Chapter 30: 5

 Volume 2 Chapter 5: Melody’s Excitingly Disappointing First Day

While Luciana and the other students were braving their sudden midterm exam…

“And… there. Looks like I’m done for now.”

Having finished the cleaning, Melody wiped the sweat from her forehead with an exaggerated motion… though there was no sweat in the first place. In truth, Luciana’s dorm room was still smaller than the Luthorburg estate Melody was used to and took less effort to fully clean. The restriction on magic use made no difference as Melody used very little magic to clean in the first place, even at the mansion.

And so Melody was simply pantomiming the act of wiping away her sweat… It was simply to satisfy her aesthetic preferences.

“Next on the list is… the laundry!”

Melody quickly gathered the dirty clothes and set off for the dorm’s communal laundry room.

As far as maid work goes, laundry was among the most arduous of tasks, and in a world without the convenience of machines, the effort required was exponentially higher. It was truly grueling work!

Doing laundry was the one chore every maid would avoid if possible, so much that there were specific “laundry maids” just for the task.

And yet, a certain maid followed a passageway to the laundry room with a pep in her step and a tune on her lip.

What is she even so cheerful about?

(Fufufu, it’s finally time for me to meet and become friends with other maids besides Paula!)

Despite having arrived at the capital over two months ago now, Melody did comparatively little socializing. Most of her day went to taking care of the Luthorburg estate and visiting the market, and she would usually spend her remaining free time visiting Paula or gathering supplies from the nearby forest — that is, from one of the most dangerous Demonized Zones in the world, the Great Forest of Vanargand.

Well, aside from the fact that she was technically trespassing into a restricted area… in short, Melody has had little chance to make acquaintances or meet new people in the capital.

(I didn’t get to talk much with the maid from House Invidia yesterday, but that won’t get me down! Let’s keep it small for today and only make a hundred friends for now!)

With positivity like a first-year elementary school student in mind, Melody sauntered into the laundry room, entering through the doors with a full frontal smile on.

“Good morning everybody!! I hope I’m not — huh?”

To Melody’s surprise, the laundry room was completely empty.

“Huh? What the..? Why isn’t..?”

As explained before, laundry was a herculean task with many involved steps: washing, disinfecting, bleaching, removing stains, drying, starching, and so on. Because of how much time the process would take, laundry was usually a morning chore… So why was this laundry room empty?

Well, in the first place, it was important to know that there were three options for handling laundry at the student dormitories.

The first option was to do laundry as normal in the communal laundry room, where Melody currently was. Every dormitory had their own laundry room, and it was free to use for all students and servants; they need only bring their own detergent to use.

The second option was to request the school’s specialized laundry service; though the service cost money to use, it was an effective way to save time by being able to skip laundry work by entrusting it to a dedicated worker.

And finally the third option, and the most likely answer to why this laundry room was empty: the servants could simply return to their own homes to do the laundry all together.

It was a simple deduction: this was the Upper Dorms, where children from count-ranked families or higher resided. It went without saying that these children owned many different outfits each with specific and delicate requirements for a proper washing. Would they want to risk making a mistake if they were to use the communal laundry rooms?

Obviously not.

Perhaps in the Commoner’s Dorms or the Lower Dorms there would be people using the communal laundry room to do their cleaning to save on costs; for the Upper Dorms, however, it was far more efficient to simply go back to their estates, leave behind dirty clothes for washing, and return to the Academy with new sets of clean clothes. While this was an obviously more costly solution, such an extravagance was of no concern to most students living in this building.

But as a result, that left Melody as the sole person to use the communal laundry room of the Upper Dorms. Indeed, while most families could simply use their wealth to simplify the matter, House Luthorbroke was not derided as such for no reason, after all.

“I suppose it is what it is…”

Such was the conclusion Melody arrived at as she looked around the empty laundry room. She let out a sigh of disappointment but nevertheless proceeded with the chores.

With no people around to distract her from the task, Melody quickly finished the laundry work without issue.

“Ugh, its so nice to have all this space to use for myself, but it’s a little lonely being the only one here…”

Melody grumbled to herself as she glared at the pile of clean linens she had just finished folding.

As a side note, although the laundry room was a communal facility, it was specifically only for washing and rinsing. For drying, servants had a separate area in their section of the dorm rooms to use; after all, it would be quite strange to be airing clothes and undergarments in full public view…

On the other hand, there were a number of servant-use rooms in the Upper Dorms for miscellaneous tasks that remained unused. Melody commandeered these empty rooms to use for drying her laundry.

Before long, noon had arrived; it was time for lunch. Melody once again strode down the hallways, humming a cheerful tune.

“Hehe… This time I’ll be sure to befriend a thousand maids!”

For some reason, her target number has multiplied by ten… Logistics aside, were there even that many residents, students and servants both, living here in the first place?

Melody’s destination was the servant’s dining hall; the Royal Academy was generous and affluent enough to afford a completely separate area for servants to take their meals. However, though the space was free to use, servants dining in would have to pay for their own food.

This idea for this system was another one of Crown Prince Christopher’s ingenius proposals, one that took inspiration from the cafeteria arrangements of corporate workplaces in the modern world.

A network of underground passages connected the dorms with one another, and it doubled as an emergency escape route. It did go without saying that there were additional security measures in place to deter would-be miscreants; male students especially should avoid trying to sneak into the female dorms this way lest they find themselves in a rather undesirable situation.

One of the areas accessible through the underground passageways was the servant’s dining hall, a place where the many attendants at this school could get together and have a period for themselves.

And that was why Melody was in such high spirits; surely this time she would be able to make some new maid friends!

She arrived at the door into the dining hall, and stepping inside, she saw… a wonderful room full of servants and attendants of all types and roles.

(Hurray!!!)

The excitement Melody was holding back behind her perfect work smile threatened to erupt out of hiding; as far as she could see, women wearing maid uniforms and men wearing butler uniforms went this way and that about their business.

She continued through the dining hall, mentally thanking Count Luthorburg for having generously given her an allowance for lunch, despite the family’s tight finances.

As it was meant to provide dining services for servants from all six dorms, the hall itself was quite open and spacious. Most surprising of all, however, was the height.

Despite being belowground, the dining hall stood two stories high, complete with a vaulted ceiling. The first floor functioned like a university cafeteria, while the second floor was a full service restaurant complete with its own wait staff.

This arrangement was primarily for the servants that were nobles themselves, albeit of lower ranking. Such circumstances were fairly commonplace for students in the Upper Dorms, as upper-crust nobility demanded a certain level of status and background checks from their servants.

Judging from the atmosphere between the two, it seemed there was an unspoken rule in place: the restaurant on the second floor was for the blue-blooded servants while the servants of commoner origins were to stay in the first floor cafeteria.

(Hmm, I want to get along with the servants in the restaurant above too, but…)

As an extreme connoisseur of all things maid-related, Melody also wanted to befriend as many maids as possible, regardless of their backgrounds. In this situation, however, breaking the unspoken segregation rule would inevitably create issues for everyone involved…

(Well, today is still only the first day, so there’s no need to rush. I can just take my time with the first floor instead… Fufufu, let’s see, where shall I begin? I’m ready for some maid talk!)

With her plan ready for action, Melody lined up to order her own lunch; with her meal in hand and without considering possible rejections, she immediately walked over to where a group of maids were enjoying their lunches…

“Um, excuse me, but would you mind if I joined you all?”

Melody politely asked with a smile on her face. One of the girls, apparently the leader, smiled back before answering.

But her response was…

“Oh? Who do we have here? Which House do you serve?”

“My apologies, I am from House Luthorburg.”

“I see… Well, I am terribly sorry, but our table is full. The empty seats are for others.”

“O-oh, is that so…”

“That’s how it is. Sorry ’bout that.”

“I-it’s nothing to worry about, it was my fault for imposing on you first. I am sorry for the trouble.”

…a rejection. Melody kept her smile up as she calmly walked away, but underneath it all she still hurt from the rejection. Still, she tried with another group of maids, then another one, and then yet another one, and…

“I… couldn’t find any group to sit with…”

In total she had asked to sit with eight different groups, but they all found one reason or another to turn her down. Her motivation at an all-time low, Melody gave up looking for a group to join and settled at a table alone.

(Did I perhaps offend them in some way? But all I did was greet them and say which House I served… Maybe it was just bad luck. Oh, this potato salad is very tasty, I wonder what they used…)

In spite of it all, Melody was actually rather level-headed and quietly enjoying her lunch; her maid-obssessed brain already moved on from today’s failures to analyzing the ingredients that went into this potato salad.

Suddenly, like an angelic proclamation coming from the heavens, a wonderful voice called out to her from above.

“Um, excuse me, but would you mind if we joined you at this table?”

It was a simple request to share the table.

“Not at all! It would be my pleasure!”

Melody immediately reacted to the voice, a brilliant smile on her face and a positive approval on her lips. The other party, a young woman, continued to speak.

“Oh, thank you. Some male friends will be sitting with us as well, but will there be any problems?”

“It won’t be a problem at all… Oh? Aren’t you..”

The more the merrier, Melody’s brain had concluded while accepting the request without hesitation. But as Melody looked over her new guest, a strange sense of deja vu came over her, and the other girl, judging by her expression, had also felt something similar.

“…House Invidia’s…”

“You’re the maid from House Luthorburg…”

As luck would have it, this girl was none other than the maid of the young lady who visited Luciana yesterday!

“I’m Sasha Belton. It’s a pleasure to finally introduce myself.”

“I am Melody Wave. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Sasha.”

The girls gave warm smiles as they introduced themselves.

The seventeen-year-old Sasha Belton wore a maid uniform of simple design, and a frilled band sat atop her shoulder-length and neatly-trimmed indigo hair.

During yesterday’s tea party, Sasha had a more dignified and graceful air about her, but at the moment she was much more relaxed and easygoing, similar to Paula.

“My, is something the matter? You’re staring a hole right through me.”

“Oh, please excuse me, I just thought that the you right now is… a little different from yesterday.”

Sasha let out a small giggle at Melody’s cautious words.

“That was just how I act in front of guests, and I’m used to it as a parlor maid at the Invidia estate. Honestly, it’s a little tiring to be like that all the time… Oh! I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t do anything to offend you.”

“No, no, not at all. I just think both of your personalities are quite lovely.”

Sasha’s ability to switch between on- and off-duty personalities was of great fascination to Melody, who continued to stare at Sasha with eyes full of respect.

“But… Melody, you’re quite lovely yourself.”

“Hm?”

Melody, displaying the densest material known to man, tilted her head at an angle as she pondered the meaning behind Sasha’s compliment.

“She really is quite lovely…”

“Hm??”

An echo of Sasha’s words came from the mouth of a tall young man who had been approaching their table. The familiar indigo color of his spiky hair and the shape of his eyes indicated he may be related to Sasha.

“Ah, let me introduce you: this starstruck guy swooning over you and shamelessly crying ‘I love you, please marry me’ is my cousin, Blish.”

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“H-hey, I never said all that! Uh… ahem, I’m Blish Belton. Nice to meet you.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Ahh, she’s too lovely…”

“Hm???”

Blish had only just taken a seat when Melody’s kind smile went on the attack, leaving him a blushing mess.

“Pfft, you sure are being cute today yourself, Blish!”

“What the?! What’re you trying to say about me, Warren?!”

At some point, another boy had taken the seat next to Blish; though he was smaller in stature, his fluffy mid-length blonde hair and soft facial features made him no less noticeable.

“Oh, I’m Warren Zet by the way. Nice to meet you, Melody.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Sir Warren.”

“Woah, even though I’m talking pretty casually to you, you’re still all formal, huh. You’re such a sweet girl.”

“Um..?”

“Oh, I see now. Melody’s just a natural airhead. That’s so cute… It’s no wonder Blish –“

“Give it a rest already, Warren!”

“Both of you need to settle down. You’re disturbing the poeple around us. Did you guys forget we’re in a public space?”

The two boys finally quieted at Sasha’s words and began talking more about themselves.

“I see, so Miss Sasha and Sir Blish both work for House Invidia, and Mister Warren is with another House?”

“Yep, you got that right. We’ve been friends since we were kids, but I’m the only one that ended up working for a commoner family, a merchant household.”

“A merchant household?”

“Yep yep, I’m not exactly an appropriate candidate to serve the nobility, so instead I serve a commoner family. I wasn’t expecting their son to attend the Academy though.”

Warren shook his head, as though finding his own situation annoying to handle.

“Is the one you serve now also a childhood friend?”

“Warren is closer to them than we are, actually. We met them later, after we became apprentice servants for House Invidia, so we aren’t as close.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if our masters were all in the same class?”

Warren gave Melody a bright smile, who nodded in agreement as she smiled back.

“Might I ask under whom do you serve?”

“His name’s Lukeev Gehrman, fifteen years old. Oh, that being said, Blish here is sixteen, and I’m eighteen.

“So Sir Warren is the oldest one here…”

“Haha, yep, that’s me! Too bad for them, eh!”

“Don’t say it like you’re the one who acts his age… Haaa…”

While Blish sighed with great exasperation and Sasha cradled her head in her hands, Warren simply smiled on smugly. Melody could only giggle as she watched the exaggerated antics of the three friends.

“Sorry if we disturb you. We get a little loud and rowdy.”

“Oh, not at all. I was actually very happy to finally sit together with people. Earlier, I asked other groups if I could sit with them, but they all seemed to be saving seats so I could not join in. I was starting to get a little depressed…”

“They couldn’t make room for a girl as cute as you?”

“Unbelievable…”

But while Warren and Blish expressed their confusion, Sasha seemed to realize what was happening with an “Oh, I understand…”

“Miss Sasha?”

“Hmm… Melody, you haven’t interacted with many other maids, have you?”

“N-no, I have not. Besides Miss Sasha, I only know and talk to one other maid.”

“Yeah, that would explain it then. Um, you know how the lady you serve, Luciana Luthorburg, is called something like ‘Fairy Princess’ or ‘Hero Princess’, right?”

“Yes, I believe many have been calling her that since the Spring Ball, but does that have something to do with what is going on?”

Sasha gave a wry smile as she continued her explanation.

“I apologize if I’m being too forward, but House Luthorburg has a rather… unflattering nickname, right?”

She of course meant “House Luthorbroke”, to which Melody nodded in acknowledgment.

“Despite being a count-ranked family, it is a widely-known fact that House Luthorburg lacks wealth, and that makes them an easy target for other noble houses to mock. And then suddenly, the daughter, from the very same house those nobles had been looking down on, arrives at the Spring Ball and stands out enough to be called something as grandiose as ‘Fairy Princess’ and ‘Hero Princess’.”

“Do you mean that the other noble houses… do not like what has happened?”

Melody asked in a whisper as Sasha’s voice gradually became softer.

“I don’t mean that every house thinks the same. Our lady doesn’t mind it, for example. But what you said is correct, and there are many noble houses who think even worse of House Luthorburg. That also affects the maids working for those households. After all, if the masters cannot get along, it naturally follows that the maids should not, either.”

“I see… So that’s how it is…”

“By the way, which table did you approach first?”

Melody motioned with her eyes over to the first group that turned her away.

“Ahh, yep, I can see why. That one was impossible from the beginning since they’re all maids from families affiliated with House Rankdol.”

“House Rankdol?”

“You see, the daughter of House Rankdol is also a new student here, but despite being from a ducal house, she was upstaged at the Spring Ball by two girls of lower ranking: the daughter of the marquis-ranked House Victirium and your own lady the daughter of the count-ranked House Luthorburg. So taking what I said earlier…”

Melody let out a surprised gasp as she put understood Sasha’s explanation: resentment had been brewing.

“I don’t think they’ve said anything specific or have taken action, but it’s pretty obvious they don’t have a good impression of you. That group aside, the others either feel the same or just don’t want to get involved.”

Melody could only respond with a sad sigh. In retrospect, she may have been enjoying her maid life at the Luthorburg estate a bit too much and so had fallen behind on an important part of her duties: gathering information.

It was essential that a maid be able to regularly gather and report information to her master, so as to address any potential issues.

(Oh no! Why did I neglect such an important task for so long! And now..!)

After all, the ideal maid should do more for the master than simply handling the physical needs. Melody could only blame herself for this current situation.

“Miss Sasha, thank you very much for letting me know. You have opened my eyes to what needs doing, and I shall work even harder from now on!”

“I-is that so? I’m not exactly sure what it is I’ve done, but I’m hoping it goes well.”

“Thank you for your words! For now, I must master the art of stealth and be able to move without sound and hide in plain sight!”

“Let’s… put that aside for now and talk about something else, okay Melody?’

“Hm?”

“Ahaha, that’s that, huh? Melody sure is interesting.”

“…Even so, she’s still lovely.”

And so for the time being, Sasha managed to stop Melody from putting her effort into a strange new direction.

Later that evening…

“Uwaa… It was only the first day, but I’m so tired ~”

“My lady, you must not act so sloppily, even in the privacy of your own room.”

Luciana had leapt onto her bed immediately upon her return, and she showed no signs of correcting her behavior even with Melody’s scholding.

“Ugh, why did they make us take an exam on the very first day…”

The impromptu midterm had begun in the morning, but the first-year students had taken until the evening to finish because the exam covered every subject.

“I was expecting the in-class introductions today, but there was also an exam? Well, it was a good thing we spent the past month studying, although… my lady, you properly answered every question, I hope?”

“Aiieee! O-of course I did! I definitely did not make any big mistakes, so don’t put on such a scary face!”

Melody had a simple smile on her face, but… there was clearly the aura of a strict tutor behind it, oh no!

“Fufufu, just kidding. I am simply looking forward to seeing your results.”

“Ugh, you really scared me… I think they’ll give out the results tomorrow, so I’m a little nervous.”

“Since it is you, my lady, I am sure the exam went well. More importantly, were you able to get along with your classmates?”

“Yep! Actually, the girl from yesterday, Luna, actually sits right next to me, and we’re friends now!”

“That is very good to hear. I also happened to become friends with the maid of House Invidia from yesterday, so it’s like we matched.”

“Oh, you did? It’s nice that each of the masters and servants both got along with one another, right? This has been a great start to life at the Academy!”

Seeing Luciana’s bright smile, Melody felt a surge a relief; it seemed Luciana had yet to encounter any trouble at the Academy.

Suddenly, as if to interrupt the mood, there came the sound of a loud, low gurgle, and Luciana’s face immediately reddened.

Needless to say, the sound had come from Luciana’s–

“Kyaaa! D-don’t say a word!!”

“My lady, is something the matter? I have yet to say a word.”

“H-huh? I-is that right? Wait, but, huh?”

Had she started hallucinating out of embarassment? Melody let out a small giggle as she watched Luciana look around in confusion.

“If you will excuse me, my lady, I shall prepare dinner.”

“Y-yeah, that’s right. I need to eat a lot to recharge for tomorrow!”

“Please leave everything to me. I shall prepare the finest of meals.”

“I can’t wait!”

Luciana declared so boldly, to overwrite her own embarassment. And so Melody and Luciana ended their first day at the Academy on a positive note.

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