting? Are you trying to ruin my reputation?”
—
Now, perhaps tired of finding faults, she began having Janette transcribe books.
Even during working hours, at that.
—
“Since I don’t have any tasks for you, go sit in that corner and copy some books.”
—
Books on the etiquette of high society, a directory of western nobles related to the Grand Duchy of Ludwig, lengthy historical records of the empire, and more.
Thus, Janette’s recent work routine consisted of greeting Julieta in the morning, running occasional errands, and spending the rest of the time copying books in the corner.
It was its own form of torment.
Instead of doing a maid’s work, being told to copy books because she was lacking in many areas was humiliating.
Furthermore, the maid Shien was visibly clinging to Julieta’s side, attending to her every need.
*’You’re inferior to this maid.’*
It was clearly a performative act.
Well, for any other noble lady, it would certainly be a method to make them weep from misery.
After all, nobles don’t handle humiliation well.
However—
*’I’m having so much fun!’*
Janette was different.
Lately, she had been completely absorbed in the joy of learning.
Thanks to Julieta’s nitpicking, she had recently developed the ability to quickly grasp the latest fashion trends in high society, and she also learned how to scent letter envelopes with perfume.
Even the transcriptions she was doing now were proving to be very helpful.
The social etiquette, which she had learned in a rush and was still lacking in, was firmly lodging in her mind, and the directory of nobles seemed like it would be useful when she later assisted Julieta.
The empire’s long history was also immensely fascinating.
She didn’t have any memories before the age of fifteen, so she was lacking in knowledge about the empire as well…
*’I feel like I’ve learned so much through this opportunity.’*
Janette, who had been proudly checking her transcribed notes, rose from her seat.
