"Ms. Walter, you don"t need to exert yourself, okay? Drink some tea and take breaks regularly."
Yes, the one who said that was indeed Mr. Dunkel.
Mr. Dunkel became extremely gentle after his apology this morning.
I, who had become more and more like a sentient broom since I started working with him, slowly moved to the side.
His tone seemed to bear an ulterior motive, I couldn"t help but be scared.
No, he was indeed harboring an ulterior motive, which I perfectly knew about.
"Hmm…"
Today, Captain Ranbic"s expression looked weary.
I thought it was because the Star Festival was getting closer, thus making him busier—
—however, two days later, in the afternoon, I realized it wasn"t just that.
It was when he invited me to take a break with him.
"You look very tired, lately. Did the ghost appear again?"
"No, as long as you"re here, she won"t appear. Again, I thank you."
While expressing how grateful he was to me, he laughed.
If the ghost wasn"t the cause, then it was probably because of another problem in his life.
One which I, the cleaning maid, had no reason to interfere in.
Captain Ranbic continued rea.s.suring me.
I said, "Actually, Mr. Herez hasn"t feel well recently."
He had been making calculation errors, which was truly unusual of him. It also took him a long time to solve problems. In addition, I often found him staring off into s.p.a.ce.
"I"m by his side all the time, and yet, I don"t know the cause of his problem."
Captain Ranbic might know something that I didn"t.
Thus, I asked out of concern.
—it was truly regretful and frustrating.
The cause of his unusual behavior was discovered in an instant.
"Umm… Captain Ranbic?"
"What is it?"
"It just occurred to me… what might be the cause."
"—could it be—!?"
"Yes, maybe, hopefully he"ll revert to normal today."
"I see… you"re so reliable, wherever you are."
Captain Ranbic smiled, however, there was a trace of loneliness within it.
…I wondered if he was that worried.
"Mr. Dunkel, right now, can you spare me some of your time?"
"What is it? If you want to take a break, you"re free to go."
He said he preferred to stay in this room.
His tone was still gentle. Usually, he would say things like, "if you want to have a break, you have to clean that spot, first."—and poof, the dust would appear on the exact spot he pointed at.
"There"s something I would like to talk about."
I knew a cleaning maid shouldn"t intrude when a civilian was at work, however, my future was at risk, here. I had to be persistent.
—women are fierce, after all.
"I understand."
Mr. Dunkel, while seemingly suspicious of me, gave his approval rather easily.
"We don"t have much time, so—Mr. Dunkel, you"re pushing yourself too far."
"Now is exactly the time to give the final push, even if you can"t. The Star Festival is right around the corner."
"No, I don"t mean that, I mean—stop obeying that devil incarnate, outrageous, need of tidiness of yours—!!!"
"Guhaaaa—!!!"
Mr. Dunkel, whom was usually calm, was considerably taken aback.
"You, what are you…?"
"You"ve been cleaning in my stead lately, haven"t you?"
The reason Mr. Dunkel was allowed to get a personal cleaning maid was to maintain his excellent job. It was probably because without a cleaning maid, his severe need for cleanliness would risk his excellent performance.
"To be honest, I"m annoyed because you would always nitpick whenever I clean."
"You"re being really honest, huh?"
"—but."
Everyone was working harder than usual so that the Star Festival could ensue without problems.
—that"s why, me too…
"Everyone, including me. I also have my pride as a cleaning maid."
I had a fever because of overworking. My body wouldn"t sustain it if I push myself too far—
—despite that, for the Star Festival…
"For the Star Festival, I want to give my best."—yes, that"s exactly what I"m going to do.
"That"s why, I want to support you, too."
Because I was the only cleaning maid who could support this talented person, who did everything alone, without needing the help of other officers.
"Haha—…"
Oh my—…
He laughed. I had never seen such an innocent expression coming from him before—
—or so I thought.
"No one has ever said such things to me before—you"re the first."
Mhm. No doubt about it—
—that innocent smile I had seen before was just an illusion.
In a flash, that "smile" had turned into a sly grin.
"Now, shall we get on to that part where you mentioned about my "devil incarnate, outrageous, needs of tidiness" of mine?"
"Oh, t-that"s…"
That was because my mouth slipped out of anger!
However, is he really angry? For some reason, I thought about that.
"Ms. Walter, no, Ms. Tina…"
"Yes?"
"I never thought you despised me that much."
I utterly deny the a.s.sumption that this guy was angry. The way he looked at me, he seemed very happy?
"I understand. I won"t overexert myself for the Star Festival."
"…okay?"
But… the problem wasn"t because of that, and instead, was because of his extreme cleaning habits!
—however, to retort that now seemed to be a bad timing.
Nevertheless, I had no other choice. Even if a little, I wanted to ensure the peacefulness of my future—
"Mr. Dunkel—"
"It"s Herez."
"Huh?"
"My name. You can call me Herez—after all, you said you would support me, wouldn"t you? Comrade?"
He laughed again.
I decided, I should do a self-introspection to fix my short fuse.
***T/N: The man has clearly been swept of his feet by our adorable cleaning maid! yes pun intended.
Next chapter>