Chapter 16

"…"

Lysette was silently looking outside from the window of her family's carriage, her cheeks were still dyed red from the embarrassment she continued to feel, due to Edward's earlier attempts to soothe and apologize to her and Nanako for the embarrassment they passed through during their pseudo-date around the city.

But at the same time, she felt happy at the amount of attention she received from Edward, which was far more than she could ever wished for, and that was with him having to share part of his attention with Nanako.

However, instead of making a smile, Lysette had a pensive expression while her cheeks remained tinted in a red color as she kept looking outside from the carriage's window.

Lysette thought about all the things Edward did around the manor, as well as the amount of attention he always gave her, all of which only made her feel unworthy of his affection. After all, she rarely helped her father in administrative affairs, she never had to help around her family's manor, and never once did she have to struggle to make ends meet.

All she had to do was study both for her future as the heir of the Neville territory and the academy that all nobles had to attend, while occasionally having to accompany her father for social events. Compared to Edward who also had to study and occasionally attend certain social events, on top of his daily tasks, it was akin to nothing, and Lysette couldn't endure the feeling that she was leeching off Edward's goodwill and affection.

Without saying anything, Lysette closed her eyes and nodded as she decided.

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"Lysette-chan! Welcome home!"

"I am home, Father"

Daughter and Father both greeted each other respectfully at the entrance hall of their manor, and after doing so, Hamilton stepped closer to Lysette, whom he began to pat her head, both in relief and joy for seeing that his daughter's mood had turned a lot better compared to yesterday's night.

"I great to see you in great shape. So how was your day with Little Edward?"

"Ahaha… Erm… Well…"

At her father's question, Lysette's cheek reddened as she was reminded of all the things that happened back then, especially the parts that involved Edward showering her with love.

"I-It… I-It was a… Very… Enlightening experience… … …"

That was all Lysette was able to say before turning quiet out of embarrassment, as her mind began to show her all of those scenes of Edward kissing her. In turn, Hamilton remained silent with a joyful smile at seeing that his daughter had a great time with her fiancée, but under it, he hid a small frustration at how Edward was seducing Lysette way too much. But he also had another thing on his mind, that he couldn't help but ask.

"Lysette-chan… That dress you are wearing… Is it by any chance a maid uniform?"

"! Ah! Y-Yes, they are… Nanako-san lent them to me so that I would have something comfortable to wear for the day"

"Yes, that is very attentive of them"

"… Hm. Father, what do you think of the dress?"

"It looks very beautiful on you, Lysette-chan"

"Thank you"

Receiving praise from her father, Lysette couldn't help but make a relieved and happy smile. Having greeted his daughter, and seeing that he didn't have anything more to worry about, Hamilton thought that it was now a good time for him to go back to fulfill his duties as a landlord.

"Lysette-chan, in any case, I will be returning to my office, and as always, you are free to do anything that you may so desire"

"Ah! Father, wait!"

"? What is it, Lysette-chan?"

Just as Hamilton had turned to leave, Lysette hurriedly grabbed the hem of his shirt as she called him, which made him turn to look back at her with a questioning and confused expression.

"Hm… C-Can I assist you in your work?"

"… … … Well… You always can, but… Wouldn't anything else be more entertaining for you, Lysette-chan?"

"*Shakes head* No, Father. It is not a matter of entertainment, rather… I want to do it for my own sake and beliefs…"

"… … … Very well… Then follow me, we have a lot of paperwork to go through today"

"! Thank you, father!"

"Heh! Don't mind it, I'm just doing it for my own sake as well"

With a cool smile, Hamilton then turned once again and began walking out of the entrance hall with Lysette walking right beside him with a joyful expression.

Meanwhile, the servants who had been on standby remained quiet, but they couldn't help but feel slightly surprised at Lysette's sudden shift of interest, after all, whenever she returned from her visits to the Harding territory, she would always go to her room. But, more surprising to them, was the fact that she was wearing a maid uniform, when she was always very strict on herself, especially on her conduct to never cause an embarrassment to the Neville name, but now? She was wearing a maid uniform with a joyful expression, that although looked very cute on her, was something she would never do before as she would have considered unfit for someone of the Neville family.

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"Whew… This is more tiring than I thought…"

Lysette had just finished organizing several documents given to her by her father, which proved to be more mentally tiring than she initially thought, even more so as its repetitive nature and necessity to always pay attention to all the documents was quick to tire her mind and cause her to constantly double, or triple, check everything to see if she didn't commit a mistake.

"… … … And to think Edward-sama does this everyday…"

Like before, Lysette felt a sensation of guilt from not knowing the amount of effort Edwar had to make every day for the sake of his family and his father's territory. With a sigh, she closed and pushed the document-filled box back into the stand, and after doing so, she started making her way back to her father's office. Once in front of the door, she knocked it, and waited for a response, after hearing her father's voice saying for her to come in, she opened it, and then respectfully bowed down to him.

"Father, is there anything else for me to do?"

"No, there isn't anything else anymore. And thank you for your assistance today, Lysette-chan"

"You are welcome, Father"

"*Nods* So you can take your leave, take a bath, and sleep, Lysette-chan. Even more so, since it's pretty late already"

"… Very well, Father"

Bowing once again to her father, Lysette then left his office to take a bath, with a small number of female servants following after her. Once Lysette had stepped out of the office and the door was closed, Hamilton initially kept his always reassuring smile, then he covered his face with his left hand… And began sobbing…

"They grow up so fast… *Hic*"

"Milord… Lady Lysette just helped you with only a few documents, there's no need to cry because of that"

"Shut it! This is the first time we worked together, and she did it diligently while also looking cute in that Maid uniform!"

"You really are a doting father"

The head butler who was standing next to Hamilton could just sigh from mild disappointment at his lord for becoming all emotional from just having his daughter help him with work. Then to prevent more from accumulating at a worrying rate, the head butler picked several important documents to archive them safely.

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It was the morning of the next day, the birds were chirping, the sunlight was passing through the few openings in the curtains, and Lysette had the face of someone who had a bad night.

"… … …" <I only slept with Edward-sama once… But why do I miss hugging him in my sleep so much???>

The cause of her bad sleep was the fact that Lysette missed the feeling of hugging Edward in her sleep, which caused her to blush, but her embarrassment wasn't enough to make her let go of the pillow she was tightly hugging as a replacement for Edward, though it wasn't helping her that much, instead, it was doing the opposite, it only made her want to hug Edward even more.

"… … … I really love him…"

Lysette had to spend another hour in bed to calm herself down from her self-imposed embarrassment, and that to her luck, was the usual time she would wake up, as the door was knocked and a female voice came from behind it.

"Please, come in"

*Door opening* "Good Morning, Lady Lysette. It is good to see you awake, did you have a good night?"

"Ahaha… Well… I guess, I did…" <I can't bring myself to tell her that I had a horrible night because wanted hug Edward-sama on the bed!!!>

"…" <Lady Lysette is definitely lying… But she doesn't appear to be doing so from something worrying or dangerous, then I think can let it pass, after all, it's not good always pry on her affairs without permission, anyway…> "That is great to hear, Lady Lysette! Now shall we start changing your clothes?"

"*Nods* Of course"

"Excellent, so what do you want to wear today, Lady Lysette? Your favorite light blue dress? Or perhaps, the elegant black dress? Ah! I know, how about the red one!"

"Erm… Actually, would it be possible to arrange a maid uniform of my size for me to wear?"

"… … … Eh? A maid uniform?"

"Yes… If possible one similar to the one from yesterday… Ah! And about that one, what happened to it?"

"… *Gasp* ! T-The Maid uniform you were wearing yesterday? W-Well, since we did not w-what you wanted to do w-with it, w-we just sent it to be washed alongside the other clothes!"

"Is that so? That's a relief… Hm, tell the others to keep it together with my other clothes, because… I want to wear it on other days as well"

"I-I will make sure to tell them that! Ah! And you also asked for a maid uniform of your size, right? I will go get one right this instant!"

"Thank you"

"*Nervously bows down* If you excuse me, Lady Lysette"

Once the maid left her room and closed the door, Lysette could hear the sounds of hurried steps getting fainter and fainter. As for the reaction of the maid to Lysette's request, after all, never had Lysette asked for a maid uniform before, and seeing her do it now in a complete break from her usual self was confusing to the maid, which when compounded with her unusual behavior from last night, only made it ever so more worryingly to the Neville family servants.

While Lysette waited for the maid to come back, she suddenly remembered that time when she showed her borrowed maid uniform to Edward, and with the greeting taught to her by Camilla, she was kissed several times by Edward, causing her to blush intensely as she buried her face on a pillow and flailed her legs in the air.

After quite some time, the maid that had greeted Lysette earlier, accompanied by many other female servants, returned with rough breaths with a maid uniform of the size of Lysette in her hands.

"Haa… L-Lady… Haa… Lysette… Haa… Shall we… Haa… Start dressing… Haa… You?… Haaaa"

"Of course, and are you feeling okay?"

"I am feeling great…Haa… I just… Haa… I just had some trouble… Haa… Finding the right uniform for you… Haa… Lady Lysette… Whew…"

"… I am sorry for the inconvenience"

"It was nothing… Haa… Haa… Phew…"

As she caught her breath, the maid began helping Lysette dress herself with the maid uniform, with the other servants also helping, by making on-the-spot modifications to the uniform Lysette was wearing, so that it would feel more comfortable to her.

"So how it is, Lady Lysette?"

"… … … *Nods* It feels very comfortable, thank you"

"You are welcome" <You all got the necessary measurements, right?>

<Yes! >

<Excellent! Then go and modify some more of the uniform Lady Lysette's size! Because I have feeling this won't be last time she asks for a maid uniform!>

<Yes, madam!>

With just their eyes, the maid ordered, for the other servants to go do what they were told so by her before she turned to talk with Lysette again.

"Now, Lady Lysette. How about we get going to the dining hall so that you can have breakfast?"

"*Nods* Understood"

With that, Lysette left her room while being escorted by the maid, as soon as they both left it, a few more servants came and entered Lysette's room to begin cleaning it while no one was inside.

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"Good morning, Father"

"… … … Yes, Good morning Lysette-chan"

At the dining hall, daughter and father greeted each other, Lysette greeted Hamilton like usual, but he, on the other hand, remained silent for a few seconds at his surprise at seeing Lysette wearing a maid uniform a second time, but he quickly recovered and properly greeted her with his usual confident smile, before he lift his face and turned to look at the maid escorting Lysette.

"…" <Erm… Why is she wearing another maid's uniform?>

"…" <Lady Lysette told me she wanted to wear it>

"…" <I see…>

Like before, using only her eyes, the maid talked with Hamilton, who couldn't help but still feel some bewilderment at seeing his daughter wearing a maid uniform again, and with the maid's answer not fully answering the questions inside his mind, he decided to ask the person herself.

"Lysette-chan, may I ask you why are you wearing a maid uniform today as well?"

"Hm? Ah! This… This is because I want to help around the manor from now on"

" "Hm?" "

Big question marks appeared on top of Hamilton and the maid's heads, as well as of the other servants in the dining room who heard Lysette's statement, as they all became confused at what she meant by that.

"Lysette-chan… Are you perhaps saying that you want to do the same menial works as the servants?"

"Yes"

"… May I ask why?"

"… It is because I find it unjust that Edward helps in taking care of his family manor by his own accord, while I do not. As well as, the fact that it would tarnish my and our family's name by not following his example"

"… … … I see, I will allow you to do so, but I want you to avoid doing any dangerous task"

"! Thank you, father!"

Receiving her father's permission, Lysette made a beaming happy smile, to which everyone in the dining room couldn't help but also smile at seeing the young lady looking so energetic.