Claude’s brow immediately furrowed as he waited for an answer. He wouldn’t kill someone for such a trivial reason, but the woman’s face was serious as if she really doubted it.

Instead of saying no, he decided to probe her thoughts.

“You don’t look like someone who would die quietly.”

“Yes. I have no intention of dying quietly.”

The woman’s calm eyes suddenly sharpened.

The change was so sudden that even he felt bewildered. The duke’s gaze lingered for quite a while on the woman standing still.

Although it should have been uncomfortable to stand for so long, the woman showed no signs of discomfort, as though she was used to this situation. Seeing this, it seemed there might be another reason.

Perhaps it was those eyes that had caught his attention from the first time he saw her.

Come to think of it, even in a space full of rough-looking guys, the woman didn’t look intimidated or uncomfortable at all.

Moreover, even fierce men tend to get nervous in front of nobles, but she didn’t show even a hint of such a reaction, so he had to acknowledge her composure and spirit.

“You’re saying you might bite your master.”

“Wouldn’t even a dog want to bite its master to survive when it’s about to be thrown into a pot?”

“Ha……”

He let out a hollow laugh at the woman’s brazen way of speaking, saying she might betray her master without any hesitation.

Was he momentarily captivated by her delicate appearance?

He could somewhat understand why the administrator at the garrison had tried to dissuade him. Just looking at those unusual eyes, one could easily notice that she could turn into a wolf cub at any moment.

Nevertheless, strangely, instead of getting angry, he felt a subtle pleasure.

After all, he hadn’t brought her here to tame her as his subordinate, and having such a temperament would allow her to take care of herself to some extent in the future.

Smirking, he first asked about her intentions.

“What kind of work would you like to do?”

“I can silently accomplish any task I’m ordered to do.”

“Really?”

The duke let out a meaningful sneer at the answer that came out without a moment’s hesitation.

He opened a wooden box with a brown finish and took out a neat new cigar. Then, with an amused face, he called his aide.

“Harriet.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Did you call?”

Although he hadn’t raised his voice much, Harriet, with his sharp ears, quickly entered and bowed his head.

“Tell the head maid. Say that a useful new maid has arrived.”

“Pardon?”

At those words, a bewildered response burst out from Harriet.

Flora also became puzzled. A maid? Using a soldier who had rolled around on the battlefield as a maid was not something she expected.

Similarly doubting his ears, Harriet cautiously asked back.

“Your Grace. Are you truly serious?”

“Where did that confident attitude go? You look like you don’t like the idea of being a maid.”

The duke responded to Flora, on whom he had been fixing his gaze, in response to his aide’s question.

“Didn’t you say you could do anything you were told? You’re not going to bite my neck just because I gave you maid work, are you?”

At the strangely sarcastic tone, Flora only moved her lips.

Although she knew it wasn’t right to argue or object to an order given by the master, this was an absurd instruction by anyone’s standards.

How could they assign maid work to someone who had spent her entire life cutting down enemies on the battlefield?

“…No, I’m not.”

A chuckle was heard in response to the answer she had no choice but to give.

The duke put the new cigar between his teeth and lit it. The pungent smoke blew over, slightly ruffling Flora’s hair.

“Harriet, give her work. Make it hard.”

The hopeless conclusion fell softly on her head.

And so Flora, who had roamed the battlefield and even earned the nickname of demon, became a maid of the Heinst ducal residence.

Chapter 2. An Ordinary Maid

The reason the Heinst ducal family came to be called the shield of the empire was because they had devoted themselves loyally to protecting Lezentra for generations.

Claude, who had inherited the position of family head a few years ago, also showed more valor than anyone else on the battlefield, following the previous duke at the age of 18 when the war broke out.

And the war that widely spread his fame finally came to an end.

The so-called warriors, that is, the knights, felt awkward about the peace that came after the war ended, but not Claude. Whether it was victory or defeat, he was one of those who were grateful just for the end of the wretched war.

“I suppose it will be difficult to return today?”

“You ask even though you know. I wonder what excuse they’ll use to make me stay overnight at the imperial palace today.”

Claude answered listlessly, burying his back deep in the chair’s backrest in response to his aide’s question.

The carriage, exuding the majesty of the ducal family, was quiet without even the slightest vibration, making his posture even more comfortable.

He is a young duke praised by the imperial citizens, with comments that he is indeed the son of the previous duke, but in reality, his original personality tended to be indifferent to everything, as if it didn’t matter.

However, as his public image had become fixed, he had to fulfill his duties at least. Even if that meant being a conversation partner for the cowardly emperor.

“He should have pointless conversations like that with the old folks. That youngster, despite his status, has such grand dreams.”

The emperor, who had clung to his throne even at the cost of his pride, was arrogant but also very cowardly.

Especially after the sudden death of Marquis Sternbrow, who was called the sword of the empire eight years ago, he became even more so. So he would often summon nobles and prattle on about useless things.

Anticipating that today would also be quite a boring schedule, Claude lazily shifted his gaze out the window.

The carriage, which had just started, was rolling along a road lined with slender trees on both sides.

As his indifferent eyes passed over the knights patrolling the estate and reached the distant open space, he suddenly shouted.

“Stop!”

The startled coachman hurriedly stopped the carriage, causing Harriet, who was sitting unprepared, to lurch forward and hit his forehead.

Harriet swallowed a groan and raised his eyes in reproach, asking what was wrong, but Claude just stared out the window without even glancing at him.

Among the gathered servants, there was one person who stood out with a distinctly different color. Long platinum blonde hair shimmered dazzlingly under the lush trees.

It was the woman he had lost interest in about two weeks ago, after telling her that she’ll be given maid work.

“What is that woman doing over there right now?”

“Huh? She’s chopping wood.”

Although he asked as if the duke couldn’t see it himself, the duke still had a displeased look on his face with his brows furrowed.

“I told you to give her maid work. Did I say to give her servant work?”

Ah… Only then realizing the intent of the question, Harriet flinched but soon showed an aggrieved face.

“But Your Grace, you said to give her hard work. She’s strong, and she doesn’t seem to particularly mind…”

Thwack!

The next words couldn’t continue as he clutched his head in sudden pain. As Harriet whimpered after being hit on the crown with the scabbard, the duke clicked his tongue.

“You, who even received a knighthood, giving such work to a woman? I can’t believe I’ve been keeping someone like you as an aide all this time.”

No matter her background as a soldier, in terms of gender, she was clearly a woman.

Chivalry was the norm that any knight should naturally have, and he was a knight who had deeply ingrained that consciousness. It was natural for him to be irritated by the sight of a woman wielding a rough axe.

Moreover, it was even more astounding that the one who had given such an order was his aide, who was the third son of a count’s family and even held the title of lord.

But Harriet was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand why he had to be hit, as he had assigned the work after careful consideration.

Looking at the duke as if he were a fussy master, Harriet grumbled with an aggrieved expression.

“What woman? That wench, no. Does that demon look like a woman to you?”

“Then does she look like a man to your eyes?”

When put that way, he had nothing to say. As he was muttering to himself that a woman is a woman in her own way, the duke kicked the door hard using only his long legs, which were stretched out while he was still seated.

And he spoke very concisely.

“Get out.”

* * *

“Really, kicking someone out so coldly just for having her chop some firewood.”

With the duke’s final words that there was no need to follow him and that he had to go see Flora right away, Harriet was thrown out of the carriage.

Although he had been pushed out in a daze, thinking it couldn’t be, Harriet realized it wasn’t a joke only after seeing the carriage move away.

And so, Harriet was now walking dejectedly, constantly complaining about his incomprehensible master.

Although the duke had made excuses about chivalry and ladies, the master he knew was never one to favor someone just because they were a woman.

Thanks to that proper appearance, the surface image of Duke Heinst was good, but in fact, his master’s words and actions were as rough as his years spent on the battlefield.

“In the end, he’s taking out his frustration on me for being summoned to the imperial palace.”

Well, even for him who had been by his master’s side for over a decade, the master’s whims were too unpredictable to guess, so it wasn’t anything new.

As he walked, dawdling, the sound of chopping grew louder. Soon, he saw the woman who was unnecessarily enthusiastic about chopping firewood.

Flora was sweating profusely in the backyard towards the rear garden of the ducal residence. Flora, who roughly wiped the sweat dripping from her forehead with the back of her hand, raised the axe in her hand and put all her strength into it.

Crack!

The thick tree trunk made a refreshing sound as it split into two halves under the sharp axe blow.

The servants standing nearby let out exclamations of admiration and praised her.

“Wow. Where did the master bring such a woman from? At this rate, she’ll finish almost everything today.”

“…What are you all gawking at?”

A good woman, my foot. Harriet, irritated by the naive words of the foolish servants, butted in abruptly. At the unexpected appearance of the duke’s closest aide, the servants nodded their heads, and Flora also gave a light bow.

‘Just because her face is pretty doesn’t make her a woman…’

Certainly, she looked better than when he first saw her in Filheim, but for him, it was just a fact he wanted to deny, nothing more, nothing less.

With no intention of ever admitting that this was prejudice, he started off angrily without preamble.

“Hey, you. Go back to the main building right now.”

Harriet shouted without even acknowledging Flora’s greeting.

At those words, the servants looked disappointed as if they had lost a capable colleague, but Harriet ignored them and added to Flora, who didn’t understand what was going on.

“Change of duties.”