Estella didn’t answer right away. She simply stared at the man, her silence steady and unreadable.

He fumbled, clearly unnerved, and began rambling in a rush.

“S-she’s, uh… fair-skinned, very pretty, sort of cute—and she, um, she was carrying apples!”

Estella listened without so much as a blink before asking flatly.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Pardon?”

“Your sister?”

“Ah…”

The man hesitated, caught off guard, then nodded far too quickly.

“Y-yes, that’s right. My sister—she left something behind, and I, uh, came to fetch it.”

“I see.”

Her tone gave nothing away, calm and even as a still pond.

The man swallowed.

“So… did you happen to see her?”

“Yes.”

Estella extended a hand casually.

“She went that way.”

“Ah—thank you!”

Without saying a word or even glancing at her in thanks, the man hurried off in the direction she had indicated.

Needless to say, this was the exact opposite direction to which the woman with the apples had gone.

She stood still for a moment, watching him disappear down the alleyway, before clicking her tongue softly and turning away.

“Not even close, and he calls her his sister.”

Her eyes flickered briefly towards the street where the woman with the apples had vanished.

“I should’ve just taken one apple.”

And with that, her feet began to move—toward the direction the woman had vanished.

✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘

Estella’s instincts were, as always, sharp.

“Camilla!”

She caught up to the apple-bearing woman just in time to hear a familiar voice calling breathlessly behind her.

“Haa… haah… Camilla… I’ve been looking everywhere for you…”

‘Guess I sent him the wrong way, but he’s quicker than I thought.’

“Camilla—haa—please, just talk to me, alright?”

“I told you, I don’t want to talk!”

Before the man could reach her, Estella stepped smoothly between them, placing herself squarely in his path.

The man’s hand was already reaching forward, desperate and trembling, but Estella struck it aside with a sharp, precise movement.

“Unwanted physical contact is a crime.”

She said evenly, her tone quiet yet cutting.

The man’s face twisted in anger.

“Crime? What the hell are you—wait. You’re that woman who sent me the wrong way, aren’t you?”

Not worth answering.

Ignoring him entirely, Estella turned her head toward Camilla.

“Go,” she said calmly.

“Huh?”

“Think of it as payment for the apples. Go—I’ll handle this.”

“But—”

The man suddenly shoved at Estella’s shoulder, reaching again for Camilla’s arm.

“You’re not going anywhere, Camilla! We need to talk!”

Estella’s knee shot forward in a sharp, clean motion, striking the back of his thigh.

The man stumbled with a strangled sound, losing his balance. Before he could recover, Estella seized him by the collar and yanked him backward.

Whish—Thud!

“Argh!”

Before he could register what had happened, the man had collapsed to the ground. Camilla stood rooted to the spot, her mouth agape with astonishment at how effortlessly Estella had brought him down, not flinching once.

The man crumpled to the ground like a scarecrow, then blinked up at her with wide, furious eyes.

“Camilla…! Did you hire someone?! You—you seduced me, and now—now you’re turning on me—”

“I did not!” she shot back, voice trembling with anger. “I told you so many times!”

“Then why did you confess to me?!”

“Giving someone a drink on a hot day isn’t a confession!”

“But you—you gave me water! Only me!”

“Because you were the only one carrying boxes to the mansion!”

“And—and you gave me bread too!”

“The butler told me to! You said you skipped lunch!”

“Liar!”

Estella clicked her tongue, clearly done with this circus, and turned her gaze toward Camilla’s basket.

“You’re delivering apples, right? Shouldn’t you get going?”

Even amid the shouting, her calm tone was so out of place that Camilla blinked, momentarily lost.

“…Sorry?”

“Go, I said I’d handle this.”

Before Camilla could respond, the man staggered to his feet, still clutching his nose, and lurched toward them.

“Who the hell do you think you are, telling her what to do—!”

Estella didn’t even bother to turn. With a swift flick of her left arm, her elbow snapped backward, striking his face squarely.

Thud!

“Argh!”

The man fell again, clutching his bleeding nose. Estella reached down, seized him by the collar, and pulled him upright just enough to glare down at him.

“Quiet.”

Her voice was soft, but sharp as a blade.

The man, having already felt her strength twice, froze instantly. His shoulders trembled where her fingers gripped his neck.

“I—I didn’t do anything wrong! She—she’s the one who—who led me on—”

“I said quiet.”

Something in her tone cut through him; his next words came out barely above a whisper.

“I-I mean… I didn’t do anything wrong…”

Estella turned toward the young woman.

“Go. The longer you stay, the louder this fool will get.”

“Ah… y-yes! I’ll go and bring someone!”

‘Do as you like.’

Estella gave a short nod, and the woman—Camilla—bolted off like a startled rabbit.

Estella then grabbed the man by the collar and began dragging him away. Or rather, she tried to.

But then—

“Kyahhh!”

A scream rang out behind her, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone tumbling down stairs.

Both Estella, hauling the man like a sack of grain, and the man himself froze mid-step, heads snapping toward the source.

“C-Camilla?!”

“Huuu… it hurts…! Help me!”

Apparently, she’d tripped and rolled straight down the staircase while trying to flee.

Estella let out a breath that sounded half like a sigh, half like a laugh.

“Unbelievable.”

✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦❘༻༺❘✦ ✦❘

“Ow, ow… it hurts…”

Camilla whimpered as the physician examined her swollen ankle.

“I don’t believe anything’s broken, but… she’ll have trouble walking for at least a few weeks.”

The butler of the household—where Camilla worked as a maid—sighed, looking troubled.

“Sniff… I’m sorry, sir…”

“It’s not your fault. For now, focus on recovery.”

“Yes…”

The butler turned toward Estella, bowing deeply.

“I heard you helped Camilla and even carried her here yourself. We’re truly grateful.”

Since the girl couldn’t walk and Estella couldn’t very well leave her with that stalker, she’d carried her the whole way back. The distance hadn’t been short, and by the time they arrived at the mansion, the household staff had looked on in open shock.

And understandably so, Estella looked every inch a noble widow.

“I must apologize on her behalf. To trouble a lady such as yourself—especially one in mourning…”

His tone was full of caution, worried that any word of blame toward Camilla might seem discourteous.

“We hardly know how to repay such kindness.”

Estella offered a polite, restrained smile.

“It’s fine. I helped of my own accord.”

Her brief, unembellished answer seemed to ease him a little.

“Still… what to do now…With Camilla injured, we’ll have to find another maid.”

At that, Estella’s eyes flickered—bright and quick.

‘Hiring a maid?’

Before she could speak, Camilla shot upright, alarmed.

“I—I can still work!”

But pain flashed across her face, and she quickly sank back down.

The butler sighed.

“You can’t. Not like this. You’ve been maintaining this entire house alone, haven’t you? You’ll only make it worse.”

‘So she’s the only maid here,’ Estella realized, recalling the mansion’s spacious halls and tidy rooms. ‘No wonder it looked like too much for one person.’

Even so, Camilla looked desperate not to lose her place.

“N-no, really, I can—”

“Enough. You can’t work in that state, I’ll need to find someone to take your place for a month or two.”

“…”

Camilla’s eyes welled with tears, large and glistening like a frightened kitten’s.

It was a pitiful sight, and Estella felt a flicker of sympathy, but she also knew the butler was right. That ankle wouldn’t bear weight anytime soon.

“I’ll go report this to the master. Wait here.”

“Sir Butler…”

“It’s only temporary, I’ll hire someone to fill in, and you can return once you’ve recovered.”

“…”

The butler soothed Camilla with a few gentle words before leaving the room with the physician.

As soon as the door closed, Estella turned to face the young woman.

“You manage this whole mansion by yourself?”

“Not entirely alone… The butler helps, and the gardener too… and the head cook sometimes…”

Which, in truth, meant yes—she managed it alone.

“It’s quite a large estate. Isn’t it hard?”

“It is… but the pay is good. And it’s only really busy for about three months. The rest of the year isn’t so bad.”

“Three months?”

“Yes. The master only stays here during spring…”

Estella had heard that some noble families moved between estates with the changing seasons.

‘But it’s spring now.’

And spring, of all times, marked the beginning of the social season. It was strange that the master would be here in Shameron rather than in the capital.

“The master stays here every spring, so during that season we work every day. But once it’s over, I only have to come in once or twice a week.”

Perhaps she wasn’t normally so talkative, but between pain and anxiety, the words kept spilling out.

“Everyone wants to work here. Once they hire someone new, she’ll definitely take my place…”

The reason was simple, the pay remained the same, even during the months she barely came to work.

‘I’d be worried too.’

Estella thought, already piecing together the situation.

Once she understood, she sat down beside the girl.

“Camilla.”

The young woman’s tearful eyes lifted toward her.

Estella spoke softly, her tone calm yet firm.

“What if I take your place as a maid until you recover?”