Dilemma (2)

The possibility that the person I thought was a transmigrator or regressor was, in fact, not Ethan but someone else around him.

Theoretically, it was an entirely possible scenario.

Not only had Ethan’s appearance changed so drastically, but most of the altered story revolved around the Blackwood Family, to which Ethan belonged, so it was a hypothesis I hadn’t even considered at first.

Due to Ethan’s actions seen by the lakeside, Kyetmajosyegigot began to give considerable weight to the second hypothesis as well.

That there was a transmigrator who had transmigrated into a character other than Ethan, and that they were intervening in various aspects of the story, including Ethan himself.

Two days ago, Kyetmajosyegigot had certainly not missed that modern-sounding way of speaking that he had inadvertently overheard.

‘He actually said that.’

A familiar way of speaking, which he had heard quite often in his previous life, presumed to belong to a man in his teens or twenties.

If even an ordinary academy male student had inadvertently blurted it out, he might have passed it off without thinking too deeply, but what made him suspicious was, as expected, the person who uttered that way of speaking.

No matter how he looked at it, it was impossible to believe that someone with such an appearance and status would use such a way of speaking, inadvertently muttering to themselves as if they had transmigrated into another person.

Lillith Rosewood.

No, for some reason, she, who had now become the Baronet’s Noble Daughter, Lilith Blackwood Rosewood, was the most likely candidate for the second possibility.

“If you think about it, the circumstances themselves are the most plausible.”

The fact that Aeria, the prostitute dragged to the Silverwood Territory, was the villain who tormented Lillith in the original story.

Not only was Lizzie, who should have exited the original plot, still alive, but also her occasional actions that subtly seemed to follow Lillith.

Furthermore, in Seraphine’s Student Council appointments announced today, Lillith, ‘a mere maid,’ had boldly received the administrative position and risen up.

Though not as much as Ethan, Lillith also, in many ways, was a character showing completely different actions from the original game.

…Yet, there was still one reason that made it most difficult to consider her a transmigrator.

“If Lillith is the transmigrator, then how on earth did she tame that Pig Prince Ethan…?”

How, as a mere maid, did she avoid Harold’s surveillance and turn Ethan into a proper person?

That part was utterly incomprehensible from the perspective of the Hero Kyetmajosyegigot.

If Lillith had even slightly laid a hand on Ethan or uttered profanity towards him, she would have been punished by Harold.

Even if Lillith and Ethan’s relationship had gone slightly awry, she likely wouldn’t have avoided the fate of becoming a prostitute alongside Aeria in the Silverwood Territory.

To say that she reformed Ethan’s personality, which had been problematic since childhood, without violence or verbal abuse, was even more nonsensical.

That such methods were useless could already be confirmed by the future Lillith experienced in the original game.

The result of Lillith accepting Ethan’s childish actions one by one without refusing them was precisely the ‘Foolish Maid’ Lillith who was humiliated by Ethan in the original game.

“If I can just figure out how she managed that part, I think I could accept that Lillith is the transmigrator…”

He wanted to talk to her directly if possible, but Ethan was wary, pointing out his own promiscuous relationships, and preventing him from approaching Lillith.

It seemed he would need a little more time to be certain of the truth.

“…There’s still enough time.”

The end of Part 2, and the event where Ethan loses his life, was at the end of the second semester of the second year.

If he could just ascertain by then what circumstances caused the story to change, that alone would be enough.

“Once I figure it out by then, somehow, I can decide the rest afterwards.”

Whether to recruit Lillith for a standard playthrough of the original game, or to consider a slightly different method of clearing it.

There was more than enough time to postpone his judgment.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The Swordsmanship Department’s Marriage/Engagement Dormitory. Ethan and Lillith’s room.

After three days, I returned to the dormitory I shared with Ethan, receiving an enthusiastic welcome from one person and two spirits who had been waiting in the dormitory.

“Lillithhhhh~!!!”

As soon as she saw my face after three days, Isabel rushed towards me with a boisterous reaction.

‘Lillith, are you okay?! Are you completely fine now? Are you really healed?’

‘…Lillith, you’re not going to die, are you…?’

And, unexpectedly, I received an enthusiastic welcome from Sally and Sei, who had genuinely wished for my safe return.

“Lillithhhhh~!! You almost died again this time~!! Why do you keep doing dangerous things, Lillithhhhh~!!!”

“I’m sorry, Isabel. I made you worry for nothing.”

“It’s not ‘for nothing’~!!!”

Burying her teary, sobbing face into my chest, Isabel hugged me tightly.

If anything had gone wrong with me, Isabel would probably have been greatly distressed in many ways.

Especially in her case, with the ambiguous status of an exclusive maid’s exclusive maid, she had followed me all the way to Luminor Academy, so if I, the bridge to Ethan, were to disappear, she would truly be left high and dry.

Of course, thanks to my safe return somehow, all the tragedies that were about to befall either her or me were averted.

“…I’ll go wash first. You all can chat leisurely in the meantime.”

“Ah, Young Master Ethan. Your change of clothes…”

“I’ll take care of it, so don’t worry, and get plenty of rest until today, Lillith.”

-Click.

With those words, gathering his underwear and nightwear, Ethan entered the changing room.

Thanks to that, I had to listen to Isabel’s worry-filled nagging for almost ten minutes straight.

“…So don’t do dangerous things, Lillith. Why on earth is Lillith, who is an exclusive maid just like me, always getting into crises somewhere?”

“I’m sorry, I have no excuses.”

“…Really, if you do something dangerous again and almost die next time, then I’ll really break up with you….”

“……”

“Ah, no…. Breaking up is a bit too much. I-I won’t talk to Lillith for a week….”

Was it because she was too soft-hearted to actually say ‘break up,’ or did she hastily lower the intensity of the punishment because she thought I might do something dangerous again even after saying that?

Although it was a strangely cute declaration, in any case, I had no choice but to bow my head and apologize to Isabel.

Still, in a way, she was the only connection I had maintained even before I regained my past life’s memories, so a future where my relationship with her became distant was not something I desired either.

‘Lillith, Lillith.’

“Ah, Sally. What is it?”

‘By any chance, can I consume Lillith’s Mana now? Or do you need to recover a bit more…?’

‘Me too, Lillith, I want to consume Mana….’

“Ah.”

Indeed, now that I think about it, it had been three days since I last fed these kids.

Of course, just because it was a contract relationship didn’t mean they necessarily had to absorb only the Mana I possessed. They could sufficiently maintain the Mana required for life support just by using the Mana in the atmosphere.

However, if they couldn’t sufficiently consume their contractor’s Mana, the spirit’s individual affinity or growth rate would decrease, which is why a steady supply was important.

Now, the crisis where I almost died had completely passed, and since my body had already fully recovered yesterday, there was no problem in providing Mana to the two spirits.

“As much as you want, Sally, Sei. I haven’t been able to properly take care of you for three days, so you can eat to your heart’s content.”

‘Yesss~!!’

‘Okay, I’ll eat well….’

With brightened expressions at my reply, the two spirits attached themselves to my right and left hands respectively, and began to absorb my Mana.

As a High-level Spirit and a Mid-level Spirit simultaneously siphoned my Mana, I could feel the sensation of Mana draining from my body, but having leveled up from Level 12 to Level 16 in one go, and with my maximum Mana exceeding 3,000, it was a sufficiently manageable amount of consumption for me.

‘Lillith! For some reason, your Mana concentration seems to have become denser than mine?’

‘And, it’s more delicious, mmm….’

“Well, could it be that I became stronger in the process of defeating the Kraken?”

‘At this rate, I think we’ll be able to make a formal contract soon, too? Hurry up and get super strong!’

“That’s not as easy as it sounds. This time, I was only able to win thanks to the truly coincidental circumstances that allowed me to defeat the Kraken. And I actually almost died if I made a mistake….”

“Mmm…”

“…I didn’t, but anyway, I won by a hair’s breadth. I don’t particularly want to engage in any more dangerous battles that risk my life.”

“…Whew.”

To tell the truth as it was, Isabel’s worry-filled gaze strangely hurt. Especially because she wasn’t just getting angry out of spite, but genuinely worried about me, which was why she reacted that way.

From the start, for a loyal and kind-hearted girl like Isabel to get angry at me, it was nine times out of ten my fault.

If I had caused my closest friend so much worry, I had no choice but to accept the consequences.

“By the way, now that I think about it, Sally and Sei were both quiet, weren’t they? I thought they would immediately go looking for me the few days I was away from home.”

‘Lillith told us to wait quietly. We were a little worried, but we just waited. We also heard from roughly listening to the conversations of the other humans in this room that you had at least saved your life.’

‘If we’re contracted, we can tell if you’re dead or not. …For a moment, when it was cut off, we were a little uneasy, though.’

So, as contracted spirits, they do listen well to what their contractor tells them?

Anyway, it was a relief that these two spirits didn’t wander outside unnecessarily trying to find me.

If I had lost them in some strange place, or had to deal with Sally and Sei at the Academy Church, my recovery might have been delayed a bit due to fatigue.

…Still, considering this Kraken Subjugation Battle, I should definitely take at least one of them with me.

“Lillith, you can use the bathroom now.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Young Master Ethan.”

While reflecting on that, I replied to Ethan, who had just come out of the bathroom, and carrying my nightwear and underwear, I also walked towards the dormitory changing room.

After a long time, in the well-equipped dormitory bathroom, as soon as I finished washing my body and returned, I immediately faced a new problem.

“Lillith, why don’t you lie down on the bed soon? Tomorrow, both you and I have classes starting in the morning, don’t we?”

“……”

“…Lillith?”

“…Ah, yes. Th-that’s right…. As Young Master Ethan said, it’s about time to go to bed. Yes….”

The two-person bed where I slept alone with Ethan, sharing one blanket.

That bed, where I had comfortably fallen asleep every day, felt strangely unfamiliar today.