DYKWRI - Chapter 3

Was That A Difficult Question?

“Crying won’t help me understand you, you know?

Is my question really that difficult? 

Tell me, Miss Mina — do you think it’s difficult?”

I asked Mina, who was standing beside Ivy. Of course, whether something is easy or hard depends on the person.

“No, Madam. It is not difficult. Your question — whether this counts as abandonment of duty — can be answered with yes or no.”

“That's good. So you can answer it, then?”

Mina merely shook her head with a hiccup; I couldn’t tell what she meant by it.

“All right — let’s sort this out from the beginning. Daniel, was Mina your recommendation?”

“No, Madam. Mina volunteered herself. She said that becoming a lady’s maid would raise her pay, and she earnestly asked to place her brother in a treatment clinic, so we administered a test.”

“Oh? What sort of test?”

“We instructed her on how to choose dresses appropriate for occasions, how to dress a lady, how to style hair, and the proper attitude for caring duties. In particular, her skill at brewing tea was quite good, so we thought she might be useful during your tea time…”

So Daniel had been won over by Mina’s earnest approach. I wondered whether she had been brewing tea into muddy water on purpose — in a way, that might be a kind of talent.

“And yet Mina abandoned all of that? She doesn’t choose dresses at all, and when she does they’re all wrong for the occasion. Some of that might be a question of taste and could be forgiven to an extent, but why was the face-washing water she brought either ice-cold enough to hurt or scalding hot?”

A vein throbbed at Daniel’s temple; he clearly hadn’t expected to encounter a maid so lacking in basic sense. It seems Daniel had arranged Mina’s brother’s hospitalization and gotten my husband’s permission for it. They must have expected Mina to repay that kindness with hard work. Instead, it appears Mina misunderstood and thought she was being treated specially by my husband. My husband seems to have given permission because Daniel vouched for it.

Did she not realize she was humiliating the head maid’s position as well? I had reported Mina’s conduct from the first day to Head Maid Dora. Dora had, at first, smiled and was ready to punish Mina, but I stopped her — I wanted to observe the situation for now. Dora’s smile at that moment was terrifying. For a week, Dora disposed of all the face-washing water and hot water Mina had brought and supplied properly tempered water herself. Dora wiped up the tea Mina had slammed down like muddy water and, in its place, brewed proper, delicious tea. Each time, Dora’s anger accumulated, but she obeyed my instruction not to tell anyone. As expected of Daniel’s elder sister.

Perhaps Daniel sympathized with Mina because Daniel, too, has a younger brother.

“The reason I didn’t bring the head maid into this is for Daniel’s sake. Surely Daniel, who failed to see Mina’s true purpose, has already earned the head maid’s ire.”

Daniel’s face had gone pale. It seems Dora had disciplined him strictly. Even as he hid his agitation and bowed his head, he still acted like the butler of an earl’s household.

“You don’t seem inclined to answer my question. That’s disappointing. I truly couldn’t understand. I am the Derby family’s daughter who married into the Rilaias household. Even if everyone thinks I am nothing but an trophy wife, does that justify abandoning one’s duties and using it as an excuse to harass me?”

Only then did Mina seem to remember that I was the daughter of a noble family. Her face was streaked with tears and nasal discharge. Is she even able to breathe?

“Hey, Misha — what do you think?”

Misha, with her childlike features and usually charming smile, was now expressionless.

“There were no maids like that in the Derby household. In my personal opinion, she appears to have an unusual way of thinking.”

Misha’s deliberate use of “ojou-sama” for Mina had accurately picked up the anger behind it. Mina no longer said anything.

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