HPV 107

Extra 2 – 3

Hello. I’m Juna, a future top-tier maid of the kingdom ten years from now.

To tell you where I work now, I need to start with a bit of my background.

I was… well, I wish I had been a personal maid to Prince Dodio Hon Ekinair. But actually, I was his maid’s daughter. Since I was still too young to be officially hired, I just followed my mother to the palace and learned small chores in advance.

Looking back now, Prince Dodio didn’t have a great reputation. He was especially infamous for his fondness for women. Luckily, he didn’t touch women who were already married, so my mother was able to work without trouble.

One day, Prince Dodio was walking through the palace. I was at the very end of the line, hiding behind my mother and following along.

“Hey, lift your head.”

That was the moment I first saw the master I now serve.

The moment he lifted his head in response to Prince Dodio’s call, I blurted out without thinking, “Wow, so pretty…”

He looked like a fairy out of a storybook. I even wondered if he might be the young, beautiful High Priest I’d only ever heard rumors about. I thought he was a woman at first, but when I looked more closely, he was a man.

Prince Dodio must have fallen for him, too. But I never saw that person in the palace again after that. They said he left.

After that, Prince Dodio began acting strangely. He’d mutter to himself, sway as if drunk while staring into empty air.

“Yes… Lord Hankanera… I will obey…”

Prince Dodio using honorifics? I blinked wide-eyed. His voice sounded like he was possessed. Like he was sleep-talking…

My mother, the best maid I know, once said: sometimes we have to pretend we didn’t hear or see things, or else people like us won’t survive.

So I forgot about it. Wiped it clean from my mind.

Then, then…

Chaos broke out in the palace. Prince Dodio had committed treason. They said he tried to kill the Queen, his sister the Crown Princess, and his father the King.

Was Prince Dodio a bad person all along? The King, Crown Prince, and Princess were all such wise and kind people…

I was terrified. I thought my whole family would be executed just for serving him. Thankfully, we barely escaped deRead onath. We weren’t even punished.

But we could no longer work in the palace.

And that wasn’t all. No noble family would hire us. We were tainted by association, former servants of a traitor. They were afraid of angering His Majesty.

How would we survive now…? The only answer left was the temple. They say the gods even accept sinners.

Before we entered the temple, I got to see the High Priest I had only heard about in rumors. He looked like someone not of this world. It reminded me of the fairy-like person I had seen before. Maybe they were on equal footing?

Before taking us in as temple workers, the High Priest interviewed us.

He performed something called insight, he could read my thoughts. He reacted strangely afterward, which surprised me.

“Could this be fate…?”

He mumbled something I couldn’t understand, then said he’d find us work elsewhere.

And that’s how we ended up here, at the mansion in the southern domain of Chiacan.

First off, this is a very small mansion. Ten staff members are plenty. There aren’t [unauthorized copy]many tasks, so there’s less to memorize. We even get decent vacation time, and the pay is just as good as the palace!

There is a rule, though. You can’t stay inside the master’s mansion for too long. Once your assigned work is done, you must leave. Instead of living in the mansion, the servants stay in separate houses built at a distance.

Apparently, the further you are from your master, the better. So this arrangement isn’t bad. We don’t have to tiptoe around constantly, worrying about upsetting nobles.

The only downside is that if the master calls, we have to go all the way there. That’s honestly a pain. The master says I can come slowly, but I still run over with all my strength.

When I arrived for work today, the young master hadn’t woken up yet. Instead, the elder master was visible.

Today again… he’s crouched by the well? Washing a snow-white blanket.

Even crouched down, he’s so much taller than me, and scary. Especially those red eyes, which are so chilling I can rarely look him in the face. He’s built like a mountain, imposing… honestly, kind of like a monster…

I lingered at a distance, then moved away from the well.

It’s not just me, none of the servants approach the elder master. He doesn’t like servants, either. If you hover too close and annoy him, you’ll be in big trouble. My dream of becoming the kingdom’s top maid could be crushed.

But as a maid, how could I just stand by while my master got his hands wet?

The first time I saw the elder master doing laundry, clueless little me had stepped up and said:

“I’ll do the laundry!”

I thought I was going to die. I really thought he’d kill me with his eyes.

I trembled and nearly collapsed on the spot, almost made things worse. Luckily, the gardener passing by saved me just in time.

It’s not like he does all the laundry. He only washes a few clothes or blankets now and then. But why won’t he let us do it?

When I asked Mother, she gasped and thought for a moment. Then she smiled and said:

“Well, I guess laundry is his hobby.”

Hmm. Maybe I’ll understand when I grow up a bit more?

My hands are getting more skillful every day, on my path to becoming the kingdom’s top maid. Today, I even got assigned a whole study to clean! I dusted it thoroughly with a duster.

Oh! Lucky me today! The young master came into the study while I was cleaning. I hadn’t even finished yet.

I hid my excitement and bowed my head.

“I’m sorry. I’ll come back later.”

“No, go ahead and finish. Thank you, as always.”

Our young master is an angel… He could just ask me to bring the book, but he even handles small tasks himself.

He’s sitting on the sofa now, turning pages at the table. He’s so beautiful I can’t help but stare. His heart is just as kind.

That’s probably why even the scary elder master melts before him.

If there’s just one thing I find a little disappointing… it’s his hair.

When I first saw the young master at the palace, his hair flowed like silk, it was stunning. But when I met him again, his hair was short. He must have cut it.

“Why did you cut your hair?”

His hand paused mid-page.

…Did I say something wrong? I clutched the duster nervously with both hands.

Gasp, he saw me trembling and gave me a gentle smile.

“I cut it to forget the past. But now… I think I’ll grow it out again.”

That smile was so beautiful, my cheeks burned.

Suddenly, the door swung open. A large shadow filled the doorway.

I barely managed to hide behind the curtain in time.

“Wes.”

The young master looked up and stretched out his arm. The elder master lowered his head into that arm. Then the young master smiled and stroked his face, or pressed a kiss to his forehead.

I think he’s like a puppy. But I won’t say that out loud, I’ve got some tact.

“Why do you even read books? It’s not like they make you more capable.”

Ah, here it is. The elder master’s snide remark.

The young master’s gaze sharpened immediately. It’s starting.

“You’ve never read a single line, so why bother learning to read?”

“Well, you were so desperate to teach me, how could I ignore it?”

Every time they meet, they bicker like this. It’s more like a clever back-and-forth than a real fight. Both keep their wits sharp, but their eyes and lips are smiling.

If one of them fails to respond within a certain time, the other wins.

I secretly root for the young master. The win rate is about fifty-fifty. But don’t worry, he has a secret weapon!

He rattles off his argument, then before the elder master can reply—smack!—plants a kiss on his lips.

Then the elder master forgets what he was going to say and kisses him back. Auto-win. Look! It’s happening right now!

Smack, smack… the sounds are getting longer. That’s weird. It looks like the young master is the one getting eaten now. His cheeks are flushed red.

Then, the elder master turns his head, exactly in the direction where I’m hiding.

The fact that I didn’t scream or foam at the mouth right then shows how brave I’ve become, doesn’t it? But my legs are trembling. Honestly, I think I might faint…

I snuck out of there, ready to die.

Maybe because of my curiosity… or my weakness for pretty people… I’m starting to think being the kingdom’s top maid might be a bit of a long shot…

I’ll just make it home before collapsing.