The Maid Hates Childcare (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4

It had been nearly a month since I became Aileen.

I was currently cleaning the windows.

Such was the daily routine of a governess.

I woke up early to prepare breakfast.

After feeding the children well, I watched them play, cleaned the filthy palace, and did the laundry.

Then lunchtime came again, and I prepared meals and snacks…

“Housewives are truly magnificent beings.”

The schedule, packed without a moment to breathe, was absolutely maddening.

“If there’s anyone who dares mock the labor of a housewife…”

Crunch.

I stomped on a dry, brittle twig.

“Time to get started, I suppose.”

Tools were necessary for any work.

I headed straight for Aileen’s room.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s dazzling.”

The display cabinet was filled with all sorts of expensive items, and her jewelry box overflowed with gems she’d collected over the years—

all purchased with imperial stipends she’d embezzled from the royal household.

But that wasn’t why I’d come here now.

I pulled out a box hidden beneath the bed.

“Let’s see… a mop, cleaning cloths… Ah, there it is—the cleaning solution.”

Modern cleaning tools.

Only after gathering everything did a sense of dissonance strike me.

“This is just too out of place.”

A noble lady’s medieval bedroom paired with an ultra-powerful cleaning solution.

“Who could’ve guessed this would actually happen?”

I glared at the modern items.

Even the Ggaktugi soup and blueberry bagel I had for breakfast today had come from the dream supermarket.

Every night in my dreams, I always opened my eyes right in the middle of that supermarket.

“Kyu-!”

“Hayang!”

The white fluffball I’d named Hayang greeting me had become quite familiar by now.

Cradling Hayang in my arms, I roamed through the supermarket.

“What I’ve figured out so far:

1. I can bring back only one item at a time.

2. It must be something I can carry or hold in my hand.

3. Items from this world cannot be taken into the supermarket.”

“That’s about it, more or less.”

I transferred the cleaning solution into a glass bottle and left the room.

“Meals to prepare, endless things to clean, dust constantly piling up…”

Seriously, I had no time to catch my breath.

At least there was one bit of good fortune.

“Aileen-sama! I’ve finished cleaning the windows in the east corridor!”

A maid with greenish hair tied into a single ponytail ran toward me.

Emma—the newly hired maid for the secluded palace.

The day after I dismissed the previous maids, I’d dashed to the Imperial Palace Personnel Office to request new staff.

“They claimed they had no personnel to spare for such a place.”

How filthy and low of them.

That was when I spotted Emma.

She was so underfed and frail that the other maids bullied her relentlessly.

When I looked her way, the personnel officer smirked and said I could take her if I wanted.

“She fits that palace perfectly,” he sneered.

“Useless, dull-witted, and trouble-prone,” they’d said.

In the end, I took Emma anyway.

Contrary to my worries, however, Emma turned out meticulous, clever, and gentle with the twins.

“She looked like a fly when she arrived, but now her expression is bright.”

Perhaps it was only natural—there was no one here to torment her.

I was relieved to see her looking so much more at ease.

“Good job. Let’s clean the floors together.”

It was time to polish the corridor until it gleamed with the cleaning solution.

“I’ve never seen a corridor this shiny before! The palace I used to serve in was clean, but it never sparkled like this!”

Seeing Emma’s amazement filled me with pride too.

After all, there was truly something special about cleaning supplies crafted by Dr. Seok’s team.

“All that effort was worth it.”

It had been a bit exhausting, but without those tools from the supermarket, this would’ve been backbreaking labor.

“I need to escape this haunted house soon.”

Though cleaning had become easier, the palace was far too vast.

It still had a long way to go before it looked like a place where people truly lived.

“Thank goodness for Emma.”

Even with two of us, the workload remained overwhelming.

Yet, if there was one reason I could endure it, it was this:

“Aileen! Emma!”

Thud-thud-thud! Cheerful little footsteps echoed through the corridor.

Louis, who’d sprinted over in a flash, now clung tightly to me.

“Hello to both of you!”

“Louis-sama, did you have fun playing?”

“Yep! I played on the trees!”

“I know you’re good at climbing, but please be careful!”

“Of course!”

His beaming face had finally filled out with healthy plumpness.

“I’ll pick some apples for Aileen later!”

Louis grinned brightly at me.

His radiant smile made the whole world seem to brighten with joy.

“So cute! So adorable! So precious!”

People of this world! Our prince is this unbelievably cute!

His pleasantly plump cheeks, lovely sweet face, and cheerful, childlike voice were overwhelmingly adorable.

I had to forcibly suppress the urge to squeeze and jiggle those chubby cheeks.

“Really? I’m super excited!”

“Yeah! So I need to practice even more!”

Louis bounced once on the spot and dashed off in the opposite direction.

His golden hair—the hallmark of the Reihardt bloodline—made the back of his head shimmer brilliantly.

“The symbol of the Reihardt imperial family, they said.”

For generations, the Reihardt royals were known for their gem-like hair and eye color, and their exquisite beauty.

Sensing my gaze, Louis turned back and gave me a sweet smile.

“Be careful!”

“Okay!”

When I waved, the child started running again.

I watched Louis’s retreating figure for a long while.

“How can such an adorable child become the mastermind?”

Louis was so bright and cheerful it was impossible to believe the plot twists written in the novel.

“This is exactly why I resent Aileen every time.”

The original owner of this body remained utterly silent.

Just as I turned to tidy up the remaining chores—

“Eek!”

A scream escaped me involuntarily. Evan was standing right behind me.

“My heart nearly dropped out in broad daylight.”

I took a deep breath and asked the boy,

“Evan-sama? How long have you been standing there?”

Evan didn’t answer my question. He just stared at me with a completely blank expression.

“Are you… perhaps hungry…?”

But anytime I tried to continue speaking, he’d vanish instantly—

exactly as he did right now.

“He’s gone again.”

Could it be because I’d slipped some vegetables under his fried eggs this morning?

Louis ate anything happily, but Evan, surprisingly, was a veggie-hating child.

“But he needs to eat a balanced diet.”

He’d started gaining weight, but vegetables were still good for his health.

While I was lost in thought, Emma spoke up.

“Evan-sama seems… difficult.”

“He’s just shy. He’s actually very kind by nature.”

If Aileen hadn’t abused him, he could’ve grown up much brighter.

“But… as long as things stay like this, the original story’s future won’t come to pass.”

In the novel, the twins killed Aileen and escaped the imperial palace, eventually finding refuge in a commoner’s house.

The home they stumbled into to hide happened to belong to the female lead, Eltheas.

“Until the twins and the female lead lived together peacefully, there weren’t any issues…”

The real trouble began when Kashar appeared.

Kashar Bladis La Reihardt.

The former crown prince, deposed due to his madness, and the Empire’s rabid war dog who’d been granted a title for his battlefield exploits.

He was this world’s secondary male lead.

“Kashar collapsing right in front of the female lead’s house…”

Due to side effects from his medication, Kashar collapsed in a commoner’s neighborhood.

It was Eltheas who saved him.

“She not only rescued Kashar from the brink of death but even cured his madness.”

It was a fated meeting.

At least, until the Temple took Eltheas away.

“Though she was destined to become a Saintess…”

The novel’s plot unfolded as the twins opposed the Temple to reclaim Eltheas, and Kashar defied them to claim the woman who’d saved him.

“Why are the twins the masterminds, you ask? Because Eltheas loses her memories.”

Of course she’d find it strange—mysterious boys suddenly obsessing over her.

Add to that the main male lead’s courtship and Kashar’s fixation, and it became a whirlwind of chaos.

Between those two charming men, the one I personally rooted for was…

“The most obsessive among obsessive lords is the obsessively possessive one!”

None other than Duke Kashar himself.

Golden hair, crimson eyes—a haughty, fixated, handsome man with wildly muscular build.

“Absolutely my type.”

There wasn’t a single uncool detail in his appearance, speech, or actions as described in the book.

[Kashar swept his golden bangs back from beneath his brows. Moonlight illuminated his nearly bare form. Eltheas shrank back at the sight of his rippling muscles. His crimson eyes locked onto her—possessiveness so beautiful it bore the name ‘obsession.’]

“Kyaa, just look at that description.”

Thinking of the original Kashar made me snort involuntarily.

“Beastly men are all the rage these days anyway.”

Personally, I’d hoped Kashar would end up with Eltheas, but the pretty-boy style Mikael had claimed her instead.

“As a secondary lead, I might get to meet him once or twice, right?”

Golden hair and red eyes—a haughty, obsessed pretty boy was always right.

I swiftly wiped the drool threatening to slip from the corner of my mouth.

“Ah, another lovely daydream.”

Just imagining handsome men gave me strength.

The next day, after an ordinary day of chores and putting the children to bed,

before dawn had even broken, I came early to the kitchen.

“Nothing beats broth in the morning.”

I boiled stock and prepped vegetables—it was time to cook soup.

The ingredients were almost ready.

I figured I could just let it simmer—had a stranger not suddenly appeared.

Crashhh—!

The sound of a stone pot shattering echoed throughout the secluded palace.

“Eeeek! A thief!”

The intruder collapsed to the floor with my shout.

I clutched my racing heart and gasped for air.

“I just wanted to get an early start on breakfast…”

Some intruder had tried sneaking in through the back door.

Good thing I smashed his head with a pot in panic—otherwise, disaster would’ve struck.

“What if he’d gone into the children’s room?”

This thief must be blind.

What on earth was there to steal in a barren palace like this?

“He looks perfectly healthy—why not go serve the nation instead?”

Of all things, a thief.

As I clicked my tongue and looked down at the intruder, my nose started bleeding.

“His physique is insane.”

Though covered by a thin shirt, his exceptional muscles were impossible to hide.

For a thief, his muscular build was downright fantasy-like—and even his backside, facedown as it was, was flawless.

“Men really are all about back muscles and bums.”

I raised a thumbs-up.

“Let me just peek at his face…”

I’d have to hand him over to the palace guards anyway, but I wanted a look at the face of the thief I’d caught.

“And maybe his abs too…”

The moment I carefully turned the intruder over, I beheld a work of art.

Between undone buttons lay a graceful neckline, elegant collarbones, and a hint of plump chest—what perfect harmony among the three.

My eyes traveled up the man’s body.

His build was impressive, but his face—

“Handsome. Gorgeous. Stunning. A+++ top-tier handsome man.”

My internal handsome-man radar was blaring sirens.

“Golden hair, fair skin—look at that nose! How can a human face be so perfectly proportioned? And that jawline, that neck…”

It was pure admiration for a beautiful masterpiece.

My praise for the first handsome man I’d seen since possessing this body lasted only a moment.

“…Wait, golden hair?”

As far as I knew, only imperial family members in the Reihardt Empire had golden hair.

A chill ran down my spine. I tugged his hair suspecting a wig, but it was 100% natural.

“And he’s way too good-looking.”

As if he were an incredibly important character.

A sense of dread surged. To grasp the situation, I forcibly lifted the intruder’s eyelids.

Peeking through his lashes were eyes terrifyingly crimson.

“No way…”

In the original story, only one handsome man had golden hair and red eyes.

“Wow… what do I do now?”

The intruder whose head I’d just smashed with a pot was the novel’s obsessively possessive secondary male lead.