Queen's Favor

Chapter 3

A few days passed without accidentally bumping into the corporate heir (she'd been able to identify his actual position after a bit of questioning coworkers) or breaking anything, including herself. For being such good pay, it was a pretty simple job.

And apparently one of the perks was getting to play with the friendly cat and all of her ludicrously expensive toys. Though most seemed to be regular cat toys with diamonds or other frivolous things meant to increase the price pointlessly. Well, it wasn't her money or her cat. She could hardly criticize someone for wasteful spending when that person had authorized a considerable paycheck for something that she'd have accepted less to do.

She planted her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room.

This was the beginning of her second week, which meant she no longer had a supervisor looking over her shoulder. If the penthouse had actually been difficult to clean in the time she'd been given they'd probably have kept two (or even three) people on it…but now that she'd gotten the hang of what this place required, there wasn't any need for two. And apparently there were a few nightmares on lower floors that could use all the help they could get.

She wouldn't thank a cat, but it was definitely fortunate that things worked out in a way to allow her not to need to deal with those.

So the master bedroom and the master bathroom were finished. There were still two guest rooms and a guest bathroom, as well as so many closets and two different offices. Well, most of those wouldn't be very unkempt. The kitchen and the living room were the worst, and usually that had much more to do with the white cat than the heir. If not for the cat, he'd almost not need a maid, in her opinion.

Except for the messy dishes he left all over the kitchen, anyway. He didn't seem to cook but it seemed like he couldn't decide where in the kitchen (or sometimes his small dining room) dishes went.

The sink.

That's where they went.

She shook her head and wandered toward the front room to collect her vacuum. She hated to work in wet clothes, so the dishes could wait. Elizabeth rolled around playing with some sort of feathered toy that reminded her more of a bird toy than a cat toy. The cat paused and looked up at her, meowing as she entered the room.

"It's not my break time yet. I've got this loud vacuum to use first."

The cat glanced at the machine in question briefly and then went back to its toy. Well, it could have been worse. At least her owner seemed understanding of maids who had no choice but to spook the feline with loud machines. Otherwise it would have been a far more difficult job.

As she made her way to the next room on her list, the front door rattled behind her.

But–it was only 10 am?

She turned quickly in surprise - last time the man hadn't had any issues with her finishing her job, and had even politely given her a drink before she'd left, but that didn't mean she should ignore him arriving at all.

…It certainly was not her employer.

"Oh!" The young man who stepped into the penthouse gave a little jump of surprise. "Ah, it's the maid!" He laughed and waved a hand toward the red vacuum she held in both hands. "I thought you were holding a weapon and ready to ambush me at first."

How could she have been waiting to ambush him when he didn't even knock?

He certainly didn't look like any of the employees she'd seen in the building - at least not the sorts who'd be allowed up in the penthouse when the owner of it was away. His clothes were so casual she'd expect him to have wandered in on the ground floor on accident except he couldn't have made it all the way to the penthouse on his own. And he didn't look lost.

He must have been a personal friend. Which…was interesting. How often did people as rich as her employer befriend people who looked like they'd rolled out of a bed in the clothes they were wearing somewhere in a suburban part of town?

With tacky tiger-striped glasses. Maybe he was actually a relative of some sort?

"I'm sorry, Mr. Han isn't home yet."

The man laughed again and nodded. "Exactly the plan!"

She frowned. "The plan?"

"Of course! Didn't Jumin - I mean, Mr. Han tell you?" He placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "I'm Darling Elly's cat-sitter! When he's away at work I keep her company!"

If that were so, it would explain why the cat seemed determined to make her that, since he wasn't around. But…

"I haven't seen or heard of you."

"That's because I was on vacation!" He adjusted the tacky glasses on his face and brushed away a few strands of his red hair that immediately got caught in the frames, before giving a confident thumbs-up. "But I'm here now, so don't worry! I'll keep Elly busy while you work, and I won't make a bigger mess for you!"

He really didn't seem outfitted like an employee…but if his job was playing with a cat, it wasn't like there was a uniform for that. And comfortable casual clothes that one wouldn't mind rolling around in and potentially getting damaged alongside dirty would be appropriate.

And considering the toys the cat was given and the general amount of pampering Elizabeth clearly received considering the rules usually employed for maids, having a cat sitter wouldn't be unreasonable. It also would explain why he'd made an exception for her cat interactions, if the usual entertainment were on vacation.

She squinted at him a few moments longer before sighing. "You'd better not make anything messier, or you'll be the one cleaning it up."

He immediately stood at attention and brought his hand up in a mock salute. "Orders received, Ma'am! I'll be extra good!"

…Well at least it would make the rest of her job easier if Elizabeth wasn't always a concern she needed to keep in mind.

She wandered off into one of the guest bedrooms as the red haired man started in toward the cat, chattering excitedly in something that didn't sound entirely like a human language.

The spare bedroom was one of Elizabeth's favorite places to prowl around, and it was mostly the only thing to fix about it. Things were knocked off of desks, the sheets were tugged on and mangled up by cat paws, and fur collected everywhere.

Still, it wasn't more than ten minutes before she'd finished. The next thing to do on her list was the guest bathroom, so a vacuum wouldn't be necessary for it. She wandered back from the room to the living room.

And dropped the vacuum in shock.

The so-called cat sitter spun in a circle in the middle of the room. It looked as if he held Elizabeth by her scuff with his mouth, but his hands were also holding her under her front legs, so maybe he wasn't?

….He probably was.

"What are you doing?!"

The man jumped again, and in his surprise dropped the cat. "Oh! Sir Maid!" He waved a hand in a vaguely dismissive, shaking his head. As Elizabeth bolted across the room away from him. "Nothing! Cat sitting business! We're just playing~!"

"That isn't playing!" Had he ever touched cats before?! Was he messing with her on purpose…?

If he wanted to do that, she would have rather that he came in and made things messy than traumatize the cat. Her employer would be less angry if she were behind schedule than if the cat were frazzled or injured.

He laughed and shook his head. "Well of course it's playing! I was being careful, and I'd never hurt Elly, I was just helping her be an airplane."

"You're not a cat sitter."

He looked offended, and he stumbled back a step, the light of the sun glinting on his glasses through the window. "I am a cat sitter! I'm certified."

"There's no way."

"It's definitely true!" He looked around the room then, and upon spotting the white cat lurking near its tree, lurched after it. "Come back, Elly!"

"No!"

It might have been a drastic action, but it was an urgent situation. If he terrified the cat and made her start shedding or stop eating or injured it, she'd be the one the blame fell on. She wouldn't lose her job over a weirdo who found his way into the penthouse, and she couldn't afford to go call security while he could still attack the cat.

So, really.

She didn't have any choice but to tackle him to the ground.

But he didn't have to scream so loudly when she did it, like it was that much of a surprise.