‘I wonder if he ate.’

As I washed the pile of dishes in the sink, I recalled the breakfast I had left in the study.

I had heard that Dietrich went out early in the morning and thought about just returning to the kitchen.

But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

It was obvious he would be out and about without having eaten breakfast.

I also wanted to ask how things went with Princess Ariana’s proposal.

‘I didn’t expect him to disappear so early in the morning.’

I wondered where he went. Though unlikely, I even thought he might have gone to give an answer to Princess Ariana.

“Ugh, finally finished!”

While thinking about Dietrich, I had unknowingly rinsed all the dishes piled up like the Riena Mountains.

After roughly wiping my damp hands on my apron, I stretched out.

Now it was time to rest. The break after finishing all the work was very sweet.

During break time, everyone would lean against the wall and take a nap to rest their tired bodies.

But strangely, the kitchen was empty.

Everyone should be resting against the wall by now, where did they go?

“Robert?”

I called for Robert, but he wasn’t in the kitchen either.

Feeling something was odd, I flung open the kitchen door and went out.

Then I saw a crowd of people gathered right in front of the kitchen door. I heard them murmuring.

“Oh my, goodness. What brings the young master here?”

“But doesn’t the young master look happy? Is it because of Princess Ariana’s proposal?”

“Right. He seems to be smiling a bit? A maid from the main building said she saw the princess propose loudly and the two talking closely!”

“But is he coming this way?”

‘Young master?’

If they’re talking about the young master who received a proposal from Princess Ariana, they must mean Dietrich?

Just then, I saw Dietrich’s silver hair and handsome face in the distance.

As I stood on tiptoe, pressed close behind them, one of the maids turned around.

“Oh? Heidi?”

The maid who called my name happily had a slightly excited and fluttery look on her face.

“Why are you just coming out now? The young master came to the kitchen.”

“You mean Young Master Dietrich?”

The maid nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! Young Master Dietrich. I used to be too scared to even look at him properly before, but now that I see him, he’s so handsome! It’s amazing!”

Dietrich was always handsome though…

It’s not like they just realized it now.

What’s so amazing about it?

My confusion didn’t last long. Another maid grabbed my shoulder and whispered.

“He seems to be looking for someone in the kitchen. He’s been looking around since earlier. Oh? He’s coming this way!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a large shadow fell over me.

I slowly raised my head to look up.

“I ate well.”

He abruptly held out a tray. All the dishes on the tray were completely empty.

I thought he wouldn’t eat.

I left it for him to eat, but I didn’t really expect him to actually eat it.

Even though I covered it with a cloth, the food would have gotten cold by the time he returned.

If he hadn’t eaten it, I was planning to go collect it from the main building before the afternoon break ended.

‘But to think he ate it all…’

As I received the tray with a dumbfounded expression, he grinned.

“What. Did you think I wouldn’t eat?”

“It must have gotten very cold.”

“You left it for me to eat, didn’t you? It was delicious even though it was cold.”

His words caused another stir around us.

I heard whispers ranging from ‘I didn’t know the young master could speak like that’ to ‘Oh my, I’m so envious of Heidi!’

‘Well, well, look at this?’

The effects of my efforts to spread the word that Dietrich wasn’t a bad person were starting to show.

Though Dietrich probably didn’t intend it, the fact that he appeared and unexpectedly said such kind words was having twice the effect.

‘This is an opportunity.’

I could feel that Dietrich’s reputation in the mansion was slowly changing.

But seeing it directly in front of so many people was different.

The moment they witness it with their own eyes, rumors become facts.

However, I had to be careful to make it appear just as a kind young master and a maid who did her job well.

If we seemed too close, it could cause trouble in other ways for both of us.

I smiled brightly as I slightly lifted the tray.

“I’m so glad you enjoyed it, young master. You even brought the tray yourself, I would have been happy to come get it if you had called.”

Dietrich’s eyes twitched at my suddenly polite attitude.

He didn’t seem to be adapting well at all.

He pressed his lips together for a moment before slowly parting them.

“I had some time left.”

“Thank you for your consideration. Then I’ll work hard to prepare tomorrow’s breakfast to your liking as well.”

As I bowed, he nodded with a somewhat disgruntled expression.

As I turned and entered the kitchen, I could feel all the maids who had been gathered outside following me.

‘As expected. They must all be curious about Dietrich.’

I could see they were surprised and intrigued by this side of Dietrich that was completely different from the rumors they had known.

As soon as I put the tray down in the sink, questions started pouring in.

“Heidi. I heard you were close with Young Master Dietrich, I guess it’s true?”

“Young Master Dietrich seems much kinder than he looks.”

“How did you end up becoming close?”

I raised my hand to signal them all to calm down.

Only then did the kitchen quiet down. The sparkly eyes were a bit burdensome, but things were flowing well just as I had hoped.

I answered with a gentle smile.

“I told you before, didn’t I? Many of the rumors about Young Master Dietrich are nonsense. Rather than being close with the young master, he just pays a bit more attention to servants who take good care of him. As you all know, there are hardly any servants who help the young master.”

Most of the servants averted their eyes, seemingly feeling guilty at my words.

I could understand their feelings too.

It’s natural to want to be in the good graces of the kind and benevolent duchess rather than the cold-blooded young master known for being cold and merciless.

Plus, the rumors about Dietrich were so horrible.

I comforted them in a friendly tone, as if it was alright.

“It’s okay. I understand everyone. The young master understands too, so you don’t need to worry. Even though we haven’t particularly helped him until now, he’s never punished us for that, not even once.”

Everyone nodded vigorously at my words.

I started to feel proud. I could see the fear of Dietrich disappearing from everyone’s eyes.

“That’s true. Other than rumors of him being scary, I’ve never actually seen the young master punish or scold anyone directly.”

“Right. I heard from my friend who’s a maid in the main building, she thought she was dead when she bumped into Young Master Dietrich while carrying laundry, but he actually told her it was okay. My friend said he wasn’t scary at all.”

“Then, have we been believing false rumors?”

“Has anyone ever actually seen Young Master Dietrich treat servants harshly in the first place?”

Great!

Finally, stories closer to the truth started spreading among the mansion servants.

It was a very good sign. If Dietrich’s reputation could be turned around, it would be much better for him to become the head of the Delgado family.

I spoke confidently, as if I had become the ‘Pied Piper’ controlling them.

“So you all don’t need to be too afraid of Young Master Dietrich. He’ll surely treat you even better than he treats me.”

“Then Heidi, can we greet the young master next time we see him?”

“Me too! Would that be okay?”

“Of course!”

Dietrich! I did it!

I wonder if he can hear me.

My chest swelled with pride. I was still curious about whether Dietrich had accepted Princess Ariana’s proposal, but.

‘It’s not something for me to worry about.’

Dietrich would surely handle it well. If things flow according to the original story, that is.

‘I should focus on what I need to do.’

My contract with Dietrich was to do my best to help him become the Duke of Delgado.

I shook my head vigorously to forget my complicated feelings once again.

Focus on my job!

This was the most important thing.

[This is the timeline separator]

Becky, a maid at the Delgado mansion, had recently found herself in a very awkward situation.

[Please find out in detail about Dietrich’s recent activities, anything will do.]

It was because of the mistress’s request to find out details about Young Master Dietrich.

‘How am I supposed to find out about Young Master Dietrich’s activities?’

What Leriana had overlooked was that Becky was neither as capable nor as perceptive as her dedicated maid Joanna.

Becky had just come in temporarily to pour her tea instead of Joanna.

And yet she ended up with such an important task.

Of course, Duchess Leriana wasn’t really expecting Becky to bring any special information either.

It was just something she had casually thrown at Becky, who happened to be there, out of a bit of tension and anxiety after Princess Ariana’s visit to the Delgado mansion.

Becky didn’t know that Leriana had separately ordered Joanna to find out about Dietrich’s activities.

As Becky was slowly wandering the corridor lost in thought, Dietrich came into view.

She quickly lowered her head as she saw Dietrich approaching rapidly from afar with his sword at his side.

Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, for some reason it was hard to look at Young Master Dietrich’s face.

Dietrich swiftly passed by Becky with her head bowed.

As Becky sighed in relief and was about to go upstairs.

“Hello, Young Master Dietrich. Good morning.”

A greeting that could never be heard in the Delgado mansion was heard.