The Villainess's Exclusive Maid Is Too Good at Her Job - Chapter 8

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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 8.

“Once again, I look forward to working with you going forward.”
At Janet’s cheerful greeting, Julieta’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Very well, do your best. I’m curious to see how long that naive resolve of yours will last.”
Despite the sarcasm laced through her words, Janet’s smile remained unshaken.

After that first meeting—a quiet tempest—had passed.
“Again.”
With a sharp flick, Julieta swept the teacup before her away with the back of her hand.
“The temperature is off. It’s far too hot to drink.”
“My apologies. I shall prepare a fresh cup at once.”
Janet lowered her head in response to Julieta’s cutting remark, delivered with eyes wide open.
Julieta’s eyes narrowed to sharp points.
‘She’s more composed than I expected.’
Already more than ten teacups had been rejected, each time with some petty complaint.
Yet that faint smile—as though she held a grain of sugar on her tongue—never wavered.
“Forgive me, but I’ve run out of hot water. I must visit the Kitchen briefly.”
“Go ahead.”
“Yes. I shall return shortly, Miss.”
After Janet left the room.
A Maidservant who had been lingering nearby hurried over to Julieta.
“Are you well, Miss? Your expression seems troubled.”
“Sien.”
Sien was the Maidservant who had served under Julieta the longest.
Due to Julieta’s temperamental nature and her distaste for keeping anyone close, the staff of her Separate Residence turned over frequently.
Among them all, Sien was the one who had endured the longest.
Thanks to her relatively lengthy tenure, Sien had been entrusted with Julieta’s personal attendance.
The Kitchen, laundry, gardens, and household cleaning—all fell within her purview.
Compared to the other Maidservants who labored in harder positions, it was undoubtedly a coveted post.
“It’s because of the new Maidservant, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Some strange creature has wandered in and is getting under my skin.”
“Oh, my dear Miss. You must be exhausted. It pains me just to watch.”
Julieta glanced briefly at Sien, whose eyes drooped with sympathy, then waved her hand dismissively.
“Hmph. Never mind. Just wait and see. I’ll make that creature crawl out on her own two feet.”
My person?
My tool?
How absurd.
How was I supposed to trust such nonsense?
For now, she wore that smile and played the obedient servant, but there was no telling when she might turn on me and mock me to my face.
‘Besides, Janet is a noblewoman.’
Even if she hailed from Graham, some obscure and insignificant house I’d never even heard of.
‘Still, she must have heard the rumors about me in High Society.’
I could already picture it—noblewomen in their finest dresses gathered in small clusters, gleefully spreading vicious gossip about me.
Tch.
The mere thought made my blood boil and my stomach churn.
‘I can’t stand being looked down upon.’
I despised being ridiculed by anyone more than anything in the world.
That laughter echoing behind my back, those malicious glances cast in my direction.
The unmistakable mockery woven through it all.
Just thinking about it made me feel sick.
One thing was certain—keeping that maidservant by my side was doing nothing for my mental well-being.
“In that case, Miss, what if I were to help you instead?”
“…Sien, you?”
“Yes, Miss!”
Sien bobbed her head enthusiastically as she answered.
Her confident demeanor made me tilt my head curiously.
“And how exactly would you help?”
“Well, you see—”
Whisper, whisper.
Sien lowered her voice and leaned in, whispering her plan into my ear.
“You think a plan like that will actually work?”
“Of course it will. Just trust me, Miss. All you need to do is take my side.”
Take her side?
I thought it presumptuous, but at the same time, I found myself thinking—why not?
If Sien could just get rid of that irritating girl for me.
“Fine. Go ahead and try it your way.”
“Yes, Miss. Leave it to me!”

***

The following day, and the day after that—the situation remained much the same.
“Again.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Janet, having already faced three rejections, began steeping the fourth pot of tea.
A deep breath escaped her lips.
After exhaling, Janet wiped away the beads of perspiration from her brow. Juliet, her eyes narrowed to slits, observed her closely.
How is it? Surely you’re losing patience by now?
Yet a smile bloomed across Janet’s lips once more.
Let me try again.
Her eyes seemed to speak those very words. Juliet, her mood souring, spoke with a bitter edge to her voice.
“This time, do it properly. It shouldn’t be this difficult to simply serve a cup of tea.”
“Yes. I will do my best.”
Janet answered with spirited determination and withdrew a small notebook from her pocket.
While the heated water cooled, she studied it with unwavering focus.
Though Juliet pretended indifference, gazing off into the distance, her attention kept drifting toward that notebook.
‘What is she studying so intently?’
In the meantime, once the water in the teapot had cooled sufficiently, Janet began steeping the tea.
She placed the prepared rosehip into the pot and held the teapot in her hand to gauge its temperature.
As a fragrant aroma began to permeate the room, she emptied the teacup that had been filled with water, positioned the tea strainer, and poured the tea with careful, deliberate movements.
‘Her posture has improved considerably compared to before.’
Juliet’s eyelashes fluttered delicately as she observed Janet while feigning disinterest.
“Your tea is ready, Miss.”
“…Very well. Bring it here.”
The prepared tea was placed before Juliet.
The aroma was exquisite. There were no stray tea leaves, and the color of the tea appeared virtually flawless.
‘What is this?’
Why such sudden improvement?
Yet what truly mattered was the taste, did it not? Appearances could be deceiving, but if the flavor—
“…Well. This is acceptable.”
“Oh, does it suit your palate?”
A gasp.
The inadvertent exclamation escaped her, and Juliet quickly pressed her lips firmly together.
“Ahem. I’m not saying it’s excellent, mind you. I merely mean it’s passable. Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Yes. I will continue to improve my skills. If there are any shortcomings, please feel free to tell me. I will correct them.”
With those words, Janet retrieved that same notebook and jotted something down before swiftly tucking it back into her pocket.
‘There it is again.’
Juliet could no longer contain herself.
That mysterious notebook was beginning to irritate her greatly.
“That thing. Bring it here.”
“Pardon?”
“That notebook—bring it here at once!”
Janet appeared flustered, yet she obediently handed it over to Julieta.
Julieta swallowed hard.
What if there’s something written about me in there?
The thought that it was impossible and the thought that it was possible tangled together chaotically.
The chronic anxiety that perpetually stagnated in her life surged upward from her fingertips once more.
It was when Julieta, her lips pressed tightly together, flipped through the notebook with slightly urgent hands to check.
“This is….”
Her long lashes fluttered, and the anxiety that had clouded her eyes vanished.
In place of Julieta, who couldn’t find her words, Janet spoke up awkwardly.
“I’ve been keeping notes on the points you’ve brought to my attention, my lady.”
“You wrote down everything I—no, everything I said?”
“Yes.”
The notebook itself proved her answer was truthful. Every fault she had found with Janet throughout the day to torment her was recorded there.
The temperature of the hot water, the timing of adding the tea, the steeping time, and so on.
“Thanks to your meticulous guidance, my lady, I’ve learned quickly. I’m grateful.”
“My… guidance?”
“Yes. It’s all thanks to you, my lady.”
Julieta couldn’t respond and merely licked her lips.
‘I’ve heard flattery my whole life until I’m sick of it….’
Looking at the notebook densely filled with notes, Julieta was seized by a strange emotion.

***

After work.
The first thing Janet did upon returning to her room was to let down her hair, which had been pinned up high.
“Ah, that’s refreshing.”
Her scalp, which had been held tightly, regained its freedom.
After lightly running her fingers through her hair, Janet changed her clothes and finished washing her face, then sat down at her desk.
On the desk lay the notebook she had taken out while changing clothes.
The notebook in which I had noted my shortcomings while attending to Julieta.
In my previous life, I was the secretary to a small-to-mid-sized company’s parachute executive. Despite his late thirties, he was brimming with old-fashioned rigidity.

“These young people these days, honestly. How unsightly it is to see them constantly tapping away on their phones, tsk.”

Thanks to that, her past self had developed a habit of jotting down work notes in a notebook while on the job.
‘I brought it along just in case, recalling those memories from back then.’
Since the duties of a secretary and a maidservant were similar, I thought it might prove useful.
The notebook proved quite helpful, just as Janet had anticipated—though the assistance came in a somewhat unexpected direction.
It was only for a fleeting moment, but Janet smiled as she recalled how Julieta’s expression had softened when checking the notebook.
‘She has quite an endearing side to her, doesn’t she?’

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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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