Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Pitiful Maid Katarina (2)
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Katarina Lane.
One of the senior maids who had started working at the Blackwood mansion a year before Isabel and me.
In other words, she was one of the three bitches who dumped all the kitchen chores on me and then fucked off to play.
"......"
"H-Hic...!"
The moment our eyes met, she freaked out and let a single tear roll down her cheek.
What the hell was with all these annoying visitors dropping by the kitchen today?
If they were going to dump the work on me, they should at least do it properly and stick around till the end. I never imagined one of them would come creeping around to spy on me even at this ungodly hour.
"Katarina senior, right?"
"Y-Yes... That's me..."
"......?"
"N-No... I-I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
"......?"
I asked again because it was weird for her to suddenly use polite speech out of nowhere, but instead, she hunched over even more and apologized to me profusely.
Even though she seemed like a timid human, she wasn't the type to use polite speech with a junior maid.
Up until yesterday, she'd spoken to me casually like normal. It was only natural that her sudden change in attitude raised some suspicions.
Katarina Lane.
To be honest, in the original game, she wasn't just a background character—she didn't exist at all.
I only learned about her after I started working in the kitchen not long ago.
She never appeared in the main story of Luminor Academy, not in the sub-stories, not in Lilith's solo episodes, side stories, or even fan creations.
She probably never showed up in official illustrations either.
If she did appear at all, it'd be as some faceless extra in the background of a cutscene.
So when I first spotted her hanging around Aeria and Alicia, I was a bit surprised.
Unlike Katarina, those two were characters you'd run into if you went down the Lilith route.
They were the maids who sided with Ethan to bully Lilith and kept tabs on her to make sure she couldn't escape. That was their role in Luminor Academy.
Having seen the Lilith ending over a dozen times, I was pretty familiar with their names and faces, but I'd never once noticed a character named Katarina around Aeria or Alicia.
She must've been written out of the story right before the main plot for some reason or other.
Whatever her deal was in the original, right now, she just came off as pretty damn annoying to me.
To me, Katarina was one of the senior maid trio who'd dumped the kitchen work on me and bailed.
Long-term, Aeria and Alicia might end up being bigger pains in the ass, but for now, what she'd done to me wasn't much different from those other two.
...Or maybe she was even worse in some ways.
Especially since she'd come snooping around because she couldn't believe I'd handled the kitchen duties perfectly for two days straight.
"Katarina senior."
"Y-Yes!"
"What brings you to the kitchen at this early hour? Isn't the 'seniors' start time supposed to be 6 a.m.?"
"I-I'm sorry... Forgive me, Miss Lilith..."
"...Miss Lilith?"
"N-No... L-Lilith miss..."
...I couldn't even get a proper conversation going.
Every time she said something, she acted like she'd committed some heinous crime, clapping her hands together in apology. No way to make progress like that.
First things first, I needed to figure out why this senior maid was acting so subservient toward me.
We'd have to clear up these misunderstandings one by one through talking it out.
"Just to ask, Katarina senior."
"D-Drop the formalities, miss..."
"What's with calling me 'miss'? And you've been using polite speech this whole time. You weren't yesterday."
"Until yesterday... I didn't realize you were a noble, Miss Lilith..."
...Noble? Me?
Her sudden dangerous remark sent a chill down my spine.
Curious about what nonsense might spill from her loose lips next, I decided to hear her out a bit more quietly.
Depending on what came out of her mouth, I might have to shut her up 'quietly' by force.
"...Katarina senior, could you tell me why you think I'm a noble?"
"I-I saw it..."
"...Saw what?"
"I saw you... Miss Lilith... using m-magic..."
"Magic?"
"Cleaning the dining hall with Clean magic, and peeling potatoes in the kitchen with magic... M-Magic is a blessing only nobles can use, so of course Miss Lilith must be a noble..."
...Ah.
So basically, she just assumed I was a noble because she saw a non-noble like me using magic.
She didn't have any solid proof that I was actually nobility.
Lucky me, I guess. At least I wouldn't have to forcibly shut her mouth.
That didn't make getting caught using magic any more pleasant, though.
"Katarina senior."
"I-I'm sorry, Miss Lilith... Please forgive my crimes..."
"That's not what I want to talk about, so calm down first."
"I really didn't know... A-And I didn't do it on purpose... From now on, I'll handle all the kitchen work for the remaining time..."
"I get it, so listen to me first, senior. We can't talk like this..."
"U-Unlike Aeria or Alicia... I-I'm definitely going to be punished...! The moment the master finds out we dumped the work on Young Master Ethan and Miss Lilith..."
"Okay, I get it! Just shut up and listen to me!!"
"H-Hngh...!!!"
I snapped without thinking because she wouldn't stop blabbering and ignored everything I said.
Only then did Katarina finally stop trembling and clamp her mouth shut.
Why couldn't she ever get it the nice way?
"First off, I get what you're trying to say, Katarina senior."
"......"
"I'm busy prepping today's ingredients right now, so can we continue this talk tonight? We can clear up your misunderstandings about me then..."
-Splash splash splash...
...Water?
I thought maybe a leak in the kitchen, but the sound was coming from inside the prep room.
And it was closer than I thought. A curse slipped out of my mouth before I knew it.
"Ah, fuck."
"I'm sorry... S-Sorry..."
Katarina had collapsed to the floor, her maid uniform soaking through from the middle, drawing a yellow circle on the prep room floor.
...What a bunch of freaks, this bitch and that guy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After wiping away the traces of the retarded maid who pissed herself on the floor from just a single scolding with Clean magic.
I spoke to Katarina, now in a maid uniform that was even cleaner than when she'd first put it on, in an intentionally snappy tone.
"...Don't piss yourself next time."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"And stop avoiding my eyes while apologizing. It just makes things more uncomfortable."
"......"
"Haa..."
Now that I'd told her not to apologize, she shut her mouth completely and stayed silent.
She hadn't left a great impression from the start, but that incident just tanked my opinion of her even further.
Dealing with one kid was headache enough, and now I had to clean up a senior maid's piss too?
Was this a kitchen maid gig or babysitting?
Thank God I could use Clean magic. Without it, I'd have had to mop up that stinky piss myself.
Washing the piss-soaked uniform would've been impossible anyway.
I couldn't touch her underwear as a guy, so her panties were still damp.
But if she had any brains, she wouldn't complain about it now.
I'd already gone above and beyond by washing her uniform for her. It was out of a vague pang of conscience that maybe my yelling had made her piss herself.
"Katarina senior."
"D-Drop the..."
"We'll talk details after work, so don't use weird titles like 'miss' with me and make things awkward."
"H-How dare I do that to a noble miss..."
"...I said don't."
"......!"
Once I said it sternly, she finally got the hint and nodded frantically.
Now I had a feel for how to handle this timid maid.
She couldn't understand nice talk on the first try, so being firm and harsh from the start was the most efficient way.
Anyway, she had two big misunderstandings about me right now.
One was thinking I wasn't just some lowly maid but a noble lady in disguise.
The other was believing that Ethan and I had handled all the dumped work together.
The second one didn't matter much if it got cleared up or not, but the first one seemed better left alone.
I'd already been seen using magic, so glossing over that was impossible.
Better to let her keep thinking I was a noble and use that 'authority' to keep her mouth shut.
"First off, no one can know I'm a noble, so don't go blabbing to anyone else, Katarina senior."
"......Huh?"
"Don't ask why. If you act all wishy-washy and word gets out later that I'm a noble, I'll naturally suspect you first. ...It wouldn't be fun for a mere maid to go against a noble head-on, right?"
"I-I swear I won't tell anyone you're a noble, Miss Lilith! I promise!"
"If you really mean to keep it secret, drop the 'Miss Lilith' crap and go back to casual speech like before."
"H-How... How could I..."
"...Do it."
"Hng!"
Katarina reflexively clutched between her thighs in panic.
But my stern approach was working somewhat—her next words weren't loaded with fancy titles or polite speech.
"O-Okay... Lilith..."
"Good job, Katarina senior."
"......"
It was a bit unsettling, but this should seal her lips for now.
Details could wait until after work when I called her aside to talk.
Besides, I needed to prep today's vegetables, so I didn't have time to waste chatting leisurely with Katarina...
"............Ah."
I glanced at the Time Stone without thinking, and a groan escaped my lips on its own.
The number 5 was already clearly visible, and 6 was starting to show faintly.
Servants' footsteps echoed from the hall, prepping for an early breakfast.
Dealing with Ethan and now Katarina had eaten up way more time than expected.
The Time Stone showed less than 30 minutes until the other two senior maids arrived.
...And the vegetable prep that should've been done ages ago hadn't even started.
"Ah, this is driving me insane..."
30 minutes until Aeria and Alicia clocked in.
To avoid suspicion, I had to finish all the vegetable prep somehow in that time.
And with just this pitiful-looking maid helping me.