I suddenly woke with a start.
Good thing I had drawn the curtains yesterday, just in case I couldn't wake up.
Sunlight streamed in through the window… or, wait, what's that?
A crow?
No, it was a bird so large it could cover the whole window.
The bird stared at me, then let out a piercing shriek—ear-splitting—and flew away into the distance.
'What the heck.'
I frowned automatically. Yesterday's events slowly replayed in my mind.
Sigh, I see.
'Everything I saw yesterday… was real.'
Checking the watch given to the staff, it was 4:59 a.m.
Tick— the second hand hit twelve.
Brrrrrrr—ggrrr—
The alarm blared, announcing the start of the day.
'…Is that supposed to be an alarm?'
Doesn't it sound like someone dying?
Why give this to us? I pressed the button, pretending to stay calm, and turned off the alarm.
Anyway, today was the first day of work.
The contract said I had to work at least six months—no backing out now.
Feeling a bit gloomy, I glanced at Eki on the other bed, sleeping comfortably as always, clutching her doll.
She didn't wake even with the alarm, so she must have been here quite a while.
'Right, I have Eki.'
That's a relief. Really, a huge relief.
I woke Eki, hurriedly got ready, and went outside.
Work starts at 6:30 a.m.
Since work assignments would be distributed today, everyone should be at the central area on the first floor by 6.
But no one was there.
"..."
I comforted the still-half-asleep Eki and waited, arms crossed.
6:10… 6:20… 6:30…
…7:00.
Finally, the monsters shuffled in.
Even seeing my displeased face, they only murmured among themselves, seemingly curious.
"Alright, good morning, everyone."
Clap!
I clapped my hands to get their attention.
Their eyes, still strange to me, focused on me. But I had at least half a year to get used to it.
I had to be confident.
One monster extended its arm toward me.
Its limb reached my nose in an instant, and embedded in it was a grotesque, blinking eyeball staring straight at me.
'....'
Chilling, but only briefly.
According to my plan, we should have already started work.
To fix the disrupted schedule, I had to begin immediately.
While touring the mansion yesterday, I had roughly planned what tasks to assign.
"Let's start dividing the work."
Assigning cleaning tasks was like breathing to me, even in my previous life as a cleaning business owner.
I remembered Rule 2 and divided the monsters into groups of three.
Our group was responsible for cleaning the first-floor corridor.
Me, Eki, and another servant.
Honestly… Eki was with me because if I paired her with the other monsters, she'd probably just cry and accomplish nothing.
'Well, whatever. This is the privilege of a Head Maid.'
Surprisingly, the work proceeded quite peacefully.
"Head Maid. I object to this task."
Of course, it was just Eki and the other servant.
From the start, the servant's lips had been pursed as if ready to complain down the entire corridor.
And she hadn't even touched the mop I had prepared at dawn.
"Uh… I thought you were just supposed to mop after the other maid sweeps?"
"But I don't have any hands to hold the mop!"
"..."
The servant was shaped like a brown octopus.
A smooth, shiny brown octopus head puffed up angrily.
Beneath the head looked almost human, but the arms were dozens of tentacles.
Hmm…
Seeing this servant, arrogant and snide, seemingly unwilling to clean, I had to agree.
'True. How could they hold a mop with all those wriggling tentacles?'
Looking back, it wasn't mockery—she genuinely seemed frustrated at being assigned an impossible task.
I realized my mistake too late.
First day of work, and I had already messed up.
Heh-heh—echoes of eerie laughter drifted from various corners, as if the monsters were watching us.
When I turned my head quickly, those glancing my way moved casually, pretending to do something.
But I noticed—the monsters were staring at the octopus's shiny head.
They were laughing at this servant.
'Is this… bullying?'
By mistakenly assigning a difficult task, it looked like I was orchestrating it.
If this continued, the servant would start resenting her body, hiding her tentacles, and eventually blaming me…
Absolutely unacceptable.
As the Head Maid, I could not allow this. I observed the puffed-up servant more closely.
The more I looked, the more the tentacles sparked an idea.
…Perhaps?
"!!!"
I dropped the servant's arms directly into a bucket of water.
Splash! Splash! Splash! The tentacles soaked up water, then I wrung them out like mops.
'They squirm a bit, but I can control them, so this might even be better for cleaning.'
Yes! Now I remembered—these were just like mop heads!
Regular mops are stiff when new, but these tentacles were soft and perfect for corridor cleaning.
Unable to contain my excitement, I embraced the tentacles and shouted,
"This is truly… a top-class mop!"
Having run a cleaning company in my previous life, I knew what I was talking about—it wasn't an exaggeration.
"..."
The octopus servant's previously puffed face deflated rapidly, wrinkling with astonishment.
Hicc—
I heard a small hiccup from somewhere.
"Anyway, we'll clean with this, right?"
"Yes… yes."
The octopus-headed servant muttered absentmindedly and pressed the tentacles to the floor.
Swish, swish.
Look at that, cleaning properly already.
I had almost overlooked this capable monster.
I whispered to him quietly,
"If anyone bothers you, tell me!"
"!!!"
He jumped back in surprise.
…Wrong.
He probably thought I was asserting dominance from day one.
I'd have to do better from now on. I wiped my water-soaked hands, swallowing back my tears.
"Next…"
Looking around, the monsters who had been staring at me had disappeared.
They all appeared to diligently carry out the tasks I had assigned.
'Hmm, satisfactory.'
They wouldn't bully him anymore, I hoped.
I still had to check if the cleaning was truly thorough.
I grabbed the wet and dry mops tied at my waist and started cleaning the windows.
At the far end of the first-floor corridor,
In the shadows, pale hands slowly wiped the marble windowsill.
The Duke lowered his eyes, brushing his finger along it. Long eyelashes half-covered his hollow, red eyes.
Dust did not cling to his finger.
His lips drew a perfect curve, maybe stretching to his ears.
Soon, he vanished completely into the shadows.
Back in the quarters, I scribbled my impressions of the first day in my diary.
[First Day Summary:
Lots to clean, which is good, but the monsters are terrible workers, so there's a lot to teach.
Still, their effort and progress are beautiful! Not their appearance though.
Ah, and the food is really delicious.]
After writing, I put the diary in the first drawer, feeling pleased.
'The food really was delicious.'
The chef was human, right?
Even though I hadn't seen him, the meals for the staff were that good.
I ate lunch excitedly, nose buried in my food, but for dinner I cautiously asked Eki:
"Is this because it's my first day, or is it always like this?"
"No, we always eat like this. Otherwise, there would be trouble."
"…Ah, I see."
Right. Just hiring a Head Maid wouldn't warrant such luxury for one day.
To observe human nature, they say, see how servants are treated.
No trickery here.
Indeed, Duke Verma-nion must be a good person!
His taste for employing monsters as staff may be unusual, but still…
Perhaps he welcomed the monsters personally because no one else would accept them.
'Truly impressive.'
Then I remembered the task I had postponed.
"Ah, Eki."
"Yes?"
Startled, Eki jumped up, dropping her doll onto the bed.
"Can I borrow that doll for a moment?"
"…Why?"
For the first time, I met her cautious gaze.
Eki hugged the doll tightly, glaring at me, clearly unwilling to let it go.
It must be very precious to her.
I pulled a small box from my scarcely used luggage.
"I think I can fix that doll."
"…Yes?"
Inside the box were a needle, thread, and cotton.
I smiled at Eki.
---
End of Chapter 4
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