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Episode 13
Overwhelmed with emotion, Lilia accidentally broke the door when she felt the soft hands suddenly grabbing her leg.
"Lilia, I won't charge you for the repair of the hallway, but the cost of the new door for the bedroom will be deducted from this month's salary. Just so you know."
"Yes…"
Suzanne adjusted her sleek silver-rimmed glasses as she spoke, causing Lilia to shrink her shoulders in response—though the door was large enough that even Letty could lie down comfortably.
‘They must have been shocked. Someone like me must be too scary to even look at.’
Even though her paycheck was about to be halved, Lilia felt even more downcast at the thought of ruining her first meeting with Letty.
"...I’m sorry, Miss. I must have startled you, right?"
Lilia, still holding onto the leg that was now grasped tightly, glanced nervously down the open hallway. Her voice was small as she addressed Letty, who was curiously peering around.
"Actually, I volunteered to be your personal maid. But if I'm too frightening for you, it's okay if you want to switch to another maid. I'll let the head maid know."
She covered a scar on her face with one hand, worried that even the sight of her might scare the tiny red panda.
"You don’t scare Letty, not even one bit."
Letty shook her small head in denial of Lilia's words.
When Lilia first entered the bedroom, Letty was startled at the sight of what looked like either a grizzly bear beast or an actual bear walking in. But she wasn’t frightened.
For some reason, ever since entering Grizzly Manor, Letty's senses had been heightened.
‘This woman is not a bad person.’
Lilia did not exude the dark aura that Letty had sensed from Feyrin, Lingling, or Panpan.
"Letty startled you, didn't I?"
Instead, Letty felt guilty, thinking that her sudden grabbing of Lilia’s leg had frightened her and caused her to break the door.
‘Letty, you overused your strength today.’
After using the red panda's secret skill earlier, even another maid had collapsed, so it was natural for Lilia to be a bit scared.
"Letty is sorry."
Hearing Letty's apology, Lilia folded her massive frame to meet the child’s gaze.
"Really, I’m not scary to you?"
Lilia’s question was met with a slow but firm nod from Letty.
"Then is it okay if I remain your personal maid?"
Letty glanced at Lilia’s trembling pupils and responded without hesitation.
"Yes. Sister, what's your name?"
Since Letty figured it would be good to know the name of her personal maid, she asked. Lilia hesitated before replying.
"My name is Liliane Mihort de Syna, Miss."
"Uh?!"
Letty's eyes widened in shock at the overly long name, so much so that she couldn't comprehend it fully.
"Ni, Ninia, Niemi...?"
"Liliane Mihort de Syna, Miss."
Lilia kindly repeated her name, but Letty, who couldn’t remember even half of it, made a sad face.
"Nini…?"
Letty wanted to get along with her by remembering her name, but failing to pronounce it properly would only disappoint Lilia.
"Oh no, Letty got it wrong."
Sensing Letty's distress, Lilia brightened her eyes and grabbed the small fingers of the child.
"No, that’s correct! My name is Nini, Miss!"
From today onward!
Formerly the chief of the Gray Bear tribe, now a maid of the Grand Duke’s house, Liliane Mihort abandoned the name passed down from her ancestors in one swift decision.
✦ ✦ ✦
‘She’s only eating bamboo shoots again. She was supposed to act like a panda but is behaving like a pig.’
Tinker, who was fluttering around Letty's bedroom, furrowed its brow as it perched by the window.
It had already been ten days since Letty entered the Grand Duke’s household.
Judging by the fact that she had two personal maids, Dolores and Lilia, it was clear she was being treated as an honored guest. However, Letty had yet to properly meet Mireil, let alone the Grand Duke, Grisys.
‘Isn’t this completely different from the beginning of [Panda Daughter-in-law]?’
Since Letty was not Tierra, she couldn’t act exactly like the original protagonist. Still, Tinker was nervous that Letty's true identity as a non-panda might be revealed.
‘If she gets kicked out, everything will go to waste.’
Crunch. Munch.
While the fairy fretted, Letty, buried in a pile of bamboo shoots stacked in one corner of the room, was enjoying herself immensely.
“So tasty…!”
Thanks to Lilia and Dolores bringing in fragrant bamboo shoots and bamboo from the Eastern Continent, along with apples from the Grizzly forest, Letty's cheeks had grown round and plump within ten days.
"Did you forget something?"
The fairy flew over to the happily munching red panda baby and knocked on her forehead.
“Ouch!”
Startled, Letty opened her eyes wide, her fur puffing up on both sides of her face where she had transformed partially into animal form to peel the bamboo shoots more easily.
“Fairy! Why did you hit Letty?”
Letty's triangular eyes glared in anger as she questioned the fairy. However, Tinker raised its voice instead.
“Did you forget something?!”
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you come here to be the family’s daughter-in-law? Is it okay for you to just eat bamboo shoots every day? You haven’t even been introduced to their son yet!”
The torrent of Tinker’s scolding made Letty suddenly recall her true purpose. She grabbed her fluffy cheeks in frustration.
Tinker was right.
Letty hadn’t entered the Grand Duke’s household just to eat.
‘I got so caught up with the delicious bamboo shoots and apples that I forgot!’
However, Letty had her excuses. After spending so long starving at Feyrin's house, her appetite had become insatiable.
Besides, life at the Grand Duke’s house was so peaceful that it made her forget her original mission.
Her food supply was plentiful, and when her belly was full, Lilia or Dolores would quickly prepare her bed while she napped.
‘It’s time to pull yourself together, Letty!’
With a sudden rustle, Letty shook off the fur on her cheeks, set down the apple she was eating, and stood up abruptly.
"Even though they’ve already confirmed you’re a panda bear, just leaving you like this is suspicious. That didn’t happen in the original story."
"So then?"
"In the original, Tierra immediately got married to Mireil. It’s possible the Grizzly people are still suspicious about your identity."
Hearing Tinker’s words, Letty turned pale and narrowed her eyes.
"Why? Even Mr. Lorik acknowledged that I’m a panda bear!"
"That’s because you keep transforming into an animal just to eat bamboo shoots! Who would see you as a bear? Maybe as a new species like a pig-raccoon!"
Indeed, as Tinker pointed out, Letty's appearance as a red panda was not bear-like at all.
Even transforming into human form didn’t make the petite red panda beast resemble the majestic demeanor of a bear. However, the difference wasn’t noticeable enough to be overly suspicious.
"Just look at your plump belly! There’s no bear-like muscle at all."
Disheartened by Tinker’s sigh, Letty hurriedly transformed into human form and tried to tighten her stomach with all her might.
“Huff!”
But Tinker was a practical fairy.
Flying around Letty, the fairy scrutinized its critically and concluded it was only a matter of time before someone realized Letty wasn’t a bear.
"No matter how much you try to suck in your stomach, it’s still soft. At this point, it’s better to win over that son of theirs before your identity is revealed."
After all, Letty wasn’t here for the title of Grand Duchess of Grizzly. She needed the gem known as 'Tears of an Angel.'
"For now, it’s better to go meet the son. You can’t do anything if he hasn’t even seen you yet, right?"
Although Letty couldn’t fully grasp all of Tinker’s words, she understood one thing: impressing the son was crucial for becoming the Grand Duchess of Grizzly.
"I got it, Fairy."
Hiding Tinker in her pocket, Letty toddled down the hallway to find Lilia. Over the past ten days, Lilia had complied with all of Letty's requests—mostly for bamboo shoots.
"Nini!"
"Are you awake, Miss? Would you like some bamboo shoots?"
Does this woman see me as a pig-raccoon or what?
Firmly shaking her head, Letty spoke decisively in response to Lilia’s question.
"No. Letty wants to meet the son."
"The son? Oh, do you mean the Grand Duke’s son?"
For the first time, Lilia, who had always readily granted Letty's requests, showed a troubled expression.
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