Chapter 41 – #11 Maid Hilde, a Moment of Tranquility (1)
Guided by the maid, Jean Hilde, she went into her bathroom, soaked her body in a bathtub full of warm water, and washed and tidied her body.
When she came out of the bathroom, this time she put on the simple dress that Hilde had prepared for her and headed to the dinner room.
Today, unlike usual, there was no such thing as Earl Meln coming in advance and waiting.
According to Hilde, Count Meln sometimes skips meals for personal reasons.
For personal reasons, did I have an upset stomach?
“Still, Emilia-sama told me to be careful not to skip meals.”
Hilde said that and lightly touched her hands.
The door to the dinner room opened, and the puppet-like servants, controlled by strings, prepared the meal.
――『Eating is important.』
――『Only for this precious time, I will definitely eat the same food in the same space as you… 』
On the subject I talked about just yesterday.
However, I can’t help but feel a bit curious about what that personal reason for refusing to eat is.
* * *
『If we neglect Emilia-sama’s meals, our employees will have to starve for a week.』
Said Hilde.
Even if she doesn’t have to say such a threat, she has no intention of not eating, but it makes it a burden for nothing.
Month… Month…
Well… Well…
Emilia ate alone in front of Hilde, her maid of honor.
Three days… Although she said it, it was a meal alone that somehow felt like it had been a long time.
She said that it was a freedom she hadn’t felt in a long time since she was freed from Count Meln, but at first she was Emilia who happily ate her meal.
But the more she ate, the more she found herself feeling a strange emptiness.
While cutting meat with a knife, I unconsciously look back.
Like, grabbing a salad I picked up with a fork and trying to turn my shoulder without even realizing it.
Even when I try to pick up the dish, even when I choose which dish to pick up, the traces of Earl Meln flicker.
That time when she was feeding each other, holding herself in her arms while she ate.
It’s a time when I really hate it and don’t know what to do, but it’s a time that is disgusting.
However, as she tries to eat alone, she feels her emptiness in this way… I get the feeling that something has gone terribly wrong…
Anyway, thank you for being able to have a delicious meal today.
After finishing her meal, Emilia returned to her own room, guided by her Hilde.
She wondered if something had happened to Mona or Countess Meln, so they would be neglected for the day.
“Please take off your clothes, Miss Emilia.”
Such a request came from Hilde.
Not in the name of lewdness, but in order to measure.
“… If it were my measurements, I would have taken them yesterday.”
“I took over the record from Mona-sama, but she is a very free-spirited person…”
The well-groomed eyes under the glasses are calmly lowered.
Hilde said that she is sticking to her expressionless expression as usual, but somehow, she seems to feel the emotion of ‘irritation’ in that expression.
Alas, this woman is also suffering because of Mona, she did and she realized.
That free-spirited, unmanned succubus seems to be nuisance as if breathing here and there.
Just like that, Emilia took off her underwear and had Hilde’s hand measure her body here and there.
But unlike Mona, something strange beyond her common sense… For example, there was no such thing as measuring the size of the nipple or the length of the pubic area.
It was common sense to the end, but it was measured here and there in a delicate and serious manner.
Something exciting.
I even feel like I’m going to cry for some reason at the common sense experience that I’m experiencing for the first time in this mansion…
“… Yes, all done. Please dress up. I guess I’ll have to adjust my outfit based on the measurements I’ve taken now. I will also buy new underwear.”
“Party… Does the head maid make clothes too?”
“You can call me Hilde comfortably. And while she doesn’t make clothes from scratch, she can adjust her measurements.”
Hilde pushed up her glasses with the words that she didn’t know what she meant because she was the head maid.
I don’t know what the relationship between the head maid and the tailoring was, but there was an air of competence.
He is also beautiful and seems very capable, but why is he working as an employee for Count Meln or the like… Saying that, I inadvertently even think that it’s a waste…
It took some time to measure her, but there was still time before the next meal.
Saying that there was work to be done in the meantime, Hilde guided her Emilia and took her somewhere.
* * *
It was a large garden located outside the mansion, even in the center of the mansion.
It was a rugged space that would be more appropriate to say a parade ground rather than a garden.
The fog was thick there, so even though it was a clear day with the sun rising in the middle of the sky, this space felt somehow dark.
Into that space, Hilde, still in her maid’s uniform, and Emilia, with short pants under her dress, entered.
“I got permission from the owner,” She said. Please feel free to use it.”
“… Here… ?”
“Yeah. From my point of view, it looks like you’re frustrated because you can’t use your body?”
Emilia looked at Hilde with her puzzled eyes.
Hilde went to a corner of the garden, took out something furnished there and handed it to Emilia.
What was handed over to Emilia was a well-polished wooden sword.
Hilde pulled up the hem of the long skirt of her maid’s uniform and fastened it.
Holding the same kind of wooden sword given to Emilia, she stood at a distance.
“Don’t you want to exercise?”
“… Hey, do you know how to handle a sword?”
“To a certain degree. … If the hero fights sincerely, he won’t be an opponent, but I think I can deal with him as long as he pushes his body.”
Hearing Hilde’s words, Emilia looked down at the wooden sword in her hand for a moment.
As it was, she lightly swung it toward her air.
A clean, booming sound.
The presence of a heavy wooden sword that cleaves through the wind and fog.
I only tried swinging it like that once, just like that.
I felt something, something contained inside, rise up like a bundle unpacking.
Those are emotions that have lost their way and have been lingering.
As a “Hero” And “Adventurer” Who was pressed down with him… It was something ambiguous, like that memory or will.
“… .”
Emilia’s energy, which seemed to have been let loose in a daze, subsided at once.
The moment she gripped her wooden sword, a heavy atmosphere like that of a sharp-edged sword or a sharp beast hung over Emilia.
“… I’ll say it again, it’s difficult if you’re serious.”
Hilde placed Emilia in front of her, took off her glasses and hung them on the pillar next to her, warning her again.
Emilia and Hilde, facing each other, warmed up lightly,
With Hilde taking a step forward and swinging her wooden sword, a simple sparring began.
* * *
Count Meln’s purpose is not simply to make dolls.
As much as he wished for Emilia, the blood of her hero, he would not be satisfied with simply stuffing her and placing her somewhere in her coffin.
Because he genuinely wants Emilia as a hero.
I didn’t want to erase or destroy her twinkling, her original will, her original soul.
That’s why her Hilde, who can judge Emilia’s condition with the same human eyes, came to manage her.
She will always be in line with her common sense, relieving Emilia’s stress, informing her Emilia of her additional knowledge, and maintaining her human life for her Emilia.
So that the brilliance of the hero Emilia lasts for a long time, so that it will never be easily damaged.
For the sake of Count Meln’s pleasure, Hilde would serve Emilia with her devotion and prepare many things for her.
About two hours.
It wasn’t a long time, but Emilia was fully satisfied with moving her body for the first time in a long time.
Hilde’s skill was quite different from her humble words.
Emilia was impressed by her skill, which, while naturally falling short of her strength as a “Platinum” Rank adventurer and “Hero”, Was at least as good as that of a B-class adventurer.
‘Really, why are you working as a maid?’
The fact that he is an employee of Count Meln, a madman pervert, and a person with this level of ability… I inadvertently heard the thought.
However, the position of head maid of the count’s family was not an easy one.
Perhaps it is rude to think this way. Even though the employer is that Earl of Meln.
Even if they were given billions of dollars, Emilia would definitely not want to work for a dog-like human like Count Meln.
Ending such a light sparring.
Under Hilde’s guidance, Emilia took another bath, put on a dress a little more fancy than the one she wore in the morning, sprayed sweet perfume on her body, and headed to the dinner room.
“Oh, my Emilia! It feels like such a long time. I really missed you!”
“… Chit.”
And unfortunately for her, unlike her morning, there was a person who arrived early and greeted her.
Earl of Meln.
He looks at her Emilia, who has just entered the dinner room, with an expression as if she is seeing her lover, her lover, and urges her to come with her arms wide open.
He’s such a damn, disgusting guy.
But for some reason, after seeing his face, I felt like the emptiness I felt in the morning was disappearing.
… Nonsense. In the first place, there was no such thing.
“Come here, my love. A place is always prepared for you.”
Earl Meln sits with his legs apart and gestures towards Emilia.
Regretting that I should have brought the wooden sword I left at the parade ground a while ago,
Emilia stepped closer to Earl Meln, who was sitting at the end of the long table.
