The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 156
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 156
That’s problematic.
To summon Andert Pager? That’s an impossible request.
“Why do you hesitate?”
Well, because I am Andert Pager.
“My sibling would be troubled. Please give us time, Your Majesty. That child isn’t ready to reveal themselves to the world yet…”
“Is it because they’ve taken Raphael Jenail’s hand?”
I closed my mouth again.
“Did Duke Jenail say that? To use Count Vladiev as bait to draw out Princess Natasha? Is that why you spread rumors everywhere about being the sister of the hero Andert Pager?”
The Emperor coughed briefly and warned in a rough voice.
“I’ll let you meet Natasha as you wish. But Weatherwax Baroness, you cannot. Bring Count Vladiev before me.”
The Emperor rose slowly and stood before the inner wall door with a servant’s support.
“You said you need time, so I’ll give you two days. If the letter isn’t prepared by then, your sibling will come to clean up their sister’s corpse.”
With that cold warning, the Emperor left the dining room.
In the room where the Emperor and servants had departed, only the coldly cooled roast lamb, and me, an abandoned woman sitting blankly, remained.
Had about 10 minutes passed like that? I, who had been sitting dazedly, got up from my seat and pushed the dining room door.
But the door wouldn’t open.
Bang, bang!
The door the Emperor had used was the same. Whether magic was cast on it, even when I struck it with considerable force, the door didn’t budge. I had thought it strange that he enjoyed meals in such a small room, unbefitting the Emperor’s authority.
‘It was a scheme to imprison me from the start.’
What to do about this.
‘I need to get out eventually, even if not right now.’
The Emperor cannot be trusted. I don’t know what his purpose is, but starting with the fact that he threatened and imprisoned me, I couldn’t trust him at all.
Actually, being imprisoned wasn’t that important a fact. The problem was that it could disrupt my next plans.
‘It’s good that I have a justification to stay in the Imperial Palace. But if I can’t go outside, then what’s the point.’
Let’s wait for now. The Emperor might stop by once before going to sleep.
But no matter how long I waited, no signs of human presence could be heard near the room. It felt like an hour had passed, but experience tells me the actual time is three times that. In other words, about 3 hours had likely passed.
Just as I was starting to wonder if I should use the letter the Head Maid had prepared for me.
Click.
The sound of a door handle turning came from the entrance I had entered through.
‘The Emperor?’
That scoundrel, his patience is shorter than he looks! I thought it was an appropriate opportunity, but the person who opened the door and entered wasn’t who I expected.
“I came because I smelled the nostalgic scent of lamb at this late hour.”
Blue hair that shone softly under the chandelier light. Dressed in a light black silk gown as if staying in his own bedroom, with an atmosphere so relaxed it seemed out of place.
“Were you planning to enjoy all this food by yourself? You’re quite greedy.”
Lu closed the door and entered, taking the seat where I had been sitting. Then he smiled brightly while holding the fork I had been using.
“You look pretty today, Daisy. Such beauty is too much for someone dealing with a dying patient.”
Lu, who had stabbed and tasted the cold lamb scattered on the plate, wrinkled his brow severely.
“This tastes absolutely terrible.”
I often think this.
Wasn’t Lu born for me?
Otherwise, he couldn’t appear like a prince at every moment of crisis like this. If such a Lu wasn’t born for me, then it must surely be heaven’s mistake.
But even if it’s a mistake, that’s fine. Then our connection would be a meeting that defied fate. Originally, fate gains value the moment it loses value. Like the Emperor’s words that you must gain illegitimate power to become wary of that power.
Sitting next to Lu as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, I praised him with the most serious attitude of my life.
“Lu is the best.”
Lu affirmed indifferently as always.
“I know.”
“Even imperial cuisine can’t compare to the food Lu makes.”
“Of course it should be that way. Though it looks like you’ve almost finished all of it for such food.”
I stretched long and stood up again.
“Mmm! Good, shall we go now?”
“You’ve memorized the map perfectly, right?”
“Yeah. It’s my specialty.”
I memorized it tediously on the front lines. Thanks to that, I know the geography of the Empire’s south inside and out.
“What’s the operation name?”
Operation name? I hadn’t thought of such a thing.
“【Too Many Carrots in the Garnish】.”
“That’s average. You shouldn’t be picky with food.”
The dinner with the Emperor.
To explain now, this dinner was merely a secondary objective. The most important business was to find the biological experiment lab that might be located in the Imperial Palace. And to steal Mephistopheles’ heart.
‘If I ransack the house, eventually Natasha, the homeowner, will have no choice but to appear.’
Anyway, confirming Natasha’s condition was an essential process for maintaining my life. Only then could I clearly decide whether to receive the transfer of Dian Ket’s legacy owned by the Weatherwax Baroness, or steal it.
We left the dining room and moved carefully outside.
The first destination was a secret space prepared near the rear storehouse of the manor. The passage was so narrow that it would be difficult for both of us to enter.
I whispered while hiding in the shadows next to the back door.
“Lu, I’ll check this side alone and come out…”
“Check and come out?”
Gasp. I reflexively drew in a sharp breath. Because I heard a question that shouldn’t have been heard.
A brief chill ran down my back, and even without turning my head, I could see the other person’s face. So, the owner of this voice is definitely…
“…Hello?”
“It’s not hello.”
Raphael.
“Strange. You should be enjoying dinner with His Majesty the Emperor at this time. Why are you out here?”
Cold eyes pierced my skin like arrows. His face, asking about my business without any consideration, showed an expression that wouldn’t listen to my greeting even with the back of his ear.
This is a predicament.
Of all people, to encounter the stubborn Raphael? I turned my head to look at Lu. His smile was so brilliantly sunny it nearly blinded me. A smile ready to slaughter the opponent at any moment if permission was given.
“Destroying evidence?”
That’s not it.
‘…Wait.’
Couldn’t this actually be an opportunity? A chance to move together with a human weapon armed with combat experience. I quickly revealed the truth.
“That scoundrel imprisoned me.”
Raphael’s expression hardened stiffly.
“Imprisoned?”
“He said he’d show me Natasha if I brought Andert, then suddenly locked me alone in the dining room and disappeared. While threatening to turn me into a corpse if I refused.”
Raphael’s gaze still held deep suspicion. This bastard, can’t he even trust his comrade’s words?
“It’s not a lie. I swear on my remaining lifespan.”
“…”
“Why do you keep looking at me like that? I’m telling you it’s true.”
“…As I’ve said before, you need to be a bit more serious when talking about such important matters.”
“I’m always serious. You’re staying in the Imperial Palace with such situations in mind too, aren’t you?”
Raphael, who had been pondering deeply, let out a heavy sigh.
“I did have it in mind, but I didn’t expect him to move so directly. For now… you should return to Midwintry. I’ll resolve this matter on my end…”
“What are you talking about? This is just the beginning. We met at the perfect time. Help me out, Raphael. I need to find a biological experiment lab in the Imperial Palace.”
As soon as I made the proposal, both men’s questions came simultaneously.
“A biological experiment lab? What are you talking about?”
“Why should we get involved with this?”
Lu and Raphael’s gazes clashed in mid-air.
Cold sweat ran down my back once more. Fortunately, their staring contest didn’t last long. Raphael, who withdrew his gaze first, scolded my proposal.
“…I don’t know where you got such strange information, but it’s pointless. There’s nothing in the Imperial Palace. I thoroughly searched this area using the hunting festival as an excuse, but couldn’t find any traces. It was likely moved elsewhere by magic.”
It’s not like I hadn’t had such doubts myself.
When I was forcibly fed information about the Imperial Palace’s structure by the Head Maid, I had felt a faint doubt about her logic.
“Raphael must have examined the entire area around the Imperial Palace. If he still hasn’t found the laboratory, doesn’t that mean the laboratory isn’t in the Imperial Palace?”
“It’s impossible for an outsider to check the entire Imperial Palace. Only the imperial family knows the secret passages of the Imperial Palace, and the surviving imperial family members of this generation are just His Majesty the Emperor, Natasha, myself, and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince.”
“That’s all? Are the rest dead?”
“Yes. Our generation had an unusually large number of siblings. The Empress position changed three times due to unfortunate circumstances. From childhood, we were caught up in the adults’ power struggles, desperately trying to devour each other, and after a bloody storm during wartime, the number of dead siblings easily surpassed the number of living ones. In fact, Brother Ashneike and I surviving was close to luck. We avoided disaster by fleeing from the Imperial Palace.”
“….”
“So coincidentally, after I disappeared, no one else in Ragal knows the secret passages of the Imperial Palace except His Majesty the Emperor and Natasha.”
Instead of a lengthy explanation, I showed Raphael the letter the Head Maid had prepared for me.
“Check this out.”
Raphael tore open the letter without hesitation and quickly read through the text.
“…Inastasha Milliorg Pen Rota? You don’t mean that Princess Inastasha, do you?”
“That’s our Head Maid.”
Raphael slowly raised his head and glared at me with a thoroughly distorted expression. It was a look that said ‘what kind of bullshit is that?’
“The situation is complicated, so just accept it roughly. The point is that this information came from royalty, so it’s not useless false information, and if you have a brain, you should move with me. Got it?”
Next was the turn to persuade our thoroughly displeased mage.
“And Lu, wanting to move together with Raphael is to prepare for any contingencies. He’s in the same position as me, looking for Natasha, and he has solid power too. Currently, knights who share his cause are stationed throughout the Imperial Palace. We’ll be able to move much more comfortably in many ways.”
“Aha. I don’t like it.”
“Sorry.”
Raphael crumpled the letter and snapped at me.
“Who gave you the authority to make such a decision?”
Was it because I was being held back in such an urgent situation? Irritation suddenly surged up.
“It’s my own decision, so what’s your problem? If you don’t like it, don’t interfere and just stay here quietly counting stars. Or let’s have a fair fight.”
When I took a stance to draw my sword (though all I did was bring my hand to my pearl earring), Raphael slowly shook his head and sighed again.
“Fine. Whatever it is, it would be more comfortable to confirm it with my own eyes. I’ll accept your proposal, so guide me to the laboratory, Andert. No… Daisy Weatherwax.”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————