Chapter 31: The Personal Maid’s Intimate Service

The fourth day.

After seeing her tutor’s unusual state the previous day, Tia prepared a small box of exquisite tea leaves for her — it was Margaret’s favorite blend.

However, before she even reached the Garden, she ran into her tutor in the hallway.

“Tutor, I brought — huh?!”

Before she could finish her sentence, she was stunned by the woman’s appearance.

“Tutor, what happened to you? Why isn’t your hair even brushed?! Your dress looks like it was just thrown on, and those dark circles under your eyes…”

Margaret raised a hand to rub her bleary eyes and let out a massive yawn, looking dazed as if she hadn’t woken up yet.

“Oh, you mean this? I actually just woke up.”

Tia was even more surprised.

“Eh? But it’s already 3:00 PM…”

In her memory, this Etiquette Tutor had never once overslept! Let alone slept until the afternoon!

“3:00 PM?”

Margaret repeated sluggishly.

Then, her eyes snapped wide as if she had been splashed with ice water, and she cried out, “Oh no!”

‘I knew it,’ Tia thought.

‘She’s late for the sisters’ training.’

However, the reality was the exact opposite of what Tia imagined.

Margaret stamped her foot heavily and shouted in absolute agony, “How… how is it only 3:00 PM! Why are there still four hours left until the end of today’s training!”

Eh?

What did she mean by “four hours left until the end”?

‘Is training Viola and her sister really that painful for her?’

Tia scratched her head, unable to figure it out.

But seeing how distressed her tutor was, she decided she would come back tomorrow to ask about the situation.

***

The fifth day.

“Eh? Tutor, why are you here? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

After searching for a long time, Tia finally found Margaret in a corner of the Garden.

She was currently hiding under a tree, hugging her legs.

She looked like a little girl who had been terribly mistreated, looking completely soul-crushed.

The moment she saw Tia, she glanced around nervously for a moment before beckoning her over.

She leaned into Tia’s ear and whispered, “Young Lady, I’ll tell it to you straight.

Those two little girls… they, they are actually devils!”

“Devils?!”

Tia was bewildered.

Before she could think further, Margaret continued, “I told them long ago that their etiquette had already reached the standard and they were ready to be your Personal Maids. But they kept muttering that it wasn’t enough, that they aren’t worthy of you yet.”

“There are only twenty-four hours in a day, yet every time I see them, they are wide awake. It’s as if they don’t need to sleep at all.”

“I suspect they are demons from hell. ‘Personal Maids’ is just an excuse they want to use to torture you, so I think it’s better to kick them out—”

“Tutor?!”

Before she could finish, a light, sweet voice echoed from the back of the Garden.

Immediately after, a familiar figure appeared before Margaret.

Viola lifted her skirt slightly and smiled.

“Tutor! So this is where you were. Could you see if my movements are up to standard?”

“Standard! It’s standard!”

Margaret nodded emphatically, her pupils filled with an inexplicable fear of some sort of creature.

Her voice held nothing but flattery.

Tia’s mouth twitched. she stepped in front of Margaret, shielding her from the “demon’s” assault.

“Forget it. The training ends here. From now on, the two of you are my Personal Maids.”

Viola was startled and said anxiously, “Eh? But we…”

“Enough. Have some confidence in yourselves!”

Tia patted Viola on the shoulder, interrupting her.

She gave the girl a look of affirmation.

After a moment of hesitation, Viola gritted her teeth and accepted.

Afterward, they lived a happy and beautiful life — or so one might think.

Ever since Viola and Lily became her Personal Maids, Tia felt extremely awkward.

No matter where she went, they would follow, maintaining the most elegant posture of a maid at all times.

It didn’t help that Tutor Margaret had taught them some rather… troublesome etiquette.

***

Inside the bathroom, Tia looked at the warm water in the tub, which was currently wafting with white steam.

She clutched the collar of her dress and spoke softly.

“I’m going to take a bath now.”

“Mhm.”

Viola and Lily nodded silently behind her, their expressions solemn as if they were about to step onto a battlefield.

Tia pursed her lips and continued, “I’ll be naked, you know.”

“Mhm.”

“I’m very shy.”

“Mhm.”

‘I have no choice.’

Tia sighed and asked, “…Are you two not going to step out for a bit?”

Viola shook her head, an excited glint appearing in her eyes.

“No, this is what a Personal Maid should do. Don’t worry, Miss, our scrubbing technique will be very gentle!”

“What do you mean ‘gentle’?! Who wants you to scrub them?! Get out!”

After violently booting Viola and Lily out of the bathroom, Tia rubbed her temples weakly.

She was starting to regret making them her Personal Maids.

After all, she wasn’t actually the Daughter of a Count.

As a motivated youth from the 21st Century, having two beautiful maids serve her in the bath and take care of her daily life still made her blush with embarrassment.

‘It’s too intimate!’

—

In an inconspicuous villa on East Street in Hela City.

A burly man wearing a black eye patch handed a teacup to a middle-aged man, his tone quite subservient.

“Master, please have some tea.”

The middle-aged man took the cup, took a sip, and then looked up at him.

“Do you know why I’ve come to see you?”

“I know. It’s because I didn’t pay you on time.”

*Clang—*

The teacup landed on the table with a crisp sound.

“Since you know, why didn’t you do it?”

The middle-aged man’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was filled with a terrifying sense of pressure that caused sweat to break out on the burly man’s forehead.

However, he was the leader of a gang after all. After wiping his sweat, he said calmly, “Master, it’s not that I didn’t want to. It’s just that two of my underlings went to collect a debt and haven’t returned yet. I’m afraid they met with an unfortunate end.”

“As their boss, I’ve had to spend money recently to appease their families and hire people to investigate their whereabouts. I really can’t produce the money right now…”

Seeing the middle-aged man’s eyebrows twitch, the burly man quickly added, “Fortunately, the investigation has turned up some leads. I know where they went. I’m going to settle the score with them immediately, and then I’ll double the payment for you.”

After he spoke, the room fell into a dead silence.

Only the sound of faint breathing could be heard between them.

A long time later, the middle-aged man snorted coldly.

“After all that talk, don’t you just want me to go with you?”

Seeing this, the burly man’s eyes lit up.

The middle-aged man seemed extremely dissatisfied on the surface, but the thug knew this meant he had agreed.

If he were truly angry, he would have taught him a lesson long ago.

The burly man rubbed his hands and smiled flatteringly.

“Heh, isn’t it all because of your prestige, Master? Everyone knows that as long as I have your name behind me, even an Inquisitor would have to think twice before touching me.”

“Hmph. Who are these two people?”

“Don’t worry. They’re just two little girls without a father to look after them.”

“Don’t let there be a next time.”