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

Part 2 – Episode 23

I looked at the woman standing firmly with an unshakably reliable face, carrying a thickly packed load of luggage that I didn’t know where she had gathered from.

“Hey, you.”

“Please call me Deschamps, real master!”

“…Alright, Deschamps. Do you really plan to follow me?”

“Of course. Although I have a duty to protect this building while waiting for you, now that we’ve met, I believe I must guide you to the fake master!”

“I can go alone. It’s not my preference to travel with someone I don’t know well.”

“No, I must follow you and protect you. You… You don’t know how many people harbor malicious and terrifying thoughts in this filthy world!”

So she says after being sat on by me for over 30 minutes.

That aside…

‘I don’t get why the assassin-butler set up a guild to wait for me instead of rebelling or something.’

It was difficult to think of it as a trick to deceive me, considering that this woman waited for me for half a year, and devised several ridiculous tests to distinguish the real me.

The real me, huh.

‘Does that mean someone impersonating me has come here before?’

And then there was the talk of a curse hanging over the guild.

It seemed that while I was asleep, something unfortunate happened to the Weatherwoods family.

“I just reserved a VIP seat on the train to Brisher through the mail. I’ve also requested additional accommodation at the hotel where the false master is staying, so you can meet him face to face and unravel the curse, and then rest as long as you like. Now, let’s go, Real Master!”

The sight of Deschamps, who I’d made a bad first impression on, being so enthusiastic was somewhat burdensome.

“Don’t call me ‘real master’.”

“Yes? Oh, I see you don’t like the sound of it. I understand… Master.”

Master was even worse.

If I pointed everything wrong out one by one, it’d take all day. I borrowed a leather bag to wear around my waist, tucked my drowsy Rue inside it, and left the building.

Since there was quite a bit of time before the train started moving, I decided to walk to Midwinterre Station instead of taking a carriage.

In truth, rather than the reason being time to spare, I wanted to look at the atmosphere of the market after I’d returned.

In truth, I wanted to soak in the atmosphere of the market more than I needed the extra time.

Considering the merchants’ nosiness, they must have been worried about me for the four years I was gone without a trace.

Perhaps they argued about whether they should go looking for me or wait, and the group fell apart in conflict. Otherwise there would be no reason for the strange and bizarre looks I was getting right now. It seemed that they’d become extremely wary of outsiders since I disappeared.

Deschamps, who had been restless like a puppy that needed to poop since a while ago, asked me, “Excuse me, but are you planning to keep going around like that, Master? Do you think you might want to cover your face with a hat or mask…?”

Like what?

“Why, do I look weird?”

There didn’t seem to be any problem.

I examined the clothes I was wearing just in case, but there was nothing particularly conspicuous about them; they were perfectly ordinary. I also checked the back of my hand and the inside of my shirt to see if my skin was blue, but it was normal too.

Then, Deschamps, whose eyes were wide open (so wide that the whites of her eyes almost had the blood vessels bursting), clenched her fists tightly and shouted at once,

“No way! What crazy bastard would find fault with Master’s beauty? The pet bird on your shoulder suits you so well. If anyone dares to pick a fight, I’ll smash them all to pieces!”

“Keep such talk to a whisper, Deschamps. You’ll startle the market people.”

“Oh, yes.”

She was over 180cm tall, she’d got quite a bit of muscles, and she was even carrying a body-sized backpack. To continue to stay around her, she needed to maintain a good relationship with the merchants…

“Hey, you there.”

I stopped at the sudden call. A middle-aged man who grabbed my shoulder and turned me around asked me with an expression that couldn’t be more serious.

“Do you happen to be…a descendant of the hero Andert?”

For a moment, the surroundings fell silent.

As people’s gazes focused on me, I felt a sense of alienation like never before. But before I could ponder the cause of this, Deschamps stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

“Speak some sense, mister… That person had no children. And even if he did, would they have grown up so big by now?”

Deschamps gently caressed her arm muscles and laughed. The man faltered in embarrassment but persistently held my gaze.

“Then perhaps you are Andert Fager himself…”

“He is merely an ordinary person who happens to look like him. I understand your surprise, but could you please not trouble my master? We are in a hurry… Let’s go, master!”

Ah.

‘No wonder I kept hearing whispers around me mentioning Andert’s name.’

I must have changed into a similar face. I didn’t know since I hadn’t looked in a mirror.

After arriving at Midwinterre Station, Deschamps approached the station attendant to receive the train tickets. The attendant, who handed over the tickets made of high-quality paper and took our luggage, turned to me with a shy face and whispered,

“You are really handsome.”

What was that?

Of course I was handsome. Rue had a good aesthetic sense, afterall.

“So, I’m drawing more attention than usual because I resemble Andert.”

Even in the bustling station, the piercing gazes poured in, so I felt a bit uncomfortable.

The troublesomeness reached its peak shortly after boarding the train.

“Excuse me!”

Inside the aisle of the vintage VIP-only seating area.

A sharp-bearded man with a fedora hat called out to me at that moment.

“You, by some chance… haven’t lost your memory, have you?”

I tried to ignore him and walk past, but the man grabbed my arm. He searched his chest pocket with an urgent look on his face.

“I’m not just saying this! Your face… It looks exactly like someone I know. If you’re curious about your past, contact me later with this business card…”

“Hey, Fedora. Do you want me to make you lose your memory too?”

Crack. Deschamps’s joints sang as she flexed her fist. I ignored the business card the man threw as he ran away and tried to open the door to Room A6.

At that moment.

My face reflected in the window.

Wait a second.

This face was…

“Haa.”

Yes, that’s what it was… I thought it was strange that there were an unusual number of people spouting nonsense…

I opened my bag as soon as I sat down.

“Rue, look at me for a second.”

But no matter how much I touched his whiskers or stroked his fur, the blue cat Rue showed no signs of waking up.

Seeing him lying there motionless in deep sleep felt strange.

‘This has never happened before.’

My intention to get angry faded away, replaced by anxiety.

I didn’t bring it up to Rue, but… when we reunited in the glass greenhouse of Calepa, I saw a bed sitting alone behind a lush oak tree.

Looking at the slightly disheveled bedding, as if someone had just gotten up from it, I wondered if the bed belonged to Bernard or Rue.

Hadn’t Rue said that he’d slept by my side for two years just because he was bored?

But at that time, such questions quickly vanished from my mind as I realized that Rue had become free from balance.

Since he could use the power of blooming freely to his heart’s content now, there would be no need for him to take deep rest like I did.

I definitely thought so.

‘If he really needed to take a rest and is now working too hard because of me…’

If the reason for Rue’s activities in the form of a small cat was not purely a whim but to replenish his strength…

I shook off the gloomy unease that dominated my mind and carefully closed the bag.

If Rue left Calepa pushed himself out of Calepa just to help me, then the only response I could give him was to protect and take care of such a Rue. Even if I was really annoyed with the fact that he’d changed me into this form.

At that moment.

Clunk.

Someone grabbed the door handle and slowly opened the door.

Thud, thud, thud.

 

At the same time, my heart began to beat rapidly.