Episode 136
"Hoo..."
"Miss? Is something worrying you?"
At that time when the slave market's fervor was heating up due to various incidents and accidents.
"...No, it's nothing."
Serena, who had remained in the Academy dormitory, was having a conversation with her personal maid.
"It's, it's because of Frey again, isn't it! Again!"
"...Add 'nim' [honorific title]."
"Ha."
The maid, who had been getting annoyed at Serena's depressed appearance, started making an incredulous expression when Serena spoke in a low voice.
"Aigo... even the heavens are truly heartless. What exactly did our miss do wrong..."
"It's noisy."
"What is it? Surely you're not sulking, Serena-nim?"
"...I don't know."
When Serena, who had been sitting at her desk, turned her head while saying that, the maid made a mischievous expression and spoke.
"Do you hate it that much when I gossip about Frey 'nim'?"
"......."
"A man who, the moment Serena-nim approaches him, he's intimately fooling around with his secretary, a good-for-nothing who only has a handsome face and everything else is a complete dud—is he really that wonderful to you..."
"Stop it."
Serena tried to cut off the maid's words with a firm voice, but she didn't give in and still muttered with a mischievous expression.
"Recently a scandal with the Princess has come to light... there are rumors that a mage visits his room every single day... there are even witness accounts saying he was spotted on a date with the Saintess..."
"...You were the one who told me not to blindly trust information, weren't you?"
"So I verified it from multiple sources, and it's all true..."
"I haven't confirmed it myself, so it's not true."
When Serena maintained her attitude to the end, the maid's expression, which had been smiling until then, darkened.
"...Miss, do you remember when you were young?"
"I remember most things."
"I'm talking about the day Frey 'nim' first made you cry."
Serena's expression stiffened at those words.
"Do you know how much my heart ached that day?"
The maid who had cared for Serena since childhood, truly after a long time, cast aside her cheerfulness and began to speak quietly.
"At first it was good. When I saw you, who had lived like a machine without emotions while enduring all kinds of torture and training from the family, smile for the first time."
"...A smile?"
"I'm talking about the one-month anniversary of meeting Frey-nim."
"That would be... the time when Frey got all the problems I came up with correct."
As Serena said that and smiled a faint smile like that time, the maid sighed and spoke.
"Until that moment, I thought finally some fortune was coming to the young miss. But, it's about time you acknowledged it, isn't it?"
"What?"
"Please don't pretend not to know when you're such a smart person."
When Serena maintained silence at those words, the maid, who was reading her mood, cautiously opened her mouth.
"Since that day you cried, the 'Frey' you knew is no longer there."
"...Uhn."
When Serena flinched at those words, the maid made a serious expression and spoke.
"Now that the 'Secret Lord's' influence has somewhat faded, you should start looking for another match. You'll end up not being able to marry like this."
"I have no such intention."
"Really, look at me. I missed my marriage age and my future is bleak."
The maid who spoke in a self-mocking tone, seeing Serena's eyes beginning to waver, quickly started adding words.
"In the first place, what exactly about Frey is so good? That he's handsome? That he has money? Other men can sufficiently have those things too."
"........."
"Because of past memories? That's not love, that's holding onto attachment. Sometimes the past can hold you back, you know."
When Serena nodded at her serious words, the maid, clenching her fist, tried to stand up and shout but.
"Alright, then right now I'll immediately seek out a new groom candidate..."
"Guuuuuuuuuuu!!!"
"Hi, hieeek!!"
Suddenly an owl rushed at her, and she made a startled expression and climbed onto the bed, hiding her body under the blankets.
"I-I'm sorry! I won't do it! I don't know what I did wrong, but I'll apologize first!"
"Guu! Guuu!"
Eventually, the maid who was crawling and begging before the owl that had sat near her head and started watching for an opportunity, urgently began requesting help from Serena.
"Miss, please help me! Your pet is trying to kill me!!"
"...Come here."
"Guu!"
Then Serena reached out her hand and called the owl, and the fellow who had been making a fierce expression for a while and pecking at the blanket returned to her arm and started grooming his feathers.
"Serena-nim, I've always been curious... what exactly is that owl's identity?"
"It's a spirit."
"What!?"
She, who had been quietly observing the owl and then asked a question with an annoyed expression, started opening her eyes round at the unexpected answer.
"Th-that spirit...?"
"Yes, a spirit."
"Why haven't you told me that fact until now...?"
"...Did you ever specifically ask me to tell you?"
When the maid asked with a dazed expression, Serena answered with an expression asking why she would ask something like that.
"Well, but... do spirits actually exist? Is there any proof that thing is a real spirit?"
"The fact that it's excessively strong for an owl, the fact that wing sounds can be heard even though it's an owl, and the fact that it's incredibly smart. You can roughly deduce it from just these three things."
"No, what does that..."
"Anyway, let's put that story aside for now."
The maid who was about to argue how one could deduce from such things, hearing Serena's words, snapped back to attention and stood up from her seat again.
"Anyway! Please wait a moment, I'll quickly find a groom candidate..."
"It's fine."
"What?"
She started tilting her head after seeing Serena who was smiling at some point.
"I already have a groom candidate."
"...Really?"
The maid who had been smiling brightly at Serena's subsequent statement, cautiously approached her side and started asking questions.
"What kind of person is he? What's his status? His face? His wealth? His personality?"
Looking at her, Serena began to speak in a low voice.
"First, his status is high. He doesn't lose to me even in comparison."
"Oh..."
"And his face is... hmm."
Serena who stopped speaking for a moment, slightly blushed and continued speaking.
"He's frail, but cute and innocent. So, a feeling of wanting to protect him strongly arises? That kind of feeling."
"Ohhh...!"
"His wealth is also amazing. He's one of the richest people in the Empire."
Up to that point, the maid who had been making a moved expression, soon made a serious expression and asked the final question.
"Then... what about the most important 'personality'?"
"It's the best. Even if I search the whole world, there probably isn't anyone kinder than him."
When Serena answered with a pleased smile to the last question, the maid shed tears of emotion and rushed at Serena but.
"Miss...!"
"Uht-chah."
"...Ugh-geuk."
She who tried to hug Serena ended up falling on her bottom, pushed back by Serena's fan that suddenly rose from its place.
"Once I finish the work I'm doing this time, I'm going to somehow catch and discipline the Secret Lord."
"W-why suddenly?"
"Yes, and when I catch the Secret Lord..."
The maid who had been rubbing her buttocks while shedding tears.
"...I'm going to make a child with the person I mentioned."
"Hup."
When Serena whispered with an alluring smile, she unconsciously sucked in a breath.
"C-congratulations? But... isn't it too fast? Don't you need time to get to know each other better?"
"We've already spent such a long time together, there isn't much time left either."
"What do you mean... no wait, what about engagement? We should at least do the engagement first..."
"It doesn't matter."
The maid who felt like fire was on her feet due to Serena's bombshell statement, started sweating cold sweat as she tried to persuade her.
"Just wait a moment, you can't do that! Even if it's Frey, if you do that without even breaking off the engagement..."
"...Ha?"
But Serena let the maid's words go in one ear, staring blankly into space.
"What is that slut doing...?"
Serena's hand was.
Touching the moon-shaped ornament inserted in her hair, the same one attached to Frey's staff.
"Why can't our pet cat chase away even one uninvited guest from him?"
"Miss...?"
"Prepare the carriage, right now."
Serena who then removed her hand from the ornament, gave orders to the maid in a cold voice.
"...Understood."
The maid who had always been by her side, seeing Serena's attitude change, changed her attitude to be cold as well and left the room.
'Anyway, the miss found a new match. So, it worked out well.'
Inside, she was rejoicing that Serena had finally found a new partner.
It was a huge misunderstanding that occurred because the sun happened to set at the time she offered counsel to Serena.
"Guuu!"
"...Hmm?"
When the maid left the room to call a carriage, the owl started making cute crying sounds.
"My."
Serena who was looking at such an owl with her head tilted, saw the object placed on the owl's feet and colored with joy.
[Perloche's Diary!]
- Warning! Do not peek!
"...Good work. As a reward, I'll give you your favorite cookies."
Stroking the owl and looking at the cover of Perloche's diary written in cute handwriting, Serena was.
"He always carries it around with him usually, I wonder why he left his diary in the dormitory today?"
She tilted her head and muttered.
"Well, he is someone who goes back and forth quite a lot..."
Serena who had been thinking for a moment while staring at the diary, soon started skimming through the diary at a fast speed.
- Flip...!
"...'Half-blood demon', 'go to the basement', 'Dielsy'.
Reading the words here and there, Serena soon chuckled and muttered.
"You've done quite cute things in your diary?"
She hadn't even looked at the hints on the very last page of the diary, but she had already figured out how to find the hidden code.
"...Hmm?"
Serena who was flipping through the diary without hesitation, suddenly stopped flipping the diary.
○○ Year July 11th
Can you handle it?
In the July 11th entry, there was only the following sentence without any hidden code.
- Flip, flip, flip.
Serena who was flipping through the diary with a very tense expression, reached July 14th where there was nothing but blank pages afterwards.
"......!!!"
She froze in that spot.
"Miss, the carriage has come. You need to come down now..."
"Buy that carriage."
"What?"
Serena who had been standing still in that spot for a long time.
"I'll drive it myself at full speed."
"What do you..."
Pushing aside the maid who had a bewildered expression, she climbed into the driver's seat of the carriage and muttered.
"...Something I need to confirm as quickly as possible has come up."
After a while, one carriage started running at full speed through the Empire's streets where the sun had set.
.
- I succeeded in activating the Cabinet's magic. I increased the area and stability too. Then I'll start replicating the magic to all identical cabinets in the market districts now.
- We've engaged in battle with the Demon King's army that appeared in various parts of the slave market. No executives have appeared yet, but we have the advantage for now.
- As ordered, I and the combat executives are not intervening in the battle. As Frey-nim said, the sacrifice magic circle is the priority right now.
'Good, everyone's working hard.'
The operation is progressing successfully.
Irina and Klana are excellently performing their assigned roles, and the Demon King's army is barking up the wrong tree.
If it continues like this, I'll be able to save everyone this time too.
"...Khek."
"Krrr..."
However, I become slightly anxious because of this fox who has gone berserk and is strangling my neck.
Can't she strangle a little more gently? It should be enough to make my arm go numb by now.
"Eu..."
I had slight expectations, but the strangling force only grew stronger.
- Y-young master... Is it still, still far...?
In that situation, Kania's voice started flowing into my head.
The voice seems slightly faint, probably because the transmission state has become unstable from having her neck strangled.
'...If I don't react anymore. Immediately intrude and calm Miho down.'
- Y-yes, I understand... I'll do my best... sir.
'Always, thank you. Kania.'
- I too... love...
In that situation, I conveyed the sound transmission while maintaining my consciousness as straight as possible, and when the sound cut off, I started looking at Miho again.
"I, I just... just wanted to live more... just wanted to obtain freedom..."
Miho's strategy method is to nearly be killed by her.
To redirect the anger of a spirit beast that has gone berserk from being eroded by negative emotions entirely onto myself and faint—that's the clear method... truly befitting a damn trash game.
Of course, since she might not have fully poured out her emotions to me and could suck my vital energy, I took out insurance with Kania beforehand.
Irina and Klana have things they must do, and Kania is the most suitable for this kind of work.
When I first revealed the operation's identity, she was horrified and tried to stop me, but in the end, she sighed and agreed to follow the young master's will—for Kania who did so, I have nothing but infinite gratitude.
"Eu..."
Thinking such thoughts, my consciousness is becoming increasingly hazy.
"I... I a-am..."
Watching Miho who was falling into confusion, I deliberately made a pained expression and thrashed about.
".....Eu."
I grabbed her arm, trembled violently, and eventually lost consciousness.
- Creak...
The last thing I saw was, opening the waiting room door and entering...
"Frey!!"
"......!"
It was Perloche holding someone's hand.
...Huh?