After a brief visit from the duke, who left some instructions on how to act around Melinda for a while, Zane could return to his duties, marking the end of nearly three weeks of recovery.
His first steps led him toward the back of the mansion, where the guards usually had emergency drills. Recently, the spot was occupied by the young Miss of the house for her level-up and practice sessions, so the monstrous servant expected to find her there.
"Oh! Zane!"
"...?"
The monstrous servant was going to use the back door, but as he was moving by the main staircase, someone called out to him with relief, so he looked over.
As it turned out, the person calling him was Adrianna, Meldina's personal maid.
The brown-haired girl was at the top of the stairs, carrying two massive suitcases, which she dropped immediately at the sight of Zane.
"Perfect! You being here spares me so much effort! Here those are for you!"
The maid cheered out, beckoning the monstrous servant with one hand while pointing at the suitcases with the other.
"!!!"
Zane's eyes enlarged, taking over half of his face. He froze up but couldn't stay there for too long, so he somehow managed compose himself and took the stairs.
"F-for me…?"
"Yes~!"
The monstrous servant asked in a shaking voice, pointing with his index finger at the objects of interest, and Adrianna nodded with a brilliant smile.
"Am…Am I fired…?"
Zane opened and closed his mouth a few times before managing to gather enough courage to voice his question.
"Pffft! What? No! Help me with those. We really don't have much time today, so I'm glad you made it here without issue."
Adrianna snorted before shaking her head with a big smile and patting the pitiful-looking Zane's' shoulder.
"We don't have time…?"
The monstrous servant asked, blinking repeatedly as he tried to comprehend the situation that didn't match what he had heard from the duke at all.
"Yes. We're running on a tight schedule today, and it would be awful if our lady ended up late."
Adrianna nodded, giving Zane's shoulder another pat before announcing in a self-important voice, walking down the stairs and leaving the suitcases for him to take care of.
"But… where is she going? No one informed me about some excursion, so forgive me for being… uncooperative…"
Zane stared between the maid and the suitcases before grabbing the latter and following the former to the main hall and out the main door while trying to get the context necessary to figure out what was going on.
"In young lady's own words, we will be going for some much-needed change of pace."
Adrianna glanced back at Zane and explained with a soft look in her eyes.
"By the way, I completely agree with that sentiment. Those past weeks, the atmosphere in the mansion was VERY stuffy, to say the least."
She added while walking, giving a polite nod to the guards at the door, marching right up to the four-horse-drawn carriage waiting right outside.
"Be a dear and load those on."
"...s-sure…"
Adrianna pointed Zane towards the carriage, and he followed her instructions. Halfway through securing the suitcases to the back of the carriage, he realized that the maid had become a lot friendlier and gained that easygoing feeling about her that she definitely didn't have on the day that Melinda tempted her with the promotion...
...not to mention that she seemed unbothered about the... reason she was silenced in such a way in the first place...
"...then… it's still training but in another place…?"
After being done with the suitcases, Zane stood next to Adrianne, who was awaiting Melinda in front of the carriage's door.
"Hmm... Yeah, sure. That answer does kind of fit this situation."
Adrianna glanced at him and nodded with an encouraging expression.
A few minutes later, Melinda came rushing out of the mansion.
She continued to slick back her hair, and her choice of clothes was basically the same as the day she threw Zane through the wall, with the exception of the shirt not being buttoned up to the very top as well as its collar being now standing up as if in a statement... oh, and losing the tie.
"Mel… m-my lady…!"
Seeing her for the first time in almost three weeks, Zane barely stopped himself from calling out to her in a much too familiar manner.
"Hmm? Oh, don't worry. I do have stockings on. The proof of the noble status is here, alright~!"
The gold-haired girl raised her brows before smiling, cheekily lifting one knee up to her chest and pulling up the pant's leg to show off that the white fabric that had been revealed wasn't composing just some common, run-of-the-mill socks but finest silk stockings.
"Let's go. We don't want to be late for our reservation."
"Of course…!"
Melinda declared while Adrianna was already holding the door open for her, and only Zane needed a moment or two before joining them.
The carriage moved immediately after the door closed and drove smoothly through the gate and on the road leading to the city's center.
"Nnnnng~! I hope it will be fun."
Melinda took off her shoes, and because her legs were barely long enough for her feet to rest at the seat opposite to her, she used Zane's knees...
"!!!"
...causing him to freeze up in disbelief as she used his legs as a convenient footrest while stretching and unleashing a big yawn.
"...!"
"..."
Zane managed to look away from the gold-haired noblegirl and glance at Adrianna, worried about how she would react to her master's scandalous behavior. But the brown-haired girl followed the example of the gold-haired noble, with the only difference being that she could and did put her feet up on the seat opposite to her without any additional aid.
The way Adrianna's uniform crumpled made her appear as if she was melting a little bit, but the unbothered look on her face as she was peeking at the sky outside was telling Zane that she did not care at all.
"Don't you have something to say to me?"
"...!"
Melinda spoke up out of nowhere, causing the monstrous servant to flinch.