“Did you come here to get close to them too, then?” the other maid asked.
“M-M-M-Me?! No, of course not!” Nina was thrown to suddenly hear the same question the housekeeper had asked her.
“Hmm... Well, whatever. Pearly Cloud is supposed to like his women mature and seductive, so you wouldn’t fit the bill anyway.”
“O-Oh...”
With that, the other maid walked off with her nose in the air. Nina didn’t know what to make of her final remark. Why had there been that edge in the other girl’s voice?
One day after another slipped away, and Nina still hadn’t managed to get word to Emily and the others. Doubt began to set in—until one day, things began to happen.
The housekeeper summoned all the maids first thing in the morning. They gathered in the dormitory, bleary-eyed and stifling yawns. At that hour it was still chilly, though by lunchtime the sun would have them all sweating, and with summer coming, it would only get hotter.
“I wanted to have a quick word with you before you start work,” the housekeeper told them. “The truth is, my father has fallen ill, so I’ll have to go away for a few days.”
Whispering broke out among the maids. Half were voices of concern for the housekeeper’s father. But the other half—
“Ma’am! Who’ll look after the third floor while you’re gone?” asked the blue-haired maid, raising her hand. They all held their breaths. This was what they cared about.
“I plan to give that duty to Nina.”
“Wha...?” The blue-haired maid gaped at her, speechless. Most of the others, however, seemed to have expected it. Nina was far and away the best at her job of any of them.
The blue-haired maid didn’t give up. “B-But why, ma’am?! I’m the same age as Nina, and she only just got here!”
The fact was, she didn’t understand. She herself was rather new to being a maid and hadn’t had the wherewithal to really watch the other maids work.
“If you don’t like my decision, you’re welcome to quit whenever you like,” the housekeeper said, shutting the blue-haired maid up. She then turned to Nina. “Can I trust you with this?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
Here it was—the opportunity she’d wanted to contact Pearly Cloud and Morning Star, just when she least expected it.
“Do you mind if I don’t reduce the rest of your workload? Well, perhaps I don’t need to ask.”
“Of course not, ma’am! That’s no trouble at all.”
“Excellent. Well, that’s all I have to say. Off to work with all of you!” The housekeeper clapped her hands and the maids dispersed. Before Nina could say anything to her, the blue-haired girl fled back to her room, her hair fluttering behind her.
Why do I feel as though I’ve done something wrong? Nina thought. She had no particular interest in the two lupalunes. All she wanted was to find out whether they were Tien’s parents, or failing that, knew anything else about Tien.
“Nina! Come with me so I can tell you about the third floor.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Nina followed her out of the dormitory. I’ll talk to her later, she said to herself. I expect I’ll struggle to manage the third floor by myself, so surely everyone will understand if I ask her to help. She nodded, satisfied with herself.
“Nina... Just so we’re clear, you’re not to do anything more than what I tell you.”
Nina winced.
“I’m giving you this task because I trust your work. Not because I trust you as a person.” There was a warning in the housekeeper’s voice.
“I understand...”
“Morning!” It was the old man on his rounds. He called out to them as they were about to go through the back door.
“And a very good morning to you too!” the housekeeper said with an extravagant bow.
“Good morning!” followed Nina.
“Already hard at work, eh?” He turned to the housekeeper. “Right, I’ve put in all your orders, so you can expect them soon.”
“Thank you. Nina, you’re to handle those too.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Now, about the third floor...” They bid the old man goodbye and went inside. “You know who lives up there, I trust?”
“The mercenary captain, Pearly Cloud, and Morning Star.”
“Correct. You’re to keep out of their sight while you work. I’ve told the captain and the butler that you’ll be up there.”
“Very good, ma’am.”
The Dark Frost Mercenaries’ mansion had plenty of maids but next to no valets. Unlike a noble’s household, mercenaries didn’t have to manage their holdings or deal with complicated accounting, so there was hardly any work for them. Having none at all, however, would have led to inconvenience, so there was a butler, whom Nina had hardly spoken to, with one assistant. In reality, they were essentially accountants who doubled as managers for the male servants. The man who’d spoken to Emily at the gate, incidentally, was actually a new mercenary.
“Here we are,” the housekeeper said.
Nina ascended to the third floor for the first time. There was of course no escalator or elevator, so they went up on foot.
“You’ll bring all their meals up from here. Ask the cook and he’ll spare some hands to help you. You clean anything that needs cleaning once a day.”
As the housekeeper spoke, Nina took down notes in her head. It was funny—she only ever had to hear instructions about maid work once to memorize them perfectly.
“I’ll show you the captain’s room first.”
The third floor was quiet when they reached it. It was still early in the morning. Sunlight filtered in through the corridor windows.
Nina fidgeted as they walked toward the captain’s room. The floor was dusty, and there was grime on the pictures hanging on the walls. Even the windows were clouded. She could hardly just start cleaning in front of the housekeeper, but it would feel so good to get it all cleaned up, and everyone would surely be happy about it. Just thinking about it made her very happy. For a maid, there was no greater satisfaction.
“Good morning, Captain!” the housekeeper said, announcing them before she opened the door. His room was on the northern side of the mansion. Without waiting for an answer, they entered.