The Villainess's Exclusive Maid Is Too Good at Her Job - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 77

“Hmm. Yes, I participated in it.”
“Were there child soldiers there as well?”
“Child soldiers?”
For a moment, the Marquis of Byeon’s gaze flickered toward Kendrick before returning to Janet.
Kendrick himself could be considered a child soldier in a sense. He had been only fifteen years old at the time.
A boy whose voice hadn’t even finished changing had to wield a sword and cut down countless enemies to survive.
“There were. A considerable number of children drifted in from various places.”
“Were they… orphans?”
“Most of them were. The Orphanage was overflowing with children, and some of those with nowhere to go enlisted in the military of their own accord.”
“What about those who were forcibly taken?”
“That happened too. Some of the unscrupulous men at the time even accepted payment from those who brought orphans to the military units.”
Liam’s brow furrowed as he spoke.
It was a reality he had witnessed himself, words from his own mouth—yet they felt unbearably cruel.
Every time Liam saw children wandering the Battlefield, his heart ached so intensely he could barely endure it.
He couldn’t help but wonder if Genia was somewhere suffering like this.
“Our Platoon had a few children as well. We assigned them to guard the Military Barracks or help with meal preparations. But…”
Tsk.
“It seems there were quite a few children deployed to other Platoons who received training and were sent into combat. It’s truly something no human should do.”
In wartime conditions where even adults struggled to survive, what could the survival rate of children possibly be?
Even among those assigned to relatively safe areas, there were casualties. Then how many children must have perished in the blood-soaked battles?
“…But why are you suddenly curious about this?”
Theo didn’t interject either, but he shared the same thought. Why had this suddenly become a matter of curiosity?
Janet hesitated for a moment before answering.
Though she had steeled herself, taking that first step was always nerve-wracking.
Exhale.
Janet released a light breath and carefully began to speak.
“I believe I was one of those child soldiers.”
“…!”
“!”
At Janet’s words, both men reacted in unison. Their faces showed shock, and neither could open their mouths to speak.
It was understandable.
A person with no memories before age fifteen suddenly claiming to be a child soldier from the same war they had fought in.
What kind of novel-like story was this?
But.
“I sometimes have dreams related to my past. Dreams where I’m struggling to survive on the Battlefield.”
“…Is that truly the case?”
“Yes. At first, I thought they were just nightmares, but they’ve become increasingly vivid. No matter how much I think about it, they seem to be fragments of my memories from before I turned fifteen.”
“Good heavens. Janet, you were on the same Battlefield as I was.”
Seeing the Marquis of Byeon mutter in surprise, my heart warmed.
I could feel that he genuinely cared and worried about me.
“Once I confirmed that those were my real memories, I became curious about them.”
“Memories from before you were fifteen?”
“Yes. I became curious about what kind of person I was, and whether there might be a family searching for me.”
In truth, this was the greatest reason I had decided to recover my memories.
Watching the Marquis of Byeon and Lishar desperately searching for their lost family stirred something within me.
‘Could my family be searching for me too?’
During my time at the Graham Family Home, I had never once thought about family.
Perhaps because my memories had been completely erased, I felt no sense of the importance or necessity of family at all.
Of course, even now, I harbored no tender feelings toward my biological parents.
‘After all, the chances of my parents searching for me are probably slim.’
According to my dreams, I was already an orphan when I was conscripted as a child soldier.
Given that I had spent my early years in an Orphanage, it seemed likely that I had been abandoned by my parents.
But.
‘There’s always that one-in-a-million chance.’
I disliked being left with such uncertainty.
So I wanted to recover my memories.
To know for certain whether I had been abandoned or not.
“Understood. I’ll check whether there are any records of child soldiers who participated in the war.”
“Thank you, Theo.”
“Hmm. Did you use the name ‘Janet’ back then as well? Many girls deliberately adopted masculine aliases.”
“I’m not sure about that. I can’t recall that far back.”
“I see. Then this will take some time. In truth, unless one is nobility, records of soldiers who participated in the war are rarely kept.”
The Marquis of Byeon clicked his tongue in frustration and clenched his fist toward me.
“But I’ll do my best to find some trace! Just trust me!”
“I will help as well.”
“Thank you both. Oh, and I’m not sure if this information will be helpful, but….”
I carefully extended my left wrist, which bore no markings.
“I have a blessing phrase.”
At my words, Theo’s eyes widened.
His expression showed he had never imagined such a thing, even in his dreams.
As I offered him an awkward smile.
“Oh, that might actually be a clue!”
Liam clapped his hands and nodded enthusiastically.
Blessing phrases never duplicate.
Even if two phrases granted the same power, they were expressed through different sentences or different words.
Therefore, a blessing phrase would serve as an excellent clue to finding someone.
“So what blessing phrase were you granted?”
“Salvation.”
“…What?”
Janet answered the Marquis of Byeon’s startled question once more, enunciating each syllable clearly.
“Salvation. Those two syllables are all there is.”
…Salvation.
Truly salvation?
The Marquis of Byeon turned the words over in his mind again and again.
The voice that awkwardly added, “It’s rather unique, isn’t it?” barely registered in his ears.
He couldn’t help it.
‘Salvation’.
That brief blessing was something Genia, Liam’s lost daughter, had been born with from the very beginning.

***

“What do you make of what we just discussed?”
“She’s not the sort to lie. I can vouch for that, having watched her closely all this time.”
Liam agreed with Theo’s assessment.
Though he hadn’t known Janet long, she didn’t strike him as a child capable of deception.
Which meant.
“…Could it be that Janet is our Genia?”
The Marquis of Byeon muttered in confusion and staggered slightly, prompting Theo to quickly steady him.
“Are you all right, sir?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just feel a bit weak….”
I had never seen Liam in such a state, even on the Battlefield.
Always laughing with that cryptic smile, scratching at people’s hearts—but today, only a pitiful father who had lost his child remained.
Had this happened before, Liam would have rejoiced without hesitation.
But the two previous failures had made him hesitant. There were certainly strange inconsistencies about simply accepting Janet as Genia.
Not remembering childhood could be overlooked, but Genia’s original appearance had been hazelnut-colored hair and blue eyes.
‘That child’s eyes were…a deep navy blue.’
In a sense, they were in the blue family, but not the bright blue like his or Lishar’s.
When Genia was young, she had inherited their eye color perfectly.
Not to mention her hair color.
“By any chance, did that child have a rabbit-shaped burn scar on the back of her hand?”
“No, sir. There was nothing like that.”
Theo recalled the first time he met Janet. Given his profession, he had the habit of scrutinizing everyone he encountered thoroughly.
At the time, Janet’s hands were cracked and calloused from rough labor, but that was all.
There was no distinctive scar worth noting.
“Captain.”
“Y-yes.”
“Perhaps we should verify through the family heirloom relic?”
In fact, there was a certain method to confirm Genia’s identity.
It was to use the ‘Holy Sword,’ a treasured heirloom of House Ortea.

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