The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 305
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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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Part 2, Chapter 103
“Both are precious to me. Irreplaceable… no, since there are already two of them, I should say there are no three such precious friends. Of course, the meaning of precious is a bit different for each.”
Lu asked back as if he had been waiting for this.
“How is it different?”
I watched him quietly and then asked softly in return.
“You know, Lu. What’s the reason you keep prying like this?”
Only then did Lu fold his newspaper and turn his gaze to me.
“Because right now, you’re all I have.”
“…”
“I felt it more clearly after entering this manor. Many people know me, but… not a single one of them approaches me first. At best, they offer greetings saying it’s been a while.”
Was that so? It probably was.
“Facing my past self in an indirect way made me start thinking about various things. For example, why is your attitude toward me different from others?”
His brilliant golden eyes sank quietly in contemplation. His very human-like appearance, so unlike a god, made my own feelings restless as I watched him.
“You don’t need to think about it so complicatedly, Lu. People just find you difficult to approach. Because…”
Because you only looked at me.
I swallowed the fact I couldn’t reveal and added a suitable answer.
“…you’re a bit peculiar. You know that, right? Mages generally have their own distinct and unique worlds. It was just about that much.”
Well, this isn’t really a lie either. Gods are bound to be peculiar, aren’t they?
Lu, who had been silent for a moment, rested his arm on the back of the sofa and looked at me with an indifferent expression, as if his previous moment of contemplation had been meaningless.
“Anyway, I simply felt the need to know more about you in detail. There’s no other reason. So. How am I different from that Raphael fellow to you?”
I think I got momentarily irritated by his utterly nonchalant attitude. Judging by how I almost answered, ‘You’re a precious friend in an ordinary way, and Raphael is a precious friend I could give my life for.'”
But that would be… nothing more than taking out my frustration on innocent Lu, wouldn’t it? I sighed and answered with a whatever-happens-happens attitude.
“I regard one as a friend. And I regard one as more than that. That’s the difference between the two.”
Lu’s brow furrowed roughly in an instant. It was an expression of deep displeasure.
“…More than that? Who?”
“Who knows? If you’re that curious about me, try watching. See who I regard as more than a friend.”
“Daisy Pager.”
It was an answer that felt like a demand for a response, but I ignored it and left the drawing room. What could he be so curious about when he doesn’t even have his memories? Anyway, Lu was strange then and now.
* * *
The next day.
“My goodness, you’re really safe as I heard? I’m glad I came down immediately upon hearing the news!”
Inastasia came to visit.
Once the Head Maid of the Weatherwax Family, she had now returned as Duke Menoleta, and befitting a member of the imperial family, she appeared extremely elegant and beautiful.
Our reunion was certainly a joyful occasion, but when we actually came to share a light embrace, I was momentarily confused about what to call Inastasia.
To call her Head Maid was inappropriate since she wasn’t (at least not currently) my head maid.
To call her by her name directly was difficult since she was no less than the Emperor’s sister, making her status extremely high.
Then the action I could take was…
“Thank you for personally visiting Midwintry, Duke Menoleta.”
Was it a somewhat stiff greeting? Surprise bloomed in the Head Maid’s, no, Inastasia’s eyes.
“Oh my.”
She covered her mouth and laughed heartily, then shook off her laughter and nodded seriously.
“Your attitude feels a bit awkward, doesn’t it? But I won’t refuse it. We mustn’t make mistakes at the banquet. I’m also very glad to see you after such a long time, Weatherwax Baroness.”
After shaking hands once more, she looked around the interior of the manor with fresh eyes and let out an exclamation of admiration.
“This place is exactly the same as it was four years ago. Even visiting again after time has passed, it feels warm and cozy… So, where is Miss Renya?”
“Renya?”
Inastasia’s gaze as she suddenly looked back at me became sharp.
“Are you preparing well for the banquet? That child’s abilities as a maid are excellent. But dressing up the star of a banquet to match that status is a story of an entirely different dimension. Do you think Renya has such capabilities?”
“…”
Does…she? I’d have to try giving her something to know. I came back and immediately got into a fight with Rien.
“You have a face that says you don’t know.”
Inastasia, with the frighteningly quick perception befitting a former head maid, immediately grasped my thoughts.
Phew. A long sigh hit the ceiling.
“I’m glad I made the effort to come here. I almost would have seen the Weatherwax Baroness looking like a duck wrapped in colorful wool at a banquet where all the influential figures of the Empire gathered. Ah! Just imagining it gives me chills.”
Clap clap.
It was light applause.
At that sound, well-built attendants began getting off the carriages lined up one by one, then entered the manor carrying various boxes and bags on their shoulders.
What’s this, is she planning to return as head maid again?
When I looked at her with questioning eyes, Inastasia wore a subtle smile.
“I thought my head would explode making everything within a month. The salons in Jedo are already bursting with preparations for your banquet… Anyway, I know your body measurements exactly, so you just need to try them on.”
Wait a minute. I just need to try them on?
‘I wondered why there were as many as three carriages…’
My goodness, they weren’t hers but all mine? And they’re dresses to wear to the banquet at that?
‘Oh, no.’
I recalled past pain and touched my waist, then asked urgently.
“How many in total?”
“Not many. I threw away the ones I didn’t like in the middle, and what I selected and selected until the end… is about six outfits. If you include shoes, necklaces, earrings, underwear, etc., it would be much more… Sigh, please be careful when moving them, will you?”
Inastasia naturally headed to my bedroom with the attendants.
Thanks to this, my room became filled with items piled up like mountains in less than 10 minutes. Inastasia began displaying necklaces and shoes carefully stacked in boxes with a very pleased expression, but no matter how I looked at them, they seemed no different from those stored in this manor.
“There are many such things in the manor too…”
Before I could finish speaking, a cold gaze glared at me.
“If you’re going to say there are many, just keep your mouth shut. It would be blasphemy against these jewels.”
Hmm. Right, well…
But I have to say this much.
“The star… isn’t me but Andert Pager.”
Inastasia, who had been examining the color of shoes, glared at me with wide eyes.
“I was actually thinking of preparing for that side too! But that always cunningly quick Natasha beat me to it, didn’t she? Anyway…”
She finally held up each of the dresses that had all arrived, so gorgeous they hurt the eyes, against my face one by one and whispered.
“I guarantee it, you’ll probably suffer quite a bit when you go to the Imperial Palace. The fact that I’m currently being very humanitarian toward you, even if you don’t know it now, you’ll desperately realize soon.”
That’s a bit troublesome.
I’m not someone suited for banquet halls or high society social activities.
What I’ve gained through social life is… only very tiresome incidents like being sacrificed to the power struggle between Raphael and the Sword Saint, suffering from the demon’s reappearance, or losing my first dance partner at a ball.
If this is what social activities in the Pen Rota Empire are like, I’d rather be a loner.
“Oh, and about the banquet partner. It would naturally be Mr. Lu, right?”
“…”
“Mr. Lu’s formal wear is probably already prepared. May I check it now? Partners should harmonize in various ways, after all.”
How should I answer this? After thinking, I decided to just honestly reveal all the facts.
“Lu has lost his memory.”
“…Pardon?”
“There was some trouble with Rien. So naturally, formal wear isn’t prepared… He probably isn’t even thinking that he needs to attend with me, you know?”
Inastasia, who had been standing dazed, grabbed her head and burst out in shock.
“…Ahhhhh!”
At the scream as if the world had collapsed, the attendants flinched and turned their heads.
After being frustrated for quite a while, she caught her breath roughly while looking around in all directions, then soon grabbed my shoulders with a face filled with deep joy.
“Weatherwax Baroness, bring Mr. Lu right now! I’ll use that handsome face to make every man and woman in the banquet hall lose their minds!”
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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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