The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 162

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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 162

Whoooosh.

The sea breeze of Quin Island blew.

This wind, properly mixed with the saltiness of seawater and the freshness of the ocean, was the greatest catalyst for reviving my memories of Quin Island.

Lu sat on the steep cliff, his back to a small stone grave, gazing at the sea.

His fluttering clothes and hair that had grown a bit longer than now, covering the nape of his neck, reminded me of Lu from 14 years ago. Unlike Lu, I was dressed in the ordinary women’s clothing I wore when staying at Weatherwax.

This is a lucid dream.

From opening my eyes until just before falling asleep, I thought about Lu all day, so perhaps that’s why he appeared in my dream…

“Huh?”

What?

I was definitely standing on the beach. Why did I suddenly move to the top of the cliff? While looking around in bewilderment, the back of Lu’s head caught my eye.

‘Is this really a lucid dream?’

All my senses were strangely vivid and clear for something I considered a dream. This kind of ‘dream’ feeling was a first in my life.

What if Lu’s consciousness had come to visit my dream?

“…Could it really be you, Lu?”

He turned his head toward me for the first time. His eyes, soaked in boredom, had a quite different atmosphere from the Lu I knew.

“Do you need an explanation? To be precise, I am the power sleeping within you.”

Lu’s power sleeping within me.

‘Could he be talking about that power that turned back time?’

That means it’s still Lu after all.

“Lu!”

My goodness, it really was him!

I embraced Lu with both arms spread wide. His solid body maintained its balance without budging, but no matter how long I waited, I couldn’t feel the warmth of him embracing me back.

I slowly released the embrace.

Lu still had eyes like he was looking at a stranger he’d never met.

‘…Somehow it feels dry and emotionless. Is it because he’s Lu’s power?’

Lu and Lu’s power.

I vaguely understood the difference between the two. But perhaps because the ‘power’ before my eyes wore Lu’s face? It was hard to accept his cold attitude. I sat beside him and quietly asked about things I’d been curious about while gazing at the distant horizon.

“Is Lu’s consciousness awake?”

“Half is unconscious and half is not.”

“Can’t we prevent him from completely becoming a god?”

“No.”

“Did I really die in the underground laboratory?”

“Even gods cannot bring back the dead.”

“…”

“…”

“I’m sorry things turned out this way because of me, Lu. I think I now understand why you always described me as ‘fragile.'”

Lu turned his head and answered in a slightly clearer tone than before.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. I don’t resent you. Becoming a god has been my destiny for a long time.”

Was that something he could say because the Lu before me wasn’t Lu himself, but a conceptual existence called power?

‘The real Lu threatened that he absolutely couldn’t bear to watch me age without him.’

Lu’s power is divine power. Divine power could be seen as pure reason itself, excluding all emotions and human thoughts.

From that perspective, the being before me was no different from Lu’s reason.

“Did you come to my dream to comfort me?”

“No, because of a promise I made with myself.”

“You and Lu? What kind of promise did you make?”

“It was a promise prepared for emergencies. From this moment on, you and I will have three opportunities to practice.”

“What kind of practice?”

“Practice for farewell.”

The terrible word made my throat tighten. That damned Lu, who knew nothing of my feelings, spoke with a confident attitude.

“I am free now, Ash Pager.”

I was about to scold him not to call me by that name. But my lips wouldn’t part.

What practice?

Practice for farewell?

“I’m simply walking the path I’ve long postponed. By saving you, I’ve essentially freed myself from the greatest shackle that bound me…”

“Sorry, but Lu. I have no intention of practicing such things with you.”

Lu looked at me silently. His annoyingly insensitive gaze completely stirred up the anger I’d been holding back.

“And sorry once more, but I will live as the shackle that binds you for the rest of my life! Got it?”

“That’s impossible.”

“Shut up. You said there are three times left, right? Watch carefully from now on. I’ll make you consider spouting such embarrassing nonsense in front of me as lifelong shame!”

I stood up abruptly and walked toward the stone grave with my back to him.

What? Practice for farewell? Is that something you should be saying to me right now? You divorce after marriage, and you break up after starting a relationship with a love confession! At most, we’ve only confirmed that we have feelings for each other…

After fuming for a while, I shouted at Lu, who was being tactlessly quiet.

“What are you doing? I’m busy, so don’t delay and hurry up and wake me up!”

With the waves crashing over the cliff as the last thing I saw, my vision flickered to black.

After waking from the lucid dream, I greeted the sleeping Lu good morning, then used the golden key borrowed from Skuld (which originally belonged to Lu, I was told) to return to Weatherwax Manor.

The sun was already high in the sky. Sunlight poured into the corridor from the clear sky without rain clouds. Standing at the end of it, staring at me blankly, was Jin.

“Baroness… Andert… No, Knight Pager… Count Bladief?”

She who had been muttering something to herself bowed her head when I approached.

I could feel her nervousness even through my skin, so I deliberately spoke in a gentler tone.

“Jin, how is the Head Maid? Is she okay?”

“…Yes, she’s fine.”

Fortunately, Jin didn’t go crazy like the Head Maid.

“Then call the Head Maid and Malicops to my room right away. And Jin, you come to my room too. I have something to say about future schedules.”

“Schedules, you say?”

Jin’s eyelids trembled as she looked up at me.

“Yes. From today, I need to become the hottest celebrity in the Empire.”

“I don’t understand what you mean, but understood. Please wait a moment.”

Jin bowed with wooden puppet-like stiff movements and began creaking down the stairs.

‘I don’t understand. The inside is the same and only the shell is different, so why are they all acting so unfamiliar?’

Tsk. How uncomfortable.

I was about to return to my room when Jin shouted loudly, “Th-there!” She wiped cold sweat with the back of her hand and shouted.

“When I bring the Head Maid and Malicops… please give me your autograph!”

And then she ran away.

The next day.

The Pen Rota Empire began buzzing about the existence of a masked returning hero.

* * *

『The Masked Returning Hero, Who Is He?』

This newspaper headline.

Not bad.

【…This man, currently staying as a guest at Weatherwax Manor, called himself a ‘returning hero.’ Moreover, as all the invited guests had secretly hoped, he showed aspects similar to ‘that person.’ Not only did he display skilled eloquence toward the reporters, but he also answered difficult questions with light humor, captivating the atmosphere of the drawing room. When asked about the reason for his sudden appearance, the man carefully chose his words and answered, ‘There is a dear friend I hope will come find me upon hearing news of my survival’…】

‘Reporters are really cunning. While pretending not to, they’re encouraging readers to speculate that my identity is ‘that person.”

I threw the newspaper onto the table and checked the headlines of the remaining daily newspapers. On the front pages of five different newspaper companies, a man wearing the same mask and clothing was revealed.

That’s me.

“Should I have hidden the mole? I think I showed too much. Don’t you think so too?”

I waited for an answer, but the office remained quiet.

Anyway.

“How about Deshero? Does he look okay?”

At my question, Deshero even put on glasses to carefully examine my face in the black and white photo.

“Hmm. The mask design is excellent. If you had covered this mole too, it would have been even more difficult to guess your identity. Rather, by revealing this much, you create appropriate tension…”

“Are you insane?”

A sharp retort cut off Deshero’s assessment abruptly.

When I turned my head, I saw Raphael, who had been sitting at his office desk absorbed in work the entire time, standing up and approaching. His eyes held a combative glint as if he might throw a punch.

“You disappeared to Midwintry in that state in an instant, then came back looking like that again as if to show off? And even.”

Raphael picked up the newspaper thrown on the table and waved it in front of me mockingly.

“After causing this kind of chaos?”

“Didn’t you tell me to come find you if something happened?”

“And I warned you never to appear before me again.”

“How ridiculous, coming from someone who suddenly appeared at the Imperial Palace and accompanied me to the underground laboratory. Does that warning only apply when you feel like it, not all the time?”

“…Ha.”

Raphael closed both eyes and rubbed his brow as if enduring deeply, then asked me in a somewhat calmer voice.

“Your body?”

“Bad.”

“How so?”

“Considerably.”

“Stop playing games and tell me properly.”

“…Well, yes. It couldn’t be any worse than this. Is that enough?”

A dark shadow fell across Raphael’s face. It wasn’t an expression I particularly wanted to see.

‘At this age, all I do is repeatedly drive nails into my friend’s heart.’

But it couldn’t be helped. Let me think about what I’d done to him so far. Lying, using him, rejecting him… At least when it came to Raphael, I didn’t want to act any more shamelessly than this.

“What’s your scheme? Duke Jilhark’s Dian Ket’s Legacy?”

“Plus Natasha as well. Oh, by the way, this is the first family I’ll be visiting on my tour. Tomorrow it’s Rosebell, and after that I’m thinking of going to Berkleygraytown.”

“To do what?”

I answered while staring at the blazing flames in the fireplace.

“I want to test my sword against the Swordmaster. Preferably with my life on the line.”

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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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