I had completely forgotten that he was a young nobleman, not to mention the next Duke. He probably hadn’t seen a rag in his life, let alone knew what to do with one. Of course, I hadn’t done much hard labor in this life, but my past life’s memories counted as experience.
“What are you two talking about?” Benya asked his brother, coming closer to where we stood.
“Sasha was talking about cleaning up the library,” Lettice explained.
Benya frowned in confusion. “How? We can’t call in servants to clean it.”
Apparently, cleaning was some sort of servant magic for these two. I felt a sudden urge to destroy such naivety.
I pointed to myself. “You already have a servant here—me. I think I can do it if you two help me clean. We’ll be staying here for a while. Don’t you want to spend less time being bored?” I smiled as I suggested it to them and confidently patted my chest.
They were clearly surprised at my suggestion, but the innocent boys agreed in the end. Before I went to bed that night, I left a memo on the tray cart, asking for cleaning supplies.
It took us a few days to clean the spacious library, and we didn’t even clean it thoroughly. We only swept the dusty floors and desks and cleaned the walls and shelves up to where we could reach. The sturdy ladders Benya had tested out beforehand were a great help when scrubbing the high areas.
The boys’ teamwork was so good it was hard to imagine that they had almost fought a few days ago. Lettice learned how to wipe and dust while Benya went back and forth with buckets, bringing in clean water and pouring out the dirty bucketfuls. I was surprised at how fast they learned.
Also, since both brothers were stronger than me, the cleaning results were better than I expected.
“Do you see my superb cleaning skills? This is the majestic aura of the Cervantes heir.” Lettice boasted, puffing up his chest.
“Your dignity seems to have been tainted. How our name has fallen…” Benya taunted, clicking his tongue at his brother’s proud attitude.
“What does that say about you, then?!” Lettice shot back.
Our last burst of energy came when we competed against one another on who could clean better. I gave it my all, but I couldn’t win against two boys who seemed to have a natural talent for cleaning. I had experience, but it failed to win over theirs.
“ACHOO!! Ugh, why is my nose so itchy? I’m not ill, am I?” Benya complained, scratching the tip of his nose.
“It’s not an illness, it’s just the dust in your nose.” His brother patiently explained.
“The dust is making me sneeze? Huh, never heard of that. How strange.”
It was stranger to see Lettice and Benya crawling around with their sleeves rolled up, wiping the floor like servants. It was amusing, but also saddened me a bit, but most of all, I was proud of them.
“I want to wipe the top of the bookshelves too.” Benya suddenly spoke up.
“But there’s no way to clean up there.” I frowned.
“I can use the ladder to get up there and crawl over the shelves.” He replied, already looking for a ladder.
“What? No, it’s too dangerous.” I tried to stop him, but he ignored my plea and went up the ladder.
I secretly suspected Benya was a circus member in a past life.
“Whew! This would be a great place to sleep!”
… Or maybe a cat.
“Sasha, why don’t you come up here? Lettice is a coward, so I won’t even ask him.” Benya’s voice came from above us, the taunt as sharp as if he was standing right in front of us and smirking.
Lettice did not disappoint his brother.
“Who are you calling a coward!” He yelled and immediately started climbing the steps.
I hurried to grab him, worried. “Stop arguing! Lettice! Stop!”
Just as Lettice was about to follow Benya’s risky antics, Estelle came in. She glanced around the half-cleaned library, probably wondering what we were doing in here for so long. Then, to my consternation, her eyes focused on Benya, who was staring at us from the top of the bookshelf.
I fervently hoped she didn’t say…
“Can I go up?”
“Estelle!” I half-screamed, shocked. This was Estelle, who was afraid of heights!
To think that this boring life in confinement could change a person to this extent! This was dangerous!
* * *
The efforts spent on cleaning the library paid off after a few days of hard work, sweat, dust, and fatigue. The library was tidied to a level incomparable to its original state, and the sight made us proud and satisfied with our hard work.
The cleaned window allowed some sunlight in, and while the floor squeaked here and there, this hiding place was now a playground. We finally had a place to kill some time aside from mealtimes.
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We spent a while running around, just like we used to when we were younger. Even Estelle was in high spirits, wandering around the bookshelves curiously.
But after half a day passed…
“I feel suffocated.” She mumbled tiredly.
However clean the library was now, it didn’t change the fact that we were confined in a tower. It was an immense change to when we could roam around the enormous Cervantes manor freely.
“It can’t be helped. Let’s focus on the knowledge we can accumulate from here. After all, where else would we have the chance to read so many books?” Lettice sighed, the playfulness of a few moments ago had disappeared from his face.