“… I can hear everything, you fool.”

Bradley, who was getting a headache, glanced at Noah. Noah spoke calmly.

“I guarantee there won’t be any problems.”

“Really? You won’t say anything different later?”

“Yes.”

Dwayne grinned widely, then suddenly made a sour expression and nodded towards Amy.

“You’ll make sure the picky maid doesn’t scold us either, right?”

“Yes. So…”

A spark flashed in Noah’s eyes as he trailed off.

“Try to mess it up. If you can.”

“…”

It was a statement dripping with tenacity unbefitting his age. Pleased by this, Dwayne smiled broadly. It was a smile that bordered on madness. Bradley, glancing between the two, silently ran his hand over his face.

‘Looks like I’ll be the only one suffering under the captain.’

Amy, unaware of the trouble brewing, was engrossed in conversation with the mercenary captain.

“You want me to confirm if Count Coleman is really bedridden?”

“Yes.”

Amy frowned. Count Coleman was a deeply rooted noble in the north who had long been displeased with the dukes from the capital. It was necessary to check if this situation was a ploy to embarrass Noah, who had newly become the duke.

‘It’s also suspicious that his son conveniently ran away.’

With his father on his deathbed, who would leave behind the title and fiefs he might inherit? She had hinted at wanting to pay a sick visit during the banquet, but the butler had rejected it too firmly, leaving her no choice but to resort to this method.

“We only have tonight.”

“That’s right.”

“Understood.”

The mercenary captain bowed his head and swiftly disappeared. Amy clicked her tongue in disappointment. She would have liked him to settle in the duchy, being obedient and loyal, but the mercenary captain firmly rejected every time Amy broached the subject.

‘I did tell him to come anytime if he changes his mind, but…’

Amy glanced sideways at Dwayne, who was snickering in the corner.

‘I wish we could switch him with that one.’

At that moment, she noticed Noah talking to them with a sullen expression. Amy’s brow furrowed slightly.

‘Should I stop this…?’

She worried about him being negatively influenced, but then again, he was her superior, and it didn’t seem right to interfere in such matters… Her feelings were complicated.

‘If it were the Crown Prince, I would have scolded him like training a dog, saying “You shouldn’t associate with them,” but Noah is someone capable of self-restraint.’

Thinking it would be overstepping her bounds to intervene now, she reluctantly held back. Amy turned her head away, clicking her tongue as she watched them chuckling and whispering about something so amusing.

The next morning at dawn, Amy and Noah came out to the mansion’s entrance and entrusted the butler, who was waiting for them, with the timber sales contract and a letter for Viscount Burton.

Then, handing over a pouch filled with gold coins, she said it was the duke’s wish for the swift recovery of his retainer. The old butler, with a face full of emotion, bowed deeply and received it respectfully.

Amy, greeting perfunctorily, stared at the mercenary captain standing a short distance away. He nodded almost imperceptibly. It meant that Count Coleman was indeed ill and bedridden.

Amy felt relieved inwardly. Then she met with Vernon and the other knights who had already come out to the inner courtyard, prepared the carriage and horses, and left the mansion.

***

The ducal castle was in a buzz.

“Where are they now?”

“They say they’ve entered the outer walls.”

Maids wearing starched white aprons and headdresses rushed out of the castle in a flurry. In the inner courtyard, the servants were already lined up.

How long had they waited? The duke’s party entered through the gate connecting to the outer walls. Old Morton, who had been acting as the guard captain, and butler Melvin were walking with a small boy between them.

‘Is that him?’

As Rita craned her neck to look at the boy, he suddenly turned his head back and whispered to a woman. The next moment, Rita’s eyes met hers.

“!”

Feeling a chill down her spine, Rita hurriedly lowered her head. Mary, standing next to her, whispered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing…”

Rita was bewildered. Why did I do that? Calming herself, she peeked up again. The woman was now conversing with butler Melvin. Looking at her side profile, Rita tilted her head in confusion.

Melvin stepped forward and clapped his hands.

“Attention everyone, the duke has arrived.”

All eyes focused on the boy. As the boy stepped forward, Rita’s jaw dropped, and beside her, she heard her friends’ voices in succession.

“Crazy.”

“Insane.”

It was the maids Mary and Cecil. True to their age of eighteen, the vibrant girls couldn’t hide their admiration upon seeing Noah’s face.

“I thought we’d grow old and die just having our energy sucked dry in this gloomy ducal castle…”

“I need to go to the temple and make an offering this week.”

Rita, about to stop her friends, ended up adding her own comment.

“Let’s go together.”

As the three made a firm resolution under the birch tree, Melvin led the duke in front of them.

“Rita, Mary, Cecil. Pay your respects. This is His Grace, the Duke.”

Then he introduced them to Noah and Amy.

“These are the dedicated maids of the inner castle. Though young, their skills are certain.”

The three gulped and raised their heads. And the moment they saw Noah’s face up close.

‘God is alive…’

Seeing them dazed for a brief moment, Noah frowned. Then he grumbled quietly.

“You say their skills are certain?”

“!”

Startled by the cold words, the maids fumbled, when a composed voice was heard from behind the duke.

“They’re still young, aren’t they? And if Your Grace glares so fiercely, even a perfectly fine person would malfunction.”

The owner of the voice came forward, moving past Melvin’s side. Rita, Mary, and Cecil stared at her blankly. There was another proof that God exists…?

“I am Amelia Besford, the duke’s head maid. You will be my hands and feet until the head housekeeper arrives.”

“…”

The maids couldn’t take their eyes off her honey-colored bright brown hair, ocean-blue eyes, and beauty as if carved like a doll.

As they still stood dumbfounded, Amy, who had been waiting for a response, slightly furrowed her brow. At that moment, the duke whispered cheerfully from behind.

“Just like the ghost maid, it seems they’ve malfunctioned because Amy looked at them so fiercely?”

“…Ahem.”

The head maid cleared her throat and fiddled with the cameo brooch attached to the collar of her maid uniform. Seeing her ears turn slightly red, Rita blinked and bowed.

“I’m Rita, a maid. I will serve with utmost loyalty.”

Mary and Cecil hurriedly followed suit and bowed.

“I’m Mary.”

“I’m Cecil.”

“Well, alright. Let’s do well from now on.”

Amy’s eyes swept over them. Then she turned to Noah and said.

“You should have Melvin guide you around the castle.”

“Amy? Aren’t you coming along?”

Noah’s voice immediately became stiff. Everyone present then realized. The young duke had an enormous trust in his head maid.

“I’m planning to look around the village with Joseph. We couldn’t see it properly as we came in such a hurry.”

There was a small farming village at the foot of the ducal castle. Amy wanted to check on the shops and houses of Joseph and the craftsmen she had invited there.

Noah looked at her glumly.

“You’ll be back by the banquet, right?”

At that moment, everyone realized once again. The young duke felt an immense attachment to his head maid.

“Of course.”

Amy answered lightly and gestured to Joseph as she withdrew. As she left the inner castle, conversing with Joseph, not a hint of regret or hesitation was visible in her demeanor.

“…”

The duke watched her retreating figure like an abandoned puppy. Melvin wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and rolled his eyes. Not knowing the master’s temperament, he didn’t know how to console him.

“Let’s go.”

When Amy was no longer in sight, the duke turned around. Somehow his voice seemed deflated, causing looks of sympathy to appear on the faces of those standing in the courtyard.

While Noah toured the castle with Melvin, the trio of maids, servants, and guards gathered in the hall, making a fuss.

“Do all people from the capital look like that?”

Starting with someone’s exclamation, praise for the duke and head maid poured out like a flood.

“I’ve never seen anyone whiter than the northerners before.”

“I heard the duke had blood from the southern royal family mixed in… but goodness, he’s even fairer than my young miss.”

“Rita, you’ve been to the gallery too. Were there such people among the previous dukes?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Rita swallowed and went “Umm…”

During the castle renovation, portraits of the previous dukes were newly displayed in the gallery. However, access was restricted due to the presence of jewels and historically important valuables.

Rita shook her head.

“Do you think such looks are common?”

“I thought so.”

As people nodded in agreement, maid Mary mumbled with a dreamy expression.

“The head maid, you know. Doesn’t she give off a really professional vibe?”

Cecil quickly chimed in.

“That’s what I’m saying. My dream was just to be a lazy maid earning enough to get by. But the moment I faced her, I became a woman without dreams.”

“You mean you want to emulate her?”

“Exactly that.”

Would I look a bit similar if I stood up straight like this? As Cecil awkwardly attempted to imitate Amy’s posture, jeers erupted from around her.

“The knights also had an extraordinary aura.”

The guards, who became guards simply because they knew how to swing a sword as well as a pickaxe, spoke with admiration as they recalled Vernon, Dwayne, and others.

“They must be on a different level from us, who are just a vigilante group.”

At that moment, someone sighed.