Chapter 8
I turned my head and saw the maid who had been tending the fire earlier. She was squatting with one hand wrapped.
Huh? What’s wrong? Did she get hurt?
I kept glancing at her while pulling my cart.
If a lowly maid like me suddenly stepped in to help an injured person, it could just make my life more troublesome.
I thought about ignoring it and moving on… but my slow steps ended up stopping.
I must have been acting like Garnet Willinger for so long that I’d actually become her. I couldn’t just walk past someone injured without feeling uneasy.
There’s no one watching anyway.
I parked the cart to the side and went over to her.
“Are you alright? Let me see.”
She flinched in surprise and looked at me.
She had gentle brown eyes, red hair braided on both sides, and looked about my age.
Her face was wet—whether from sweat or tears, I couldn’t tell. The back of her hand was swollen and red, probably burned by the heated pot.
“Just a moment.”
I took out a small ointment container from my waistband and gently applied the salve. She stared at me blankly.
“It’ll sting a little, but don’t scratch or touch the wound. Just leave it so it won’t get infected.”
“…Do you know medicine?”
“When you push carts, you always get blisters on your hands. That’s why I carry this around.”
“Oh.”
She nodded at my awkward answer.
Her eyes looked so pure and free of malice—it was the first time I’d seen such sincerity in this world.
Then I heard a long yawn from somewhere far away.
Seeing other maids coming out to work, I quickly put the ointment away.
“Be careful not to get it wet. Alright then.”
I quickly ran back to where my cart was.
Just like nothing had happened, I started pushing the cart again and left the area.
While delivering the day’s supplies, I noticed the castle felt different from usual.
Strange… is something going on?
The servants were whispering, the air was unsettled. I kept glancing around, suddenly tense that something I didn’t know about had happened.
I carefully steered the cart so it wouldn’t tip over, weaving through people—when suddenly, a crowd rushed toward me.
Soldiers were keeping people at a distance, as if someone very important was passing by.
“Move that way! Make way!”
With so many people crammed into the narrow space, I lost my balance while pushing the cart.
“Ah—oh no…!”
I bumped straight into someone backing up, and the cart tipped to one side.
“Oh no!”
The vegetables and fruits I’d piled high tumbled to the ground, rolling under people’s feet.
In my ears, I could almost hear the housekeeper witch’s scolding voice:
“Clumsy fool! Forget about dinner tonight.”
Being worked like this without even getting dinner was the same as telling me to just die.
I spread my apron wide and desperately scooped the fallen produce back in.
The cart was full again.
They were dusty, but thankfully nothing was badly damaged.
Let’s see… is there anything I missed?
Squatting down and scanning between people’s feet, I spotted a red apple far away.
Aha, you little thing. How’d you roll all the way over there?
Focusing only on the apple, I crawled between people’s legs to get to it.
I was about to snatch it up when a pale, slender hand grabbed it first.
“Hey, that’s—!”
I was about to say, It’s not yours, give it back, when a glowing face—whether from a halo or aura, I couldn’t tell—looked down at me.
For a moment, it felt like all the noise and movement around us stopped.
It wasn’t my imagination—everyone who saw the scene was frozen like statues.
It was Grand Duke Shiraz.
I was so shocked I dropped right down on my backside.
Why is he here?
In the castle, high-ranking nobles and servants usually stayed in separate areas, so it was rare for a servant to see the Grand Duke.
I’d heard he sometimes toured the castle… but of all times, I had to run into him now.
The soldiers who had been controlling the crowd earlier were giving me awkward looks.
No wonder—ever since I started crawling toward that apple, the air had felt tense.
Because I’d been crouched low, I had no idea what was happening above.
Instead of his uniform, he was wearing comfortable clothes that showed off his lean, muscular build.
Relaxed and languid, he looked like a young and handsome god from Greek mythology.
Next to him, his aide Hugh glanced at me subtly.
Even in that brief moment, I could tell Hugh recognized me.
All that effort I’d put into living quietly and unnoticed… might be ruined in an instant.
“S-sorry!”
I jumped up and quickly tugged the scarf off my head, keeping my gaze fixed on the ground.
Well, look who it is—the wife of that traitor Willinger.
It felt like those words might come out of his mouth at any second, making my heart pound nervously.
He could change his mind about sparing me at any moment—Shiraz was a villain whose moods boiled and cooled in an instant.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem interested in a lowly maid.
As if I were invisible, he never once looked at me. He simply tossed the apple in his hand, then clenched it into a fist.
“Marcus. I should crush that bastard’s skull just like this.”
I didn’t know what he and the aide had been talking about, but his words alone were chilling. He stared at the squashed apple—and I felt like it was my head being crushed instead.
When I flinched, his gaze finally turned to me.
Seeing how startled I was must have amused him, because he smirked.
A timid maid trembling in fear—that’s probably how I looked.
The way he crooked one corner of his lips made a shiver run down my spine.
I looked away and started edging backward.
If I could just get a little farther back, I could slip into the crowd and out of his line of sight.
“Stay there.”
At his command, my retreating feet froze.
“Take it.”
He tossed the apple at me, and I instinctively caught it in my apron. My mind went completely blank.
Clutching the apple, I dove into the crowd without looking back.
I abandoned my cart, which I’d worked so hard to refill, and ran as fast as I could.
Even as I fled, my heart shrank to the size of a bean, afraid Shiraz might recognize me and call me back.
Since that day, I constantly looked around me, wary of another run-in.
I was determined not to make such a stupid mistake again.
But then, something strange began to happen.
When I walked into the dining hall for lunch, the moment I entered, the room went silent.
What’s with this cold feeling?
I felt the strange atmosphere but acted as if nothing was wrong.
The silence gave way to hushed whispers.
When I got my food, I noticed the serving maids giving me unfriendly looks. I knew then something unpleasant about me must have spread.
Sure enough—
“Our noble lady probably can’t stand such slop.”
One maid dropped soup onto my tray with a sneer.
There was giggling from nearby.
“She’s no different from us now. Imagine how miserable she must be, having to eat this with common trash like us.”
Another maid practically threw a hard bread roll onto my tray.
“This rock-hard stuff won’t go down anyway. No point wasting it.”
She even took it back.
I started to say something but decided to just take what they gave me and walk to a table.
If I caused trouble and word got to the higher-ups, my plan to live as if I didn’t exist would be ruined.
It seemed rumors had spread among the maids—that before becoming one of them, I was the wife of a lord.
They didn’t know how I’d lived, but just the fact I was once a noble made them openly hostile.
And there was no way to explain my unfair situation here.
I sighed and picked up my spoon.
I’m hungry, so I’ll think while I eat.
As I sipped the soup, I thought—
Who was it? Who spread it? That soldier? Or the housekeeper witch?
Whoever it was, it had already happened.
I won’t be here long anyway. Just endure it. When Shiraz leaves for battle, I’ll run away too.
Thinking that, I resolutely took another bite.
Just then, in the midst of all the pointed, hostile air, a piece of bread was suddenly placed on my tray.
Huh?
I looked up to see a familiar face smiling brightly at me.
“Thanks again for last time. Mind if I sit and eat with you?”
I nodded before I could think, though I worried it might not be good for her to act so friendly with me.
Around us, the sharp glares that had been aimed at me shifted to her.
She, however, either didn’t notice or didn’t care, acting like nothing was wrong.
