Chapter 4
“Are you all right?!”
Betty came running over with wide eyes, having flung the tray with breakfast straight onto the ground.
This is so embarrassing…
Of all times to get caught like this…
“What were you doing out here? Why weren’t you inside? Did you collapse in the end? Are you dizzy? Is your anemia acting up?”
Completely unaware of my humiliation, Betty was hopping around in a panic as if she were the one who had fallen over.
I awkwardly made an excuse.
“I—I was trying to split some firewood…”
“You, Your Grace? With those tiny, delicate, pale, soft hands? With arms more slender than the handle of a hatchet?!”
“…?”
Was that a compliment…?
“This is unbelievable! Firewood, of all things! You look like someone who’s never lifted anything heavier than a teaspoon in her life!”
“……”
No—definitely not a compliment…
I never knew Betty could talk this fast.
She was usually such a quiet girl who just brought meals without a word…
“Haa… anyway, please get up.”
When I just blinked at her, Betty yanked me up as if pulling a radish from the ground.
Despite her chubby cheeks and petite build, I could feel how well-trained her triceps were.
Oh… she’s really solid.
I glanced down at my own arm.
Just as Betty said, it looked as thin as the handle of a hatchet.
“……”
For some reason, a deep sense of defeat washed over me…
“Y-yeah. Thanks…”
I managed a faint smile.
Knock, knock.
“Ma’am. It’s Betty.”
“Oh—yeah.”
Soon, the cabin door opened and Betty appeared again, holding a tray.
“I’ve prepared breakfast again.”
“Thank you…”
Earlier, during the brief firewood incident—
I’d slipped and rolled around on the muddy ground, completely ruining the clothes and hair I’d just changed into that morning.
With an air of I can’t believe I’m seeing this, Betty had scolded me in a roundabout way, then swiftly heated water and scrubbed me clean.
As an adult, this was the first time in my life I’d been so thoroughly washed by someone else. It was already my second humiliation of the day, right after falling on my backside while chopping wood…
And yet, now Betty was back to being her usual taciturn self, as if none of that had happened.
…Well, just enjoy it.
You can’t beat someone who’s enjoying themselves.
Besides, soaking in warm water and slathering on fragrant oils was luxury of the highest order.
Once I decided to think good is good, my mind felt much lighter.
Then came breakfast once more.
Food!
When I lifted the silver cover on the tray, a delicious-looking salad greeted me again today.
Next to it were cherry tomatoes, oatmeal, a bit of grilled duck, and even a pretty sunny-side-up egg.
It was a perfectly balanced, textbook-healthy meal.
Considering that one possible reason I’d died in my previous life was my utterly ruined eating habits—passing out drunk and all—that was a relief.
Looks delicious.
As I blinked and picked up my fork, I noticed Betty, standing beside me, flinch for some reason.
Now that I looked closely, there were little flecks of snow resting in her brown hair and on her shoulders.
Feeling a bit guilty, I stood up instead of eating and brushed the snow off her shoulders.
“Thanks for bringing this all the way here again, especially when it’s snowing. Wasn’t it hard?”
“Oh—no! Not at all! This is my job.”
“Still, on a snowy day like this, the path must be slippery…”
“It’s really fine.”
Well… remembering her solid triceps and well-defined forearms from earlier, something like this probably was nothing to her.
Still, that didn’t mean I should take it for granted.
“Betty, you’re very kind.”
Thinking of how maids attending nobles were probably in the same position as graduate students who had to obey their advisors without complaint made my heart ache a little.
I decided to leave the small madeleine that came as dessert for her.
Then I sat back down and raised my fork again—
But for some reason, Betty stood at the table, her face completely red, hesitating.
“…Is something wrong?”
She looked like she had something to say, so I gazed up at her curiously.
“M-Ma’am!”
“Yes?”
“Um… about the library you asked about the other day…”
“Oh.”
I liked being alone, but I was getting bored.
A few days ago, I’d asked Betty if she could bring me something to read, and she told me there was a library in the main building.
However, it had been neglected for a long time and needed cleaning…
“Did you finish cleaning it?”
“Well… actually, right now there aren’t enough hands at the ducal estate. Everyone’s really busy, and I am too…”
“I see.”
“So it’ll probably be difficult for you to use it anytime soon.”
“Hm.”
I speared a tomato with my fork and popped it into my mouth.
Its refreshing juice burst across my tongue.
“Then I’ll clean it myself.”
“…Pardon?”
“What’s so hard about that? Can I go after I finish breakfast?”
“You’ll clean it yourself, ma’am? With that delicate body? Goodness! Just holding a duster would make your arms fall off!”
“……”
What do you even think I am…?
“O-of course, it was also you who made this place so nice in just a week. I was peeking now and then and was really surprised—”
“You were peeking?”
“A-ah, no! I mean, I’m your maid, so I need to be your hands and feet, so—anyway! Please be careful with axes…!”
Sensing she’d said something wrong, Betty abruptly clamped her mouth shut.
I hid my slight embarrassment and protested.
“Earlier was just… because the axe was heavy.”
“I can lift it with one hand.”
“……”
Damn it. I lost to daily-life muscles.
Still, if I kept doing garden work, wouldn’t I eventually escape these skinny twig arms—even if I never reached Betty’s level?
After all, I had personally turned this cabin into something decent in just a week.
So maybe I could handle cleaning the library too?
It wasn’t the same as chopping wood.
Just as I was about to stubbornly press Betty again, she spoke first, her lips twitching.
“Could you… please not go to the main building?”
“Why?”
“Well, even if you ask… um, how should I put it…”
She seemed to be desperately trying to phrase things in a way that wouldn’t hurt me.
“You can be honest. Why…?”
“Please don’t ask for the reason! Anyway, I’m saying this for your sake. It’s better if you don’t go to the main building.”
Betty looked truly uncomfortable.
I nodded as if I understood and asked,
“I see… then can I chop firewood?”
“……”
The cautious look she’d had just moments ago vanished instantly, replaced by a fierce glare.
With her cute face and small frame, she reminded me of a Maltese—but her presence was closer to Cerberus.
Sweating nervously, I asked again,
“So that’s not allowed either?”
“Of course not! What kind of duchess consort would—!”
“But there’s really nothing else fun to do…”
“…N-no! Even if you look at me with those rabbit-like eyes! I—I…!”
“?”
Rabbit…? Me…?
I didn’t really want to imagine what I looked like in her eyes…
But honestly, aside from chopping wood, I had nothing to do, and if even that was forbidden, the day would be unbearably boring.
Cleaning the library and reading books would be perfect.
Why was she so determined to keep me away from the main building?
Was it because of that tall, big, broad-chested man who told me not to draw attention?
“Is it because of His Grace the Duke? You’re worried I might catch his eye, and you’d get in trouble?”
“……”
“If that’s the case, I won’t go.”
Right. I couldn’t put Betty in a difficult position because of me.
I could find some other way to entertain myself.
Just as I carefree thought, ‘Then maybe I’ll go climb the hill behind the cabin…’—
“That’s—that’s not it!”
