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

For Concetta, thank you for the ko-fi!

 

<Episode 187>

 

It wasn’t long before a soft touch reached my cheeks and under my ears. The unmistakable feeling of a kiss made my ears tingle, but it lasted only for a moment.

 

“Wait. Heart, what about the heart? It’s already been four days…!”

“Calm down. I’m not as weak as a bug. Even if the grace period of the curse has passed, I can endure a few more days.”

 

A large hand guided my hand to his chest. Under my palm, the clear echo of his heartbeat was transmitted.

It was slow as if it was about to stop.

So weak, like it was going to fade away.

 

I’m glad his heart hadn’t stopped. It’s definitely a relief, but…

 

“What’s going on?”

 

Why did I faint?

What happened to Dian’s eyes?

What about Calepa’s heart?

 

“It’s okay, the discomfort will be over soon. It couldn’t be helped since I had to make you settle down. I’m searching for a way to keep your soul in this body.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Indeed, you never know what will happen with human affairs. To think that through those  inhumane experiments, we now have a way to glimpse into the human soul. The disgusting desires of wizards can be useful at times.”

 

The whole situation was complicated and confusing.

I felt like a wet paper boat swept away by waves of chaos and asked back stupidly.

 

“What about your curse?”

“The Round Table Council wasn’t formed because of my curse. They gathered to keep hold of your soul. Of course, as per your brilliant advice, I will swallow Calepa’s heart.”

 

“…Why? Why would you do such a thing?”

“Because you messed up all my plans.”

 

Plans?

“I had no regrets about anything. That’s how a slave should be. From the moment I received Calepa’s curse, my death was determined, and I was very willing to accept that fate. Why was I willing? Honestly, I still don’t know. My head has been broken for a very long time, and I’ve been rolling around with a few screws loose. Rolling in the wrong direction. Perhaps death was the missing screw I lost back then. Through death, I could have been completed. Because… well, I’m still a slave, you see?”

 

“…”

 

“Yes, it was definitely such a perfect plan, but…”

 

“…”

 

“You’re trying to save me.”

 

“…”

 

“You ruined the whole plan. So, you can’t go back either, Ash.”

His exhausted voice whispered firmly.

 

“If you want to save me, stay by my side forever.”

 

I couldn’t say anything for a long time.

Rue’s story echoed incessantly in my ears. Rue, who was a slave, Rue, who was broken, Rue, who awaited his final command. I had something to say to him, but it was difficult to find the right words.

 

However, the moment I’d recognized his warmth in this desolate cold, a memory came to mind. One of pink petals gently falling on surging waves, as if they were being devoured.

 

It was Rue’s petals that led me all the way here.

 

“…Rue, there’s something I really want you to hear.”

 

“…”

 

Rue, who didn’t speak for a while, scowled openly.

 

“You speak as if you’ve died.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

I forced myself to calmly clear my throat and continue speaking.

 

“I’ve walked the path you walk. I don’t have the slightest desire to preach to you about something I know nothing about.”

 

Rue didn’t react too much.

Slowly raising my hand, I ran my fingers along his arm and traced his strong jawline. I gently whispered, scouring his hardened face.

 

“Do you understand? It means that Calepa didn’t ‘order’ you to die. He was nothing but jealous of you.”

 

Demi-gods who fail to maintain a balance between emotions and reason will fall back to being humans. Therefore, the curse Rue received wasn’t some rightful death sentence on a slave.

 

Wasn’t this the ugliest and most repulsive evidence in the world that proved Calepa had descended from being a god to a mere human?

 

“The fact that I have become your excuse to live… Honestly, I’m glad about it. But Rue, I’m not very happy to see you blatantly ignoring my words and trying to bind my soul…”

 

Rue was human.

As a human, Rue was young, vigorous, and a rough, ambitious leader with unyielding strength.

 

But was it because I knew him first as a mature adult? Whether he was a monster or the supreme commander of the rebels, no matter how great his nicknames were, the Rue now only appeared to me as a young troublemaker.

 

That’s why I had to show it more clearly.

Just like you, I too can love you as violently as I want.

 

“Rue, why don’t you listen to my sincere concern for you?”

 

I could see my surroundings.

No, I couldn’t see them with my eyes, but I could feel it with my senses. It was possible because my senses became extremely sensitive after crossing two walls.

 

There was a third person here, behind me.

Their breathing and posture were far from the robustness of a swordsman. However, that didn’t mean Rue would have placed a powerless civilian in this room. This meant they were a magician.

 

“Why didn’t you accept it?”

 

Quietly bowing my body, I nestled into Rue’s embrace.

The tense, rigid posture slowly leaned towards me. Seizing the opportunity of Rue’s loosened guard, I swiftly drew the sword from his waist, faster than ever before.

 

“…Don’t you know what’s more important right now?”

 

Swoosh. Rising with a cry, I turned the tip of the sword behind his back. Gradually, I could feel the thin and delicate magician’s neck beyond the blade.

 

“If you don’t want to believe it, I’ll make you believe.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

“Cast an oath between me and Rue, wizard. Let my soul disappear forever too, If his heart stops.”

 

The opponent’s neck was very tense and trembled.

“Com… Commander.”

“…I understand that your skills are even more impressive than I imagined, so put down the sword now.”

 

It was a gentle tone, like he was coaxing an ignorant child.

Ironically, the Rue here didn’t know the most important fact about me. The fact that I, too, have been through a similar hell as him for 10 years.

 

“I’m not as merciful as your commander. If you don’t want to die, act now.”

As I plunged the tip of the sword deeper, I could feel his pulse quicken.

 

“Com… Commander…”

Rue whispered to me from behind.

“Don’t provoke me, Ash. Lower your hand quietly.”

 

Provoke? It was what I’d hoped to do, but in some ways, it still felt frustrating to hear.

 

“Well, I don’t know who provoked me first. You made me cross that damn first wall, didn’t you?”

 

“I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about things you didn’t know?”

At that moment, an intense energy emanated from Rue, tightening my heart.

 

It was the kind of warning that a warrior who has reached the peak expressed when they pressured their opponent. For me, who had dealt with Raphael and the Swordmaster, it was a somewhat threatening, but familiar pressure.

 

However, Dian’s body was different.

It was unimaginable for young and frail Dian to withstand Rue’s power.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Even though I tried to endure it through clenched teeth with my mental strength, I quickly reached my limit. My legs gave away, as if blood was being drained from my body. My mind turned blank, and intense dizziness overwhelmed me.

 

“I…”

 

I…

 

“Because of you… I ended up with so much.”

 

“…Ash?”

 

Rue hurriedly pulled my collapsing body into his arms. I felt a deep sense of concern in the palm supporting the back of my neck.

 

“Good grief. Calm down, Ash. Regulate your breathing.”

“I didn’t want all of this. I just…”

 

I just…

I just thought since I’d survived, I should continue living.

 

“I will entrust this pot to you.”

 

“What do you mean entrust it to me?”

 

“Anything is fine, so try blooming flowers in it. But it’s forbidden to transplant. Start from seeds, not seedlings.”

 

I never had the intention to plant such flowers.

I never once wanted Natasha to be consumed by Mephisto’s heart and become a host.

I never once wished for Rue to disappear far away and leave me behind…

 

Where did things go wrong?

 

“I didn’t love you so we could die together miserably in this dark and gloomy castle!”

 

The cry was sudden.

In the silence of the darkness, I gasped for breaths and clenched Rue’s clothes. Perhaps due to the familiar warmth of his embrace, my breathing quickly calmed down. As soon as my head cooled down, my rationality, which returned, began to stir and rampage.

 

…What did I just say?

 

Without any signs of embarrassment, Rue lifted my hand and gently placed it on his cheek.

 

“You love me?”

 

What touched the tip of my fingers was definitely the line of a clear smile.

I couldn’t discern what emotions he seemed to be suppressing, but a remarkably composed voice reprimanded me.

 

“That’s not right, Ash. Slaves cannot love.”

 

Is that what you’re saying with that expression on your face?

Was he having fun right now?

 

Or was he laughing at my sincerity?

 

“Stop fucking talking about slave this and that, you idiot! If you want to be bound like that so bad, then treat me as your master! If you understand, swallow Calepa’s heart immediately, and become a god to serve me for the rest of your life!”

 

“Alright, my master.”

 

“….”

 

“Yes, if it’s an order from none other than my master… I cannot refuse.”

Rue, who opened my other hand, dropped something small onto my palm. It was smaller than a fingernail, but even without seeing it with my eyes, I could feel its intense energy in my chest.

 

Calepa’s heart.

 

“Feed it to me with your mouth.”

 

What?

 

“…is what I want to say. Too bad, that body belongs to someone else.”

 

Was Rue crazy after all? You knew that, but you still tried to bind my soul to it?

 

“You’re right. Instead of clinging to the useless power of a magician, it’s better if I become a god myself and bring your real body.”

 

I wondered why he was still talking about that stupid thing, but the moment I checked Rue’s expression forming on my fingertips, I couldn’t say anything.

 

“Remember, Ash. The moment I return, if you’re not here…”

 

His slow warning fell just above my lips.

“At that time… I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you, either.”

 

Warm lips touched the palm of my outstretched hand. Carefully, as if kissing, he swallowed Calepa’s heart, and his temperature dropped immediately.

 

“…Huh.”

 

Heart Crystals have an ego.

Just as Mephisto raised an army of demons and Dian Cecht wanted to save me, Calepa’s heart seeked to take over Rue as his vessel.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Though I couldn’t see it, I could clearly feel Rue’s pain. At some point, my hand and arm supporting him began to dampen with cold sweat. I held Rue tightly, comforting him without rest.

 

“Don’t worry. I’m here. You’ll get through this, Rue. I know it. It’s a process…”

 

But I couldn’t bring myself to tell Rue until the moment he lost his consciousness while thrashing in pain.

 

The moment when the two souls collide.

The fact that he would lose all of his closest memories.

 

Two days later.

The day I would open my eyes in Dian’s body never came again.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Goodbye, Rue.