The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 164

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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 164

“A request?”

I answered calmly to his questioning response.

“I don’t have much time left to live.”

“…What?”

Count Rosebel’s face hardened with shock.

“I estimate about a month at most. When I die, I hope you’ll thoroughly protect the identities of the employees belonging to the Weatherwax family. Please don’t ask about their detailed backgrounds or family circumstances. They’re people who trusted and followed me, and they have nowhere to go if not Weatherwax.”

“That’s…”

Count Rosebel trailed off and rubbed his face with a devastated expression.

“That’s… isn’t that too sudden, Count Andert?”

“I apologize.”

“Don’t apologize. I can naturally grant your request. It’s just that… Please wait, I want to organize my thoughts.”

During the ensuing silence, quiet resonance occasionally echoed from his sword.

—We must stay strong. To protect our beloved family, proud companions, and our homeland!

It was a warm and gentle resonance, very much like Count Rosebel.

After hearing my story, he had been lost in thought with a worried expression, then suddenly clapped his hands.

“…Dian Cecht’s Legacy. Yes, there was that item!”

Count Rosebel straightened his posture and lowered his voice.

“Listen, Weatherwax Baroness. Do you know the legend of Dian Cecht? The legend says that if you gather all five legacies left by the great healer, you can cure any disease. One of these legacies is with Duke Raphael…”

“I know about it. I’ve almost collected them all.”

“Oh, really? That means the legend of the legacies is true, right? That’s fortunate. Really fortunate! Then your health problems should improve soon too!”

For the first time, relief appeared on his face that had been serious throughout. My heart grew heavy seeing him genuinely worry about me. I deliberately didn’t mention that the legacy might be used for something else.

Time passed quickly.

Three or four hours flew by in the blink of an eye with conversations lost in old memories. When I got up from my seat, the sun had crossed over the mountain ridge and the sky was growing dark.

“Let’s see, then… next would be Duke Jilhark, I suppose.”

“Yes.”

“How about having dinner together and staying the night? Even if you take the night train, you’ll arrive the morning after tomorrow. Rest well before you go. Ahem, and please give some autographs to my worthless nephews.”

The schedule for visiting the Rosebel Estate had already been announced to the public through knights. However, the schedule related to Berkleygraytown was only mentioned in passing.

Because.

“Who visits a duke at sunrise?”

I needed to launch a surprise attack.

At dawn the day before.

* * *

A clear night without a single cloud.

A thin, bright yellow crescent moon hung over the bare tree like a fingernail.

After climbing onto the small branches and watching beyond the castle walls, waiting for the right moment for dozens of minutes, at some point, the rustling sound of fallen leaves and two annoyingly loud voices broke the silence.

“Shut up and get lost if you’re not confident. You’re getting in the way.”

“That’s not something I want to hear from someone who’s become more than a hindrance—an actual obstacle—in his sibling’s life.”

“If you hesitate at a crucial moment, I won’t leave that smart mouth of yours alone.”

“I want to leave your mouth alone, so please just shut up.”

Those two never get tired.

Coming down to the ground, I tapped Jin’s shoulder and asked.

“Will you be okay, Jin?”

The face that turned back showed slight tension and excitement.

“Baroness.”

“You have to stab the Swordmaster.”

Before Jin could answer, Andert pushed past her shoulder and spoke with distrustful eyes.

“This guy’s unreliable. Just leave it to me, I’ll do it.”

“Sigh. What are you going to do? This isn’t a matter of being reliable or not.”

“It’s a matter of whether he can cut down his master or not, so this guy is unreliable, isn’t he?”

I let out a small laugh and shook my head.

“Don’t talk nonsense, Andert. A matter of whether you can cut down your master? Do you think you guys could actually cut down the Swordmaster?”

Unlike Andert who hesitated, Jin nodded with a calm expression.

“You’re right, Baroness. With our inadequate skills, we couldn’t even touch a hair on the Duke’s head.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

Receiving the question, Jin looked at Andert with an annoying smile.

“What I’m planning to do… is a secret between the Baroness and me. If you didn’t catch on, just shut up and keep watch, you mad dog Garrosh.”

Andert furrowed his brow and threatened.

“I’m warning you, don’t call me by that name anymore.”

“I don’t want to. How dare you try to be called by the noble name Andert? You’re just a mad dog Garrosh.”

“Damn it, what does noble or not matter, it’s my name!”

Leaving the grumbling Andert alone, Jin and I infiltrated Berkleygrayten Castle.

Andert’s role was to watch the situation from outside the castle in case of emergency. Since we were the ones actually facing the Swordmaster, I had Jin, who knew the internal layout well, lead us through the chimney to enter inside.

Duke Berkleygrayten, called the Emperor’s Sword.

The vast castle where such a duke resided.

The security we had to deal with to reach the Swordmaster’s bedroom from within the castle was… surprisingly, just the Berkleygrayten Knights who inspected the castle every two hours.

It was quite an efficient arrangement. And for good reason—what madman would dare attempt to assassinate the Swordmaster?

Thud.

“Ugh.”

The knight who was suddenly struck in a vital spot collapsed helplessly to the floor.

“Done?”

“Yes.”

Even so, wasn’t it a bit too empty?

After neatly folding the fallen knight and hiding him behind the curtain, we went up the stairs. The Swordmaster’s bedroom was the room in the middle of the eastern corridor on the second floor. The moment I carefully opened the door after approaching while suppressing our presence.

“A comrade or disciple… my old memories have come.”

The Swordmaster in a light white slip gown welcomed us.

Jin roughly drew in breath and gripped her sword handle.

‘I expected he’d notice quickly.’

But I didn’t expect him to be waiting so openly.

“You don’t seem interested in conversation. Am I right, Count Andert?”

“…You don’t seem like someone we can reason with.”

Your mouth is damn heavy, so I came to open it myself.

“Is that so? What an interesting combination. Perfect for checking how much my disciples have grown.”

The Swordmaster chuckled and approached the grandfather clock in the bedroom, opened the glass door, and pulled down the pendulum in the center.

Tick-tock. Along with the sound of the second hand moving, the pendulum the Swordmaster pulled began to rise very slowly.

“In five minutes from now, the emergency security alarm will sound. If you can hold out until then…”

With his trailing words, the Swordmaster’s figure disappeared. There was no time to follow his traces with our eyes.

Clang, crash!

As soon as I drew my pearl sword, the Swordmaster’s sharp blade pressed down on mine.

“I’ll send you both back.”

Jin aimed for his back, but the Swordmaster lightly twisted his body as if he had expected it, avoided the attack, and struck below Jin’s chest with his elbow.

“Cough!”

Jin, breathing roughly, quickly retreated.

The Swordmaster standing between us looked serene.

The Swordmaster praised me as an unparalleled talent, but that was only praise based on my age and experience.

The overwhelming experience and martial prowess of the Swordmaster who had surpassed three barriers was still too much for me to handle alone. I had to grit my teeth and charge in just to avoid being greatly pushed back.

“You seem to be thinking a lot, Count Andert. Then I’ll go first.”

Despite the warning, the Swordmaster attacked Jin behind him rather than me standing in front.

“Remember my words well, Jin.”

Even facing the opponent’s fluid strike, Jin didn’t panic.

What appeared to be an evenly matched exchange of attacks continued, but the balance quickly crumbled. Jin, pushed into a defensive position, drew up her sword energy.

“The Swordmaster will break your sword first. So that you’ll realize the overwhelming difference in power and lose your will to fight. That’s the Swordmaster’s way.”

“The resonance of your sword has become calm, Jin. That’s decent progress for someone who couldn’t give up being a Black Knight.”

Jin’s sword energy, meeting the Swordmaster’s bare sword, flickered precariously like a lamp placed before a typhoon.

“But it’s regrettable that you charged in with an unhealthy body.”

And soon it burst.

Clang!

As the blade broke in half, Jin’s sword energy crumbled like dust. The Swordmaster didn’t miss the moment when Jin’s spirit became dazed. In a very brief instant, he gathered sword energy and pushed Jin against the wall.

“Kugh!”

Red blood from internal injuries scattered across the carpet.

However, the Swordmaster didn’t indulge in leisure. His next playmate was me.

“The Swordmaster can’t break my sword. The skill gap isn’t that significant. Instead, he’ll try to inflict considerably deep wounds so I can’t use my sword.”

“Impressive. Your skills have improved as much as during wartime over these past 4 years.”

I also had no leisure to respond. Without opening my mouth even once, I concentrated all my mind and was busy just blocking his sword.

The Swordmaster seemed to have no intention of yielding even a single move.

‘But was the Swordmaster’s sword always this heavy?’

Before, my shoulder ached every time I parried each move… but not now. I could see gaps in the swordsmanship that had felt like an iron fortress, and every time I attacked those gaps, my opponent inevitably stepped back.

At some point, the Swordmaster’s words decreased.

I couldn’t tell how many minutes had passed. It felt like 20 minutes, no, at least 30 minutes had gone by. But the grandfather clock hadn’t chimed yet.

Suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.

Perhaps, I could win.

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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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