Chapter 2

At that time — in the kitchen of the mansion, there were three figures.

Roy, the cook, had thick eyebrows and a strong-willed look in his eyes, and he was crossing his hairy, muscular arms.

Tombs was an old man with a peppered and salted short haircut.

"Why is Tombs here too?"

The other person was a maid with long blue hair tied back.

Her name was Mona.

Because their names, Nina and Mona, sounded similar, they became close friends as soon as Nina came to the mansion — it had been five years since they met, and Mona was now 20 years old, with her wedding set for this summer.

"Why are you here, you say? I heard that Nina was called by the head maid, and I thought something bad must have happened."

"That's right."

Mona spoke, her lips trembling with anger.

The vase in the treasure room had broken, and Nina was falsely accused and fired.

She had just learned this herself, as other servants were forbidden from saying goodbye to Nina.

When Mona finished speaking, the kitchen fell silent.

"......"

"——Hold it, Roy, what are you planning to do with that knife in your hand?"

Tombs grabbed Roy's arm as he stood up.

"It's obvious. I'm going to cut off that head maid's head."

"Don't be stupid, what are you thinking?"

"That's a good idea."

"Hey, Mona, don't be silly. Calm down."

Tombs tried to calm Roy, but Roy wouldn't listen.

"She must have broken it herself and then pinned the blame on Nina! People like her won't change unless they die!"

"Even if you kill her, it won't change anything, and Nina will be sad. It won't bring Nina back, and you'll end up hanged."

"Damn..."

Reluctantly, Roy put down the knife.

"...I'm so frustrated."

Mona began to cry.

"Why does Nina have to go through this... She worked the hardest and most diligently in this mansion..."

"Don't cry. Nina is the one who should be crying. By the way, where will Nina work next? If the gardener is short-handed, I'll volunteer."

"Hey, Tombs, that's not fair."

"You could raise your hand as a cook too."

"...You're right."

"Ah!"

Mona suddenly shouted, and Roy and Tombs covered their ears.

"O, o, o, that girl! She probably didn't get a 'letter of recommendation'!"

"What?!"

"——That damn head maid!"

"We should kill her, then."

Mona turned to leave, but Tombs grabbed her with his right hand and Roy, who had picked up the knife again, with his left.

There was a reason they were angry and wanted to leave.

Maids work in the homes of others, so they must be trustworthy and have a clear background.

A 'letter of recommendation' is the proof of this.

Usually, when a maid leaves a mansion, she receives a 'letter of recommendation'.

With this, she won't have trouble finding her next job, especially from a noble's mansion.

However, the head maid didn't write one.

Officially, since Nina was fired for breaking the vase, it would be strange to recommend her.

"Don't stop me, Tombs!"

"I'll kill her."

"Tha-t's not it! Getting violent won't solve anything! Calm down!"

Tombs tried to stop them while complaining to himself.

Ah — as soon as Nina was gone, this happened.

The reason Mona and Roy could work properly was all thanks to Nina.

In fact, Tombs, who worked on the ground, knew how much Nina was appreciated.

The gardener, cook, and maid, though they worked in different roles, often interacted.

The gardener prepared firewood for the kitchen, the cook prepared meals, and the maid set up tea parties in the garden.

Nina acted as the mediator in these small tasks.

She made everything run smoothly and made everyone's work enjoyable.

Her presence was subtle, and many might think that everything running smoothly was just normal.

"I'm suffering too. How will we manage the mansion's workload... It was only possible because of her."

When Tombs said this,

"Y-yeah... What are we going to do?"

Mona's face turned pale.

"She was dealing with a very picky mage, you know."

"Try your best, Mona."

"No way! She could even spot forgeries of the art pieces being sold! There's no way I can do that!"

"......"

"......"

Roy and Tombs looked at each other.

"......How did she develop such knowledge and skills...?"

"That's one thing, but more importantly, what will happen without Nina? We're just servants, but does the master understand how bad this is?"

"......"

A heavy silence fell over the kitchen.

△

"Hey, what do we do with this?"

"I don't think we need it, right?"

"True. It's just in the way, so let's get rid of it."

The note left in the hallway by Nina was taken by a maid and thrown into the incinerator.

"Wh, wh, wh, the vase broke!?"

The master of the mansion, Lord Markwood, returned home and, upon hearing the report, couldn't help but shout.

His slightly plump body made him look even fatter due to his short stature.

Though in his late 40s, his hair was thinning, and the wig he wore was slipping off due to the shock of the news.

The butler and the head maid, who knew the true situation, shrank back.

"Sir, your wig is slipping..."

"Don't talk about my hair! Explain this to me!"

The lord, who had hastily adjusted his wig, saw the vase, which was broken into pieces.

If it had only been cleanly broken, it might have been repairable, but some pieces were crushed, and others were damaged from being carelessly gathered.

"Well, actually, a maid broke it during cleaning..."

"Where is that maid!"

"Please rest assured! I fired her!"

"Idiot! Bring her here! I will punish her myself!"

"Wh-what..."

The head maid panicked.

She had falsely accused Nina and expelled her from the mansion, but hadn't pushed for compensation.

She had some conscience, or rather, she didn't want to deal with Nina's resistance.

She intended to make the lord believe that the problem was solved by firing the culprit.

However, the lord was not satisfied with this.

"Find the maid! Put a bounty on her!"

The bounty for Nina was set at "1 million gold."