episode_0404

“… Phew.”

The wide open sea that catches your eye as soon as you wake up in the morning.

Wide sandy beach. Clear sky.

And… the beach became quiet after most of the bustling academy students left.

After seeing off the warrior party and several others, including Prince Antonio, to their respective positions, Ethan and I remained on the beach at Pliana, enjoying the remaining two days of vacation.

They had moved into the seaside villa that the warrior party had been using until the day before.

‘By the way, where are Prince Ethan and Lady Rosewood staying now?’

‘We’re staying on the second floor of an inn not far from here. The room is spacious enough for me, Master Ethan, and the maid who came with us.’

‘Really? I heard before that you were going to stay for two more days and then leave?’

‘Yes. I don’t have many opportunities to come to the sea, so I plan to take this opportunity to get some proper rest and return to Blackwood Estate.’

‘Then, do you want to use this villa starting tomorrow? Seraphine has given us a generous deadline, so we can use it until the morning of three days later, but we’ve decided to each take our carriages back tomorrow morning anyway.’

‘… Hmm, are you okay? I think I should listen to Princess Seraphine before you.’

‘I’ve already discussed this with you, Prince Ethan. I hope you’ll find some quality time with Miss Lilith.’

‘… I understand. I appreciate your consideration.’

… Ethan and I were able to stay at a seaside villa for the rest of our vacation thanks to the favors that Seraphine and Gambit offered us at dinner that evening after we defeated the deep-sea leviathan that appeared on the beach.

It was definitely a nice place to stay, so the view I saw as soon as I opened my eyes was quite nice.

‘If you stay in a place like this, the intimacy between party members will definitely increase.’

There’s a reason why beachfront villas are rated as top-tier lodging in oceanography classes.

With that in mind, I went down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast with the groceries I bought yesterday, and there was Isabelle, already boiling stew and making sunny-side-up eggs.

“Ah, Release. Good morning~!”

“Isn’t it dawn yet? Why are you up so early, Isabel?”

“I have to wake up earlier than Release to prepare breakfast for you and your master, right?”

“… You’re the same maid, so you don’t have to wake up before me. You just have to wake up earlier than Master Ethan.”

“Really? In my opinion, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between Lilith and the Master?”

“I don’t know what that means, but since I’m up, I’ll help. Are these potatoes boiled to be mashed?”

“Ah, yeah! But can I take a break from releasing it…?”

“Okay. The Academy has been leaving it up to me to help out at the dorms because it’s hard for me to do so, but there’s no need to do it here.

Anyway, I came here as a maid to serve Nana Isabel and Lord Ethan, so I can’t just leave it to Isabel.”

“… … .”

Isabel stares at me as if something was wrong with what I said.

It wasn’t the first time she’d looked at me like this, so I just ignored her and focused on mashing the potatoes in my bowl. Whenever she looked at me like that, I asked her if she had anything to say, and it was Isabelle’s habit to just give a vague answer.

“By the way, is there anything you want to do after graduating from the academy?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Yeah. It’s already been two and a half years since Release started attending the Academy. At first, I thought she entered the Academy to serve the Master, but sometimes, when I see her, it seems like Release is taking the Academy classes even harder than the Master.

Is there something you want to do after you graduate? Or are you just studying hard to continue to be with the master in the future?”

“It’s not exactly wrong to say that I’m studying hard to work with Master Ethan… .”

With the knowledge I learned at the academy so far, I was able to safely overcome the several life-threatening crises that came my way, and I was also able to somehow endure this semester of exploratory classes where I encountered several boss monsters.

But if you think about the original purpose, that wasn’t necessarily the only reason I went to the academy.

This is especially true when I think about the dream I’ve had since the day I first found out I had entered the fantasy world.

“After graduating from the academy, it might be fun to just travel around the world without a plan for a while.”

“… Huh?”

“This is Isabel’s first time coming to the ocean, but seeing the ocean in person was really fun, right? New experiences are always exciting, so I want to see many places while I’m alive. I want to have a lot of new experiences.”

“… Release, you know what you just said that sounds so grandma-like?”

“Really?”

“And maybe the master won’t allow it…? Even if it’s a request for release, it’s not right to suddenly go around without a plan like that… .”

“Huh?”

…Why is Ethan suddenly mentioned?

Anyway, after graduating from the academy, my role as Ethan’s exclusive maid will end, so what is Isabelle talking about all of a sudden?

‘… Now that I think about it, I haven’t told Isabel yet that I plan on quitting being her exclusive maid.’

Perhaps, like himself, he thought he would continue to work for the Blackwood family after graduating from the academy.

It was a shame to betray her expectations, but it was a little difficult.

Because I thought that seeing another woman standing in Ethan’s place instead of me was something that my weak willpower would never be able to overcome.

“Certainly, I don’t think Master Ethan would allow it.”

“… Right?”

“It’s okay because it wasn’t a serious conversation. I’m just saying that I’ve thought about this kind of thing.”

It’s a separation that will come someday, but there’s no need to tell Isabel about it now.

I was trying to muddle through her questions, thinking that she would understand when the time came.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

-Ssaaaah, slap, slap… .

The bustling atmosphere has now become quiet, and the Pliana Beach, which was quite crowded until yesterday, has almost completely disappeared.

Even though our oceanography classes were over, Ethan and I were still enjoying our last day of vacation by walking along the beach in our swimsuits.

“It’s quiet. This is what this place used to be like.”

“Everyone is busy. The warrior party members, and the other academy students. No matter what, it’s a bit unfortunate that they don’t have the luxury of a day or two of vacation.”

“… Well, it’s a vacation that I had a hard time getting. When I get back, I have to learn about family management and estate management from my father and Dietmeyer. I have a lot to do.”

Until the second year, there was still some leeway, but from the third year, it was time for Ethan to learn about the management of the Blackwood estate.

It was inevitable, as it was the duty of the eldest son of the family who was scheduled to graduate from the academy. It would probably get even busier in the second semester.

The reason why students who took other exploratory classes have already returned is probably similar. There’s no need to say anything to students of commoner status, since they were already busy.

“Thank you so much for your precious time, Ethan.”

“… That’s not what I meant. I released it because I’m happy to have this kind of time alone with you, so you don’t have to be thankful.”

“However, it is true that my time as a maid is much less valuable than that of Ethan, the eldest son of the Blackwood family. If I were to exchange it for the same amount of time, Ethan would definitely suffer a loss, so I am only grateful for that.”

“I don’t think it’s a loss. … And if we really have to be specific, the value of time won’t be that different after a few years.”

“Yes?”

“… No, it’s nothing.”

Ethan and I were leisurely walking along the beach, holding hands, having a casual conversation.

We walked towards the incoming sea water and got our feet wet for no reason, and we even wrote each other’s names on the sand with the tips of our toes.

Up until now, the two of them had been spending their time leisurely, doing things that couples who had come to the beach would usually do, because they had been mindful of the eyes of the warrior party kids. Even so, I was steadily holding Ethan’s hand and quietly walking towards the beach cave that we had set as our target.

“Master Ethan, I think there’s a coastal cave over there.”

“That’s right, Lilith.”

“If it’s okay with you, would you like to go and see it?”

… Since Ethan had given me two days of his precious time as a favor, I had to make sure that he would at least not regret staying two more days at the beach.