Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Maid (3)
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“If you're staying in the castle, it'll be easy to keep in touch from now on.”
“Hmm, is that a compliment?”
Helena giggled and stepped back.
“I can't go back to the guild anyway, so I need a place to crash. That's why I'm planning to stick around here for a bit.”
She let out a wistful sigh.
“But they started me in the laundry room. Washing clothes in cold water during this chilly weather is killing me. Look at how rough my hands already are.”
Helena's hand swayed gracefully, but it was nothing like a typical maid's. Veins bulged blue across it, and calluses were hardened like nails driven deep. Those were unmistakably the hands of a swordswoman.
“On top of that, I've already got a few servants smitten with me. They stare so hard I feel like their eyes are drilling holes in my face.”
“Don't kill them.”
“Do I look like a woman who only knows how to murder?”
Helena pouted and struck a slanted pose.
“Anyway, what's my first job? I hope it's something fun.”
“At sunset today, in front of Arsil Orphanage. Meet me there.”
“What?”
Helena's expression changed in an instant.
Her face had been all smiles no matter what until now, but in that moment, it turned ice-cold, like she was a completely different person.
The next instant,
Pop!
Helena vaulted over the desk and lunged at me. Her hand shot out for my collar.
Thwack.
I rose from my chair and brushed it aside lightly. Helena didn't give up there—she tried to tackle me down next.
Whoosh!
Helena threw herself at my waist. I grabbed her wrist to block her, and at the same time,
Thud!
I flipped her body onto the desk. Then I pinned her other arm up so she couldn't move it.
Sparks flew from Helena's eyes as both her hands were bound.
“Let... go...!”
She thrashed wildly. I wrapped my thigh around her flailing leg and pressed my elbow down on her bucking torso.
“Ngh...”
Helena twisted her entire body, but she couldn't budge. Her resistance was fierce enough, but she couldn't overpower me with raw strength.
“Let me go...!”
What filled Helena's eyes wasn't killing intent.
“Helena.”
It was fear.
“What's got you so scared?”
My heavy words made her freeze solid.
Helena glared at me, chest heaving. Her tense eyes were welling with tears.
“You think I'm going to sell you off there like your parents did?”
The blood drained from Helena's face. Her trembling lips spoke volumes about her feelings.
“...How much do you know? Did you look into my background?”
In the original story, Helena had been pretty despairing in prison. She'd spilled quite a bit of her past to Rose out of boredom.
Thanks to that, I knew all about Helena's history and the guild she'd been part of.
“You think I'd hire someone without knowing who they are?”
“...”
“Calm down. Nothing like what you're imagining will happen.”
The cat had lashed out at me out of nowhere, but I'd gone easy on her. She hadn't come at me with true murderous intent.
Her ragged breathing gradually steadied. A deflated, weary voice leaked out.
“What are we doing there?”
“What do you think? We're visiting as a patron.”
“Ha.”
Helena let out a hollow laugh.
“You really do know everything, huh? What kind of place that is.”
“On the surface, it's an orphanage. Underneath, it's an assassin guild. Pretty standard business model.”
“...”
“I'm thinking of getting into that business myself.”
“What? You're going to run an assassin guild now?”
Helena's eyes shot wide. Her glare screamed that it was absurd.
“Do you even know how much money's on your head? Every guild in the kingdom has taken a contract on their lordship's life at some point. And you think—”
“That's exactly why I'm doing it. Time for me to stop living so nobly.”
“...”
“Wouldn't it be fun if counteroffers started coming back to the ones placing them?”
Helena let out a low sigh. She'd spotted the vicious malice in my eyes.
“...You're serious, Master.”
“Do you get the point of visiting Arsil Orphanage today?”
“I get it. I said I get it. But...”
Helena lowered her gaze. Her face twisted as she fought back surging pain.
I knew exactly what Helena feared. So I said it like the thought had just occurred to me.
“You passed the test, so I owe you a reward.”
In truth, I'd been thinking about it since she walked into the room.
“A reward?”
“I'm planning to take over as director of Arsil Orphanage today.”
I declared it while watching the mix of anticipation and suspicion on Helena's face.
“Dealing with the former director is your job.”
“...!”
Helena's lips parted slightly. Savage delight surged from her jaw, overtaking her face.
The orphanage director—her former master—could be hers to do with as she pleased.
“You know something, Master?”
Helena squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. The pained girl was gone. In her place gleamed a cold-blooded assassin.
“Part of the reason I decided to serve you was because I didn't want to go back to the guild.”
“Is that so.”
“But now... I really want to go back.”
Helena flicked her tongue out to wet her lips.
“What a perfect reward. Makes me glad I chose to serve you.”
“You sure talk big for someone who charged at me.”
“Heh.”
Helena stuck out her tongue and winked.
“I won't do it again, Master. But you got a good feel of my chest in the process. Call it even?”
“...”
The weight of Helena's certain assets pressing against my forearm was indeed impressive.
But my body felt nothing from it. Not like when it touched Rose's.
I hadn't even groped her on purpose. I'd just pinned her writhing body with my arm.
“—Right now,”
The moment I opened my mouth,
“—!”
“...!”
Mine and Helena's expressions changed at once. We'd sensed footsteps approaching the door.
Knock knock.
A servant's voice came with the knocking.
“Your Excellency, Madam has arrived.”
“Wait a moment.”
I shouted back, then pulled away from Helena.
“Keep your word from earlier.”
“Got it, Mas—'ter'.”
“We're done here. Get out.”
Helena slowly rose from the desk. Her face was smiling brightly again, as if the tears had never been there.
“Why the rush? Because of the lady outside?”
“Helena.”
I fixed her with a cold stare.
“Don't cross the line.”
“...”
At the blunt dismissal, Helena made a sulky face. But in the end, she gathered her tray and stepped aside.
Clink, clink.
Her deliberately slow movements made me want to hurry her, but I held back. Showing impatience would just give her ammunition.
“Come in.”
I confirmed Helena lifting the teapot, then called out.
Creeak.
The door opened, and Rose appeared, her face flushed pink.
“Your Excellency.”
Rose glanced around the room and tilted her head.
“You're not alone.”
“Mm.”
Helena kept her head bowed, pouring tea like any ordinary maid.
Perhaps because of that,
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Rose approached me without paying Helena much mind. She didn't seem to recognize her face.
It made sense—the last time she'd seen her was in prison, looking like a beggar. No one would imagine her working here as a maid.
I kept a straight face and headed to the central sofa.
“What is it?”
“Ah, well.”
Rose sat on the sofa opposite me. She clasped her hands tightly on her lap and spoke.
“I wanted to thank you again.”
“Ah.”
Rose's face shone with joy. Her eyes brimmed with gratitude toward me.
“Mr. Andersen explained everything. He said Your Excellency put a lot of thought into this.”
“It was nothing.”
“It wasn't nothing. Not just the materials, but even the laborers were arranged in advance? I heard the construction finished so quickly because of that.”
It was an important place for her antidote research, so of course. I also knew having her own lab was Rose's lifelong dream.
Maybe that's why I'd put extra effort into it.
A squirrel presented with a cozy nest full of acorns, twigs, and straw was leaping with joy.
Seeing that didn't feel half bad.
“I'll do my best to live up to Your Excellency's expectations. I'll work hard.”
“Good. Don't push yourself too hard.”
As I nodded, Andersen crossed my mind.
“Did Andersen say anything about taking you as his apprentice while I was gone?”
“No, not at all.”
Rose beamed.
“Even if he offers again, I won't accept. I have work to do.”
“Mm.”
“That's why I was hoping...”
A faint tension crept onto Rose's face. I could instinctively tell this was the real reason for her visit.
“Could you visit my lab sometime?”
“Why?”
“Well...”
Rose swallowed hard and answered.
“I'll explain when you get there.”
“...”
I barely held back a laugh.
'She can pull tricks like this too.'
I could easily guess Rose's intentions in inviting me to her lab.
It was just that her carefully worded ploy to pique my curiosity without raising suspicion felt adorably cute.
“Then—”
The moment she started to suggest a time,
Clink.
A steaming teacup was placed on the table before Rose and me.
“Pardon me.”
Helena, who had just set it down, smiled at me. A dangerous smile.