The Peaceful Life of a Maid Who Hides Her Power and Enjoys It

<Episode 59>

 

In the middle of being guided to the bedrooms, I almost habitually entered Rue’s bedroom together with him.

 

This was the aftermath of using the same bedroom at the noble council meeting.

“Miss Daisy, would you like to sleep with me? Well, I did consider going over to your side at night. It would be more convenient for us to wake up on time if we share the same bedroom.”

 

I ran down the hall with the maid before being turned into a joke.

Rue was a vicious demon who would milk my mistake at least 10 times if he caught me. Let’s behave well.

 

It was quiet that evening.

After finishing an early dinner without the master of this mansion, it became even quieter.

 

‘We’ve arrived. I couldn’t ask about Viscount Weatherwoods, and I couldn’t deliver the head maid’s letter.’

 

Who knew the old man would recognize Rue?

‘The blueprint of the Imperial Treasury is here. There seem to be many strange things in this manor.’

 

At least tonight, it seemed that there won’t be any need for me to commit thievery. Maybe I should do some digestion and investigation at the same time. As the thought came to mind, I immediately took action. 

 

I might be dragged to the palace if I sneaked into the vault, but investigating here should be just considered silly and fine. First, I checked the overall structure of the second floor. Then, I started checking each room… 

 

What was this? As soon as I opened the first room, I came face to face with Lenya, who was busy with household chores in the corner.

 

“Ah! Miss Daisy, do you need anything? You only have to ask. I’ll bring it to you.”

 

It was a failure. I looked at the clothes and bedding piled up on the table near her, and asked casually, as if I hadn’t been spying around,

 

“Ironing?”

Lenya blushed and nodded shyly at her work.

 

“Yup!”

 

Mhm.

 

A maid knew another maid’s struggles best.

Ironing was not an easy task, and it was one of the household chores that took up a lot of time. She couldn’t afford to spend time on ironing when she was busy taking care of her elderly master who’d collapsed. 

 

I started spreading out the unironed clothes on the floor, one by one, in the order of ironing. Fortunately, the floor of this room was sparkling clean, allowing me to spread the clothes without any difficulty.

 

“D-Daisy? W-what are you doing?”

“Just wait. I’ll show you paradise.”

 

After spreading them all nicely, I took the iron from Lenya. It was a spherical one, and quite heavy.

 

Whoo.

I took a slow deep breath, and focused.

I began to imagine.

 

This was the enemy camp where over 30 demons had gathered. I had to cut through them with a single strike and help my friends who were in danger.

 

‘I’m going to cut them.’

With full energy.

Like this!

 

The iron stretched forward like a sword and returned in a horizontal motion. At the same time, a white steam rose from the fabric into the air. The moist sensation on my skin wasn’t unpleasant. 

 

Was it done? I opened my eyes. 

All the wrinkles on the fabric had disappeared in the blink of an eye. This was the technique of ironing dozens of pieces of fabric at once.

 

I called it the Devil’s Ironing.

 Clap clap clap! 

Lenya, who recognized the true value of the Devil’s Ironing, applauded me.

 

“W-wow! That’s amazing! It would have taken me at least an hour… what’s your secret?”

“Grit.”

“Grit?”

“And stamina. There’s nothing you can’t do if you don’t have grit and stamina. Do you want me to teach you how to train your body? First of all, 200 push-ups every day to build basic physical strength….”

 

“Now, hold on! Please wait here for a moment! I’ll go get a pen and paper! I want to write it down!”

 

Lenya, excited, left the room, careful not to step on the clothes.

In fact, this ironing method wasn’t available to me in the Weatherwoods. Because the head maid forbade it.

 

“Miss Daisy, if even a tiny part of the bedding gets burned, I will deduct your salary by the same value as the bedding. Please, just work normally.”

 

The Head Maid who didn’t appreciate the beauty of the Devil’s Ironing. I felt sorry for her. Having a friend in the same industry who understood me was such a good feeling.

 

Friends.

“Friend.”

 

Hmm. The way the word rolled off my tongue spread a strange feeling within me

Looking back, it had already been more than three months since I started living as Daisy.

 

In the meantime, I built many relationships with people as Daisy. The head maid, Rue, the assassin-butler, the old potato-seller, the market merchants, Yeager and Volkwin…

 

‘Even if you struggle, your life and relationships still go on.’

I was waiting for Lenya, folding the lined clothes one by one when I felt a strange presence stopping in front of the manor. I identified it by looking out through the window.

 

Two men.

“Miss Daisy! Huff, I’m ready to take notes now, so let’s-”

“Miss Lenya.”

“What is it?”

 

But the energy of these two was unusual. More specifically, it was hostile.

 

“Are you and the grandpa criminals, by chance?”

“W-what? No, we are law-abiding Imperial citizens who settled in the Empire 15 years ago…”

“Or maybe you have someone you’re on bad terms with.”

 

Her answer had to be cut short. I asked again, keeping my gaze outside the window.

 

“Do you have someone like that?”

“…The lord gets along with his neighbours and sometimes plays with their children. He’s a friendly person. He’s only enemies with those from Mephisto’s army.”

“Really? So are those two over there just your friends?”

 

Lenya, who approached, carefully checked out the window. The two disgruntled visitors waited still, ringing the bell of the manor.

 

“No, I’ve never seen them before. Wait, I’ll go down and chec-”

“Don’t go.”

 

I grabbed Lenya by the arm. Then I conveyed my intention clearly.

“They give me a bad feeling. Let them go back.”

“But…”

“The old man is unconscious too. If they have important business to do, they’ll come back.”

 

Lenya, who was looking at me with a questioning eye, soon nodded slowly.

 

‘I normally wouldn’t care about it.’

 

Perhaps it was the way I’d confirmed the royal vault’s blueprint. And also,, after considering Lenya’s words, it felt somewhat ominous. 

 

After that, the two men, who had been standing in front of the mansion for a long time, turned around and went back on the way they’d come from.

It wasn’t until midnight that they reappeared.

 

* * *

 

The assassin’s steps were stealthy.

The ability to completely eliminate any trace of presence was the most fundamental skill of an assassin. When crossing a fence, they had to be lighter than the fluttering wings of a butterfly. When climbing a wall, they had to rise with the delicacy and speed of a flowing wind. Taking a life too had to be done calmly, as if they were sending the other person to sleep.

 

These were the basics of basic, and the assassin’s skills went a step farther.

“You check the ground floor, I’ll go upstairs.”

“Roger.”

 

He was confident that he could control his every breath, even his heartbeat. He had always completed the missions given to him, and today would be no different.

 

‘This is where the Weatherwoods are funded from.’

 

Her mission was to kidnap the 70-year-old owner of this mansion.

Truthfully, the assassin was quite displeased with today’s mission.

 

The Weatherwoods had been the target of their guild’s scrutiny for nearly 4 years.

 

As members of aristocratic society, there was a highly secretive treasure concealed within this historic family’s house. At the behest of their client, the guild had been diligently investigating both the treasure and its owner.

For the investigation, the guild employed its usual methods, as there were no additional requests beyond that. Although the employees frequently changed, and the presence of magical traps being installed within the mansion made control challenging, the mission had continued without significant issues. However, complications began to arise in the mission about three months ago.

 

‘Two assassins have gone missing.. No, was it three?’

Ever since the new maid and cook were hired.

Before the guild realized it, the assassins who’d been sent to search the Weatherwoods mansion began to go missing. Among them was even an excellent assassin with a 100% mission completion rate.

 

The guild had combed through Midwinterre to find them, but there was no trace of missing assassins anywhere.

 

‘The Weatherwood family is quite suspicious, to say the least.’

 

 And they were not just your average suspicious household. The enigmatic figure known as ‘Gray Weatherwoods,’ whom they were certain would never appear, suddenly showed up out of nowhere and then vanished like a ghost. 

 

Not to mention, The Viscountess from the Northern Continent Union had suddenly appeared as well. Furthermore, according to the information provided by their client, the maidservant was said to be a survivor from Queen Island, while the cook’s background remained unclear.

 

Even the employees themselves are far from ordinary in this strange household.

 

‘When I complete this mission, I’ll ask them to exclude me from any missions related to the Weatherwoods.’

 

Meanwhile, a new request had come from the client. The job was to kidnap a Mr. Malcolm Joe from Westwinterre. The close connection between Malcolm and the Weatherwoods could be figured out only after 4 years of investigation.

 

And in this old red-roofed manor lived only an old man and a young maid.

However, the fact that the maid did not appear even after ringing the bell in the afternoon meant she had significant suspicions about outsiders. The assassin pressed against the wall, carefully inspecting the left corridor on the second floor. Now, it was time to fulfill the mission.

---

 

The Midwinterre labor association might run out of business if this keeps up. All the maids and servants are being sourced by her, and it seems like two more are about to join the list.