Chapter 16

The basement level of Blackwood Manor. The etiquette room.

We’d been dragged here after our brawl in the dining room’s preparation room, with no time to come up with an excuse.

Presently, all four of us were kneeling on the floor, listening to Head Maid Melissa’s lecture.

Well, it’s more accurate to say that we were forced to listen.

“Wh-what…. what’s all the fuss about?!!!”

The head maid, with vocal cords that sounded like they had been flamed by a dragon, lectured other maids and I.

With her hair pulled back in a bun, she lectured us in a high-pitched voice that could have echoed throughout the mansion.

We, the lowly maids, had no choice but to listen to her sermon, and there was no escape.

“You are all disappointments as ladies and as maids!”

I don’t know her exact age, but she was probably in her mid-40s or early 50s.

The reason why I don’t is because there was no official information. Even if I had played over 2000 hours of Luminor Academy in my previous life, I couldn’t possibly know something that the company hadn’t revealed.

“Lilith! Are you listening to me?!!!”

“Yes, ma’am, I’m sorry!”

Wow, shit. I thought I felt my heart drop for a second.

You don’t yell in my ear just because I was distracted.

At this point, I’m just grateful that Melissa wasn’t the main character.

If her voice had been added to the game, I’m sure there would have been more than a few people who would have been startled during gameplay.

After yelling at me to get my attention, the maid returned her gaze to the four of us and continued her loud sermon.

The sermon, which started with the basic posture of a lady, continued tirelessly for an hour.

‘Oh, my legs hurt….’

I’d been kneeling for an hour already; my calves were cramping and my whole body was tingling.

Luckily, the garlic odor in my mouth was gone after I’d discreetly used Clean.

If I’d had to sit in that position for an hour while enduring a biochemical attack I caused on myself, I’m sure I would have lost my mind much earlier.

“…As maids of the Blackwoods, we must always remain calm, noble, and steadfast in our duties….”

Melissa continued her sermon for another 30 minutes, then scanned each of our faces one last time.

As if to confirm that we were listening, she began to call each of us by name.

“Ariana Lawrence.”

“Yes.”

“Alicia Hayes.”

“Yes.”

“Catherine Lane.”

“…….Yes.”

“Lilith Rosewood.”

“…Uh, yes….”

“All of you will sweep the floors of the hallways of the first floor of the mansion and clean the stables for a month.”

Oh, no. I’m fucked.

As if the three days of kitchen help I’d already had weren’t enough to kill me…

Apparently, sweeping the ENTIRE first-floor hallway floor wasn’t enough, and now I have to clean the stables?

Not to mention, I’ll have to do that with those two bitches, Ariana and Alicia?

I was dazed by the transfer of duties that no one in their right mind would accept.

Just as I was about to offer my opinion on the changes, Ariana interrupted me and stuck her snout in.

“Excuse me, Head Maid Melis-….”

“Head Maid Melissa. Please reconsider this personnel move and disciplinary action.”

Made a move, but she’s one fast bitch.

If I interrupted Ariana again and spoke, it would only make the head maid’s impression of me worse, so I lowered my hand and kept quiet.

If I remained patient, I was sure that the opportunity to speak would come again somehow.

“Ariana.”

“Yes, miss.”

“Are you suggesting, then, that there is some injustice to my command?”

The head maid looked at Ariana with narrowed eyes at her statement.

Her face didn’t change, and she began to insist that the head maid’s discipline be modified.

“I think you’re absolutely right and justified in your disciplinary action, Head Maid. However, I think you’re making that judgment because you don’t understand that Miss Alicia and I were unwillingly involved in an unfair fight.”

…That bitch is the real deal.

Can you see how she’s already getting to work, as if she’s some cunning fox?

An unfair fight? Even though she’s the one who slapped Catherine first?

On top of that, what about the bitches who beat me up in a two-on-one?

Given the setting, it took every ounce of restraint to keep me from unleashing a torrent of curses.

Ariana’s shameless and deceitful assertions continued to unfold in the etiquette room.

“Then do enlighten me.”

“First of all, I would like to inform you that the violence that occurred today occurred as a result of Alicia and I calling out Miss Lilith Rosewood on her attitude towards her work.”

“…neglect of duty, you say?”

“Yes. Miss Lilith Rosewood has not performed a single proper kitchen duty since the day she was transferred to the kitchen three days ago.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Lilith, be quiet.”

“…….”

I was about to interrupt Ariana’s rambling when the head maid interrupted me.

I kept my mouth shut for now and waited in silence to see what Ariana would say.

“What do you mean, Ariana, by not being on duty in the kitchen?”

“Alicia, Catherine, and I have been working in the kitchen together for a while now, so we’ve been running efficient shifts. Normally, the maids start at 6:00 a.m., but given the time we had to prepare breakfast and the time the cooks had to leave for work, it was our normal routine to come out at 4:00 a.m. every day to trim the vegetables.”

“Go on.”

“But Miss Lilith Rosewood claimed that she didn’t understand our working hours, and she never showed up at 4:00 a.m. on any day, and even after she arrived at 6:00 a.m., she continued to be negligent, even leaving before her break, even though she hadn’t done much work herself.”

“So you’re telling me that you pointed out Ms. Lilith’s insincere work attitude to her and that a fight broke out in the process?”

“Yes, ma’am, and I’d like you to focus on Ms. Lilith’s fault rather than ours.”

“For that remark, can you be held accountable?”

“I will take responsibility for it.”

“…I, for one, agree with Ariana, Head Maid Melissa.”

…I just can’t stand those bitches.

I come in two hours early every day to get all my work done, and what, I get accused of dereliction of duty?

Alicia’s shameless agreement with Ariana’s lies almost made me spit out the profanity that had filled my mouth to the brim.

She even tried to covertly recruit Catherine to her side.

She can roast Catherine all she wants later, but for now, she’s going to make sure I get screwed over somehow.

Calm down, Lilith. If you lose your temper here, you lose…

…and to be fair, I haven’t recruited Catherine to be on my side yet.

“Catherine, do you agree with those two?”

“…….”

She hesitated, kept her mouth shut, and kept her head hanging low.

Perhaps she’s conflicted about her own attitude.

After all that she’s been through with Ariana, it would be natural for her to give in to her instincts and side with her.

At least, it’s more natural than coddling a lowly maid she’s only known for a few days.

In any case, Catherine is currently mistaking me for a noblewoman from some other place.

If so, there was a chance she might not be so eager to agree with Ariana.

After all, I had already done enough persuasion… not intimidation… on her earlier today.

“Uh…I….”

“What?”

“I-I don’t agree with Ariana…ma’am.”

“Is it fair to say, then, that you’re arguing that Lilith has been faithful in her duties?”

“Yes, ma’am… W-Well, rather, Lilith…. d-did what us three were supposed to do…. b-because she did everything….”

Despite her fragile nature, she somehow defended me and didn’t fall for Ariana’s seduction.

I’m glad I didn’t end up being outnumbered three to one in a popularity contest.

I apologize, Catherine, for calling you a stupid maid who pisses in front of her juniors. It was all in my head, but I apologize anyway.

I’m glad she somehow found the courage to speak up, and that she was spared the worst that could have happened.

Now it was my turn to save her somehow.

Well, it’s more like pulling her out of a sinking ship.

“Then there’s a disagreement since Ariana’s and Catherine’s claims are contradictory.”

“Catherine is merely lying out of sympathy for Miss Lilith, Head Maid!”

“No, Head Maid. Senior Catherine is correct, and I can elaborate further on that.”

“…Go on, Lilith.”

Lilith’s right to speak was somehow secured by Catherine’s refusal to agree with Ariana.

It was a precious opportunity, and I had to capitalize on it.

I had to prove my innocence, and most importantly, I had to get to the part where Ariana had gotten off on the wrong foot.

“Every single day since the day I was transferred, I’ve been at work at 4 a.m. to trim the vegetables, and from that time until 6 a.m., the other seniors didn’t show up to work, but merely left me to do the work… not to do it themselves.”

“When you say seniors, do you mean including Catherine?”

“Yes. I’m not lying about that fact.”

I deliberately looked at Ariana to emphasize the word ‘lying’, and then went straight to the defense, this time to save Catherine alone.@@novelbin@@

“Senior Ariana and Senior Alicia are the ones who made me go to work at 4 a.m. alone. Catherine is weak-minded, so she had no choice but to agree with them. In fact, she came to work an hour earlier than the others this morning to help me with my work, even apologizing to me for overworking me so far.”

“Is that true, Catherine?”

“Yes, it is…. Head Maid Melissa.”

She didn’t lie.

Catherine indeed came in earlier than usual to help me in the kitchen, and she did apologize for overworking me.

Of course, the reality wasn’t as simple as I’d just described it.

“In line with that, I’m accusing Senior Ariana and Senior Alicia of unjust dereliction of duty.”

“For that remark, can you take responsibility?”

“Yes. Also, I would like to request that Senior Catherine, who was injured while shielding me from Senior Ariana’s unwarranted violence, be held accountable for my statement as well.”

“Hmph.”

Head Maid Melissa alternated her looks between Catherine, Ariana, Alicia, and me.

After looking at each of the four of us once, she nodded once and opened her mouth.

“If one of the claims is true and the other is false, then I’m afraid we can’t decide on the level of discipline to be imposed at the moment.”

“….What?”

“Head Maid Melissa, Miss Lilith is lying….”

“So we’ll continue the disciplinary process on this matter after dinner, and the four of you should return with evidence or witnesses to corroborate your statements.”

“…Evidence or witnesses?”

“If you don’t have any, you’re welcome to come back as is. However, if one of you has more solid evidence or witnesses to back up your claims than the other, we’ll adjust the discipline accordingly.”

“…….”

“…….”

…Ariana… I didn’t think a little punching of that bitch would get this serious.

At this rate, that bitch is dragging my meal prep operation to the brink of destruction.

It was at that moment that I realized that at least one of us was going to be severely punished.