Home/The villainess's personal maid is very good at her job/ch 9

Episode 9

For someone said to be so vicious, her methods of torment were rather childish. Having to redo tea service a few times—that was nothing.

There were those who adopted orphans to use them as unpaid servants. Those who sold people off to old men for money.

And some who did both.

If one were to truly speak of wickedness, those people were a hundred times worse.

'Besides, by adjusting my tea-brewing method to match her complaints, my skills improved rapidly.'

That meant Julietta hadn't been finding fault entirely without reason.

If she had truly only wanted to make things difficult for her, she could have used nonsensical excuses.

'It's been helpful, really.'

Janet was not the type to feel ashamed when her shortcomings were pointed out.

If someone pointed out a flaw, she could simply learn and correct it.

In that sense, Julietta's nitpicking had been a good teacher to her.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that the Lady was not as wicked as the rumors made her out to be.

As Janet smiled softly, she suddenly recalled the commission she had entrusted to Theo.

'The deposit should be arriving at the Viscount's household around now.'

The commission she had given Theo was related to Simon.

She had asked him to retrieve the money from that gambling addict—using a "perfectly reasonable" method.

Looking up at the dark night sky, Janet's eyes sparkled like stars.

---

After Janet left for Ludwig, the Graham household was in an uproar.

"Where the hell has that girl disappeared to?!"

"How dare she run away, forgetting the kindness of the family that raised her!"

There was still half a year until Janet's coming-of-age. They had even promised Count Verdin that they would hand her over as soon as she came of age!

"We need to send people to find her. She couldn't have gone far yet."

"Yes, we must. Damn it. This is the worst time to be short on money……!"

As the atmosphere turned toward sending people to track Janet down immediately, only Simon was frantic.

'This is bad……!'

The employment deposit hadn't arrived yet. And that wasn't all.

If his parents learned that Janet had become Ludwig's handmaiden, they would undoubtedly start demanding to know about 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 paced frantically, he recalled Janet's advice.

"If our parents start looking for me, tell them you sent me to a convent."

"What? A convent?"

"Yes. Tell them I tried to run away, so you caught me 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'd thought it was overly elaborate, but now it seemed like an excellent solution.

Simon grabbed his frantic parents and recited the lines Janet had prepared for him.

His parents were outraged at the part about her trying to run away, but when Simon told them he had put her in a convent, they let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes. You did well."

"So, which convent is it?"

"Ah, well……."

As Simon rolled his eyes, the sound of the doorbell from outside made him start.

"I'll go! I'll get it!"

For the past few days, he had been running to the door like Pavlov's dog at the mere sound of the bell.

It would be a disaster if his parents were the ones to meet whoever came to deliver the deposit.

And finally—

"Are you the guardian of Miss Janet Graham?"

"……Yes! Yes, that's me! I'm Janet's guardian!"

His waiting had borne fruit.

Simon's eyes gleamed with greed.

That evening, Simon immediately went out. Clutched in his hand was a money pouch containing the massive sum of 30 million Ecl.

'How long has it been since I last gambled!'

Lately, he hadn't been able to gamble due to lack of money. If only he had somewhere to borrow from.

But word had spread that "no one should lend money to Simon," and there was nowhere that would easily give him a loan.

Simon, in high spirits, headed to his usual gambling den.

"Oh, if it isn't the young master! You brought money, I hope?"

"Of course! I've brought plenty, so take me to a high-stakes table."

At Simon's triumphant words, the clerk exclaimed, "Oh!"

"In that case, I have just the opponent for you. A big spender has been appearing around here lately—huge pockets. How about it?"

"Great. Take me to him right now."

As the owner watched Simon's eyes gleam with madness, he clicked his tongue inwardly.

He's going to lose it all again today.

Sure enough, a few hours later—

"Ah, aaaaah!"

Simon screamed and tumbled into an alley.

A burly, muscular man much larger than him looked down at him with a sneer.

"If you don't have money, you shouldn't be hanging around places like this."

"Y-you swindler! You're a swindler, aren't you?! How could you take all that money……!"

"I'm not the swindler. You're just the idiot."

Crack.

As the large man cracked his knuckles, a frightened Simon clamped his mouth shut.

After thoroughly mocking his pathetic state, the man gestured to the thugs behind him.

"Boys. Deal with him. We need to teach him a lesson about what happens when you lose at a game and then have the nerve to say you have no money."

"Yes, boss."

As they slowly approached, Simon trembled violently.

"D-don't come near me! Stay back! H-help me!"

Aaagh!

A pitiful scream echoed through the dark alley.

---

Chapter. A Reliable New Friend

A week had passed since her first day of work.

Janet's daily routine continued much the same. After a deep sleep in her fluffy bed, she reported to work on time.

"You're here again."

With Julietta's prim greeting, her day began.

Still not having given up on driving Janet away, Julietta continued to find fault with her every day.

For example, matters of grooming—

"Choose the clothes I'll wear. A handmaiden must also attend to her mistress's appearance, you know?"

"Choose again. I don't like the color."

"The lace is so tacky! Don't you know what designs are in fashion these days?"

"Who brushes hair this roughly? Do you even apply oil before brushing? It's a complete mess!"

"Find out which salon is the most prestigious in the Empire right now!"

Or writing letters—

"I don't like this envelope. It's too coarse, isn't it?"

"Ugh, the scent is strange. This won't do. Spray the paper with perfume and dry it all—careful not to let it wrinkle."

"What is this handwriting? Are you trying to ruin my reputation?"

Now, seemingly tired of finding fault, she began assigning Janet to transcribe books.

Even during working hours.

"I don't have anything for you to do, so go sit in that corner and copy these books."

Etiquette manuals for high society, registers of Western nobles related to the Ludwig Grand Duchy, the Empire's lengthy history books, and so on.

As a result, Janet's recent work routine consisted of greeting Julietta in the morning, running occasional errands, and spending the rest of her time transcribing books in the corner.

It was its own form of torment, in its way.

Telling a handmaiden to copy books instead of doing handmaiden's work—because she had so many shortcomings—was humiliating.

Moreover, the maid Shien clung conspicuously to Julietta's side, attending to her.

You're beneath even this maid.

It was clearly a performative display.

Well, for any other noble lady, it might have been a method that would reduce her to tears of misery.

Nobles don't endure humiliation well.

But—

'I'm having so much fun!'

Janet was different.

Lately, she had been thoroughly immersed in the joy of learning.

Thanks to Julietta's nitpicking, she had quickly developed an eye for current fashions in high society, and she'd learned how to scent letter paper with perfume.

The transcribing work was also proving immensely useful.

The etiquette she had only absorbed superficially was now sinking in properly, and the noble register would surely help when assisting Julietta in the future.

The Empire's long history was also incredibly fascinating.

Especially since she had no memories before the age of fifteen and knew so little about the Empire in general……

'I feel like I've learned so much from this opportunity.'

After proudly reviewing her transcribed notes, Janet rose from her seat.

Back   Next