IWMBS 1

Chapter 1

The Unexpected Life of a Maid

It had been a miserable life.

I lost my parents at a young age and spent my childhood moving from one indifferent relative’s house to another.

Desperate to become independent as soon as possible, I dropped out of high school. After that, I couldn’t find a proper job and survived by working one part-time job after another. Then, on my way home as usual, I was hit by a traffic accident.

‘I thought I’d been doing my best to live my life.’

And yet, my entire life could be summed up in barely three lines.

It was so futile and unfair. If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just lived carelessly!

But no matter how early you regret something, it’s always too late.

A massive cargo truck was already speeding straight toward me, and I was about to die right there—

“Oh, my!”

Die—

“You’ve finally woken up!”

……What was going on?

I stupidly blinked my eyes in confusion.

My name was Lillian.

My occupation was maid.

Two days ago, while cleaning the stairs, I had slipped all by myself, hit my head, and passed out.

That was the history of the body I had transmigrated into.

‘Do you know how shocked we were? You weren’t even breathing at first! And why did you have to stay unconscious for two whole days?!’

The girl who had been beside me when I first opened my eyes chattered away without even waiting for me to ask anything.

Thanks to her, I was able to get a rough idea of the situation without having to make much effort.

‘The original owner of this body…… must have died back then, right?’

Perhaps the moment they said she wasn’t breathing, the real Lillian had already died. After all, I seemed to have transmigrated here immediately after dying in my original world.

‘Oh, wait a moment. I’ll go get the head maid!’

After talking nonstop for a while, the girl suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly left the room.

Soon afterward, a woman introduced as the head maid came in. She was a middle-aged woman who looked strict at first glance. After briefly checking my condition, she casually said one thing.

‘Come back to work starting tomorrow.’

I unconsciously nodded at her words. Somehow, I felt as though that was what I was supposed to do.

And so, here I was.

“Hyup!”

I was busily doing laundry.

Scrub, scrub—

‘Is this really right……?’

Of all the things I could have ended up doing after transmigrating into another world, who would have thought I’d be doing laundry?!

A younger girl I used to work with once told me that the standard opening in an isekai story was waking up to someone calling, “My Lady!”

But instead of being a young lady, I was a maid who had been doing laundry ever since I regained consciousness.

It seemed that this whole transmigration business was rather selective about whom it chose.

‘Tch.’

Although I felt a little wronged, there were some advantages to this situation.

“Hm? Lillian, you mean?”

I could naturally gather information about the person I had transmigrated into, a woman named Lillian.

‘It would be strange if someone’s personality changed completely overnight.’

At present, I knew absolutely nothing about Lillian.

Thankfully, the habits ingrained in my original body had allowed me to put on a maid’s uniform and blend in with everyone else. But that could only get me so far. I couldn’t rely on Lillian’s habits forever.

‘Should I just say I can’t remember anything?’

It wasn’t as though I hadn’t considered that possibility.

However, the moment I recalled the head maid’s indifferent expression as she looked at Lillian, who had just woken up after two days, I immediately abandoned the idea.

There was a 99% chance I’d be kicked out for being mentally unstable and therefore unfit to work.

‘This world is already unfamiliar enough. Getting kicked out on top of that would be a problem.’

Therefore, I decided that the best course of action for now was to keep a low profile and stay here as long as possible.

It’s not like I was scared of the head maid or anything. Seriously!

“W-Well, after collapsing like that, I guess it gave me a lot to think about. Like what kind of person I’ve been to everyone around me……”

“Ahhh.”

“Actually, ever since I hit my head, my memories have been a little hazy. Of course! It’s nothing serious.”

“Oh, dear……!”

Thankfully, the other maids seemed to sympathize with my rather clumsy excuse. One by one, they began sharing their thoughts.

“Honestly…… you weren’t very good at being a maid.”

“It was like you’d learned everything somewhere, but never properly.”

“But you were hardworking! You were a little shy around people, but you quietly helped others with their work.”

“That’s right! You had good stamina, too, and you were strong.”

“She’s only been here for three months. If she stays a little longer, she’ll definitely become more skilled!”

At first, their comments had been rather brutally honest, but before long, they had turned into words of encouragement for Lillian.

Quiet and shy, but still a diligent and kind maid.

Lillian.

Considering how poor her work skills apparently were, she seemed to have a pretty decent reputation. Her personality was also strangely similar to mine……

“By the way, Lillian, you’ve gotten a lot better at doing laundry!”

“Oh, you’re right!”

“Before, either the stains wouldn’t come out at all, or you’d scrub the clothes so hard that the fabric got damaged. It was always one or the other!”

“I-Is that so? Haha……”

Lillian, you really were terrible at your job.

I gave an awkward laugh and silently thanked the owner of the laundromat where I had once worked part-time.

‘Thank you, Evergreen Laundry! Thanks to you, I probably won’t get fired anytime soon.’

After we finished the laundry, we went off to find our next task.

This time, it was cleaning, followed by washing the dishes.

‘Does the amount of housework really increase in proportion to the size of the house?’

Still, break times and meal times were strictly observed.

I wasn’t about to waste this opportunity, so I perked up my ears and listened carefully.

After all, the most valuable information tended to come out during hard labor like this!

“Still, the Pelliam Grand Ducal Residence is better than most other places. At my previous workplace, they actually expected four of us to clean that enormous mansion!”

“My goodness! Four people? That’s way too harsh!”

“Places like that are always the ones that fuss the most about cleanliness.”

“Ugh, it’s horrifying just thinking about it.”

While the maids shuddered at the thought, I quietly stored another piece of information in my head.

‘The Pelliam Grand Ducal Residence, huh……’

This place seemed similar to the world of a romance fantasy novel that the younger girl I used to work with occasionally talked about.

She used to go on and on about some Northern Grand Duke or something.

“I wonder when he’ll come back this time.”

“His Grace the Grand Duke? Who knows……”

“He’ll probably return soon.”

“Sigh. By then, the head maid will become incredibly sensitive again.”

Apparently, the Grand Duke was currently away from the mansion.

No wonder. I’d been walking around the place all day, and I hadn’t seen so much as a glimpse of the owner.

Just then, a young-looking maid cautiously spoke up.

“But…… don’t you think our Grand Duke is incredibly handsome?”

As soon as she finished speaking, the senior maids shook their heads almost in unison, as though they’d rehearsed it. Then they each added a comment.

“Tsk, tsk. You haven’t seen His Grace’s true nature yet.”

“Be careful. You’re not the first girl to get kicked out without even being given a proper farewell for trying to approach His Grace.”

“Remember Karen? She was kicked out for exactly that not too long ago.”

“After all, a rose is most beautiful when admired from afar.”

Hmm. I should keep my distance.

It seemed that the owner of this mansion was as frightening as he was handsome.

In situations like this, the best thing to do was to avoid attracting attention.

“Lillian, if you’re done over there, let’s take a little break.”

“Ah, r-right!”

I answered half a beat late and hurriedly gathered up the cleaning supplies.

As I walked along, I found myself thinking:

‘This isn’t so bad…… is it?’

No, honestly, this was actually a pretty decent life.

Compared to my previous life, when every job interview ended in rejection and I had to juggle three or four part-time jobs just to get by, working as a maid here was practically a permanent position.

On top of that, I’d heard that this mansion treated its employees better than most other places.

And from what I’d experienced so far, that certainly seemed to be true.

‘They provide food and accommodation, make sure we get proper breaks, and the people I work with seem nice, too.’

And most importantly—

‘I’d heard that the Pelliam Grand Ducal Residence pays really well!’

When I casually asked the other maids, they told me that the salary was more than twice what people received at other places.

‘If I work diligently for a few years, I might even be able to afford my own house!’

That’s it. I’ve made up my mind!

I clenched my fist with determination.

I still didn’t know exactly where I was or how I’d ended up transmigrating into Lillian’s body, but……

‘Since things have turned out this way, I’ll start a new life here!’

—That was exactly what I’d decided two days and seven hours ago.

[From now on, report every conversation the Grand Duke has with anyone, without leaving out a single detail.]

At least, that was what I thought.

Until I discovered this extremely suspicious secret letter.

“What’s this……?”

It was written in ordinary handwriting, and at first glance, it looked like nothing more than a playful collection of sentences.

But the moment I instinctively deciphered the code hidden within, I realized something.

Lillian, were you a spy……?