IWMBS 3

Chapter 3

It wasn’t that he was worried about Lillian. He was worried about the inconvenience of having to hire another servant.

‘I’m taking back what I said about him being thoughtful! I take it all back!’

I desperately suppressed my rising frustration and pressed my lips together.

“Then, get back to work.”

Regardless of how I felt, the Grand Duke, who had completely turned my insides upside down, leisurely walked away on his own.

I glared at his retreating figure for a while before suddenly remembering something important.

‘Cleaning……!’

Wow, I was wide awake now, even without washing my face.

If the head maid caught us, there was no doubt that both Anna and I would get scolded together. My pace quickened.

Tap-tap-tap—

I hadn’t noticed it on my way here, but this corridor was surprisingly long. I practically ran back, yet strangely enough, I wasn’t even out of breath.

‘So she really does have good stamina.’

Putting aside my personal satisfaction, this was rather suspicious.

Could it be that Lillian had received some kind of spy training, too?

Just as that reasonable suspicion began to take root, I spotted Anna’s round head at the far end of the corridor.

“Anna!”

I approached her, deliberately pretending to be out of breath. As soon as she saw me, she began fussing.

“You were cutting it really close! You almost got caught, you know?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Phew! It’s a good thing the head maid left after hearing that His Grace the Grand Duke had returned.”

“Oh, I-I see? Haha……”

Good grief……

Should I be grateful to the Grand Duke or not?

I forced a smile and took the broom back from her. Fortunately, Anna seemed to have relaxed and didn’t notice my awkward reaction.

Several more days passed.

In the meantime, I naturally blended into the group of maids and became more accustomed to my work.

“Lillian, these dishes need to be washed separately…… Wait, you’re already doing that?”

“Lillian, these ones have grease on them, so you need to be more careful with…… Wait, you’re already doing that, too?”

“W-What’s going on? Why is she suddenly so good at this……?”

The other maids watched my dishwashing performance with bewildered expressions.

Anna, however, answered with a proud look on her face.

“Ahem! The three months she’s spent working here are finally paying off!”

I think it was more because of my part-time job experience……

But I couldn’t exactly tell them that, so I simply smiled quietly.

Just then, a blunt voice interrupted us.

“Hmph. You’re making such a fuss over someone who’s only just become capable of doing an average job.”

Was her name Ivy?

She was a maid around the same age as Lillian, with dark blue hair.

‘Her gaze toward me hasn’t been particularly friendly these past few days……’

It seemed that girl didn’t like me very much.

“Hey! What did you just—!”

“It’s okay, Anna.”

I stopped Anna before she could charge at Ivy in anger.

I was already familiar with that kind of hostility.

In fact, there had been so few people who disliked me since coming here that it had almost felt strange. Now, at least, things were starting to feel a little more realistic.

‘Well, it’s not like I have time to worry about it anyway.’

I sat the fuming Anna down and resumed washing the dishes. At the same time, I occasionally glanced around at the others.

‘Perhaps the person who left that secret letter is among them.’

Of course, I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that someone had sneaked in from outside. But for now, the people around me were naturally the most suspicious.

Anna, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Ivy……

At first glance, they all looked like ordinary citizens.

‘Well, considering how Lillian looks, who would’ve guessed she was a spy?’

Feeling strangely wronged, I scrubbed the dishes a little harder.

Scrub, scrub—

By the time a large pile of clean plates and cutlery had accumulated in front of me, I managed to pick up some rather important information from the maids’ chatter.

“And so, this time, as a gift—”

“What? Really?”

“His Majesty really is……”

It turned out that the owner of this mansion, the Grand Duke of Pelliam, was actually an illegitimate child of the current Emperor.

Despite being in a position where it was difficult for him to be recognized as a legitimate child, he had managed to rise to the position of Grand Duke entirely because of the Emperor’s favor.

Perhaps because the Emperor himself had once carried the disgrace of being born to a mistress, he had granted the Grand Duke his title despite everyone’s opposition.

As it happened, the Grand Duke had also distinguished himself on the battlefield, giving the Emperor a plausible excuse to justify his decision.

“But do you think it’ll be all right? That person won’t just sit back and watch.”

“He’s received a mine this time, of all things……”

“Come on, His Grace the Grand Duke must have prepared for something like this.”

I had been listening quietly, but at that point, I tilted my head and looked at Anna.

“That person?”

Anna glanced around to make sure no one was listening before moving closer to me.

Then she whispered into my ear.

“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”

Oh, there’s a Crown Prince?

Hearing that, I could roughly guess what was going on.

A legitimate heir versus a favored illegitimate son.

Wasn’t this practically a staple plot in historical dramas?

‘Usually, the former is the protagonist, though.’

Unfortunately, our Grand Duke seemed to be playing the opposite role.

He was a half-brother who not only possessed a claim to the imperial throne but had also won the people’s hearts through his achievements on the battlefield.

It was perfectly understandable why the Crown Prince would be wary of him.

‘Then, was it the Crown Prince’s faction that sent me here as a spy?’

They were the ones who would most likely want to investigate the Grand Duke’s activities.

Or perhaps it was someone who supported the Crown Prince.

‘Honestly, the world of powerful people……’

I clicked my tongue inwardly before suddenly recalling the Grand Duke’s unrealistically handsome appearance.

They say beauty is short-lived.

Considering that even someone with such a gorgeous face had been targeted by the Crown Prince, I almost felt sorry for him—

“Lillian, please finish washing these, too!”

……I take that back.

Compared to the Grand Duke, the owner of this mansion, my life—stuck washing dishes under him—was far more pitiful.

Yes, absolutely!

In the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep.

Someone dressed in black moved like a shadow, climbing along the wall of the annex.

Unlike the main building, the West Annex wasn’t heavily guarded, making it the perfect place for an intruder to sneak in under the cover of darkness.

Eventually, the intruder arrived at a maid’s room.

Slide—

He opened the door without making a sound and slowly approached the bed.

The owner of the room was sleeping soundly, completely unaware of the world around her.

“……”

The man silently watched her for a moment before pulling out a finely sharpened dagger.

It was a blade sharp enough to pierce a woman’s slender neck in a single thrust.

Whoosh—

He aimed it at her neck.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he brought it down.

Stab!

But the place where the blade struck was not her neck.

It was the soft pillow.

“……!!”

Before he even had time to react, a fist came flying toward him.

The man hurriedly released his dagger and tried to retreat, but he was already too late.

Thud!

A heavy fist struck his head with enough force to make his skull ring.

His consciousness momentarily grew hazy.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“Kh……!”

In an instant, his arm was twisted behind his back, and his knee was slammed against the floor.

A sharp blade was pressed against the back of his neck.

It was the very dagger he had been holding just moments ago.

The situation had completely reversed in less than a minute.

The man couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“I heard you woke up after two days.”

It seems you’re just as capable as ever.

At his muttered words, the blade pressed more firmly against his skin.

Soon, blood trickled along the edge of the blade, but the man didn’t seem to care.

Instead, he continued speaking.

“Those are His orders.”

The man threw something to the side.

In response, the woman behind him instinctively hurled the dagger toward it.

Crash!

The dagger pierced the wall along with a white piece of paper.

While that was happening, the man managed to break free and escape through the window.

Whoooosh—

The cold predawn air flowed into the room through the open window.

The woman who owned the room stared blankly at the scene with unfocused eyes.

Then, she slowly staggered toward the bed.

And, as though nothing had happened, she climbed back into bed and went to sleep again.

“Hmm……”

For some reason, I felt a chill running through my body.

Perhaps it was because of the cold air.

I woke up earlier than usual and rubbed my stiff eyelids. Looking around through my half-open eyes, I noticed that the window was halfway open.

“Did I leave the window open before going to sleep……?”

I’d fallen asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, so I couldn’t even remember.

If I’d known the weather would get this chilly, I should’ve checked before going to bed.

“Good grief, you idiot!”

I hurriedly closed the window.

It would be terrible if I caught a cold.

For a laborer like me, whose life was practically hanging by a thread, my health was my greatest asset.

‘Lillian is supposed to be pretty healthy, so I guess I’ll just have to trust that.’

Shaking my head, I turned back toward the bed—

“Huh?”

Something was embedded in the wall to my right.

‘What’s that?’

I narrowed my eyes and approached to get a better look at the unidentified object.

But the moment I recognized what it was, I couldn’t help but recoil in horror.

“E-Eek……!”

It was a secret letter pierced by a dagger.

And what was more……

Blood was dripping from the blade.