The Villainess's Exclusive Maid Is Too Good at Her Job - Chapter 87

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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 87

The tea gathering was held at the Kinsel Family Townhouse.
When the nobility had only just begun to take interest in commerce, the Kinsel Family threw themselves into business faster than anyone else, accumulating vast wealth.
The fact that they possessed such an enormous townhouse in the Capital City was itself evidence of their financial power.
Several tables were arranged across the meticulously landscaped garden. Beneath the billowing canopies overhead, students who had arrived early gathered in small clusters, chattering away.
“I never thought they’d actually agree to come.”
“Right? Honestly, I expected them to decline.”
“I was surprised Theo agreed to attend too. He’s devastatingly handsome, but he keeps everyone at arm’s length. He only spends time with Janet and Julietta Ludwig.”
“Don’t you think he’s coming because those two are attending?”
“Probably. The thread follows the needle, after all. But still, none of the three have arrived yet?”
The children’s greatest topic of conversation was undoubtedly whether Janet, Julietta, and Theo would attend.
Ordinarily, it was considered proper etiquette to arrive about thirty minutes early.
With only ten minutes remaining until the time written on the invitation, all three were still absent.
“What if they said they’d come but don’t actually show up?”
It was Kelvin who said this.
The most pretentious boy in the class, one who loved to act knowledgeable, and for some reason, the one who alone seemed to rival Theo.
“Come on, that’s unlikely. They said they’d come, so they will.”
“Hmm. You all don’t know anything. We’re talking about Julietta. She’s famous for having a terrible personality and acting however she pleases. Where could her temper have—”
“Where do you think her temper went?”
Flinch.
Kelvin’s body stiffened at the voice of someone who had cut him off from behind.
“You think Julietta’s temper went somewhere?”
“I, well, that’s not what I meant—”
Janet let out a scoff at the sight of the man stammering helplessly.
He couldn’t say a proper word in front of the person in question, yet his tongue ran freely behind her back.
‘If Julietta had heard that.’
It was obvious she would have pretended otherwise while being deeply wounded inside.
I exhaled a sigh mixed with relief and melancholy, and Kelvin’s shoulders flinched again.
The students seated at the same table watched Janet’s expression nervously, their faces pale with fear.
So this was Julietta Ludwig’s only friend—it seemed she had inherited even that intimidating presence.
But in the next moment.
“Janet, what are you doing over there?”
“Oh, Julietta.”
At Julietta’s call, a smile bloomed across Janet’s previously cold face.
It was that familiar smile that always appeared when she was beside Julietta.
The terrified students couldn’t believe their eyes at how the ferocity from moments before had vanished without a trace.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Nothing much, I just heard something amusing.”
“Something amusing?”
Julietta Ludwig blinked, and Janet shook her head.
“I guess I must have misheard.”
Janet answered brightly, her gaze shifting to the students beyond Kelvin.
It was Kelvin who had spoken poorly, not the others.
She offered an awkward smile, lowering her head slightly as she spoke her apology.
“Sorry for the interruption.”
“Oh, no! No, it’s not an interruption!”
“R-right. And we didn’t think that way either.”
“Me neither.”
Watching them quickly distance themselves from Kelvin, Janet let out a soft laugh.
And then.
“From now on, you should be more careful with your words. You never know who might be listening, do you?”
“….”
After regarding his silent nod with disdain, she turned toward Julietta Ludwig.
“What was that about? What did you talk to them about?”
“A secret.”
“What? A secret?”
“Yes. A secret.”
“Seriously!”
Though she feigned exasperation, Julietta Ludwig couldn’t hide her disappointment, and Janet laughed at the sight.
Not long after the two of them took their seats, Theo appeared.
Upon spotting Kendrick walking over casually, Julietta Ludwig’s brow furrowed sharply.
“Ugh, look at him trying to look cool.”
“Huh? You mean Theo?”
“Yeah. Look, acting all nonchalant with his hands stuffed in his pockets.”
Janet tilted her head, observing Theo.
‘To me, he just looks like he’s walking normally.’
Feeling her gaze, Theo lifted his head to meet Janet’s eyes. The moment their eyes locked, a smile bloomed across his expressionless face.
“Hmm?”
Witnessing the change in his expression directly, Julietta Ludwig couldn’t suppress her contempt for her own blood relative.
‘Come to think of it, he does like Janet, doesn’t he?’
Whether he was aware of it himself, she couldn’t say.
But one thing was certain—Janet had no idea.
‘Of course, I did want to match Janet with Kendrick….’
And that desire still remained.
After all, they were both precious family and precious friends. It would be wonderful if people who cared for each other ended up together.
But then.
‘Why is it that I don’t want to match her with Theo?’
Even knowing they were the same person, she felt this way.
Perhaps it was because their beginning had been so antagonistic? Theo’s constant needling from the sidelines had certainly made him rather irksome.
‘Even worse, she must have known everything I was deceiving myself about.’
This wouldn’t do. The more I thought about it, the more unbearable my resentment became.
Julietta Ludwig, wearing a crooked smile, linked her arm through Janet’s.
“Hmm?”
Janet, who had been about to greet Theo when their eyes met, suddenly turned her head to look at Julietta Ludwig.
“What’s wrong, Julietta? Do you have something to say?”
“Janet.”
“Yeah?”
“Janet. I’m your number one best friend, right?”
“Of course. Why are you asking something so obvious?”
Janet responded with genuine bewilderment.
“Just… I was suddenly curious.”
Julietta Ludwig’s mood brightened considerably as she smiled, curling her lips upward.
Over Janet’s shoulder, she didn’t forget to stick her tongue out at Kendrick.
The hesitant expression on my brother’s face was quite a sight to behold.

***

Once everyone had arrived, the tea time began in earnest.
“Thank you all for joining us. Before we begin, I’d like to ask for a round of applause for Barbara, who kindly lent us this venue.”
Following the class representative’s greeting, the students applauded Barbara.
Barbara, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, bowed her head shyly.
With so many attendees and a mix of nobles and commoners in one place, today’s tea time had a different structure than typical gatherings.
Instead of sitting in one place and conversing elegantly, people moved about with teacups in hand, engaging in conversation.
There were also quite a few who stood by the common tables to chat.
‘It’s just like a grand reception.’
In fact, weren’t the teacups merely substitutes for champagne glasses?
Given that the Academy admitted students from age thirteen onward, preparing champagne could be problematic, so tea served as the replacement instead.
As Janet slowly observed her surroundings, someone approached her.
“Hello, Janet.”
“Hi. Hello, Sylvia.”
“My. You know my name…?”
“Of course. I’ve memorized all my classmates’ names.”
Sylvia’s expression showed surprise at Janet’s words.
Indeed, Julietta Ludwig and Janet were like isolated islands within the class.
Whether by choice or circumstance.
Yet she had memorized all the children’s names.
‘That’s truly unexpected.’
In truth, Sylvia had come to this table because she wanted to converse with Theo.
Unlike Janet and Julietta Ludwig, Theo occasionally interacted with his classmates. Sylvia was one of them.
However, Sylvia was not satisfied with the current situation. She wanted to grow closer to Theo, and the thought struck her that she shouldn’t miss this opportunity.
Yes, that was certainly the resolve with which I had mustered the courage to sit here….
But the moment I encountered Janet, who had remembered my name, my interest somehow shifted away from Theo and toward someone else.
Sylvia’s gaze drifted toward Julietta Ludwig.
“Um, J-Julietta, hello!”
Julietta Ludwig, who had been stirring her teacup while resting her chin on her hand, glanced up and looked at Sylvia.
Just as I was about to think I was being ignored.
“Yeah. Hello.”
At Julietta Ludwig’s response, Sylvia’s eyes sparkled.
‘What? That’s really unexpected…?’
Why, wasn’t there such a thing as imagined fear?
Staring into pitch-black darkness, idly imagining what might be lurking there, and frightening oneself in solitude.
What the students harbored toward Julietta Ludwig was close to that ‘imagined fear.’
Which meant that if they actually confronted her directly, that fear would dissipate.
Once Sylvia broke the ice, students began gathering around the two of them one by one.
Before long, the area around them had grown crowded with people.
“Say, I heard the Ludwig Family has over ten vacation estates. Is that true?”
“Well, I suppose if you count everything together, it might be.”
“Wow! Could you possibly invite us sometime later?”
“…If it’s possible.”
At Julietta Ludwig’s response, voices of “Me too! Me too!” erupted from those around her.
‘What is this situation?’
Faced with something I had never experienced before, my mind was in a daze.
The amusing part was that the feeling wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
Perhaps because it was unlike the noble gatherings where everyone pretended to be elegant and refined, there was less awkwardness and discomfort.
But then.
‘Where did those two disappear to?’
When I came to my senses, both Janet and Theo had vanished.
I was about to look around to see where they had gone.
“Julietta. I’m curious about something too—.”
“Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask—.”
Faced with another flood of questions pressing in, I had to abandon the search for the two of them.

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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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