Such is life—what more could one ask for?
Ever since returning from the fireworks festival, Akira had been immersed in that kind of pleasant mood.
As usual, he breezed through lunch, then, looking forward to an even better dinner, lounged around in his room reading as a form of preparation.
Later, he went downstairs to play some games while waiting for Nanami, who was arriving later than usual today.
Before that, Kuro was rolling around on the sofa, and Akira was massaging its chest. Then he got bit once, licked twice, bit once, licked twice—and even kicked twice.
But after the sound of the front door opening, everything shifted. For one, there was no cheerful and adorable "I'm home!"—just the heavy sound of footsteps.
Akira peeked over the back of the sofa and nearly performed a tactical lean-back when he saw Nanami walk from the entryway into the living room.
Her gaze was vacant and hollow, her posture weary and stiff. She was carrying a bag of groceries and what looked like a clothes bag.
As she dragged her feet forward, she muttered to herself under her breath.
"Messed up… messed up… messed up…"
"Nanami?" Akira called out tentatively.
He only called her "Little Nanami" when speaking to others; using it directly still felt a bit too intimate.
Though she probably wouldn't mind, he still found it too abrupt.
Upon hearing his voice, Nanami slowly looked at him and spoke in a hollow tone, "Oh… I think I forgot to say it. I—am back—Ogiwara—sir."
Even Akira, who was practically fearless, grew cautious in the face of such an eerie mood and behavior.
He gently asked, "Did something bad happen?"
"Bad? Mmm, not exactly. I just… messed up."
Dragging the bags and that broken expression, Nanami staggered over to the back of the sofa—right in front of him.
Then, in a quiet voice, she began.
"Ogiwara-san, I've been holding in a complaint for a long time. Because you're paying me so well, I figured I should try to adapt and overcome any difficulties. But today… I just can't anymore."
Akira nodded rapidly. "It's okay, go ahead, say it!"
Nanami's expression finally changed. She slowly pursed her lips, her eyes regaining focus—and then quickly welling up with tears full of grievance.
Her voice shifted from lifeless to one filled with frustration, almost like a childish tantrum.
"You never told me! That being your maid would be something so scarily serious!"
Faced with her Kansai-accented cute outburst, Akira was stunned on multiple levels. "Huh? Being my maid is that serious?"
"Isn't it serious to be a maid for someone like you!?"
"Eh? What kind of person am I?"
The question stumped Nanami.
She didn't actually have a strong sense of his "identity"—she'd only been influenced by Hayasaka Ai's borderline brainwashing descriptions and the extravagance of the Shinomiya estate, which she'd mentally exaggerated.
After a brief pause, she tried to describe it. "You know… the kind of person who doesn't need to bow to anyone?"
"Uh-huh, I guess… but what does that have to do with being serious?"
"Ugh! Ogiwara-san, you just don't get it! This is super serious!"
To be fair, it was Hayasaka Ai's repeated brainwashing-like insistence that had made her take things so seriously.
While it did straighten her attitude, it also elevated the level of difficulty and pressure.
Akira honestly had no idea what Nanami had gone through.
He had initially asked a couple of questions, saw that she and Hayasaka Ai seemed to get along, and even received a call of apology from Ai herself.
So he didn't look into it further.
Letting Hayasaka Ai train Nanami with so-called "top standards" had just been a tactic to wear her out a bit, give her something fulfilling to focus on so she wouldn't get caught up worrying about her high salary.
After the training, all he needed to do was offer some praise and tack on reasons like "maid salaries that are too low would cheapen my status" to justify it, and she should accept the 100,000 yen weekly pay.
But now, seeing her this shaken, Akira realized something unexpected might have happened—something he hadn't accounted for.
He patted the sofa next to him. "Come, tell me how exactly Hayasaka trained you."
Nanami was slightly surprised by how he called Hayasaka Ai without any honorifics, but she didn't dwell on it.
Besides, she did want some recognition for all the recent training. So she sat down and started recounting everything she had gone through in full detail.
The more Akira listened, the more his eyelid twitched.
…Being a maid is that serious?
He had indeed noticed Nanami's growth—how graceful and composed she'd become in her gestures, how much her cooking had improved.
He'd been enjoying the game-like joy of increasing her "Etiquette +50," "Charm +50," "Cooking +50."
But he hadn't realized she was also gaining "Knowledge +50," "Gardening +50," "Consideration +50," "Logistics +50," and even "Combat +50" stats behind the scenes…
And he definitely didn't know there was an identity-crisis-level challenge about social status buried in all this—something no mere numerical stat could reflect.
In the end, when he heard that Hayasaka Ai had tried to help Nanami build a "mask" persona for a proper work mindset—and that after half a day of double hypnosis, Nanami ended up disdainfully looking down on Kaguya during their afternoon tea session—he burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Ogiwara-san! Don't laugh!"
"Haha—o-okay, okay, I won't—hahahaha…"
Even as he said he wouldn't laugh, Akira couldn't help it—he hadn't undergone professional training after all.
He truly hadn't expected that maid training could be this entertaining.
This was also why Nanami kept muttering "messed up" when she returned home.
After taking off the maid outfit and snapping out of half a day's worth of hypnosis, she had practically wanted to die.
She had immediately grabbed Hayasaka Ai and demanded to be taken back to apologize.
Even though Hayasaka Ai assured her that the young lady wouldn't mind, Nanami still forcibly dragged her back.
Fortunately, once Kaguya understood the context, she really didn't mind—and even comforted Nanami with gentle words.
That made her feel a little better, but she still found it incredibly embarrassing.
According to Hayasaka Ai's teachings, a maid's loss of composure reflected badly on her master.
So she returned home still wanting to dig a hole and disappear.
And now, watching Akira laugh like a scoundrel, that urge to die returned with full force. She grabbed her things and, with a loud "Wahhhh—!" fled back to the first-floor guest room.
Afraid she might do something drastic, Akira held back his laughter and followed her, knocking gently at the door.
"Hayasaka really overdid it. Honestly, it's just about staying relaxed. Change your clothes and come out, I'll show you what to do."
"Uuu… I don't want to…"
"It's fine to be embarrassed at home, but if you don't change, you'll embarrass yourself at the Shinomiya estate tomorrow. That's what would really embarrass me, got it?"
Akira's logic was too powerful for Nanami to resist. She was instantly convinced.
"Uuuu—I get it. Let me take a bath first. The outfit's too nice and I'm all sweaty…"
Akira chuckled, returned to the sofa, and started playing games to pass the time.
More than half an hour later, Nanami's room door finally opened.
When he looked up and saw his little maid walk out, Akira was truly stunned by how beautiful she looked.
___
Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~ Actually, please leave one.
Check out the other translations too
___