Chapter 34

Then——one month later at the Markwood Manor.

"Hey, Mona. Looking at you like that, you seem like a town girl, don't you?"

"Is that a compliment?"

Mona, the maid at Markwood Manor, had taken off her maid's uniform and changed into casual clothes, and she had come to the kitchen.

There, she was spotted by Tom, the gardener, who was drinking tea.

"Yeah. You've worked hard. Take this as a parting gift."

Roy, the cook, emerged from the back, carrying a fragrant aroma.

The bag he handed over was still warm.

"These are cookies!? Wow, I'm so happy. My siblings will be thrilled if I give them these."

"Hide them when you leave the house. I made them using the house's inventory."

"Don't worry, it won't be found out."

Mona opened the bag and immediately popped a cookie into her mouth.

Tom, who was looking at her enviously, was warned by Roy, "Don't give any to the old man, got it?"

"I know, I know. ...But, Mona, didn't they try to persuade you to stay?"

"Well, yeah. But I was already set to get married back home, so there was nothing to be done, right?"

"That's true. But if you leave, the manor will be short on maids, won't it?"

Tom, the gardener, lived in a small cottage in a corner of the garden and rarely entered the manor.

"I don't care. It's like they say, 'rust comes from within.'"

"It's been a month already. The day the envoy from the Walthier Principality left was quite a commotion."

One month after the Markwood Earl ordered the butler to investigate—the butler had heard various things even without bringing information to the Earl.

The maids' performance at the Izumi Mine.

When the Earl heard about it, he was furious and demoted the butler to just a butler, and fired the head maid and several other maids.

Of course, he didn't write any letters of recommendation.

"Of course. I didn't know either, but Nina had written down everything about her job, and they burned it? That's just stupid. And they even reported it proudly to the Earl, which is worrying for the maids' heads."

"That was intense. I was about to go to the Earl for something kitchen-related, but I could hear him shouting down the hallway. He was so angry that he even threw his wig on the floor."

"Wow, that's intense..."

"Well, the manor is much cleaner now that the stupid maids are gone."

"What about you, Roy? Are you still staying here?"

"No, I'm planning to leave by the end of the year. Actually, a friend offered me a job. He runs a big restaurant in the Freiden Empire, and he wants me to be the chef there."

"Wow! That's amazing! Being a chef means you're the top of the kitchen, right!?"

"Pretty much. ...But what about you, Tom? What are you going to do? It's no use staying in a declining manor like this."

Tom, who was asked, put down his teacup and said,

"I'll stay as I am. I don't have the energy to move to a new place now... If my body stops moving, I'll move to my son's place."

"...I see. I always appreciated your skills as a gardener."

"That's true. It's hard to find a gardener as good as Tom."

"Stop it, old man. Compliments won't get you anything. But, Mona, shouldn't you be going? You'll miss the carriage if you don't leave soon."

"Oh, no! You're right. Well, both of you—goodbye. I wish you could come to my wedding, but I guess that's impossible. I'll be happy!"

Mona said this with a bright smile and left the kitchen.

"...Shouldn't you tell that to your parents?"

Roy said, and Tom replied,

"Well, to her, we were like male parents."

"Hey, old man, that's one thing, but me too?"

"If you don't like it, get married quickly."

Roy shrugged in surrender.

"As for Mona... she probably wanted Nina to come to her wedding the most."

"True, but there's no point in saying it now, old man. Still, I wonder where she is and what she's doing."

Outside the kitchen's back door, bright sunlight was shining.

Both of them thought of the small maid who used to come in and out of there frequently.

And both of them thought the same thing.

They probably wouldn't meet such a maid again.