Volume 1 - CH 7

It started one morning, about five days after Melody became the maid for House Luthorburg.

“You wish to invite your friends over for a tea party… is that it?”

“That’s right. I want a tea party that overwrites how bad the previous one was!”

That disaster happened a week ago, and the memory of having invited her two best friends to this haunted mansion for a horrifying tea party was still fresh in her mind: the floors inside had creaked incessantly while a crow outside had cawed ominously. Her friends were rightfully terrified, and Luciana still felt remorse having invited them unaware.

Beatrice and Miliaria were Luciana’s closest friends. Their families each held neighboring territories, and so the three had spent their childhoods together.

Beatrice of the Lilyrutocrus Viscountcy and Miliaria of the Farancult Barony each belong to newly-established, only decades-old noble families, and their territory formerly belonged to the household of Count Luthorburg

The Count Luthorburg of two generations ago had sold land to the two families to help pay off the debts of his failed business; although both houses had become benefactors to the Luthorburg family by doing so… it seems that same Count Luthorburg, under the impression the houses had somehow taken away his ancestor’s lands, treated them both with resentment despite being the cause of the sale in the first place.

It was unwarranted mistreatment as the two families had nothing to do with the business.

Fortunately, the next Count Luthorburg inherited the title early and made peace with the neighbors, preventing the worst-case scenario of living between two unfriendly territories. The preceding Count Luthorburg was someone who did not understand the importance of keeping good relations.

Since then, the three families have maintained friendly relations, fostering a friendship that continued through the current day.

And that is why Luciana needed a do-over for her previous tea party; she wanted to overwrite their negative impressions to avoid damaging their friendship.

“What do you think Melody? I think it should be fine to invite them again now…”

“You may be right…”

Luciana, having finished her breakfast, surveyed the dining room as she awaited Melody’s approval; since Melody’s arrival, the estate had improved in no time, and now they would have no issue with entertaining guests. The tablecloth they were using now was a good example; just a few days ago, it was as dark as a dirty rag, and now it was a pure and unstained white.

The Luthorburg estate, formerly as decrepit and rundown as a haunted house, has become… incomparably different.

The rusty gate now looked brand new with its fresh coat of paint; the cracked cobblestone path transformed into a serene walkway after repaving, no longer a cacophony of loose debris; and the overgrown vegetation encroaching the mansion has returned to its orderly roots after a thorough pruning and thinning.

The rundown mansion with the crumbling walls had become a shadow of its former self, projecting a clean and brand-new feeling both inside and out.

The brass door knocker, too, gleamed brightly under the sunlight.

The Luthorburg estate was no longer an eyesore of a property; it has become a proper aristocratic residence any noble would be proud to show off.

And there were more than just mansion renovations — Luciana touched her blonde, shoulder-length hair.

Luciana was no longer the same “girl with wasted potential” Melody had met five days ago.

Instead, Melody’s grooming and caretaking has uplifted Luciana, bringing out the noble girl’s latent beauty hidden beneath the neglect.

The matted blonde hair became gentle, golden locks; the skin’s dull lustre brightened and firmed up; and that well-proportioned face, with the addition of Melody’s make-up routine and technique, now supplemented the jewel-like sparkle of her bright blue eyes.

Even Luciana’s outfit had improved; the bright green dress she currently wore was, in truth, the same dark green dress, she had been wearing the day she first met Melody. Luciana had received it secondhand from her mother, and the dress’s color had darkened with age.

Because the Luthorburg estate did not have the budget to afford a new dress, Melody used her “Resewing” magic again, this time to renew Luciana’s retailor and redesign it in a modern style.

So it was thanks to Melody that Luciana no longer worried about the three basic necessities: food, clothing, and shelter. With that reassurance, Luciana confidently believed she could reinvite her two close friends over for a tea party without issue… her thoughts had fixated on doing so.

“Certainly, my lady. Then, would one week from now be acceptable?”

“In a week then? It’s decided then. Thanks, Melody!”

Luciana, having received permission to host another tea party, leapt at Melody with glee.

“Ahh! My lady, you should not be touching a mere maid so casually!”

“Hehehe ♪~ You say that, but you aren’t rejecting me… it seems at least your body knows how to be honest…”

“And where exactly did you learn such vulgar words?!”

“Ehehe, I’m sorry Melody, I’m just so happy.”

Luciana finally released Melody after a short while; she was still giddy with delight, so she didn’t notice…

“Haa, haa… it seems you require proper training before the tea party.”

“Training? …What do you mean?”

“– Etiquette training for noblewomen.”

… that she had inadvertently opened Pandora’s Box.

“Aiiiieeee! It’s impossible, Melody, I can’t do this!”

“Nothing in this world is truly impossible my lady. Now, once again, one-two, one-two.”

Luciana walked following the cadence of Melody’s rhythmic claps… while carrying a stack of ten thick books on her head.

“Tuck in your chin and keep your gaze straight! Your waist has become crooked, my lady, remember that your center of gravity is at your back! Imagine yourself walking along a straight line! Now step forward with grace, keeping your feet pointed inward!”

At this moment, Luciana was performing walking exercises in the entrance hall under Melody’s supervision. This was part of Luciana’s “training” to walk with the elegance of a noblewoman.

“…Ugh, my neck… it can’t take much more — ah!”

Still unused to this unfamiliar way of walking, Luciana suddenly lost her balance and tripped, dropping books all around herself.

“It huuurts!”

Luciana fell to her knees in tears. Seeing this, Melody reached out to take her hand and pulled Luciana to her feet. A saintly smile appeared on Melody’s face.

Luciana sighed in relief; it seems Melody was finally showing mercy. Then, today’s practice should be over —

“Now, my lady, let us resume training. Since you fell, we must restart from the beginning.”

“Huh? Wha-? Melody?!”

Melody pushed Luciana from behind, directing her to the starting point of the walking exercise, and used magic to return the fallen books atop Luciana’s head.

Melody’s smile then disappeared, and her eyebrows forrowed like a sort of demonic instructor-sergeant.

“Then, let us resume! One-two, one-two!”

“Noooo!”

In Melody’s previous life, Mizunami Ritsuko should have been a genius that left her mark on history. She was not only an intuition-type of genius but also hard-working; Mizunami Ritsuko was a girl who could accomplish anything she put her mind to.

Having put in her own tireless effort to master the skills necessary to be a proper maid, Melody was a spartan instructor strict on herself and any others under her tutelage.

Her passion for training was evident, but… it was quite the heavy burden on Luciana.

Even so, it would be thanks to Melody’s harsh education that Luciana’s talent as a noble bloomed… but in this moment, Luciana’s thoughts focused mostly on protesting her spartan education.

Preparations for the tea party proceeded smoothly, and Melody had even given a passing grade to Luciana’s progress in her lessons the day before the party.

The two of them were able to breathe in relief: one over having finished her teaching in time, the other having lived through this nightmareish week. The smiles on their faces were a reflection of their feelings.

And so Melody lightheartedly went shopping, waiting for tomorrow to come—

—Splash. …Melody somehow became covered in some liquid.

The scent of the liquid revealed it to be fruit vinegar. In the direction from where the fruit vinegar had come, Melody spots a girl in a maid outfit and brown braided pigtails staring over blankly.

The girl held a bottle in her right hand and a cork stopper in her left, and the bottle’s open top faced Melody; it seemed the girl had used too much force in opening the bottle, causing the fruit vinegar to violently slosh out.

(… Now that I think about it, I thought I heard someone say, “Auntie, can I check the smell of this?”)

After a momentary silence, the girl finally reacted, her face paling as she raised her voice.

“I-I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! How could this have happened?!”

The girl’s panicked reaction made it clear she had not splashed Melody intentionally; while the fruit vinegar had surprised her, there was not anything Melody could do to stop such an accident in the first place. As such, Melody tried to assuage the girl’s hysteria, but the girl suddenly grabbed her arm.

“– Huh?”

“I’m truly sorry! I’m Paula, and the mansion I work at is just over there. I can prepare a bath, so please come. We need to get your clothes washed quickly or else they’ll stain!”

“Um, I’m Melody… wait. Uh, I’ll be fine, so — ah, hold on!”

“Ah, sorry, auntie! Please take this, to cover for the fruit vinegar! Now, we need to hurry!”

“Um, could you listen… huh? Ah, wait!”

Paula thus returned to the mansion where she worked, forcefully dragging along Melody, whose protests continued falling on deaf ears.

The “mansion” was actually a small plot straddling the border between the Noble District and the Commoners Precint. Judging from the layout and placement of the estate, the inhabitants were most likely beneath House Luthorburg on the social ladder.

Melody was attempting to determine from the mansion whether the landower were a baron or a low-ranking knight when she realized she was now standing in a bathroom of that very same mansion.

“The hot water has already been prepared, so please go in at your leisure. In the meantime, I shall be washing your clothes.”

Paula had stripped Melody naked and pushed her into the bathroom before the latter could realize what was happening. Paula was surprisingly dextrous, so why had she not demonstrated as such earlier at the store?

“…Well, I suppose I should bathe then?”

It seemed she had no choice but to take the bath, so after rinsing off her body, Melody entered the bathtub.

“Hmm… this all still feels weird.”

As she lowered herself down to the shoulders to soak, Melody began pondering the strange coincidences of this world.

“The bathtub is porcelain and Western-style, but we follow Japanese bathing etiquette… what a complete mismatch.”

For reference, in Western households, bathing involves simply getting into a bathtub and washing the body; there is no Japanese style of pre-rinsing and washing the body to soak in the tub after. However, bathroom etiquette in this world followed Japanese customs, and bathrooms even separated the tub from the washing area.

This world was very inconsistent: the atmosphere was reminiscent of late-nineteenth-century England with how the Commerce Guild recruited maids; the overall impression was closer to Middle Ages Europe due to the presence of magic hindering technological progress; and the subtle influence of modern Japanese culture with similarities such as flush toilets and bath customs.

“…It’s as though this world took from the best parts of Earth’s history. Hehehe.”

Finding the coincidence amusing, Melody giggled softly. Surely there was no way–

This was a completely different world after all. Civilization has progressed here in a way vastly different from Earth. The subtle differences caused Melody some confusion, but she simply accepted that this was how this world worked.

(Come to think of it, when was the last time someone prepared a bath for me like this?)

Melody began humming a calming tune as she soaked, and she completely relaxed without realizing.

This was the first time, since reincarnating, Melody was able to soak in a tub large enough for her to stretch out in; thus it was natural for her to fully relax having been so long.

“…It seems safe enough to let loose here.”

Since no one was watching, Melody released the spell changing her hair and eye color.

The water’s surface reflected the girl with silver hair and lapis eyes… Celesti. She smiled to herself, seeing the eyes she inherited from her mother Celena for the first time in a long while.

(It’s been a while, mom. I somehow managed to become a maid… but I’m still working to become ‘the greatest maid in the world’)

“But ‘the greatest maid in the world’ huh… How does one become the greatest in the first place?”

She looked toward the sky, imagining the idea of ‘the greatest maid in the world’, but she has yet to find an answer. The feelings Celena had in the words she left behind… were still unclear.

(But to be the greatest maid in the world would surely mean being a maid who can perform any task flawlessly, at least. For now I’ll aim towards that!)

The ideal way forward would be to continue working as an all-works maid at the Luthorburg estate.

In her previous life, Melody’s maid knowledge came secondhand from her studies; her maid duties and responsibilities from now on would be a new, firsthand experience. Although she was but a novice maid now, she would continue gaining experience to one day become “the greatest maid in the world”, like she promised to her mother.

Melody stood from the tub; she felt pleasant from having warmed up, and by now, her clothes should also be clean. All she needed to do now was dry herself off, head back to the dressing room, and have Paula return the cleaned uniform.

Incidentally, while seeing her own lapis eyes again brought back memories of Celena, Melody thought of nothing when seeing the silver hair she inherited from her father

Melody was simply too unaware of her father; after leaving her hometown and becoming a maid, Melody had no room to fit the concept of “my father” in her mind… how pitiful he must be.

As Melody prepared to exit to the dressing room, the door suddenly opened on its own.

“– Huh?”

“…Wha?”

A naked man with red hair had appeared in front of Melody… to reiterate, a n-a-k-e-d man had appeared in front of Melody.

Her brain ground to a halt. There were not yet feelings of embarassment. There was only the question of “Who?” There were no other thoughts.

Her eyes met the naked man’s, but his gaze began moving downward: from her eyes to her collarbone, to her chest and —

“…How beautiful… an angel?”

Melody reflexively sprung into action; she put her right hand against the man’s toned body, and a light began glowing from where she was touching.

“Nooo! Consign to oblivion, Memory ErasureDimenticato!”

This magic still under development, so its effectiveness was unclear — basically, the spell generated an electric shock.

To be more precise, it was supposed to be partial memory erasure using an electric shock; because Melody was still researching its potency, the actual effect and duration remained unknown. In actuality, the results indicated it was nothing more than a stun gun, and, contrary to its name, it was unlikely to erase memories.

But even if it were nothing more than a stun gun… it was still an extremely effective one.

“– Kihi!?”

Without an opportunity to scream, the man could only let out a short shriek as he toppled over with a great thud. Although the fall may have injured the back of his head, Melody was in no state of mind to worry about him.

She had given him a clear view of a maiden’s nude figure, so her panic was understandable; for Melody, who had little experience interacting with men (including from her previous life), this encounter was too high of a hurdle to handle.

(Jeez! What’s with this guy, barging in to the bathroom without a care in the world… Huh?)

Melody quickly wraps herself in a bath towel, her back towards the man she was criticizing. However, as she regained her compusure, a realization struck Melody.

… Was this person actually —

The sound of hurried, heavy steps jars Melody from her thoughts, and she quickly reapplies her disguising magic.

“G-give unto me a dye of black, Black DyeAnnerire!”

“Melody, did something happen? — Ah, my lord! What’s going on here?”

(Oh no, I knew it! Wh-wh-what do I do now? I just assaulted the head of the estate!)

As Melody had guessed, the naked, red-haired man is Lectias Frodo, the master of the house.