Chapter 05
The girl ignored the flustered Lottie and reached for the bowl again, speaking weakly.
“And you really were neglecting your duties.”
As the girl calmly argued back, Lottie couldn’t hold back her emotions and roughly grabbed the girl’s arm.
Grrrgle.
Just then, the girl’s stomach growled loudly after two days without food.
“Food.”
Izana, forgetting her rising irritation, tightened her grip and muttered,
“If you try to stop me again, I might just bite your ankle again. Wouldn’t that be better than the bottom of your shoe?”
Lottie, who had been slightly intimidated, puffed up with anger again.
“That’s right! My ankle… You should apologize! People should say sorry when they do something wrong!”
Grrrrggg.
Her stomach growled again.
Izana looked at Lottie’s hand and spoke in an eerie tone.
“When people don’t eat, they become beasts. And beasts tear apart humans…”
Terrified by the strange look in Izana’s eyes, Lottie quickly let go.
“Food! Fine! You need to eat, of course.”
The girl mumbled to herself and sighed.
“Right… Korean… I mean, Westerners need rice—no, bread power… Ugh, never mind. Do you have rice here? I won’t even ask for red pepper powder…”
“Rice? Red pepper powder?”
Lottie didn’t understand at first but soon felt strangely relieved. It was odd for the girl to speak normally in the first place.
“I’m doomed… I love rice… Oh, I think there was beer. Maybe barley rice, then…”
More mumbling followed. Lottie looked confused again.
“Eating only bread is bad enough, but it can get stuck in your throat too. Can I have something to drink?”
Lottie pointed to a water pitcher in the corner, but Izana shook her head.
“Milk goes better with bread.”
“W-What? Excuse me?”
Thinking she misheard, Lottie asked again. The girl replied clearly.
“Milk. Bread and milk go together. It’s common sense. Or at least strong tea leaves.”
Lottie scoffed.
“Do you think the Duke’s tea is some cheap grass? No one’s going to bring you that expensive tea just because you asked.”
“Why not? I’m a Rohiya.”
“You? A Rohiya? You really must be out of your mind. There’s not a single drop of Rohiya blood in your veins.”
“Lottie.”
Lottie, who had been shaking her head, looked up at the heavy voice.
‘Her eyes were never this sharp before…’
Izana’s eyes were suddenly cold and clear. It felt like she could see right through her.
Lottie felt small in front of that gaze. Izana looked like she might burst with rage—but instead, she sighed and closed her eyes.
Then, with a calm voice, she said,
“If you don’t bring me milk tea, I’ll scream so loud the whole mansion will hear.”
“W-What?”
“This room is very dull, as you can see. And I have too much time. I could scream all day. Eventually, the Duke and Duchess will hear it.”
“A-Are you threatening me right now?”
“So then who would get kicked out for causing a fuss over one cup of milk tea—me, the idiot girl, or you?”
Lottie couldn’t believe this was coming from Izana Rohiya herself.
“And I asked you—do you think this is a threat?”
There was a cold smirk in the eyes of the small, shabby girl.
“Remember why you got assigned to me. If anything happens to me, the Rohiya girl, they’ll use you as an excuse to kill someone. Still unsure if it’s a threat?”
Lottie used to be called to the Duke’s room. Getting reassigned to Izana Rohiya was the Duchess’s silent warning.
Lottie’s hands trembled.
How did that little girl know?
She clenched her apron, then slowly let go.
“…Fine. I’ll bring it.”
Izana yawned and added,
“Lots of tea leaves. Make it iced.”
“W-What? With ice too?”
“Always iced.”
“Always… iced?”
“Even in winter. It’s a thing.”
Izana’s odd words made no sense to Lottie. She figured the girl must’ve never learned to speak properly.
“I don’t get it… Sigh. Fine. I’ll bring a full cup, but you better finish it.”
“Also, make the ice from milk. Regular ice waters it down.”
“Were you always this picky…?”
Lottie muttered as she left the room. On her way to the kitchen, her coworkers saw her bruised cheek and gave her sympathetic looks.
After whining a bit, Lottie opened the cupboard and found a large glass cup.
It was big and heavy for the small, frail Izana, but she didn’t care. She found milk ice and filled the cup halfway.
It was summer, and ice was considered a luxury item. Seeing Lottie use so much of it, the chef shouted,
“Lottie! Why are you wasting that much ice—milk ice, no less?!”
“Miss Izana asked for it. I thought she might throw a fit if I didn’t, so I’ll just handle it.”
When she started adding premium tea leaves, the kitchen staff began whispering nervously.
But since this was about the “crazy girl,” they dared not raise their voices.
“Wait, Lottie! Is that—”
Lottie rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out a rusty old jar, unlike any of the fancy teapots around it.
The kitchen staff looked alarmed.
“This is the one Miss Kalifa, the previous caretaker, made, right?”
Lottie smiled and held up the jar.
The top was covered with a cloth, with a magic circle drawn by hand.
“Lottie, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” warned a chef.
She shrugged.
“No one else does things like Lottie, right?”
With that, she removed the spell.
Another chef sighed and added,
“It’s two and a half turns clockwise. Don’t mess it up.”
“And the pink spoon, right.”
Magic had to be handled carefully. Lottie searched for the pink spoon she vaguely remembered.
But she overlooked one thing. Kalifa used a tiny teaspoon, not a regular spoon.
Unaware, Lottie scooped out one full spoon of glowing green powder.
She hovered the spoon over the cup and spun it in the air—exactly two and a half times clockwise.
The sparkling powder dissolved into the tea. Lottie smiled faintly.
“This is what you get for acting out. Still, I hope you have a good dream.”
With the special milk tea in hand, she walked cheerfully back to the small room on the second floor.