The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 28
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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 28
The carriage headed toward Midwintry High-Speed Airship Station.
Even in the Pen Rota Empire, which excels in magical technology, cities with high-speed airship stations are rare.
High-speed airships are a type of transportation magical tool, operated by at least three mage captains and large quantities of refined stones.
Naturally, ticket prices are so high that ordinary citizens can’t even dream of affording them. Though expensive, they can cover distances that would take four days by train in under 6 hours, so tickets are always in short supply everywhere.
‘They used to be more expensive. The prices have dropped quite a bit since then.’
It must mean the technology has advanced considerably in just 4 years.
“…Wait.”
I, who had been blankly staring out the window, requested the coachman (naturally the Assassin Butler) to stop.
I briefly got off while Lu was absorbed in “The 7 Great Continental Mysteries for Children: Treasure Edition.”
The Potato Selling Old Man, who had come to work in the alley since the dim dawn, was setting up his spot.
I stood confidently before the old man who was busy organizing the potatoes in his basket.
And demanded.
“Purchase all potatoes at the highest price.”
Today was the day I received my first salary and collected a large sum for maintaining the dignity of the Weatherwax Baroness.
I have no idea how such a large amount of money came from a household without even a flea’s liver…
‘Since they gave it to me, it’s only proper to spend it freely.’
The old man, who had been examining my face with squinted eyes, welcomed me with a bright smile.
“Hmm? Oh my, our young lady is here? Welcome, welcome. The potato quality is quite good these days.”
“…”
“Ah! Is that perhaps your real face? Whichever is real, you’re handsome and pretty. You’re really quite something. You must be very popular.”
“…How did you know?”
Honestly, I was quite startled.
Just to be sure, I touched my face and hair, but it was exactly the Weatherwax Baroness’s face.
Right now, I wasn’t Daisy Pager.
“How did I know, you ask?”
“That it’s me. I look different.”
But what grounds did the old man have for recognizing me?
The old man chuckled warmly and answered with kind eyes.
“I always sit in this spot and watch people’s backs as they pass by. You wouldn’t believe how many people walk down this road. And everyone has a different way of walking. Each gender, occupation, personality, and illness has its own distinct gait.”
He recognized me just from my walking style? It was a method I never would have thought of.
‘Come to think of it, Lu also pointed out my habits as a swordsman a few days ago.’
Are habits carved into the soul rather than the body?
I’m really lucky.
Thanks to both of them, I realized what I need to be careful of at the Nobility Council.
‘My walking style and habits as a left-handed swordsman. If I’m careful about just these two things, no matter how sharp Duke Berkley Greytown’s eyes are, he won’t be able to recognize me.’
It’s not like I was attending the Nobility Council without any thought.
Raphael’s absence from this year’s Nobility Council was definitely good news. However, as long as Sword Saint Duke Berkley Greytown was attending, I absolutely couldn’t let my guard down.
The Sword Saint is a Sword Master.
When one reaches the level of Sword Master, their sixth sense becomes more acute than their five senses, allowing them to see through souls rather than bodies.
The sixth sense is fundamentally a sense honed by experience and insight. Therefore, no matter how carefully I act, the Sword Saint will surely sense a ‘strange familiarity’ from me. This also meant my identity could be exposed.
‘So I must definitely hide even the smallest habits.’
Left-handed swordsmen are rare. Since all noble family swordsmanship is for right-handed use, left-handed swordsmen are all corrected to be right-handed.
But I had no master and didn’t inherit any noble family swordsmanship, so I wasn’t corrected to be right-handed.
‘Let’s be careful.’
I steeled my resolve and looked at the Potato Selling Old Man again.
Initially, I intended to buy all of the old man’s potatoes, but I changed my mind.
People with the keen eye to distinguish others by their walking style are rare. If I could properly utilize this keen eye…
“Grandmother. Are you interested in taking on a side job?”
Our conversation wasn’t long.
After discussing the side job with the Potato Selling Old Man, I returned to the carriage.
I didn’t purchase all the potatoes.
If the old man was to continue the ‘side job’ of monitoring Midwintry Market, his basket would always need to be filled with potatoes.
“Move.”
Just before getting off at the station, I handed the Assassin Butler a note I had written in the carriage.
The blue-gray eyes under his hat gleamed sharply. I hadn’t forgotten the matter he had secretly requested of me.
Moreover, he would be able to utilize the Potato Selling Old Man’s keen eye in the right place at the right time and pay appropriate compensation.
Before long, the high-speed airship carrying Lu and me rose above Midwintry.
It was from that time that rumors began spreading throughout the Pen Rota Empire that the Weatherwax Baron couple had broken their long seclusion and begun their activities.
The imperial capital Ragal.
A great city located at the very center of the Pen Rota Empire, bordered by the Pen River to the north and Rota Plain to the south.
As can be inferred from the place names, the country name Pen Rota Empire originated from this Pen River and Rota Plain.
Ragal, situated on flat land, displays tremendous majesty when viewed from the sky. The cityscape spreading out like wings from the Imperial Palace as its center sometimes looked like a giant maze.
I gazed at the Imperial Palace embedded like a pearl in central Ragal, lost in old sentiments.
‘The day I first and last entered the palace… was it already 9 years ago?’
That day was also when the Pen Rota Imperial House first unveiled transportation high-speed airships.
I flew for 12 hours from the front lines to arrive at the Imperial Palace. It was to participate in my comrade Natasha’s Crown Princess investiture ceremony.
Natasha Miliorg Pen Rota.
Befitting a member of the Pen Rota Imperial House, called the bloodline of mages, Natasha was an excellent combat mage who gained great fame in the Mage War.
Given the timing, the Crown Princess investiture ceremony was held simply. To me, who grew up in a rural backwater, even that felt dazzlingly splendid.
However, this day wasn’t remembered by people as ‘Natasha’s Crown Princess investiture ceremony.’
“Andert.”
It was still vivid.
That day was when pure white snow was falling heavily.
At the end of the long red carpet, as soon as Natasha received the small Rota Hall of succession from the Emperor and stepped back, she approached me and asked.
“You said you could offer any gift for me becoming Crown Princess, didn’t you?”
Everyone’s gaze turned to me.
I wondered if this was appropriate, but I figured Natasha had her reasons.
I knelt on one knee before Natasha, who bore not the dust of battlefields but the noble dignity of an imperial heir, and answered.
“Of course, Your Highness the Crown Princess. As long as it’s not a hardship like plucking stars from the sky, I will obtain and offer anything.”
“Then marry me.”
Wait a minute.
“…What?”
“Andert Pager.”
She knelt facing me as I knelt and confessed.
“If you told me to pluck stars, I would pluck them. Become my consort and the future father of the nation of the Pen Rota Empire. I will devote my entire life to protecting and cherishing you.”
That day.
Natasha’s Crown Princess investiture ceremony wasn’t remembered as an investiture ceremony.
If anything, it was etched in memory as the day when the new imperial heir of Pen Rota desperately courted a mere commoner before everyone’s eyes.
Hahaha.
Haha.
‘Natasha was… quite an interesting friend.’
But when I opened my eyes again on Quin Island two months ago, the Pen Rota Empire’s throne didn’t belong to Natasha.
Where is she and what is she doing?
Natasha’s beautiful face came to mind occasionally, but I didn’t investigate her whereabouts beyond confirming her life or death.
If she’s alive, that’s enough.
“Darling.”
Cold, soft skin slipped between my fingers.
I was startled and my body stiffened, but I turned my head as if nothing happened. Lu, who had interlaced our fingers and leaned his face against my arm, looked up at me with languid eyes.
“What are you thinking about so deeply? Your expression looks bad.”
“…Really? Was I nervous without realizing it?”
“Nervous? You?”
Lu chuckled low and slowly closed his eyes as if about to doze off.
“That was quite a cute lie.”
I pretended not to hear and turned my gaze back to the window.
As the high-speed airship slowly descended, the scenery of Ragal suddenly drew closer.
Before long, we touched down on land.
Befitting the Empire’s capital, Ragal was bustling from the high-speed airship station itself.
After completing simple procedures and exiting the gate, two men who had been standing nearby approached us.
Upon confirming Lu’s beauty up close, they were startled and gulped down their dry saliva.
“Are, are you the Weatherwax Baroness and her husband? We’ve come to escort you on the Black Ragal.”
I’m the Weatherwax Baroness.
Talk to me!
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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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