Chapter 18 Normal? Abnormal?

Several months had passed since the Duchess’s condition worsened.

The Duchess’s state was growing increasingly grim.

The last time I saw her, she was no longer beautiful and radiant; instead, she was haggard and withered, her hair streaked with white, looking for all the world like someone approaching the end of her life.

Because of this, the Duke was now utterly overwhelmed.

The Duke was doing everything in his power to gather information on Vladimir, chasing even the slightest clue and even issuing a bounty, but unfortunately, it was to little avail.

Aside from a small amount of useless information, most of what they received was false intelligence from people trying to scam the reward money.

But verifying this information and punishing the scoundrels who spread these false reports diverted a great deal of the Duke’s manpower and energy, which ironically hindered the search.

What was worse, the monsters within the domain had become more rampant recently, with frequent attacks.

In this race against time, this chaotic situation was severely slowing their progress, a fatal delay.

But in contrast to the tense Duke, the Young Miss, for some reason, appeared remarkably composed.

It wasn’t that she was completely unconcerned about the Duchess; she went to check on her mother’s condition every single day and had not missed a visit once in all these months.

But she was still carrying on with her daily activities as usual, never falling behind in her studies or her training.

Young Master Claude had also returned quite a few times during this period, yet the Young Miss rarely spoke with him.

Each time, they would merely greet each other, exchange a few pleasantries, and then part ways in a hurry.

Even today, she was still heading to the Knightly Order to work up a sweat… Thinking about it, she should be leaving now.

…But because several maids had been reassigned to care for the Duchess, I had also been saddled with many ordinary maid duties.

Right now, I was busy cleaning the main hall and had no time to see her off; my own training had also been put on hold.

Speak of the devil, the Young Miss appeared in the main hall just then, preparing to leave the mansion for her training at the Knightly Order.

“Kata…”

“How heartless. And she has the nerve to call herself a duke’s daughter.”

“I know… It’s her own flesh and blood, yet she can still think about learning swordsmanship at a time like this… What’s the use of a young lady learning to wield a sword anyway?”

Just as I was about to call out the Young Miss’s name, the low murmurs from above interrupted me.

I looked up. Wasn’t it that nasty maid duo who were always picking on me?

At the moment, they seemed to be cleaning the staircase, but because I was in a blind spot downstairs and their attention was entirely on the Young Miss, they seemed completely unaware of my presence.

“I originally thought she was just a willful young lady, but seeing this, it seems to be a problem with her character.”

“Truly… a disgrace to humanity. And that exclusive maid of hers is a violent she-ape. They’re a perfect match.”

‘…Such filthy, vile words were unbearable to listen to.’

Putting down the broom in my hands, I stepped out from under the staircase.

I clasped my hands together, deliberately cracking my knuckles loudly.

“Crack! Crack!“

“Why do I hear the chirping of insects in the Duke’s mansion? It seems it’s time for a cleanup.”

“…Eek!”

As if a bad memory had surfaced, Linda and Marei, the two foul-mouthed maids, shuddered.

They abandoned their work and scurried away in a flash.

There were no other maids in the hall now… Did this mean I had to take over their work too?

Although I really wanted to report these two malicious maids to the Duke, I had no proof, and at a critical time like this, I shouldn’t distract the Duke with such trivial matters.

I could only count myself unlucky.

Sighing inwardly, I picked up a broom and began to clean the stairs.

“Ailena?”

“Senior Aina?”

“Aren’t Linda and Marei responsible for the main hall staircase?”

Without much thought, Senior Aina came to a conclusion:

“Are those two slacking off again… Honestly, at a time like this! We’re short-staffed everywhere! I’m definitely telling Head Maid Shilin this time! Let them learn a lesson!”

‘…Actually, they weren’t slacking off. It’s just that their words were so nasty that I got angry and scared them away.’

But for now, let this be a lesson for them.

I hoped a scolding from the Head Maid would be effective.

“Speaking of which, why is Senior Aina here?”

I remembered that her assigned duty for today was in the kitchen.

“Oh, me? I’ve already finished my work, so I came to see if there was anywhere I could help.”

As she spoke, she smiled at me, revealing a pair of cute little canine teeth.

“See? Isn’t there someone right here who needs help?”

She wouldn’t get any reward for doing this… As I thought, Senior Aina is very kind.

“Thank you, Senior Aina.”

“Haha, we’re all maids here, there’s no need to be so formal.”

Picking up the broom left behind by the nasty maid duo, Senior Aina joined the sweeping.

“By the way, how has the Young Miss been lately?”

Suddenly, Senior Aina asked.

“She’s been normal, I suppose. She eats and sleeps on time every day, and she’s keeping up with her lessons… Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing major… I just feel that this isn’t how the Young Miss usually is.

Originally, she should be very worried about the Madam, right?

But the feeling she gives off now isn’t like that…

So I wanted to ask if something might have happened to her.”

“…To be honest, I’ve also found that strange, but other than that, there’s nothing else odd about the Young Miss. Her daily behavior is completely normal.”

“…Doesn’t that make it even stranger? In fact, it’s precisely because she’s acting too normal that it seems abnormal.”

“Ah…”

So that’s where my feeling of wrongness came from.

It’s true… for a nine-year-old child, this is the time when they are most emotional.

When one’s dearest mother is gravely ill and in a critical condition, a normal child would stay by their mother’s side as much as possible, right?

From what I know of the Young Miss, it wouldn’t be strange at all for her to stay by the Madam’s side all day long… No, that would be the normal thing to do.

…But I can’t say she’s completely unconcerned about the Madam either, since she does indeed spend half an hour with her every day, sometimes even longer.

Lately, I’ve found it hard to understand the Young Miss’s thoughts, which makes me feel frustrated and lonely.

She used to be the little pufferfish I held in the palm of my hand; I could guess her thoughts from her every move.

But without my realizing it, she has jumped out of my palm and become an unfathomable existence.

“Ailena… do you really have the luxury to be depressed right now?”

Senior Aina narrowed her eyes, staring at me, her gaze intense.

“…?”

I didn’t quite understand what Senior Aina meant.

“Ailena… because of Vladimir’s intrusion, the Madam fell into a critical condition… and right at this time, the Young Miss’s temperament also changed drastically.

Don’t you have any thoughts on this at all?”

“Could it be…”

Could it be that when Vladimir intruded back then, he had already done something to the Young Miss?

I originally thought Vladimir didn’t have time to commit any crime, but since he could operate through shadows, it wasn’t impossible for him to secretly do something wicked while he was confronting me… This could also explain the change in the Young Miss.

“Confirming this is your job, isn’t it?”

Patting me on the back, Senior Aina gave me a thumbs-up to cheer me on.

“I believe in you!”

“Yes! I will definitely get to the bottom of this! Thank you for reminding me, Senior Aina!”

Dropping my broom, I dashed towards the Knightly Order without a second thought.

‘…The Head Maid will definitely scold me if she finds out I’m ditching my duties, but there’s no time to worry about that now!’