The Male Lead Becomes Obsessed with the Wicked Maid – Chapter 7
With the Stealth skill, moving around secretly in the Duke’s estate was nothing. Getting out was even easier.
After selling a few baskets full of harvested goods, I ended up with far more money than I had earned in total up to now.
My rapidly rising balance had me humming a tune.
Hmph, feels like I’m rich in spirit too.
With my sturdy wallet in hand, I headed to the bookstore.
Do they even sell swordsmanship books here?
Thankfully, they did.
After looking around a bit, I found titles like “Basic Beginner’s Swordsmanship” and “Practical Knight Classes for Children.”
“This should do, right?”
Unfortunately, there weren’t any books that dealt with swordsmanship in depth.
No wonder the kid suffered so much on the battlefield. Hmph, should I raid the Imperial Library…?
I had never been inside the Imperial Palace before. But with the Stealth skill, sneaking in seemed doable.
I’d be a righteous thief. If Hider learns swordsmanship and contributes to the Empire in the future, then it’s a win-win.
Wait—why go so far?
Come to think of it, our own mansion had the “Duke’s Study.” As a high-ranking noble, there must be some useful books there.
I had seen Karte take books from there a few times.
I can just copy them and give them to him, right?
There should be a skill that helps with that…
Bingo.
[Love Letter Ghostwriting v.1]
I checked the skill description. Apparently, it let me write beautifully and quickly.
Wait. Does this mean I’ll have to ghostwrite love letters later too? I’m seriously doing everything.
Well, at least it’s useful. That’s what matters.
By the time I returned to the mansion with the books from the store, it was already late. Perfect. A chance to sneak into the Duke’s study.
At this hour, the study was always empty. Ever since I possessed Lani’s body, I hadn’t seen Sornia or Karte reading even once.
They always made others do their homework, too—go figure.
Kiera the Duchess did such a great job raising them! Tsk tsk.
Anyway, thanks to all that, sneaking into the study at night wasn’t hard.
It felt like the whole world was helping me.
After preparing Hider’s dinner, I also handed him the books I bought.
He said those were enough, but since it was the first thing he’d ever asked me for, I really wanted to do better for him.
I made a simple sandwich and activated my Stealth skill. Honestly, I might as well keep it on all day.
I entered the study without a hitch.
And there it was—the jackpot. A treasure trove of books just waiting for me.
Wow. As expected from a duke’s household!
I lit a lamp, laid the books on the desk, and pulled out a stack of promising titles. Starting with the one on top:
“The Most Important Basics of Swordsmanship.”
Nice. The title sounded promising. The real value is always in the essentials.
I opened the book and began transcribing.
Thanks to the skill, it only took me about an hour to copy nearly 300 pages. Just as I finished and was closing the book—
[A new skill is updating. 88%]
Huh?
Skills can update too?
Does that mean I’m getting a new one? I’d never seen anything like this before.
[Teacher’s Demeanor v.1]
[Patience v.1]
[Home Education Is Trending v.1]
I found myself blankly staring at the status window.
What is this supposed to mean?
Would I be teaching someone now? Sure, I was rumored to be the best at sewing and needlework in the mansion…
That was because I did everyone else’s work, though.
Are they telling me to teach the other maids? Not even a speck of interest in doing that!
While I was still confused, the status window shifted again.
[Update Complete. 100%]
[Basics of Swordsmanship v.1]
…Excuse me?
As I mopped the floors, I hovered around Hider, who was reading the books I gave him and practicing swordsmanship.
That’s not how you do it.
It should be sharper and smoother there…
“…That’s wrong.”
I muttered under my breath.
Somehow, knowledge that would make Hider slap his forehead in delight naturally floated into my mind.
Even though I used to be completely clueless about swordsmanship. Long live skills.
Meanwhile, thanks to my skill buffs, my mopping was polishing the wooden floor until it shone like marble.
Ugh. I can’t take it anymore.
I threw the rag to the floor. I mean, why else would they update a skill and hand it to me?
Obviously, they want me to use it.
Hider probably needs my help! Learning the wrong way early on can be harmful later!
“What’s wrong, Lani? Is there a problem?”
The usually stoic boy furrowed his brows at my sudden outburst.
“Yes! A lot of them!”
I roared, pouring in all my frustration from the past three days. Hider stared at me in shock.
He dropped his wooden sword, and I snatched it up immediately. Manners? Not on my mind right now.
“Lani! What are you—”
“Like this, like this! Not like that!”
My body moved naturally, demonstrating the skill with fluid, graceful motion. It felt like I had suddenly become the greatest swordsman in the world.
Who knew I could do this? Is confidence a secondary skill?
Even Hider seemed stunned as he called my name carefully.
“…Lani?”
Still under the skill’s influence, my mouth moved on its own.
“Here, it’s better to thrust upward from below rather than reverse-thrusting! The sword manual says so!”
I grabbed the manual off the desk and thrust it in front of Hider’s face.
He flinched and stepped back. I unconsciously stepped forward. My frustration had apparently morphed into fury.
“Here! Look here, young master. Does this look like a reverse thrust to you?”
“Lani, wait. Just a minute—”
“And then here—Hyaah!”
Because he had nowhere left to retreat, Hider stumbled backward onto the bed. I instinctively grabbed his waist to stop him from falling.
[Girl’s Super Strength v.8]
Finally, all my saved-up skill points paid off.
“Careful, young master. You might get hurt like that.”
He blinked, now gently resting in my arms.
Up close, I realized again just how pretty he was. Not just anyone can be the male lead, after all. That face had a promising future.
The closer I looked, the more handsome he seemed. No eyelash perm, but they curled up naturally. His gem-like eyes sparkled underneath.
And though he barely saw sunlight, his skin was pale and flawless.
His elegant nose, lips slightly parted in surprise—everything came together in harmony.
Seriously, that’s the kind of face worth feeding and dressing up. Hard to believe this boy would one day destroy the entire Duke’s house.
Hider flushed bright red, lips trembling. He suddenly pushed me away and plopped onto the bed.
“W-what are you doing?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? I was helping you.”
“No, not that… You… looked at me with those eyes…”
“My eyes?”
Was I staring too intently? I rubbed my eyes just in case.
Hider sighed and picked up the sword manual that had fallen to the floor. He covered half his face with it and muttered,
“…Forget that. But how do you know swordsmanship?”
“Well, that’s because…”
I glanced at my status window.
[Basics of Swordsmanship v.2]
The proficiency I earned from transcribing helped level up the skill. I hadn’t even swung a sword before, and now I was already at this level. Talk about cost-efficiency.
Plus, just swinging once earlier had added +10 to my skill points.
This system window really seems intent on turning me into a swordsmanship instructor.
