Chapter 61

Lilian’s eyes sparkled for a moment. What on earth was this person doing digging in the ground? Of course, I had realized she was following me midway through. I had never been so dull that I wouldn’t notice someone who hadn’t even learned tracking skills.

I gently lifted Lilian by the hand and brushed off a bit of dirt from her clothes. As the dust that had stuck to her outfit fell away, Lilian slowly opened her mouth.

“Ah….”

“What on earth are you doing here?”

“I should be the one asking! What did you talk about with Karim Elpeltain?”

“Nothing much, but do you want to hear?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Lilian nodding, I felt the urge to spill the beans. I had no intention of hiding it from her anyway.

“I heard he was planning to get the Student Council President thrown off her horse.”

“What?”

To be honest, I didn’t know much about this Karim Elpeltain. He seemed to know who I was, but honestly, I had no memory of meeting him at all. No matter how hard I thought, there was nothing! It’s hard to forget someone with such a distinctive look, right? Just as I was squeezing the memories from my brain like a toothpaste tube, Lilian tightened her grip on my hand and said.

“Wait, what do you mean by that? Who is supposed to be thrown off?”

“Uh? I mean the Student Council President….”

“Not the whole Council?”

“Yep.”

“….”

Lilian bit her lip at my crisp answer. I tilted my head, surprised at how serious she looked. Was my response that shocking? Well, it shouldn’t have been. It was fairly well-known that Karim Elpeltain disliked the Student Council President. The rift between House of Duke Elpeltain and House of Count Bronwey was a factor, but also because Karim had once been embarrassed by Elia Bronwey.

That lion-like man, Karim Elpeltain, was someone who didn’t hold back on his likes and dislikes. As such, he had been at odds with Elia Bronwey since their first year, running against her in the Student Council elections. Yet the students chose the gentle Elia over the charismatic, lion-like Karim, and he still bore a grudge about it.

He often threw around accusations of election fraud and sent his followers to interfere with any of the Council’s activities. Still, Elia Bronwey remained firmly in power.

“Just the Student Council President…? This might actually be okay…?”

“My Lady?”

“Huh? Oh, I was just thinking for a moment.”

“Let’s head back. You’ll catch a cold sitting here on the ground.”

I was a bit worried, considering Lilian was already wearing light clothes. So I gently pulled her along, and she obediently followed me. It was already summer, but the nights were still chilly, and I could feel that Lilian’s body was quite cold.

“So, what did he say he would do?”

“That’s a given question. My intentions follow yours, my Lady.”

If Lilian said to do it, I would do it, and if she said not to, I wouldn’t. That was my principle of action. Of course, I had taken Lilian’s hand on my own accord when it came to the princess, but that was just to protect Lilian, so it was somewhat aligned.

“Hmm… I need to think it over.”

“Is that so?”

That was unexpected. I thought Lilian would outright refuse. But such thoughts evaporated quickly. As a maid, it’s basic not to question my master’s decisions. Of course, if Lilian went too far, I might hit the brakes, but still.

The head maid often admonished me for being so cheeky, but I had no plans to change this stance. No matter how much of a master she was, if she were to do something absurd, I believed it was the true loyalty to stop her. Of course, loyal servants often find themselves first on the chopping block, but my “Lady” always trusted me, so it didn’t matter.

When I thought about it, my relationship with Lilian was a bit peculiar. Clearly, the initiative was in her hands, but whenever I pushed strongly, she would always listen to me. Though even so, there were a few habits that hadn’t changed, and that made me sometimes hear her labeled as a villain in society.

But that was a sensitive issue related to Lilian’s home environment, so it was tricky for me to touch upon it. I had no intention of causing my beloved lady any pain by poking at such sensitive spots.

Upon arriving at the dormitory, I first covered Lilian with a blanket and prepared warm water. After setting up the bath, I stepped outside.

“Hmm…”

I smiled gently at Lilian, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on a chair. Most other maids might wake her up and toss her into the tub, but as Catherine, the pro maid, I had no plans to disturb her comfort.

Carefully, I stripped Lilian of her clothes, tossed them into the laundry basket, and gently lowered her into the bath. I washed her hair, combing through it gently, and scrubbed her body. I felt no lust or desire — that’s what it meant to be a professional maid.

I glanced at Lilian’s face, which was releasing soft breaths. She looked like an angel when asleep. Back in the day, she could be a bit sharp, but these days, she had a few more dulled edges. If you asked me if I preferred the past or the present, of course, it would be the past…

“Haah.”

I let out a small sigh. The past was indeed better. The old Lilian was entirely my Lilian. The current Lilian wasn’t quite the lady I knew. Occasionally, she would show traces of the old her, but those could just be remnants of memories.

Or perhaps it was the physical habits that still lingered. Whatever the case, I couldn’t see the old Lilian and the current one as the same person. It didn’t feel right since every little habit and mannerism was different.

Actually, no. Recently, I had started to notice that Lilian was behaving more like that lady of old in terms of her habits and mannerisms. If that was the case, is the current Lilian the ‘Lady’ I had loved? I had no idea. I didn’t want to delve into philosophical discussions. I just wanted to know if my lady still existed.

No matter how many books I read or how many worries I pondered over, I couldn’t figure it out. I sighed once more and started to clean Lilian’s body. Once I dressed her in both underwear and nightgown, I dried her hair. Still, she was blissfully unaware of the world around her.

Staring at her peaceful face, I gently laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket. Whether she was my “Lady” or not, in this distant foreign land, may she rest well tonight.

#

Yulia’s school life was quite ordinary. Attending classes with her only friend Lilian and reading books she already knew at the library. There wasn’t an ounce of fun, but she did it just to pass the time. Thus, she waited patiently.

Waiting for the time when everything begins and everything ends. She slowly built her strength while waiting for that moment. Though truth be told, saying she was building strength was a bit misleading as Yulia’s magical powers had already reached their limit. It was due to the continuous cycles of returning.

She had tried various training sessions in the hopes of breaking through that limit, but it was as if magic power had decided it would not grow any further nor move more intricately. That was why Yulia had given up as well.

“Phew—”

Ah, speaking of which, one mundane incident had recently been added to her interest. That was the training with Catherine. Catherine was training with Yulia to harness the ether residing within her. It felt quite fascinating. The last person to awaken their ether had been Crown Prince Jeron… though now he was just a prince. Yulia thought this as she gazed at the tip of Catherine’s sword.

Of course, unlike Jeron, who’d handled a sword in a haphazard manner, Catherine’s swordwork was incredibly precise and stable. Would Jeron ever reach this level even if he swung a sword his whole life? Catherine always called herself an ordinary maid, but just looking at her swordsmanship was far from ordinary.

Moreover, the most terrifying thing about Catherine was that while wielding twin swords, she was also proficient in regular sword techniques. If an enemy seemed too strong during combat, she would draw another sword. At that point, Catherine’s signature flurry of attacks would begin. Honestly, the current Catherine seemed a bit strange.

Of course, in previous cycles, Catherine had been strong too. With powerful swings of her twin swords and occasionally using a dagger hanging at her thigh to assassinate enemies, she had always been a thorn in my side. But she didn’t give off an overwhelmingly powerful vibe like she did now.

Was it because she had mana? No, that didn’t quite fit. The footwork and stance, everything felt different. Back then, she had wielded her sword with the intent to kill; now, it felt more like she was deploying a defensive technique. Almost as if she were protecting her master behind her…

If only she were protecting me, that would be nice, but unfortunately, Catherine had a separate master. Her dear friend, Lilian. Yulia thought of her friend, with beautiful silver hair and piercing blue eyes, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Yulia?”

“Um, it’s nothing. Shall we continue?”

Clang—! The sound of swords clashing rang out sharply. Though Yulia had amassed plenty of techniques through countless cycles, she was still up against Catherine’s powerful strikes. It wasn’t as if she was stronger, but each blow packed a heavy weight.

After a lengthy sparring match, Yulia found herself dropping her sword, raising her hands. At that, Catherine sheathed her sword. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she plopped down onto the ground. Her large backside hit the floor with a thud. Yulia, watching this, swallowed hard as she picked up her sword and opened her mouth.

“So, what did you decide?”