Episode 12
Meanwhile, Anna and Ivy’s bickering went on.
“Hmph, people blinded by greed will do anything.”
“Would you dare to do that to the Grand Duke? Huh?”
“I’m not like you!”
“What’s so different? You’ve only been here a year too.”
“Why are you so worked up? Feeling guilty about something?”
“What? You’re the one acting bold just because the Head Maid backs you up!”
“You little—!”
Just as Ivy was about to lunge at Anna—
“Stop right there.”
The familiar cold voice made us all snap our heads toward the door. The Head Maid was standing there with her usual stern face.
Startled, we quickly fixed our postures. Anna and Ivy also stood up straight, as if nothing happened.
But instead of scolding us for the noise, the Head Maid pointed at me.
“The Grand Duke wants to see you, Lillian.”
Gulp.
I swallowed without meaning to.
‘So it’s finally happening…’
Standing before Grand Duke Pellium, I tried to calm my racing heart. He sat in his study, leisurely reading papers, while I stood frozen.
Shuffle—
The only sound in the heavy silence was the turning of paper.
I fidgeted with my fingers nervously and remembered the question I had asked the Head Maid on the way here.
‘Um… what exactly does a personal maid do?’
The Head Maid had looked me over for a moment, then replied in her blunt voice:
‘Just follow the Grand Duke’s orders. Whatever they may be.’
It was an unusually vague answer coming from her.
‘Whatever he says…? What kind of “orders” does she mean?’
I tried to guess what the Grand Duke might want.
‘Based on a normal maid’s duties, his personality, and the media I’ve seen in my previous life…’
In my imagination, the Grand Duke rose from his chair, walked toward me, and roughly loosened his tie.
“How dare you say you like me? Then prove it.”
“H-How…?”
“With your body.”
“Noooo!!”
My face twisted and my fist trembled just from the thought. What started as a silly imagination had already run wild.
Tap.
At that moment, the Grand Duke finally put down the last paper he had checked.
“Lillian.”
Hearing my name in his low voice made my shoulders jump. It was the first time he had called me by name.
‘Do I… answer him?’
While I hesitated, he spoke again.
“Full name: Lillian Shields. The youngest daughter of the fallen Shields family. Your family collapsed and your relatives died, so you must have suffered a lot at a young age.”
…Wait. Lillian was a noble?
I had never known. Nothing about her traces or the way people treated her suggested that.
‘Did she hide it on purpose?’
Well, considering she was a spy, it made sense not to stand out.
“After that, you moved from one relative’s house to another. Still, you weren’t treated as just a servant, were you? Judging by how clumsy you were when you first came here.”
A strange feeling came over me. Her situation sounded so much like mine that it almost felt like that’s why I ended up in her body.
Tap, tap.
The Duke tapped the papers with his finger.
“Of course, you can’t judge a whole life from a few sheets of paper.”
He looked straight at me.
‘That gaze…’
It was the kind of look used to study reactions. I had seen it countless times in my past life.
But this time, there was no malice behind it. Just pressure and tension, but not cruelty.
“Hm…”
Another silence passed as he stared at me. I lowered my head, avoiding his eyes.
Finally, he spoke.
“Shall we begin?”
“……!”
My mind went blank.
The wild imagination from earlier came rushing back.
Clunk.
The Duke really stood up. And worse—he started walking straight toward me!
‘W-What do I do?!’
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Was it really like my imagination? Was he about to…? Should I run? But right now, Lillian was supposed to be a girl in love with the Duke!
He stopped right in front of me. I clenched my fists tightly, still refusing to open my eyes.
Any second, he would grab his tie and—
“From here… to here.”
“…Huh?”
I peeked my eyes open.
Instead of touching his tie, the Duke was pointing at something beside me.
‘…Bookshelves?’
The tall walls of the study were covered with bookshelves, stuffed full of books.
I tilted my head in confusion.
He explained calmly:
“Organize the books. Make them neat and easy to find.”
“…All of this?”
I gawked. The entire wall was lined with hundreds of books!
He chuckled lightly at my face and gestured.
“Oh, and the ladder is over there.”
Thud.
The heavy study door closed behind him as he left—leaving me alone.
“…Huh?”
What was this situation?
I had been summoned as his personal maid… only to be told to sort books?
‘Even if I have to do as ordered…’
This couldn’t be right.
Why would the Grand Duke give Lillian this kind of task, so suddenly?
“Wait—!”
Could this be a test?
Maybe he wanted to see if I would snoop around. Or maybe he hid secret papers among the books, like bait.
‘If that’s the case…’
There was only one way I could act.
I turned sharply to face the towering bookshelves, lips pressed tight.
Grabbing the ladder, I hauled it over with determination.
A few days later—
I realized something shocking.
‘Forget “bait.” I think… I’ve just been targeted by the Duke.’
Why? Let me explain.
“Cough, cough!”
On the first day, I did organize the bookshelves.
The books were heavy, the dust made me sneeze nonstop, and I had no idea how to arrange them. But I used my memory of working as a library helper back in school.
‘Back then, I only did it for the gift certificates… but who knew it’d help now.’
Turns out, no experience is ever useless.
When I finished, I actually felt proud.
‘Wow, it looks nice!’
I even laughed to myself, unaware this was only the beginning.
“The bedroom layout feels wrong. Change the furniture around.”
So, first thing the next morning, I had to rearrange every piece of furniture in his room. I had no idea what bothered him, but I did it anyway.
“There are wrinkled clothes in the wardrobe. Iron all of them.”
He hadn’t worn those clothes in ages, but I pulled them all out and ironed them carefully.
“There’s still pollen on this. Do it again.”
Even stricter than the Head Maid, he made me redo the cleaning over and over.
“Again. Again!”
I clenched the curtains so hard that my fingers cramped—then gasped in horror when I heard the fabric rip.
This was no ordinary curtain!
