Necklaces

Necklaces

Sien couldn’t help but freeze at the maid’s utterly bewildering words.

In the current situation, there was only one thing the maid could be talking about.

‘……’

So, feeling my face turning bright red, I hung my head low.

Seeing this, the maid said “Oh my, oh my” and continued speaking.

“Well, after you sent such signals, there’s no way Young Master Deren wouldn’t have done anything…! Miss, I truly congratulate you!”

It seemed there was some misunderstanding.

Trying to calm my flushed face, I quickly shook my head, and the maid looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Looking at the maid, I calmly told her the truth.

“Lord Deren didn’t do anything…”

Since quite a lot had happened, it was hard to say he didn’t do anything at all, and I was momentarily at a loss for words.

But looking at the conclusion, it was true that nothing had really happened.

Suppressing a strange feeling of disappointment that was rising, I said.

“He didn’t do anything.”

“What?”

At those words, the maid looked at me with a confused expression.

Then, after looking around, she quickly whispered in a voice so low that those around couldn’t hear.

“You did as I instructed, but Young Master Deren didn’t do anything?”

As I nodded slightly, the maid looked at me with a confused expression, as if she hadn’t expected to receive such an answer.

Then, with a somewhat dark expression, she was about to say something but quickly closed her mouth and turned her gaze away.

Wondering why she was acting like that, I stared at the maid blankly.

The maid fidgeted with her hands, as if trying to squeeze something out, and then spoke as if she had just thought of something.

“Ah, Miss. In that case, we have no choice but to use the second method.”

“The second method…?”

“Yes…! Usually, it’s difficult to succeed with the first method for anything, so it’s common to have a second method prepared.”

She continued speaking hurriedly, as if being chased by something, and told me an even more extreme method than before.

“You said Young Master Deren likes dogs, right?”

I nodded.

The maid continued with an awkward smile.

“Then how about using that?”

Not quite understanding, I tilted my head.

The maid, suppressing a somewhat conflicted expression, told me.

“Well… like pretending to be a dog.”

I told her I had already done that.

The maid momentarily hesitated while looking at me, then quickly offered an alternative.

“… Then, not just pretending, but using those tools… No, please forget I said that.”

The maid tried to quickly take back her words, thinking she had misspoken, but.

It was already clearly audible to her ears, so she couldn’t ignore it.

As long as she could capture Deren’s heart, she was willing to do anything, even if it was somewhat embarrassing or difficult.

So she showed her willingness and gave the maid a look that it was okay to speak.

The maid hesitated for a moment, then waved a white flag and continued what she was about to say.

“Among my friends, they… sometimes do events with dog collars and such, saying it fulfills their boyfriend’s sense of conquest.”

“Sense of conquest…?”

“Yes. Not all men are like that, but they say most men like that kind of thing.”

At the maid’s words, she paused for a moment and fell into contemplation.

She didn’t understand what was so pleasant about gaining a sense of conquest.

However, if wearing such a thing would make Deren happy, she was willing to wear anything for him.

‘… So, for Deren’s sake.’

She decided to quickly find a dog collar and visit Deren, so she asked the maid.

“Could you tell me where I can buy such things?”

“What? You’re not going to get it yourself, are you, miss?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, we’ve never kept dogs in the house, so I think it’s better to get a new one.”

At those words, the maid quickly shook her head and said.

“That… it’s not a real dog collar, just something similar in shape, and above all, if you go to buy such a thing yourself, the family’s dignity…”

The maid seemed to have a complicated mind and rambled on about something.

Then, as if she had thought of something, she urgently exclaimed to herself.

“If, if you don’t mind, I’ll give you the one I used. How about using that?”

“No. It’s too much trouble, so I’ll go myself…”

“It’s not trouble at all! You’ve been so good to me, and more than anything… I don’t feel right letting you go buy it yourself. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to accept it!”

I don’t know why, but she speaks so earnestly that I nod.

The maid sighs in relief and says.

“Then I’ll wash it and give it to you secretly. You must never show it to anyone else.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

It was strange that she wanted to deliver it so secretly when it was just a dog collar.

The maid wouldn’t say such things hoping for me to get in trouble, so I decided to listen to her for now.

‘In any case, I lack experience in these matters.’

It would be right to follow the words of someone with more experience.

So I nodded and agreed to do so.

* * * * *

I sighed as I looked at Luna, who was staring at me with bright eyes.

Perhaps because I had set her to show ‘extreme loyalty’ during the modification.

She had been showering me with inexplicable goodwill and affection all day long.

‘It’s quite burdensome.’

It was bearable only because she was looking at me in cat form.

If she had been doing this in human form, I would have told her to stop long ago.

I was researching magic penetration, feeling bothered by her gaze, when Luna says something to me from beside me.

[Master, I want to study too!]

“… Study?”

[Okay. Magic study!]

After pondering for a moment, I pointed to the books I had read before and spoke.

Pointing to them with the intention of telling her to study on her own, as directly teaching would be a waste of time in many ways.

Luna rubbed her cheek against the back of my hand, smiled brightly, and then ran to the books, flopping down on top of them.

‘It feels more like she’s found a bed rather than self-study.’

Thinking that it would be fine as long as she wasn’t staring at me like before, I turned my gaze away.

‘Now then, shall we finish up?’

The time has come to conclude the long process of magic penetration.

As I was working on optimizing the magic penetration, raising it to a level where it could be used liberally.

Luna, who had been lying on the bed, gets up and shouts at me.

[I’m done studying!]

I wonder what that kid thinks studying is.

I was going to ignore her, as it was clearly an attempt to get attention since I wasn’t giving her any.

But as Luna started reciting the contents of the books without missing a single detail from behind me, it became difficult to simply ignore her.

‘Could she really have memorized it all?’

Without even opening the book?

Momentarily taken aback by Luna’s behavior, I picked up the research notes I was currently writing, just in case, and said.

“Then, Luna, recite the magic modification formula in this.”

At those words, Luna stared at the book for a while, struggled a bit, and then smiled brightly and said.

[It’s a magic penetration formula! The method ignores the magic resistance that exists in every entity, using a temporary magic nullification method while simultaneously applying a space compression magic to the spell itself…]

Luna begins to quickly recite content that no one but me can understand.

The moment I hear those words, I feel the corners of my mouth turning up, and I speak to Luna.

“That’s enough.”

[Okay!]

Watching Luna respond cheerfully, I slowly approach and ask.

“How were you able to read the writing inside this?”

[Hmm… I just looked and could see it!]

… She says she could see it.

To think of this as simple clairvoyance, the difficulty level is far too high.

‘Just perceiving the densely written characters on both sides of each page is already beyond the realm of clairvoyance.’

Reading it accurately was impossible within normal parameters.

‘Moreover, she grasped all of this not in minutes, but in mere seconds.’

I thought it might be Luna’s unique ability that allowed her to read this.

Having reached that conclusion, I smiled again and called out to Luna.

“Luna, I have a job for you to do.”

[Really!? Tell me anything! I’ll work hard!]

“Then come here.”

Luna seems to be in a good mood because I’m treating her better than usual, and she purrs as she snuggles into my arms.

I hold Luna in my arms, pet her a few times, and then head towards the ‘Relic Site’.

‘I’m not sure if it will work or not, but if I can use Luna well.’

Surely, I could use Luna to ‘freely’ read all the magic books within the ruins.

Thinking about using this opportunity, I slowly moved forward.