Abandoned Maid of the Grand Duke - Chapter 52
It’s just not fair. He seems overjoyed, spending every day with Lilian, me, and himself all together, but I don’t feel the same way.
In life, I was a corporate employee in South Korea with a slave-like work ethic etched into my bones, and one day I woke up as a maid in an empire where making a living through labor is no easy feat. Given that, it’s only natural that idling around without work leaves me feeling restless.
If you argue, “But isn’t being unemployed incredibly enjoyable?” then, well, you’re right. It’d be enjoyable—if this were a modern world filled with media content and blazing fast internet in an IT powerhouse. I’d vote for a life of leisure too.
But this place isn’t like that. Here, to do nothing, you have to literally sit there, doing absolutely nothing.
Household chores? If I go out for a short walk, the cleaning fairy takes care of everything. And as for the child, Lilian, she’s so used to her father holding her that even doting on her feels unnecessary. So, who am I, sitting here idly at home?
‘All I do is have s*x.” ‘
The moment I realized it, an overwhelming sense of self-deprecation washed over me.
Being trapped at home day after day… there’s only so much I can endure. The mere thought of being holed up here in the mountains, turning into some kind of s*x doll, had me suspecting I might be suffering from severe postpartum depression.
So what could I do but insist on going out?
“I’m feeling stifled, so I’ll go find something to keep myself occupied.”
Then he brought back a bundle of knitting supplies. At first, I figured, “Alright, I’ll give it a try,” and started knitting. But the more I did, the more I realized it wasn’t working. After pondering what the problem was, I figured out that this was no different from staring blankly into the distance.
It seemed he had taken my request literally and brought me something just to pass the time, but that’s not what I meant. I wanted to prove that I wasn’t just some spare part lying around.
Back at the grand ducal residence, I was exceptionally skilled, even making a nice side income with pressed flowers and accessories. People praised me, saying I was the perfect bride material.
But then this man made it loud and clear that I was someone no sane person would approach given the Grand Duke’s obvious interest—then snatched me away. And here I am, never having had a proper courtship turned relationship.
I wanted to meet people, talk, get tasks, and communicate. That’s what I meant by wanting something to keep me occupied. I begged and threw little fits to let me go outside, but—
“When things settle down around here, we’ll go out together.”
…But I knew things wouldn’t just ‘settle down’ like that.
I was aware that the situation was unstable, with rebels lurking about. But surely those rebels wouldn’t bother raiding a remote mountain area. Waiting for things to stabilize seemed unreasonable.
So, one day, while he was sleeping with Lilian, I quickly snuck out to the village. By that time, I’d figured out who our ‘cleaning fairy’ was, so I walked out to a spot where the fairy could probably see me and casually announced,
“Oh, time for a walk~.”
I wasn’t planning on doing anything significant, just buying some baby supplies and snacks before heading back. So, as I walked down my usual path to the village…
“……!!”
I booked it.
Of course, it wasn’t like our cleaning fairy wouldn’t be able to catch me, but I hoped Ernst would at least understand how stressed I must have been to go this far. If the fairy showed up midway, I planned to sigh in defeat and follow back.
But, heavens, who would have thought I’d run into a kidnapper at that exact moment?
“H-Hands up! Quietly follow me!”
A knife was suddenly pressed to my throat. My eyes widened in shock, and I couldn’t even make a sound. I was so taken aback.
‘W-W-What…?’
My mind went blank as I realized this wasn’t going according to plan.
‘Wait, when he said he was ‘clearing the area’, was he talking about bandits?’
Goodness, why didn’t I think of this sooner!
After the Empire defeated the rebels, this was exactly when they started to squeeze the public dry.
Our Emperor, notorious as the ultimate tyrant, was indulging in all kinds of vices, while the corrupt nobles saw the Empire’s victory as an opportunity to bleed its citizens dry.
To such an extent that, rather than just stripping the bones, it was as if they were sucking out the marrow. As a result, many citizens fled to the mountains, unable to bear the excessive taxation.
For now, they were hiding quietly, but in a few years, they’d undoubtedly band together into gangs and cause havoc.
So when Ernst said ‘clearing’, he really meant clearing out the bandits. He had planned to let me roam once things were under control, but I hadn’t been able to wait.
Or rather… he should have told me in advance!
