The Maid And The Young Mistress

At the same time.

With a serious expression, Ciel was thinking about the answer to one grave question that had arisen in her heart.

(Why is Lady Mythia so adorable?)

The trigger had been something that happened a few hours earlier.

As lunch, Mythia finished the mutton stew Ciel had made in the blink of an eye.

After having two more servings, she said happily,

‘The stew Ciel makes is the most delicious.’

Those words struck deeply at Ciel’s heart.

What overwhelming daughter power.

Even the common sense formed over a long life was blown away without a trace, like a sandcastle before a storm.

(Lady Mythia is dangerous, precious, far too adorable…!)

Ciel swayed dizzily.

After basking for a while in happiness as she savored that ideal motherly memory, what came back to her was the time before she met Mythia.

Eight years ago.

It was the day Ciel was taking the employment examination for House Lumiore.

Having lost her parents and younger sister at a young age, Ciel had no relatives, and at noble household employment examinations, her family situation was often viewed with suspicion.

‘Maidservants without families often cannot endure it and run away.’

Because of that prejudice, Ciel kept failing employment examinations.

No matter how hard she worked to complete the tasks she was given, the only thing she was told was, ‘We cannot hire you.’

‘That girl did the best work, though.’

‘Someone can keep up appearances for a day. If she runs away, we will be held responsible.’

‘We simply cannot hire a girl with no family.’

There had even been times when she overheard the butlers in charge of interviews saying such things.

It was frustrating, painful, and heartbreaking.

She wondered why she alone had to go through something like this.

There were even nights when she felt as though she were the most unfortunate person in the world.

It was on one of those days that she took the employment examination for House Lumiore.

(It is hopeless anyway… no, that is no good. I just have to do the best I can.)

As Ciel brushed aside her weakness and cleaned the dirty storeroom in the annex, the person who spoke to her was a young woman.

“Would it be all right if I relaxed here for a bit? I have been busy lately and I am tired.”

Apparently, she seemed to be a senior maid.

“That is fine.”

There was no reason to refuse.

If a senior maid was watching her, it was a chance to show off how she worked.

As she removed the old cobwebs, she carefully wiped the tops of the dusty shelves.

“You wipe even places like that?”

“Since everyone else is not doing it, it is a chance to stand out.”

“But if you spend too much time on tiny details, might that not cause trouble later?”

“That part depends on looking at the overall balance. After covering the important, noticeable spots, I judge things like whether I can spend about this much time on a corner like this. Also, I use as a standard how the person who entrusted me with the work is thinking. This time, I was given plenty of time, so I thought it would be better to do it carefully down to the details.”

“That is amazing. You think about so many things.”

“Not at all, not as much as you, Senpai.”

“Senpai…?”

The senior maid tilted her head slightly.

“Ah, I am sorry. Calling you Senpai even though I am still in the middle of the examination was rude, was it not?”

“No, I do not mind. More importantly, I would like to hear about you.”

“About me? I do not mind.”

The senior maid seemed to have taken an interest in Ciel.

She did not know why, but it did not feel bad.

Ciel answered honestly what she was asked.

She briefly considered the option of lying about her family, but decided against it because it seemed like it would become troublesome later.

“Thank you. It was enjoyable hearing all sorts of things. See you.”

Even after the senior maid left, Ciel continued cleaning carefully.

She felt that she had done work she could proudly say was not shameful no matter who saw it.

She was told the result of the employment examination several hours later.

‘This time, we would like to refrain from hiring you.’

The result was failure.

The butler in charge of hiring did not even enter the room Ciel had cleaned. He only looked at it from far away for a few seconds.

(Ah, the result had been decided from the beginning.)

Ciel’s shoulders slumped.

It made all her effort feel foolish.

Her vision warped.

She squeezed her eyes shut firmly, telling herself that she must not cry.

“Excuse me, may I have a moment?”

It was then that she heard the voice of the senior maid she had spoken with while cleaning.

From the atmosphere, she could tell that the butlers straightened their backs at the sight of the woman who appeared.

“Young Mistress, why are you here?”

“Young Mistress…?”

At Ciel’s dazed words, the senior maid put her index finger to her lips and narrowed her eyes with a grin.

“I have one favor to ask. Would you hire this girl? As a maidservant assigned to me.”

That person was the young mistress of House Lumiore.

From her, Ciel learned the common sense and principles necessary to work as a maidservant in a distinguished house.

“Why did you hire me?”

Once, she became curious and asked.

“I wanted a maid I could trust. Many people are secretly influenced by someone behind the scenes. Setting aside those noble household entanglements, I wanted someone who would stand on my side. For me, and for my daughter.”

It seemed that she had wanted to hire Ciel in order to make her the caretaker of her daughter, Mythia.

“The other children have grown up within the common sense of noble houses and turned into people lacking kindness. At the very least, I want only Mythia to grow into a good child.”

However, Mythia, whom she came to serve as caretaker, was a thoroughly selfish girl.

“I cannot eat something this defective! It is not delicious at all!”

Her tyrannical behavior, to the point that the maidservants assigned to her had changed again and again, was just as the rumors said, and Ciel desperately endured the urge to give up and continued to care for her sincerely.

The effect appeared around the time she turned five.

Mythia became like a completely different person, and Ciel could only stand there in a daze at the words spoken to her.

“I am truly grateful to you, Ciel. I am sorry for all the selfish things I said until now. From now on, I will not say selfish things anymore. If you do not dislike it, I would be happy if you would stay by my side from now on as well.”

(That Lady Mythia…! She became such, such a good child…!)

It felt as though there was a miraculous moment there that could only be experienced by someone who had continued to face her sincerely.

Love that deepened by overcoming hardship.

From then on, Ciel was captivated by her charm.

‘Thank you, Ciel! I love you!’

At the sound of her lively voice and her smile, even painful things were blown away in an instant.

“Lady Mythia is truly adorable. She stretches herself and reads lots of difficult books and says such grown-up things. But the way her sleeves are too long and how she often trips are exactly like a small child, and she is just so precious it is dangerous, you see. Recently, I have even found myself thinking maybe having a child would feel like this, or maybe this child is actually my daughter—”

Having said that much, Ciel suddenly covered her mouth.

“I am sorry. It is strange to say something like that to you, Young Mistress, is it not?”

“No, it is fine. I am happy that you care so much about that child. Please tell me many things from now on as well. Thoughts of that child alone are the joy that keeps me living now.”

After that, Ciel continued secretly telling the Young Mistress about Mythia.

Even after it was discovered that there was a problem with Mythia’s magical aptitude and she came to be confined in the basement of the annex, their quiet exchanges continued.

“Young Mistress, Young Mistress. I have today’s precious Lady Mythia news.”

She was the one who had found Ciel when no one had needed her.

The time they spent together was still deeply engraved in Ciel’s heart even now.

The dusk shining in through the window.

The door to her room, left open just a little.

Her mistress, Mythia, was saying something before the mirror with refined gestures.

“The plan has entered its second phase. Concealed by the evening darkness, we act to change the world. All for the profound and exalted plan. The world is now about to fall into my hands.”

After striking a pose with a theatrical step, Mythia suppressed a small smile and said, “Hehehe, I am so cool…”

(I hope your Lady Mythia is spending her days happily today as well.)

Carried on the cool breeze blowing in through the window, Ciel wished that thought would somehow reach her.