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

<Episode 40>

 

“She threatened to throw herself off a building.”

“Throw…”

“Yes. Instead of attending class one day, she sent a letter to the professor. ‘I’m on the top of this castle and about to jump off it. It’s all your fault.’.”

 

Volkwin smiled and shook his head.

 

“That is crazy.”

 

“You think so, don’t you? But my friend’s madness didn’t stop there. The follow-up is always the most important part. Soon after she caught people’s attention, she started to be accompanied by a fierce dog everywhere, at any time. An aggressive dog with a tight leash. This all allowed her to gain her father’s protection from her brothers. ‘Leave her alone before you drive her any more mad.’ Thus, she was freed from her brothers.”

“…this story. I think I may have heard it somewhere.”

“That’s right. It’s an anecdote of Princess Natasha.”

 

You know that, don’t you? Only a few royals lived a life as turbulent as Natasha.

Natasha, who was a foolish and naive imperial woman, became a completely different person after the incident.

 

She devoted herself to studying magic to gain power, and during the magic war, she joined the Magic Allied Forces to solidify her position as a combat wizard and even became a commander. Finally, she defeated her brothers and even won the position of the crown princess for herself. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to have reached the throne.

Volkwin burst into a vain laugh.

 

“In other words, you’re asking me to become crazy.”

 

“But Volkwin, people around you won’t change easily without a degree of craziness. The same goes for her. If she hadn’t made such a fuss at the expense of her own reputation, she would’ve been sucked dry by her brothers and never been left alone.”

 

“Craziness is the only way to change…”

 

Volkwin swept his forehead with a thoughtful face.

“Ha ha, I certainly hadn’t tried being a madman. At least so far. Thank you for your advice, Yeager.”

“Pardon?”

 

I asked back with a slight chuckle.

“Do I seem like Yeager to you?”

“Huh? Of course. Because you’re Yeager.”

The ‘exit’ was a magic entity that arbitrarily restored the magic’s targets’ mental confusion.

Therefore, it is often modeled after something that provides stability to the target.

 

Perhaps what Volkwin thought to be the reason to reach the exit was Yeager. The effect that Yeager’s friendship had on him must be significant.

 

“Hm, he must have damaged eyes. No matter how you look at it, I have a landslide victory in the beauty department.”

 

Volkwin’s figure slowly became blurred and faded since he’d found the exit. He was out of here now.

 

I walked past the remnant of lights from Volkwin’s presence and went deeper into the darkness.

 

“This is all good and fine, but where is my exit?”

 

Usually, if you are aware of a trap, an exit from the trap was bound to follow you.

In my case, whenever I was caught in a trap, I was followed around by a younger, boyish version of me. A boyish, little version of Andert.

 

“But why can’t I see it now?”

It was then.

In the distance, I saw a young man with shiny blonde hair rushing towards me.

 

I wondered who it was, but it turned out to be Yeager.

 

‘What, did you break the illusions on your own?’

 

That was a problem. My main objective was to get information out of Yeager, and only when Yeager’s mental ability was weakened by hallucinations could I get anything useful from him.

 

“Father! I heard the professor visited our house today.”

 

I stared at Yeager, who stopped next to me. He was looking at a middle-aged man who’d suddenly appeared in front of me with a flushed face.

 

“He didn’t get rid of his hallucinations.”

 

He was running towards the hallucination.

The man, Yeager’s hallucination, and also his father, bluntly nodded.

 

[That’s right.]

“Did he accept my request? What about the schedule? As the professor has become my companion teacher for my studies abroad, shouldn’t we revise the schedule again?”

[No. The professor won’t be joining you. He’ll stay here and help your brother with his classes.]

 

The complexion of Yeager’s face gradually darkened.

 

“…did brother say he wanted to take the professors’ help?”

 

[That’s isn’t true. Based on my expertise, I came to the conclusion that he would be a greater help if he helped your brother with his studies instead.]

 

“But…wasn’t I the one who invited this professor here?”

 

[You’re saying something strange again. The eldest son, your brother, will be the one to succeed the family business, won’t he? No matter who you invite, if it’s for your brother, it’s only right for you to give them up.]

 

“Father, I’ve looked through all this professor’s papers. There is a field that I really want to study in the North Continental Association, and the professor is perfect for it…]

 

[Stop right there, Yeager. Don’t be so stingy. Are you trying to steal away your brother’s teacher that I personally decided on? Is this how I taught you?!]

 

Yeager’s position seemed to be one that was usually pushed aside by his brothers’.

I felt sorry for Yeager, who’s expression became disappointed and who seemed to have lost his vigor.

 

I hit his father first.

 

“I apologise for that.”

Yeager, startled, looked at me with his round eyes.

 

“Hey, Yeager, you’re angry because all of the good things you have keep being taken away, right?”

“…Why do you ask that? Of course I am.”

“Do you want me to teach you how to make sure no one can take them away?”

“I’m listening.”

“You just have to make a fuss about jumping off from somewhere.”

 

Yeager answered with a straight face,

 

“What do you mean, jump, man? Don’t say things like that! It’s true I have a few bumps in my relationship with my father, but I love my family wholeheartedly! I’m not going to do something as terrible as suicide!”

“No. I’m not telling you to actually do it. I’m telling you to make a fuss about doing it.”

“Then what if my father collapses from the shock? Gahh, I don’t even want to imagine a situation like that. Don’t say that ever again, my friend.”

 

Well, not like that.

 

‘Even though he’s treated like that, he still loves his family.’

 

I made a mistake by taking his family situation too objectively.

 

Thanks to that, the crack I’d caused in his illusion quickly recovered.

At this rate, as a side effect, he’d be caught in a stronger hallucination. I had to make a bigger crack than the previous one.

 

‘What are some things that can agitate Yeager?’

 

A characteristic of his that left the strongest impression…

What came to mind after I recalled our times together was information.

 

‘I thought he handled intel really well.’

 

He was extremely versatile with his level of information, even while considering he was the son of a newspaper president. Information was a useful tool in social life. Didn’t Yeager use intel as a way to break away his father and brother’s shadow?

 

‘Then I can use intel to break away Yeager’s current predicament.’

 

It’s simple to break the yoke.

To put it simply, his wound was one of trauma that he couldn’t shake off on his own.

The trap on the target breaks when the target is reminded of a positive aspect of their life that is powerful enough to forget the wound.

 

Therefore, the better you knew the other party, the easier it was to break their illusion.

However, it also meant that if you were ignorant about the person you were trying to save, you would never be able to break their illusion.

 

‘If it’s an opportunity that Yeager would love to grab.’

Information was an opportunity that allowed a person to take initiative and get what they wanted. Let’s see…an piece of information that would fascinate Yeager and distract him from this.

 

“Did you know, Yeager?”

“……”

“Viscount Weatherwoods won the duel with Jean Berkeley Gratten.”

“…….”

 

“In return for his victory, he enslaved Jean Berkeley Gratten. They say he’ll lock her up in his basement and make her do laundry till she dies.”

 

I didn’t say it had to be real.

Yeager, who’d been depressed, brightened up at once.

 

“Whaaat? Is that true?”

He shook my shoulder with a new light in his eyes. I’d gotten it right. He was such an easy-going guy.

 

“Where did you hear this news, Volkwin? Gray, that guy. He seemed unusual from the start. How could he lie without blinking?”

Volkwin.

His exit was Volkwin.

 

‘One side is the eldest son, and the other is not the eldest son.’

Were the two people walking on opposite paths comforting each other? In the end, a person’s mental boundaries were truly astonishing.

 

‘But unfortunately, that’s not what matters to me right now.’

 

I felt sorry for Yeager, but he had to pay me back for helping him.

“The dangerous people looking for Dian Cecht’s relics. Who are they?”

 

Hallucination was the greatest kind of mental magic that dug up a person’s secrets like candy. A hallucinated person was most vulnerable in front of the ‘exit’ that broke their illusion.

Therefore, they revealed their secrets with no qualms.. Just like now.

 

“The Duke of Berkeley Gratten.”

That was an opponent I expected.

“And?”

Yeager replied with slightly hazy eyes.

 

“From the Northern Continental’s United states…rogue.”

 

Rogue? I think I’d heard that before.

 

“What’s the rogue?”

“You don’t even know what the rogue is? Volkwin, how could you be an idiot who doesn’t even what’s going on in the world?”

 

I’m sorry. I’m the idiot who doesn’t know what Rogue is, not volkwin.

‘Anyways, what a quick-witted guy as usual. You suspect me even when you recognize me as the exit.’

 

But thanks to Yeager, I gained one certainty.

 

‘I don’t know what Rogue is, but it must be related to Rue somehow.’

 

The identity of Morian, that Rue stole, was also from the Northern Continental United States. Now that this Rogue has been mentioned, I can begin by finding out about them.

 

“Thank you, my friend.”

I patted him on the shoulder and turned my back. Then Yeager’s voice called out to me again.

 

“There’s one more left.”

The moment I turned my head, the faint starlight from where he was disappeared, leaving a short word behind.

 

“The Duke of Zenail.”

 

…If it’s the duchy of Zenail.

“Raphael Zenail Penrotta.”

Raphael was looking for Dian Cecht’s relics.

 

‘This is definitely the most unwelcome news of all.’

Didn’t that mean I could bump into him one day or another?

 

I continued my steps into the darkness again.

 

[Stop! Where are you going? Help me, Andert…]

[Andert! A traitor who survived alone! You will soon die a terrible death like us!]

 

However, unlike before, I could not afford to look around anymore. The moment I’d heard Raphael’s name, my mind had become filled with him.

 

“If he needs Dian Cecht’s relics, then that means he’s suffering from an incurable disease.”

 

Was he on a time-limit, just like I was? The question began to bite me.

 

I stopped when someone grabbed my hand.

 

“I finally found you after so long.”

A childlike voice followed.

 

I turned my head. No, I lowered my head, to be exact. A thin little girl with a strange and familiar face was looking up at me.

 

Long brown hair covering her back. Drooping corners of her eyes. light green eyes. A small body. A white face.

 

The girl was me in my childhood.

 

Translator’s note

As I thought, I made a translation error. It wasn’t North America (thank God) it was in fact Northern Continental United States. I knew north america sounded a little too out of place lol. Sorry for any inconveniences.