The sky was translucent as if blue paint had been sprayed on it.

“Amazing. The sky is entirely watercolor painting.”

I was curious how such a color could come out, so I pushed the cart while gazing up at the sky.

I’ve been feeling a lot of anxiety over the last few days, but I’m feeling a lot better today.

When I left the castle gate, milk grandpa was already waiting for me.

I pushed the cart faster because I thought I was running late.

“Come slowly. Don’t run, take it slow.”

Milk grandpa, who had white hair and only a few front teeth, smiled broadly and beckoned to me.

My heart aches whenever I see milk grandpa because he reminds me of my grandfather.

“Huh? Are there six bottles today?”

I sighed when I saw the milk barrels grandpa had brought.

“I can barely push five barrels, but how do I push six…”

“I was told that an important guest would be coming to the castle, so they told me to add one more barrel now.”

“A guest? Who?”

“How do I know that? The work of the high-ranking people.”

I grumbled that it was hard and drank the glass of milk grandpa gave me.

His wrinkled eyes look at me proudly and marvelously, as if feeding his own granddaughter.

Grandpa stood between the soldiers and me while I drank, waving towels and pretending to wipe sweat because he was afraid the soldiers guarding the gates would see me.

I hesitated when I poured milk into the dirty cup I always wear around my waist, but then I closed my eyes and gulped it down.

I was expecting something fishy, but when I put the freshly squeezed milk in my mouth, it was so fragrant and thick that it opened my eyes.

The milk had a strong buttery flavor.

‘Wow, I’ve never tasted such delicious milk.’

‘Is it this good?’

I’ve been delivering milk to the castle for decades, and grandpa liked me since then, saying he’s never seen such a pretty and sincere maid.

“My grandchildren should get married now… I don’t have to be concerned if he marries someone like you, young lady.”

Grandpa starts bragging about his grandchildren as usual as she moved the milk barrels to the empty wagon I brought.

“Because he looks like me, so it’s not a face that comes out of nowhere.”

“Wow! If he looked just like his grandfather when you were young, I really wonder what he would look like.”

Grandpa’s voice gets more and more excited at my words.

“Right? Because once he arrives in the village, everyone would make a fuss. Now, if he just does a good job on this job and gets a special promotion, there won’t be another groom like him, right?”

“Special promotion? Did your grandson receive an award?”

I heard that he was a low-ranking soldier guarding the castle. What’s there to promote? I asked out of curiosity.

Grandpa looked around as if he was telling me a top secret and then suppressed his voice.

“This is just a secret between us…”

I listened to grandpa whispering in my ear.

My lips, which had risen intriguingly, gradually lowered.

I was not sure if it was a coincidence, but an event from the original story came to mind.

When there was no response from me, grandpa asked.

“Are you listening?”

“Ah. Yes. I heard. That’s great.”

I said it was great in a formal tone, but it still feels awkward.

I’d been there far too long, so the gatekeeper from behind beckoned me in.

“Grandpa. I’m going back. See you next time.”

“Okay. It’s heavy, so push it carefully.”

“Don’t worry.”

I grunted and dragged a heavier cart into the castle than usual.

I was preoccupied with the story of the grandfather and grandson that I had just heard, so I was unaware that the cart was heavier than usual.

Only ominous thoughts raced through my mind.

* * *

“Because there are fewer people, the workload has increased. There’s even laundry for blankets these days, so I have a lot more laundry, but I think it’d be easier to die in the pot.”

Alicia’s complaints continued.

“I’m not sure why the laundry maids give their duties to us. They only do clean and comfortable work in a far better environment. Don’t you think, Garnett? Garnett!”

“Huh? Yeah.”

Alicia looked at me strangely.

“What are you thinking about by yourself because you’ve been dazed for a while?”

“No. Nothing. Why did you do the laundry maids’ work?”

Alicia crossed her arms with a look of dissatisfaction.

“I think there was a command to clean up the empty rooms because guests were coming to the castle soon. It’s a dust pit because it’s been empty for a long time.”

“Then it will be difficult for the maids who are called. Maybe it’s better to just do what you’re doing.”

Alicia tilted her head at my words.

“… Is that so? That’s true. There are many high-ranking people there, so it must be scary.”

Her quick change of attitude gave me a small laugh.

“But what about the guests? Even milk grandpa said it before. Who’s coming?”

“I don’t know. But he must be a very important person.”

My hand sewing the holey apron gradually slowed down.

‘What happened around this time? An important guest is coming. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in the original.’

I was curious, but the question quickly disappeared from my mind.

If it was important content for the development of the original story, I would definitely have read it.

Since I can’t remember, I thought it was something I didn’t need to know.

In fact, I couldn’t get my hands on anything else since yesterday because I kept worrying about something.

It was milk grandpa’s grandson.

It would be a big deal if the story grandpa told me yesterday was the same as the incident in the original.

If I stay still like this, grandpa’s grandson will lose his life, far from accomplishing what he was hoping for.

‘He’s leaving for Kienni soon on an important mission. As long as he completes the mission well, he is guaranteed a special promotion. Now, it’s not long before my grandson will be victorious in the army.’

The words grandpa had whispered in my ear came to mind again, and my head was pounding.

“I can’t believe the Lord’s wife knows how to sew. Are you really the lord’s wife? Garnett?”

I was lost in thought alone and came to my senses at the sound of Alicia teasing me.

“My mother died early, so I did all the housework. It’s nothing.”

Come to think of it, it was the same with the real me, the Garnett here, and the absence of my mother.

“You are still noble.”

“My father left my hometown and I lived like a commoner. There was no maid back then.”

“No way. There’s no such noble in the world.”

I responded with a sly smile.

“Oh! There comes the head maid. I will go now.”

Alicia saw the head maid approaching from afar, and run away.

I wondered why she suddenly came here. The head maid walked straight to my bed to see if I was doing something.

She didn’t bother me after that incident at the restaurant.

I no longer treated her with respect.

She kept a dry relationship, just saying what she had to say when she had a business with me.

The head maid stood in front of me, her eyes lowered, and she spoke commandingly.

“You don’t have to pull carts for a while.”

I blinked as if to ask what she meant.

“It’s because of the lack of labor inside of the castle, so you came to help.”

‘Is this what Alicia was complaining about earlier? In the end, I suppose I’ll be called out as well.’

It wasn’t surprising because I’d heard about it before.

“How long do I have to stay?”

“I don’t know either. Go and do not cause trouble, and obey the orders of the house head maid.”

She particularly emphasized the word ‘obey’.

I just nodded my head once to say I understand. Because I had no expectations that they would leave me out just because I didn’t want to go.

It wasn’t until the head maid turned around that I started to get a little worried.

‘Working… inside the castle?’

As Alicia stated, it is the center of the castle, so there was a good chance of running into the main character, Grand Duke Shiraz.

I remembered the day I dropped an apple a while ago.

That day, Grand Duke Shiraz obviously didn’t recognize me.

‘But the aide, Huey seems to have noticed though.’

His sharp eyes when he stood behind Shiraz and looked at me carefully stayed on my mind.

I shook my head as I was about to become terrified.

‘I’m no longer the Lord’s wife, but only a maid. What do they care about me? As long as I’m careful, nothing will happen.’

With that in mind, I threaded the needle through the fabric again.

I was going to stay dead until Shiraz went to the battle of Kienni…

The same holds true for milk grandpa and grandson, as well as being transferred to the inner caster.

I was not sure why things keep happening.

* * *

Patter patter-

It was raining late at night and the other maids were deeply asleep.

I kept tossing and turning on the creaking bed.

I raised the blanket to the top of my head, closed my eyes, and counted the sheep to thousands, but I couldn’t sleep.

I was worried about going to work in the inner castle in the morning, but I was more concerned about grandpa’s grandson’s work.

‘Maybe I’m mistaken?’

I went through the original content again in detail.

‘It must be around this time. What happened in Kienni.’

Kienni was the location where milk grandpa’s grandson would go as the advanced squad.

The long canyon was a critical point of battle where both defense and attack could happen.

So preoccupying Kienni was crucial enough to determine the outcome of the next war.

Shiraz defeated General Marcus in the Kienni War at the start of the original story, and there was a huge commotion.

Geographically, it was a rough place, so Shiraz sends an advance squad ahead of time to plan a strategy, but that was where a problem arises.

The advanced squad’s leader went on a rampage while drunk, and then got into a fight with the people there and even committed murder.

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