PMZ 089 – Here goes the weekend.

“Umm, uh…”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ellie’s husband, Howard.”

“Yes… Nice to meet you…”

Today is the weekend, Saturday.

Before entering Baron Maple’s residence, I met up with Miss Anna over the Baron’s residence’s iron fence for a final strategy meeting.

The man who greets Miss Anna is now a suspicious man in black, Howard (20 years old). Ellie’s husband is dressed as a chimney sweep, definitely not a member of a certain Black Organization.

However, his true identity is that of the man sitting next to him, Hayato. This is double-layer identity fraud.

How did this happen? To put it simply, it was my fault.

He is wearing a black silk hat, a black dress with a stand-up collar lined with double gold buttons, and a soot-proof black cloth that covers his face except for his eyes. He was also wearing goggles around his eyes.

I couldn’t tell who he is anymore. But the aura of handsomeness has not disappeared, which is strange. It seems that there’s a particular element of good style which can make someone handsome.

“I was worried about my wife who was taking on an unfamiliar challenge, so I really wanted to go with her. However, I don’t intend to make any unnecessary movement, so the Baron’s family can just think that the scheduled chimney cleaning has begun.”

“The chimney sweep disguise is fine, but you don’t have to cover your face with a cloth…”

“Thank you for your concern, but I have a bit of a cold, so please don’t mind this.”

“Oh, I see. Well, it cannot be helped then.”

After somehow convincing her, albeit somewhat forcefully, and getting her ready to talk, I made a request to Miss Anna.

The request is, no matter what happens, no matter when, Miss Anna will take her mother’s side.

“But… that would make Grandma even angrier and make everyone else even more uncomfortable…”

“Leave that to me. I’ll take your grandmother’s side. The important thing here is that there is a family member who is openly defending your mother. I hope that you can be the one who speaks up for her.”

“I understand…”

Miss Anna nodded.

If she feels that her daughter has become her absolute ally, her mother may feel stronger.

I’m not sure how much I appreciate having a rookie maid on my side, but I’m sure there’s a big difference between having someone who truly understands the situation and not having someone who did.

You need allies to keep your fists in the air.

“well then, let’s… Oh, that’s right. I’ve got a letter of introduction from Anna’s friend. Take this to your mother and grandmother.”

I handed the letter of introduction she had written herself to Miss Anna. It was a self-promotional envelope with the crest of my Stuart family.

She looked at the envelope, flipping it back and forth in surprise.

“T-this…?”

“A-about that, Daniel (as the acting principal) had it wrote for me through his connections. It seems that the two dukes are in contact with each other. I thought that with this, your family might be able to forgive me even if I talk a little too much.”

It may depend on the house, but it’s not common for a maid to start talking without her master’s permission. But if you have the duke’s family’s recommendation, this little bit of absurdity is possible.

As a villainess, let’s use the power of my house to push the limits of reason.

Miss Anna nodded and hold the letter of introduction.

“I see… I understand. You’re right. With this, maybe Mom and Grandma won’t have anything to say.”

Now any of Ellie’s rudeness will be my responsibility.

I’m ready. Let’s go.

I asked Miss Anna to open the gate, and we rode into the enemy territory.

First, Anna had told the people in the house that the chimney in the room seemed to be clogged, so Hayato could sneak in without difficulty.

He greeted the butler and was ushered into the room with the fireplace. Before dropping the soot from above, it is necessary to cover the fireplace area to keep it clean.

He glanced at me and whispered, “If you need anything, just call me,” through his ear cuffs.

I nodded and was brought to the head maid, Stella. She is a seasoned veteran with a stern look on her face, contrary to her name, which sounded like a baker’s.

After greeting her, Miss Anna gave her my letter of introduction, and she led me to the servants’ quarters. I changed into the black dress she gave me and put on a white apron.

After successfully pretending to be a maid, I went with the head maid to greet the Lady of the mansion before going to work.

In this case, I suppose it’s the wife of the current head of the family.

“We’re going to greet the Grandwife now, so please don’t be rude.”

“The grand wife first? Not the wife (mother)?”

“…this is the way we do things in this family.”

It seems that this slightly distorted power relationship has permeated all of the servants.

I could have said that was odd, but I decided to go with the flow for now. Because there’s no point in trying to stick out from the start.

When I arrived in front of the grandmother’s room, the head maid knocked on the door and was answered in a hushed voice.

“Come, come on in.”

“Yes.”

At her urging, I opened the door and entered the room. Immediately the smell of sandalwood and chemicals hit my nose. The rocking chair facing the window swayed, and I knew I was in the right place.

“Madam Grandwife, she’s the new maid. I heard that she was introduced by a friend of Miss Anna’s. …Here is the letter of introduction.”

The head maid held out an envelope, and a hand with several rings on it accepted it.

“Oh? This is the coat of arms of the Dukes of Stuart, isn’t it? Did Anna have any such friends?”

I didn’t know about the detail, but it looks like it.

The Grandwife moved her head to look at me. She was a sharp-eyed woman with neatly coiffed gray hair. The pale blue eyes behind her glasses stared at me and then returned their gaze to the envelope.

“They’ve sent me a very flashy young lady again… well, it’s not like I can refuse the duke family request.”

I’m not sure what you mean by “flashy”…

As she said this, the Grandwife made the head housekeeper open the envelope and read the paper inside.

“… well, that’s fine, isn’t it? in fact, that’s good because that’s the day where we’ve always been short-handed. Take care of her, Stella.”

“Very well, madam.”

The decision was made without any say from the head of the family.

After I bowed and left the room, I asked the head maid about it.

“Don’t I need to say my greeting to the lady of the house?”

“… Oh, yeah. You can do that later. You’ll have to learn the job first. They had many maids at the duke’s house, so you had to share the work, but here you will have to do everything. Especially on the weekends, so it’s a busy time for me.”

The Lady of this house’s presence is so light.

This is not good.

There are as many ways to run a family as there are families, but it’s not good to have a head wife who is disregarded like this.

“Head maid, I would like to meet the wife since she’s anna’s mother. I’ve been looking forward to meeting her because I’m sure she’s a kind and wonderful person.”

The head maid wrinkled her brow for a moment at the new maid’s rebuttal. However, she gives up quickly since I stated my intention clearly.

“…do it quickly.”

“Thank you very much! Head maid Stella!”

I immediately damage the head maid’s reputation, but it is still possible to recover from a loss like this. I somehow felt that Housekeeper Stella was a person who would listen to reasonable requests.

I’m sure it’s the same with the Lady of the house. The mistress and the head housekeeper usually alike.

“This is the wife’s room.”

“Yes, excuse me.”

Unlike the Grandwife, I’m the one who initiated the knock. Stella may not even be planning to enter.

When I knocked on the door, I heard a thin voice answer. I replied, “Excuse me,” opened the door, and went inside.

“Oh? You’re…”

The woman who looked up from her book and looked at me was a lovely lady with black hair that looked just like Miss Anna’s. The word fragile was the perfect word for her.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Ellie, and I’ve been offered a job through the kindness of Lady Anna. It’s a great honor to meet you, Madam.”

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you.”

Her smile directed to me has the innocence of a young girl. Her voice and lines are fragile.

My ultimate goal is to get her to have the authority equal to her mother-in-law, but… I wonder if I can do that.

“Thank you very much. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

I bowed and left the room. It was an instant greeting, but I was glad to have done it.

I thanked the head maid waiting for me in the hallway and was immediately assigned a task. First, she asked me to gather all the laundry in the house.

“Very well, ma’am.”

“You don’t need me to give detailed instructions, do you? You used to be a maid in the duke’s household, right? When you’re done, the laundry room is thereby the back door.”

“Understood.”

After saying that, the head maid quickly left. I was suddenly left to my own device. But it’s okay. I had learned how to do this from my housemaids.

Suddenly, I heard giggling and turned my head to see three young maids looking at me, whispering and laughing about something. What’s so funny is a mystery to me, but it doesn’t seem to be in a good way.

…They look so mean!

My long out-of-work villainess skills kick in.

This baronial mansion seems to have more shady relationships between women than I imagined!

For now, I’ve decided to hide all my personal clothes and luggage that I left in the servants’ quarters using a technique that creates another dimension in the shadows.