“From today onward, you are servants of House Anisette.

Remember your place, and do not bring shame upon the Duke’s household.”

Standing before us was the woman known as Shiloreen, the head maid.

She radiated an aura that brooked no defiance.

Her upturned, indifferent eyes only added to her severity.

“You needn’t worry too much about the work.

Your seniors will teach you step by step.

And if you have any problems, feel free to come to me.”

…They say she’s the third daughter of some frontier count.

He sent her to the Duke’s household at a young age, trying to climb the social ladder.

Through tireless effort and the passing years, she rose to become the head maid.

“Someone will guide you around shortly.

Make sure you quickly memorize the layout.

The estate is vast—if you’re not familiar, it’s easy to get lost.”

Her eyes scanned the group, then locked onto me.

That sharp gaze made my heart flutter with unease.

“Is that clear?”

It was obvious she was speaking directly to me.

Well…

It made sense, considering I looked like a ten-year-old girl right now.

It was only natural for her to worry about whether I could handle the job.

But honestly?

I wasn’t too worried.

After all, inside this tiny body was the soul of a full-grown adult.

…That said, I suppose I should explain how a ten-year-old child like me ended up working as a maid in someone else’s home.

---

I regained memories of my past life when I was nine.

The trigger was the shock of my father’s sudden death.

It stirred something deep inside me—and I remembered.

I had once been a twenty-year-old man.

Because my little sister needed money for school, I started working part-time from a young age.

One day, I overworked myself, juggling too many jobs at once.

Fatigue dulled my reflexes.

I died in a traffic accident.

…I hope my sister got the insurance payout.

It should’ve been quite a sum.

With that, I’m sure she could live a good life.

Anyway, back to the point.

In this life, I was born as a girl named Ailena.

The setting was a fantasy world with a medieval flavor—

And I was just a normal commoner child.

My parents were kind.

My mother was gentle and affectionate.

My father’s business was booming.

Until I turned nine, life was full of joy.

…But everything changed with that one disaster.

My father’s caravan was attacked by powerful magical beasts.

No one survived.

My mother wept every day until her grief consumed her, and she passed not long after.

As a child with no means to support myself, I was handed off to a relative—my uncle.

But he wasn’t the kind of uncle you’d want.

Drunk, gambling-addicted, and buried in debt.

He never had any intention of taking care of me.

He only took me in because I was pretty—

He planned to sell me off as a s*ave.

…And he might’ve gotten away with it, too,

if he hadn’t been such a loudmouth drunk.

I happened to overhear him while he was rambling to himself one night:

“Who the hell wants to raise some brat?

I’m only keeping her around to sell her later!

That rare silver hair of hers will fetch a damn good price!”

So I ran away.

Snuck out in the dead of night to avoid being sold.

But let’s face it—

I was just a child.

How was I supposed to survive on my own?

To make things worse, it was the middle of winter.

“Am I… going to die here…?”

Shivering with hunger beside a trash bin, all hope drained from me…

When suddenly, a tall man appeared.

“Hey, kid. You want to live?

My household’s hiring maids.

I can give you a job that’ll at least keep your stomach full.

But the choice is yours.”

I didn’t know then that he was the renowned Saxon Anisette, the Duke himself.

Desperate to survive, I used every last bit of strength I had to nod.

What happened after that is a blur—

I probably passed out.

But thanks to the Duke’s kindness, I became a maid in the Anisette domain.

---

Still, just because the Duke was kind…

Didn’t mean everyone else would be.

Case in point: two senior maids had already cornered me.

“Hey, newbie!

This is from the Head Maid.

Take this load to the laundry.

You do know where it is, right?”

The pile was made up of bed linens stripped from every staff member’s room.

Maybe it was manageable for an adult,

But for a ten-year-old girl?

This was a mountain.

Even assuming I could carry it,

I’d be completely blinded—couldn’t even see where I was going.

…This was a pretty blatant attempt to mess with me.

Besides, shouldn’t this be your job?

Aren’t you afraid the head maid will catch you slacking off?

Well, too bad for them.

They picked the wrong girl to bully.

Time to show them a little surprise.

To their astonishment, I lifted the entire pile in one go.

—Ever since I was young, I’ve had strange strength.

I could easily lift things other kids my age couldn’t budge.

My parents never made a fuss about it, so I just assumed it was “normal.”

Now that I’ve recovered my memories, it makes more sense.

This amount of weight is nothing to me.

The only problem is the blocked vision.

Next time, try something wet at least, seniors.

“Wow! You’re so strong!”

An unexpected, cheerful voice rang out.

I turned toward it—

A maid with braided hair and a bright smile.

“You must be the new girl… Ailena, right?

I’m Aina Sisson, but just call me Aina~”

Despite the light freckles on her face, her cuteness was undeniable.

“But it’s dangerous if you can’t see where you’re going, right?

Let me help you carry some!”

Before I could even respond, she’d already taken half the load from my arms.

“Sisson! What do you think you’re doing!?”

The two older maids clearly weren’t pleased their prank got spoiled.

But Aina just smiled sweetly and replied:

“If I remember right, didn’t you two dump your work on someone else the other day using Shiloreen’s name?

And went off to slack instead?

I wonder what would happen if Shiloreen found out about that~?”

“You—How do you know about that!?”

She was still smiling—

But there was an unmistakable sharpness in her gaze.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything this time.

But if it happens again…

Well, you get the idea, right?”

A knife hidden behind a smile—

So this is what they call “a blade behind the grin”…

“Tch…!”

Grumbling and bitter, the senior maids had no choice but to back down.

Once they were gone, Aina turned to me with a smile.

“Shall we go?”

---

With Aina’s help, we made it through the garden and safely reached the laundry area.

“Thank you, Miss Sisson.”

“Hey, no need to be so formal!

Just call me Aina!

If you ever need help, come find me anytime, okay?”

Since she’d delayed her own tasks to help me, Aina ran back at full speed.

“…Guess I better get back to work too.”

I plunged once more into the garden maze, complex enough to be called a labyrinth.

And it was there—

That I met her for the first time.

The person who would become…

The most important figure in my entire life.