“Once again, I look forward to working with you from now on.”
At the greeting, which almost sounded cheerful at first glance, Julieta’s brow twisted sharply.
“Very well, do try your best. I’m rather curious myself to see how long that flimsy resolve of yours lasts.”
Even at the sarcastic remark, Janette’s smile did not falter.
After their first meeting, which had felt like a silent storm—
“Again.”
Tap. Julieta shoved the teacup in front of her away with the back of her hand.
“The temperature’s terrible. It’s too hot to drink.”
“My apologies. I’ll prepare another one right away.”
Janette bowed her head at the criticism tossed at her with narrowed eyes.
Julieta’s gaze sharpened to a point.
‘She’s tougher than I expected?’
More than ten cups had already been rejected over every possible nitpick imaginable.
And yet, the faint smile on Janette’s face remained as if she were holding a sugar cube in her mouth.
“My apologies, but we’ve run out of boiled water, so I’ll step into the kitchen for a moment.”
“Do as you like.”
“Yes. I’ll be back shortly, Young Lady.”
After Janette left the room—
One of the maids lingering nearby hurried over to Julieta.
“Are you alright, Young Lady? You don’t look well.”
“Sien.”
Sien was the maid who had served under Julieta the longest.
Because of Julieta’s sensitive temperament and her dislike of keeping people close, the servants assigned to her detached residence changed constantly.
Among them, Sien was the one who had managed to last the longest.
Thanks to her relatively long service, Sien had come to handle Julieta’s personal attendance.
Kitchen work, laundry, gardening, house cleaning—
Compared to the maids burdened with exhausting labor, it was practically a dream position.
“It’s because of the new maid, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Some strange thing rolled in and started irritating me.”
“Oh dear, our poor Young Lady. You must be having such a hard time. It pains me just watching.”
Julieta glanced at Sien, whose eyes drooped dramatically with sympathy, then waved a hand dismissively.
“Hmph. Enough. Just watch. I’ll make sure that thing crawls out of here on her own.”
My person?
My right hand?
What a joke.
How was she supposed to trust nonsense like that?
Right now Janette wore a smile and acted obedient, but who knew when she might suddenly change her attitude and mock her instead?
‘Besides, Janette is a noble lady.’
Even if she came from some insignificant family called Graham that no one had ever heard of.
‘Still, she must’ve heard the rumors about me in high society.’
Julieta could vividly picture groups of noblewomen in elegant dresses gathering together and gossiping about her.
Crunch.
Just imagining it made anger boil inside her and her stomach churn.
‘I can’t stand being looked down on.’
Julieta hated being laughed at more than death itself.
The sound of laughter ringing out behind her back, malicious eyes glancing sidelong at her.
The unmistakable ridicule hidden within them.
Just thinking about it made her nauseous.
In any case, one thing was certain: keeping that maid nearby was terrible for her mental health.
“In that case, Young Lady… what if I helped you?”
“…Sien, you?”
“Yes, Young Lady!”
Sien answered energetically, nodding vigorously.
Julieta tilted her head at the maid’s surprisingly confident attitude.
“And how exactly are you planning to help?”
“Well, you see—”
Whisper, whisper.
Lowering her voice, Sien murmured her plan into Julieta’s ear.
“You really think something that pathetic will work?”
“Of course. Just trust me, Young Lady. All you need to do is take my side.”
Take her side?
Julieta found the suggestion insolent, but at the same time, she thought—why not?
As long as Sien truly managed to get rid of that irritating girl.
“Very well. Go ahead and do whatever you want.”
“Yes, milady. Leave it to me!”
The next day, and the day after that, things were much the same.
“Again.”
“Yes, milady.”
After being rejected for the third time already, Janette began brewing a fourth pot of tea.
Hoo.
Letting out a deep breath, Janette wiped the sweat from her forehead. Julieta narrowed her eyes as she secretly observed her.
Well? You can’t take it anymore, can you?
But once again, a smile spread across Janette’s lips.
Let’s try again.
That was what her eyes seemed to say. Irritated, Julieta sneered,
“Try to do it properly this time. Honestly, who would think drinking one cup of tea could be this difficult?”
“Yes. I’ll work harder.”
Answering brightly, Janette pulled a small notebook from her pocket.
Then, while waiting for the heated water to cool, she stared intently at it.
Pretending disinterest as she gazed elsewhere, Julieta found her attention repeatedly drifting back.
‘What’s she looking at so seriously?’
Meanwhile, the water in the teapot seemed to have cooled enough, and Janette began brewing the tea.
She placed the prepared rosehips into the teapot, pressed a hand against it to check the temperature.
By the time a fragrant aroma spread through the room, she emptied the cups that had been preheated with water, placed the tea strainer on top, and carefully poured the tea.
‘Her movements are way better than before?’
Julieta’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she covertly watched Janette while pretending not to care.
“The tea is ready, Young Lady.”
“…Very well. Bring it here.”
The prepared tea was set before Julieta.
It smelled pleasant. There were no sunken tea leaves, and even the color looked nearly perfect at a glance.
‘What?’
Why had she suddenly improved so much?
Still, the important thing was the taste. It might look fine, but the flavor—
“…What? It’s decent.”
“Ah, does it suit your taste?”
Gasp.
Realizing she had let genuine admiration slip out, Julieta quickly sealed her lips shut.
“Ahem. I’m not saying it’s excellent. I merely mean it’s drinkable. Don’t get carried away.”
“Yes. I’ll continue striving harder from now on. If there’s anything lacking, please feel free to tell me. I’ll correct it.”
As she spoke, Janette pulled out that same notebook again, scribbled something down, then quickly tucked it back into her pocket.
‘That thing again?’
Julieta could no longer endure it.
That mysterious notebook irritated her to no end.
“Bring that here.”
“Pardon?”
“That notebook of yours. That one. Bring it here!”
Though Janette looked startled, she obediently handed it over to Julieta.
Gulp.
Julieta swallowed dryly.
What if there were things written about me in here?
The thought that there couldn’t possibly be—and the thought that there might be—mixed chaotically together.
She felt the chronic anxiety that always lingered in her life begin creeping back up from the tips of her toes.
Biting down on her lip, Julieta hurriedly flipped through the notebook.
“This is…”
Her long eyelashes trembled, and the unease clouding her eyes disappeared.
Unable to continue speaking, Julieta fell silent, and Janette awkwardly opened her mouth instead.
“I was taking notes on the things you pointed out, Young Lady.”
“You wrote down every complaint I made— I mean, everything I said?”
“Yes.”
The notebook itself proved her answer true. Every single criticism Julieta had used to torment Janette throughout the day was written there.
The temperature of the water, the timing for adding the tea leaves, the brewing time, and so on.
“Thanks to your detailed guidance, I was able to learn quickly. Thank you very much.”
“Because of… me?”
“Yes. It’s thanks to you, Young Lady.”
Julieta merely parted her lips soundlessly, unable to respond.
‘I’ve heard enough flattery in my life to grow sick of it, but…’
Looking at the notebook packed densely with notes, Julieta found herself overcome with a strange feeling.
After work—
The first thing Janette did upon returning to her room was loosen the hair she had tied up high.
“Phew. That feels better.”
Her tightly pulled scalp was finally free again.
Lightly shaking out her hair with one hand, Janette changed clothes, washed up, and finally sat down at her desk.
On top of it lay the notebook she had taken out while changing.
The notebook where she had written down all the things she needed to improve while attending to Julieta.
In her previous life, she had worked as the secretary of a parachute-appointed executive at a small-to-medium-sized company. Though still in his late thirties, the man had been overflowing with old-fashioned, authoritarian tendencies.
“Young people these days, honestly. Tch. I can’t stand seeing them tapping away on their phones all day.”
Thanks to him, Janette in her previous life had developed the habit of writing work notes by hand in a notebook while on the job.
‘I brought it along just in case, remembering those days.’
Since the work of a secretary and a lady’s maid were somewhat similar, she’d thought it might help.
Just as Janette had expected, the notebook proved extremely useful.
Though in a somewhat different way than she had anticipated.
Remembering the fleeting moment when Julieta’s expression had softened while looking through the notebook, Janette smiled.
‘She secretly has a cute side to her, doesn’t she?’
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