I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Chapter 13

Catherine Lane.

One of the senior maids who began working at Blackwood Manor a year before Isabelle and I.

In other words, she was one of the three bitch-ass seniors who had been fooling me, leaving me to handle the kitchen chores alone.

“.......”

“Hehehehe...!”

She freaked out, tears streaming down her face as soon as she made eye contact with me.

Why on earth do I keep getting unwanted guests in the kitchen today?

I never thought she’d come out this early to spy on me.

“Senior Catherine, right?”

“Yes, yes.... That’s right, miss...”

“...miss...?”

“Oh, no.... So sorry, miss.... I’m sorry....”

“......?”

I was surprised to hear her talk to me respectfully out of the blue, but she apologized to me, bowing even lower.

Even though she seemed timid, I didn’t think she was the kind of person who would be respectful to a junior maid.

Then again, until yesterday, she spoke to me both casually and semi-formally. I can’t help but be puzzled by her sudden change in demeanor.

Catherine Lane.

To be honest, she was a non-existent character in the original game.

It wasn’t until I started working in the kitchen that I realized she existed in the first place.

She had never appeared in the main story of Luminor Academy, not even in the sub-story, not even in Lilith’s exclusive route, and not even in any of the other releases or aggregates of the game.

She was, most likely, never even depicted in the official illustrations.

If there is any trace of her there, it’s probably with her as a background character in a cutscene somewhere with no face.

So when I saw that there was a character like this next to Ariana and Alicia, I was a bit surprised.

Unlike Catherine, at least the first two characters were people you’d encounter along the Lilith route.

In Luminor Academy, these bitches were maids who sympathized with Ethan to harass Lilith and to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t escape.

Now, while I’ve seen Lilith’s ending dozens of times, and their names and likenesses were familiar to me, I never noticed that Catherine was ever around the two.

Perhaps she left just before the main plot for various reasons or something.

Whatever the case may have been in the original, from the impression I have of her now, she’s a character I honestly don’t care for.

To me, she was one of the three senior maids who had slapped me to do their work.

In the long run, the two would likely prove to be more of a nuisance to me. In any case, she wasn’t much different from the other two.

...Or, in a sense, maybe she was a little worse.

Especially in that, she’d been snooping around behind my back as she doubted that I’d done a perfect kitchen job for two days straight.

“Senior Catherine.”

“Yes!”

“What brings you to the kitchen at this time? If I recall correctly, isn’t the seniors’ start time six in the morning?”

“I apologize.... I apologize, Ms. Lilith....”

“...Ms. Lilith?”

“Oh, no.... Li, Ms. Lilith....”

...I can’t seem to get any sort of conversation going.

Every time she says something, she’s wringing her hands as if she’s some sort of mortal sinner, and I can’t get the conversation going.

I think the first thing I need to do is find out why this senior maid is placing herself below me.

I thought it would be best to clear up the misunderstandings one by one.

“I’d like to ask you something first, Senior Catherine.”

“Oh, don’t say it, Miss....”

“What on earth are you doing? Besides, you’ve been talking politely to me since a while ago, and you weren’t until yesterday, were you?”

“Uh, until yesterday.... because I hadn’t realized that Miss Lilith was a noblewoman....”

Mind you, this is a kitchen maid and a babysitter.

It’s a good thing I had Clean. Without it, I would have had to mop up the stinking liquid myself.

Washing a pee-soaked maid’s uniform would have been impossible.

It was a generous gesture on my part to wash the maid’s clothes. I had a vague sense of guilt that I’d made her break down by yelling at her.

“Senior Catherine.”

“Please stop talking to me....”

“We’ll talk about it later, after work, and don’t awkwardly call me some weird title like “Miss”.”

“How dare I do such a thing to a noble lady....”

“...If you don’t want to do it, then don’t do it.”

“......!”

Catherine nodded her head urgently as she finally understood what was being said.

I think I finally have a better idea of how to handle this timid maid.

I now realize that she never gets anything the first time, so the most effective way to communicate with her is to speak firmly and forcefully from the start.

There are two main misconceptions she has about me right now.

One is that she thinks I’m not a maid, rather, that I’m some noble lady from somewhere posing as a maid.

The other was that she thought that Ethan and I had taken care of the work she had left behind.

It didn’t really matter if the second misconception was correct or not, but the first was better left unsolved.

I’ve already been caught using magic, and there’s no point in glossing over that part.

It would be more effective to keep the misconception of my nobility alive and use that as leverage to shut them up.

“First of all, the fact that I’m a noble isn’t something that should be known to others, so don’t let them know, Senior Catherine.”

“You’re ......?”

“Don’t ask why. If you’re not careful about it, the next time information about me being a noble leaks out somewhere, I’ll naturally be the first to suspect you. ...I’m sure it wouldn’t be very pleasant for a mere maid to go head-to-head with a noble.”

“I’ll never tell anyone, Lady Lilith, I swear!”

“If you really care about hiding it, you should drop the title, and revert to your normal manner of speech immediately.”

“Uh, how...how could I....”

“...Do it.”

“Hmph!”

Catherine reflexively grabs herself between the thighs in surprise.

Still, her straight-faced style of speaking had worked to some extent, and the next words that came out of her mouth weren’t a bunch of titles and honorifics.

“Oh, okay.... Lilith....”

“Well done, Senior Catherine.”

“.......”

I’m a little uneasy about that, but that should be enough to keep her quiet for now.

I’ll have to pull her aside after work today to discuss the details.

Right now, I’ve got today’s worth of veggies to chop, so I don’t have time to waste on a leisurely chat with Catherine like this...

“............ah.”

An involuntary sigh escaped my lips as soon as I saw the time on the hourglass.

The number 5 was already clearly visible, and the number 6 was starting to become semi-transparent.

With the sound of footsteps outside in the hallway, I could tell that the maids were getting ready for an early breakfast.

I’d spent too much time thinking about Ethan’s hunger, and then Catherine popped in, and now I’d lost track of time.

The time on the hourglass indicated that it was less than half an hour before the other two senior maids were due to arrive...

...and I hadn’t even started on the vegetables that needed to be prepped.

“Oh, this is going to be crazy....”

30 minutes until Aria and Alicia got to work.

I somehow had to get all the vegetables prepped in that time without raising suspicion...

...and with only this one sorry-looking maid to help.