The Little Maid!

Time rewound to two hours earlier. As usual, Regan woke up as early as the maids and was responsible for supervising their work.

After another round, he saw that the maids were all diligently working and nodded in satisfaction. It seemed he wasn't failing in his duties as the butler of the Griffin Family.

However, Regan soon spotted a small head peeking out intermittently at the Viscount's mansion entrance.

Regan walked over curiously and then clearly saw it was the little girl, Melly, whom the young master had brought home yesterday.

Regan wondered, Didn't I send her home yesterday? Why is she back today?

"What are you doing here?" Regan asked, frowning. Although this little girl was the young master's guest, he fundamentally felt that these commoners were not worthy of interacting with the young master.

Melly shrunk her head back fearfully. This old man with a white beard didn't seem friendly like a big brother at all.

"Are you looking for the young master?"

Melly shook her head like a rattle, "No, Melly is here to play with Yuna."

As the Viscount's butler, Regan had all fifteen maids' names memorized. He naturally knew Yuna was the black-haired cook, whose food the young master quite liked.

"Yuna? She's still working and can't play with you," Regan said, wanting to make Melly give up the idea early and stop hanging around the entrance.

"Oh." Melly nodded her little head and then asked, "When will she finish working?"

Regan rubbed his temples with a headache and explained, "Even when she's finished working, she won't play with you."

"Why? Yuna played with Melly for a long time after she finished work yesterday," Melly asked curiously, her big eyes wide.

This child is so annoying, Regan thought, rubbing his head in distress.

"She's very busy with her work and doesn't have time to play with you," Regan said, wanting to make Melly give up the idea early.

"Oh." Melly drooped her head dejectedly.

Regan thought the other party would finally give up and hadn't even let out a sigh of relief when Melly asked again, "Can Melly wait here?"

"Whatever you want," Regan said, flicking his hand and leaving the area.

Regan returned to the Viscount's mansion and began checking all the work within the mansion to ensure the young master could have a comfortable breakfast when he woke up.

However, while working, he couldn't help but think of the little girl still waiting at the entrance, which soon threw his heart into disarray.

She can't still be waiting there, right? That shouldn't be the case; anyone else would have left by now.

Still wondering, Regan quietly walked to the living room entrance again, concealing himself and cautiously peeking.

In front of the Viscount's mansion gate.

Melly looked down at the small stones at her feet, her hands behind her back, gently kicking them with her feet. After a while, she squatted down and drew strange patterns on the ground with her finger, occasionally looking up towards the inside of the Viscount's mansion, wanting to see if there were any other changes inside.

Regan watched from the side for about ten minutes, and Melly still showed no signs of leaving.

Sighing, Regan walked over anyway.

"Why are you still here?" he asked. Compared to before, his tone had softened considerably.

Melly shrunk her neck and took a step back. She was a little afraid of this old man with a white beard and said in a low voice, "Didn't you say Melly could stay here?"

"..."

Regan touched his face. Wasn't I that scary?

"I meant, why aren't you staying at home?"

"There's no one to play with Melly at home. Big Brother went to the military camp for training, and Mom and Dad don't let Melly help in the fields, so Melly came to find Yuna to play with."

"What about the other children in your village?"

"They are all older than Melly and don't want to play with me. Big Brother used to take me to play, and now Yuna is the only one willing to play with Melly."

Hearing Melly's words, Regan felt a bit of pity for the little girl and hesitated whether to let her in. However, without the young master's permission, he technically shouldn't let just anyone into the Viscount's mansion.

But then again, she was a guest invited by the young master yesterday, so it would be reasonable for him to invite her in.

While Regan was deliberating, Melly suddenly asked, "Old Grandpa, what do you do in the Viscount's mansion?"

Hearing this, Regan couldn't help but puff out his chest. "I am the butler of the Viscount's mansion!"

"Butler?" Melly tilted her head. "What's that?"

Regan gritted his teeth, thinking about how to explain, and finally said, "Anyway, it's very important. I hired Yuna."

"Really! Wow!" Melly's eyes lit up. "Then you are indeed very impressive."

Hearing someone praise him so directly, Regan couldn't help but feel happy. Normally, no one could make him show off like this, and children's praise was always sincere and unadulterated, which made him even more excited and happy.

"Of course," Regan said proudly, almost tilting his head back. Being the butler of the Griffin Family was the proudest thing in his life.

Melly hopped in front of Regan, attracting his attention. She held out her two small hands and pointed at herself with her index fingers. "Butler Grandpa! Look at Melly, can Melly be a maid in the Viscount's mansion?"

As she said this, Melly's eyes were full of anticipation, her big eyes staring straight at Regan.

"Ah, this..." Regan was momentarily stumped.

At first, he did have a prejudice against Melly, this "mud-legged child," but during their conversation, that bit of prejudice slowly disappeared. Although Claire's usual actions influenced him, Melly's behavior didn't evoke any dislike in Regan's heart. After all, who could dislike a well-behaved and cute little girl?

Melly pouted and said, "Melly wanted to apply for a maid position before, but Big Brother said I was too young and definitely couldn't do it. Since Butler Grandpa is in charge of hiring maids, can you see if Melly can become a maid in the Viscount's mansion?"

Regan stroked his white beard and thought for a moment. It was just a sentence, and it would make this little girl happy, so why not?

"Of course," he said, "I think you'll become an excellent maid when you grow up."

"Yay!" Melly jumped up happily.

Regan, watching from the side, couldn't help but smile, feeling infected by her joy. This child wasn't so annoying after all.

"Here, a candy for you!" Melly excitedly took a lollipop from her pocket and placed it in Regan's hand, a hint of reluctance on her face. "This was supposed to be for my mom yesterday, but she said she didn't like it and told me to eat it myself."

"Then why did you give it to me?" Regan stared blankly at the lollipop in his hand.

"I was going to eat it, but then I thought Yuna probably hasn't tried one, so I wanted to give it to her. But Melly couldn't get in, and Yuna couldn't come out. The butler grandpa just said I could be a maid, so Melly will give this candy to you as a reward!"

"A reward?" Regan murmured. He hadn't heard that word directed at him in a long time.

"Yeah, whenever I'm good, Mom buys me brown sugar as a reward. Now Melly has candy too, so it's a reward for you, butler grandpa."

Looking at the innocent and radiant little girl, Regan couldn't help but clench his hand holding the lollipop, a smile returning to his face.

Melly looked up at the sky. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was already faintly brightening. She then patted her slightly dirty clothes.

"What are you going to do?" Regan asked.

"Melly is going back," Melly replied, tidying her clothes.

"Aren't you going to wait anymore?" Regan felt a strange sense of urgency.

Melly looked up at Regan, confused, her gaze as if looking at an idiot.

"Didn't you say Yuna wouldn't come out to play with Melly no matter how long Melly waited here? Melly already gave you the candy, so of course Melly has to go back. Otherwise, Mom won't find me and will poke my head again."

"This..."

After tidying her clothes, Melly turned to leave.

"Wait!" Regan suddenly called out, reaching out a hand.

"Huh?" Melly turned back, confused. "I only have that one candy left."

"No, that... do you want to go inside?" Regan pointed towards the Viscount's mansion.

Melly's eyes lit up. "Can I go in?!"

"Yes, consider it... an early experience of being a maid."

"A little maid?!"

"You could say that, but there's no salary. However, meals will be provided."

"Yay! Thank you, butler grandpa!"

"My name is Regan..."

"Thank you, Grandpa Regan!"

Regan put on a stern face again, just like he did with the maids, and walked into the Viscount's mansion first. "Don't just stand there, come in."

"Yippee yippee yippee!" Melly followed behind, waving her hands excitedly.

Regan, walking ahead, revealed a happy smile in a place Melly couldn't see. If he had a granddaughter, she would probably be about this age.

Changed the cover, doesn't it look much better, hehehe! Oh, right, after signing the contract, there will be two updates a day. Don't forget to vote after you finish reading!