Chapter 69

The next morning.

In one of the dining rooms of the Nelson estate, several maids were efficiently preparing breakfast.

On a 150 cm long table placed in the center of the room, silver plates and glasses had already been set.

Now, the maids were placing bowls of soup and freshly baked bread on these plates.

At the table, the usual four people—Ishtar's family and Ichirou—were seated, and Nelson and Ichirou were already discussing the progress of yesterday's work.

Among the maids preparing breakfast was Marie, who had started living in the Nelson estate two days ago.

Marie, slightly bewildered by the new environment, was diligently setting the table, following the instructions of Eira and the other maids.

Marie had worked as a maid at the Rousseau estate since she was a child, so the work itself was familiar to her.

The breakfast menu on the table had one portion that was slightly different from the others.

While the types of dishes were the same, the ingredients used were entirely different.

This one portion was for Ichirou, and the plates contained the retort soup and canned bread he had handed to Marie that morning.

A small amount of vegetables from the kitchen had been added to the soup to increase the volume, but the bread was still in its original state from the can.

As the dishes were being set, Lise was glancing at the faces of the other members seated at the table.

(These people... are they about to collapse?)

The other members waiting for breakfast all had tired faces, with dark circles under their eyes.

Only Ichirou seemed to have a bit of energy left, talking to Nelson about yesterday's work in the granary area with a cheerful tone, despite the dark circles under his eyes.

Ichirou had managed to sleep for about six hours the previous night, so his body was in relatively good condition.

Additionally, he had cooled the chocolate mint ice bars that had melted a few days ago in the refrigerator and consumed three of them as a super-sweet chocolate mint drink.

The sugar helped with his fatigue, and the fact that he had been able to enjoy a treat, even if in a disappointing form, made him feel somewhat energetic.

In contrast, Zirconia seemed to be on the verge of losing consciousness, staring blankly at the blue sky outside the window.

Her appearance clearly showed extreme fatigue and lack of sleep, and her complexion was slightly pale.

"Mother..."

"..."

"Mother?"

"(...The sky is beautiful...)"

Lise tried to talk to Zirconia, but Zirconia continued to stare at the sky without any reaction.

Lise's voice wasn't reaching her.

"Zir, Lise is calling you."

"..."

"Zir!"

"Huh!? Oh, I'm sorry. What is it?"

When Nelson called her name, Zirconia turned to him with a startled look.

"Are you okay? You look very tired..."

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Zirconia tried to put on a brave face, but it was clear she wasn't fine.

"Zirconia, why don't you take the day off? You look really exhausted..."

"No, I'm really fine. Besides, there's already a backlog of work, so I can't afford to take a day off..."

"..."

"How much sleep did you get last night?"

"..."

"About half an hour."

Zirconia muttered this awkwardly, and Ichirou and Nelson exchanged glances.

Half an hour is about an hour, and that amount of sleep was clearly not enough.

"Zir, take the day off. You'll collapse if you keep this up."

"..."

"Then, I'll take a break in the morning."

"No, you should take the afternoon off too. Get some proper rest."

"But..."

Zirconia responded with a pained expression, as if she couldn't afford to take a break.

She really wanted to crawl into bed and sleep, but the backlog of work was too much to allow her to take a break.

Over the past few days, Zirconia had been following Ichirou to Gricia Village and working in the granary area with him, causing the administrative work within the domain and the processing of reports from military and civil officials to fall behind.

While she had delegated tasks that could be handled by other officials, there was still a significant amount of work that only Zirconia could handle.

If she left the backlog unattended, it would cause a domino effect, delaying subsequent tasks, so she couldn't afford to take a break.

Additionally, Zirconia believed that the work related to the water wheel parts manufacturing, which Ichirou had directly instructed, couldn't be delegated to others.

As a result, she had no choice but to cut down on her sleep to handle the other tasks.

"Mother, let me help you with something. Even if I can't handle the administrative work, I can go to the site and check on the progress of the work."

As Zirconia was struggling, Lise suddenly offered to help.

Everyone looked at Lise with a "huh?" expression, as they hadn't expected this.

"Go to the site... Don't you have other plans? What about your scheduled meetings?"

"I'll send a messenger to cancel them. The domain's work is more important."

"..."

"Who were you supposed to meet today?"

"Um..."

Lise glanced at Eira, who was standing by the wall.

"Gunter Branden, a noble from the Gregorun domain, and Nibel Ferdinand, a wealthy merchant from the same domain, were scheduled to meet in the morning and afternoon, respectively. Both have been meeting for two consecutive days."

"Nibel... Ah..."

"..."

"Is that it?"

When Eira mentioned the names, Zirconia and Nelson seemed to understand something.

"Yes... Ah, no, it's not that I dislike Nibel..."

"Ah, calling him 'that'..."

Lise started to call Nibel "that" but quickly corrected herself, waving her hands in front of her chest.

However, from their reactions, it was clear that the three of them didn't have a good impression of Nibel.

Ichirou didn't know this, but the reason Lise couldn't attend last night's dinner was that Nibel had refused to leave the Nelson estate.

Lise had tried to end the meeting, but Nibel's inability to read the room was overwhelming.

In the end, Lise had to have dinner with Nibel alone, and she wasn't released until after 8 PM, making it a terrible day.

"Since you met him yesterday, it should be fine to cancel today's meeting. Kazura, would it be okay if I send Lise to the granary area in my place today?"

"That's fine. But the work is the same as yesterday, so it's not necessary for both of us to go."

"No, it's not just that... I was thinking of involving Lise in the administrative work soon. I'd like her to learn from this opportunity."

"Learn...?"

While considering what to do, Ichirou looked at Lise, who turned to him with a serious expression.

"I'll do my best to be of help. Please take me with you."

"Ah, you don't need to be so formal. It's not that difficult, so just relax."

When Ichirou agreed, Lise smiled in relief.

"We'll be walking around outside until the evening, so please wear something light. We'll have lunch on site, so please prepare a bento or something. I'll prepare my own, so just prepare yours individually."

"Understood. Eira, can you take care of the preparations?"

"Of course."

"Ah, Eira, wait a moment."

As Eira was about to leave to follow Lise's instructions, Zirconia called her back.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you last night, but I've decided to assign Marie and Eira as Kazura's attendants. Both will be living in the estate, so please feel free to give them any instructions."

"!"

Lise and Eira exclaimed in surprise at Zirconia's words.

"I didn't tell you, Lise and Eira... I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Ah, but Eira is my personal attendant..."

Lise looked extremely flustered, worried that Eira would be taken away from her.

Eira had been Lise's personal attendant since she was three years old, for a total of eleven years.

Eira had always been by Lise's side since she was a child, and there was no one Lise trusted more.

The thought of being separated from Eira was understandably distressing for Lise.

"No, I'm not taking Eira away from you. I want her to serve both Kazura and you. Marie is new to the estate, so I want her to work as an attendant while also guiding Marie."

"Guiding...?"

Lise looked slightly relieved but still anxious.

"Eira, I'll have a room prepared for you in the estate today, so please move in as soon as possible. You can use the estate's staff for the move."

"Move in..."

Eira's face contorted at the sudden order to move in.

Until now, Eira had been commuting from her family's home in the city of Ishtaria, about a 30-minute walk from the estate.

Depending on the season, her start time varied slightly, but she usually arrived at the Nelson estate around 6:30 AM and then headed to the courtyard where Lise was doing her morning training.

The change to living in the estate meant that it would be impractical to continue commuting.

Realizing this, Eira felt a sense of dejection.

However, Zirconia's orders were absolute, and Eira's family situation didn't make living in the estate impossible.

Her salary would also increase, so she decided to accept the order.

If the workload became unmanageable, she could always discuss it with Zirconia later.

By the way, maids have two days off in a ten-day period.

How they take their days off varies depending on their arrangements with their masters and the work schedules of other maids.

Some even offer to work on their days off in exchange for a salary increase.

"The terms of your employment will change, so I'll give you a document outlining the details later."

"Understood..."

Eira managed to respond to Zirconia's explanation, bowed, and left the room to prepare for Lise's departure.

Lise watched Eira leave with a slightly worried expression.

"Eira will still be your attendant, so you don't need to worry. If you and Kazura need to go separate ways, Eira will stay with you."

"Yes..."

"..."

Suddenly, Ichirou felt something was off about the conversation.

Something seemed subtly wrong, but he couldn't immediately pinpoint what it was.

By the time the breakfast preparations were complete, the four of them had started eating.

As the four of them began their meal, Eira was walking to the kitchen to secure ingredients for lunch.

"..."

When she reached the kitchen, she stopped and tilted her head.

(Didn't Zirconia say she would prepare a room for me in the estate? Was I mistaken?)

Usually, live-in staff members are housed in a dedicated building for staff.

This was also the case at the Nelson estate, where there was a separate building for staff on the estate grounds.

Eira nodded, thinking it must have been a misunderstanding, and entered the kitchen.