Home/The villainess's personal maid is very good at her job/ch 15

Episode 15

Her back was damp with cold sweat. Her chest, unable to bear the ragged breaths, heaved up and down busily.

With trembling fingertips, Janet rolled her eyes around.

Her dark, night-like irises quickly scanned her surroundings.

Beside the bed, a young maid was dozing off on a chair.

'Why is a maid here……'

Ah, right. She had hugged the hot teapot and fainted on the spot.

Checking her wounds, she found them wrapped in bandages. It seemed the doctor had treated her while she was asleep.

'I hope her Ladyship is alright.'

She must have been quite frightened.

As various thoughts crossed her mind, her dazed consciousness gradually cleared. But even so, the afterimages of the nightmare still lingered in her head.

'What kind of dream was that……'

It had been a nightmare more vivid than reality, yet upon waking, she couldn't remember anything.

Only that a blindingly bright light had flashed before her eyes—that much she vaguely recalled.

And she felt like something had sparkled on her wrist as well……

"Ugh."

Unconsciously groping her wrist, Janet let out a low groan. A sharp pain, as if cut by something keen, pricked at her.

Startled, Janet checked the painful spot—

"What…… is this."

The remnants of sleep vanished in an instant.

「Salvation」

On the inside of her wrist—in a place not easily visible—a faintly glowing word was inscribed.

The letters, emitting a white light, slowly faded as if their purpose had been merely to announce their presence to Janet.

---

The next day.

Julietta came to see Janet as soon as dawn broke.

"How are you feeling? Does it hurt? Any discomfort moving around?"

"Yes, I'm fine. The doctor said I was fine too."

The doctor, who had been holding his breath nearby, nodded frantically.

"To be honest, I was worried even as of yesterday, but it's settled down a lot overnight. As long as you take care of the scarring, there should be no problem. Truly, it's as if Lord Dake lent a hand……"

At the mention of 'Lord Dake,' Janet glanced at her wrist.

Not the right wrist that had been burned—but the left wrist where the word 'Salvation' had appeared during the night.

The Latrian Empire was fundamentally a country of religious freedom, but most of its citizens believed in the one true God, 'Dake.'

This was only natural, as the Empire's roots lay in a holy kingdom that followed Dake.

Devotees of Dake performed a blessing prayer when a child turned ten—a tradition to wish for the child's health and success.

But sometimes, the Lord responded to those prayers.

That was the 'Blessed Phrase.'

Children who received a response from the Lord had a 'Blessed Phrase' inscribed upon their bodies, which only revealed itself when they exercised abilities related to the blessing.

'Could this be a Blessed Phrase as well?'

Could it be that she, too, had received the Lord's response on her tenth birthday?

But even if so, she couldn't understand the meaning of 'Salvation.'

What exactly was she supposed to save?

Janet's thoughts were interrupted by the doctor's words.

"Apply the medicine to the wound twice a day. And refrain from letting water touch it for the time being."

"Yes. I will."

"Then, if you'll excuse me……"

The doctor, glancing around for permission, was waved off by Julietta.

Seizing the opportunity, the doctor bowed deeply and left.

Julietta slumped heavily into the chair beside the bed with a weary face.

"My Lady, please don't force yourself—"

"Enough. This is comfortable too."

Julietta answered gruffly and let out a deep sigh.

"I've confined Shien to her room for now. I'll leave her punishment to you—tell me what you want done."

What punishment she wanted……

"Um, my Lady. There is something concerning regarding Shien."

"Concerning?"

"Recently, the Marchioness who wrote my recommendation letter sent me some gifts."

To be precise, they were gifts from Theo, but she couldn't very well say that outright.

Besides, Theo had also sent them under the name of the 'Marchioness.'

"Ah. I heard about that roughly. They said the gift haul was enormous."

At Julietta's words, Janet smiled awkwardly.

"Yes. They were a bit more than I deserved, honestly. Anyway, one of those gifts has gone missing."

"What? The gifts went missing?"

"Yes. The day after they arrived, I received a gift list. I checked it carefully just in case, and one yellow diamond was missing."

"Good heavens. That expensive thing is gone?!"

Yellow diamonds were not easy to come by. They were twice as expensive as regular diamonds.

"This is no small matter."

"Exactly. What's more, it means there's a thief in your Ladyship's villa."

"And the reason you're bringing this up in relation to Shien is……"

At Julietta's sharp perception, Janet nodded.

"According to the other servants, it was Shien who told them to move the gifts to the first-floor room that day. And the only person who entered that room afterward was Shien."

"How dare she!"

Julietta fumed and sprang up from her seat.

"Not content with deliberately pushing someone to scald them with boiling water, she even stoops to theft?!"

"It's not certain yet. It's only circumstantial."

"With that much evidence, it's obvious without even looking."

"Still, we should conduct a thorough investigation."

At Janet's words, Julietta calmed down and nodded.

"Alright. Then I'll tell the Head Butler to mobilize Ludwig's internal investigation unit."

"I'd appreciate that, my Lady."

"Then it would be best to decide the punishment for this incident after the theft investigation is complete."

"Yes. I think so too."

Janet replied and smiled softly as she bowed her head.

"Thank you for your concern in so many ways, my Lady."

"……Forget it. There's no need to thank me."

Her voice pretended to be gruff, but there was a hint of sullenness in it. Throwing herself back into the chair, Julietta's lips moved hesitantly.

Like a child caught just before being discovered after doing something wrong.

After a long hesitation, she let out a sigh and spoke.

"To be honest, Shien's behavior was half my fault."

"Pardon?"

"I absolutely detested the idea of having a handmaiden. Someone clinging to me and attending to me—just the thought of it disgusted me. So I wanted to drive you away."

Hoo.

Julietta let out another sigh.

"Shien offered to help, so I told her to go ahead. But honestly, I never expected her to go this far. What's more, I'd already told her she didn't need to help me anymore……!"

"I see."

At Janet's composed reply, Julietta flinched.

……She must be disappointed. She must have lost all fondness for her.

The mistress who had saved her with her own body had, it turned out, been desperate to drive her away.

"My Lady."

"Mm."

"Do you perhaps feel sorry for me? Or do you still want to drive me away?"

At the direct question, Julietta blinked. After a moment's hesitation, she opened her mouth haltingly.

"I-I'm sorry. I deliberately acted nasty to you to drive you away. And I……"

I.

Biting her lip hard, Julietta forced the words out.

"I don't want to drive you away."

"Yes. Then that's enough."

"……What?"

It was Julietta who was startled by the unexpectedly cheerful reply.

"You've apologized, and you said you don't want to drive me away. So our relationship can just start over from here, can't it?"

"Is that…… really enough?"

"Of course. Relationships between people are often simpler than you think."

Getting angry, apologizing, reconciling.

That's how you gradually grow closer.

"Once more, I look forward to working with you, my Lady."

At Janet's spirited greeting, Julietta's lashes trembled.

After squeezing her stinging eyes shut once and opening them again, she hesitated before speaking.

"Me too. I look forward to working with you, Janet."

"……"

"……"

A brief silence followed the exchange of greetings. The two, who had been staring at each other, burst into laughter at the same time.

Warm sunlight flooded the room.

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