1. Just Before Violet Was Born

It had been over a year since I, Viola Mangelica Euphorbia, had married Duke Cercis Tinensis Fisalis.

I know I just summed up that whole year in passing, but it was actually a pretty jam-packed and turbulent time. During those twelve months, Mr. Fisalis and I went from having a superficial contract marriage to being a normal couple. And a truly loving couple, at that.

Between the “Neighboring Prince Incident” a little while back and the surprise Mr. Fisalis put together for me (a do-over wedding in my own personal garden), it was safe to say that our bonds as husband and wife had grown much deeper.

Meanwhile, I was well on my way to becoming a first-class duchess...not!

I was still keeping up with my various etiquette lessons; however, being such a fast learner, I’d more or less mastered every subject (by my standards, anyway), so these days my lessons amounted to little more than laid-back review sessions. Of course, it was going to take more than mastery of the basics to make me “first-class,” but at least I was making progress there.

As a dyed-in-the-wool impoverished aristocrat, I’d settled into my life at the manor more as “a fellow servant” than “the lady of the house.” The second my husband left for work, I would rush to change into my maid uniform and take my meals with the rest of the staff. For lunch, I would eat in the servants’ dining room, sitting among the chattering maids and chowing down on a staff meal. Now that’s what I call pure bliss!

Any days where I didn’t have to socialize were devoted to cleaning the mansion, doing the laundry, and working in the garden! Nobody was going to stop me now!

* * *

The day had started out with gorgeous weather, making it the perfect chance to do some cleaning.

Once I’d seen Mr. Fisalis off, I jumped at the chance to switch into my maid uniform.

“I bet the laundry will dry nice and quick in this weather! Hee hee—oh boy, I’m pumped!”

“Now there’s a line I never thought I’d hear from such a well-to-do lady... Well, I suppose I can let it slide,” said Stellaria, heaving a sigh as she helped me get changed. She had an air of resignation about her. Good. Knowing when to quit is an important life skill☆

She tied back my hair for me, and then it was time to get to work.

We finished the laundry before lunchtime; in the afternoon, I went about polishing the windows. I left the really high places to the other servants, focusing instead on wiping down whatever my hands could reach. Anywhere too far off the ground would take a ladder to get to, so Rohtas and company would start yelling that it was too dangerous if I even tried. I really wished they’d let me have a go at it at least once—I was hardly a child!

Oh, wait... Part of the reason they act like that is because I climbed a tree without asking and fell on my butt once. (I’ve only got myself to blame for this, huh?)

Everyone was still so gosh darn overprotective of me, though.

Brushing my disgruntlement aside, I did my share of the chores, going from room to room and making the windows shine. Hustle, hustle. Squeak, squeak.

Whew. I’ve been cleaning windows ever since I lived with my parents, so I can give the servants a run for their money in experience here. I may be an amateur when it comes to technique, but I’m the one who bestowed the art of cleaning with citrus peel unto the manor! Besides, spending every day working among these first-class servants has got to be strengthening my skills. I’m not what you’d call “the best of the best,” no—but I’m around the same level as your average servant, if I do say so myself!

Okay, I got a little carried away tooting my own horn there. Sorry about that.

As I carried on with the cleaning, lost in my own dumb thoughts, the Window Wiping Squad (myself included) finally made it to the room next to the entrance. From here, it was quite easy to spot anyone coming in or out of the manor.

Uh-oh, here comes someone right now. From this distance, all I can tell is that the mystery guest is dressed in a crimson... Hmm? Wait just a minute, isn’t that a knight’s uniform—and more specifically, the same one worn by Mr. Fisalis’s Royal Guard?!

He drew closer and closer. And then—bam.

Shoot! I made eye contact!

With whom, you might ask?

Why, the uniform-clad Mr. Fisalis, of course!

H-Hold on a second! Why is he coming back to the manor at this hour?! It’s not even afternoon teatime yet!

Clearly I wasn’t the only one surprised; Mr. Fisalis was staring back at me goggle-eyed.

Oh, crud! I’m in my MAID UNIFORM!

“It’s Cercis! He’s home!” I shouted, hastily peeling myself away from the window and informing my fellow cleaners.

“What?! Master Fisalis is back from work already?!”

“This is a disaster! Madam, head to your room and change clothes at once!”

“We’ll tidy up after you, so get going!”

Faced with the untimely return of their master, the Cleaning Squad went into panic mode.

“Got it! I’ll leave the rest to you guys!”

I did as the servants directed, dropping my cleaning supplies and dashing off to the bedroom as fast as my legs could carry me.

I need to hurry and get changed before Mr. Fisalis comes inside the mansion!

Unfortunately, just as I had left the room behind and started running for the stairs, the jig was up!

“What’s going on? Care to explain?” came a voice, paired with an oh-so-sweet smile.

Mr. Fisalis had made it to the entryway one step ahead of me, and there he was blocking the path to the stairs, his arms crossed. He knew me too well.

It’s over. So long, my fun servant life...

* * *

I recalled a similar scene once playing out between the two of us, right around when we first got married.

One time, when I was wearing my maid uniform and doing chores around the house, Mr. Fisalis had just happened to pass by and catch me in the act. Back then, however, he hadn’t realized who I was. He wasn’t the least bit interested in me at the time, so he had just assumed I was the latest young addition to the staff.

But now...

After getting dragged off to the parlor, still in uniform, I took my usual spot on the sofa next to Mr. Fisalis.

“Tell me, Vi... What, precisely, were you doing dressed like this?” my husband asked, lifting the hem of my uniform’s apron ever so slightly.

He didn’t sound angry; if anything, his tone was quite gentle. Somehow that made me even more scared, though.

“Uhh... I was cleaning with the servants,” I mumbled in response. I drew in on myself as much as possible, and I did my best to keep my voice just as small as the rest of me.

There was no point in lying here—he’d caught me red-handed, after all!—so I chose to come out and tell him the truth.

“Yes, that’s about what I expected. I’m not sure what else this could have been. Then my next question is this: how long have you been doing this?” he followed up, sounding no less mild than before. No matter how soft his tone was, however, the fact that he was in full uniform made this feel a lot like a cross-examination...

“Since morning.”

“I didn’t mean when you got started today. I meant in general.”

No dice, huh? I’d hoped playing dumb might work, but sadly, he saw right through it.

“Oh! Pretty much since I arrived at the manor, then. Tee hee☆”

Time to bust out my signature move, “Laugh It Off”! I flashed him a dazzling smile.

“What do you mean, ‘since you arrived at the manor’?”

“Since we first got married...I guess?”

At that, my husband heaved the loudest sigh I’d ever heard out of him, then looked over at Rohtas. “You lot...had to have known about this, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir.” Rohtas, who had been hanging back behind us, gave a quiet nod. Well, yeah, it would’ve been impossible for him not to know.

It wasn’t just Rohtas, either; Dahlia and the rest of the servants in the room all bobbed their heads meekly.

“Seriously?” Mr. Fisalis was shocked to see everyone else confirm it. You were just about the only one who didn’t know! “Rohtas, what is the meaning of this?” he then demanded, glaring at his butler.

Hold on, I don’t like where this is going. Is this about to end with him furious at Rohtas and all the rest of the servants? Is he going to be like, “It was your job to stop the duchess from mingling with the staff and demeaning herself”?

Nooo, I can’t let that happen! I made them humor me, so it’s not the servants’ fault! If he’s going to get mad at anyone, it should be me!

“Rohtas and everyone didn’t want to let me do it, but I made them! I wasn’t exactly brought up as a sheltered maiden, so I couldn’t stand the thought of staying put in the mansion all day long; if I didn’t have anything better to do, I figured I might as well help the servants out with their work! Besides, you’d told me I was free to do as I pleased back then!” Before Rohtas could even open his mouth, I launched into my own explanation.

Mr. Fisalis’s head snapped to face me. His eyes went wider and wider the further I got into my spiel, but by the end, he just held his head in his hands and said, “I’m having trouble understanding how you would arrive at that conclusion...”

Oh? He doesn’t get it?

“Huh? I mean, given the situation, there was no telling when you might relieve me of my position and kick me out of the manor. In that case, I figured I might as well learn a few things from your top-notch servants while I was here. What could be more enticing than getting first-rate tutoring for free?! That way, when I moved back in with my parents, I’d have the skills to jump straight into the workforce!”

I was all ready to strike out on my own!

“That’s what you were thinking, Vi?” Though I’d been quite confident in my answer, Mr. Fisalis looked absolutely dumbfounded. Was that a little too blunt?

“Yeah!”

Of course, I didn’t think that now. Still, it was fun to do all kinds of tasks with the servants, so I couldn’t bring myself to quit.

I’d given him what I thought was a good answer, a smile on my face. And yet...

“I would never relieve you of your position! To the contrary, you only become more and more precious to me with each passing day! Don’t ever say something so terrible again—not even as a joke!”

“Eep!”

Having gotten himself all wound up, Mr. Fisalis pulled me into a tight hug.

* * *

“If this is something you want to do, go right ahead. Nothing that transpires within the walls of our manor would ever be leaked to the outside world. Isn’t that right, Rohtas?”

“Indeed, sir.” The butler nodded.

“That no one outside the manor has heard a word of this thus far is proof enough of that. Myself included... Now, hold on just a second! Does that mean I count as an outsider?! Say what?!”

That silly Mr. Fisalis went and pointed out the hidden implication in his own words. Even worse, he was actually getting upset over it. The servants’ shoulders were shaking with mirth. Not that I had much room to talk, since I was doing my best to stifle a laugh of my own.

Anyway, what mattered here was that I’d gotten the okay from my husband to do as I liked!

“Thank you so much! I’ll keep doing my very best to make our manor a comfortable place for you to be when you get home!”

And that’s a Viola guarantee☆

“Good grief! If you’re going to be so cute about it, there’s no way I could tell you no. I only ask that you don’t do anything too dangerous. Got it?”

“Loud and clear! Nobody ever lets me try stuff like that anyway!”

“Oh? Name some examples.”

“Well, I’m not allowed to use ladders or step ladders to reach high up places!”

“Good—Rohtas, Dahlia, keep enforcing that rule. I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, sir,” Rohtas and Dahlia both responded to their master’s order, drawing their mouths into firm lines.

I suppose I’ll never see the day when I can climb a step ladder and clean all those hard-to-reach windows, huh?