Chapter 44

“Did I wake up?”

As my consciousness slowly returned, a worried voice reached my ears. A bright light invaded my eyes, causing them to sting for a moment. The character I had worried about drew the curtains over the window when I furrowed my brow at the abrupt light bombarding me as soon as I woke up.

“…Your Highness.”

As I dazedly raised myself, I noticed the sun was already high in the sky. Had I been sleeping since morning? Though my muscles felt a bit stiff, it was nothing compared to earlier; overall, my body felt much lighter. My cheeks still throbbed with pain, but at least the swelling had gone down somewhat.

“How many hours have I slept?”

“Hours~? Oh, just hours. Ha!”

The Princess gave a sound that made it clear she found the situation absurd. Why was she reacting like that? When I tilted my head with a blank expression, the Princess let out a deep sigh.

“A whole day.”

“What?”

“A day. Why on earth did you come along for an expedition in that condition?”

A whole day? Had I really slept that long? No matter how sick I had been, that seemed excessive. Now that I thought about it, my back felt a bit stiff. My insides felt utterly empty, and my throat was parched. Was this what a person who had slept for an entire day felt like? I promised myself that I needed to avoid getting sick again.

Though, that’s easier said than done. Before I knew it, the Princess held a thermometer in my mouth, watching it slowly rise. 37 degrees. At this point, I could consider it almost recovered.

“What about you, Young Lady?”

“Actually, I did want to talk about that.”

“…Did something happen?”

As I attempted to rise, the Princess pressed down on my shoulders. Ugh, I couldn’t get up. Stuck under her grip, I lay back down on the bed and stared at her. The Princess looked me dead in the eye and said,

“Princess Lilian and Young Lady Yulia had a fight. No, it would be more accurate to say that she unilaterally cut ties.”

“…What kind of nonsense is that?”

“That statement is rather irreverent.”

“Oh. I didn’t mean to.”

It was hard to believe such absurdity was coming from the Princess’s lips—the very picture of a perfect Maid. It left me utterly speechless.

“W-Why?”

“I don’t know either. Princess Lilian got into a big fight with Young Lady Yulia and bought a whole hotel to stay at. With Charles Garington and his radical faction, mind you.”

“The radical faction?”

That includes Charles Garington? I furrowed my brow. Huh, after a moment of contemplation, I finally got up. Thankfully, I had grabbed my swords for protection. Picking up the Twin Swords neatly placed beside where I had been lying, I moved around to loosen up my body.

“What do you plan to do?”

The Princess watched me with a somehow foreboding expression and posed her question. I answered her as if it were obvious.

“I need to go ask her. To understand what’s going on, so I can figure out my next steps.”

“…You aren’t going to be stopped, are you?”

“Your Highness, I am but a Maid.”

A Maid exists to serve their master. Whatever decisions their master makes, they strive to lead those decisions to the best outcomes. Either by doing the legwork, using their head, or whatever it takes. If Lilian decides to cut ties with Yulia, then I shall respect that choice and prepare for what comes next. That is the correct judgment.

My personal feelings about being close to Yulia are secondary. Yulia, saddened by having her ties to Lilian severed unilaterally, should be left to Catherine, her ‘friend’, not to me, ‘Maid’ Catherine.

“Got it. Do you know where they are?”

“No, I don’t.”

“…I’ll give you the location. I’ll also send a guide along with you. Go figure out what’s going on.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need a guide. They’d just get in the way.”

Upon my polite refusal, the Princess nodded. After gleaning the rough location from her, I strapped my sword to my waist and left the room.

#

“Is this the right place…”

Another sigh. This was the fifteenth sigh since Lilian had shut herself in this room. I had hit her hard enough to discourage her, but there would definitely be bruises. Of course, with Yulia’s Divine Power, she would heal, but the pain wouldn’t just disappear.

Lilian had never been one to lash out at others, not even once back on Earth, so her discomfort was magnified tenfold. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, a clear sign of her unease. And then there was Charles Garington. Just thinking about that guy irked me. In fact, most of the radicals were inherently unpleasant, but Charles’s level of undesirability was astonishing.

Not only did he constantly scan his surroundings, but during conversations, he never averted his gaze from the most inappropriate places, as if he would burst through the door at any moment and pounce on me. How was such a man born to a national hero?

Ha. With my sixteenth sigh, Lilian found herself staring blankly out the window. Fourteenth floor. While that was quite high in this world, it certainly wasn’t making her feel any better. While others ventured out to tour the Tarakan Free City, Lilian felt trapped in a hotel, unwilling to step outside.

Knock, knock. A sound echoed in her ear as she lay on the bed. Room service? muttering quietly, Lilian shouted from her spot.

“I don’t need it!”

“Oh? Are you sure you need none?”

A familiar voice reached her ears, one that shouldn’t be here. Eyes wide, Lilian raced to the door and swung it open. There stood a familiar face, a smiling girl with black hair cascading down her back and blood-red eyes, unmistakably an expressionless Maid.

Catherine was here.

“Catherine?!”

“I’ll be coming in for now.”

Catherine hugged the startled Lilian gently and led her back inside the room, shutting the door loudly behind them. Still stunned by Catherine’s sudden arrival, Lilian gaped at her. Then she frowned slightly upon seeing Catherine’s bandaged cheek.

“Are you alright?”

“That’s what I want to ask you, Young Lady. What on earth happened?”

Catherine immediately launched into an interrogation without even a greeting, prompting a wry smile from Lilian. Another sigh left her lips, marking the seventeenth one as she sank onto the bed to regard Catherine, whose expression seemed like it could be swept away like dust at any moment, causing Catherine to reach out, then let her hand fall.

“What did you hear?”

“I heard you fought with Young Lady Yulia. And you brought Charles Garington and the radical faction to this hotel.”

“…Well. Ah, before you say anything, I must point out: this was all Yulia’s idea. I didn’t suggest this! I tried to stop it.”

“You’re telling me you colluded?”

“Yep.”

Catherine exhaled deeply, caught off guard by Lilian’s casual admission. What on earth were these girls thinking? No, I could somewhat guess. With how Charles Garington had treated her, she likely felt compelled to retaliate somehow. Catherine pondered this and looked back at Lilian, who was staring at her blankly.

Lilian and Yulia were delicate young women who had never fought before. Given the Academy’s unique circumstances, involving authority figures was next to impossible, especially with the war hero father still standing strong.

“So, was this a trap?”

“If the relationship between Yulia and you deteriorated, it would make you a tasty morsel for the radicals.”

If one had the power of the House of Portus—the power of Lilian Beon Portus—they could stir the radicals into an even greater frenzy. Moreover, the original ‘Young Lady’ had been closer to being a radical herself, making her an even more enticing target for them.

“But what comes next?”

“Huh?”

“Surely, you must have a plan beyond this. You can’t just end things by showcasing the rift between you and Yulia, can you?”

“Ah, yes. The next plan is also something Yulia came up with. It’s, um, you see…”

Lilian began speaking carefully, gauging Catherine’s reaction. Catherine braced herself for whatever wild statement she was about to hear.

“…is to set a small bomb in Charles’s room and blow it up.”

At that moment, Catherine thought, What on earth did I just hear? If it was some crazy scheme, maybe she could laugh it off, but this went beyond anything she could have imagined. Was this something a sane person would suggest? She swallowed hard.

“Are you really going to do it?”

“Well, if Yulia really manages to bring a bomb, then maybe. Oh, and she said it wouldn’t be deadly, so you don’t need to worry.”

“How is that logical? A bomb that won’t be deadly? That’s like saying a blade won’t hurt if it nicked you!”

“But a blade doesn’t kill you just from a slight cut.”

Catherine froze momentarily at Lilian’s exceptionally normal retort. Watching her, Lilian snorted with amusement and continued.

“She said she would make it with her Divine Power. So, don’t worry about it.”

“Is that even possible?”

“She claims it is.”

As Lilian continued her nonchalant remarks, Catherine sighed again. It felt as if she were merely an accomplice, while the true instigator of chaos shadowed her words. In a way, wasn’t she practically acting like a terrorist? She was discussing bombing something in the middle of the city!

Questions arose in Catherine’s mind about how to even begin sorting this situation out when she heard faint footsteps approaching.