The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 20

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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 20

Under short brown hair, light green eyes filled with accumulated fatigue looked at him.

As always, Andert let out a playful laugh and patted Raphael’s shoulder while greeting him.

[You’re actually alive, Raphael? The effects of 【Compassionate Herb】 are amazing. I thought some corpse was crawling over.]

Raphael didn’t have the energy to smile while facing such an Andert. No, to be precise, he didn’t feel like smiling would be the right expression.

It was because he discovered traces of deep contemplation in Andert’s darkly sunken eyes.

[I’ll say this just in case.]

[What?]

[Don’t get any foolish ideas. I won’t allow your arbitrary decisions. I am your superior. You must stay by my side until this war ends.]

Andert looked at him with slightly surprised eyes. But for some reason, the positive answer he had been waiting for didn’t come.

Even though he hadn’t drunk strong liquor, his heart was beating rapidly. Raphael gripped Andert’s hand on his shoulder with enough force to crush it and demanded.

[Answer me, Andert.]

[…What’s so difficult about that. Keep it in mind. Don’t worry about unnecessary things and just focus on recovery.]

Andert, who had moved to the seat beside him, showed a refreshing smile.

[You’re the only one who can command this army.]

Facing that unadorned smile, it felt like one of the rocks pressing down on his heart had disappeared.

Andert doesn’t lie. Knowing that fact, even those obvious words brought relief.

Afterward, the space-time in the dream twisted once. Before he knew it, he was lying in bed again, gasping for breath.

[Huff.]

His dead hearing gradually recovered.

In five more days, he would be able to go to the battlefield. It was a moment when he was wandering between life and death due to fever crawling up like leeches.

Beyond the barracks, one voice finally pierced Raphael’s heart.

Andert declared.

[I’ll go.]

[That won’t do, Lord Andert. The Commander-in-Chief will absolutely not allow you to move.]

[But no matter how I think about it, I’m the only suitable person. The one to deal with the gargoyles and climb the cliff, the one to enter Mephistopheles’ castle and throw the main force into chaos, the one to aim for Mephistopheles’ neck taking advantage of the confusion – it’s only me. Any objections?]

[…But, permission.]

[Permission isn’t necessary. I’ll handle this matter myself. Tell him it was my arbitrary decision.]

Desolate land. Corpses that hadn’t even cooled yet. Soldiers waiting for their day to die.

Andert, who had been silently gazing at the world surrounding him, was finally ready to walk alone.

To his final destination and the being that would become his grave, Grand Sorcerer Mephistopheles.

That can’t happen.

Raphael, whose body trembled as if convulsing, fell from the bed and crawled on the ground. The commanders who rushed out urgently grabbed his body.

[Damn it, won’t you let go of these hands? Wait! Stop right now, Andert! You can’t die! I won’t let you die in such a way!]

Andert didn’t look back at Raphael.

Ah, his figure gradually grew distant.

Andert’s two legs leaped into the black flames. Once he leaped in, it would be hellish flames from which he could never return.

Knowing that fact better than anyone, Raphael despaired.

[Come back right now, Andert Pager!]

At some point, the world went dark.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. From beyond the darkness, Andert’s comfort could be heard. It was the voice of a dear friend he missed desperately.

[It’s not your fault, Raphael.]

That can’t be true.

It can’t not be my fault, Andert. I killed you. Foolish me drove you to that death.

Even so, you’re still my sword. Whether alive, you should live by my side, and whether dead, you should die by my side.

You, who should be that way, can’t be dead.

“…Ha.”

Come back quickly. Peace gained by losing you is meaningless. Right? You think so too, don’t you?

…

Answer me, Andert.

“…Your Highness.”

Answer me, Andert Pager.

“…Your Grace!”

Andert Pager!

“Your Grace the Grand Duke!”

The moment the clear call pierced his ears. His two eyes snapped open.

His consciousness, which had been sinking in the stuffy deep sea, rose at a very fast speed. As his blocked breathing passage opened rapidly, Raphael’s world also returned to reality.

It had all been a dream.

“Your Highness, urgent news has arrived.”

“…What time is it?”

“It’s 4 AM.”

Raphael, who covered his eyes with the back of his hand, let out a long breath.

Due to his continuously racing heartbeat, it wasn’t easy to steady his breathing.

The nightmare he had was so realistic that it felt as if he had been wandering the battlefield until just moments before.

‘I’m tired.’

The voice of the dead echoed in his ears.

[It’s not your fault, Raphael.]

Did he want to be forgiven by him? So had the desire inherent deep within materialized through the medium of dreams?

‘No.’

There was a time when that was the case, but at least not now.

Andert Pager was dead.

He had made a noble sacrifice in the final battle with Grand Sorcerer Mephistopheles, and that sacrifice had inflicted wounds on Raphael that he couldn’t shake off for a long time.

It was an even more painful time because Andert’s body couldn’t be found.

Four years.

For the past four years, he had frantically searched Quin Island to find the body.

I told you to die by my side even if you died. He deeply resented him for disappearing without a trace.

When he closed his eyes, he saw hallucinations of Andert, and when he opened his eyes, he heard auditory hallucinations of Andert.

Even if a beloved lover had died, it wouldn’t have been as torturous.

But now he knows.

The days when he felt betrayed by Andert, resented him, and felt guilt were all stories of the past that would never return.

For his own sake as well, he had to trample on Andert’s phantom and properly stand up.

Raphael no longer wanted to be bound by Andert.

And so, slowly but surely, he was sending him away from his mind. To bury the existence called Andert Pager as a moment of the past.

“Including the urgent news that arrived from the capital, a total of three letters have arrived.”

Raphael rubbed his stiff eyes with the back of his hand and answered.

“I’m sorry, but please check them for me.”

“Yes.”

Deshero, who opened the first letter, quickly skimmed through the contents.

“It’s a letter saying that His Majesty the Emperor and five nobles held a secret meeting in the capital Lagal. All attendees are members of the Nobility Council, and their common characteristic is…”

“They must be supporters of the northern conquest war.”

“That’s correct.”

In the northern part of the Pen Rota Empire lies the North Deusus Mountains, which are renowned for being among the most rugged on the continent.

The North Deusus Mountains are full of refined stone mines, and the Emperor was preparing a conquest war to seize these mines. With none other than Grand Duke Raphael as the vanguard.

“Why is His Majesty so eager to drive me to the front lines?”

Though it was a rhetorical question, the answer was obvious.

The Emperor’s faction wanted to drive him out of the capital. As far away as possible, and for as long as possible. Believing that they could then regain the Emperor’s lost real power.

Then what should this side do? He would have to respond accordingly.

Even if it meant pushing himself a bit, he had no choice but to attend the Nobility Council and show his face in front of those five nobles.

“Would it be alright if I read the next letter?”

When he nodded, Deshero opened the second letter.

“A month and a half ago, a new survivor was discovered on Quin Island. Her name is Berti Lusan. She’s thirty-four years old, around 170cm tall, thin with fair skin and long brown hair covering her back…”

Raphael’s brow gradually furrowed.

“A month and a half ago? The report is far too late.”p>

“It seems to have overlapped with Your Highness’s overseas schedule. The messenger appears to have been chasing you for a long time.”

Deshero soon opened the third letter. His expression as he checked the contents was rigidly hardened, unlike before.

“…Oh no. That wasn’t it. It says the messenger was attacked midway. Two people went missing in succession, and the one who delivered this letter is the third messenger.”

Raphael, who had withdrawn his hand, slowly opened his eyes. A faint strange light flickered in his dark red pupils.

An attack.

For Raphael, who had many enemies, this wasn’t uncommon. But why twice, consecutively? His bloodshot red eyes turned toward the letter Deshero held.

“Were they targeting that letter? What could be so important? Continue reading.”

“Yes. …The new survivor has currently settled in Midwintry. She’s working as a maid. Shall we secretly assign someone to watch her?”

Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t particularly special information.

“No, leave her be. We’re slowly withdrawing from Quin Island affairs. Holding onto it won’t help us anymore.”

Deshero, who had been hesitating unusually, carefully parted his lips.

“But Your Highness, about the Quin Island survivor. She’s said to have brown hair and light green eyes. This might be my wild speculation, but her appearance in many ways…”

“Reminds you of Andert Pager’s sister?”

Brown hair. Light green eyes that brought to mind the freshness of spring.

Yes, these were all Andert Pager’s colors. And they would be the most familiar colors to Raphael himself above anyone else in the world.

Andert was his one and only sword, family, and close friend.

“I remember. He said he had an older sister, didn’t he? But that woman died during the Quin Island incident. He even buried her body himself.”

The Quin Island incident.

The Quin Island incident refers to the historically horrific terrorist attack when Grand Sorcerer Mephistopheles plunged Quin Island into a hellish inferno.

This event killed the majority of Quin Island’s residents instantly, and the few survivors had to abandon their hometown and come to the mainland.

The shocking Quin Island incident sparked a great war. This war was the Mage War.

“His parents died much earlier, and the cousins he only heard about weren’t islanders. His family isn’t alive.”

Quin Island is a small island at the Empire’s southernmost tip.

Small islands generally form isolated societies, with little exchange with the mainland, so bloodlines become more closely mixed.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if a newly appeared survivor had the same hair color and eye color as Andert. Most Quin Island refugees had similar appearances anyway.

“Moreover, didn’t you say her identity has already been confirmed? Berti Lusan… It couldn’t possibly be the same person.”

“Yes, I think I overthought it.”

“I understand the feeling of wanting to grasp at straws. But… you don’t need to report this matter to me anymore. Handle it appropriately at your level.”

“…Understood.”

After Deshero left the bedroom, Raphael collapsed onto the bed and closed his eyes again.

Hoping he wouldn’t have nightmares this time.

* * *

At the same time, in Midwintry.

At the Weatherwax Estate, lively screams were erupting once again today.

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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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