32

It was late at night.

In a certain part of Athena's grand mansion, a secret meeting was taking place.

"You called for me, Master."

"…You've arrived."

A girl greeted the middle-aged man.

Her hair was a deep shade of brown.

The middle-aged man, Bordin, didn't even glance at the girl and instead stared intently at the moon outside the window.

"Starting tomorrow, for a week, our lord will be leaving the mansion to stay at the Imperial Palace."

"I see."

"A week. Can you achieve the desired result within that time?"

"…Since the play has already begun, I believe it's quite possible."

When Bordin turned around to face the girl, she bowed her head even deeper.

"Good. Your role is important. I've already informed the head maid, so there shouldn't be any further questions. Make sure to handle it thoroughly."

"I will follow your orders."

With that, having finished his business, he turned his gaze back to the window.

The girl, after bowing once more, disappeared in an instant.

Left alone in the room, he quietly muttered as he looked at the moon faintly illuminating the dark night sky.

"Perhaps… that woman might become the key."

The lord he served was calm on the surface but fierce enough to consume everything within.

"The sun will expose all sins hidden under repulsive hypocrisy."

When that time comes, mere mortals will vanish without a trace in the blazing flames of the sun.

***

"You're saying I no longer need attendants?"

Rosaline had a bewildered expression at my words.

"Yes… I'm really fine now… To be honest, it's been a bit burdensome."

"Hmm… Could it be that you're embarrassed to show your bare body?"

"Hic?! N-no?! It's… It's really just that I felt burdened… That's all."

Hitting the mark, I couldn't help but instinctively cover my lower abdomen, already concealed by clothes.

"If you feel that way, then there's no helping it. I'll inform the other maids accordingly."

"Thank you…"

Thank goodness.

Now that such a mark had appeared on my body, I didn't want to show my bare body to anyone.

When I confirmed the location of the mark, I had tearfully confronted Athena, asking if it had to be there.

She shrugged her shoulders and nonchalantly replied.

"It was a coincidence. Do you think I wanted it to be there?"

After she said that, I had no words to respond.

In the end, I resigned myself to it and decided to avoid letting anyone notice it as much as possible.

That's why I refused the bath attendants. Though it was convenient, I preferred bathing alone rather than showing the maids this mark.

"Phew… I'm exhausted…"

Like a caterpillar, I wriggled into bed and pulled the blanket over my head.

This morning, Athena left the mansion, saying she had business at the Imperial Palace and would be gone for a week.

Before leaving, she told me I could do anything as long as I didn't leave the mansion.

A week without her.

Perhaps the old me would have jumped for joy, but now-

'…I'm not going to do anything.'

I was already too mentally exhausted.

The last time I went out because I was bored, what happened?

Every time I recalled that incident, any urge to step outside disappeared.

Even when I had no choice but to visit Rosaline, I was constantly anxious about running into a member of the Dawn Knights.

If I encountered them, all I could do was lower my head like a sinner.

"It's all my fault anyway…"

Until Athena returns, I won't leave this room.

I could even eat in here.

For the next week, I planned to be in the bed forever.

As I was about to close my eyes, slowly surrendering to the comfort of the bed—

"Miss!!!!!!!"

"Huh?!"

Bang! The door burst open with a loud noise, and a maid stormed in.

She strode right up to my bed and yanked the blanket away.

"Eek?! A-Alina?"

"It's so late, and you're still in bed! What about your meal?!"

Hands on her hips, she scolded me with a fierce tone.

I whispered to her in a small voice, my lips barely moving.

"…I'll stay in my room from now on."

"What?! Where did the person who used to come to me because they were bored go?"

"Ugh… I-I'm fine for now…"

Hearing my words, Alina leaned her face uncomfortably close to mine.

"Why are you so gloomy? Is it because of what happened at the training ground?"

"...."

"Sigh… I heard it was an accident caused by the explosion of your master's mana. It wasn't your fault, so why are you so down?"

"…If only I hadn't gone in the first place…"

Alina slapped her forehead and sighed, trying to comfort me.

"Miss, that's too much of a hindsight-based thought. Was that something you planned?"

"Th-there's no way…"

"Then it's not your fault. So cheer up, okay?"

"…Still…"

"Hey! I don't want to hear it."

"Huhhh?!"

Alina grabbed my waist with both hands and forcefully lifted me out of bed.

She lifted me so effortlessly, she seemed quite strong.

She gently set me down on the floor.

"No, this won't do. While the master is away for a week, I'll take care of you with all my heart."

"I'm fine, really…"

But she placed her finger on my lips, silencing me.

"I'm not fine, so no. Got it?"

I stood there for a while before finally nodding, and she removed her finger.

"Great! Then, first, let's have lunch… or rather, breakfast?"

"Can't I eat in my room?"

"If you keep eating in bed, you'll gain weight!"

"But I never gain weight, no matter what I eat…"

Upon hearing my words, Alina glared at me with eyes that looked like they could kill.

Her expression, as she clenched her teeth, was downright terrifying.

"Let's eat… in the dining room… miss?"

"Hiccup."

In the end, I followed her orders and went to the dining room to eat.

Once again, a dish so delicious it was awe-inspiring appeared in front of me.

No wonder hunger is one of the top three human desires.

As the food melted in my mouth, I felt my mood improve without realizing it.

While eating, Alina and I chatted about this and that, and the distracting thoughts in my head seemed to disappear.

Time passed, and after finishing the meal, I stood up to head to the library, which Alina had suggested during lunch.

As I turned toward the door—

"Um… Miss…"

I heard Alina call out to me from behind.

"..."

'…Wouldn't it be better to eat a little more neatly?"

"Huh?"

Confused, I looked back at her, and she pointed to where I had been eating.

"…Huh?"

What I saw was a messy dining table.

The dishes I used were scattered around, and there were traces of food messily left on the table.

"We, the maids, will clean it up anyway, but it's good to maintain basic manners, you know!"

W-wait…

Did I really eat that messily…?

The spoon and fork were oddly tilted, which was quite displeasing to look at.

Before I got possessed, I had lived alone, and cleaning up after meals was a habit ingrained in me.

I couldn't believe that I had left such a messy dining space.

I was eating in a bit of a daze, but…

How had I left my spoon and fork in the end…?

Unable to remember, I asked her again.

"Alina… did I… really do that?"

"…Yes? You're the only one who ate, miss…"

She tilted her head and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

As she said, I was the only one who had eaten here.

Alina had just kept me company from across the table.

So that meant I was the culprit.

I briefly suspected her.

But she pointed it out to me right after I took my eyes off the table.

It was hard to believe she'd done something to the food and utensils in that short time.

Unless she had incredibly quick hands.

I suddenly felt incredibly ashamed of myself.

I didn't want to admit my mistake and tried to blame someone else.

Had I always been this petty?

As soon as I admitted it was my fault, shame flooded in.

What must she have thought, seeing such a messy table?

"S-sorry… I'll eat more neatly from now on…"

Hearing my words, Alina smiled and gently pushed my shoulder.

"Don't worry too much about it. Shall we head to the library as planned?"

"Mm… please."

***

I fanned my face with my hand, trying to cool the heat rising in my cheeks, and followed her to the library.

"Wow…"

When we arrived, the library was much bigger than I had imagined.

I hadn't thought it would be small, but I didn't expect it to be this massive.

There were so many books that I felt like it would take hundreds of years to read them all.

"Is there a particular kind of book you're looking for?"

The kind of book I want to read…

I do have something in mind, but would there be such a book here?

However, seeing the size of this place, I got the feeling that it might actually exist.

"Is there any book like a novel?"

"A novel? Hmm…"

She pondered for a moment at my words, then smiled brightly as if she had thought of something and spoke.

"There aren't any novels, but there's something similar! Would you like to follow me?"

Following her, we arrived in front of a shelf that seemed at least three times my height.

Pointing to the middle of the shelf, Alina said,

"That book over there. It's a record of the history from the Great War era. There are so many battle stories that you can read it like a novel!"

The Great War era.

A long time ago, a war had broken out due to the long-standing tensions between races.

Humans, demons, beastmen, elves, spirits—every race took up arms, and their war lasted a hundred years without a single day of rest.

A tragic era.

The number of lives lost was too great to even dare to mention.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the peace we enjoy today was forged from the terror of that war.

I became intrigued.

In novels, such events were usually summarized in just a few lines, but I was curious to see how it was recorded here.

"Yeah, I'll take that one."

"Alright. I'll bring a ladder, so please wait a moment."

Huh?

A ladder?

The book seemed reachable if I just stretched my hand a bit.

A ladder didn't seem necessary…

But before I could say anything, she had already disappeared. I didn't even notice when she left.

Feeling a little awkward, I decided to just wait for her to return.

However, even after several minutes, she didn't come back.

"…Why isn't she coming?"

As I continued to stand still, my body started to feel restless.

I guess I'll just grab it myself.

It didn't look that high anyway.

When I stretched my hand upward, the distance between me and the book was just barely out of reach.

"Urgh…"

Rising onto my tiptoes allowed me to close the gap.

"Got it!"

As I pulled the book from the shelf-

Thud-

A very faint contact.

In the process of removing the book, my hand lightly touched the shelf.

In terms of force, I had barely nudged the shelf.

It wasn't even enough to topple a reed.

But.

"Huh…?"

At my slight touch, the large shelf began to tilt backward.

Before I knew it, the shelf crashed down heavily-

Thud- Thud-

Like a domino effect, the shelves behind it also fell, spectacularly collapsing to the floor.

Kwoooooom

As multiple shelves hit the floor, countless books spilled out like debris.

In an instant, dust filled the study, obscuring my view.

Standing dazed in the cloud of dust, the only sound that escaped my lips was,

"…Huh?"

Like a deflated doll, a feeble sound came out.