After I brought Serena back to the mansion, I set her to a period of recovery and medical treatment.
The wounds she had sustained in the royal capital were deep and laced with poison. Between that and the rattling of the carriage, I wasn't so foolish as to put her to work the moment we arrived. Only once her wounds had closed, her fever had broken, and the apothecary gave the okay for light labor did I finally place her under Mylene's supervision.
On that day, when Mylene handed her an old apron and a cleaning cloth, the blue-haired woman stared at the edge of the fabric. She gazed at it as if gauging the weight of a blade, a look that clearly left Mylene at a loss.
I sat in a chair in the dining hall, observing the two of them while sipping my tea.
Since I was housing a woman of unknown origins from the royal capital, I remained on my guard. I had already heard about the possibility of pursuers, so I decided to entrust her with the night watch as well. By keeping her under Mylene's watchful eye, I could gradually suss out her habits and whatever secrets she might be hiding.
Observation through labor is far more efficient than letting someone sit around idle.
"Serena... First, we will remove the dust from the hallway. If you scrub too hard, you'll damage the wood, so please dampen the cloth slightly and wipe along the grain."
"Along the grain... Meaning?"
"The streaks in the wood. Look, you see these fine lines? Try not to go against them."
"I see... Resisting them creates sound."
"Sound... Well, I suppose it makes a little."
Mylene tilted her head, but Serena was already heading toward the hallway. She left no footsteps. Even though she was still recovering, the floorboards barely groaned beneath her feet. The old hallways of this mansion creaked if I so much as breathed on them, yet Serena was silent even while carrying a bucket filled with water. This is excellent... A noisy maid would be a nuisance at night, but a silent one won't interrupt my afternoon naps.
After a while, Mylene went to check the hallway, and when she returned, she had a peculiar look on her face.
"Lord Vain... Serena has already finished half the corridor."
"That's fast. Is she slacking off?"
"No... there isn't a speck of dust left. However, she even wiped behind the shelves and in the wall crevices—places I hadn't even taught her yet. Those aren't spots one usually notices on their first day."
"Being sharp-eyed regarding dirt is a virtue. Since her medical fees were so steep, I need her to work off every copper."
Mylene looked like she wanted to say more, but she eventually just nodded. To me, it was a simple matter. Serena was a find, and she didn't know the mansion's etiquette yet. That was why I had Mylene teach her. If she works well, I profit. If she's useless, I cut her loose. I’m not taking in women out of the kindness of my heart. If the mansion runs smoothly, my life becomes easier. That is all.
◇
Before noon, while Clarice was sorting through papers in the office, Serena brought in tea brewed by Mylene.
The door should have been closed, yet I hadn't even noticed it opening. I looked up from my documents, and Clarice stopped her quill. Serena placed the tray on the desk with perfect steadiness and set a steaming cup before Clarice and me. The levels were identical. Not a drop spilled. Not bad for an apprentice maid.
"Serena... Announce yourself when you enter. Having you suddenly appear like that is bad for my heart."
"I spoke."
"I didn't hear a thing."
"Was my voice not heard...? My apologies. I shall be louder next time."
"A normal voice is fine. Just don't come in like a ghost in the shadows."
Serena thought for a moment and then gave a small nod. She is a strange woman, but she listens when told. That much is good.
After looking down at her tea, Clarice stared intently at Serena's hands. Before I had even noticed, the corners of the document stacks had been neatly aligned. Even the pile of petitions I had roughly tossed aside had been separated into "urgent" and "pending." These were stacks Clarice hadn't even given instructions on yet.
"Say... Serena, were you the one who sorted these?"
"Yes. Clarice was looking at the papers with red strings first. The papers with black strings were for later. I judged that grouping those with the same village names would minimize the movement required."
Clarice narrowed her eyes. She usually uses that blunt tongue of hers to needle me, but her eye for work is dead serious. That same Clarice went silent for a moment.
"Did you learn that just by watching?"
"I watched your hands. I saw what you picked up first and what you set aside. I simply mimicked the pattern."
"...Most people don't learn that way."
"Then, I shall learn a different way."
"No, it's fine. Keep doing it as you are. It's almost unsettling how fast you are, but I won't turn down the help."
If Clarice says she's useful, then she is. I felt a surge of satisfaction as I drank my tea. She can clean, she can serve tea, and she can even assist with clerical chores. I was annoyed when I had to pay those medical bills in the royal capital, but this might turn out to be quite the return on investment.
"Hmm... I really did pick up a good find."
Clarice shot me a look.
"Vain. You should stop calling her a 'find.' She's standing right there."
"It's a fact that I found her. She was lying in a back alley in the royal capital."
"People aren't things you just find lying around."
"No, she was definitely lying there."
Clarice let out a heavy sigh. Serena didn't look angry; she just watched me. In those blue eyes, there was neither complaint nor flattery. Even being referred to as something I "picked up" didn't seem to bother her. She is a strange woman. But as long as she works despite the strangeness, I have no complaints.
◇
In the afternoon, Raisa was putting the former bandits through their paces at the training ground.
Truthfully, I had no intention of going to watch, but Clarice had insisted: "Now that the household of House Razgrim has grown, you should inspect the training ground at least once." Honestly, I had assumed hiring an aide would lighten my load, yet somehow my to-do list only seems to grow. Truly bizarre.
At the training ground, Gash was drenched in sweat, clutching a wooden sword. Raisa stood with her arms crossed, lightly tapping her foot. Serena happened to pass by while carrying laundry—likely a task from Mylene. Even with a large basket in her arms, her stride was so light it was as if she felt no weight at all.
The moment Gash swung his wooden sword down, Serena spoke curtly.
"Slow."
Gash whirled around.
"...Did you just say that about me?"
"Your stepping is shallow, and you have a habit of telegraphing to the right. If an opponent steps in from the left, you'll die right there."
"I don't need to hear that from an apprentice maid!"
"I see."
Serena set the basket on the ground and closed the distance before Gash could even take a stance. Before I even realized she’d moved, Gash's wooden sword was cartwheeling through the air. The next second, he was flat on his rear in the dirt. Serena stood there with a face that suggested she had done nothing at all. She must have done something... but I couldn't follow it.
Raisa's eyes narrowed.
"Boss... where exactly did you find her?"
"A back alley in the royal capital. Why?"
"...Those aren't the movements of something you just find in a back alley."
"The capital has been dangerous lately, after all."
"That's not what I'm talking about..."
Raisa wasn't smiling. She had the face of a mercenary captain. Clarice also remained silent, clutching her documents. Only Mylene looked anxious as she glanced back and forth between Serena and Gash. Serena herself was reaching out a hand to the fallen man.
"Stand. Again. This time, narrow your stance."
"Why am I being coached by an apprentice maid...!"
"It is so that you survive."
Gash tried to talk back, but after one glare from Raisa, he reluctantly climbed to his feet.
As I watched the scene, I found myself genuinely impressed. She can clean, she can assist with paperwork, she can serve tea, and she can even provide combat instruction. Her wages are non-existent, and even after factoring in the cost of her meals, bed, and medicine, she's proving to be an incredible worker...
I don't know why everyone else has such complicated expressions. All that's happened is that we've gained one exceptionally hard-working apprentice maid. Just when the mansion was short-handed, someone capable arrived... To me, it was nothing more and nothing less.
However, that evening, the residents of the mansion followed Serena with their eyes time and again. The blue-haired apprentice maid who crossed the hallways without a sound, noticed the presence of visitors faster than anyone, and passed by Gash's practice swings saying only, "You will die like that"...
——No one put it into words... but everyone was thinking the same thing.
Is she really just an apprentice maid?
Of course, I am well aware that Serena possesses extraordinary abilities. However, I didn't know what she had been doing before I found her, and as long as she followed the rules of the house and worked hard, I had no intention of prying.
I alone was satisfied as I drank my tea. A new hire I employed for a bargain is performing brilliantly... There is no greater profit than this.