Inside Maid-senpai's Heart

H, hello. My name is Maid.

I have been serving the Salar baronial house since I was very young, and I have worked as a maid for about 10 years.

Since the elderly senior maid passed away a few years ago, I have been handling various chores around the mansion together with my fellow servant, Uncle Mauve.

And now, I have a junior.

Her name is Emi.

A black-haired, black-eyed cursed child.

My encounter with her was so shocking that I don't think I shall ever forget that moment for the rest of my life.

I was accompanying Madam and the young miss; we had called on the viscountess who governs the neighboring domain so the young miss could pay her respects before enrolling, and on the way back...... we were set upon by savage thieves.

Madam struggled in vain to buy time, and just as a thief's cruel blade was closing in on the young miss, Emi appeared.

I was completely terrified and confused, and I couldn't understand at all what she had done or how she had done it.

But there is one fact I know for certain, and it is this.

That she had killed most of the thieves and saved us.

And yet.

I cannot bring myself to like her very much.

She is a cursed child with a hideous appearance.

......And...... no, more than that.

She is a killer.

Even now, it is burned into my mind.

The sound of the thieves' heads bursting.

The way she killed the thieves expressionlessly, without so much as a twitch of an eyebrow.

Terrifying.

I am terrified of her.

Putting down people who are clearly thieves.

Doing so does not actually break the laws of the land.

If it did, a great many adventurers would be criminals.

But.

She did it to save us.

She didn't break the law.

Even so.

A killer with some unfathomable power, whose feelings cannot be read.

That, I simply could not bring myself to accept.

◇ ◇ ◇

Such a killer would be serving in the mansion as my junior, albeit for only one month.

That was what my lord told me the morning after I met Emi.

......I felt dizzy and almost collapsed.

And I doubted my lord's sanity.

My lord is forever calling himself a poor noble, a poor noble, in jest, and, if I may be so bold, it is the truth.

But even for my lord, a poor noble and no more than a provincial official, if the other nobles were ever to learn that he had hired a black-haired, black-eyed cursed child.

......Might his standing not, be put in danger?

It is not stipulated by law, nor is it written in the teachings of the gods.

But to keep a cursed child nearby, even for a month.

My lord must be well aware of what a scandal that could become......

But I am merely one servant.

I am not in a position to offer any opinions on my lord's decisions.

If I am told to do it, I have no choice but to do it.

I have no choice.

Even though I'm scared.

The first job I had Emi do was wiping the floors.

This may be sudden, but I am very good at cleaning.

Because of that, it is no exaggeration to say that out of my 6 siblings, I am the only one who has been allowed to serve in the mansion.

So naturally, a novice like Emi could not clean anywhere near as fast as I could.

By the time I had more or less finished wiping the upstairs hallway, Emi had barely moved from where she started and was dithering there.

This, I thought, was my chance.

I would leave the wiping around there to Emi and take care of the ground floor myself.

That way, I can keep my distance from that eerie child.

That's, what I meant, to do, but......

In the blink of an eye, Emi closed the distance between us and grabbed my hand, thwarting my plan.

“Senpai, your cleaning is amazing. Fast. Clean. How you do it, please teach me.”

With that, she caught my reflection in those eyes of hers, like a deep, black darkness from which no feeling at all can be read.

......A frog stared down by a snake...... I had heard that expression before, and at that moment, that was exactly what I was.

If this girl felt like it, she could probably crush my hand with ease.

She could probably tear my body in half...... or even burst my head open.

Just like those thieves.

I couldn't possibly refuse.

That said.

Even if I said I'd teach her the method, I wasn't doing anything special.

I'm just used to cleaning. I'm fast because I'm used to it.

For now, I decided to demonstrate right in front of her.

For my part, I was trembling with fear, terrified that I might incur her displeasure.

Pathetically, I was so scared, so scared, that I wiped the floor while crying.

......I, who am supposed to be the senior, am wiping the floor with a rag while crying.

I feel as though our positions have been reversed, but since the one I'm dealing with is this terrifying cursed child, it can't be helped.

“......Senpai's cleaning is, magic.”

When I turned around after polishing the part Emi had left behind, she said that to me.

This is most likely a figure of speech.

Her words are fragmentary and her word order is occasionally strange, making her difficult to understand.

She probably means that I cleaned it beautifully, like magic.

“Well...... if you're praising me, then thank you.”

With that, I managed to force a smile.

For now, she seemed satisfied.

With that, the wiping of the upstairs hallway was done.

I would have preferred for Emi to keep polishing this hallway alone, but it couldn't be helped.

The two of us went on to clean the ground floor.

To my astonishment, Emi's technique improved rapidly after seeing my cleaning just once.

There are some sloppy parts, but even so, it's more than enough for a newcomer's work.

Terrifying. Hideous.

She is such a cursed child, but if this girl is here, the work finishes faster.

That much seems to be certain.

While I was thinking about that.

Before I knew it, Emi was gone.

I looked around to see where she had gone.

Emi was clinging to the ceiling like some kind of black insect, cleaning it.

I mean...... sure, I wanted that spot clean too.

And sure, it's up high, so I couldn't reach it, and I was stuck on what to do about it.

What is that?

What does that even mean?

Why is she...... standing upside down on the ceiling?

I don't, understand.

That girl really is scary......