The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 25

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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 25

Negative emotions are easy to become buried in the deeper you dig into them.

I slumped into the chair across from Lu to erase the painful afterimages that were disturbing my mind.

“Thanks to you, I survived.”

Fortunately, my voice didn’t tremble. Lu glanced at me and replied indifferently.

“The melted ice cream would have wanted to hear that greeting too.”

“…You threw it away?”

“I gave it as a gift to the National Peace Institute administrator. Both of them.”

So that other voice I heard before fainting was the National Peace Institute administrator’s voice.

“Lu didn’t eat any.”

“That would have been nice, but I had to carry someone home.”

He’s really making a big show of it.

But since it was a situation where I had nothing to say even if he showed off, I obediently nodded my head.

Thud, Lu closed his book and threw it on the table, meeting my eyes with a light smile.

“I’m sure I told you to sit quietly in your chair and wait. Right?”

The smile drawn ominously in the darkness couldn’t have been more eerie.

The smile perfectly merged with the unique dark and glamorous atmosphere that Lu’s features gave off, creating an atmosphere as if he would grab a tool at any moment and strike my head while saying ‘Disobedient dogs aren’t needed!’

So I answered even more obediently.

“I’m in debt.”

“Many people owe me debts. Few people repay them though.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t run off without paying.”

“I don’t worry unless I have expectations.”

A guy who doesn’t back down on a single word. Should I thank him for not having expectations either? Huh?

“It seemed like you needed someone to watch over you while you were unconscious, so I brought you to my house. Leave on your own at an appropriate time.”

“Were you in this room the whole time because of me?”

“My servants were, not me.”

Servants, you say…

The arc drawn by Lu’s lips deepened.

“Yes, those pieces of trash that our lovely Miss Daisy dumped on me.”

I pretended not to hear.

“The Head Maid doesn’t know about today’s events, so don’t make any careless slips of the tongue.”

This time I couldn’t pretend not to hear.

“What lie did you tell?”

“Miss Daisy refuses to reflect on the events from a few days ago and tried to bury another person today, so she’s undergoing special education?”

“Lu. When I listen to the way you talk, my grateful feelings disappear and only anger remains.”

With a face that said ‘what do you want me to do about it,’ he shrugged his shoulders and picked up his book again.

I waited for his next words, but he quietly immersed himself in reading. It was an unexpected attitude.

‘I thought he would ask about my past too.’

So as soon as I grasped the situation, I had even prepared to answer that I had briefly served as a child soldier.

Lu seemed to have no particular interest in that direction.

‘Or is he being considerate of me?’

Lu with a warm heart that considers others.

It really doesn’t suit him. Let’s just say he’s genuinely not interested.

There’s only one thing he’s interested in.

『Continental 7 Great Mystery Treasures Edition for Children』

I quietly glared at the cover of the book that Lu was busy reading intently.

Probably, Lu is looking for Dian Cecht’s artifacts. What he intends to use the artifacts for is his personal business, so it’s none of my concern.

What’s important was that Lu has the ability to distinguish Dian Cecht’s artifacts, and he had already discovered the artifact hidden in the Weatherwax Estate.

“Lu came to the Weatherwax Estate because of Dian Cecht’s artifacts, right?”

He neither affirmed nor denied it.

“Are you going to steal it?”

A cold arc formed at the corner of Lu’s mouth.

“I’m sure I said I’d tell you after all the flowers bloom. Are you going to pretend to mishear me?”

Whether it was because of the atmosphere that night brought or because I had received Lu’s help again this time, I revealed my honest feelings.

“I’m just curious.”

Half from concern that this might interfere with my plans.

The other half from questions about Lu as a person himself.

He looked up again. Unlike before, his expression seemed a bit more serious.

“Just in case, let me tell you. Don’t fall for me.”

“…”

“Don’t fall in love either. You’ll only get hurt.”

“When are you going to stop with that crazy talk?”

Lu laughed softly. It was a much warmer laugh than before.

“I have something I’m curious about too. Do you often experience things like what happened today?”

My lips naturally closed. I didn’t expect him to suddenly come at me like this.

‘…Often?’

It was a question that was difficult to answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

They say the world has been at peace for 4 years since the war ended, but it hasn’t even been two months since I opened my eyes.

Therefore, the hallucination I experienced today could be a hallucination that occurs once every two months, or it could be a hallucination that occurs once a year or two years, or even the last hallucination of my life.

“This was the first time.”

“What about nightmares?”

“I had those for the first time recently too.”

“Was there recently a painful event that could cause hallucinations and nightmares for you?”

“Hmm.”

“Or conversely, was there a joyful event that could make you temporarily forget hallucinations and nightmares?”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t know how to answer anything.”

“I’m not sure if there was such an incident.”

“Taking control of your life starts with knowing yourself. Think back on what has happened to you recently. And how those events affected you.”

“…”

“A life without contemplation. A life without insight. It might seem comfortable and happy, but in reality, it’s no different from throwing your soul into a garbage dump. A soul that can neither be emptied nor filled is the same as not existing.”

The voice that continued calmly created no small waves in my heart.

‘Taking control of life starts with knowing yourself.’

These are truly difficult words for someone with little learning like me.

It was the same when I first learned the sword.

I don’t have a proper swordsmanship teacher.

I took up weapons solely with the determination to eliminate Grand Sorcerer Mephistopheles, my younger sibling’s enemy, and demons, and I forged my sword to become thoroughly a demon slayer.

“Dig into the most essential elements first. Then there will be no realm you cannot achieve.”

Fortunately, there were many heroes on the battlefield, and the advice they left me was consistent.

I, who had no learning, overcame walls with that one truth.

Therefore, knowing the essence could be said to be what I’m most confident about.

So let’s start by digging into the essence.

‘Taking control of life starts with knowing yourself.’

What am I?

Me, Daisy Pager.

A man who was once called Andert Pager.

Even longer ago — a woman called Pager.

But can I say I know about my existence just from names?

‘Daisy.’

A common name that’s everywhere in the Empire.

It was a name I had given without wanting to attach any special meaning to it.

In truth, when giving a name, one usually puts meaning and affection into it. That affection made me feel responsible for my existence.

However, even after creating this insincere fake name, I had been perfectly fine for well over a month. I experienced no nightmares or hallucinations.

Why was that? What had sustained me? Finding the answer wasn’t very difficult.

I had been happy to become a maid.

I had enjoyed cleaning the estate.

I was delighted to fill my days with work that didn’t involve slaying demons, to meet people, to become a member of society, and to have my role acknowledged through sweeping floors, washing curtains, and running errands.

And what made me happiest of all was living as myself—as Daisy, not Andert.

But the peace was short-lived.

Ten days after settling at Weatherwax Manor, I had a nightmare.

It was a nightmare where the arms of dead soldiers clung to me and I denied the name Andert.

In just ten days, an incident had occurred that rippled through my tranquility.

‘The cause was probably.’

The punch I threw at the pub.

No, I was certain of it.

Every time I used violence, hot blood coursed through my entire body. Didn’t my clumsy speech temporarily clear up from the sense of liberation that dominated my mind?

It was when crushing those I deemed evil that I felt truly whole.

I felt that my past 14 years were not being denied.

Now I finally realized it.

I am a thoroughly contradictory person.

While wanting to live as Daisy rather than Andert, I also want recognition for the past I lived as Andert.

I truly was nothing but a lowly maid.

The second ripple that followed was a bit rougher.

Not content with nightmares, hallucinations struck as well.

‘Certainly, the cause was.’

The National Peace Institute.

The moment I saw the graveyard with no recorded names there.

Regret that rushed in like waves swallowed me whole.

The faces of comrades whose names I never asked came to mind.

Names I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to feel loss after losing them, faces I couldn’t reminisce about because I never asked their names—they bloomed one by one in my mind.

Why had I never asked for their names?

If I had asked for their names, couldn’t those graves have been filled with their owners’ names too?

Only today, after 14 years had passed, did terrible regret crash over me. The guilt plunged me into nightmares and made me wander through hallucinations.

So I.

Suddenly recalled a single cotyledon that had bloomed modestly in a flower pot.

I retraced the moment when I wandered the market to see that cotyledon.

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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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