Night.

I was resting in my strangely comfortable bed when I heard a knock on the door. Groaning groggily, I opened it.

What greeted me was a young man with sharp features in a butler’s suit.

“Arslan Vince, the Grand Chamberlain. May I enter?”

‘The Grand Chamberlain?’

Wasn’t this guy my boss, then? I quickly rubbed my eyes and opened the door wider to let him in.

He closed the door behind him and stood still, watching me intensely.

After what felt like hours, he broke eye contact with me and spoke.

“Such a young woman…. Did you incur the Viscount’s ire or something?”

“Eh? No?”

The viscount offered me this high of a position. How could he hate me?

Seeing the confusion on my face, the chamberlain shook his head bitterly.

“This is the first and final time I’ll say this, so listen carefully.”

“...Yes.”

“The noble houses in this kingdom are… a bit different. To ensure the best protection and service to their heirs, the nobles each have a different filtering system.”

“...?”

“Simply put, in here, if another servant kills you, they get your position.”

“...!”

‘What the fuck!?’

Wasn’t this just a normal maid job? Huh, but remembering the contract I signed, I widened my eyes in realization.

“Yes, you must’ve figured it out by now. The wordings in the contract are literal; they are no allusions to this estate’s politics.”

It indeed wasn’t politics. It was barbaric fighting and assassination.

“Saying that, there are still some ground rules everyone has to follow. Please listen carefully.”

“O-Okay.” I sat down on my bed again.

“As I said before, killing a servant gives you their position. The same feat can be achieved by forcing them to give you their position. Everyone gets one allowed kill per month. Killing beyond your allowance will result in punishment.”

“...”

“Next, since it concerns security, guards and knights are excluded from positions that you can steal. You cannot attack them unprovoked. Also, the position of Grand Chamberlain is off-limit, so don’t even bother with challenging me.”

“Mhmm….”

“Your room is your ‘safe zone.’ No one can or should attack you while you’re there. If Viscount Rindell or I tell you to stop fighting, you stop fighting without exception. There are also several exceptions that exempt you from fighting, like maternity leave or special requests from your master. I’ll give you the full list of them later.”

“...Thank you.”

The chamberlain nodded. 

“This is the last rule—also the most important one: do not let our masters know of your fights. If you slip up, you’ll get kicked out. Viscount Rindell and his First Lady is the sole exception to this. Do you understand?”

I gulped. “Y-Yes.”

“Then I hope you have a long life.” He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “The young miss you will serve is tired of her servants changing constantly, so maybe the viscount doesn’t hate you. Maybe he saw something special in you.”

Letting his words marinate in my mind, the chamberlain left my room without saying anything else.

–

-

–

I needed a hug pillow.

Of course, I didn’t want to bother Nira, so I summoned Aerin instead.

She was still sulky at me for some reason, but I eventually convinced her to let me hug her to sleep.

It was morning, I tapped Aerin’s cheek to wake her up.

“...!”

The Vampire shot her eyes open in surprise and blushed. Before I could say anything, she disappeared in my soul again.

I simply stared at my empty bed for a few more moments before I got up and changed into my maid outfit.

“Dammit, does it have to be this frilly?”

After putting on the finishing touch, which was a frilly headband, I opened my room’s door and left.

As soon as I stepped out, I sensed a rush of killing intent flooding toward me. I used my prosthetic arm to block the attack coming from a maid wielding daggers.

“Tch, you’re quite good for a newbie!”

The maid spun around and delivered a high kick to my face. Of course, I dodged it with ease and swiped her feet from underneath.

As I was about to smash her head in, I remembered the kill limit and clicked my tongue. I instead opted to throw her out the closest window and called it a day.

With the trash now cleaned, I curtly turned around and began making my way toward my new master’s room.

***

 

“What an interesting newbie.”

“Indeed, I heard the Lord appointed her himself.”

Two maids were sitting in a spacious room while sipping tea with each other. One had purple hair and light brown skin, the other had short blonde hair and fair skin.

Despite their relatively friendly behavior, they were secretly sharpening their blades behind each other’s backs.

“It’s been a while since someone not in either of our factions served the young miss.”

“Indeed, I wonder how long it will last….”

The blonde maid frowned. “Are you saying you will convince her to your side?”

“Don’t talk as if you won’t do the same.”

A moment of silence passed. What followed was the table being flipped and blades drawn. The two maids had their daggers at each other’s necks while maids with swords began flooding in.

The tension was so sharp that it could cut even the most durable of shields. 

The purple-haired maid gnarled.

“Why shouldn’t I kill you right now and take her for myself?”

“Oh? I’m pretty confident that I can at least take you to the grave with me?”

They both glared at each other before nodding and retreating back into their seats. Some maids came up and fixed the table as if nothing had just happened.

After a while, the blonde one spoke again.

“Miranda, let me ask you this. What if that girl doesn’t want to join either of us?”

The appearance of a neutral party in the highest position meant a stalemate. Miranda, the purple-haired maid, answered Charlotte, the blonde maid, with an evil grin.

“Peace is nice, no? But I don’t think I can bear seeing you work in the same place as me.”

“Likewise. I guess we’ve finally come to our first agreement in a while.”

They both chuckled and spoke in unison.

“”We’ll annihilate her if she doesn’t take a side.””