Chapter 40

“Hmm, I remember the eldest son of Garington was quite the radical.”

“That’s right. Even if you wanted to restrain him, his father, Lord Garington, is a war hero of the Empire. Not exactly an easy target.”

Garek Garington. He used to be the chief of staff at the Empire’s Western Command, and he’s the guy who smashed the so-called barbarians from the Western Steppe. For his achievements, he received the White Heron Medal, a symbol of war heroism, given only to those who made massive contributions in battle.

Of course, everyone knew there was some political calculation behind Lord Garington’s medal, but very few would undermine his accomplishments. He had genuinely impressive achievements and was a remarkably upright person.

Moreover, unlike the most radical of radicals, Charles, he was closer to a moderate, making him relatively popular among commoners. Hence, the Empire treated Lord Garington as a somewhat symbolic figure.

I did quite a bit of digging since he was the only lower noble who spoke to me before the Marquis of Portus, who usually didn’t bother with the likes of them. But he was a clean slate.

But Charles Garington was different. As the eldest son of the war hero who obtained immense wealth and fame, he was nothing short of a spoiled brat, living off his father’s fame and fortune. Lord Garington had given him several warnings, but they had absolutely no effect.

Why would he listen to anyone else if he didn’t even listen to his father? It’s like trash that can’t be recycled—only good for burning. Thinking about it, Yulia probably has heard quite a lot of such remarks. Meanwhile, I deal with weird rumors, and being a maid of the House of Portus, people mostly ignore me, while Yulia, as an academy student, gets more attention.

She would only be noticed when delivering lunch to Lilian or coming and going from the library, but the radicals don’t hang around the library, and when she brings lunch to Lilian, she avoids being seen as much as possible, so it was somewhat expected.

“So, the problem is… the field trip day.”

“Huh? Where did that come from?”

“I feel like those radicals will try to pick on Yulia during the field trip.”

I said it indirectly, but it was more than mere picking on. But why on field trip day? If it were inside the academy, it would be one thing, but if they stir up trouble outside, all eyes would be on them. That would make it very difficult to brush under the rug.

Moreover, news of radical nobles bullying commoners would be the kind of juicy story the Empire’s daily papers would get excited about. Especially with the royal family actively reforming the treatment of commoners lately, this would surely draw interest from everyone.

Well, if the radicals had brains to think that far, they probably wouldn’t so vehemently oppose the Empire’s policies in the first place. The issue started with the nobles being on the same side as the emperor and the Marquis of Portus, who were directly devising and implementing the policies.

The radicals, mostly made up of highborn and lower nobles, were quite transparent about their fears of losing their interests and were throwing all sorts of tantrums. After all, there are more lower nobles than highborn ones in the Empire, so they couldn’t be ignored, and policies kept hitting stumbling blocks.

Thank goodness for the adept Marquis of Portus; if it weren’t for his remarkable abilities, half of the current policies might have been thrown out the window.

“On that day, stick close to Miss Lilian. I’ll be watching over you.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, that works. Yulia, you can tag along with me. Catherine will keep an eye on you.”

Lilian clapped as if it was a great idea, while Yulia awkwardly chuckled, “Ahaha.”

“You don’t say that Lilian will be keeping watch…”

“Well, of course. Look at these arms; who am I supposed to protect?”

With those skinny arms, she probably couldn’t even hold a sword, I thought as I glanced at Yulia. She smiled brightly and nodded.

“Ahaha, okay, I’ll stay close to Lilian.”

“Good.”

Watching Yulia beam for no apparent reason, I tilted my head in confusion. Was there really anything amusing in that conversation? Honestly, it was a mystery.

###

Two days later, field trip day dawned. After organizing all of Lilian’s stuff, I blankly stared outside. Watching the bright sun made me feel oddly uneasy. Ever since I was born into this world, I had never ventured beyond the House of Portus and the academy vicinity, and that made me anxious.

While I was at the academy for work, field trips felt different. Sure, I was supposed to accompany Lilian to guard and assist her, but in the well-patrolled Tarakan Free City, the chance of something worrying happening was pretty low.

I was worried about an attack from radicals, but let’s be real, if it were just a handful of nobles, they could be easily repelled and it was basically a pleasure outing.

“Did you pack everything?”

“Yes.”

After finishing up with Lilian’s service, I dressed her up with her desired jewelry and clothes before stepping outside for a moment. It was time to make Lilian’s lunchbox.

Honestly, Lilian didn’t need to cling stubbornly to my cooking. She wasn’t that paranoid young lady anymore. But still, she usually preferred to eat only my food. Whether it was her trying to maintain an image of a “young lady” or inherited some of her previous obsessive traits, who could say for sure?

Anyway, while we planned to return today, we had to solve both lunch and dinner there, which meant preparing two full meals. With an hour left until departure, I had plenty of time. As I hurried through the campus, a shadow suddenly fell over me.

“What the…?!”

Charles Garington, the guy from before, blocked my path and frowned at me. He looked down at me for a moment, then noticed my maid uniform and grinned a vile grin. It sent chills down my spine.

“A maid? What are you doing in a place like this?”

“…I’m Miss Lilian’s maid.”

“Ah, the Lilian you speak of.”

His smirk widened, and as his hand came toward my shoulder, I instinctively took a step back. Just like that, his smile vanished in an instant, replaced by an ugly scowl. Before I could process the change, his fist came flying toward my face.

Dodging wasn’t hard. But considering this guy, taking one hit would probably result in fewer future troubles, so I tightly shut my eyes. *Thwack!* With a sound that echoed, my head turned sharply. A metallic taste filled my mouth. Sure, he might be strong in some aspects, but there’s only so much you can train your face to take a hit. The shock rattled me.

“You commoner…”

Serious? Is that all you can say? As I hung my head in silence, Charles spat at my feet before swaggering off. Damn, what a way to ruin my morning. As I stepped into the student cafeteria, the staff widened their eyes upon seeing me.

“Did you get hit?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really.”

When I waved it off, the staff studied my face closely and groaned as if he were the one in pain. Is it really that bad?

“For ‘nothing’, that bruise is significant.”

“Um, I’ll get it treated later. Right now, I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“You must get it treated.”

Given that we see each other often, the worried expression on their face made me nod in agreement. If my facial muscles weren’t numb, I would’ve smiled to ease their concern. But that was nearly impossible for me.

I quickly fetched the ingredients I had prepared yesterday from the storage and started chopping them up. I couldn’t taste them with the blood in my mouth, but I had made these dishes enough times before, so I figured they’d turn out fine. Cooking wasn’t something new for me, after all.

But seriously, what now? If the staff is worried enough, others must be even more concerned. Carefully carrying the lunch I made, I headed to the infirmary where the doctor looked at me, astonished. Wait, why is everyone looking at me like this? I couldn’t help but nod at the mirror, my face telling the story.

My cheek was puffed up black and blue, clearly letting everyone know that I had indeed taken a hit. Lucky for me, I had a face that was somewhat attractive, but otherwise, it would have been cringeworthy just to look at the bruise.

“First, let me apply some ointment. It’s best to rest, but I know you won’t do that.”

“How did you know?”

“Well, you’re famous.”

“Me?”

“Yep, you.”

The young doctor nodded and began applying ointment to my cheek. Each touch of their slender fingers sent sharp pains shooting through me. As they coated the inside of my mouth with ointment, they placed gauze on my cheek.

“If you don’t want to ruin your pretty face, be careful for a while.”

“Um…”

It’s a thought I have often, but scoring compliments on my looks just creeps me out a little. Maybe because I still hold faint memories of my life as a man? While criticizing my own appearance in the mirror felt alright, having someone else say it made me blush.

“Now hurry back. Just know that everyone else is worrying about you, and it’s a good thing.”

“Thank you.”

I slightly bowed my head and thanked them as the doctor smiled and waved their hands dismissively. Afterward, I left the infirmary.