Hm?

It was then that I noticed something sticking out of Sam’s pocket.

“What’s that?”

Her eyes widened and she quickly covered it. “Nothing, young master!”

I gave her a wry look.

Megan seemed really nervous, while Loraine sighed. “You’ve been caught, Sam, just hand it over.”

“Ugh… fiiiine.”

The tomboyish girl reluctantly pulled it out and laid it on the table. “I promise that we don’t play during work hours, young master, and we’ve never gambled for anything other than snacks and chores. So please don’t get too mad at us!” She said in a pitiful voice.

“Playing cards?” I asked, pleasantly surprised while picking them up. These exist here too? Wonderful!

Yep, it was a standard 52 card deck. The edges were a little worn, but they were still perfectly usable.

Hehehe...

I shuffled the deck with practiced ease, feeling my competitive spirit rising dangerously fast. “What games do you girls know? Let’s play a few rounds.”

The three of them stared at me, then at each other. A silent consensus was made.

Much later…

There was a five of hearts on the table. Sam looked at me with watery eyes.

“Young master, don’t! Please don’t do it! I need to get rid of this six, it’s been stuck in my hand forever! Just pass your tuuuurn!”

“I’m sorry, but I have no choice.”

With an apologetic smile, I laid an eight down on the pile. It was the lowest card I had.

“Gaaaaaaah! Young master, you jerk! Bully! Harem building pervert!” Sam cried in despair. I’ve always believed that there’s no better bonding activity than games where you can mess with each other. The girl’s wariness towards me was completely non-existent now, to the extent that she could say stuff like that without batting an-

No, wait a minute.

“What the hell was that last one!?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?” She countered. “We know about the favors you did for Ruth, Grace, and the others. You’re obviously trying to seduce every maid in the mansion! Even going after a widow and an engaged woman… geez, young master, there’s a limit to wolfishness. I’m telling you right now that I won’t fall for it!”

“That’s wrong on so many levels! Damn harpy, just you wait, I’m not going to go easy on you anymore.”

“Eh? Wah, no, I take it back, it was just a joke!” She shook my arm.

Loraine giggled while stroking Floofbottom. The fat, lazy kitten had settled down on her lap and was watching the game with disinterest, or occasionally bat at her pigtails. “Looks like Sam’s going to be last place this time too.”

“It’s okay, Sammy, you’ll win the next one.” Megan said, trying to console her.

That wasn’t convincing at all coming from the person with the most wins at this table though. Her draw luck was insane. When we played poker earlier she dominated us without even trying. I made a mental note to never, ever bet against this woman.

“Ugh, I’m only losing since there’s nothing serious on the line! I do a lot better when we’ve got real stakes!”

I seriously doubted that. “No gambling with money, alright?”

“Of course not, young master,” Megan said with an enigmatic smile. “But in many of our games, we like to set penalties for the loser.”

“Like what?”

“Usually things like back rubs, or switching shifts…”

“Oh hey, I have the perfect idea.” Loraine suddenly said with shining eyes. “Have you ever heard of strip po-”

Knock knock!

Our game was interrupted by two rapt knocks on the door. All of us froze like deer in headlights as the door swung open without any regard for the situation we were in.

“Young master, are you here? I have-”

Emma walked in with a bundle of papers in her hands, which promptly fell to the floor and scattered everywhere.

The scene inside the tea room was pretty surreal, so I couldn’t blame her for being shocked.

First, the table was a total mess. It was covered in haphazardly stacked cards, pastry plates, and white porcelain tea cups, like some kind of overly posh and dainty gambling den.

Sam was clinging tightly to my arm, still trying to convince me to team up with her so that she could finally get her first win. Loraine was busy scratching the kitten, while Megan had an impressive stack of cookies in front of her, the placeholder we used for “chips” in our earlier games.

“Hey there Emma. Care to join us?” Loraine laughed, breaking the awkward silence. She fanned herself using the cards in her hand without a care in the world.

My attendant crossed her arms with a remarkably stern expression on her face.

“You three.” Emma said, her voice cold as ice. “What are you doing? Do you have any idea how much trouble we went through because you suddenly disappeared? It’s like you want to give Head Maid Ophelia an excuse to punish you!”

“Ah, damn, it’s already this late!?” Sam cried in shock as she checked the sun’s position outside. “I didn’t even notice!”

Loraine shrugged. “We can just tell the head maid that the young master ‘played’ with us for a few hours, so we weren’t able to leave. I’m sure she won’t ask any questions.”

“Don’t even think about it.” I immediately shot her down. “I mean, it’s not untrue, but don’t phrase it in such a misleading way!”

“Aww, come on, young master. After enjoying yourself with us, you’re going to pretend that nothing happened? How awful.”

A vein popped on Emma’s forehead. “How long do you girls plan to sit around!? The others are only halfway through with the great hall. Get up and go help them out!”

“Sorry, but… we haven’t started cleaning the tea room yet.” Meg said awkwardly.

“It’s fine, I’ll take care of it! Now move!” She started tugging on Loraine’s hand, trying to get her to stand up.

The three were clearly reluctant to go, however. They turned to me for help.

“But what if the head maid really asks where we’ve been? Ms. Ophelia can be super scary when she’s mad and she’s been in an especially awful mood lately. I don’t want to get yelled at~” Loraine said, batting her eyelashes at me in mock helplessness.

"And I'm one demerit away from getting my pay docked..." Sam muttered under her breath. What a talent, considering the system's only been around for half a week.

I sighed heavily. “Fine. If you have to, then just tell her I had something for you three to do. But I’ll be confiscating this deck.”

“Wha-! Young masteeer!” Sam protested, looking outraged.

“Consider this as punishment for neglecting your duties and causing Emma distress,” I said, hypocritically ignoring the fact that I was the one who suggested we play in the first place. “This also ensures that you three don’t slack off. If you want it back, see me during your next break.”

Loraine looked at me, bemused. “You can just say that you want to play with these three beauties again, young master. There’s no need to be so indirect. Ahaha, it’s just a joke, Emma! Don’t glare so hard, you’re making me shiver!”

“Just go already!”

Emma half-pushed the trio out of the tea room.

“Um, goodbye young master, thank you for spending so much time with us today.”

“I won’t lose next time, just you watch!”

“See you, young master! Have fun with Emma~!”

Even as they left they were noisy. Good grief.

My attendant heaved a sigh as she closed the door. She brushed the front of her skirt, then turned towards me with an apologetic expression.

“Please forgive them for behaving so rudely towards you.” Emma lowered her head to me. “Those three have always been too lax, but it’s inexcusable that they treated you with such disrespect.”

Aww. Despite getting that mad at them, the first thing she does is apologize on their behalf.

“It’s fine, I actually like it better this way. Having to maintain decorum and all that stuff gets exhausting, so this is a nice change of pace. I’m glad that I can be myself around them,” I said while chuckling.

My answer made Emma unhappy though.

“Hmph...” She puffed her cheeks out and refused to meet my eyes. “Then perhaps you’d rather have Loraine or one of the others as your attendant then. Since you get along so well with them already. I apologize for being a stick in the mud, unable to relax around you like they do, casually touching you and saying whatever they want.”

The last sentence sounded really heated and full of resentment. She half-turned away from me with a sulking expression. Oh wow, was she pouting? This was too cute for words. I resisted the urge to pat her head, since I’m sure that would have just made her furious.

“Well, I do like them. They’re definitely fun to hang out with.”

She winced, then shot me a worried look. “Then, do you want to...?”

“But be that as it may, none of them could ever take your place, Emma.” I continued with a smile. “You’re the one I feel most comfortable with, and the only one I trust to keep my condition a secret. I want you to be my attendant for as long as you’re willing.”

Hitting on her was fast becoming my favorite habit. The way her cheeks burned every time was so precious. No matter how embarrassing those lines might be, it was worth it every time just to see her reaction. Ah no, it was bad to toy with a girl’s emotions, gotta rein it in.

“U-understood.” She murmured. Then her eyes turned to the scattered playing cards on the table. Right, we should start cleaning up before it gets any later.

“Young master.”

“Yes?”

“...Could you teach me how to play as well?”

I didn’t get much studying done that day.