My Maid is Cute Chapter 10 : Closest Friends (Patreon)

"Oh, so you met Master Christopher."

The day after my first meeting with Christopher, I was working with Carrie for the first time in a while. As we hung laundry in the garden, I told her about having dinner with Christopher, and Carrie laughed as she spoke.

"He was handsome, wasn't he?"

"Yes. He really is incredibly beautiful."

"Did you fall for him?"

"Goodness, no."

I involuntarily burst out laughing at Carrie's question, but she replied with a serious face.

"There are actually a few maids who have genuinely fallen in love with him, you know."

"Oh..."

With that face, it makes sense, I thought. Carrie picked up some laundry and continued.

"He's good-looking, serious, kind, and smart on top of that. He's really amazing. I heard he gets excellent grades at the academy, too."

"He sounds... like the perfect superhuman."

"Well, you can't exactly say that."

"Eh?"

When Rebecca tilted her head, Carrie lowered her voice to a whisper.

"You see, Master Christopher is bad at magic."

It seemed the only flaw of Christopher—who was handsome, smart, and had a great personality—was his low magical power.

"They say his magic is barely better than a commoner's."

"That is unfortunate..."

"That's why, even though he's a handsome, serious, and influential noble, he apparently doesn't have a fiancée. Though, I suppose the matter of Milady's curse might play a big part in why there's no talk of marriage."

At the mention of the curse, Rebecca looked down. She remembered the words Christopher had said to Wendy when they parted.

I will keep that promise, absolutely. Your curse—I will definitely find a way to break it.

I wondered if those words were true.

If Milady's curse could be broken, then that would be—

"Rebecca? What's wrong?"

Carrie looked at Rebecca, who had suddenly fallen silent, with a puzzled expression. Rebecca hurriedly spoke up to cover it up.

"No, it's nothing."

Answering like that, I lifted the laundry basket.

"Are you working in the kitchen next, Carrie?"

"Yeah. Peeling potatoes. Are you cleaning?"

"Yes. In Milady's room... When I'm finished, I'll come help you."

"That would be a lifesaver. There's a lot of other work to do today, too."

Just as I was walking through the garden chatting with Carrie, about to enter the mansion...

"—Hm?"

I felt an intense gaze from someone. Furrowing my brows, I stopped in my tracks and looked up. Then, my eyes widened in surprise. Wendy was staring right at me from the window of her room.

"Ah..."

When our eyes met, Wendy hurriedly pulled away from the window.

"......?"

As I tilted my head at her behavior, Carrie called out to me.

"Rebecca, what's wrong?"

"Ah... sorry, I'm coming!"

Answering her, I tore my gaze away from the window and ran to catch up with Carrie.

***

"Excuse me."

After parting with Carrie, I entered Wendy's room to clean. Wendy was sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees.

"Milady, I'm going to clean now."

"......Mm."

When I spoke to her, Wendy gave a small, short reply.

Concerned by her behavior, Rebecca kept stealing glances at Wendy while cleaning. Wendy seemed to lack energy today. She seemed somewhat absentminded, and her expression was gloomy. Usually, when Rebecca entered the room, she would run over happily, but today she didn't even come to talk.

"Um, Milady, is something the matter? Are you not feeling well?"

When I called out to her out of worry, Wendy startled, and immediately scowled. Then, she suddenly got off the sofa and stood up.

"......Milady?"

She wandered over unsteadily and grabbed Rebecca's apron with her small hand.

"What is it?"

Rebecca crouched down to meet Wendy's eyes, but Wendy looked away and began to fidget for some reason.

"Um, you know..."

"Yes?"

"Just now, in the garden... the person Becca was talking to..."

"The garden... Ah, do you mean Carrie?"

As I thought, she had seen Rebecca talking with Carrie in the garden earlier.

"Is something wrong regarding her?"

"......Is that person... a friend of yours, Becca?"

"......Well, let's see... She is a colleague and was my former roommate, so..."

When I answered while tilting my head, Wendy let out an anxious voice.

"......Someone Becca is... close with?"

"......"

Wendy had a forlorn expression, looking like a lost child. Rebecca tilted her head and spoke.

"......Um, well. She is a work associate I talk to often."

"......I, I see."

Wendy looked shocked. She looked like she was about to cry at any moment.

Rebecca was momentarily surprised by that expression, but after thinking for a moment, she smiled gently to reassure Wendy and spoke.

"Umm... however... I believe the person I speak with the most, and the person I am closest to right now... is you, Lady Wendy."

At those words, Wendy looked blank for a moment, then her lips trembled, and her face turned bright red. Then,

"I-Is that so."

She answered briefly and let go of Rebecca's apron.

"In that case, it's fine."

Then she returned to the sofa and opened a book as if to hide her red face.

"—Hurry up and clean."

She ordered as if to cover her embarrassment. Rebecca laughed and replied,

"Certainly."

And resumed cleaning.

On the sofa, hiding her face with the book, Wendy was laughing quietly, seemingly in a very good mood.

"Mhm, hehehe."

***

Before I knew it, the seasons had changed, and a considerable amount of time had passed since Rebecca became Wendy's caretaker.

"Becca."

"Yes, Milady."

Called by name, I turned around. Wendy happily held out a book.

"It's a new book from Brother. Will you read it?"

"Thank you very much. What is it about?"

"Umm, a girl is the main character, and she fights a dragon."

"A battle story? That's rare."

By that time, borrowing books from Wendy, reading them after work, and discussing our thoughts had become my greatest pleasure.

When I took the book, Wendy spoke up as if she had just remembered.

"Guess what? Brother said he's coming home soon."

"Oh, is the academy going on a long break?"

"Yeah."

"That is something to look forward to."

Wendy nodded happily.

"I want to have a meal again. Including you, Becca. The three of us."

At Wendy's proposal, Rebecca nodded.

"If I receive permission from Master Christopher, I would love to."

At that answer, unable to hide her joy, Wendy put her hands together in front of her face while laughing softly.

"I can't wait."