episode_0005

Bang!

In highway accidents, drowsy driving has a higher fatality rate than drunk driving, due to the lack of preparation for the danger.

That was the case now.

The unexpected collision between those who didn’t anticipate someone jumping out from the corner left a strong impact.

The slender maid, thrown and flying through the air after hitting the dump truck, landed on her buttocks.

“Ouch, it hurts….”

The grand hallway was made of solid marble.

The impact must have been significant on her tailbone.

Moreover, falling and crashing in mid-air, if her bones weren’t shattered, it was a stroke of luck, and it was natural to sympathize with the one who suffered more damage in an accident caused by mutual fault.

For a normal human being.

“Go, Master! Are you okay?!”

Rendler rushed over and felt my body anxiously.

At the sound of his voice, the maid looked up at me with eyes slightly moistened with tears.

Strangely, the maid’s face seemed familiar.

Although it seemed like I was seeing her for the first time, I couldn’t understand why she looked familiar.

After a moment, a look of astonishment appeared on the maid’s face, frozen as if in cognitive dissonance.

“E-Eldeen Master…!?”

Seeing a human’s face turn so pale.

The face that had been grimaced with pain suddenly turned as white as a lie, and the moist pupils that had been dilated dried up as if scorched by the sun.

It seemed that even the maid of the grand palace had heard of Eldeen Raphelion’s notorious reputation.

“Oh, can’t you apologize quickly?”

Rendler scolded the maid, who hastily got up and knelt down.

And so, the confession of guilt began.

“Master…! I’m sorry! I was in a hurry and didn’t pay attention! I have committed a grave sin…!”

Clashing due to each other’s mistakes, the one who suffered the damage apologizes. A minor collision caused by each other’s carelessness, yet one side becomes the sole perpetrator.

A trivial mistake that could happen hundreds or even thousands of times in one’s life becomes a deadly sin for someone.

Because they have everything.

And in that vulnerable appearance, my childhood was truly despicable.

Even though we fought by mutual agreement, I had to kneel and apologize because the opponent was the son of the chairman.

I didn’t want to be born without anything, I didn’t want to live without anything, but that day, when I had to plead for injustice because I had nothing, was truly despicable.

“Where are you looking! If there’s a flaw on your precious body, what will happen…!”

Rendler, who was poking the maid again, raised his left hand lightly to stop him.

“I’m fine, so get up.”

Looking down at the maid with an embarrassed gaze, I said so.

There was no intention to blame a girl who looked younger than her age.

Just surviving safely in this cruel society where mistakes can lead to death was worthy of praise.

But the maid, unable to even lift her head, just trembled like a leaf.

“I’m really, really sorry…! I’ll be more careful next time to avoid such incidents! Please forgive me just this once…!”

…Why was this maid so afraid of Eldeen Raphelion?

Even if she clashed with the devil, she didn’t seem to be so frightened.

“I’m fine, so get up.”

Raising my voice slightly as I faced the maid, who kept reminding me of my past self.

Facing one’s own weakness is not a pleasant thing.

Only then did the maid look up at me with a trembling face.

“R-Really…?”

Back then, when I had to kneel to the chairman’s son, there was something I truly longed for.

A hand to confidently lift the knees that had to kneel.

Living without guilt is the touch of a hand.

The hand that saves in injustice and unfairness.

That’s why.

To extend a hand in a life where one must endure injustice for having nothing, to offer a warm smile to the me of the past, that’s what it means to extend a hand.

Right after that, one must realize that things don’t always go as planned.

“Eek! H-help me!!”

Hmm.

Not an easy task.

**

It took a good 5 minutes to convey that this hand was not meant for slapping, that this smile did not contain the thrill of violence.

Thankfully, the corridor leading to the inner sanctum was deserted.

If the trio of regretful onlookers or anyone else had witnessed this scene, they might have been labeled as “cowardly scoundrels trying to take advantage of the situation after declaring defeat.”

Infamy was fine, but not as fine as infamy itself.

“T-thank you….”

“You can go now.”

With those words, I tried to head back to the room.

“Eek.”

But before I could take a step, the maid collapsed.

Turning her head, I saw her sitting on the floor, clutching her right ankle in pain.

“Tsk, are you hurt?”

“Ah… I-I think I twisted my ankle. I’m fine, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“….”

Unfortunate as it may be, even though she only twisted her ankle while falling on her buttocks, it seemed that the maid was far from unlucky.

“It’s quite swollen.”

Looking at the ankle peeking out from under her skirt, it was noticeably swollen.

Her slender ankle, now twice its size, looked painful to even look at.

I glanced around.

Perhaps it was for undercover evaluation of potential candidates, but a swollen ankle was real, and there was no point in verifying a candidate who had declared defeat.

I asked Rendler, “Where is the infirmary?”

“It’s at the end of the corridor on the left. It’s about 100 meters away.”

“Thankfully not too far. I’ll go there quickly.”

“Huh? What’s….”

Chuckling, I patted Rendler’s shoulder.

It was an accident caused by mutual fault, but she was the one who suffered the most.

The maid, who would have to endure a day of public humiliation, had an ankle swollen to the level of an industrial accident.

She couldn’t be free from that responsibility, especially since she had injured a young girl in her mid-teens.

At least in the world I lived in, adults had to take responsibility if they hurt others.

Helping was just the right thing to do.

It wasn’t about showing kindness or trying to impress a soft-hearted butler.

“As much as I’d like to support her, it would be a hassle to deal with the gossip that would follow. There are eyes watching in the infirmary.”

With a tired body, supporting the thin girl wouldn’t be too difficult.

I remembered that she used to exercise quite a bit when she was younger.

“Yes?”

“I’m asking you to do me a favor. Until the declaration of defeat is approved, I want to quietly wait until the end of the engagement ceremony.”

“Then I’ll bring a servant to help the maid…”

“It might be faster to support her on my own during the time it takes to ask for help. It’s just 100 meters away, right?”

“Well, yes, but that maid almost suffered a serious injury to your esteemed self. As a member of the Raphelion family, helping her is….”

“Enough, your words are too long.”

Frowning at the lengthy explanation, I focused my gaze with a hint of annoyance.

Just like Elden Raphelion in the original.

Of course, I couldn’t fully replicate the feeling of the original character being a human garbage, a despicable scumbag, a beastly scoundrel, but just imitating that to some extent would be effective in reducing unnecessary chatter.

As if to refute it, Rendler’s excessive loyalty was slightly shaken.

I should use it when necessary.

“Ah, I understand. Master.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Tap, tap.

After patting Rendler’s shoulder twice, he approached the maid.

The maid looked at me with wide eyes.

It was a look of not understanding the natural situation of one person helping another, and therefore, I wanted to help even more.

And that was no different from helping the me of the past.

Approaching the maid, he knelt down on one knee and whispered carefully.

“……….”

**

“It’s a minor fracture. We’ve immobilized it with an ankle brace and support, so it should get better after a few days of rest.”

Rendler, who had supported the maid to the infirmary, was sitting next to the maid on the bed, listening to the diagnosis.

It was because Master Elden had asked for an additional favor to stay with her until the examination was over.

To stay with her until the examination was over.

It was not pleasant, but as a servant of the noble family, he had no choice.

The physician brought a crutch and handed it to the maid.

“Take this crutch with you. You know you have to return it, right?”

“Yes.”

“It might ache a bit at night. If it’s unbearable, come back. I’ll give you painkillers.”

“Thank you.”

“Then.”

After finishing the examination, the physician left, and at the same time, Rendler stood up from his seat.

“Now that you have a crutch, you don’t need support anymore.”

“Ah, I, I’m really grateful. I have no words to thank you….”

“You don’t need to thank me. I just followed Master Elden’s orders.”

“But still….”

“I’m sorry. Be careful from now on. You could get seriously hurt. It’s incomparable to now.”

A casual piece of advice.

Of course, except for the king, one could not treat a servant of the noble family lightly, but that was only a superficial story.

Malicious nobles would seek revenge even if they had to fabricate it.

And when such retaliation occurred, there was no one willing to be a shield for the wronged servant.

In the end, the one who got hurt was the lower-class servant, the expendable of the noble family.

The maid nodded gratefully at Rendler’s sincerity.

“Thank you for worrying…. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again next time.”

“Then be careful.”

“Yes.”

However, as Rendler was about to leave the infirmary, he stopped in his tracks and looked at the maid.

“Why, why are you like this?”

“Ah, I have something to ask.”

“What…?”

Before asking, Rendler looked around.

He was curious.

What did he convey to the insignificant maid in a ‘whisper’?

And why was he looking forward to it?

He knew that human nature did not change.

Especially for the noble young men of the aristocratic family.

They enjoyed an unchanging life of privilege.

That was considered natural, and it had been ingrained by Master Elden Raphellion, whom he had watched over all his life.

But suddenly, there was a change.

Having watched, served, and been the same with Elden all his life.

Such a sudden change in Elden could not help but have a significant meaning for Rendler.

Of course, the change that had occurred in just one day was likely to end in caprice or change of heart.

Whatever.

Rendler, who was simply curious about what his master had said, asked directly.

“Earlier, Master mentioned something to you in a whisper. Could you tell me what it was? I’m very curious.”

“Ah….”

The maid looked around.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, she opened her mouth.

“If you disclose what you helped with to someone other than Master Rendler,….”

The maid with a hesitant voice looked around once again.

Her cautious gaze seemed to show a hint of fear.

Approaching a step closer, Rendler urged her.

“If you speak out?”

After a moment, when the previously blurred words were revealed.

There should have been a subtle change in Rendler’s expression.

“…That’s when you really get in trouble….”