Dietrich did not return.

Ever since he went to the battlefield, there has been no contact, making me anxious for no reason.

“Heidi. Did you hear about that?”

“…About what?”

Today, I was trudging along to the dormitory for a meal.

Robert, who was tagging along beside me, kept chattering non-stop.

“Hey, why are you so down, like a rain-soaked cotton blanket?”

Even with the hand patting my back, telling me to straighten my slumped shoulders, I couldn’t muster any energy.

There was a separate reason for that.

It was the worry that Dietrich might notice the lie I told.

At first, I was anxious, wondering if the Duchess had taken Harpe.

But when I returned to the dormitory and thought about it carefully, I suddenly remembered the lie I had initially told Dietrich.

[From the moment you picked up the sword, you became my master. If you put me far away, you’ll die due to the contract.]

To think that I only now remembered telling such an absurd lie!

Now, I could only desperately hope that Dietrich had taken Harpe with him.

While he was gone, I secretly infiltrated his room and searched everywhere, but there was no sign of Harpe.

How could this be?

Could the Duchess have stolen it? If so, did Dietrich notice my lie? It’s been a week of worrying like this.

There was still no contact from Dietrich, not even a glimpse of his coat.

Just wait until he comes back.

I won’t let him off easy!

I was planning to glare at him and demand to know where he had left Harpe.

However, as soon as I heard the news Robert shared, those thoughts completely vanished.

“You know, the ongoing border war with the Zenovia Empire?”

“Huh?”

Seeing my clueless expression, Robert sighed exasperatedly and thumped his chest.

“Don’t you ever read the newspaper?”

At those words, I was at a loss for words.

Come to think of it, I had never even thought about reading a newspaper.

‘I guess they have newspapers here too!’

“Anyway, it seems the Emperor recently sent the Knights to the North. And they’re the elite ones at that!”

That was information I already knew.

Blaine had told me, and it was briefly mentioned in the original work too.

We had already arrived at the dormitory, but Robert’s chatter showed no signs of stopping.

I just wanted to go eat now.

The sound of thunder rumbled from my stomach.

Since becoming a maid, it seems the only things that have grown are my meal portions and potato-peeling skills.

I was vaguely thinking about how hungry I was while letting Robert’s words go in one ear and out the other.

“But then the Zenovia Empire forces launched a surprise attack, and a battle broke out!”

“I see… Wait, what?”

Battle?

I covered my mouth with wide eyes.

And I quickly began to rack my brain. What did the original work say?

Did the Northern Expedition troops all return safely?

The story about the Northern Expedition was only briefly mentioned, so I couldn’t remember exactly.

“And there was a headline this morning saying that Young Master Dietrich is there too. Everyone’s in an uproar, saying the Emperor has gone mad. They’re saying he deliberately sent the heir of the Delgado family into danger. There’s a lot of talk that it might have been intentional.”

It was just the kind of gossip people would love.

But for me, it was disturbing news.

To think that the Northern Expedition troops that Dietrich joined were ambushed.

My legs trembled involuntarily with anxiety.

What if Dietrich gets hurt?

I thought he’d be fine with his excellent swordsmanship skills, but still, Dietrich was alone among the Imperial Knights.

They may be allies in name, but it was obvious that the Imperial Knights would check and ostracize Dietrich, who was from the Delgado family.

Could he be safe fighting the enemy in such a situation?

It’s okay. Dietrich is the male lead in the original novel, so he won’t die, absolutely not.

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest. On the other hand, my head was cooling down as time passed.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong? Do you know Young Master Dietrich?”

Ignoring Robert, who kept bombarding me with questions while sticking close, I entered the dining hall weakly.

The dining hall was already full of maids ready to eat.

Among the people happily enjoying delicious food, I felt like I was the only one gloomy and depressed.

“Over here, over here!”

Marie, who had saved me a seat, raised both arms and signaled to me.

As I sat down next to Marie with my plate, she saw my gloomy expression and asked worriedly.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Marie. Have you heard anything about Young Master Dietrich?”

Surprised by my unexpected question, Marie widened her brown eyes and shook her head.

“Not at all. No one here has said anything about the Young Master.”

“I see.”

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about Young Master Dietrich?”

Worried, I suppose that’s what it is.

As I listlessly picked at my food with my fork, Marie stabbed a sausage with her fork and said,

“He’ll be fine. The Young Master is very strong.”

Marie’s words weren’t wrong.

But I kept my mouth shut at her attitude of complete indifference to what might happen to Dietrich.

I didn’t have much appetite due to my low mood.

After finishing my meal quickly, I returned to the kitchen early, where the maids resting in the corner greeted me with their eyes.

“Want to come rest here?”

Perhaps because some time had passed since I started working in the kitchen, the maids would occasionally speak to me, unlike before.

As I didn’t have anywhere particular to sit anyway, I went over and sat next to them.

“Heidi, didn’t you say you were close with Marie?”

Marie, who had worked at the mansion for a long time, was known to almost everyone among the maids.

“Yes. I’m close with Marie. We even share a room.”

“Marie is really nice, isn’t she?”

“She’s extremely nice.”

Although I wasn’t in the mood for conversation, I answered the questions lightly.

“Oh, but the maids in the main building were saying that you’re quite close with Young Master Dietrich.”

At that moment, a maid with curly hair casually asked about Dietrich.

Already troubled because of Dietrich, I shook my head.

“We’re not that close. We just talk casually from time to time.”

“That’s being close! It’s really amazing that there’s someone who talks with Young Master Dietrich!”

The other maids chimed in, seemingly finding it so surprising.

“That’s right. Once, I was passing through the garden and ran into Young Master Dietrich, and he was so scary I almost collapsed on the spot!”

“His aura is no joke. I don’t think I’ve heard the Young Master speak since I came to the mansion.”

“Don’t say that. What if we lose our heads for trying to talk to him? It’s best to just ignore him like everyone else does.”

“There’s a rumor that dozens of people have died by Young Master Dietrich’s sword.”

The more I listened, pretending not to know, the more my brow furrowed involuntarily.

[This is the timeline separator]

While Dietrich was often quiet and sometimes acted in an irritating manner, he wasn’t a madman who randomly killed people.

Feeling uncomfortable listening to this, I finally smiled and spoke up.

“Even if such rumors exist, no one has actually seen Young Master Dietrich do such things, right?”

I wanted to add, ‘So could you stop spreading baseless rumors?’ but I held back, thinking it would only create more antipathy.

“Even if we haven’t seen it, everyone says so, so it must be believable. Heidi, you should be careful too. Getting too close to Young Master Dietrich could be dangerous.”

“That’s right. Since the Young Master has joined the expedition, it might not be a bad idea to distance yourself a bit now.”

At their rude advice disguised as concern, I abruptly stood up.

I didn’t want to stay here any longer.

‘Dietrich isn’t as bad as you all think!’

Here too, far from being concerned, they were busy spreading baseless rumors about Dietrich.

Just then, the Chief Cook returned from his meal.

“What are you all doing here?”

He approached us, patting his protruding belly.

“Ah, we were just talking about Young Master Dietrich joining the expedition.”

As one maid hurriedly made up an excuse, the others nodded vigorously.

The Chief Cook seemed to know about the news and muttered indifferently.

“Ah, Young Master Dietrich? The Young Master is exceptional with the sword, so he’ll be back soon enough.”

Hearing his words devoid of any concern, I quietly stepped back.

‘This won’t do.’

I needed to find someone who might know a little more about Dietrich.

“Where are you going, Heidi?”

Ignoring the questions thrown at me, I turned around immediately.

“Something came up. I’ll be back soon!”

Leaving the kitchen, I started running earnestly.

I ran until my legs felt like they would fall off, arriving at the entrance of the training grounds.

As it was a little past lunchtime, there weren’t many knights at the training grounds.

After anxiously fidgeting at the entrance for a few minutes,

I saw Blaine in the distance, smiling brightly as he spotted me.

“Heidi!”

He came running, waving his hands high in the air, and greeted me cheerfully.

“You didn’t come for a few days. But you’re here today?”

Even after I realized Harpe wasn’t in Dietrich’s room, Blaine often came to find me.

Through our trivial conversations, I learned that Blaine was 20 years old, the same age as me.

Happy about being the same age, I occasionally visited the training grounds with cookies after work to chat with him.

Thanks to that, I was able to see Blaine’s fresh smile often.

I wish I could see his smiling face today too.

But I came to the training grounds for a different reason today.

“Blaine. Have you seen today’s newspaper by any chance?”

Blaine slowly nodded.

He seemed to understand immediately what I was talking about.

“Yes. I saw it. You mean about Young Master Dietrich, right?”

“That’s right. I heard the expedition was ambushed. Do you think he’ll be alright?”

I frowned as I looked at Blaine, who was still smiling brightly.

‘Why does he keep smiling when it’s such a serious matter?’

There isn’t a single person here who’s worried about Dietrich’s well-being.

Realizing this fact, I felt a pang in my heart.

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