The Maid With a Child

5. This baby Is A Disaster.

 

“She certainly looks talented.”

While everyone was looking at the baby who had become quiet in surprise, Rakalt approached.

Adelen hurriedly lowered her head.

Not only was she unable to properly greet her master, but she fainted at the sight of blood and collapsed in his arms.

“M-master. I apologize for just now. When I see blood, I feel…”

“Blood?”

“Yes, I am so afraid of blood.”

Rakalt understood without much thought. It would be possible for someone who had not been on the battlefield. Moreover, what had just happened before her eyes was not an occurrence that could happen in the daily lives of ordinary people.

“I see. I will make sure that this kind of bloodshed won’t happen from now on.”

“Yes, Master…? Did you say that from now on, there won’t be bloodshed…?”

Adelen, who had been lowering her head reflexively, suddenly raised it.

“Yes, why? You said you were afraid of blood, so I would not let you see it.”

“It’s not just that I don’t want to see blood…No, does that mean that something like this could happen again in the future?”

“Maybe?”

Rakalt shrugged his shoulders so innocently.

Adelen’s eyes darkened.

The rumors that she had dismissed as “no way” had now boldly become reality.

 

***

 

Not long after she had entered Sigelion.

‘I wonder if it’s okay to work this comfortably and receive such a high salary.’

Since the master was not present, the work was easy and leisurely. And I couldn’t help but say this carelessly.

The senior maid smiled subtly at Adelen.

‘It’s like receiving compensation in advance for something that might happen later….’

Later, Adelen found out that there was a reason why a rookie maid like her was selected for Sigelion with such good working conditions.

The master, known as the King’s Sword or the King’s Hound, was a key figure in the Teplan Front. In the midst of the long war with Morn, there were endless forces that were after the master’s life.

The moment the master returned, the Sigelion family was said to become another battlefield with assassins everywhere.

Of course, the servants would not be targeted directly, but if they were unlucky, they could get hit by something while passing by, or they could become hostages…

However, the master had not come home once since Adelen started working, and the story had been forgotten in Adelen’s mind as if it were a story from long ago.

 

***

 

Then, it suddenly became reality.

Without even a moment to prepare herself mentally.

“Well, then I-I won’t have to meet the master often f-from now on, right?”

“Why?”

“Well, only then I won’t have to encounter the assassins,…right?”

Rakalt shook his head coldly at Adelen’s words.

“It shouldn’t be a problem for you to see me.”

“Huh? W-why?”

“They were after you just now, not me.”

“…Me?”

It happened so quickly that she couldn’t even remember it properly.

The last scene that came to mind was the master swinging a knife at her. And the lukewarm liquid that was poured from behind.

Adelen hurriedly reached out and touched the back of her neck.

“Your neck is fine.”

Rakalt kindly told her. He used a dry voice that seemed to say, “You are completely fine.” even if she nearly died.

“I can’t guarantee the next time, though.”

Adelen barely managed to hold on to her precarious mind and asked.

“A-am I really being targeted because of this baby?”

Adelen’s eyes turned to the baby who was looking up at her with tears in its eyes.

The baby had clear eyes, not knowing anything. If only this incident hadn’t happened, it would have been so cute that she would have sacrificed her life to protect it.

She had grown tired of raising her siblings, but it was so cute that she thought she could overcome it.

“That’s right.”

However, she couldn’t leave the baby who was the cause of this disaster and go. Why, why, why did she have to be swept away by these rough waves?

She just wanted to earn a little more money a little faster than others and live a comfortable life, so she became a maid for the Sigelion family.

“This baby…Who on earth is this baby?”

Rakalt looked Adelen up and down.

She was a timid maid who fainted at the sight of blood and trembled at the sight of his face.

The body he felt the moment she collapsed in his arms was clearly that of an ordinary person who had never seen a weapon in their life.

She was a person who was easy to threaten and swing around, and who would never dream of betraying him.

That was how Rakalt evaluated Adelen.

“Well, since we’re going to work together from now on, it would be fine for you to know this much.”

Rakalt walked in Adelen direction.

With every step he took, drops of blood that had not yet dried fell onto the cleanly cleaned floor.

Adelen couldn’t take her eyes off the bloodstains. Was the path that the master had walked so far like that?

An ominous premonition came to her that the path she would walk from now on would be like that as well.

“His name is Havel, a 5-month-old boy. He is the only prince and the crown prince of Morn.”

“…!”

Adelen raised her head.

What did she just hear? Adelen’s facial muscles twitched on their own.

“Wow, the crown prince…”

That too, from the enemy country of Morn.

“He is the key to stopping the endless war with Morn.”

Rakalt revealed the secret with a calm, almost gentle face that contrasted tremendously with Adelen’s expression.

Adelen was so surprised that she almost dropped the baby.

The key to stopping the endless war with Morn!

Adelen held the baby tightly with both arms. However, perhaps because of the weight of the baby’s identity, he did not feel light like before.

“So we must keep him alive so he does not die in the future. Do you understand?”

“I-i-in the future…? How long in the future…?”

“Until the child is no longer useful.”

“W-When is that?”

“Well.”

Adelen blinked at her master’s ambiguous answer.

If he didn’t specify the time limit, it could be for a few days, or several decades until the baby becomes an adult.

For that period she would only take care of the baby, would always suffer from assassination attempts, and would not even dream of her own family. A life close to imprisonment for several decades…

It couldn’t be happening. She hadn’t worked hard and lived until this day for that purpose.

“N-no, that won’t work….”

“A-Adelen…?”

The butler looked back in shock at Adelen’s behavior, daring to talk back.

However, Adelen, who had already almost died once and could face that even more in the future, was not in her right mind.

“P-please…. I, I can’t do it!”

Adelen choked up and fell to her knees.

“This could happen not only once but every day. If it’s an order from the master, I should do it somehow, but isn’t following orders something that you have to do to survive?”

This was the first time in Adelen’s maid life that she said she couldn’t do it.

Adelen followed orders no matter how unreasonable they were. Since there was no one to take care of her after leaving the orphanage, she had to do that to keep her job.

If she couldn’t do something, she would try until she could. She always held on with that mindset.

However, it was different when it came to children.

Especially when that child was the crown prince of an enemy country who would always put her neck in danger.

This was her last chance to get away from this job. Given the nature of childcare, once she took on the job, she would never be able to quit.

“I told you, I’ll make sure that you won’t see this kind of bloodshed from now on.”

Rakalt looked at Adelen with a look that said, “Isn’t that enough?”

Adelen didn’t believe it.

No matter how much the master promised not to cause bloodshed, one never knows what will happen in human affairs. She only has one life. As long as she doesn’t quit, there will always be a risk of death.

‘It seems like you’re trying to keep me from quitting.’

It seemed like the master had already chosen Adelen as the right person for the job.

In that case, she needed an excuse

to not do the job other than being scared.

“That’s t-true!”

Adelen gritted her teeth and put down her pride.