Chapter 15 – The Maid and the Knight #2

“It was seriously no joke back then.”

First of all, Cordelia did return safely.

She wasn’t hurt anywhere, and just as she’d shouted after jumping off the cliff—’Lord Yuder is a gentleman, so it’s fine!’—there were no signs of any untoward incidents.

“But!”

That didn’t mean the matter could just be quietly overlooked.

Cordelia had clung to her, begging her to keep it a secret, but Dahlia had been firm and written a report containing nothing but the unvarnished truth.

“You wrote a report?”

“Yeah, that’s how we do things in House Chase. We document everything, you could say. Doesn’t House Bayer do that?”

“No, and probably not the other noble families either.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

When Maia nodded again, Dahlia looked momentarily shocked.

It seemed Dahlia, who only knew the ways of the Chase household, was quite flustered to learn that what she considered common sense wasn’t common sense elsewhere.

“W-Well, if you say so, Maia, it must be true.”

Maia chuckled at Dahlia’s reaction and, lying on her side, looked at Dahlia’s face and asked.

“So what happened?”

At Maia’s slightly pleading gaze, Dahlia’s expression turned pained again as she spoke.

“Count Chase, who received the report, summoned me… and I had to give him a face-to-face briefing.”

A one-on-one, face-to-face report with Count Chase.

Maia’s expression grew rather complicated as she was suddenly reminded of when Yuder had visited the Chase estate and had a private meeting with the Count.

She recalled how tense she herself had been, not to mention Yuder.

“Did you get scolded a lot?”

“I got a three-month pay cut. But honestly, more than that… it was, how should I put it… mortifying?”

“How so?”

“I had to re-enact it in front of the Count.”

“Re-enact?”

“Yeah, what Lady Cordelia shouted, what she did… Ugh, it’s embarrassing just thinking about it.”

Her face genuinely red, Dahlia covered it with both hands. Maia pictured Dahlia striking a pose as if jumping off a cliff while pretending to hold Yuder, and then shouting that Lord Yuder was a gentleman, so it was fine.

“Maia, you’re laughing right now, aren’t you?”

At Dahlia’s slightly sulky voice, Maia didn’t deny it and just chuckled.

The Dahlia in her imagination was one thing, but the sulking Dahlia before her now was also cute.

At that, Dahlia pouted even more before speaking.

“It’s easy for me to talk about it now, but back then… just imagine it. In front of Count Chase, who was sitting there with a serious expression, saying lines like, ‘L-Lord Yuder is a gentleman, so it’s fine!’… Aaargh, my lady, why did you do that? Why?”

“But Dahlia, like I said back then, Young Master Yuder really is a gentleman.”

“You’re just teasing me now, aren’t you?”

“Yup, that’s right.”

At the playful reply, Dahlia pinched Maia’s cheek as if to say she was being annoying.

“Everyone’s so deceived, you know? ‘Ice Queen,’ my foot.”

She’s so playful, charming, and cute like this.

But still, Maia was Maia.

Even while letting Dahlia pinch one of her cheeks, she looked incredibly elegant and delicate.

“Anyway, it was really tough because the Count kept asking me about the part where she held him and jumped.”

“Hmm… I can kind of imagine it.”

What was the holding posture like, what was the angle of her arms, and so on.

In truth, his quiet mutter of ‘Cordelia held Yuder? Not the other way around?’ had been added to the mix, making her feel even more peculiar, but Dahlia didn’t mention it for the sake of Count Chase’s honor.

“Anyway, that’s what happened on my end. What about you?”

“On our side… the Count was away. The Eldest Young Master, too. So… I grounded the Young Master on my own authority, and I got a scolding from the butler.”

At Maia’s calm words, Dahlia narrowed her eyes, looking somewhat displeased.

At that, Maia put on an incredibly pitiful expression and spoke in a plaintive voice.

“Why? Are you disappointed I didn’t get scolded more? Does Dahlia want me to get scolded so much I burst into tears?”

“N-No, why would you twist my words like that?”

As Dahlia grew flustered, Maia chuckled again.

Like a little devil.

“I forgot for a moment… who Young Master Yuder was raised by.”

“You can badmouth me, but don’t you dare say anything bad about the Young Master. I won’t forgive you, not even you, Dahlia.”

Faced with that sharp glare, Dahlia simply made a face that said she surrendered completely.

Dahlia herself was very fond of Cordelia, but in this respect, Maia seemed a bit more intense.

Was it not a difference in affection, but in the way they expressed it?

“Anyway… now that I think about it, that was the first time.”

“The first time for what?”

“That the two of us had a long conversation?”

Of course, we knew of each other’s existence even before that.

After all, we were the closest aides to the young master and young lady we each doted on.

But the first time we had a direct conversation was around the time of the Weekend Elopement incident.

“Come to think of it, that was also the first time I’d ever seen a book like that.”

The romance novel Maia had recommended, Even in an Arranged Marriage, I Want to Love Passionately.

“It was… a culture shock, you could say? I never imagined a book like that could exist.”

“Yes, I remember. It was worth proselytizing.”

A pleased look spread across Maia’s face, and Dahlia chuckled as well.

Back then, Maia wasn’t one to show all her expressions like she did now.

With a blank face and a gaze that held a hint of dreaminess? Or perhaps wistfulness? she had held out the romance novel and said, ‘This book will help you understand’… Looking back now, Dahlia remembered being flustered, thinking, ‘Wait, what on earth is this person talking about?’

“Anyway, it was fun. The book you lent me after that was fun, too.”

“It was a book I carefully selected, even considering your tastes, for the sake of proselytizing. I also intentionally lent you only the first volume of a two-volume series.”

“Wait, that was on purpose?”

“Yes. That particular book ends the first volume at a really curious part. And it actually worked, didn’t it? You even came to the estate by yourself to ask if I had the second volume.”

As Maia spoke with a dark smile, Dahlia couldn’t help but understand once again just who had raised Yuder.

“You’re evil! Come to think of it, was that on purpose too? Not telling me it was a two-volume series when you lent it to me.”

The situation was spiraling into chaos, but there weren’t many pages left, so I was concentrating even harder, wondering, ‘How on earth is this going to end?’

And when I saw the words ‘To be continued in Volume 2,’ I was so shocked I let out a cry without realizing it.

But that was all part of your plan?

In response to Dahlia’s non-interrogation interrogation, Maia didn’t bother answering, instead replying with that black-hearted smile again. Dahlia scooted back, putting some distance between herself and Maia.

“Devil. A true devil.”

“Hehehe.”

As if pleased by Dahlia’s accusation, Maia gave an elegant yet wicked smile. Dahlia was incredibly frustrated, but she had to admit once again that Maia was truly, truly beautiful. She really looked like a queen from a novel.

So, Dahlia pinched Maia’s cheek again for no particular reason.

Even as her cheek was being pinched, Maia sent her a soft gaze, which made Dahlia’s own cheeks flush. But at the same time, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

It was because she felt that she, Dahlia, was the only one who could do this to Maia, and the only one to whom Maia would show such an expression and attitude.

“Dahlia, why the sudden smug look?”

“There’s a reason.”

Embarrassed by her own thoughts, Dahlia let out another dry cough and turned her gaze to the night sky.

“A lot happened after that, too, right?”

“Yes, there was the social gathering… and the time the Young Master and the Young Lady suddenly ran away from home in the Hresvelg territory.”

We can talk about it like this now because it’s all in the past, but at the time, my heart really sank.

“You were injured back then, too, Dahlia.”

Dahlia, having been injured in a battle with demon worshippers, had to choose to return to the Chase estate instead of following them to the Hresvelg territory.

Because of that, not only Maia but Dahlia as well could only hear from afar the news that Yuder and Cordelia had run away from the Hresvelg territory on a romantic honeymoon trip.

“I was really, really flustered.”

They were engaged before birth, and everyone around them was pushing them together, so why were they in such a rush to suddenly go on a honeymoon trip?

As if her stomach suddenly ached, Dahlia clutched her abdomen, while Maia placed a hand on her chest.

Her heart was pounding just thinking about it.

“And they kept causing trouble after that, too.”

When she heard they had crossed the border into the Wild Lands, Maia had even fainted, albeit for a very brief moment.

And for good reason. To Maia, the northern Wild Lands were a hellish place teeming with barbarians and monsters.

“It’s such a relief they returned safely.”

As Maia spoke with her eyes closed, Dahlia nodded as well.

Unlike Maia, Dahlia was a knight with actual combat experience, so she could more clearly understand the military achievements of Yuder and Cordelia.

Hero of the Holy Cross Guardians.

Savior of the Wild Lands.

They were nice-sounding titles, but Dahlia felt more fear than pride.

For Cordelia to have earned such titles meant she had experienced truly dangerous situations time and time again.

If things had gone wrong even once, if Cordelia had been seriously injured or lost her life.

The mere thought made her vision go dark, so Dahlia shook her head to banish the thoughts.

It was all in the past, all resolved.

So, instead of scary and fearful thoughts, Dahlia tried to recall pleasant memories.

“Come to think of it, that’s when it started, right? When the two of us really started to get close.”

“Yes, we met almost every day, worrying about the Young Master and the Young Lady.”

The two of them truly met every day to see if there was any new information or if the other had heard anything.

“I can say this now, but it was a real comfort.”

“Yes, me too….”

Just having someone to share the same worries with, someone to confide in, was incredibly helpful in calming our hearts.

“Do you remember when we went to the royal capital?”

“I do. That was so much fun.”

“Yes, it was my first time traveling so far. And the royal capital was a place I’d wanted to visit someday ever since I was a child.”

What kind of place did the prince and princess live in?

Was there really a pretty and beautiful palace like in the fairy tales?

“Dressing up the Young Lady and the Young Master was fun, too, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, my job satisfaction was at an all-time high.”

They both had such great figures that it was a real pleasure to dress them up.

Recalling Yuder and Cordelia in the royal capital, Maia wore an ecstatic expression. Dahlia nodded in agreement, then suddenly reached out and touched Maia’s hair.

“Why?”

“Oh, no reason. It’s just… your hair is so beautiful.”

It was partly due to being managed daily with the shampoo and conditioner Yuder had developed, but now that she was an angel, her hair was different from birth.

As she marveled anew at the silver hair that seemed to sparkle in the starlight, Maia, in turn, stroked the ends of Dahlia’s bobbed hair and said.

“Dahlia, why don’t you try growing your hair out?”

“My hair?”

“Yes. Have you ever grown it out?”

“Not since I was very young and just let it grow wild.”

She was a knight, after all.

Come to think of it, a strange thought occurred to her.

If she hadn’t met Count Chase that day, if she hadn’t become a knight, would she have grown her hair out?

“What are you thinking about?”

“Just wondering if I would have grown my hair out if I hadn’t become a knight. Well… if I’d grown up like that, I probably would have ended up as a barmaid in a tavern or something.”

It wasn’t a very pleasant thought, but since she’d started, Dahlia pictured herself as a barmaid.

Herself with long hair, wearing revealing clothes, with a decadent expression on her face.

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Maia said firmly, then gently took Dahlia’s hand and continued.

“Being a knight, just like you are now, suits you best, Dahlia. And… even if that had happened, you would have still been as lively and cheerful as you are now.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I do.”

After her heartwarming words, Maia smiled again, then suddenly burst into giggles.

“Why the sudden laughter?”

“Oh, well… since we were on the topic, I tried imagining you in revealing clothes.”

“That’s so mean. Are you saying the thought of me in revealing clothes is funny?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Hmph, I’ll imagine it too, then.”

Maia in revealing clothes.

And one second, two seconds, three seconds.

“This is unfair.”

At Dahlia’s loaded words, Maia smiled elegantly again.

“Anyway… I think you’d look good with long hair. Won’t you try growing it out?”

“And who would that be for?”

“For my good. I’m sure the Young Lady would like it, too.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, I’ll start looking for some hair ties and ornaments that would suit you.”

“I didn’t say I would grow it out yet.”

“Yes, you will grow it out? Understood.”

“You’re just like the Young Master.”

“No, I’m not. Maia is a bright and pure child.”

“Wait, setting aside the truth of that statement, are you saying the Young Master is black-hearted?”

“No, I’m not. The Young Master is bright and pure, too.”

“Maia, do you know your smile is dark?”

“Maia doesn’t knooow.”

As Maia put on a cute act with her slurred speech, Dahlia finally burst out laughing.

Young Master Yuder probably doesn’t know this side of Maia.

This must be a side of Maia that only she, Dahlia, knew in the whole world.

Sharing a pleasant and elegant laugh, the two continued their conversation.

They talked about how the young master and young lady continued to cause them grief even after the incident in the royal capital, about watching the two of them get married, and about the various incidents that occurred after they became the Knight Commander and Chamberlain, respectively, in the Holy Nation of Yudelia.

The conversation that began with Yuder and Cordelia transitioned into a story of just Maia and Dahlia, and it concluded with the new apple pie recipe Maia had found for Dahlia.

This was because Maia, thoroughly exhausted from the past few days’ schedule, had at some point fallen fast asleep.

“Maia, are you asleep?”

Dahlia asked in a tiny voice, and when no answer came, she let out a small laugh and got up from where she was lying.

It had been quite comfortable, but it was still a chair, and they were on a balcony.

Dahlia carefully slid her hands under Maia’s back and thighs, then lifted her up in one swift motion.

‘She’s so light.’

An angel, indeed.

No, Maia, indeed.

Unconsciously smiling warmly at the sight of Maia, who was beautiful and elegant even in her sleep, Dahlia did as she had once done for Cordelia and placed a soft kiss on Maia’s forehead.

“Sleep well, Maia.”

Dahlia whispered very quietly, kicked the balcony door open with her foot, and took a careful step. Maia, who had woken up slightly when she was lifted, kept her eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.

And the next morning.

In a carriage heading for the Hresvelg County, located far to the northwest of the Holy Nation of Yudelia, a young man made a momentous decision.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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