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Translator: thursdays Editor: Yahiko PR: LightBrin
2.
The sand on the moon made it look a little red.
Its dust made the sky red, just as a person made their surroundings red when they spilled blood. These unrelated facts made me uncomfortable.
‘It looks like the moon is bleeding.’
I walked forward, and that uneasy thought dragged behind me like a shadow.
In the distance, the servants were buzzing about.
“Miss, you can’t act like this here!”
“This is the residence of the daughter of the Duke of Ivansia!”
“No matter how much His Highness favors you, at this time…”
The Lady of the Silver Lily, who walked with me, muttered.
“The gatecrasher is none other than she.”
Her tone clearly revealed her contempt for the Heretic Questioner—no, the Lady of the Golden Silk.
“Seeing that she’s here at this hour, she hasn’t come for tea. Butler, was this visit planned?”
“It was not.”
I was also disconcerted. Wasn’t it past midnight already? The Heretic Questioner had no reason to meet the Lady of the Silver Lily at this time.
He and I had talked two days ago.
[For now, I’ll work as the Lady of the Silver Lily’s personal butler], I had said. [It’s to get information about her and about how to beat this stage.]
「Hmm.」
The Heretic Questioner briefly made a peculiar expression.
Still, he smiled widely like usual.
「Okay! It’s for the mission, so it can’t be helped.」
「I will be fine. Have a safe trip, Death King!」
Like that, we had agreed on it.
At least, I thought we did.
“Bring forth my butler!”
The voice became closer as we walked.
“Butler! I know you’re here!”
The garden of the Lady of the Silver Lily’s quarters.
Even the dark sky of the night could not cover the springtime in the flower garden. The mature white magnolias’ heads drooped, overwhelmed by the weight of the season. The moon was red, and the moonlight reflected off the magnolia petals were ruddy. Thus, the white magnolias of the garden looked like pink magnolias in full bloom.
“Ah!”
A magnolia petal fell.
“As I thought, you were here, butler!”
The Heretic Questioner pushed aside the guard at the gate. The guards were hesitating as they could not recklessly hurt the daughter of a baron.
The Heretic Questioner took the moment to hoist up her skirt and stride into the garden. Squish. The pink magnolia petal that had fallen earlier was trampled under the Heretic Questioner’s shoe.
“I was worried when you didn’t come back.”
“……”
“Really. Making your master worry and search for you personally… Doesn’t that disqualify you as a servant?”
I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw the Heretic Questioner.
The hair.
The Heretic Questioner’s moonlit blond hair was longer than it was the previous day.
“Milady…”
“You are my one and only butler and childhood friend. You mean more to me than any ordinary servant. Is it too undignified for me to ask that you recognize this fact?”
It wasn’t just his hair. Face. Appearance. Even though traces of the Heretic Questioner remained, his appearance was somehow unfamiliar.
‘Did he change his appearance with the sacred techniques?’
Why?
“In any case, you shouldn’t be at a place like this. I feel like even the flower garden is poisonous. Now! Butler, come here and let’s go back together.”
“Impertinent woman.”
When the Heretic Questioner tried to approach me, the Lady of the Silver Lily stood in her way.
“This sort of disturbance at nighttime is a felony that should be punished with a lashing. Where do you think you are to raise your voice like so? Get down on your knees and admit your errors, immediately.”
“Oh? Are you going cane me?”
The Heretic Questioner grinned.
“If you’re going to hit me, please hit me firmly and with strength. Your Ladyship, I wonder what will happen if I show the scars you leave on my calves to His Highness the Prince. The memories shared by the prince and I will increase again.”
“D-disgusting…!”
The ducal servants shuddered. The crown prince’s official fiancée was the Lady of the Silver Lily. Yet, this upstart spoke of showing her calves to the lady’s fiancé and making memories right in front of her. The servants’ faces turned red, and they glared at the Heretic Questioner.
The Lady of the Silver Lily quietly whispered, “Really?”
Flinch. The servants froze when they heard her voice.
My chest chilled in an instant, as well.
“Then, I shall do so.”
That was just how cold the Lady of the Silver Lily’s voice was.
“Your desire to make beautiful memories during your school days is lovely. Indeed, if it’s you, you can even lionize a memory of rolling in a dung field. If you want to make some wonderful memories, I, as a noble of the empire, will assist you.”
The Lady of the Silver Lily lifted her left hand.
“Bring me a cane.”
The servants trembled.
“Y-young Mistress…”
“Haven’t I ordered you to not call me that here?”
“If the crown prince finds out about this…”
“Did you think I’d send you off kindly after the mess you’ve created in the residence of the duke’s people? If I send you off quietly, will our family name not become sullied? Law is more important than anything, and the crown prince is the one who must uphold it.”
The servants swallowed their breaths. They didn’t look convinced. ‘But,’ the servants protested silently, ‘is the crown prince the type of person who would do that?’
Nobody could voice their protests.
“My left hand is still empty.”
The Lady of the Silver Lily’s voice flowed.
“Bring a cane. I will not repeat myself.”
Her servants’ shoes busily moved on the road where the pink magnolias fell to retrieve a cane from the building.
They bowed their heads as if they were afraid of showing their faces in the moonlight. Only two people, the Lady of the Silver Lily and the Heretic Questioner, kept their heads high.
“Milady.”
Eventually, I had no choice but to get closer to the Heretic Questioner.
“What’s wrong? Why did you come here at a time like this?”
“I came to get back what is mine. You’re making me state the obvious.”
The Heretic Questioner beamed at me.
“I had been waiting since the morning, but you didn’t come back, butler. At first, I thought that there must have been something important, but then I heard that you were with the Lady of the Silver Lily.”
The Heretic Questioner pressed his hands to his cheeks.
“I realized it right away. The lady must have taken hold of your weakness and blackmailed you. That’s her specialty. Poor butler. You were involved because of His Highness and me…”
“……”
I didn’t understand.
What was he talking about?
“Don’t worry.”
The Heretic Questioner’s smile was bright, as always.
“I won’t let her take anything from me, whether it’s the prince’s favor or your allegiance. A cane? She can hit me as much as she wants. I came for you, butler. She’s the one who will be hurt more the more she whips me.”
“No… Sorry. Just a moment. Please excuse me.”
I stepped a little closer to the Heretic Questioner so that the others around us did not hear our words. Fortunately, nobody stopped me.
“Milady.”
“Yes.”
I gulped and whispered,
“Heretic Questioner.”
There was silence.
“What?”
My heart was pounding.
My lips were dry. My tongue couldn’t move. Was it always so difficult to articulate words one by one to weave a sentence? Slowly, I opened my mouth.
“When spring comes.”
“Pardon?”
My heart.
“Heretic Questioner…”
“What are you talking about, butler?”
“If you’re playing around like last time, I really will get mad. I mean it. I’m asking seriously right now. Please answer me properly. How high is your immersion rate?”
The Heretic Questioner blinked.
“Hmm? Butler, are you playing around? Were you thinking of old times? Or was your head messed up from being with Her Ladyship for a day? Oh, butler. With gentle tolerance, I understand.”
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