‘There won’t be time to talk when seeing him off, and he won’t receive letters during the trip…’

She was about to say that she probably couldn’t go on the trip anyway. She had learned about a family she didn’t know existed, and because of that, she would be leaving the ducal household.

May hesitated for a while in front of the closed door even after being kicked out of the room.

She had never disobeyed Aiden’s orders before, but this time she deeply considered whether she should. If he found out she had quit without saying anything, her ill-tempered master would surely be angry.

“…Ah.”

But then….

“Where are you wandering around with that stupid face? If you’re going out, go with me. Don’t come back crying after getting into some unsavory situation.”

“Don’t let your hair down. It’s curly and it bothers my eyes. I can’t work because I keep wanting to touch it.”

“May, when will you become skilled at massage? Is it because you’re a commoner girl that you’re slow to learn?”

…Wouldn’t it be okay to avoid that capricious irritation, anger, and torment?

After all, if she quit, she wouldn’t see Aiden again. May lowered her hand that was about to knock on the door and swallowed hard.

Her dark eyes were now filled with undeniable vitality. In fact, telling Aiden that she was quitting was quite a difficult task for her.

She had even practiced all night how to say it, which shows just how challenging it was.

May soon nodded slightly.

Her feet, which had been fidgeting in front of Aiden’s door, slowly began to back away.

‘…I’ll tell the head maid and the butler a little later.’

Perhaps when the master has departed on his journey, when the news won’t reach his ears, that would be just the right time.

* * *

“…You say you told Aiden that you’re quitting?”

It was a doubtful voice.

His face clearly showed the thought, ‘That can’t be right.’ Soon, scrutinizing eyes behind a monocle looked May up and down.

“And he allowed it…”

The following words were closer to a mumble.

Hearing this, May swallowed as quietly as possible. Her dark eyes glanced at the person in front of her. When their eyes met, she quickly nodded.

“Yes, yes…!”

The person scrutinizing May with sharp eyes, Butler Benedict, was an old man well over 70, but still robust and in charge of managing the mansion.

His age was a measure of his experience. He was by no means an easy person to deal with.

It would be very difficult to deceive such a person. But May, though scared, told the lie quite brazenly.

“It, it’s true…”

She believed that her usual attitude and way of speaking, which was no different from now, would surely quell Benedict’s suspicions. May continued, believing this.

“If it weren’t true, he would have taken me on the trip as planned…”

“Hmm…”

“Wh-why else would he suddenly not take me? It’s because he allowed me to quit. That’s why he’s not taking me!”

Due to nervousness, she stumbled over her words more often than usual. The order of her words was also a mess. And even if that weren’t the case, her wandering eyes were clearly those of someone telling a lie.

Benedict silently observed May for a moment.

“…May, did you perhaps find a man?”

Then, quite out of the blue, he pried into her personal life.

“It’s not someone from the ducal household, is it?”

And quite blatantly at that.

Benedict was a proper old gentleman befitting a butler of the ducal household. The question just now was not something he would typically ask.

Therefore, May, who had unknowingly become dumbfounded, showed her surprise without filter and hurriedly waved her hands.

“Ah, no…! I hardly even talk to anyone in the ducal household except Aiden…”

“……”

“The reason I’m suddenly quitting is because I found out I have a family I didn’t know about, and I received a letter from them…”

She deliberately omitted mentioning that this family member was already deceased, or that the letter was a will.

“Th-there’s their house in the east. I’m going there. It’s in an area with a seaside… I’ve never seen the sea before, so I’m really looking forward to it…”

Even after hearing May’s unnecessarily fervent answer, Benedict’s face looked far from satisfied, and rather thoughtful. It was as if he was contemplating whether to turn a blind eye to the obvious lie before him.

He maintained his silence for a while longer before asking one more thing.

“…What did the young master say to you? As a final farewell, I mean.”

“Well…”

May instinctively realized that this question was like a final hurdle. If she answered well… she might be able to leave the ducal household before Aiden returned from his trip.

And if she answered poorly, she would surely have to face Aiden’s anger along with a punishment for lying. In that case, she might end up leaving the ducal household while bawling her eyes out.

‘He’d probably get angry, saying it’s outrageous….’

May’s face turned pale as she imagined her master throwing a tantrum. Her small fingertips also habitually intertwined. After pondering for a long time in this state, choosing among general farewell greetings, she eventually shook her head.

‘Take care, see you next time… There’s no way Aiden would say such ordinary and kind words.’

It didn’t seem like Aiden would say such nice things even if it were the last time. So May diligently scraped together his speech habits and things he had said to her.

Soon, her mumbling lips began to spout a rather plausible lie.

“He, he said it’s good… That he hated seeing my curly hair…”

“……”

“That he was irritated seeing my stupid face and it’s good that I’m quitting…”

Her heart was pounding. Did it work?

It was hard to read the emotions on the face she glanced at. May, finally, with no response coming, added with her feet tingling.

“Re-really. He said he hates someone as lacking as me so, so much. So he told me not to show even a strand of my hair until the day he leaves for his trip… That’s what he said. That I don’t have to wait any longer.”

“……”

“He also told me to leave quietly…. You saw it too, didn’t you, Butler? How he glared at me so frighteningly as he left…”

But as she spoke, she suddenly realized that these weren’t entirely lies.

Although slightly exaggerated, they were all words that had grown from the root of Aiden’s behavior and words towards her. Moreover, his evaluation was actually close to the truth.

True to his words, no one else conversed or associated with her. Because all the colleagues she got along well with when she first entered the ducal household suddenly started treating her like an invisible person at some point.

‘If I wasn’t stupid and frustrating as Aiden says, they wouldn’t have done that.’

He often treated her like a nuisance he had to take care of, so perhaps he would secretly welcome the quiet disappearance of such a troublesome maid.

The familiarity she dared to feel towards him, despite being an employee. The times she was laughed at whenever she inadvertently showed it. As these memories passed by, recalling her master’s arrogant face, May found herself wearing a somewhat gloomy expression.

“He’ll be happy if I disappear… Surely.”

Benedict’s eyes wavered for a moment as he looked at her.

That small ripple quickly subsided, but the old man guessed that the choice he was about to make would come back as a big wave.

But the hesitation was brief. Soon, a calm voice that had shaken off the agitation rang out.

“May, it’s not at all that he hates you.”

His wrinkled face was as composed as his voice. Benedict turned around, flipped through the employee register pulled from the bookshelf, and continued speaking.

“Master Aiden just… doesn’t know how.”

“…Pardon?”

“So I hope you won’t take his words to heart.”

He corrected May’s record in front of her eyes. Below several years of employment records, a brief note was added stating that May Louise was no longer an employee of the ducal household.

She had expected it would take at least a few days, but the processing date recorded was today.

‘So quickly?’

As May blinked with a bewildered face, Benedict let out a small sigh.

His hand that closed the register with a thud rested firmly on top of it for a moment. It looked almost as if he was sealing something.

“It might be presumptuous of me to say, but I hope you won’t hate him too much.”

His face, which usually didn’t show much emotion, displayed both regret and relief simultaneously. It seemed strange that these conflicting emotions could coexist, but she thought it must be her imagination.