“Mary?”

At Hestia’s answer, Grand Duke Estin leaned his arms around the back of the chair and asked, as if he was finally interested. How did Mary know someone who lived in Tana District? He doesn’t think she knew her from the orphanage in the mountains.

“Did she know her when she was in the orphanage?”

“Oh, I didn’t check that out. I’m sorry.”

Hestia stood up straight with a look of regret. Judging from the circumstances Mary mentioned earlier, she did not seem to be from the same orphanage, but she could not say without any particular certainty.

Lucas, who was next to her, talked to Estin instead.

“I haven’t heard of any children who have become independent from the orphanage yet.”

“Then I think she met her when she visited Giefroy.”

“Did Mary go to Tana district?”

Actually, Hestia had no intention of reporting it to Estin. It was because she pitied Mary who was wary of everything. She seemed to think of herself as Conler’s guest and carefully censored each of her actions. 

Nevertheless, she unintentionally caused a lot of accidents.

After watching Mary for a short time, Hestia began to somewhat understand. Mary’s personality is more unusual than she thought.

So Hestia wanted to put many people around Mary. In fact, it was not an easy decision for Hestia to attach Carol Delat, who she had no information on, to Mary’s side. Still, Carol’s eyes looking at Mary at that time were really sincere. The seeds Mary sowed on Carol will bloom.

Hestia closed her eyes once, opened them, and spoke straight to Estin.

“Miss Mary lost her way and went towards Tana District.”

“……was she alright?”

“Yes, thankfully, I found her right away.”

It’s not completely wrong.…

Her backbone began to feel cold as she received Estin’s suspicious gaze, but Hestia tried to stand upright.

From now on, I’ll tell you the absolute truth, my lord. Please forgive me just this once.

“Miss Mary wanted her?”

“Yes.”

Lucas’ expression continued to look bad. No matter how much Mary wanted her, hiring her would not be easy. Since her background is not clear, that’s all.

Hestia noticed Lucas’ expression. How on earth could she persuade these two. The best gatekeeper of Britina Empire.

His brother Vincent Taylor came to mind. The head of the Guild of Conler. A man who will sell fish to a mermaid even if he drowned and someone who will sell cactus in a desert. 

Hestia closed her eyes and opened it again, and hoped Vincent Taylor’s soul would possess her.

But she couldn’t back down like this. The gatekeeper is bound to have a gap. Hestia was able to become the deputy commander even when she had a weaker physical strength than other knights because she handled the sword well, she grasped the opponent’s weaknesses well and attacked the gap.

At present, the common weakness of the two men is the ‘Mary’. Hestia quickly rolled her head. In times like this, you just need to use the standard method. She has to be honest.

“Miss Mary looked around Tana district that day and was very sorry that such a place existed in the territory of Conler.”

“…….”

“She said she wanted to help them.”

Estin, who was listening to Hestia’s words, sat upright. Lucas’ unhappy expression also began to unravel. Hestia spoke with more glare.

“She met Miss Carol Delat like that. She heard that her father passed away, and her mother was sick. She was the first child so she had to take care of her family.”

“Hmm.”

“Miss Mary knew that, so she wanted to give her a job. She said that was her first step in helping Tana district.”

Hestia, who finished talking, took a deep breath once. When she heard this story from Mary, he wanted to hug her because he was proud of her, but now how proud these two are now. 

“Well, if that’s what Miss Mary said.”

The voice of Lucas exudes emotion. Hestia bowed her head slightly and laughed. Yes, Lucas is almost over. As Estin’s closest aide, he is a more calculating person, but he was still loose in nature and full of affection, so she thought he would fall into the standard method.

Well, then the only thing left is Estin.

She’s been with him for almost 10 years since she was 16, but she still doesn’t know what that black eye is thinking. Originally, black absorbs all colors. Also, if you mix a lot of colors, it becomes black like Estin’s black eyes.

But Mary has the same black eyes.

Mary has the same black eyes, but when you put other colors rather than absorb it, the color becomes more prominent. You can read all the glittering thoughts in her eyes.

He might be thinking of the word ‘help’ Tana district. Conler’s was said to be cold and ruthless because of the blessing they received from the demons, but he reformed his territory so that the common people could live well.

However, he does not intend to show mercy to those who entered and stayed illegally.

How proud he must be of Miss Kitty who thought about that. 

But the opponent is Estin…….

“Lucas.”

“Yes.”

“Can you find Carol Dillat in the Tana district?”

“Yes, I’ll bring her.”

Yes, the opponent is Estin..

“The exclusive maid has been decided.”

“Mary is not as strong as the Grand Duke and other young masters, so she will be fine. You won’t have a lot of chances to see her, after all she’s Mary’s exclusive maid.”

“Yes, and find her a tutor as soon as possible.”

“All right.”

It’s this easy?

Overshadowing Hestia’s determination, Estin and Lucas were already proceeding on their own.

***

“I’m Carol Delat, who will serve you from today.”

Carol, whom I had not seen for a long time looks brighter than before. Unknowingly, I looked at Carol’s legs under the skirt, her bruises I saw before are still there, but they were very faint.

Carol was so happy to see me that she even shed tears.

“I’m so happy to be with you Lady Mary!”

“Oh, I’m glad I kept my promise, too.”

Carol, who was able to work at Conler’s castle, looked very happy. I remembered what Hestia said in Giefroy ‘Where there is light, there is darkness’. For a woman, getting a job is difficult so she was glad to finally be able to find one. 

“Bonita already gave me a briefing, so don’t worry too much.”

“I’m not worried. So don’t feel too pressured, Carol.”

“Lady Mary…… You’re still sweet!”

“Hey, what do you mean?”

“The employees of Conler Castle said that you are kind.”

What? Who’s spreading rumors about me? No, Carol might be flattering me because she’s thankful for me.

But Carol’s eyes only glowed innocently to the point where I was sorry for doubting her.

Carol clapped her hands and asked me;

“Should I bring you a cup of tea?”

“Oh, yes, please.”

Carol hurried out of the room, happy to do something for me. The sound of her running was heard all over the room.

I’m not really picky about tea, I drink whatever tea they serve me. The thought of reading over tea made me feel better already, so I lay down on the sofa and shook my legs lightly alternately.

Crash~

As I was waiting for Carol to come with my tea, I heard something breaking outside the door.

I was so surprised that I threw the book I was reading and ran to open the door.

When I opened the dull door, I saw a broken tea set and Carol sitting helplessly.

I remembered the first time I met Carol. She spilled everything back then.

I was even glad to see that she was still the same.

I crouched down in front of the disastrous wreckage.

“I’m so sorry, miss.”

“No, it must be hard to open the door with this.”

“I should have been careful…….”

At Carol’s sobbing apology, I patted her on the shoulder to sooth her.

When I reached out to pick up pieces of broken teacups, Carol was stunned and stopped my action.

“Miss, it’s dangerous. I’ll clean it up. Don’t touch it!”

Carol wiped her tears with her hands and put the broken things on the tray.

I put my chin over my knees and said;

“Did I do that?”

“What?”

“I did this. Right?” 

“Miss!”

As if he understood me, Carol’s eyes grew so big that she stopped moving her hands.

Tears were still dripping from her big eyes.

The figure was cuter than I thought, so I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s all right, Carol. I’m always a troublemaker, so I’m sure everyone will think that way.”

“……Miss Mary.”

“You’ll have to deal with a lot of the accidents later, so this is my bribe.”

“But what if someone says something…….”

“Who cares!”

“What?” 

“Don’t mind them.”