Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guest in the Dead of Night
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Steam rose within the bathroom, and I felt as though I were dreaming.
A super-beautiful girl with the cold image of an idol center from my previous life entered the bathroom, her body covered by nothing more than a single towel.
Even with the towel concealing her vital areas, Rana's incredible figure was fully exposed to my eyes.
Breasts as large and voluptuous as Noah's or Sharen's, hips curved like a work of art,
and firm thighs, toned for her hidden role as an assassin, all laid bare before me.
I was utterly flustered—100% pure, like a child from my previous life—and ended up screaming like a kid.
"Ra! Rana!? What is this all of a sudden!?"
"As I just mentioned, I came to scrub your back, my lord."
"I can do it myself!!"
I always savored my baths leisurely, all on my own.
In the life of a lord constantly surrounded by people, this was the one place I craved some solitary time.
At my words, Rana stared at me with her expressionless face and casually dropped,
"To be frank, as I said earlier, I came to seduce you on the princess's orders."
Out with it just like that!?
Rana's brutally honest straight ball left me speechless.
What do I do!?
If this kept up, I'd be completely devoured by Rana.
No, honestly, being claimed by a super beauty like her would be a dream come true—but that would mean falling right into the princess's trap, enduring unimaginable torment, and for some reason, I could foresee Noah and Sharen killing me.
As I backed away to put some distance between us, Rana tilted her head, her face showing utter incomprehension, and said,
"Could it be... do you find me suspicious, my lord?"
From my reaction, she seemed to think I wasn't succumbing to her seduction because I distrusted her.
As I opened my mouth to confirm it, Rana beat me to it.
"Please don't worry. I am a pure virgin, ready at any moment to offer my body to you, my lord."
"That's not the issue!!"
She made me sound like some pervert obsessed with virgins!
My composure shattered by Rana's mental assault, I couldn't help but yell.
At my outburst, Rana gazed at me with even greater confusion.
She pondered for a moment, then spoke again.
"If that's not it... don't tell me... you prefer men, my lord?"
"Of course not!! I'm a 100% pure heterosexual who loves women!!"
Once more, I lost my cool and shouted in frustration.
No! I'm a beloved lord. I can't let my poker face crumble over something like this!!
As self-loathing washed over me for yelling twice, the bathroom door suddenly burst open, and the guards rushed in.
"My lord! What happened!?"
"We heard a loud noise and came running!!!"
In an instant, the bathroom was packed with me, Rana, and the guards.
It was the moment my precious alone time was utterly destroyed.
After sending the guards away and getting dressed, I headed to the reception room with Rana, who had also dressed.
Rana maintained her usual cool, expressionless demeanor, but her face was slightly flushed—evidence that even she was a bit rattled.
"I'm sorry for flustering you, my lord. Real life is nothing like the academy, after all."
"They teach that sort of thing at the academy?"
Did the academy really instruct on scrubbing a master's back... or seduction techniques?
Rana answered my question without a hint of hesitation.
"Yes, we learned it seven months ago in the servant department. The practical instructor brought in professional prostitutes from the capital to demonstrate."
"Ah... I see."
I'd learned something I had zero interest in knowing.
Was it really okay for the academy to teach stuff like that?
As a flood of retorts bubbled up in my mind, Rana looked at me with genuine concern.
"Am I not to your taste, my lord? If it's a matter of preference, I'll speak to Lumiel and request a different girl."
"No! You are exactly my taste!"
This time, I replied without a second's pause.
Rana was my type.
In my previous life, when I rarely splurged, she was the one character I went all-out for—hitting the ceiling to obtain her.
At my firm confirmation, Rana flushed deeper, a mix of fluster and joy on her face.
"Thank you for saying it so clearly. My... self-esteem has recovered a little."
With the situation somewhat calmed, I laid it out clearly for Rana.
To be a beloved lord—and due to my own personal history from the past—I never forced sexual favors on my servants.
"Let's make this crystal clear, Rana. I don't order my servants to do that kind of thing."
"I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand, my lord."
She truly seemed baffled by my words.
With earnest eyes, she told me,
"You are my master. The princess granted you the right to do anything to me."
"No, I didn't get any such thing from the princess. I simply hired an exceptionally talented maid."
It was the same in World Archive, and probably the typical mindset for servants in this era, but I didn't see her as a tool.
No living person is a tool.
But mere words wouldn't get through to her, so I opted for a different approach.
"You said you'd do anything for me, right?"
"Yes, my lord."
I rose from my seat.
And as I headed back to my room, I said,
"Then rest for tonight. Tomorrow, come out with me—we're going somewhere."
"Understood. I'll prepare for the outing."
I went straight to my bedroom, and Rana gave me a polite maid's bow.
Tomorrow felt like it would be a busy day in all sorts of ways.
"My lord... what is this place?"
"Starting today, this is where you'll work during the daytime."
The next day, I took Rana there.
Upon seeing it, she wore the most flustered expression yet... honestly, it had only been two days, but still, it was the most rattled I'd seen her.
The place was the school.
"From now on, during weekdays in the daytime, teach the children here at Cron School."
In World Archive, reaching affinity rank 100 unlocks the Memorial content.
A side story revealing the inner thoughts of that rank-100 character—of course, I'd seen Rana's.
Unlike her cool facade and multifaceted talents, deep down, she was just an ordinary girl.
She had dreams, things she wanted to do.
But the Anthus family wouldn't allow it.
In line with the wishes of the prestigious servant house of Anthus, she was molded into the perfect maid, supporting countless lords across countless routes.
Yet in no route did she ever get her own ending.
At least in her Memorial story, she hinted at her true feelings—and I could never forget them.
Since childhood, she'd dreamed of becoming a teacher.
"No. I must attend to you, my lord."
She refused outright.
I refused her refusal.
"This is attending to me."
I gazed at the school.
Thanks to my investments, it had been modestly expanded, but there was still a long way to go.
Beyond the facilities, what it lacked most were properly trained teachers.
"Even elders with years of experience can't compare to someone who's received real education."
No matter how much life experience those seniors had, there were limits when they served as teachers.
Word was, they kept derailing lessons into tales of their own glory days.
We needed someone versed in proper, advanced teaching methods.
"And wouldn't you know it—here's a brilliant recent graduate from the capital academy, right at hand."
"My lord..."
"Do I need to make it an official order?"
At my words, Rana let out a helpless sigh.
She met my eyes and said,
"Understood. But from the afternoon onward, I'll return to the castle to serve you."
"Good. Then teach the children well from now on, Teacher Rana."
"No need to worry."
At my words, Rana flashed a faint, confident smile.
As she walked toward the school, she turned to me and said,
"Because I'm a perfect maid."
In that moment, she smiled for real.
A week had passed since Rana arrived in Cron.
She felt more emotionally confused than ever before in her life.
Ordered to the territory of the Cron family,
she'd assumed her life would be one of lifelong service to the lord designated as her master, just like her siblings.
Her cherished virginity would surely be swept away on the very first day by the lord's lust, as her older sister Ain had warned.
She'd even prepared every possible contraception method just in case—yet what awaited her were fulfilling days as a teacher.
Mornings at school teaching the children, afternoons back at the castle serving the lord—that routine continued.
Some days, her teaching hours even outstripped her maid duties.
Is this really okay? she wondered, yet she discovered herself enjoying those moments with the children.
The fact that she could still take joy in something... it was utterly astonishing.
Thinking of Lord Calix makes my heart race. What's going on?
At the academy, her seniors had filled her ears with horrific tales of lords.
So she'd been certain that barging into the bathroom naked would lead to the lord doing this and that to her.
She'd steeled herself for it, but even for her, having her first experience that way wasn't something she'd welcome.
Yet Lord Calix hadn't laid a hand on her.
He hadn't treated her like a tool. He'd even helped her realize a dream she'd long buried.
Thinking of Lord Calix made her heart pound—and though she couldn't pinpoint why, she felt guilty, as if she'd wronged him somehow.
Someday, she resolved, she'd offer an apology and a gift. As she prepared for bed with that in mind...
a sound reached her ears.
Pang—
It was an extremely faint ripple of mana.
A subtle wave of mana, so weak even a mage might miss it.
The kind of pulse assassins emit when trying to conceal their mana.
Hiding her icy gaze, Rana quietly rose and dressed.
She silently opened the door and stepped into the moonlit, silent corridor.
Time to greet the guest.