The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 185

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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 185

After writing ‘Ash’ on the leather pad, I turned my head toward the bed.

Just as I had felt mere dozens of minutes ago, Lu sleeps as if dead. Watching his face breathing quietly without any presence naturally brought to mind his future self.

‘Have I ever seen Lu sleeping before?’

Since no similar scene comes to mind even when I search my memories, this must indeed be the first time.

I sat up and carefully lay down next to Lu. Under his brilliant blond hair, his long eyelashes that seemed embroidered with gold thread looked like a painting. When I carefully reached out and touched the tip of his eyebrow, I felt a texture much denser and coarser than mine.

Come to think of it, Dian’s were about this long too. Do people born in cold countries all have them like this?

“Does it feel good to touch me sneakily like a pervert?”

Like clouds clearing, his deeply set eyes opened up and down, revealing golden eyes as vivid as brass.

The eyelashes crushed under my fingertips felt like bird feathers, so I stared blankly, and since he obediently closed one eyelid, I gently rubbed his eyelid and answered.

“Yeah.”

Seemingly dissatisfied with my nonchalant response, Lu narrowed both eyes even thinner.

“It really is Ash.”

“Right, I’m Ash. Actually, you and Dian are the only ones who call me by that name. It’s a name I abandoned long ago.”

Lu, who had been blinking slowly as if gauging something, answered leisurely.

“Then tell Dian Sereniye not to call you by that name.”

“Why? Sorry, but in the current situation, my name is the only thing that distinguishes me from Dian…”

“Distinction or whatever, I can see your face clearly with my eyes, so I don’t care. That’s fair. Only you call my name, so I can’t share your name with some brat like him.”

“You’re more of a kid though?”

“Well… half of that’s right. I may look like this, but I’m only twenty-two. There aren’t even ten thousand people in the rebel army younger than me. So how old are you?”

As always, Lu has an amazing talent for leaving me speechless.

I tried to withdraw my hand feeling unnecessarily unsettled, but it was immediately caught. With the determination to never let go until hearing the answer he wanted, I parted my lips with a crawling voice.

“I’ll say it again… you’re the one who seduced me when I was young…”

“I got it, so how old are you?”

“…”

“Forty?”

“…”

“Don’t tell me fifty?”

“…A little over thirty.”

“Hmm.”

What’s with that humming sound?

Though it’s somewhat unpleasant, I don’t have the luxury to be disturbed by every short reaction. All my disturbance was already being poured into the matter of Lu’s survival.

That’s when it happened.

With a small knock, a man from beyond the door announced, “Commander-in-Chief, we’ve finished preparing for the meeting. You may attend now.” It was that meeting where all the renowned mages of the Northern Continent had gathered in one place.

I pushed Lu, who was busy fidgeting with my wrist while half-listening, out of bed.

“Aren’t you going? You need to attend the meeting. It’s not just anything else, but a meeting directly connected to your life.”

Lu glared at me with an expression that something deeply displeased him.

“I know without you telling me.”

Knock knock.

“Commander-in-Chief.”

Contrary to his words, I pushed Lu again as he didn’t budge at all.

“Hurry up and go, will you?”

“I’ll go, so you come with me too.”

“…Is that okay?”

“There’s nothing that isn’t okay.”

That’s quite an appealing confidence.

Naturally, I immediately accepted Lu’s proposal.

The meeting was held in the dining room on the first floor. In the cold and desolate dining room, fourteen mages surrounding a large round table were waiting for us.

I sat on a wooden chair placed alone at the entrance of the dining room, becoming the sole audience of this round table meeting. Fortunately, no one paid attention to me.

And.

The blue pearl displayed like an exhibit in the center of the round table.

From that turbid and mysteriously glowing blue pearl emanates the same ominous energy I felt from Lu.

‘Is that Kalerpa’s heart?’

Since the Sereniye family’s mission was to refine Kalerpa’s avatar, Kalerpa’s heart was also being protected by the Sereniye family.

The heart’s overwhelming presence captivated all the mages’ gazes, and the round table was quiet. However, the quiet and awkward atmosphere of mutual exploration soon led to endless discussion as the conversation began to flow.

“Kalerpa is one called a demigod. How can we mere humans break a curse sent by a god with our own hands?”

“That’s why we’ve gathered. Even if he’s a demigod, didn’t he already disappear leaving only his heart crystal? There must surely be a way.”

“It’s a matter of life and death for the rebel army’s commander-in-chief, not some noble busy filling his belly or royalty blinded by military power! We must stake everything and succeed without fail. Freedom that the homeland has long awaited has finally come, but if something happens to the commander-in-chief, the rebel army will be greatly shaken!”

“That’s right. We need to immediately find a way to neutralize the curse using the power of this heart crystal. I think that’s the only solution.”

Even in the round table meeting that signifies equality, Lu’s seat felt like the only place of honor, and that sight felt very natural.

However, Lu, with his chin propped and eyes downcast, looked bored. He occasionally turned his gaze and opened his mouth, but it was closer to mechanical reactions.

The only time any expression bloomed on his dry face was when our eyes met. We often had staring contests and communicated through small frowns or twitching nose tips.

Even during this, whenever the round table mages’ attention focused on me, he would slowly turn his shoulders and look around. As if he couldn’t bear the gazes concentrated on me.

‘Is there any value to this discussion?’

At least none of the round table mages seemed well-versed in the magical utilization of heart crystals. Having experienced various strange events through Mephistopheles’ heart and Dian’s heart, it felt like nothing more than armchair theorizing to me.

2 AM.

The time when each mage departed with new goals and ambitions.

“How was it.”

In the dining room empty except for the two of us, Lu casually asked me.

“Do you also think the solution to this curse lies in Kalerpa’s heart?”

“You gather experts and then ask me for advice?”

“You seem to know something.”

Lu, leaning back in his chair with eyes gently closed, continued speaking.

“I have good instincts, Ash. The reason my neck has stayed attached until now isn’t because of excellent swordsmanship or good looks, but because of intuition. Especially having grown up in a pit where slaves died by the minute, I definitely have an eye for people.”

“The mages don’t seem trustworthy. But they looked quite earnest to me.”

“No matter how earnest they are, they’re not as earnest as you.”

“…”

“You look the most earnest to me, Ash. Probably even more than me. So if I had to believe one person’s words, I’d believe yours.”

“Don’t make such assertions since you might regret it. I’m not as well-versed in magic as they are.”

“That means you at least know a fairly valuable solution.”

Lu opened his eyes and asked for my help.

“Tell me. How can I survive?”

How can you avoid dying?

The answer is simple. Become a demigod like Kalerpa and personally break the curse he left behind.

It was simple logic, but none of the round table mages could give Lu the advice to ‘become a demigod.’ It was natural. It wasn’t a realm that could be achieved through earnestness alone.

Demigod.

A being who has crossed the fourth wall.

Whether it’s fate’s prank or not, there are two people beside me who have crossed that wall. One of them is Dian, the owner of this very body.

“I hope you won’t cross it.”

I now know Dian.

Dian is warm, cozy, and caring. If such a person expressed that he ‘hoped they wouldn’t cross’ the fourth wall despite knowing his disciples’ wishes, it must be because he truly hoped they wouldn’t.

Therefore, the fourth wall might be a very painful wall.

Perhaps the fourth wall might be a deeply regrettable wall.

Or… the fourth wall itself might be a wall that humans shouldn’t cross.

Therefore, the fourth wall is humanity.

Humans cannot covet the power of gods. For a mortal to become a demigod, they must shatter the fate of mortality.

For instance, what the demigod Dian Cecht, who would later be renowned as a healer, experienced.

“Someone, please help me…!”

What even the three Kalerpa leading the Rogues, as well as Mephistopheles who spread infamy across the continent, ultimately could not cross.

And what Lu, who would become the great Lord Caleph and demigod of the Northern Continent, must cross.

“Death.”

“….”

“If my guess is correct, you must die in order to live, Lu.”

To overcome death, the fate of mortals, and become a god.

That was the only way Lu could free himself from the Caliphate’s curse. But this was also a paradoxical solution.

If he could just overcome death, it wouldn’t matter if Lu’s heart stopped beating, would it?

In the end, what mattered was the method.

How exactly would he overcome death? Should he sit still and wait for the Caliphate’s curse to be fulfilled, praying by chance to surpass the fourth wall?

Lu immediately grasped the truth behind my answer.

“…Are you telling me to become a god right now?”

“Yes.”

“The most certain and utterly impossible advice. Fine. But what if I don’t return from death?”

“No, you can return. If you devour the Caliphate’s heart.”

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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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