A New Encounter
After recruiting Rena and Mona through rather rough methods, I returned home.
When we arrived at the mansion, the maids and servants came out and formed a line. The way they stretched along both sides looked like something straight out of a drama.
"Wow…"
Unlike me, who found the sight familiar thanks to Lucy's memories, Rena clearly did not. She didn't know what to do with herself, her eyes darting this way and that as she took everything in.
Well, that was only natural, wasn't it? In an ordinary household, people don't line up just because a child has come home. I received this kind of treatment because I was the sole daughter of a ducal house.
"What are you doing? Open the door already."
I gave her enough time to take it all in, then spoke coldly. At the same time, I gave a light tip of my chin toward the door.
At the sound of my voice, Rena flinched, then gripped the door handle with both hands.
"Is it okay if I just open it? It won't break if I pull or push it wrong, will it?"
"If a door breaks just because a little girl pulled on it, we ought to scrap this whole carriage. Or drag the craftsman who made it out for punishment. So just open it already."
Rena slowly turned the handle and pushed. The door opened smoothly, without the slightest noise or friction.
"I suppose that's what you get with a commoner. Even your movements are painfully slow."
Rena shot me a sidelong glance, then hopped down from the carriage. The moment she landed, she quickly stepped aside — a sight that pleased me as I slowly looked out.
"…"
As I watched in silence without saying a word, the atmosphere grew heavy in an instant. Even the servants who had been standing impassively began, one by one, to show signs of unease.
Why create this kind of atmosphere? Honestly, it was nothing special.
If I do something moderately villainous around now, Plausibility won't torment me. I'll just set the mood for a bit and then leave.
Setting the mood like this, getting a little irritated, and then walking off would be enough. I counted to one minute in my head, then rose from my seat.
"You there."
I fixed my gaze on the maid standing at the very front and pointed at Mona with my hand.
"Lay this one down in the personal maid's bedroom right next to mine."
"Yes, I'll take her there at once."
The maid hurried over with quick little steps, carefully gathered Mona into her arms, and carried her into the mansion. Rena tried to run after them, but a maid standing nearby held her back.
Good. If she'd followed them, I would have had to commit another act of villainy.
Then I stepped down from the carriage with a click-clack of my shoes and walked up to the head maid. The elderly woman gave a slight bow at the waist.
"Do you have something to say, my lady?"
I nodded at her low, unhurried voice.
"See that one over there? Starting tomorrow, she'll be my personal maid. Assign her the empty personal maid's bedroom right next to mine as well."
"Yes, understood."
"And… you'll handle her training personally. If any other trash so much as lays a hand on my toy…"
I let the sentence trail off as I slowly scanned the maids and servants. My red eyes flashed in the light. I was a small child, but the position of a duke's daughter was more than enough to dominate the atmosphere.
"…"
I swept a cold gaze over the tense maids and servants, then shrugged.
"Well, you'll figure it out yourselves. I'll only trust the head maid, so use your judgment and make sure that commoner is ready to work as my maid after dinner tonight."
The head maid fell silent for a moment. After a brief silence of less than two seconds, she answered.
"…Yes, understood."
No matter how capable the head maid was, turning a child into a perfect maid in just a few hours was impossible. But if I just left it at that? I'd inevitably be forced to commit some act of villainy when I saw how inadequate Rena was as a maid. In cases like this, laying a little groundwork was enough.
"Well, she's just a stupid, filthy commoner mutt anyway, so I don't expect perfection. Just give her the right feel for today — the feel. Someone of your caliber understands what I mean, right?"
"Yes, understood."
This time the answer came right back. The head maid had judged that much to be entirely doable.
"And don't assign her any work other than attending to me. I've said it several times, so someone of your caliber should understand… I brought her here as my toy. You know what that means too, right?"
"Yes, I understand."
"Good, good. I do like how quick on the uptake the head maid is. So show me results that live up to those expectations, will you? If the results are bad, I might get in a foul mood again."
"Yes, understood."
Knowing my personality better than anyone, the head maid wrapped up the conversation cleanly. Talking with the head maid really was the most comfortable. When I spoke with someone whose conduct was flawless, there was no need to commit any acts of villainy — so aside from the fact that I was speaking casually to an elderly grandmother, my mind was at ease.
Satisfied with how the conversation had gone, I approached Rena.
"Well then, Rena. No — from today on, I'll call you Puppy or Mutt. So when I call you, come running to me right away. Got it?"
At my words, Rena clenched her fists tight, but the correct answer came back.
"Yes, Master."
"Master? 'Master' is too stiff — call me my lady. All right then, Puppy. Go get trained by the head maid. I'll take good care of that precious little sister of yours."
"…"
Mentioning her sister made Rena react more strongly for sure. I tensed up, half-expecting her to lunge at me or lose her temper, but perhaps thanks to the atmosphere, nothing of the sort happened.
Wait — why should I be the one getting nervous? A villainess getting nervous — isn't there something wrong with this picture?
"Yes, my lady."
"Good, good. Then we'll meet again later, my little mutt. Three maids, follow me. Hmm — three who are reasonably competent and free at the moment."
At my voice, the maids rapidly exchanged glances a few times, then three of them quickly stepped forward. The three who had been standing at the very front came out, making it obvious. All three were maids with proper bearing.
They sent the ones from roughly the middle ranks, reading the room. Yeah, that level is just about right.
What if they'd pulled rank and sent the juniors instead? The moment they fell out of my favor, they'd get collectively chewed out at a full maid assembly at minimum — and in the worst case, they might even lose their jobs.
Thinking back through the memories, "Lucy" had already done that a few times.
From what I can tell, mid-level supervisor maids got fired in bunches.
The reasons had been so trivial that I couldn't even remember them clearly anymore. What mattered was that such incidents had happened. A precedent meant it could happen again at any time.
As I walked toward the mansion, the three maids quietly followed behind.
First I should go to my room and check on Mona's condition. And I'll need to obtain the necessary herbs separately. Even if Rena inspects them, she won't realize they're medicine… but I should prepare just in case.
I hadn't been caught yet for the good deeds I'd been disguising as villainy. There hadn't really been much need for actual villainy — just getting irritated and giving people the cold shoulder was about the extent of it. But I hadn't thought about what would happen if I got caught doing good deeds while pretending they were acts of villainy.
No — more precisely, I didn't want to think about it. Even without thinking deeply, I had a rough feeling I'd go pop and die.
"Open the door."
"Yes."
The maids moved quickly and pushed the door open. I could have walked up and used magic myself, but this too was a necessary action. The door opened, and I walked slowly.
"Where's Father? In his study again today? And Mother is lying in her bedroom as usual?"
"Yes, today is the same as always."
"How boring."
For a daughter who supposedly craved love, the behavior might seem strange — but this was how "Lucy" had acted. In her own way, maybe she'd been trying to show that she could handle everything even without her parents. Now that she was gone, there was no way to find out her true feelings.
"And the girl I sent ahead? You've laid her down in the bedroom, I assume?"
"Yes, a reliable maid went with her, so it should have been handled without issue. By now they should be rearranging the bed and furniture and cleaning the room."
"Good thing they're quick on the uptake. I was worried they might just dump a bed in there and call it done."
If they had, I'd have had to give them the cold shoulder again.
"Is there anything else you need, by any chance?"
"No. Just have one person assigned there every day to manage it. If there's a problem, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, understood."
After that, ordinary conversation followed. Class schedules, assignments to complete, mealtimes, exercise — those kinds of minor details.
"We've arrived."
In the meantime, we'd arrived at the bedroom. My bedroom alone was several times larger than the studio apartment I'd lived in during my previous life. As proof, the bed alone was the size of about four of the cheap mattresses I'd used in my past life put together. King size. No — more like emperor size, probably.
I walked past that bed and hopped up onto my desk to sit.
"Hup!"
I struggled up onto the chair, stood on it, and pulled out a pen and paper. With my small hand gripping the pen, I scribbled down the materials I needed. The maids stood quietly at attention in front of me.
"I'll write down what I need on this paper, so one of you go fetch them. As long as you get them within a week, that's fine."
"Yes, understood."
"I'll give you the money separately, so don't charge it to the head maid. If you're short on funds, tell me. If you cheap out and bring back poor quality goods, I'll fire you on the spot."
"Yes, understood."
Satisfied with the maid's brief reply, I nodded and hopped down from the chair. Then, with my short legs, I toddled over and handed her the paper.
"Go get these. Is there anything on here you don't recognize?"
The maid slowly read through the paper. Most of the materials listed were what people commonly call poisonous herbs — from mild ones that caused stomachaches or diarrhea if ingested, all the way to ones actually used in poisonings.
Well, a maid of this caliber should know them all. They're all competent, after all.
They were famous enough, and maids who worked for a ducal house were essentially poison experts. You could say they were about bachelor's-degree level in toxicology.
"There's nothing I don't recognize. May I ask what you intend to use them for, though?"
"I have a personal use for them. I'm not planning to feed them to you or anything, so just quietly go buy them. Don't make a nuisance of yourself."
"…Understood. I'll go right away, then."
"Good. The remaining two, follow me."
One maid left the room, leaving two behind.
"And you."
I pointed at one of the two remaining maids.
"Bring me a list of the maids who've been in our household recently. There's something I want to look into. Ask the head maid or the steward and they'll give it to you."
"…Yes, my lady."
She answered in a slightly cautious voice and left the room. Of course she'd find it suspicious. There was no reason for me to be looking into the maids.
It's not like I'm planning to do anything bad, though.
Next, I headed to the small room next to mine with the last remaining maid. Entering the small connected room beside mine, I saw Mona lying down and one maid. That maid immediately stopped what she was doing and bowed her head.
"Get another bed and put it in here as well. Something about the same size as the one already in here is fine. And tell the other maids — these two are my personal maids."
I'd already told the head maid, but I said it to the maids separately one more time. This way the word would spread a bit faster. The two who understood my words bowed their heads.
"Yes, understood. So we just need to get one more bed?"
"Yeah. You can't do it alone. You can't use magic, and it's not like you're particularly strong. Both of you go get a bed and bring it here."
"Understood."
With that, the two left, and I stepped out of the room as well.
"Now I can finally rest a bi—"
Just as I was about to rest, having finished everything I needed to do, a maid knocked on the door.
"My lady, a guest has arrived."
"Tell them to leave. I don't want to see anyone else today. I'll meet them around lunchtime tomorrow, so just send them away."
"Th… that may be difficult. The Sword of the North has arrived."
"…"
Apparently someone of considerable rank had come calling.