At first, I considered wearing a maid uniform.
If I was going to act as a maid, I thought I should go all out, starting with my appearance, to ensure that Anna wouldnât dare complain.
But a dukeâs daughter wearing a maid outfit⦠isnât that a bit much?
If this were the ducal estate and I jokingly dressed as a maid, Iâd surely get scolded. "What on earth is the daughter of a duke doing wearing something like that?" theyâd say.
This thought alone made me feel resistant to the idea.
More importantly, maid uniforms arenât exactly easy to come by.
The ones at cosplay shops felt far too exaggerated by my standards as a dukeâs daughter. They were a far cry from traditional maid uniforms. I think I can now understand how Italians feel when they see Americans drinking iced Americano.
So, I decided to take a completely different approach.
In modern times, the concept of a maid isnât very common. Instead, there are roles like chauffeurs, bodyguards, or housekeepers.
Given that, wouldnât dressing sharply in a suit effectively embody the idea of a modern maid?
And isnât it also more cost-effective?
How often would I even wear a maid uniform? If I were a face-cam streamer, I could use it for a cosplay broadcast, but Iâm a VTuber who hides my face. There might never be another occasion to wear one.
A suit, on the other hand, could be worn for formal events, ceremonies, and so on.
Even esteemed figures wear suits, so it wouldnât diminish my authority as a dukeâs daughter. Unlike a maid uniform, which might.
In short, it was financially practical, preserved my dignity, and creatively reinterpreted the concept of a modern maid. In every way, I was the perfect embodiment of a modern maid as a dukeâs daughter.
"Wow⦠You look absolutely stunning."
The day I arrived at Annaâs house in a suit, Anna couldnât take her eyes off me.
Her gaze was practically dripping with desire, rivaling even Meroâs.
"This is overwhelming⦠I think I might cry. They say when someone feels too moved, it stimulates their tear glandsâ¦"
"Iâm glad youâre happy."
"â¦Can I cry in your arms, Laura-chan?"
"That wonât do."
It would ruin my clothes.
And so, Anna had no choice but to retreat to a corner and quietly sob.
"Then, for the next week, Laura-chan is my personal maid, right? Youâll follow all my orders!"
"Orders I can reasonably follow. Reasonably."
"â¦Youâre emphasizing that word quite a bit."
Although I became Annaâs maid, the fundamental power dynamics between us remained unchanged.
In noble society, rank doesnât determine everything.
For example, even the son of an emperor doesnât automatically hold more authority than a dukeâs daughter. Power is something only those with influence can wield. If someone like the eighth son of an emperor, born to a concubine, had no support base, he couldnât possibly stand against a dukeâs daughter.
In that sense, Anna was a powerless figurehead, a mere puppet.
Even Anna subconsciously understood this. She could temporarily place me beneath her, but truly dominating me was impossible.
"Still, itâs kind of exciting! We get to live together for a whole week!"
Anna seemed satisfied with just that.
"Anna, dear, thatâs precisely the problem."
"Oh, formal speech! Itâs fresh, but itâs a little scary when youâre too stiff."
"Youâre quite demanding. The issue is that the two of us have to live in this pigsty, donât you think?"
I said, looking around the room.
In one corner of the kitchen, there were piles of small boxes. Most of them were empty chicken and pizza boxes.
Scattered across the floor were empty 2-liter water bottles, 1.5-liter zero-cola bottles, and occasionally 500-milliliter low-calorie coffee bottles.
On the desk, there were several plastic cups that seemed to have come from a café. A faintly cloudy liquid lingered in some of themâcups where the drink had been finished, leaving behind only melted ice.
The bed was littered with clothes, mostly outdoor attire, such as thick pants.
It was obvious what had happened.
Unable to wear pajamas to the convenience store, Anna must have opted to keep her pajama top on, switched into pants, and thrown on a coat to brave the winter cold of December.
When she returned home, she must have discarded the uncomfortable coat and pants onto the bed, reverting to her pajama bottoms.
The bed was no longer functioning as a bed but as a storage space for her clothes.
In the living room, there was an unopened container of pickled radish from a chicken delivery, along with unused packets of ketchup and honey mustard sauce.
"A pigstyâ¦! Thatâs too harsh!"
"What other word would you use to describe this mess?"
"At least call it a stable!"
She clearly knew her house was a mess.
In any case, Annaâs house was filthy. As a dukeâs daughter, it was the kind of place Iâd never set foot in under normal circumstances. The discomfort was immense.
But now I was a maid, not a dukeâs daughter. Fortunately, Iâm a dukeâs daughter with an exceptional tolerance for such things.
After all, itâs still far better than sleeping on the streets, isnât it?
"What should we do, Laura-chan?"
"What should we do? Isnât it obvious?"
I was incredulous.
"We live like this, of course."
The next day, after our glamorous first evening together, we were being scolded by Leon.
"I canât take this anymore!"
Standing in the open doorway, Leon looked inside and shouted.
It was a trash heap.
Bags filled with water bottles, cola bottles, and coffee bottles were lined up against one wall. For the record, these werenât proper trash bags but large plastic bags from takeout meals.
Inside the bags were plastic forks, stained plastic cups, and small containers that once held side dishes like kimchi or pickled radish.
Outside the bags, chicken boxes were stacked on top of each other, alongside pizza boxes from last nightâs meal with Anna.
Nearby, a paper bag that had once contained a hamburger and fries was lying on the floor, marked with grease stains.
All the trash in the house had been gathered and crammed into one room.
"I had a bad feeling and came to check, and what on earth is this?!"
"I did sort it lightly for recycling purposes," I replied.
"Recycling without proper cleaning is meaningless!"
I knew that. But washing everything had seemed like such a hassle.
Even the sink was already filled with dirty dishes that had been left there for ages. Adding takeout containers to the mix made my head hurt.
So, Iâd shoved everything into one corner and decided to deal with it later.
"I knew this would happen!"
In the end, Leon couldnât stand the mess and started cleaning.
The piled-up dishes were washed, and a textbook-worthy recycling process began.
The vacuum cleaner removed every speck of dust, the floor was wiped down, and the space was thoroughly ventilated.
It took quite a bit of time, but thanks to Leonâs efforts, Annaâs house was restored to a livable condition.
"Good job, Leon."
"â¦Why are you acting so high and mighty?"
Leon sighed heavily after finishing all the cleaning.
"Youâre supposed to be Annaâs maid. If youâre a maid, shouldnât you be cleaning?"
"You donât seem to understand, Leon. There are different kinds of maids."
A housekeeper, for example, delegates cleaning to junior maids.
In modern terms, I would be akin to a chief secretary.
And a chief secretary doesnât clean.
"This is ridiculousâ¦"
Leon pressed his hand to his forehead as if nursing a headache.
"Can you really live here for a week�"
"Donât worry. Weâll manage."
"That means youâre not planning to clean⦠Fine, whatever. Letâs talk. Anna, you too."
"Talk?"
"Do you think I came here to clean? Iâm not a housekeeper."
Thatâs what I thought it was about. Apparently not.
"Iâm here as both of your manager today."
"Oh, right. Youâre Annaâs manager too."
"Yeah. I was supposed to be her temporary manager, but I decided to keep managing her."
Apparently, EYEAI had recently expanded its staff.
Some VTubers were due for a manager change soon.
"Iâll also be managing Sora. Laura, Sora, and Anna. You three will be under my care for now."
"Is it because of the Fantasy League?"
"Exactly."
Leon nodded.@@novelbin@@
"Let me cut to the chase, sis. Before the league starts, choose the song youâll use for the MV."