‘By now, there should’ve been some progress inside the castle… right?’
With that hopeful thought, I stepped inside—only to have my expectations completely shattered.
“…?”
Nothing had changed inside since the last time I left.
Cobwebs still clung stubbornly to the corners of the walls, and the floor and furniture remained stained and filthy.
There wasn’t even the slightest sign that anyone had touched a thing.
Puzzled, I glanced around for a moment—then, struck by a sudden thought, I rushed straight to the basement.
And then…
‘Oh my God.’
I saw it.
Nearly a hundred servants, including the head maid, were crammed into the basement, stumbling around in complete disarray as they all tried to do the exact same task.
Well, some of them were moving. But most were just wandering aimlessly with buckets—buckets that, by the way, didn’t even have any water in them—and mops in hand, or simply standing there with blank expressions.
“H-Head Maid?”
“You called, Miss Windsor?”
At the sound of my voice, the head maid, her headscarf tied tighter than usual, hurried over to me.
“Is… everyone here cleaning the basement?”
Please, let the answer be no.
I looked at her, silently praying she would say otherwise. But she nodded without hesitation.
“Yes, that’s correct. You requested ‘the basement be cleaned’, so we’ve nearly finished now.”
“…Ahaha.”
“Is something the matter, Miss?”
The thought that nearly a hundred people had spent all this time just cleaning the basement, while I had been out completely overhauling the garden, was baffling.
And not only that, they hadn’t even finished? They were only almost done?
‘It sure doesn’t look that way to me.’
Compared to how it looked at first, when it was basically hidden behind a censor filter, it was definitely cleaner now that I could actually see it.
But still, the stains on the floor and walls remained, and there were strange, unidentifiable lumps piled here and there.
In the end, I let out a long sigh.
“I mean… sure, I appreciate the effort, but having everyone here doing this…”
It was way too inefficient.
Cleaning the basement wasn’t the kind of job that needed a full squad of nearly one hundred people.
If they had cared about efficiency in the first place, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.
Moments like these reminded me once again just how clumsy the AI for the NPCs in〈Thump Thump: Fateful Love☆Crush〉was.
…In that case, I had no choice.
Rather than relying on their job titles or ranks, it seemed I would have to personally check and reorganize everyone, one by one.
Turning away from the exasperating scene in front of me, I looked back at the head maid and asked again.
“What’s the current status of the indoor staff reorganization?”
The head maid let out a troubled groan, clearly at a loss.
“I’m terribly sorry, Miss Windsor, for some reason, I just can’t seem to remember.”
“That’s understandable. I’ll help you reorganize. First, the indoor staff under your supervision will be divided into the Household Management Department and the Ceremonial Affairs Department.”
In truth, I had already mapped out these divisions clearly in my mind from the moment I first categorized the indoor and outdoor workers.
“You probably have a general idea already, but the Household Management Department handles tasks like cooking, cleaning, laundry, and managing various supplies used throughout the estate. The Ceremonial Affairs Department, on the other hand, is responsible for tailoring, handicrafts, and assisting with formal duties and events.”
“Ah!”
The head maid, who had been quietly listening, suddenly let out a gasp.
“Th-That’s right. It used to be divided just like that. I remember now. Why on earth did I forget something so basic…?”
Her words sparked a small question in my mind.
Had the system always been this disorganized, or were they somehow programmed to forget?
Until now, I had chalked everything strange up to bugs or errors.
But the more time I spent in this place… the less certain I became.
“Anyway, you understand the divisions now, right?”
“Yes, I do. Should I take charge of managing everything, then?”
“I think you can stay in charge of the Household Management Department. As for the Ceremonial Affairs…”
Naturally, the responsibility fell back to me once again.
As I paused to think, I heard heavy footsteps approaching from behind.
“So this is where everyone disappeared to. I was wondering why none of you were at your posts!”
The one who appeared was the duke’s attendant, as always clutching a book of noble etiquette under one arm.
Clearly furious, he stormed down several steps—only to come to an abrupt halt when he finally noticed me standing there.
“Miss Windsor? May I ask why His Grace’s fiancée is here…?”
“Oh? What perfect timing.”
“Excuse me?”
I gave the bewildered attendant a bright, cheerful smile.
“It’s about time you took charge of the Ceremonial Affairs team, Mr. Attendant.”
* * *
The next morning, I came face-to-face with a completely transformed castle.
Honestly, I had thought it would be impossible, but surprisingly, persuading the attendant hadn’t been all that difficult.
After all, in this universe, he was basically a thug—no matter how you looked at it.
That said, even after I finished explaining everything, his reaction was far from positive. In fact, he flat-out insisted that only someone of his caliber could handle ceremonial affairs—and even had the nerve to act smug about it.
And yet, despite all that, his affection level was still scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Honestly, I had no idea what kind of preferences his affection meter was tied to.
Anyway!
“There you are.”
Since the food supply system was still a mess, I had no choice but to burn through more diamonds for breakfast this morning, just like before.
When I came down to the lobby hand in hand with a maid, I saw the head maid standing in the middle of a sparkling-clean, spotless entrance hall.
Though her face still had a large hole in it, making her expression hard to read, I somehow had the feeling she was smiling quite contentedly.
“Is everything going well with the cleaning?”
“Yes. Thanks to the system you put in place, Miss Windsor, everything is going very smoothly.”
The head maid gave a polite nod as she expressed her gratitude.
In her hand was the Dust of Oblivion Feather Duster, which I had bought from the cash shop at a 50% discount, and the other maids sweeping across the lobby were also equipped with their newly issued tools.
Because of that, I now had only 720 diamonds left, but seeing how spotless the lobby was made me feel proud.
“That’s a relief. Haha. But…”
My eyes naturally drifted toward the window, where faint light streamed in through the fully drawn curtains.
Remembering what had happened on my way here, I instinctively smoothed out my expression before it could twist in frustration.
“There appear to be quite a few… ‘friends’ residing here, aren’t there?”
III. Do not draw back the curtains covering the windows. The light from outside may strongly provoke ▲▲.
I had always wondered what exactly it was that shouldn’t be provoked, and I found out the moment I stepped outside my room today.
As soon as a bit of sunlight leaked into the shadows, they stirred. Creatures that had been hiding in the dark crevices suddenly poked out their heads and began wriggling out.
Yes. The ones that must never be provoked were bugs.
And it wasn’t just one or two kinds either. Under the light, their appearance was honestly horrifying enough to make me faint.
‘Ugh…’
Just thinking about it gave me chills all over again.
Anyway, I HATE BUGS!
“You seem tired, Miss.”
Maybe it was because I looked visibly shaken. The head maid approached me with a concerned expression.
[Affection Level: 45/100]
“Oh?”
When did it go up that much?
I guess improving efficiency and reducing long work hours really did have a positive effect.
“Is something the matter?”
“No, it’s nothing. I’m all right. More importantly, is everything proceeding smoothly with the work?”
“Yes. Allow me to show you the progress we’ve made.”
The head maid naturally began leading me through the parts of the castle that had already been cleaned.
“We’ve coordinated with the Ceremonial Affairs Department to either recycle old curtains and carpets as rags or incinerate them, depending on their condition. Also—”
As I listened to her explanation and looked around, I noticed that while a few areas were still untouched, the cleaned sections were so spotless it was hard to believe they had once been covered in grime.
While I admired the neat, polished surroundings, the head maid cautiously spoke up again.
“Miss Windsor, this feather duster… it’s surprisingly effective. So I was wondering…”
After hesitating for a moment, the head maid finally asked,
“Would it be all right if I continued using it?”
“Oh, of course.”
Though she had made it sound like a big deal, the request turned out to be nothing at all, and I gave her an awkward, slightly uneasy nod.
It wasn’t like I would be the one doing any cleaning from now on, anyway.
“Thank you…”
With a relieved voice, she bowed—and right on cue, the system popped up with a familiar notification about increased affection.
But then, she hesitated again. After a long pause, she spoke in a much quieter tone.
“If you wish… I can make arrangements for you to leave the estate.”
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