The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 90

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 90

My mouth fell open in surprise.

This bewilderment wasn’t displeasure. It wasn’t shame or humiliation I felt, nor was it joy at encountering a photo of myself from four years ago.

I was just.

“Ah, here it is. You can see Baroness Deshero over here.”

I flinched and lifted my head with trembling shoulders.

Count Sereniye, who had somehow moved forward ahead of me, was gazing intently at one of the framed pictures hanging on the wall.

“Now that I look at it, you were quite young too. How old were you? Nineteen? Twenty?”

No answer came.

Deshero looked even more shocked than I was in some ways.

His uncharacteristically speechless expression seemed confused, as if he had encountered some unexpected enormous secret.

At first slowly, then later with noticeably quick steps, he arrived in front of Count Sereniye and asked.

“Count Sereniye. I’m sorry, but may I ask where you obtained these photographs?”

“Hm? Well, I got them from the Allied Forces.”

“That can’t be possible. I was in the closest position to the subject of these photographs, fighting alongside them. I never once saw a single soldier carrying a camera.”

It was a valid question.

In a war where you didn’t know if you’d die today or tomorrow, what crazy soldier would carry around a camera?

Of course, there were occasionally those who carried cameras around as precious items.

But film itself was a consumable, and after going through war, in the end only broken cameras that couldn’t function properly remained.

‘Such dynamic composition and realistic scenery could never be captured.’

So from Deshero’s perspective, the photographs displayed in this gallery had to be suspicious in many ways.

The Mage War was an extremely long and brutal war.

In the midst of that, our appearance, which was no different from the core of the front lines, was captured so closely and vividly.

That meant there was a high probability that major operations and various secrets of the Allied Forces had leaked without the leadership knowing.

Count Sereniye’s meaningful smile only heightened such suspicions.

“Do you really think so, Baroness Deshero? Can you assert that there wasn’t a single soldier who could leave such wonderful works?”

“Yes. I assert it.”

“Really? Then you’ll be a bit surprised to hear this. I also participated in the Mage War. Together with you.”

Startled, I hurriedly turned my steps toward them.

‘Lu participated in the war?’

Did he participate after changing his appearance with magic?

Since he was someone with sufficient ability to do so, it was hard to deny.

Deshero, who wouldn’t know this fact, asked back with disbelieving eyes.

“Are you… serious?”

“Why would I joke with a baroness? It’s not even enjoyable.”

“Which unit were you in? Why did you hide your identity…?”

“You don’t think only the Allied Forces truly participated in that war, do you? Some of the mages belonging to Rogue also joined the Allied Forces with the Emperor Pen Rota’s permission while hiding their identities. This is a fact that you, as a military leadership official, should already know.”

Sharp golden eyes gazed at Deshero before asking dryly.

“More than that, Baroness Deshero. You seem to know that this artwork exists for a certain specific person. Who do you think it is?”

Deshero’s answer was unhesitating.

“Andert Pager.”

And the saliva in my mouth began to dry up like the middle of a desert.

“Count… do you know Andert, that man?”

“Of course. Could there really be anyone in the world who doesn’t know Andert Pager? He’s a hero, isn’t he?”

A somewhat shy and longing voice echoed through the wide ceiling.

“I’m quite a devoted fan. Though he doesn’t know it.”

Looking directly at me.

After entering the gallery. When the gaze that had been fixed on Deshero’s face the entire time looked at me for the first time.

Beyond faint memories, a tickling voice that bubbled up like foam pierced my chest.

“Stop acting like a snake and answer. Who are you? Why did you come here?”

“Because I’m your fan.”

At that moment there were no more bubbles.

Instead, it felt like sand was pouring down my wide-open throat.

The sand that rolled down into my body piled up neatly in my heart, soon filling it to overflowing.

“What is this?”

“Ah, that’s Andert Pager’s coffin.”

“A coffin? Don’t tell me inside this…!”

“Hm? Are you asking if the hero’s corpse is inside? Of course it’s empty. We couldn’t even erect a gravestone.”

A large hand stroked the black coffin placed in the very center of the gallery.

Not even a speck of dust could be seen on the coffin. Rather, it gleamed white as if it had been moved just yesterday.

“I realized it too late. That I didn’t know his real name.”

Now I couldn’t help but be certain.

Count Sereniye, Lu. Had been watching over me all this time.

‘…Continuously.’

For the past 10 years, continuously.

To remember me living as a different being.

To bury me next to Andert’s grave.

To keep the promise from that day to bury me next to the grave.

‘…Ah.’

The sand piled up in my heart finally overflowed.

Not wanting to be caught with my unsightly distorted expression, I turned my back to him.

The whole world was filled with moments of Andert Pager.

This vast villa was filled with my existence as Lu saw it.

The emotion I felt in that moment of realization… was such a massive flow that I couldn’t put it into words, becoming a tsunami that swallowed me.

So I could no longer shake it off.

‘Hah.’

Of all people, Lu.

Really, of all people, it had to be Lu.

“His real name?”

“Don’t you know? Hmm, well. Who else in this world would know besides me… there are some, but. At most one or two. It’s not strange that you don’t know.”

I stood in front of the nearest photograph.

I saw a stupid face barely eating supply rations. The area under the eyes was sunken in like black paint had been applied, as if they hadn’t slept for a long time.

Yet the mouth was smiling.

Probably, there were friends in a place cut off from the photo that couldn’t be seen.

“Count, you seem to know Andert well.”

“Even if I know, it’s not as much as you all. You were comrades who spent 10 years together.”

The conversation paused briefly.

For some reason, I could picture Deshero’s bitter expression before my eyes.

“I’ll ask just one thing. This coffin and gravestone… are they items prepared for Andert? Did he ask you for them?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because he was always waiting for death.”

It was an unexpected answer.

He thought of me that way?

But don’t all soldiers wait for death? I wasn’t particularly special…

‘Ah. That’s why.’

“Looking at you, you seem like someone desperate to die on the battlefield. Or to go far away.”

“Marry me. I’ll treat you well… Really well. So well that you won’t want to leave.”

Was that why he said such things?

“Aren’t you going to ask why I thought that way about Andert?”

Count Sereniye kindly answered Deshero’s question.

“Death is the destination of those who enjoy life. We are all moving toward death. So waiting for death is nothing special.”

“That’s quite pessimistic. But I don’t think like you do, Count. Waiting for death and moving toward death—then where is the meaning in living?”

As if choked up, Deshero’s voice, which had been slightly agitated, suddenly dropped to the ground.

“Andert wasn’t someone who should have died like that.”

“….”

“He had the right to enjoy peace. He had the right to look up at skies cleared of war clouds. He had the duty to live the rest of his life being treated as a hero and receiving praise. But in the end….”

“….”

“To receive a title only after closing his eyes, only after leaving his name in history. These are all meaningless things once you’re dead.”

A title?

‘I received a title?’

My eyes widened at this news I was hearing for the first time.

But I was only surprised for a brief moment.

How long has it been since Andert Pager died? Such things were meaningless now.

“I’m sorry. I was being too emotional.”

“No need to apologize.”

“Meeting an old friend after so long must have made me quite excited. Thank you for introducing me to this place, Count. May I look around alone for a while?”

“Of course.”

After that, we each spent our own time in our respective positions.

Deshero looked around the gallery for nearly an hour. Then he left a somewhat sudden request.

“There’s one photograph that catches my eye. Could you give it to me?”

“To you? Well, that’s an unexpected request.”

The photograph he chose captured three men against a midsummer backdrop.

It showed me and Raphael with our shirts coolly removed, and Deshero sitting on the ground, all of us escaping the heat.

After long consideration, Count Sereniye accepted Deshero’s request. It seemed he accepted because it was none other than Deshero.

That evening.

We entered the Astrosian Palace.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————