Damn! Damn! Chapter 7

“…”

Perhaps it was because she hadn’t yet grown accustomed to Yvonne’s somewhat rugged demeanor—legs sprawled wide even while wearing a skirt. As soon as he asked, the girl’s eyes welled up again, forcing Achim to hurriedly raise both palms toward his shoulders in a gesture of surrender.

“Whoa, okay, okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“…”

“I’m not forcing you. I was just curious, but you don’t have to say anything if you’d rather not.”

So, please don’t cry. Achim pleaded in his “surrender” pose. It was less about comforting her and more about de-escalating the situation, but it was the best Achim could do.

Watching him struggle, the girl sniffled, pulling her tears back in, and then spoke cautiously while keeping her head half-bowed.

“Your… your expression… I thought you were angry at me…”

Was I? Looking back, it seemed he had unwittingly hardened his face while thinking of Michael. There was no reason for her to be scared over that.

Achim let out a sigh of relief and patted the top of the girl’s head with his palm.

“It wasn’t because of you.”

At his still somewhat rough touch, the girl flinched, her shoulders hunching up and down. Achim looked into her tear-reddened eyes and spoke.

“What’s your name?”

Surprised by the mundane question, the girl asked, “Pardon?”

“Your name.”

“Ah…”

The girl hesitated, then opened her small lips.

“Dora… Gleissner…”

“Ah, Dora.”

“…”

“I’ll call you Dora. Is that okay?”

When Achim asked, Dora tucked her orange-tinted hair behind her ear and gave a small, “Yes.”

Achim stared fixedly at Dora. Perhaps conscious of his gaze, her pale turquoise eyes rolled to the side.

“Twelve. Is that about right?”

At those words, Dora looked dejected for some reason. While Achim blinked, confused, Dora glanced at him as if checking his reaction and said, “I’m fourteen.”

Achim was nodding nonchalantly when he was suddenly startled to see Dora distorting her fair face.

“I’m sorry…”

“What for?”

Seeing Achim immediately respond to her apology, Dora widened her eyes in surprise.

“T-the others… they say I’m getting special treatment…”

“…”

“Because they… don’t like me…”

“Special treatment?”

This was the gist of what Dora meant: One of the maid recruitment requirements was age, and several maids had expressed their resentment that Dora, who was far younger than the required age of 20, was receiving the same treatment as them.

Dora hesitated and then shyly averted her gaze.

“Um, I’m from Maaconi…”

“…”

“My brother is also from Maaconi… he’s been working and earning money since last year. Um… I wanted to earn money too, but I was too young and nowhere would hire me. So… I begged the representative…”

Dora confessed cautiously, as if making a religious confession.

Achim hadn’t asked her age with any hidden meaning. He had simply asked because he thought it was admirable that she was working at such a young age.

This had nothing to do with Achim, who had entered the mansion for entirely different reasons than the other maids. But perhaps it was because of a sense of camaraderie, having also grown up in a facility—Achim found himself listening intently to her story.

A moment later, Dora whispered, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

“Mr. Michael is… truly like an angel.”

At her shyly spoken words, Achim suddenly looked down at his own chest.

“…”

…Yeah, well. I suppose even angels have their preferences.

Achim cleared his thoughts and nodded at Dora’s words that she would definitely buy Michael a gift once she earned money here.

He felt it was admirable, yet he couldn’t explain why he felt a flicker of anxiety.

For the first week, Achim devoted his time to learning the mansion’s layout.

It was so vast that even though he checked it whenever he had a chance, he could see no end to it. Of course, he had to avoid looking suspicious, so Achim did his best to minimize his movements.

The dormitory where Achim was currently staying was in the building to the left of the main building. This was the servant’s quarters.

Just as the butler had said, there were bells in every room. Each bell was labeled with the name of the room, so it was clear where the call was coming from.

Besides that, the two-story servant building was packed with separate spaces for kitchens, laundry rooms, and other purposes.

The first and second floors of the main mansion were communal areas, with the first floor being the hall. Located just inside the large staircase, the hall was used for banquets, concerts, and plays. It had an incredibly high ceiling and was also said to be used as a reception room.

Unlike the first floor, the second floor had various rooms. A breakfast room was located to the east, and on the opposite side was the dining room.

And, using the large staircase as a reference, there was a library to the left, and an antique gallery across from it. He hadn’t been able to see everything, but at least he had managed to figure out their general locations.

In addition, the stables for Michael, who reportedly enjoyed horse riding, were in an annex close to the main building. A few dozen meters to the back and left was a cellar, which was connected to the butler’s office.

The place Achim hadn’t been able to check out yet was the third floor of the main building. That was where Michael’s bedroom and office were located.

Even ordinary house maids like Achim were not allowed to approach that area, not even for cleaning purposes. Only the “Lady’s Maid,” his closest assistant, and the “Housekeeper” could clean there on designated days, and even then, only under the butler’s supervision.

Achim was certain the item was on the third floor. There had to be a reason they controlled it so strictly.

“…”

It was after he had finished cleaning the second-floor dining room. Once his fellow maid left, Achim pretended to organize his cleaning supplies while looking around the hallway.

Today, just like every other day, guards were stationed like statues at the large central staircase leading to the third floor and at the staircases at both ends of the hallway.

Given that there hadn’t been a single moment in the past week when the spots were left vacant, they seemed to be working in shifts.

Achim walked on with a blank expression, pretending to be indifferent. The low clacking of his shoe heels echoed through the corridor.

He was just a few steps away from turning the corner.

“I told you it wasn’t me!”

Achim stopped in his tracks at the hysterical ringing of a voice.

“I said, how many times do I have to tell you it wasn’t me?”

Judging by what he was hearing, it seemed a conflict had broken out among the maids.

Achim felt fatigued. He had been dying to finish his work and return to the dormitory for a rest.

Going another way was too far, and just walking past as if he didn’t hear anything might result in him getting caught in the crossfire. Achim decided to kill some time standing where he was.

He was standing with his arms crossed, leaning his back against the wall, when—

“Who cares what you think, Dora Gleissner!”

Achim opened his eyes slightly at the sound of the familiar name.

“Stop blubbering, it’s disgusting!”

The anonymous maid began to spew indiscriminate verbal abuse at Dora. The high-pitched yelling made his ears ache, and Achim uncrossed his arms to rub his forehead with his palm.

Haa. Achim looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh.

Achim wasn’t a particularly righteous character. He wasn’t the type who absolutely couldn’t walk away from injustice. Moreover, he needed to exercise extra caution here, so he had been keeping his head down like a mouse. He couldn’t afford to be noticed since he had to sneak around the mansion, and he knew that the moment he was noticed, the target would move further out of his reach.

“Are you done harassing an innocent person?”

So, I have to refrain from interfering in everything that happens here as much as possible.

“So annoying, really.”

Refrain from interfering…

“For an orphan.”

But at the final words of the unidentified maid, Achim’s lips set into a terrifyingly firm line. It was an instant before he stepped out from around the corner, despite his momentary hesitation.

Achim walked over without a second thought.

“You there.”

The maid who saw Achim looked startled for a moment before instantly fixing her expression. Conversely, Dora, who had been completely dejected, widened her eyes as if they would pop out.

Achim approached, softening his sharp gaze, and asked, facing Dora.