The Peaceful Life of a Maid Who Hides Her Power and Enjoys It

Episode 100

 

“…Ah.”

 

My head felt dizzy.

 

A nauseating sensation rose up through my throat. I tightly closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

 

‘Why?’

 

There was no time to feel despair.

I clenched my lips tightly, preparing for the impending pain.

But strangely, I didn’t feel any pain at all.

 

Carefully, I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was a rusty blue sword piercing through my lower abdomen. 

There was no pool of blood on the floor as there should have been.

 

It was merely “piercing” through.

 

Gurgle.

That wasn’t all.

Above the sword’s hilt, slowly rotating, was a sphere emitting a bluish-green light.

The sphere was in a shattered state, but smooth white threads tightly wrapped around it, protecting it.

 

In an instant, I realized.

 

“This… is this my soul?”

“Yes.”

 

I looked down at the sword piercing through my abdomen with a dissatisfied gaze.

“This is one of the reasons I called you. I felt the need to examine the structure and form of your soul more closely.”

 

As if possessed by those words, I explored the sphere.

“Fascinating.”

 

Could I touch it?

 I cautiously reached out my hand and touched the tightly bound white threads, like tangled yarn.

 

“Ouch!”

 

I clutched my heart and stamped my foot. 

Ah, damn it. My heart hurt so much that it woke me right up.

Rue smirked, a rare sarcastic expression on his face.

 

“When will you grow up?”

 

“Well… then this sword must be a relic of Rogue, right?”

 

“Urd modified an ancient magical artifact. It temporarily extracts souls.”

 

“Urd?”

 

“You met when the alarm went off, remember? After squeezing a few days off out of me, he hurriedly returned like a monkey with its tail on fire as soon as intruders appeared in the sanctuary.”

Ah, the Silver-haired Caepa. It was a magical artifact created by that man.

Rue cautiously examined my sphere.

 

“Do you know what this thread is?”

Of course I did.

“It’s an unknown power that protects my soul from shattering.”

“Well done.”

 

I’m not sure what I did well, but it happened to be the topic I wanted to bring up.

“Mr. Rue, a few days ago in the underground of the Serenier Castle. Do you remember asking me if I had swallowed a Heart Crystal?”

“Well, did something like that happen? I don’t quite recall.”

 

I pretended not to hear his feigned ignorance.

“You were also looking for a Heart Crystal when we met on Queen Island. I thought it must be somehow related to Mephisto.”

 

“I see.”

 

“The Heart Crystal you were searching for. Did I accidentally swallow it?”

 

“Hmm.”

His reaction wasn’t very reassuring. I asked with a disappointed tone.

 

“Why? Was I wrong?”

 

“No, it’s just no fun when you’re right.”

I could finally say I’d seen all kinds of lunatics.

 

At that moment, Rue extended his hand over my soul.

An intense energy seeped into the sphere. The white thread that had been enveloping the sphere soon unraveled, taking the form of a small pearl.

 

I instinctively realized.

‘This… is the original form of the power that protects my soul.’

 

Seeing it like this, it was just an ordinary heart crystal.

Rue, with the concentrated unknown power on his fingertips, spoke to me.

 

“Take a good look. This is the cause of Mephisto turning Queen Island into a sea of fire and starting the magical war.”

 

“….”

 

“It’s Dian Cecht’s heart.”

 

What?

 

In that moment, the concentrated power unraveled once again.

The power, now in the form of a mere thread, slowly wrapped around my soul.

 

“Tsk.”

 

Rue, briefly licking his lips, pulled out the magical artifact made by Urd from my body. The pulled-out black handful turned into black ashes and fell to the ground.

 

“So it was a one-use item after all?  Considering the manpower and cost required for its creation, it’s no more efficient than trash.”

 

Disposable or not, none of it registered in my ears. Only one shocking sentence remained in my mind.

 

Dian Cecht’s heart.

I… I ate Dian Cecht’s heart.

 

‘Of course, Rue mentioned the heart crystal would probably be on the level of a Calepa but still… Dian Cecht, of all people.’

 

No matter how you looked at it, I ate Dian Cecht’s heart!

“H-How? It’s such an important item, can I really eat it? Digestion? When will digestion happen?”

 

I grabbed Rue’s collar again, and he tightly grasped my hand and pulled me closer to his side.

 

“Calm down, Daisy. The important thing is not that you ‘ate’ it. It’s ‘when did you eat it?’'”

“When did I eat it? Well, probably around the time I first met you…”

 

Rue smirked slightly.

 

“The you from when we first met? Even though you’re still fragile now, back then, you were like a trampled flower. If you had swallowed Dian Cecht’s heart crystal back then, your body would have exploded.”

 

Ah.

 

‘He’s not wrong. Strong power requires a strong body.’

 

But the more I thought about it, the questions deepened.

“Then when did I eat it?”

“I don’t know.”

 

What? You don’t know?

“You said you’ve been watching over me all this time, and yet you don’t know when I picked it up and ate it?”

 

“That’s right.”

I gasped. Before I knew it, my feet were floating, and Rue was holding me in his arms.

He walked much faster than before, taking long strides. He must have been frustrated because my steps were too slow.

 

“For 14 years, there were only three times I couldn’t watch over you. During the third year of the magic war, the sixth year, and the ninth year.”

 

“…So you mean, during one of those three years, I swallowed Dian Cecht’s heart?”

 

“Not actually for three years, but for about three weeks. It was all during winter, close to the end of the year.”

 

He was only absent for a week at a time.

‘But is it really that important to know when I ate it?’

 

It was already inside my stomach. It’s been digested and has become a part of my soul. It seemed pointless to dwell on the date I swallowed it when I couldn’t even spit it out…

 

“Let me ask you one thing. Have you ever picked up something like this? Or did someone force you to eat it?”

 

…No, it could have some significance.

 

‘If it wasn’t accidentally swallowed, but someone intentionally fed it to me, then it’s definitely important to determine the timing.’

 

The end of winter during the third, sixth, and ninth years.

Winter…

The period was about a week…

 

“Does anything come to mind?”

Did it come to mind?

“Not at all.”

 

It felt like back then, I was either just cutting down demons or healing myself while stuck in a barrack.

Finally, the place we arrived at had a slightly different atmosphere from the inner sanctum we had been wandering around.

 

In this place, where the bright moonlight fell, there was a gloomy yet clear energy in the air, and there was an impressive altar placed in the middle.

Just by looking at the old and grand traces scattered throughout, it felt like we were in ruins that had passed at least 200 years. The broken marble statues and old wooden chairs on both sides of the path exuded a sense of time.

 

Rue sat me down on the altar. When our eyes met, I felt a tingling sensation in my throat and quickly opened my mouth.

 

“By the way, where were you for those three weeks?”

“Why? Curious?”

“….”

“Well, it’s a secret that I can’t tell just anyone.”

“….”

 

“It’s a secret that even the Calepas have moaned about not knowing for over 20 years.”

“Am I just anyone?”

“And what if you’re not just anyone?”

 

What’s with that attitude?

My mood slightly hit the floor.

 

It wasn’t the act of hesitating to speak while hinting at a secret that annoyed me. I was irritated at his behavior of constantly distancing himself from his relationship with me.

 

‘Ha. I’m so tired of being teased like this.’

 

I was so sick of it.

I was so sick of it that I couldn’t help myself.

“To me, you’re not just anyone.”

“Then?”

 

“…Honestly, I’m not sure myself. How to define this feeling I have for you.”

 

Before Rue could make a face that said, ‘What can I do about your confusion?’ I quickly added a follow-up.

 

“But one thing is certain. Even if you hadn’t taken Dian Cecht’s diary, I would have come here to see you.”

 

I thought I expressed my feelings sincerely, but when I faced Rue directly, it looked like there was something a bit unsatisfied in his expression.

Feeling the need to defend myself, I continued speaking.

 

“Even if I didn’t regain my memories of Queen Island, I would have come to Calepa.”

 

“….”

 

“No, actually, all the other reasons were just excuses. I think I came here just to see you…”

 

“….”

 

Sigh.

 

“Again…”

 

“Alright, that’s enough. If I make you talk more, you might faint from hyperventilation.”

 

“That’s a wise thought.”

 

I wiped away a faint cold sweat that had almost trickled down. Leaning on the altar, Rue quietly murmured, gazing up at the open ceiling.

 

“The realm of the divine is determined by balance.”

Thinking it was a perfect opportunity to understand Rue, both of my ears involuntarily perked up.

 

“This balance refers to the equilibrium between one’s human self and one’s higher spiritual self. Have you heard of the term ‘Ascendance’ on the continent?”

 

“No.”

 

“In simple terms, Ascendance refers to when a human surpasses their own limits and reaches the realm of the Gods. When one ascends, they leave behind the mortal realm and ascend to the heavens… but we don’t know exactly where they go. Those who become gods never return.”

 

Those who become gods never return.

 

I looked at Rue. If he were to surpass the state of Demi-god and become a perfect god, would he also disappear somewhere?

---

Happy 100th chapter! we’re officially a little more than half-way through the story hehe.

Daisy worrying about digestion after finding out she ate Dian Cecht’s heart is the reason she’ll always be my favorite character.

 

Btw, just for a fun question, is there a certain song that you might associate with any of plom’s character? ^^