The Third Stage Test Begins
Ten more people were eliminated in the first round, bringing the total number of candidates down to thirty-five.
As anyone could have guessed, the four calamities I had wanted to drive out the most were still among them. They stood there, gazing at Madam Margaret.
“Everyone has truly done remarkably well!”
Madam Margaret once again met every candidate’s eyes with a world-weary, motherly smile and continued.
“To be honest, it already looks like some of you will make it to the third round just from the first test… but of course the exam must remain fair.”
Fair? If fairness were even an option, please just kick out these crazy girls! I thought, glaring at her.
“Now, from this moment onward, I will explain what the second practical test will involve. The venue is the ducal kitchen!”
Madam Margaret led the way and guided the candidates through the spacious, comfortable kitchen of the ducal residence.
“All three of you—Duke Layton, who guides the household; young master Arzen Layton, the wonderful heir; and above all, young master Theron Layton, who has shone most brilliantly upon the current Layton family. The three of you have worked yourselves to exhaustion day and night for the maids’ sake.”
My nanny gave me a proud, satisfied glance, then turned to the candidates with a stern face.
“Whenever that happens, the head chef can’t prepare desserts on his own. Therefore, the cooking skills of the maids who serve at our side—especially their baking ability—are extremely important. Each of you should prepare one dessert you are most confident in.”
‘Mmm, that’s right.’
While listening to Madam Margaret’s explanation, I unconsciously nodded.
This was a matter of vital importance that I absolutely could not compromise for my peaceful ducal life.
After toiling over documents and letting fatigue pile up, I treated it with sweets. The dessert skills of my dedicated maids would decide my quality of life.
‘I have to pick the most delicious ones with a fine tooth.’
With that, the proper second practical test began.
I tied on an apron and observed the bustling candidates moving between ovens and counters with a gaze even stricter than Madam Margaret’s.
Before long, completed desserts began to appear one by one on the long table before me.
“Hmph… the cream is far too sweet; it has killed the original flavor. Elimination.”
“The sponge cake texture is overly dense. You’d choke. Pack your bags.”
I applied an even harsher standard than usual.
The maids were already excellent, but I wanted desserts so much more magnificent.
For that reason, among the twenty I had finished first and brought over, I mercilessly eliminated seven. I set down my fork.
A sound of swallowing could be heard among the remaining candidates.
And finally, four women stood before me, each holding a tray.
‘… Right. The chance is now. I’ll pour out merciless criticism before they can even swallow.’
Taste didn’t matter with these four. No matter what excuse they gave—bad texture, foul smell—I planned to eject them from the mansion at once.
The first to step forward was Erinea.
“Strawberry pudding sweetened with morning dew from the Peren forest.”
Inside the transparent glass bowl she offered lay a brilliantly glowing red pudding.
It was no artificial sweetness, but a fresh, forest-like fruit aroma that tickled the nose.
I nearly lost my mind, but I barely recovered and held my expression firm. I scooped a tiny bit with my spoon and put it in my mouth.
The moment it touched my tongue, it melted like silk, filling my mouth with a bright, sweet tang.
I almost moved the spoon again, but barely managed to hold back.
‘Damn it… What the heck? Why does this pudding taste better than our family’s head chef’s?’
My gaze lost its target in confusion and landed on Reniel.
“Strawberry cream tart topped with thinly crystallized domes, young master.”
She presented a splendid tart covered in transparent sugar craft.
When I poked it with my fork, the sugar dome shattered so gently.
Inside lay perfectly layered soft cream and crisp pastry.
Feeling a guilty conscience as if I were damaging art, I took a tiny bite and put it in my mouth.
A luxurious sweetness danced in my mouth, making my lips tremble.
This was the kind of quality served only at the imperial empire’s highest-class banquets.
No, it was even beyond that.
Next, True Ancestor Meina pushed a small plate toward me as if she had been waiting.
“Dark chocolate fondant… is it.”
When I split the bread in half with my fork, thick, deep-red cherry syrup poured out like lava along with the chocolate.
The ultimate bitterness, the sweet tingle on the tongue, and the heavy cherry acidity combined into a perfectly balanced flavor.
‘I’m going crazy. There’s not a single excuse to call it bad…’
Cold sweat soaked my back like mad.
How could I flatly declare everything bad? I couldn’t.
While agonizing and groaning, the last one before me, Seres, silently offered a silver basket without any explanation.
Inside were freshly baked, perfectly proportioned lemon madeleines.
They were ordinary madeleines, yet dozens of them were all the exact same size, symmetrical, and gleaming with perfect golden color.
How could one knead dough and control the oven flame to produce such results? It must be thanks to the continent’s most refined senses and obsession.
With a trembling hand I picked up one madeleine and bit into it.
The outside was crisp, the inside fluffy as clouds.
The subtle lemon tang cleanly washed away the heaviness of the previous desserts.
“How is the taste, young master?”
Madam Margaret asked expectantly with both hands clasped together.
I absolutely had to say it was bad. My taste buds were screaming to spit it out immediately, so I had to shout that I was leaving the mansion at once to protect my peaceful second life.
I slowly raised my head and scanned the four calamities staring at me in turn. My lips trembled, fighting the urge to spew the words of utter rejection that filled my throat. In the end, I squeezed my eyes shut and muttered in despair.
“Pass. It really… is delicious.”
“Hah… I’m surprised that such a picky young master would truly admit it.”
Madam Margaret’s enthusiastic applause filled the kitchen, along with the envious voices of the remaining candidates.
I sighed deeply, feeling a sense of defeat before my own appetite.
However, while bitterly regretting that I had failed to eject those monsters this time as well, my mouth and jaw continued munching on Seres’s madeleines without pause.
‘I’ll definitely eliminate them in the third round.’
***
Madam Margaret lightly clapped her hands before the remaining thirty candidates and shouted.
“Now, the long-awaited third practical test begins. What is the highest virtue of a maid? Being the shadow of the one you serve.”
“That’s right!”
“From now on, the thirty candidates will be divided into ten-person groups and assigned to Duke Layton, young master Arzen Layton, and young master Theron Layton. For the next week, group members will take turns serving at our sides.”
‘Oh… this is actually pretty nice.’
It was a test to see how unobtrusively I could have them stay close. In other words, a test where the evaluator’s subjectivity would interfere thoroughly.
‘This time I’ll just use an excuse to throw them out.’
Too loud breathing, heavy footsteps, too strong perfume scent, or simply being unpleasant to stand beside… any pretext would do. It was the perfect legitimate opportunity to give them the lowest score and expel them from the mansion.
Of course, the ominous premonition had begun the moment I heard we would be divided into three groups of ten.
As the announcement time approached, the names of Seres, Erinea, Reniel, and Meina were called out one after another among the ten names lined up before me. I simply nodded in resignation.
‘Right. If I’m going to kick them out, it’s better I do it with my own hands.’
I comforted myself that it had turned out well and eagerly awaited the third test starting tomorrow morning.
The next morning.
After breakfast I immediately went to the study as usual and began writing important ducal documents.
Then I glanced at the first candidate for today, Erinea.
Just once, take a deep breath in my study. I’ll pack your bags right away.
I truly wished the chance would come quickly and focused on my work.
Even when organizing troops for monster extermination, when pondering how to deal with a baron who had skimmed taxes, or even when deliberately sighing and groaning as if something displeased me, not a single sound of clothes brushing came from behind.
‘… What?’
For nearly an hour it was as if I had been looking only at the document piles, yet the study was strangely silent.
The foreign atmosphere of silence, as if I were alone, made me turn my head to check behind me.
There was nothing.
The figure of Erinea who had stood by the door until moments ago had completely vanished.
‘No way… did she run away?’
After perfectly cleaning the knights’ dormitory yesterday, she came back and committed unauthorized absence? Good for her?
Just as I was about to cheer at the chance to catch her, my hand unconsciously reached toward the half-empty teacup because I was thirsty.
From the blind spot of my vision, a white hand silently slid in, took the lukewarm teacup, and replaced it with a carefully placed tray of freshly brewing red tea, steam rising.
No clinking sound was made.
Was someone trying to poison me with magic? But no residual mana remained.
I hurriedly looked around to confirm it was Erinea’s work, but she was still nowhere to be seen.
At that moment, a horrifying scenario flashed through my mind.
‘Insane.’
Could the continent’s strongest hunter, the High Elf who had completely fused with nature’s presence and silenced her breathing, have used that overwhelming stealth ability?
It was certainly possible. In fact, it was probably the truth. The players had always found it hardest to fight the Archer of Grudge because of her superior mobility.
‘Sigh, whatever. Just ignore it. All I need to do is kick them out.’
I steeled myself and tried to focus on the documents again, but every time I dipped my pen in the ink bottle, someone had already opened the cap and adjusted the amount.
When I dropped the paper I was reading, a hand appeared in mid-air before the paper even reached the floor, snatched it up, and neatly placed it on my desk.
Perfect stealth that blocked breathing, footsteps, and even heartbeat. My assistant was so flawless I felt like I was suffering from a mental phenomenon. I couldn’t tell whether someone was beside me or not, yet every need I had was delivered to my hand with zero error.
Was this not even an unsettling level? The skill to erase presence was too perfect, giving me goosebumps.
In the end I couldn’t hold back any longer. I raised both hands in surrender. It seemed too scary to stay with her a moment longer.
“Erinea, you are so quietly present that I can’t even be sure you’re there. Pass.”
Of course, I had to be vague since I couldn’t let her realize I had noticed her skill.
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