Shall We Go See It Together?

“I take it no one objects to the order for the northeastern region. Does anyone have anything to say?”

Silence.

Derek may be a careless idiot who needs me to look after him whenever we're alone, but he knows how to command the room with the charisma befitting the Grand Duke's son.

It probably helps that he's the strongest fighter here, too. The border nobles, who desperately need military force, wouldn't dare oppose him.

Still, when he takes the lead and smoothly steers the meeting along, it does nothing for me.

Honestly, it's boring and making me sleepy……

At least watching Derek's profile helps me stay awake a little.

The nice thing is, no matter how intently I stare at him, Derek never reacts to my gaze.

That's because I'm just a maid.

It's only natural for a personal maid to keep a close eye on her master's every move.

So I casually ignored all the gazes coming my way from around the meeting room.

Most of those looks were, at best, nothing more than people admiring a beautiful maid's looks.

I can do without that.

“All right, I'll take it that no one has any complaints. That concludes our discussion of the Knights' patrol order for this winter. Now, on to the next item……”

Derek briefly picked up the glass of water in front of him.

He drank slowly and with poise, completely unlike the way he did when he was with me.

I watched his Adam's apple move along his sharp neckline, the very thing I'd lost long ago.

The glass was empty in no time.

As soon as Derek set it down beside him, I picked up the pitcher from the tray next to him.

I quietly moved closer to his glass, taking care not to disrupt the meeting.

The last time, my hand had shaken and I'd spilled hot tea at the mercenary company's contract meeting, so I remembered to hold the pitcher in my good left hand and steady it lightly with my right.

It's porcelain, so dropping it would be a real problem.

Just as I was about to fill his glass without making a sound, like a seasoned maid of four years—

“Eek?!”

Even though I knew I shouldn't, I let out a pathetic little squeak.

Derek suddenly grabbed my wrist, and I reacted without thinking.

When I looked at him in surprise, he gave the faintest nod, just enough for me to catch from where I stood right in front of him.

Then he gently took the porcelain pitcher from my left hand.

Whether I was bewildered or not, Derek poured the water himself, making a little splashing noise.

“Ah, my apologies. My personal maid is feeling unwell, yet she's insisting on serving me anyway, so I was a little worried. It would be a problem if she dropped the heavy pitcher. Sorry for interrupting the meeting.”

……It's not heavy, you idiot.

Though it is true that some part of my body is always liable to cause an accident.

Phew. Even if I didn't mean to, a maid who steals her master's thunder during a meeting has failed at her job.

Derek has no intention of firing me, so it's not like I'll be punished or anything, but it's still a blow to my pride.

I sighed inwardly, then bowed politely to the meeting attendees to apologize for the interruption.

Then, as I turned to go back to my place—

“Hey, you ba—... I mean, Young Master. What are you doing?”

Derek kept hold of my wrist and wouldn't let go.

I spoke quietly, in a voice only Derek, right in front of me, would be able to hear.

I whispered as softly as I could, but since someone with superhuman physical abilities might still overhear, I made my tone as polite as possible.

Whether Derek understood me or not, he didn't answer. Instead, he turned to the audience and said,

“As some of you know, my maid's physical abilities are woefully lacking, but she's remarkably versatile.”

“……Pardon?”

“I believe she could help with some of the problems a few of you are facing during this year's visits to your territories. For example, Marquis Chest, whose retainers have retired en masse due to old age not long after he inherited his territory.”

“No, wait, hold on……”

From an angle no one else could see, Derek's thumb brushed lightly over my wrist as he held it.

Was it a signal telling me to stay quiet, or was he asking if I was okay with him starting all this without consulting me?

I turned my head slightly and sent Her Grace the Grand Duchess an SOS, but there was…… a rather peculiar look in her eyes.

Don't just look at me like that. Help me out, please.

****************

“Damn, what a cheat. This is so unfair. I can't stand how unfair it is.”

How can he take hit after hit without so much as flinching, even with this disabled body I've been given?

Seriously, how can it be fair that there's no way to punish him for saying whatever the hell he wants without even consulting me?

Even if we're master and servant instead of friends, he could at least give me a heads-up if he can't discuss it with me first.

This bastard says he's taking me along on the Knights' patrol.

And not just to serve him on the way there. He says he's going to have me help out with the administrative work the nobles are struggling with once we arrive.

Since a lot of the lords are new to their positions and aren't used to handling administrative work, he says he'll put me to use and give them a hand.

I mean, I can accept that he relies on me because he's a muscle-bound type who struggles with paperwork.

Supporting him in every area is literally my job.

But why the hell is he trying to use me like some kind of administrative slave?

“Why am I trying to use you like that? A maid shouldn't talk back so much, you know?”

“……You little bastard. Do you know what I'm thinking right now?”

“What?”

“I'm thinking of kicking your balls in and wondering if my foot will hurt more than you do. Oh, I'm not saying I won't do it, okay? Stay on your toes, asshole.”

Derek made an exaggerated show of pressing his legs together and covering his crotch.

How is that supposed to be the dignified, charismatic young master's bearing? I'm so pissed.

“I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Actually, well…… the way I went about it was a little impulsive, but I needed a pretext.”

“A pretext?”

“Yeah. A pretext for taking you with me. Until now, I couldn't take you because people would ask why I was bringing someone who couldn't even protect herself properly to such a dangerous place.”

So every year around this time, that bastard would just up and leave me behind, and I'd enjoy the loneliness of sleeping alone—or, no, the freedom of being liberated.

So, shit, you're saying you're taking away my not-quite-a-vacation, then?

“Hey, you little shit. Why are you going to all this trouble to come up with some pointless excuse just to drag me along? Huh? And not only do I have to go, I have to work once we're there!”

I picked up the piece of wood in my hand and threw it.

Its fate of ending up in the fireplace was briefly postponed as it flew through the air, enjoying the resistance, only to be caught with ridiculous ease before reaching its destination.

God, he's annoying. I guess there's nothing I can do with this body to overpower him, no matter what I try.

“Why am I taking you with me? Because I want us to go together.”

The piece of wood, returned by Derek to its original fate, traced a perfect forkball arc and landed atop the pile of nearly burned-through coals.

“You son of a bitch. I'm asking why you want to go together. Why do I have to give up my precious time off to trudge around that freezing region with you and work my ass off?”

“Huh? Well, that's……”

Derek hesitated, so I carefully took off my indoor slipper.

If I kicked him with its pointed heel, he'd be screaming that even Mr. Sim Young had it better.

I readied my weapon and went over to the bastard. Only then did he confess the reason.

“I-I just thought it might be nice to see it together.”

“See what, you idiot?”

“The aurora. You know, you always said you wanted to see it whenever you heard people talk about it as a kid. You never had the chance after you recovered, since you were always stuck by my side. We should go see it at least once.”

“……Did I say that?”

Of course I don't remember. Those are Yuria's memories.

I don't know if the original Yuria died because of me, if she's still alive, or if she's watching this somehow.

Even if the original Yuria had wanted to see the aurora since she was little, there's no guarantee that she gets to see it just because I do.

Then why bother going?

Besides, whether or not Yuria has seen one, Lee Siwoo has.

Despite my lukewarm reaction, Derek spoke excitedly.

“Yeah. I know your memories aren't completely intact, so you might not be sure, but you said it all the time. You'll love it once you see it.”

“Well, I mean, it'd be nice if the scenery is pretty……”

The aurora really is spectacular.

Though the Grand Duchy here gets the midnight sun, we've never had much luck seeing the aurora, since we'd have to go a long way farther north.

Sure, going to see it once? That doesn't sound bad.

But still……

“Hey, even so, you're expecting me to work there too? No. I'm not doing it.”

“It won't be harder than the things you usually do, will it? Most of the territories with administrative gaps are having problems with taxes and budgets, and they're all much smaller than ours.”

“Just because the territories are smaller doesn't mean the work is easy, you blockhead.”

A kindergarten is a workplace too, and my experience getting saddled with administrative work there hasn't gone anywhere. I've been told plenty of times that just producing pretty financial statements means I have top-tier talent in administration.

But this place doesn't have =vlookup and =query, the office worker's best friends.

I have to enter and calculate every number by hand. How is that supposed to be an easy job?

I wanted so badly to kick him in the crotch, but even after four years, just remembering how much it hurt sent a shiver through me, so I held back.

Instead, I chose the only option available to me when direct revenge was impossible: sabotage.

“I don't want to do it. I said I don't want to. I'll stay like this until you cancel. Let's see if you can sleep.”

I flopped down on Derek's bed, sprawled out like a starfish.

I stretched my arms and legs as far as I could, so he wouldn't be able to lie down properly anywhere.

Derek knew full well that I was a man among men, but he still kept in mind that my current body was female and always maintained a proper distance.

Unless it was me serving him as his maid, Derek never touched my body first, apart from my hands, arms, or injured shoulder.

Taking that into account, while I occupied the bed and dug in my heels, he wouldn't be able to use it.

Whatever. If he's got a problem with it, he can sleep on the floor. I'm not moving.

Compromise? Was there any room for compromise……

“……When we get to the capital, how about I treat you to dessert at whichever shop you want at least once a week while we're there?”

“You should've offered that from the start.”

……That was a very compelling offer.

I can't resist dessert. Yeah.

No, I'm fine, but Lady Yuria wants to eat lots of sweets. Can't be helped, then.

“You bastard, I'll eat enough to pull a pillar out of the Grand Duchy. Just you wait.”

I sprang to my feet and hurried toward the door leading to my room.

If I stayed any longer, I might say something else.

I heard Derek call to me from behind as I left him there.

“Oh, Yuria.”

“No, you can't take it back.”

“Not that. It's just…… no matter how much you go around saying you're a man, how about keeping your legs together? Your pink panties are the same as when you were seven.”

“……You fucking bastard. Go die, asshole! What did you seeeeee!”

I'm so pissed.

They're normally white. I just happened to wear pink today.