The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 149

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 149

The Swordmaster owns it?

I’d rather the Emperor owned it. The thought of having to extort my final inheritance from that cunning snake already made me mentally and physically exhausted just imagining it.

“This item will be delivered directly to the Weatherwax Family Town House. Would that be acceptable?”

“…Yes, thank you.”

I let out a long sigh and nodded, and the servant organized the box before climbing back into the carriage.

As if trying to move secretly, the rather shabby-looking carriage crossed the bridge and disappeared toward the main gate.

Now comes the crucial part.

Dian Cecht’s cage was already scheduled to come to me, but the conversation I had to have with Raphael from now on wouldn’t be easy at all.

How should I start?

Something like ‘Shall we walk for a bit?’ would be appropriate. As I turned around while drawing various scenarios in my head, Raphael was already looking at me. His gaze carried a hint of shallow contemplation.

“Do you have something to say?”

“No.”

“That’s a lie. You have the eyes of someone with something to say. Speak comfortably.”

“…I thought sister would choose Duke Jilhark.”

It was an answer that neatly cut off the preceding and following sentences, but what it meant was clear.

Earlier too, it seems he was subtly concerned about my first dance partner. I must have been quite marked as a liar.

“Why would I choose that old man? It was originally decided that I’d dance with you anyway.”

“He’s not someone with an impulsive nature. He wouldn’t have asked sister for the first dance without having something to rely on, so I thought some words must have been exchanged while I was unaware.”

Sharp guy.

“What conversation did you have with Duke Jilhark?”

Raphael was putting subtle pressure on me using Dian Cecht’s cage as bait. If I wanted to take it without any trouble, I should honestly reveal everything.

Psychologically, when a goal is revealed right in front of someone, they tend to run their mouth easily. That must be what Raphael wanted too.

“Sister.”

Well, it’s not really something I need to hide anyway. I obediently opened my mouth at his urging.

“He told me to abandon you and come to him.”

A rather self-deprecating smile appeared on Raphael’s sharp jaw.

“Of course, Duke Jilhark was particularly fond of Andert, so it’s not strange.”

Thanks to that, my tongue stiffened slightly.

Since the hunting festival, he often made remarks equating me with Andert. Yet his actions were thoroughly those of someone treating Andert’s sister, and the gap between the two made my head very complicated.

“Right, that’s what happened. He said the reason he’s so persistently courting me is also because he wants talent.”

“Will you go to him?”

I, who was about to vehemently deny it, decided to ask a slightly different question instead.

“Raphael, do you really think the Swordmaster is truly the Emperor’s sword?”

What is the Swordmaster’s real purpose?

Regarding demons, the royal family, and biological experiments, the Swordmaster’s attitude is just lukewarm. In some ways he seemed similar to Lu, who was well-versed in all matters, but if you looked closely, they weren’t entirely similar.

The Swordmaster is hiding something.

I suspect the identity of the secret he holds is very closely related to me and the royal family. Otherwise, he couldn’t be so favorable toward me.

“If you want to ask whether he really led the resurrection experiments together with Princess Natasha, I can’t be certain. Duke Jilhark is someone who always walks his own arbitrary and independent path. I simply consider him an enemy based on his position and various suspicious circumstances.”

It was a very Raphael-like answer.

“May I ask a question now?”

I nodded somewhat tensely.

“Who is Count Alpen Sereniye?”

“…”

“Upon investigation, Baron Markov’s injury was not caused by a demon. Moreover, the actual severity of the injury was very minor compared to what we estimated by eye. But coincidentally, at this very time today, all the military doctors with combat experience who were serving in Ragal had gone on unscheduled commendation leave. The orders from above were incorrectly transmitted. As a result, it took considerable time to find the nearest residing military doctor, visit for examination, and recall all the military doctors.”

So that’s why it took 2 hours to return to the banquet hall.

“The people inside the banquet hall might not know, but all the soldiers currently stationed at the Imperial Palace are on high alert. Operations are also underway in preparation for an attack.”

“…”

“I don’t know how much the opponent underestimated me, but I’m someone who rolled around with demons on the battlefield for 10 years. That means I have enough of an eye to distinguish between fabricated injuries and real ones.”

Did Lu really underestimate Raphael?

I don’t think so. There’s no way Lu, who’s a demigod, would create something like a ‘foolish fake injury.’ Unless it was intentional to let the opponent notice and mock them.

‘Sigh.’

It seems Lu was trying to prevent Raphael from returning to the banquet hall at all.

But Raphael resolved the situation faster than he expected and returned to the banquet hall.

“Don’t tell me it’s because of sister?”

Probably because he guessed it happened because of me.

“…I guarantee that there was no intention to disturb or attack the Imperial Palace.”

“I thought so.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to warn him properly to refrain from such acts in the future…”

“The one who personally returned the handkerchief lent to sister was also that man, wasn’t it?”

You knew? When I looked at him with surprised eyes, Raphael’s gaze became even colder.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? He’s quite good at pretending to be innocent, showing off his power in front of me as if to warn me. So who exactly is that man?”

I don’t want to lie to Raphael anymore.

But if the subject of the question is Lu, it inevitably becomes awkward for me in many ways.

I absolutely cannot reveal to Raphael that Lu is the Caliphate of Loqwe and a demigod. If it were something that could be revealed, Lu wouldn’t have bothered to move under the identity of Count Sereniye.

Moreover, the fact that Lu is Count Sereniye of Astrosia wasn’t false. It’s just an external identity that Lu uses.

In the end, there was only one truth I could tell Raphael.

“He is… my benefactor.”

Once I said it out loud, it was such a meager answer that even I felt frustrated.

Raphael’s reaction was naturally not good either.

“Don’t tell me that’s the end? Without any explanation of what kind of benefactor he is or why he’s precious to you?”

I tried to add a separate explanation belatedly, but Raphael didn’t allow my excuses.

“That question just now seems stupid even to me. What’s there to be surprised about? To you, I’m exactly that level of existence. In the past, now, and probably in the future too.”

“Raphael.”

His face, which had always been straight and upright, was distorted for the first time.

“Haven’t you ever thought, even once, that you should come find me?”

At his calm reproach without even a ripple, my words were completely blocked.

“Now I don’t know what’s truth and what’s lies. Are you really in mortal danger? No, are you even alive in the first place? Isn’t that shell also fake? During the 10 years we spent together, which parts were real? Don’t tell me even your death was just a deception…”

“No. No, Raphael. Absolutely not!”

I calmly grabbed Raphael’s arm. But Raphael’s body, hard as a rock, didn’t budge at all.

“Let me apologize first, Raphael. I’m truly sorry. But I swear to heaven that I never once tried to look down on you. Deception? I’d rather wish that were…”

“No?”

His arm roughly knocked away my hand. Soon it strongly gripped my wrist that was wandering aimlessly in the air.

“If not, then why did you deceive me?”

His crumbling emotions relentlessly pressed down on me. The uniform jacket that had slipped from his shoulder fell to the ground, but no one paid attention.

“If not… why did you abandon me?”

That was definitely a sense of betrayal.

Raphael’s fierce indignation traveled through my captured wrist and stabbed my heart. My wrist bone hurt as if it would shatter. It was a dizzying pain that made the back of my neck tingle, but I gritted my teeth and endured it. I didn’t want to use the weak woman’s body as a shield to reject that anger.

He said through gritted teeth.

“Tell me, Andert. You abandoned me. Can you say you didn’t?”

“I… you…”

Along with my answer, a very small groan that I had been holding back leaked out.

Did he notice that moment? Raphael, who had been stiffly frozen like a broken doll, very slowly released his hand.

His bloodshot eyes swayed violently like scattered flower petals. His gaze was fixed on the red marks left on my wrist. When I hurriedly hid my hand behind my back, Raphael took a rough breath and closed his eyes deeply before opening them.

His lips parted as if to say something.

But they soon closed again.

And only after a long while did they slowly open.

“…This confusing emotion I feel from you is unbearably disgusting. So never again.”

As if swallowing his rage, Raphael bit his lips hard and warned in a low, sunken voice.

“Never appear before me again, Andert.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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