The Villainess's Exclusive Maid Is Too Good at Her Job - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21

Shifting my gaze away from Janet, I turned my attention back to Julietta.
“I’ve heard about Sien, my lady. Goodness, how could something so dreadful happen….”
With an exaggerated sigh, I shook my head slowly.
“She would visit frequently to discuss her work troubles, so I thought she was a passionate girl and treated her kindly. I never dreamed she could be so frightening.”
“I understand. I never imagined Sien was like that either.”
“Exactly? You were fooled completely as well, weren’t you, my lady? I’ll be more careful going forward to prevent such things from happening again.”
Placing a hand over my heart, I spoke as though making a vow.
“Miss Graham.”
“Yes, Nova, the head maid.”
“As the lady’s maid, you should stay alert and always be cautious. If you ever put the lady in danger, I won’t let it slide.”
At my deliberately stern tone, Janet quietly nodded.
“Yes. I will keep that in mind.”
“Don’t be so hard on her, Nova. Janet is doing quite well.”
“Ah, is that so? Then I’m relieved.”
At Julietta’s intervention, I nodded awkwardly.
‘Why is she doing this? Suddenly taking her subordinate’s side?’
Julietta wasn’t the type to look after her people. I had made her this way, after all.
So she wouldn’t easily rely on anyone but me.
So she couldn’t trust anyone but me.
I had held her in my grasp and spent a long time carefully molding her into the shape I desired….
‘Regardless, this is all that girl’s fault.’
I cast a covert glance at Janet. I had blamed her for Sien’s crimes being exposed.
She had noticed one of the gifts from the patron had arrived empty and reported Sien, I said.
‘Such unnecessary meddling.’
I had disliked her from the start, and sure enough, she was doing something irritating like this.
Shaking up even the lady I had carefully molded to my liking.
The only saving grace was that neither of them had noticed there was some sort of transaction between me and Sien.
‘If they found out I had her do all sorts of things….’
The thought alone was horrifying.
Suppressing a groan, I forced a smile and spoke.
“My lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Shouldn’t you begin preparing to return to the academy soon?”
“Ah, the academy?”
At the mention of the academy, Julietta’s expression visibly darkened.
“I’ve told you, I have no intention of going back. I’ll just quit that academy.”
“But your approved leave period will be ending soon. You still need to graduate, don’t you?”
“No, but….”
Julietta Ludwig, who had been speaking, clamped her mouth shut at the concern flickering across Nova Morgan’s gaze.
“I’ll think about it.”
At Julietta Ludwig’s response, Nova Morgan’s face brightened with a satisfied smile.
Confirming that she still couldn’t resist Nova Morgan’s words, my heart felt at ease.

***

“You’re on a leave of absence from the academy, aren’t you?”
On the way back to Kendrick’s Separate Residence, Janet’s question made Julietta Ludwig flinch.
Tsk.
She clicked her tongue sharply and answered irritably.
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m on leave. Though I might get expelled soon.”
“Expelled means… you’d be dismissed from the academy?”
“Yeah. You heard earlier, didn’t you? The leave of absence approval period is ending.”
Julietta Ludwig answered calmly while twisting the ends of her hair around her fingers.
“If unexcused absences keep piling up, I’ll eventually be expelled.”
“Do you want to be expelled from the academy?”
“Of course!”
“Why?”
At today’s persistent questioning, Julietta Ludwig’s eyes sharpened considerably.
If the one asking hadn’t been Janet, she would have already been barked at and sent away.
Julietta Ludwig, who had been glaring at Janet, sighed and turned her head away sharply.
“All my classmates from my entrance year have already graduated. If I return, I’d still be a first-year! Ugh, just thinking about it makes me want to die of embarrassment.”
Janet’s mouth fell open slightly upon hearing the answer.
‘Oh, so that was the reason.’
The academy in this world had a structure combining both secondary and higher education, and anyone aged thirteen or older could enroll if they met the admission requirements.
Regardless of age, gender, or social status.
‘Besides, Montrea Academy, where you enrolled, is one of the most prestigious in the Empire, isn’t it?’
This was information I had already learned through the notebook Theo had given me. Though I hadn’t known she was on the verge of expulsion.
In any case, Montrea Academy was an academy everyone desperately wanted to attend.
For someone like Julietta Ludwig, who hated studying, she must have made an enormous effort to pass the entrance exam.
Yet she was willing to quit the academy for such a trivial reason.
“That’s… such a waste.”
“What?”
“The academy.”
“Sigh. Are you still going on about that?”
Despite Julietta Ludwig’s dismissive attitude, Janet was unusually firm.
The instincts from my previous life, worn down by an education-obsessed society, had awakened.
“You worked hard to get into such a prestigious academy.”
“…Well, I suppose that’s true.”
“Besides, attending the academy will broaden your horizons considerably.”
At Janet’s words, a frown creased Julietta’s brow.
“Broaden my horizons?”
“When you know more things, you want to do more things. When you want to do more, you have more to accomplish. I believe that’s how a person’s world expands.”
Life is long.
What you desire, what you dream of, what you wish to do.
To discover these things, one needed the ability to see the world broadly.
“I hope your world becomes wider, Miss.”
After all, what one learns at school isn’t limited to textbook knowledge alone.
Independence.
How to maintain friendships.
The experience of failure and how to rise from it.
What I want to do versus what I must do.
Janet hoped Julietta would learn all of these things at the academy.
‘Of course, this is ultimately just my own wish.’
But I didn’t want Julietta to spend her life hating and fearing people forever.
Perhaps the academy could help heal those wounds?
Julietta stole a sideways glance at Janet’s profile.
‘What is it? Why does she look so serious?’
She wore an expression of deep contemplation, completely unaware that her pace was gradually slowing.
Matching Janet’s stride, Julietta clicked her tongue softly.
‘…Anyway. She really does have strange aspects.’
It wasn’t even her own business, yet she cared so earnestly about it. I couldn’t understand it.
Julietta fidgeted with her fingers, replaying Janet’s words in her mind.
‘She wants my world to become wider?’
In all my life, I’d never heard such a thing. Not even from Nova, whom I trusted and relied upon so deeply.
‘And she didn’t even attend the academy herself.’
…Then, does Janet also feel her own world is narrow?
Does she wish to see a wider world than this?
‘The academy, huh…’
My contemplation was deepening when—
“What is that?”
The sight before my eyes swept away all my worries in an instant.
“A butt?”
At Julietta’s murmur, all the scattered thoughts occupying Janet’s mind vanished in a flash.
In front of Kendrick’s Separate Residence, a small rear end protruding from the thick undergrowth.
It was a sight quite familiar to Janet.
‘Young Master Jeron must have come again.’
As if sensing their presence, the body sticking out from the bushes visibly stiffened.
Rustle, rustle.
My rigid body inched forward, as though trying to hide itself from view.
“What are you doing over there, little one? Why are you crawling around in such a place?”
Even at Julietta’s words, I froze once more.
Trembling.
My quivering body slowly emerged from between the bushes.
My ashen face looked up at Julietta, then shifted toward Janet beside her, and a hint of color returned to my cheeks.
Catching this obvious change, Julietta’s teeth clenched.
“…Hmph? So you’re discriminating between people?”
“M-Miss Julietta. Perhaps it would be better to speak more gently in front of the young master?”
“What are you talking about? I’m being very gentle right now.”
Julietta’s brazen reply was met with silence.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“What, what! Does everyone have a complaint?!”
Only after Julietta’s voice rose did the silence finally break.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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