Episode 23: The Rules of the Mansion

“S-Sir Siegfried!? T-The head of the Kreving family…!?”

Hetayn looks up at Siegfried with a dumbfounded expression.

“W-Why is Sir Siegfried here…!?”

“I figured it was about time for a worthless scoundrel like you to show up. So I slipped in as a butler, and sure enough, here you are. Now… do you have any excuses?”

“W-Well, I, uh…”

Hetayn clutches his bleeding nose, forcing the words out.

“I apologize for laying hands on a maid under the Kreving family’s care. B-But… she’s just a maid. There’s no need to get so angry…”

“Oh? ‘Just a maid’…?”

“Y-Yes. I may be a low-ranking noble, but I’m still a noble. For you to strike me over something as trivial as touching a mere commoner maid is simply…”

“Now that you mention it, you were grabbing the sleeve of her uniform, weren’t you?”

Siegfried’s gaze shifts to Hetayn’s right hand, which is pressed against the floor as he grovels.

“It seems this hand needs a bit of discipline.”

“H-Huh…?”

In the next instant, Siegfried’s foot mercilessly crushes Hetayn’s right hand.

“GAAAH!”

Hetayn screams in agony. Siegfried looks down at him, his voice calm as he speaks.

“Listen well, Hetayn. Between you and my maid, which one holds more value… it’s not even worth thinking about. My maid is infinitely more valuable.”

Siegfried’s eyes, cold as ice, reflect Hetayn’s powerless face.

“Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes, I understand! C-Compared to me, Sir Siegfried’s maid is far more precious and noble!”

“Good. You get it.”

Siegfried lifts his foot from Hetayn’s hand.

“And let me add this: you are far beneath the other guests who respect the rules and manners of this mansion. You’re a nuisance, so get lost.”

“Y-Yes, sir…!”

Hetayn scrambles to his feet and bolts toward the exit.

“Oi, you forgot something.”

Siegfried kicks Hetayn’s guard, who lies sprawled on the ground. The massive figure, easily weighing over 80 kilograms, flies through the air and crashes onto Hetayn, crushing him.

“Guh! …Ggh… Damn it, get up, move…!”

Desperately shoving the guard off him, Hetayn staggers to his feet and flees.

The entrance hall falls silent, as if stunned by the events that just unfolded.

“My apologies for the disturbance, everyone.”

Siegfried flashes a refined smile as he surveys the room. It almost feels like he’s playing a role, but… it suits him so perfectly it’s mesmerizing.

“Unsophisticated fools like that exist everywhere. But let me, Siegfried von Kreving, declare once more: within this mansion, the social ranks of the outside world mean nothing. Those who follow our rules and patronize our maid café… you are all ‘Masters.’ Anyone who flaunts their status and acts lawlessly will be dealt with decisively.”

Clap… clap.

A smattering of applause breaks out from somewhere in the crowd, gradually spreading.

“W-Wow… that was exhilarating!”

A modestly dressed but elegant merchant beams with a wide grin. A gentleman seated a short distance away nods in agreement.

“Absolutely, well said. We’ve always suffered at the hands of corrupt nobles like him.”

“Exactly! Some borrow money from us merchants and then act like they don’t owe a thing when it’s time to pay up.”

“Too true. No matter how much we protest, the heads of the courts are nobles themselves. They just protect their own, so we never get fair judgment.”

“Heh, that Hetayn guy got what he deserved.”

“Indeed. If only there were more nobles like Sir Siegfried…”

Conversations bloom among the ‘Masters.’ And so, peace returns to the maid café.

◇

In the maids’ break room, located off the first-floor hall of the mansion.

“Are you two unharmed?”

Siegfried addresses the flaxen-haired maid whose sleeve Hetayn grabbed, and Irma, the two maids involved.

“Y-Yes! I’m fine!”

“Thanks to Sir Siegfried’s help, I’m uninjured as well.”

The flaxen-haired maid and Irma respond.

“Good. This incident should serve as a warning, so I doubt fools like Hetayn will show up again anytime soon. But if something like this happens again, inform me immediately. I don’t care if they’re nobles or not—I’ll crush them.”

“Y-Yes…”

Irma nods, but a faint shadow crosses her face. Siegfried doesn’t miss it and presses her.

“What’s wrong, Irma? Are you dissatisfied? Hmm… perhaps I should’ve killed Hetayn? Now that I think about it, that man’s too pathetic to serve as a villain any longer. If you want, I can go finish him off right now.”

“N-No…!”

Irma shakes her head frantically.

“T-That’s not it! It’s just… I’m worried that Sir Siegfried might be putting himself in a bad position…”

Her eyes tremble behind her glasses as she speaks, her voice laced with anxiety.

“I’m truly grateful that you’d act on behalf of us maids. But if you make enemies of other nobles, won’t it harm your standing…?”

“Don’t misunderstand, Irma.”

Siegfried places a hand on the wall beside Irma—a classic wall-slam. His blue eyes, dark as the abyss, lock onto hers as he whispers low.

“You are my subordinate. In other words, you belong to me.”

“I… belong to Sir Siegfried…?”

“Exactly. Protecting what’s mine is only natural for its owner. I won’t allow anyone to harm you.”

Villains are greedy creatures, after all… Siegfried mutters under his breath, but the words don’t reach Irma’s ears.

Stared down by Siegfried’s strikingly handsome face in this wall-slam moment, Irma’s heart pounds painfully in her chest.

Her mind flashes back to Siegfried standing protectively before Hetayn, shielding her. His words, ‘I won’t allow anyone to harm you,’ echo endlessly in her ears.

“I’ll say it again. If anything happens, contact me immediately. Anyone who tries to hurt you… I’ll beat them to a pulp.”

“Y-Yes…”

Irma’s cheeks flush as she nods, her expression dazed, as if her soul has left her body. Siegfried gives a curt nod and strides out of the room with a flourish. Watching his retreating figure, Irma presses a hand to her wildly beating chest.

(Tch, this racing heart… could it be…)

There was something she hadn’t understood since the maid café began… but now, she feels like she’s starting to grasp it.

This feeling, welling up from deep within, making her heart flutter with a kyun kyun—this must be…

“Tch, this… this is… moe moe kyun…!”

“Huh? Irma-san, did you say something?”

The flaxen-haired maid standing beside Irma tilts her head with a puzzled look.