Shun POV:
I walked down the hallway while mulling over my very one-sided conversation with Herb. I had arrived on the second floor of the mansion, which was the floor I had been staying on all this time. It seemed as though they were three floors in the building.
The 1st floor/ground floor had a plethora of rooms and was where the main kitchen was located. The Head Chef and Herb, the gardener, probably lived on this floor with some of the other workers.
The 2nd floor seemed to be exclusively for me. I had yet to encounter anyone else on this floor apart from Chloe Ravendawn and the two guards, which were nowhere to be found.
Considering the fact that they weren’t included in the task log by the system, it’s possible that those guards were hired. In other words, they weren’t originally a part of the Ravendawn Estate.
That left me with the 3rd floor. C-Chloe... Definitely spent most of her time there and that was where I would most likely find her Butler too.
‘!’
“How many times do I have to tell you, Camille? You don’t fold it that way. Look closely at how I do it.”
“...Yes, Mildred.”
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two women talking to one another. I was positive that there was no one on this floor when I left, so perhaps they were working on the 1st floor while I was speaking with Rollo and Herb.
In any case, the two housemaids were right in front of me. I mustered up my resolve and pushed open the door containing the sources of the two voices I had heard. I was greeted with the view of a young maid that had short blonde hair tied up in a bun and an older maid, who looked to be around her late 30s, that had short black hair and wore a small pair of glasses.
“....”
We both stared at each other before I shifted my gaze to the floor. I had focused so much on opening the door that I didn’t prepare myself for what I needed to do next.
“W-where... Is the n-nearest town?...”
I clenched my fists and looked back at the two of them. I watched them both glance at each other before covering their faces as a faint shade of red tinted their cheeks.
“So cute...”
“He is indeed adorable. Lady Chloe certainly has impeccable taste.”
‘Uh...’
The older woman stepped forward and dipped her head. Upon closer inspection, I realised that she looked really young; still older than the other maid, but young nevertheless. She had an alluring, mature air around her that made you feel at ease, matched with a soft smile that honed in on the cuteness of her small mouth.
“I am Mildred Summerstone. A maid of the Ravendawn Estate, and this is Camille Porter.”
Camille bowed her head before puffing out her large breasts. Mildred’s was of a much smaller size, but either way, none of that mattered to me anymore.
“As for your question, the nearest city is over an hour away from here.”
‘...Ha.’
My heart sank at the news. Was it an hour by foot or did they use some other form of transportation? I didn’t notice anything when I spoke with Herb, but that was only one side of the mansion.
“More importantly, there are times when we have to do the rounds at night, and though I can’t hear Lady Chloe, she always looks refreshed in the morning. Tehe… Very satisfied too~”
Camille’s eyes swept over my body, stopping on my crotch as I trembled. My stomach turned upside down at her words and forced back down the vomit, trying to exit my mouth. I clenched my fists to take my mind off the abuse I had suffered, but Camille didn’t seem to get the message.
“You must be quite fantastic in that department~ I, too, want to find a man as soon as possible.”
Her tongue ran over her lips as she rested her hand against her chest. The intensity in her eyes increased when I felt a shift in the air.
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‘Disgusting...’
*Slap*
Before I could react, Mildred slapped the back of Camille’s head, snapping her out of the frenzied heat she had entered.
“The last man that Lady Chloe brought home made the unwise decision of messing around with a maid. It happened well before their relationship had gotten as far as it has in your case.”
She pointed her slender finger towards me while parting her lips.
“In retaliation, Lady Chloe killed both the cheater and the maid; beheading them in front of the whole estate. So, you would do well to remember your position here if you value your life, Camille.”
Her sharp eyes narrowed to a slit as she glared at Camille. Sweat poured down her face while she nodded her head.
“R-right... I understand, Mildred...”
“Ugh...”
I pained moan left my mouth as I collapsed against the wall. I gasped for air as I felt an incoming wave of anxiety wash over me. The hair on my body stood up and my vision blurred. I barely made out the images of Mildred and Camille rushing towards me before I stumbled back outside of the room.
“G-go... A-away....”
I commanded my legs to run—to run as far away as I could from them. The story that Mildred had just shared reinforced the already unbreakable image of Chloe in my mind; it made me fear her even more, and I hated that.
“Keuk!”
“Hey!”
I ran into a hard wall when somebody pushed me backwards. My feet tripped over themselves as I fell on my bottom, confused by the wall morphing into a person. Or was it that the person was as hard as a wall?
I didn’t know.
My hands gripped the sides of my head as I screamed. Blood gushed out of my nose while my consciousness began to slip away from my grasp. I could feel parts of my body going limp when my head snapped to the side. My vision cleared, and I saw a young man peering down at me with annoyed eyes.
He picked me up by my top and threw me inside an open room as I rolled back to my feet. The door shut behind him while he ruffled his messy light green hair.
“Why the hell are you screaming like that for? I’ve got damn sensitive ears, you know.”
‘Ugh...’
I held my head as I winced in pain. Somehow, I managed to regain my composure and calmed myself down.
“Y-you...”
“Cedric Stringer. To think Lady Chloe’s type was useless wimps like you.”
He looked down at me with unimpressed eyes. I hated how he was judging me; I hated how he was making it seem like I was living some sort of blessed life here. I clenched my trembling fists and got back to my feet.
“Oh? There is some fire in those dark eyes of yours, after all.”
“S-shut up!... W-what would y-you know...!”
I glared at him while gnashing my teeth together. His lips spread into a thin smirk, followed by a brief chuckle as he leaned his back against the closed door.
“I’m envious, you know. Every night you get to spend it in Lady Chloe’s warm embrace. A nobody like you should be damn grateful that you were chosen. You have no idea how many men have tried to court her in the past, you peasant.”
My eyes flared, and I charged forward without thinking. Envious? Envious of what? You think I look forward to her opening up my door every night? You think I look forward to her forcing herself on me against my will? You don’t know anything.
You don’t know what she’s done to me!!
“S-SHUT UP!!!”
My fist shot forward, right towards his chin. He unfolded his arms and knocked it away while his foot crashed into my jaw. The impact alone made me spin several times in the air before gravity slammed me back down to the floor as a mouthful of blood flew out of my mouth.
“Not only are you a nobody, but you’re also disgustingly weak. I didn’t even hit you hard yet. Look how far you flew. Utterly hopeless.”
“...”
I got back to my feet and wiped the blood away from my mouth. Cedric glanced at me as a helpless sigh escaped his lips.
‘...Maybe?... It’s him...?’
I dropped to my knees in front of him and lowered my head.
“P-please... T-teach m–”
“No. If you want to learn, ask Lady Chloe. She would be a better teacher than me anyway.”
‘...’
There was no hesitation in his reply. My shoulders heaved up and down as tears pooled at the side of my eyes. I felt trapped in a dark place with no escape and even through trying to communicate with others; those embers of hope gradually began to burn out.
“I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. Lady Chloe is kind, caring, and sweet. She chose you, yet you act like your world is falling apart around you. Don’t tell me you’re stupid enough to think that you deserve someone even better than her?”
“Guh.. Hurk...”
The sound of retching echoed around the room. Whatever I had been forced to eat earlier, it shot out of my mouth in a mushy liquid, lacing the entire section in front of me as my eyes rolled back in my head.
I felt someone grab my hair and throw me back against the wall as my consciousness fully returned. My gaze shifted to Cedric, who threw a handkerchief at me; his eyes laced with concern.
He had avoided the mess I made and had stopped me from falling headfirst into it. He crouched down in front of me while I wiped my mouth with the handkerchief.
“...I’m sorry. I don’t know what it is that you’re suffering with, but talk to Lady Chloe about it. If you really can’t talk with her, then come find me anytime.”
He smiled before flicking his thumb back towards the puddle of vomit.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll clean it up. You should go and get some rest.”
“T-thank... Y-you...”
I bowed my head and stumbled out of the room. I glanced back only to see him crouched down in the same position, shaking his head as a long sigh left his mouth.
[Housemaids [2/2]
[Housekeeper [1/1]]
I closed the door behind me as I sat down in my favourite corner of the room.
‘C-Cedric... Is he an ally? Or an enemy?...’
The system tasks were something that I also agreed with, hence the reason I set out to interact with those people in the first place. However, I wouldn’t rely on the status windows.
Based on the fact that the system had modified my own information, it was likely that it could modify the information of others, which would ultimately lead to my downfall.
I couldn’t and I wouldn’t trust it. I had to rely on my own brain to determine who was helping me, to determine just who was really on my side. If I gained power, then I could use the system more without having to worry about the negative outcomes that may come my way, but how long would that take?