Chapter 11

After breakfast, I was relaxing with Lil-chan when a maid approached us.

“You must be Lady Yuka, correct?”

The maid, a young girl, addressed me. She looked like a middle schooler, with blue hair tied in a ponytail and matching blue eyes. Aside from the blue gem bracelet on her right wrist, her outfit was pretty much the same as Lil-chan’s.

“Y-Yes, that’s me. Um… and you are?”

“My apologies. I’m Mill, a familiar. Lord Albert has instructed me to teach you the ways of a maid. I hope we get along from here on.”

“Mill-chan! Good morning!”

“Lil, don’t call me ‘-chan.’ I’m your senior, remember!”

“Ehh~? But why not?”

“Because it makes me sound less dignified!”

“Dignified?”

“Wh-What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying someone gloomy like me can’t have any dignity!? You’re right! I’m just worthless trash! A useless failure with no reason to live… sniff…”

“Don’t cry, Mill-chan~ There, there.”

“…sniff D-Don’t call me ‘-chan’… and don’t pat my head either…”

Mill-chan suddenly went full doom mode and burst into tears, so Lil-chan started patting her head to calm her down. Apparently, her self-esteem is pretty low.

Once she was comforted and had calmed down, Mill-chan cleared her throat and returned to her usual tone… though her face was still bright red. I decided not to point it out.

“…My apologies. That was unsightly of me.”

“No, don’t worry about it. Uh, I’m Yuka. I arrived at this mansion yesterday. I look forward to working with you… Mill-senpai.”

Since she’s my senior as a maid, I figured I should call her that. The moment I did—

“S-Senpai… That’s the first time anyone’s called me that… Fufuh, senpai…”

She started squirming with joy. Her face melted into a sloppy grin, totally losing any sense of dignity. When she noticed me staring, her eyes widened in panic and she cleared her throat again.

“A-Ahem! I came to greet you today, but I’ll begin properly the day after tomorrow. Please take care of me.”

“Yes, I look forward to learning from you, Mill-senpai.”

“Ahhn… Senpai… Mill-senpai… Fufuh…”

Off she went again into her happy world. Noticing the warm stares from Lil-chan and me, she awkwardly cleared her throat once more. She’s quite the character.

“A-Anyway, Lady Yuka. When you're done with breakfast, could you please go see Lord Albert?”

“I don’t mind. Is he in his room?”

“Yes. He’s waiting for you there. The ‘curse’ should be arriving soon.”

“Understood. I’ll head there right away. Thank you, Mill-senpai. Let’s go, Lil-chan.”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

“Ohoho… Fufuh… Fufuhuh…”

We left behind the blissful Mill-senpai and made our way to see Lord Albert.

“Lord Albert, it’s Yuka. May I come in?”

I knocked on the door to check. No reply. Huh? I thought he was in his room. I knocked again.

“Lord Albert, may I come in?”

Still no answer. Maybe he’s not in? I tried the doorknob… and it turned.

“Lord Albert? I’m coming in.”

I slowly opened the door to look inside. And then—

“! Lord Albert!!”

Lord Albert was collapsed on the floor.