Even though the Head Maid hadn’t said a word, Harvey already understood the situation.
No wonder he felt that the dinner was a bit too much earlier. Harvey had forced himself to eat it all only because he didn’t want to waste the Head Maid’s rare act of care.
Looking at it now, he had clearly misunderstood.
Ignoring the uncomfortable fullness in his stomach, Harvey quickly stood up.
“I’m sorry, I thought—”
Evelyn looked at him with a faint smile. “It seems you were very satisfied with dinner?”
Harvey nodded awkwardly. “It tasted great. Your cooking is wonderful, Head Maid. It’s just that the portion was a bit too large…”
He tried to brush it off.
“Large?”
Evelyn looked at him, her voice remaining calm, which made him feel more guilty than a direct scolding would have. “So, it never occurred to you that there might have been someone else’s portion in there?”
Her cold words made Harvey’s expression freeze. The second half of the sentence he had prepared in his mind died in his throat.
Had he just ruined the relationship they had finally managed to improve? No, it was that he hadn’t considered whether the Head Maid had eaten dinner at all. He claimed to want to get closer, yet he hadn’t truly cared about her needs.
Realizing this, Harvey’s face burned with shame. But more than the physical discomfort, it was the blatant awkwardness he had caused that made him restless.
“…I’m sorry.”
Harvey stopped making excuses and bowed slightly to her.
Evelyn looked at him, a trace of surprise flickering in her eyes. She had been busy all day, and this fellow was still making her worry. Yet, in a moment of softness, she had kindly left him dinner, only for it to end like this.
Although she was a Fairy, she had undergone Humanization and needed to eat to supplement her energy. However, she wasn’t used to human spices, so she would only prepare a very small amount for herself.
She had originally intended to use this incident to teach him a lesson. Now, it seemed the effect was quite good.
Evelyn intentionally kept a cold face, staring at him to further break down Harvey’s confidence. The room suddenly fell silent. The awkwardness was deliberately prolonged, weighing heavily in the air.
Eventually, Harvey felt like he could hardly breathe. Uncomfortable under her gaze, he added another sentence.
“I’ll go make you another dinner, Head Maid. Please, rest for now.”
Evelyn’s expression froze as she looked at him with hesitation. “You?”
“Yes.” Harvey nodded. “I can’t make anything complicated, but something simple should be fine. I can’t let you stay busy until now without even eating.”
This was also why he hadn’t stayed in the kitchen with the Noble Girl’s maid that afternoon. His rudimentary skills were truly nothing to boast about.
But after only two steps, his legs gave out. With a stumble, Harvey nearly crashed into a chair.
Evelyn reached out instinctively to steady him. The moment her palm touched his arm, she seemed to realize her actions and quickly withdrew her hand.
“You can’t even walk straight. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“My stamina just hasn’t recovered yet.” After steadying himself, Harvey forced a strained smile. “It’s fine. Please, sit down and rest.”
He added in a soft voice, “Besides, I’m the one who made the mistake. Can you give me a chance to make amends?”
Evelyn looked down slightly at the man who was pushing himself. She had originally intended to tell him to sit back down and that she didn’t need any meal he prepared. But seeing him like this, the refusal lingered on the tip of her tongue before she finally swallowed it back.
“Fine.”
She didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm, so she decided to humor him for a bit.
Harvey paused, and a spark of energy quickly returned to his eyes. “Alright, I’m going now.”
He wobbled over to the stove.
Dinner time had long since passed, but the kitchen hadn’t gone completely cold. The main stove still had embers buried within; a little stoking would bring the fire back to life.
Evelyn sat behind him, watching his back as he “worked” for her, and unconsciously pursed her lips. His movements weren’t smooth; they were even clumsy. He didn’t look like someone who spent much time in a kitchen.
He had caused her plenty of trouble and often made her feel bothered. Yet for some reason, watching him stumble around to make things right, the lingering tightness in her chest finally began to fade.
‘…Why?’
Evelyn frowned slightly. The feeling was irrational and unnecessary. She didn’t understand the complex emotions of humans and always found them troublesome.
The Duke hadn’t killed her; he had even reversed her fate as a Fairy. But in the end, she wasn’t human. That was how it should be.
“By the way,” Evelyn suddenly spoke again, “has the other Noble Girl moved in already?”
Harvey, who was bowing his head to start the fire, paused at her words.
“Ah.” He finally remembered the important matter and laughed bitterly. “Oh no, I forgot to report this to the Eldest Miss. They even used our ingredients just now.”
Evelyn watched him in silence. A new guest had moved in, used the Mansion’s kitchen, and even begun her daily activities. Yet the person responsible for receiving them had only just remembered to report it.
Her mood began to fluctuate again. She looked away and said flatly, “I have already explained the situation to the Eldest Miss.”
If she hadn’t, she feared she would drag this fellow to the Garden right now and begin his basic servant training.
Harvey didn’t sense the imminent danger and instead breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Head Maid.”
Evelyn didn’t respond. She glanced at the steam gradually rising from the kettle. “You had better not let the water boil dry.”
“…Am I really that unreliable?”
“Yes.”
Harvey turned his head, seemingly trying to find a trace of a joke on her face. But Evelyn’s expression was calm to the point of being cold, making it impossible to distinguish truth from jest.
So, he sighed helplessly.
“Speaking of which, does the Eldest Miss know her?” He continued the conversation. “Should we go and greet them? Do we need to send a Meeting Letter?”
After saying this, even Harvey couldn’t help but feel it was a bit absurd. They were already living in the same Mansion. Sending a formal Meeting Letter now, just to walk solemnly from one end of the hallway to the other, was simply redundant. He might even be mistaken for some weirdo.
He didn’t know why he said it; perhaps he just wanted the Head Maid to talk to him a little more.
But Evelyn didn’t take the bait. She didn’t feel such meaningless words required a response. However, seeing Harvey constantly glancing her way, she grew a bit impatient.
“If you still have the energy for such thoughts…”
Harvey blinked. “Yes?”
“…I hope that once tonight’s education is over, you can still maintain this mindset for tomorrow’s work.”
“…”
‘Where did I offend her this time?’
*
The Garden was quiet at night, and the breeze was cool. It was a perfect setting for two people to sit together and immerse themselves in the natural harmony of the silence.
At least, it should have been.
Harvey sat on the edge of the Mansion’s corridor, unable to catch his breath for a long time. This was the first time he had undergone the education course that terrified the maids. He was also the first to receive it while the Head Maid was in a bad mood.
A true hero.
After completing a set of training exercises that were practically corporal punishment, Harvey couldn’t tell if he was exhausted because he had overexerted himself during the day or because she had forced him to repeat basic movements in the Garden all night.
Regardless, even the ground looked inviting to him now. If it weren’t for the shred of male pride he had left, he probably would have just collapsed right there.
“…This woman is definitely using this as an excuse to settle a personal grudge,” Harvey muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately, the only response was the sound of the wind in the Garden. Once the lesson ended, Evelyn had departed with effortless grace. Only her words, “Your movements are too slow. We will continue tomorrow night,” remained in his mind like a curse.
At that thought, Harvey felt his future grow dim. Just then, a voice filled with clear dissatisfaction suddenly rang out in his mind.
‘Just how long are you going to dawdle?’
Harvey looked around in surprise. “…Hades?”
In the next instant—
The empty night sky before him was silently torn open.
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