Chapter 36 Servants Of Markwood Manor

 The servants of Markwood Manor

 Then--a month later, the Count's house.

"Oh, it's Mona. When I look at you like that, you look like a town girl too."

"Is that a compliment?"

 Mona, a maid at the Earl of Markwood's mansion, had come to the kitchen after she took off her maid's uniform and changed into plain clothes.

 He was found by Toms, a gardener who was drinking tea there.

"Oh. Thanks for all your hard work. Take this as a parting gift."

 Roy, the cook, came out from the back of the room and smelled fragrant.

 The bag he gave me was still warm.

"Cookies"? Wow, I'm so happy. My brothers and sisters will be so happy to have them."

"Hide it when you leave the house. I made it out of the house's inventory."

"Don't worry. They'll never find out anyway."

 Mona opens the bag, picks up the first cookie and throws it in her mouth.

 Toms looks at him enviously, but Roy restrains him by saying, "I'm not going to do this to Ji- san.

"You know... But Mona... You-san, didn't they give you a lot of encouragement not to quit?"

"Well, yeah. But it's been decided for a long time that I'm going to get married at my parents' place, so there's nothing I can do about it."

"That's true. But if we do that, we don't even have enough maids... will the mansion be okay?"

 Toms, the gardener, lives in a shed in the corner of the garden and rarely sets foot inside the house.

"I don't know. I think it's just a little rust on my part."

"It's already been a month. That day when the emissary of the Duchy of Wolter left, it was a big deal."

 It had been a month since the Earl of Markwood had ordered the head steward to investigate - as expected, after that long, even if the head steward hadn't bothered to bring any information, the Earl of Markwood had heard -sama many things.

 Maid-san's activities in the Izumi mine.

 When the Count heard this, he was furious, and soon demoted the head butler to a mere butler, and fired the head maid and several other maids because he had kicked out such a capable maid.

 Of course, he did not write a letter of introduction.

"Of course not. I didn't know it either, but Nina went to a lot of trouble to write down everything about her work, and you burned it? That's ridiculous. I'm worried about the heads of the maids since they were so proud to report it to Count-sama."

"That time was amazing. I happened to be going to the Count about the kitchen, but he could hear me in the hallway. The Count shouted at me like he'd never shouted before and knocked my wig to the floor."

"Oh, that's great..."

"Well, now that the stupid maids are gone, the mansion is much cleaner."

"What about Roy-san? Is he still here?"

"No, I'm quitting by the end of the year too. I've been approached by an acquaintance of mine, he runs a big restaurant in the Frieden empire. He wants me to be his chef."

"Wow! That's great! You're a chef, that means you're the head chef, right?"

"Well... What are you going to do about old Toms? What's the use of staying in a house that's in the midst of ruin?"

 The topic was brought up by Toms as he returned his cup of tea,

"I guess I'll just stay here. I don't have the energy to move somewhere else right now... When I'm no longer able to move, please ask me to move closer to my son and his wife."

"...I see. I've been buying into Zii-san's skills as a gardener for a while now."

"That's right. It's not every day you find a gardener as good as Toms-san."

"Stop it!" There's nothing to be gained by praising an old man. Mona, are you sure? We've got to get out of here before the carriage arrives."

"Oh, no! Oh, right. Well, you two... goodbye. I wanted you to come to the wedding but I guess it's inevitable. I'll be happy!"

 Mona said with a big smile and walked out of the kitchen.

"...Isn't that something you're supposed to tell your parents?"

 Roy said,

"Well, I guess we were like male parents to her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

"If you don't want to do that, then just get married."

 Returning to Toms, Roy shrugged his shoulders in resignation.

"As for Mona... she probably wanted Nina to come to the wedding the most."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about, Jiisan. I don't know what he's doing here."

 Outside the kitchen door, bright sunlight is pouring in.

 It reminded them of a small maid-san who used to come and go there.

 And we both think the same thing.

 I thought that I would never meet a maid as good as her again.


light_mode