You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 4

“Are you alright?!”

Betty, who had thrown down the breakfast tray, came running over with wide, startled eyes.

‘How embarrassing…’

Of all times to be caught like this…

“What were you doing out here? Why weren’t you inside! Did you collapse after all? Are you dizzy? Did you have an anemic episode?”

But Betty, completely unaware of my humiliation, was jumping up and down frantically even though I hadn’t actually fallen over.

I made an awkward excuse.

“I was trying to… chop firewood.”

“Your Highness? With those small, delicate, white, soft hands? With arms more slender than a hatchet handle!”

“…?”

Was that a compliment…?

“How absurd! Firewood, what firewood? You look like someone who’s never held anything heavier than a teaspoon in your entire life!”

“…”

No, that definitely wasn’t a compliment…

I never knew Betty could speak so rapidly.

She was always the quiet girl who just brought me meals…

“Sigh, anyway… please get up.”

As I just blinked my eyes, Betty pulled me up like plucking a radish.

Despite her plump cheeks and petite frame, I could feel her well-trained triceps through her skin.

‘Wow, they’re really firm.’

I glanced down at my own arms.

Just as Betty said, my arms looked as thin as a hatchet handle.

“…”

Somehow I felt a deep sense of defeat…

“Yeah, thanks…”

I could only give a faint smile…

* * *

Knock knock.

“My lady. It’s Betty.”

“Oh, yes.”

Soon the cottage door opened, and Betty appeared again carrying a tray.

“I’ve prepared breakfast again.”

“Thank you…”

Earlier, when that brief firewood incident(?) had occurred.

Because I had rolled around on the muddy ground, the clothes I had just changed into that morning and my hair became a complete mess.

Betty scolded me indirectly with the nuance of ‘I’ve lived long enough to see all sorts of things,’ then quickly heated water and scrubbed me clean.

Since becoming an adult, this was the first time someone had ‘bathed me’ so thoroughly in every nook and cranny, so after the humiliation of falling on my bottom while trying to chop wood, I felt my second embarrassment of the day already…

But Betty had returned to being the quiet maid as if nothing had happened.

‘…Right, just enjoy it.’

How can you beat someone who enjoys what they do?

Besides, soaking my body in warm water and having fragrant oils applied all over me was luxury beyond compare.

Thinking that good things are good things made me feel much more at ease.

And now the breakfast that had been prepared again.

‘Food!’

When I lifted the silver cover on the tray, today’s appetizing salad was there to greet me.

Beside it were small cherry tomatoes and oatmeal, some roasted duck, and even a pretty sunny-side up fried egg.

It was truly a perfectly balanced healthy meal with carbs, protein, and fat.

I had been worried since one of the reasons I died in my previous life after just drinking and sleeping was probably due to my terrible eating habits, but here I didn’t have to worry about that.

‘It looks delicious.’

As I blinked and picked up my fork, I noticed Betty standing beside me fidgeting for some reason.

Come to think of it, there were snowflakes piled up on her brown hair and shoulders.

Feeling a bit sorry, I stood up from my seat instead of using the fork and brushed the snow off Betty’s shoulders while saying.

“Thank you for bringing this all the way here again when it’s even snowing. Wasn’t it difficult?”

“Oh, no! Not at all. This is my job.”

“But on a snowy day like today, the path must be slippery…”

“I’m really fine.”

Well… considering her fairly solid triceps and well-defined forearms that I felt earlier, something like this probably was nothing to her.

But that doesn’t mean I can really dismiss it as nothing.

“Betty is so kind.”

Like a graduate student who has to comply without question when their advisor tells them to do something, a maid serving nobility probably has a similar fate, which made me feel somewhat sad.

I decided to save the small madeleine that came for dessert for her.

And as I sat back down and picked up my fork to take a bite.

For some reason, Betty stood in front of the dining table hesitating with a completely flushed face.

“…Is something wrong?”

She seemed to have something to say, so I looked up at Betty with a puzzled expression.

“M-My lady!”

“Hm?”

“Well, um… About the library you asked about before.”

“Ah.”

Being alone was nice, but I was getting rather bored.

So a few days ago, I asked Betty if she could bring me some reading material, and she said there was a library in the Main Residence.

However, it had been neglected for a very long time, so the interior needed to be cleaned…

“Yes. Is the cleaning finished?”

“Well… Actually, there are no spare hands left in the Duke’s Castle right now. Everyone is really busy, including myself…”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So I don’t think you’ll be able to use it right away.”

“Hmm.”

I stabbed a tomato with my fork and put it in my mouth.

Fresh juice burst out refreshingly in my mouth.

“Then I’ll just clean it myself.”

“…Pardon?”

“What’s so difficult about it? Can I go after I finish breakfast?”

“You would clean it yourself, my lady? With such a delicate body? Good heavens! Just holding a feather duster would make your arms fall off!”

“…”

…What exactly does she think I am?

“Of, of course, you’re also the one who beautifully arranged this place with that small body in just a week, my lady. I was really amazed watching you secretly…”

“You watched secretly?”

“N-no, no! I’m a maid who should be your hands and feet… So, so… Anyway, you should be careful with the axe…!”

Sensing that something was wrong, Betty closed her mouth after rambling for a while.

I tried to hide my slightly embarrassed feelings and protested.

“Earlier… it was just because the axe was heavy.”

“I can lift it with one hand though.”

“…”

Damn, I lost to practical muscles.

If I keep doing Garden work from now on, even if not as much as Betty, won’t I eventually be able to escape these current twig-like arms?

Actually, didn’t I make this Cottage look decent with my own hands in just a week?

So maybe I could do a good job cleaning the library too?

It’s different from chopping firewood.

Just as I, who never knew how to give up, was about to pester Betty again.

Betty, who had been fidgeting with her mouth, beat me to it.

“Could you… not go to the Main Residence?”

“Why?”

“Well, even if you ask me that… Um, how should I put this…”

Betty seemed to be struggling hard to beat around the bush so I wouldn’t get hurt.

“You can speak honestly. Why…”

“Don’t ask for the reason! Anyway, I’m saying this for your sake, my lady. I think it would be better if you didn’t go to the Main Residence.”

Betty looked very reluctant to answer.

I nodded as if I understood and asked.

“I see… Then may I chop firewood?”

“…”

Betty’s expression, which had been reading my mood just moments before, instantly turned fierce.

Betty’s cute face and small build reminded me of a Maltese, but her spirit was no less than Cerberus.

I asked back, sweating profusely.

“That’s not allowed either?”

“Of course not! What kind of Grand Duchess would…!”

“But there’s really nothing else fun to do…”

“…N-no. Even if you look at me with those rabbit-like eyes! I, I…”

“?”

Rabbit…? Me…?

I didn’t really want to imagine how I looked to Betty right now…

“N-no, that’s not it!”

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