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Emilia tapped her chin in thought as she scrutinized the short-haired girl. "Hm…"
Obviously, the girls working as maids in the White Deer mansion were all qualified to be there, though their skill levels varied a little here and there. This qualification was based mostly on various household skills, however, and not appearance.
Of course, when it came to hiring two equally skilled maids, the housekeeper would prefer the one who looked more pleasing to the eye.
This wasn't because the old man was a pervert, but because this was the tradition set by Mrs. White's mother when she had been alive. Obviously, she had a hobby of 'admiring' cute maids, and her husband wholeheartedly agreed, and even helped her out.
Although the name of the mansion had changed since then, the hiring practice hadn't.
Emilia didn't know the full story, as this was all the housekeeper seemed to know as well when she had once offhandedly inquired about the top-notch cuteness level of her maids. After all, when compared to the old housekeeper uncle… the contrast was really too big.
She had never thought it was 'troublesome' before, as Emilia also liked looking at cute girls. But she never expected Michelle to become enamored with the maids, and even decide to pursue it as her career.
The redhead frowned as she considered it, and Michelle felt her heart beat in trepidation as she waited for her response.
Looking at the short-haired girl's anxious look, Emilia could only sigh in defeat. "Fine, then, if that's what you want. But I have no idea how this thing works. You should just talk to the housekeeper about it, and tell him I gave you the permission, understand?"
Michelle jumped for joy, and only barely managed to restrain herself from giving Emilia a hug. "Thank you, princess!"
Emilia nodded, but just when she thought it was over, the brown-haired girl coughed once more.
"A-Actually, I had a very presumptuous request. I promise, this will be the last time I'm so insolent, but please hear me out?"
The redhead blinked. "Presumptuous?"
Michelle nodded. "Princess… W-Will you let me follow you from now on? Not everywhere, maybe, just the places where you might need a maid or servant by your side? A-Also, I-I also want to help you whenever you need to interrogate people… I feel like I have a talent!"
Obviously, if possible, she would have never let her princess know of such a dark side. But given that she had led her to the warehouse herself, how could she not already know? That being the case, Michelle would rather use this 'skill' of hers to keep the beautiful hands of her princess clean.
As Emilia's future maid, cleaning up garbage could be considered one of her responsibilities, after all.
Emilia frowned, wondering if it hadn't been such a good idea to let Michelle exact her vengeance on the Porters like that. But… that was a decision she had left up to the girl, so she wouldn't have done it if she didn't want to.
In the end, she could only sigh. "I'll consider this, but if you're going to follow me around, you'll have to get along well with Dixie. And also… you have to be very obedient, understand?"
Michelle's eyes shone in delight as she lunged and grasped Emilia's left palm in her hands. "Of course, I'll follow all your instructions!"
Emilia smiled. In the end, wasn't she just trying her best to repay her debt? Although she had told her repeatedly that it was fine, this girl's gratitude was also very cute.
She smiled and ruffled the girl's adorably short brown hair with her right hand. "Good girl."
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Emilia remained in a somewhat good mood for the next few minutes, but it inevitably dissipated once the car stopped.
Noelle opened the door from outside and escorted Emilia into the building. She gave Michelle a somewhat wary look, but since Emilia brought her along, she could only let it be.
When Emilia had exited the car, Noelle had been close enough to be able to smell the girl's fresh peach body wash. And looking at Emilia's new clothes, the bad feeling in Noelle's heart only intensified. 'As expected… she wouldn't need to take a bath in such a short time and change her clothes in this situation… unless…'
But Noelle didn't dare continue with that thought. As long as she didn't see any physical evidence, she could continue denying it in her heart, even if her mind had already come to a logical conclusion.
Before long, the three of them arrived in front of a one-way mirror, through which they could clearly see a tall black-haired man in a green jumpsuit who had been strapped down to a bolted-down metal chair in the otherwise empty room.
Emilia frowned as she finally saw the man who had presumably caused Samantha's accident. "That's him?"
Noelle nodded. "Right. I have a report on his identity ready already."
The gray-haired lady motioned for one of the men nearby, who handed her a blue folder.
Before she could pass it on to Emilia, however, the redhead gave her a sharp look. "That… is Braxy's father, is it not?"
She had vaguely felt that she'd seen the man before, and although Cynthia had still not come out of her isolation, Emilia was still able to vaguely recall him being quite similar to one of the parents who had visited the principal's office when she 'bullied' Don and Braxy.
Of course, his clothing and demeanor had been vastly different back then, as all four of them had tried to flatter her older sister that day. To think… one of them would one day dare try to kill her.
Seeing Noelle nod, Emilia's expression turned grim. "Don't tell me we weren't monitoring these people?"
Given that their children had been taken away, that they would harbor resentment should have been obvious. Even if they weren't preemptively neutralized, keeping an eye on both Don and Braxy's parents should have gone without saying.
How could Noelle overlook such a simple thing?
Noelle dipped her head low, her expression both ashamed and a little wronged.
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