episode_0005

And, on that night.

I lay down next to Isabelle in the servant’s quarters, exhausted, and drifted off to sleep.

Finally, starting tomorrow, I would begin my eagerly anticipated kitchen duties.

It was a work location shift prompted by Lillis’s appearance, but I didn’t intend to miss out on this rare opportunity that had come my way.

For Lillis, who was in a situation where she couldn’t use magic openly or go outside the mansion to hunt monsters, it was the first environment where she could try something new.

Even though it was just for a week, I had to be content with this much for now.

Excitement about trying magic for the first time made my heart race, preventing me from falling asleep easily.

Isabelle, noticing that I hadn’t fallen asleep yet, called out to me softly.

“Lillis, are you asleep?”

“…No, not yet.”

“Starting tomorrow, Lillis will be working in the kitchen? It’ll be lonely without you around…”

“It’s just a week. Once the guests leave, I’ll be back to my usual duties.”

“That’s true, but…”

Looking at Lillis from Isabelle’s perspective, they had worked together for a year and had grown quite close.

While it was somewhat disappointing to perform tasks away from Isabelle, mastering magic was more important than anything else.

Given the difference between growing even slightly in the current situation, whether Lillis could escape from Edan in the future might depend on it.

So, for now, the focus had to be on growth rather than friendship.

“By the way, Lillis.”

“Yes?”

“Have you noticed how much you’ve changed lately?”

“…What do you mean? I feel like I’m the same as always…”

“Look at this. Even now, you seem different from before.”

Isabelle’s chillingly firm speculation made me break out in a cold sweat, and she cautiously continued, pointing out that I didn’t sound like Lillis and suggesting that I might not be her.

“I remember Lillis always used honorifics with me, but recently, she seems to have stopped completely. And your mannerisms and behavior seem subtly different.”

“… ”

I had let my guard down.

Desperate from realizing too late that I had been so consumed by the fact that I had merged with Lillis, I had completely forgotten her character and had been behaving accordingly.

After all, Lillis was known as the “foolish maid.”

If I wanted to continue pretending to be Lillis even after recalling memories from my past life, I should have kept up the unnecessary submissive and frustrating personality traits.

Without doing so, it was only natural that I would reveal my true identity to someone so close.

…What should I do?

If Isabelle found out that I wasn’t Lillis, how should I cover it up?

Or should I find another way to silence Isabelle?

As various anxious thoughts raced through my mind, Isabelle’s next words quietly followed.

In a state of high tension, I focused on her words, listening intently.

“So, what I wanted to ask is, do you…?”

-Thump, thump.

“Do you want to become friends with me?”

“…Huh?”

“You not using honorifics all of a sudden and feeling strangely closer to me… I thought, maybe that’s why…”

…Well, that makes sense.

There was no way the people in this world could conceive ideas such as humans from another world merging with them or regaining memories from a past life.

Initially, there was no way I would be exposed unless I spoke first. Come to think of it, my worries were unfounded.

“Th-then, of course!”

“…Really?”

“Actually, I wanted to be friends with Isabelle from the moment we first met. Since I’ve been helping my father with work since I was young, I never had time to play with friends outside. Also, Isabelle and I started working together at the same time.”

“I-I also…! I’ve wanted to be friends with Lillis for a long time…! But Lillis always speaks formally to me, maybe she feels burdened about becoming friends with me…”

“I see….”

…It hurts.

Isabelle’s innocence, easily deceived by my shameless lies, hurts.

But what can I do? It’s not like I can reveal the truth straightforwardly.

Since things have come to this, being shameless is the way I live.

“Then, shall we act like friends from now on?”

“Yes, yes! Let’s pinky promise!”

“Yes, promise….”

From the top of the second-floor bed, Isabelle leaned down, intertwining her pinky finger downwards. Meeting her gaze, I too raised my right pinky finger, crossing with Isabelle’s.

With our slender fingers intertwined, we quietly shared a smile.

“Promise~.”

“Yes, promise….”

…Well, it’s not that bad after all.

Having one more relationship in this world that I can trust.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The next day, 4 a.m.

Reading the current time from the ‘Time Stone,’ a stone that changes transparency according to the time, I got up from bed to prepare for work.

By the way, a Time Stone refers to a stone that changes transparency based on the time. At midnight, it becomes completely black, almost transparent around noon.

In this world, these stones are used as substitutes for clocks, with different shades of numbers written on them to indicate the time.

While there are conventional clock-like devices, such items fall under the realm of magical tools in this world.

Not suitable for a two-room maid’s quarters where two junior maids reside.

To get ready on time, I quickly changed into my maid uniform that I had taken out of the wardrobe earlier.

Rustling sounds indicated someone else was awake, as there was commotion from the upper part of the second-floor bed.

“Lillis…. It’s already morning?”

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No…. I have to get up anyway….”

“Isabelle can sleep for two more hours. It’s not even 4 a.m. yet.”

“…4 a.m.?”

With a dazed look, Isabelle descended from the bed to check the Time Stone and confirmed that it was indeed 4 a.m., looking puzzled.

“I see…. It really is 4 a.m….”

“Get some more sleep. If the second-floor bed is uncomfortable, you can sleep in my place.”

“What about you, Lillis?”

“I have kitchen duty, so the seniors told me I need to get up two hours early. That’s why I have to go in early.”

“I see…? I wasn’t taught that specifically….”

Saying so, Isabelle slipped into the bedding where I had been lying, pushing herself in.

It was understandable that she would be tired from taking care of a growing girl from morning till night.

From tomorrow onwards, I’ll have to move a bit more quietly to ensure Isabelle doesn’t wake up.

“Sleep well, Isabelle.”

“…Koo, koo.”

Leaving Isabelle, who had fallen asleep in the first-floor bed, I quietly closed the door and made my way to the dining room to avoid waking anyone else in the mansion.

Taking a deep breath, I silently moved towards the inside of the door.

-Creak.

Dining room, preparation room, and kitchen.

Being cautious of the creaking sound of the old hinges, I opened each door slowly and stepped inside the kitchen.

In the forbidden space that was never allowed for a lowly maid like me.

“No one’s here.”

Checking the time, I thought I might be running late, so I hurried a bit, but luckily it seemed I arrived later than the senior maids, so there wouldn’t be any trouble.

Being a maid is already tough work, and the hierarchy is subtly strict.

Especially in noble households like this with many servants, the hierarchy among the maids was practically at the level of the military from my past life.

If I didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention, I had to come out a bit earlier.

“Sigh, there’s really a lot of dirty work to do…”

Seeing the pile of potatoes and carrots stacked in the kitchen, a sigh escaped my lips involuntarily.

This amount of work was barely enough for a ‘breakfast.’ Before lunch, I had to handle this much, and the same for dinner.

Breakfast is at 9 o’clock, but being called at 4 o’clock… I had a feeling I knew what that meant.

With this workload, it was only natural to be asked to come in two hours earlier than the usual start time.

With this amount of work, even if four maids were assigned, it would probably take about three hours to finish.

“…Let me quickly check before the seniors arrive.”

Being the first to arrive in the kitchen meant another opportunity in a different sense. It meant I had the chance to use magic without anyone noticing.

After scanning the surroundings once more, I confirmed that there was indeed no one in the kitchen.

I recalled how to open the information window from the game “Luminor Academy” that I played in my previous life.

“Oh, there it is.”

The familiar information window of Lilith appeared before me, having spent 2,000 hours in “Luminor Academy.”

In “Luminor Academy,” opening the information window worked like this: when the character you were playing made a specific gesture, their information window would pop up.

While the protagonist could directly assign that gesture, for other characters, the gesture to open the information window was predefined.

For Lilith, the gesture to open the information window was quietly folding her hands as if in prayer.

Although she was only at level 2, most of her stats were at the bottom, which I would have to raise somehow later on.

Among the various stats, the most noticeable ones were Charm and Luck.

While the other stats hovered around average, these two extremes seemed to encapsulate Lilith’s life perfectly.

Her beauty caught the eye of Ethan, a vagabond scholar, leading to a stroke of bad luck until she finally entered the academy.

Intelligence, Charm, Luck, and others didn’t directly impact real-life situations but influenced things like spell effectiveness or accuracy.

Higher Intelligence meant stronger magical abilities, while higher Luck improved accuracy, and so on.

Having a stat of 0 Intelligence didn’t mean a character was dumber than a beetle; it just affected the efficacy of skills.

Of course, the rate of increase upon leveling up tended to align with the character’s traits.

The “charm” stat was an ability that influenced buff and debuff magic. As a support character specializing in buffs and debuffs, it was natural for Release to have a high charm stat.

In the game, she was treated as a character with a charming appearance, fitting the authenticity.

“…Fortunately, it seems that displaying the information window is not considered magic.”

Until now, I hesitated to even open the information window just in case. There was a possibility of being suspected of knowing magic if I opened it anywhere randomly.

However, now that I have confirmed it is definitely not magic, I can open the information window anywhere from now on.

Just achieving this meant that I had accomplished more than half of the purpose of coming to work in the kitchen today.

“Oh no.”

Realizing that I had entered the world of “Luminor Academy” after a long time, I wasted too much time on Release’s information window instead of being aware of it.

Even though the other senior maids haven’t arrived yet, if I, who arrived early, do nothing, I will naturally hear complaints.

It was better to pretend to be working while checking the information window and magic to confirm.

After all, I could easily peel potatoes while checking the information window.

“Let’s work, work. Opportunities will come later anyway.”

I thought that not raising suspicion was the top priority task, so I picked up a pile of potatoes and vegetables.

While waiting for the other senior maids to enter the kitchen, I started preparing breakfast ingredients.

– Slice, slice.

“….”

– Slice, slice.

“….”

And so, after 30 minutes had passed.

Only after peeling enough potato skins to fill a large pot, I could vaguely sense it.

“These bastards.”

That I, was slapped by the damn senior maids.