The moment Vivianne opened the door to the quarters, the maids’ chatter came to an abrupt halt. Sensing the atmosphere in the room was more tense than usual, she quietly stood in place.

“Hello. Are you Vivi?”

Just then, a maid approached and greeted her familiarly. With curly brown hair and a skinny frame, she was clearly not someone who lived in these quarters.

“I’m Eliza.”

“…Hello.”

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll be serving the master’s tea.”

“Me?”

Serving tea? So suddenly?

It had already been four days since she started working as a maid. She was just starting to get the hang of the laundry work.

Of course, being the newest, she still had to be careful and sometimes got scolded for making mistakes. Though physically demanding, if she moved quickly and read the situation well, the work was manageable. Perhaps because she worked harder than anyone else, the laundry maids didn’t particularly bully her.

She had expected that in just two more days, she would be able to stay at the mansion without issue. But overnight, her position was changed without any warning.

“Yes. The master wants you to serve him.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The fact that it was Kian’s order made it even more unbelievable. Hadn’t he initially shown a negative attitude when she said she would work at the mansion? She couldn’t guess what his intention was behind such an order, and it only left her confused.

But Vivianne had no authority to refuse the offer. After all, she was the one who said she would prove her worth within a week, and Kian himself had proposed this ‘suitable use’ for her.

“Have you ever served tea before?”

“No.”

Naturally, not only had she never done it, she didn’t even have an idea of how to do it.

“Hey, Eliza. How would someone who only knows her own name know about that?”

“Right? You’re expecting too much.”

The nearby maids snickered and laughed among themselves.

Since it was true, she didn’t feel wronged, but it did make her feel a bit sad that they had to point out her current helpless situation once again.

“It’s alright. You can learn. You just need to pour tea beside the master. It’s not that difficult.”

Pouring tea beside him? Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen Kian’s face since that day. Since laundry work was mostly done outdoors, their paths rarely crossed.

‘Right. This might actually be an opportunity.’

Initially, her goal was just to remain at the mansion somehow. Getting closer to Kian was supposed to be the next step.

Serving tea would mean she could meet him right beside him every day. With meetings would come chances to talk. It was a perfect opportunity to clear up misunderstandings.

“Since I’ve been doing it, I’ll teach you in detail. Don’t worry.”

Unlike the mocking maids around them, Eliza, her predecessor, was kind. It was also a relief that it seemed like something she could do soon with practice and learning.

“Thank you. I’ll learn diligently if you teach me.”

Vivianne expressed her gratitude with a flushed face.

“Then would you like to go to the kitchen first and prepare? I’ll follow shortly after saying goodbye to my friends.”

“…Yes!”

* * *

As soon as the subject of their gossip left the room, the maids began stirring again.

“Hey, Eliza. Are you really going to teach her?”

“Yes. Of course I have to.”

“You’re too nice. Aren’t you angry about this situation?”

Tea service was usually done by experienced maids like Eliza. It was a job that required serving at the master’s side, so one couldn’t afford to upset him. Like in all groups, one’s responsibilities represented one’s position.

In other words, it wasn’t a job suitable for a novice who had only been here for four days.

Even if it was the master’s order, having a major position taken away overnight was bound to cause complaints both from the person involved and among the maids.

“The master too… Even so, isn’t it too much to entrust tea service to her?”

“It was strange from the start to bring a girl with no background to Larson.”

“She’s got nothing but a pretty face. What does this make of your position?”

While the maids kept grumbling, Eliza just laughed as if she found it all amusing.

“Don’t worry too much. I have my reasons for doing this.”

Eliza wasn’t particularly concerned. After all, she knew how her predecessor had been fired.

* * *

She didn’t get much sleep practicing tea service. Though they said it wasn’t difficult, being her first time and having to demonstrate it directly in front of Kian made her more anxious. Even after Eliza left, Vivianne practiced alone for a long time to get used to it, returning to her room late at night.

Perhaps because she hadn’t rested properly after her duties, her wrists ached more than usual. Vivianne applied the herbal ointment she received from Theodore and tried to catch a brief nap.

At first, she was startled by the burning sensation, but soon it became cooling and made her drowsy. She must have been quite exhausted because what felt like just closing her eyes for a moment turned into morning.

However, the shoes that should have been under her bed were nowhere to be seen. Naturally, since she had to prepare morning tea service, there was no time to search for them.

When she asked other maids, they all claimed not to know, so she had no choice but to leave the room barefoot.

‘Well, this isn’t so bad either.’

Since it had come to this, she decided to think positively. She only wore shoes because humans had to wear them anyway. They were uncomfortable, so this worked out fine.

Standing for long periods made her feet swell, making shoes rather cumbersome at times. Thinking this way made her feel a bit better about the situation.

The carpet felt rough against her soles. Vivianne was walking alone down the long corridor, holding the tea set on a tray.

‘Should I have practiced walking with the tray too?’

She was afraid of dropping it. The more conscious she became, the stiffer her body felt, so she tried to think of other things.

‘Someday, when I get used to this and have some free time, I’d like to walk on the beach.’

Like Kian did at the beach.

The sand was so white and fine. They said Coral Beach was made from broken coral reefs.

Crunch, crunch. Vivianne recalled the sound of his footsteps in the sand. She wondered what it would feel like to walk on sand that she had only seen with her eyes. Lost in these thoughts, she soon reached the bedroom door.

Knock knock. She knocked first. There was no particular response from inside. Eliza had said it was just a ceremonial knock and there was no need to wait for an answer, that this was the master’s way.

‘I can do this well.’

Vivianne slowly exhaled to shake off her remaining tension and carefully opened the door.

Despite worrying about what expression to make when their eyes met, Kian wasn’t in the room.

‘Where did he go?’

Vivianne looked around the room in bewilderment.

Perhaps because it was the bedroom used by the master of this great castle? Kian’s bedroom was incomparably larger than the guest rooms.

The bedroom was further divided into a small reception area and the actual sleeping area. And reflecting the master’s neat personality, only essential furniture was placed. With so little furniture in such a large room, it somehow felt empty.

‘Wouldn’t it be lonely staying alone in such a large place?’

She realized she had been lost in such unnecessary thoughts and hurriedly recalled her instructions, moving quickly.

‘First, I was told to open the balcony.’

When she opened the balcony doors wide next to the bed, the sea breeze gently wafted in.

A vast, deep blue sea spread out before her eyes through the window. The morning sunlight sparkling on the ripples was truly spectacular. Vivianne unconsciously let out a small gasp.

When she lived in the sea, she didn’t know the ocean looked like this. So this was how Kian saw the sea. It felt strange, as if she were floating on the water.

Vivianne carefully set down the tea set on the side table and neatly placed the newspaper for Kian to read.

‘But still. Where could he have gone so early in the morning?’

She hadn’t been told he wouldn’t be in the room. After finishing the setup and standing there quietly, she kept feeling increasingly anxious for some reason.

‘Right. Instead of just standing here, I should practice.’

She thought she might avoid mistakes if she practiced in her head until he came. She grasped the teapot handle and lifted it with one hand. And while she was recalling the sequence in her mind…

Click-clack— The sound of the bathroom door opening was heard, and her gaze reflexively turned in that direction.

“…!”

Vivianne’s eyes grew impossibly wide. It was because she made direct eye contact with Kian, who had emerged from the bathroom wearing only a shower towel around his waist, half-n*ked.