The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 168

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

Chapter 168

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in the middle of a desert.

Let me see, how did I end up here?

“Probably because I said 【Don’t die, Ash】…”

Ah.

“Damn it.”

Right, the inheritance was activated, wasn’t it? But why did I end up in a desert like this? It didn’t even feel like my body or soul had been healthily healed.

If there was anything different, it was only that I had returned to my original appearance as Daisy.

“Don’t tell me I’m dreaming right now?”

“This isn’t inside a dream.”

Huh.

“You scared me!”

I confirmed Lu standing blankly behind me and let out a sigh of relief. It’s not a dream?

“Then how are you here?”

“It’s not a dream, but this place is no different from your inner self.”

So that’s what it meant.

‘My inner self.’

While I was pondering what to do, a faint voice came from beyond the sand dune.

[…Then I’ll proceed like this…]

Looking back, there was a wall there. A wall so long that its end couldn’t be seen.

[…Miss, are you alright…]

Miss?

I looked at Lu again. Just like when I met him in a dream before, he had an emotionless expression that was frustratingly blank.

‘Lu can’t hear that sound, it seems.’

Something’s suspicious.

“Lu, let’s go to that wall.”

“What’s the reason for doing that?”

As expected of Lu’s rationality, he questions every little reason in detail.

“I can faintly hear people’s voices from over there. Maybe it could be Dian Ket’s call.”

I stared intently at Lu’s face as he roughly agreed with my words, then extended my left hand.

“Hand.”

He looked at my hand with a blank expression, then obediently extended his hand.

‘Look at those indifferent eyes.’

Really can’t stand it. Feeling somewhat mischievous, this time I spread both arms wide and demanded.

“Carry me on your back.”

Look at this. This time he’s showing his reluctance. But it’s not a state where emotions are completely excluded, is it?

Even though he showed his displeasure, Lu didn’t refuse my request. I leisurely crossed the desert while riding on his back.

Still, there’s one advantage.

‘Maybe because he’s aware that he’s a rational being rather than human, I feel more comfortable than when dealing with the real Lu.’

Hmm.

“Lu, try calling me master.”

“That day will never come until I die.”

He’s rational even in useless aspects.

“By the way, this won’t count as one of the three meetings, right?”

“There’s no reason to exclude it.”

Ah, he’s really unnecessarily rational!

“How can that be? You said this isn’t even a dream, right? Then it shouldn’t be included in that damn farewell practice or whatever!”

“Still, meeting is meeting.”

“Listen carefully, Lu. Your argument is illogical. Think about it. What if we meet here next time, and the time after that, and the time after that too? Since the three meetings are all fulfilled, will you abandon me in this desert and leave alone?”

He was left speechless. Thinking this was my chance, I pressed further.

“Did Lu leave you with me to do that? No, right? He left you to take care of me, not to make me sad. Are you going to leave me here to starve to death and just go away? Are you?”

Frustrated by his continued silence, I bit down hard on one of his shoulders.

“Answer me!”

“…I’ll do as you say, so let go of my shoulder.”

Good, keep being obedient like that. I rubbed the skin with bite marks with my cheek to soothe it.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because I can stay with you longer.”

“…”

“Because I like you.”

“…”

“I like you the most in the world.”

Even as I spoke as if enchanted, my mouth tasted bitter.

These were words I couldn’t say when Lu was actually by my side. I should have expressed my feelings more often. I always regret things only after they pass.

Before long, we arrived at the wall. But…

‘What is that?’

There was some picture, no, people moving inside the wall.

‘Maybe because this isn’t reality, I’m seeing all sorts of strange things.’

The figure visible in the center of the wall was a girl who appeared to be from the upper class. A maid approached the girl who was sitting quietly reading a book and spoke.

[Miss, the Sereniye Lord is calling for you.]

Sereniye.

It’s a familiar name. The girl immediately left the room with a gloomy expression.

After that, the girl’s ordinary daily life continued. Meeting her father who appeared to be the Sereniye Lord, eating meals, mixing strange medicines before falling asleep…

Well, setting aside this strange wall.

“Who is that child?”

“Dian Ket.”

…What?

Who did he say?

“You’re lying, right? You’re saying that girl is Dian Ket right now? But she’s female? And she was definitely called Sereniye…”

To my questions pouring out like a waterfall, Lu answered calmly.

“It’s a tradition of that region. They bear more than ten children per generation, and among them, the physically weak children are raised as the opposite gender until they turn 18. It’s intended to deceive demons so they can’t take the children away.”

“Demons?”

“The reason the Sereniye family was prolific was because most children died young.”

That was also a harmful effect of evil customs. Lu added briefly.

“Even if they survived, some of them had no choice but to live with sick bodies for life. People regarded that illness as a demon’s curse, so they tried to protect the children.”

So Dian’s actual surname was Sereniye, not Ket?

I looked at the wall again. A family dinner was beginning. The atmosphere wasn’t particularly harmonious.

[Cough, cough.]

Dian often had dry coughs.

Looking at him like this, he was definitely a boy, not a girl. Things like the width of his shoulders that couldn’t be hidden even by thick winter women’s clothing, or the bone structure of his fingers.

I examined the dining table. Dian had a total of six siblings, and Dian was sitting in the fourth position among them.

‘He’s definitely quite small for his age group. Not only is he short in stature, but his complexion isn’t good either.’

Dian’s father, the Sereniye Lord sitting at the head of the table, drank alcohol and called Dian.

[Soon ‘that slave’ will be sent to you. You remember, don’t you?]

[Yes…]

[Make sure there are no problems with the preparations. It’s a very precious slave who will fulfill our wishes. Do you understand?]

[Yes.]

Dian was a very well-behaved boy.

Family conversations were scarce, meal portions were even smaller, and emotional expressions were practically nonexistent.

The only moments he smiled were when dealing with the baby hawk he kept in his bedroom.

[I’m fine, Ash. Even if I hate it, what can I do? It’s something I have to do.]

‘So that’s the Ash!’

Dian wore a bitter smile that didn’t match his age as he gently stroked the baby hawk’s beak.

[…But is this really something I have to do? Was I born to kill people and create poisons for torture?]

[Squawk!]

[You’re right, such self-questioning is meaningless. I’m so weak I can’t even pass through that winter forest right now.]

His dry gaze turned toward the snow-covered forest outside the window.

[I’m worried, Ash. Will I be able to manage ‘that slave’ well for a month? Haha. I hear he’s quite rough… I’m not confident.]

It was a pitiful sight in many ways.

What kind of family makes a boy of that age talk about killing people and making poisons?

‘Sereniye. I only knew it as a family that Lu manages.’

There was another curious point.

‘How long do I have to keep watching this?’

Dian Ket’s legacy… is it just meant to show Dian’s own past?

That’s when it happened.

[Haa, haa…]

Dian suddenly began breathing heavily.

His complexion was beyond pale—it was blue. His fingertips and lips turned white, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably as he collapsed to the floor.

‘What? Why is he suddenly like that?’

Panicked, I moved closer to the wall to examine Dian’s condition.

[Someone, please help me…!]

The moment his cry reached me.

Thump…

Thump…

I slowly placed my hand on my left chest. Was it reacting to Dian’s death? My heart was beating very loudly.

Thump…

Thump…

The loud beating created a powerful resonance at some point.

Suddenly, a white thread emerged from around my heart. The long thread began to coil in circles, soon forming one giant sphere.

Looking closely, it was white mist filling the gaps of a shattered orb.

“This is… my soul, isn’t it?”

I reached out with both hands and grasped the soul that was beating violently like a living heart.

At that moment.

The soul’s form gradually crumbled and began taking on a new shape. The mist became shattered orbs, and the shattered orbs became mist.

Now, what was shattered was Dian Ket’s soul.

And what supported the shattered soul was my soul.

‘Why is this…?’

I stared into the wall again.

Dian, who was dying.

Me, watching such a Dian.

And what connected us was…

“Soul.”

Whooooom.

A pitch-black swamp appeared on the wall.

The silently expanding swamp sucked in my soul and body at an unbelievable speed. What is this!

“Lu!”

Lu urgently grabbed my arm, but ultimately couldn’t overcome the swamp’s power.

Like that, I was sucked into the wall.

* * *

Nausea rises.

That was the first impression I had when I woke up in a bedroom where I had been lying for a very long time.

My whole body ached. When I slowly opened my eyes, I could see dim sunlight falling through the window. Everything else was unfamiliar. The feel of the bed, the structure of the ceiling, even the air…

“…Miss?”

Even the voice I heard was unfamiliar.

I turned my head.

I saw a maid with a shocked expression by the bedside. The maid, who had her eyes wide open while covering her mouth, soon screamed and ran out of the bedroom.

“My goodness, Mi-, Miss Dian! Miss has awakened!”

Miss Dian.

‘Was I Miss Dian…?’

No, I’m not Dian.

I’m Daisy Weatherwax.

I was Ash when I was born, a hero in the past, once a maid, but now an unmarried woman who is the Weatherwax Baroness.

So why am I being called Miss Dian?

I really don’t understand anything. I truly don’t.

But this much was certain.

I’m screwed.

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