CH 11

I never thought that after the sorry state I left Third Prince Ludwig in, he’d decide to get engaged to me. If I don’t do something, Father will get angry or I will have to marry that perverted masochistic prince.

Well, Ludwig is only 9, and I’m only 8. The engagement may be annulled in the future. And if the engagement with the royal family was annulled, there would probably be some damages paid to the Margrave Carruthers, but if it was between ordinary nobles, it would be normal to have an engagement annulled without much fanfare.

The problem is how to get him to naturally break off the engagement without any fault on our part. It’s no joke to marry such a kid when I haven’t had any of that “tee-hee, haha” time yet.

Nonetheless, it would be difficult to suddenly break off the engagement even though it has not been that long since it was decided. I still don’t know what to do about the other side, and from now on, I have no choice but to investigate Ludwig little by little and guide him towards successfully breaking off the engagement on his end. Haste is waste, after all. Let’s go slowly and carefully.

Putting that aside, my older brother, Friedrich, seemed to have gone to a school in the royal capital before I knew it and had left the Margrave’s manor. It seems that he’ll live in a mansion in the royal capital while going to school.

I was completely unaware of that. This house is a little strange. From my point of view as a Japanese citizen, we’re a family but it doesn’t look like a family at all.

But, that’s also good. I didn’t want to be close to Friedrich and we weren’t even that close, so the fact that he’s left is an irrelevant story. The problem that concerns me is that with Friedrich’s disappearance, it seems that the surplus personnel will be handed over to me.

Until now, Friedrich had received various intensive forms of education as the heir to the Margrave and lived surrounded by dedicated butlers and maids. Of course, it seems that Friedrich’s favorite people went to the royal capital’s mansion with him as his attendants, but in our home territory, the resources that had been allocated to Friedrich until now have become redundant. It seems that resources were allocated to me, who had never had a single maid before, as a way to make use of that personnel.

“Ufuh… ufufufu!”

This is bad. I can’t help but smile. With this, I will finally have a dedicated maid. If it’s as a light novel usually goes, I’m sure a cute maid apprentice will stick with me this time!

I was walking down the corridor feeling so excited that I almost started skipping.

“Now then, Flora, you can choose which one you like,” Mother said.

“Mother…” I said.

Mother summoned me and we were in a room in the mansion. Before us, there were people in butler and maid uniforms… in a row? It was a lineup.

In order from one end to the other, there was a young male butler, an old maid who seemed to have reached senior age, a maid who was older than Emma, and… huh. That’s all of them…

What? Where did all the young ladies go?

I turned to Mother.

“I can tell what you want to ask, Flora,” Mother said, sighing. “But, you get it, don’t you, Flora?”

Ah, I see now… the young maids must have been serving my older brother, Friedrich. In other words, they’re like mistresses to him. Naturally, it’s only those favorites that he’ll take with him to the royal capital. The only people left here were those who Friedrich thought he didn’t need.

Naturally, the old maids and a male butler who did not like Friedrich were left behind. Furthermore, even if I say that the people left behind by Friedrich are free to serve me, not all of them will ultimately end up with me. It’s a bad way to put it, but I’ll have to share resources with my second brother, Georg.

If the family members could choose to serve me or Georg, they would naturally choose my brother Georg. Among them, those who Georg thought he wouldn’t need were passed on to me. Friedrich takes the young and cute maids, and Georg takes priority over the better of those who remained. There can’t be any young and cute maids left once they reach me.

Damn it all! I was a fool for expecting even a little bit of good to come out of this!

Well, it’s fine. I don’t want Friedrich’s secondhand maids. Even if they’re a young lady, I can’t have a good time with her when I can’t help but think of my brother getting his hands on her first. I want to have “tee-hee, ha-ha” times with a more innocent, angelic girl who has no ulterior motives! I don’t want a maid who’d sell her body to flirt with my brother!

“Fuuh…” I said, letting out a breath. “So, why did you choose to work for me? I’ll consider you once I hear why you chose me.”

Butlers and maids in this house are not forced to work. Of course, you can choose the master you serve to some extent. However, to put it simply, it’s similar to job hunting in Japan.

After interviewing with dozens of companies and just choosing a company that seems to be good for the time being, there are only a handful of people who actually have a definite reason when asked about their reasons for applying. Most of the interviewees come up with reasons that seem to be the same, but it’s one of the reasons I’ve given them in interview after interview, such as the job content seeming good, because the salary is good because it seems convenient for the commute, and so on.

Butlers and maids are the same things, and they are well paid, so there is no clear intention or reason for just being a noble’s butler or maid. Rather than serving an eccentric master, I’d rather serve a master who’s a little better, but I think the main reason they chose me is that I’m a child, so it’d be easy to hand them over to me.

“Lady Flora, my name is Helmut, and I am in desperate need of money,” the young butler said. “And even if I serve Lord Georg, I will stay here when he goes to the capital in two years. From the beginning, I wish to serve you, Lady Flora, for I can work for you the longest.”

Hey, hey, that’s just too honest… Helmut is the only male butler here. He looks young and handsome. However, do you usually say to someone you’re going to serve from now on, “I chose you because I desperately want money and I want to work for you because you’re the longest I can work for”? Since I’m a child, I think it was okay to be treated like this… but, I don’t think I’m fine with it.

Helmut is looking straight at me. There’s probably something wrong. I don’t know if he’s lacking the words or if he doesn’t mean to explain it, but I think Helmut has something more serious than what he’s letting on now.

The fact that he needs money in the first place is what’s bugging me. You need to be highly educated to become a butler or maid. It’s not an easy job that ordinary people can do. A highly educated person who has received specialized education to become a noble servant cannot be a poor person or a commoner who cannot afford an education.

The fact that Helmut would say something like this so openly means his money woes must be dire. He’s not good at socializing because he doesn’t have enough of a vocabulary for it, but if he’s trying to tell the truth without hiding anything, that’s a pro for him.

Well, I still don’t know what sort of person Helmut will become. I still can’t get rid of the niggling feeling that he said something so blatant because he thought I was just a child or because he’s just an idiot, so he’s someone to observe.

“I am Isabella,” the old maid says. “I was actually thinking of retiring, but… I’m already exhausted from taking care of naughty boys… but finally, I’ll be able to take care of a girl who’s as old as my grandchildren. With you, I think I could keep serving a bit longer.”

So that old maid is Isabella. You’re also being too honest here! What’s going on with these guys? Well, in Isabella’s case, I guess it’s because she thinks it’s okay if she doesn’t get hired. I guess she really thought she was going to retire at this age if this interview falls through, just as she said.

However, I’m not that old and I’m a girl, so it’s pretty convincing to say that she thought it would be okay to continue being a maid, after all. If I had no female maids, it will be inconvenient, so I need someone to accompany me. It’s true that I want to have “tee-hee, ha-ha” times with a young and cute maid, but maybe the one I can rely on is a veteran maid like Isabella.

“I am Agnes,” the second old lady said. “Umm, I am… uuh… ah! That’s right! I want to protect young girls! That’s why I want to serve you as your maid, Lady Flora!”

Yes, that smells like a lie. I can’t trust this old lady named Agnes. My impression is that she just chose me because I was a child and thought it would be easy to serve me. Her future would be safe if she followed my older brother Friedrich, who was seen as the next head of the family. However, if Friedrich doesn’t need her, that future is cut off, and even if she serves Georg, the chances of him becoming the head of the family in the future are low.

If that was the case, it seems that she was prepared to serve me, the eldest daughter, for a few years and receive a little more salary in turn.

If Friedrich becomes the head of the family, Georg will be reduced to the status of a vassal, so it will be difficult to serve Georg later. There will probably be a lot of people who will leave after dropping to vassalage, so if that happens, the number of years they can work is short.

In comparison, even when one of my brothers takes over for Father, I will be in the Margrave Carruthers’ manor until I am given away as a wife. Whether it’s my father or my brother, from the perspective of the head of the family, I’m a woman, so I can be used as a tool for a political marriage, so I should be taken advantage of by our house until I am to be married off.

Hence, if consider that future, it is highly likely that you will be able to work safely for longer than serving Friedrich or serving me. If Georg becomes a vassal, those who intend to quit their jobs and go elsewhere will probably choose Georg, but if they want a secure future, they should choose Friedrich, and if they want to continue working easily for a long time, they should choose me.

The master they all want to serve in this family is Friedrich, the next candidate for the Margrave Carruthers. And those who were fired by Friedrich can still choose Georg, who could possibly become the next family head for certain reasons. If Friedrich becomes the head of the family and Georg’s butlers and maids are reduced, if they are confident that they will be able to find a new job at that time, Georg has more possibilities than me.

Until I get married and leave Margrave Carruthers’s house, I will be supported by this family no matter who becomes the head. If you just want to be hired stably for a long time, I’m more of a sure bet than Georg. However, I will definitely be married off, so there is a high chance that they will be kicked out or fired after I leave this manor.

The other two chose me for similar reasons. And they spoke honestly. In comparison, Agnes deceived me with only superficial beauty. If you want money and I seem to be an easy employer, you can say so. Even then, I don’t like the way you try to deceive yourself by putting up lies for such magnanimous purposes.

“Understood,” I said. “Helmut and Isabella will work under me. Agnes, thank you very much for your hard work.”

“Wha! Why is that!?” Agnes cried, looking surprised.

Not like you’d expect from a maid’s attitude, she’s too rude, but she’s the last one anyway. I could at least tell her why

“I don’t think they said everything they could have, but they unmistakably told me part of their true feelings. Compared to them, you covered it up with lies. I can’t trust someone like that to be around me. That’s my reason, but is there anything else you’d like to say?”

“I, I ‘m not lying… that’s right!” Agnes cried. “I’m not lying! I do want to work to save the girls of this world!”

I don’t know what you’re talking about anymore… As Agnes says, things are gradually going in an odd direction. As she kept making excuses, she gradually came to believe that the lie she had come up with was the truth, which I often saw on earth. That’s exactly what Agnes is now.

“Is that so? I’m not in trouble, so please save the other girls of this world. Good day to you,” I said.

I don’t want to talk to Agnes anymore. People like this don’t understand. I’m look at Mother, she nods, and I left the room. And so, I ended up with Helmut, the butler, and Isabella, the maid.

Isabella doesn’t move quickly because of her age. But because she’s used to her job, she’s ahead of the curve and prepares what I want in advance, so I don’t think she’s slow. She understands her disadvantages and acts with the best countermeasures. As expected of a veteran, she does her job properly.

And although Helmut is not very talkative and easily misunderstood, his work is impeccable. He is a capable, young, and handsome butler… Perhaps the reason Friedrich didn’t bring Helmut to the royal capital was that he didn’t want to keep the overqualified Helmut by his side.

That’s what I thought, but apparently, that’s not the case. Of course, it seems that Helmut, with his poor social skills, didn’t ingratiate himself with Friedrich, so he seemed to be shunned or perhaps Friedrich was jealous, but there was a more important reason.

To begin with, Helmut seems to have intended to remain here even if he was told to move with his master. It seems that Friedrich didn’t ask Helmut to come with him to the royal capital after all, but it’s fair to say that even if Friedrich did, Helmut intended to refuse the most likely successor to the head.

As for why he was going to refuse… Helmut seems to have a sick family member. He said he needed the money, but the truth was he needed to get a good-paying job because he was the only one who could work and it cost him dearly to treat that family member.

Maybe he didn’t want to play at sympathy to get hired, but he should have explained things like this properly while I was still interviewing him.

And on the subject of butlers, I have to wonder about them. Butlers have to serve guests on behalf of their masters, and in some cases, they also have to meet people and make arrangements on behalf of their employers. If such a butler is bad at talking and can’t negotiate well with others, they’re no good.

But I don’t hate such a clumsy man either. Helmut does his job properly and doesn’t say anything to make excuses or gain sympathy. In fact, I like the way he devotes himself to his work.

Right now, I’ve only gotten two of the people that Friedrich left behind, but my family promised me that I’ll still have more butlers and maids in the future. I still can’t throw away the possibility of getting a cute maid.

For the time being, I decided to entrust my personal affairs to my butler Helmut and my old maid Isabella.