The Maid Is Terrified
Ariel led the three of them toward the shop selling ice cream right after Shuri’s misdeeds came to light. The place was quite crowded. From the sign Edgar had glanced at earlier, this shop was apparently the original one that sold the soft-serve dessert they had seen moments ago.
In the end, the four of them grew tired of waiting and settled down at a suitable spot first. Fortunately, most customers took their orders and left the shop, so finding empty seats was easy. However, the real problem arose afterward.
While the line that had stretched outside gradually shortened, Shuri kept her head bowed low like a criminal, unable to utter a single word. Ariel, too, sat with her arms crossed and her mouth firmly shut, as if waiting to see how her servant would respond. Because of that, any conversation was impossible.
Not to mention the outsider Ronan; even Edgar couldn’t bring himself to speak. Silence. No word described the current situation better than that two-syllable term.
“…So.”
“Hic!?”
The moment Ariel, who had been watching the situation, finally opened her mouth, Shuri’s shoulders jerked and she let out a hiccup. It was truly a scene no different from a rabbit before a lion. A look of pity crossed the faces of the two men watching from the side.
“Just what was this maid thinking, sneaking after her master like that?”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
When Shuri tried to stand up and immediately drop to her knees on the bare floor, Ariel gave her a look that clearly said to stop. While she was used to seeing others kneel and beg before her, this wasn’t the kind of behavior suitable for a place drawing so much attention. Besides, that wasn’t what she wanted in the first place.
“I don’t need an apology. What I want to hear is the reason.”
“That is…”
Trailing off, Shuri glanced sideways at Ronan, who sat beside her. It was a silent cry for help. In the end, Ronan, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward to explain. Though what he offered could hardly be called an explanation; it was closer to a pack of lies meant to confuse Ariel.
“I’m sorry, my lady. This is all my fault.”
“Your fault?”
Ariel’s eyebrows twitched slightly at Ronan’s sudden interruption. Edgar, watching from the side, quickly caught onto her true feelings and sent her an amused look. To the two people sitting across from them, however, it probably appeared as if her mood had soured.
“I haven’t been able to meet Shuri much lately, so I suggested we go on a short outing…”
“So you’re the one who brought her out?”
“Yes. But I had no idea the two of you would be here together.”
Ronan added that their visit to Etle had been purely coincidental, and that Shuri had seemed hesitant along the way, attempting a false statement with the firm resolve that if they were caught, they would hang together.
When Ariel’s gaze turned toward Shuri as if asking whether it was true, she couldn’t even meet her eyes. She simply shrank in on herself and gave a tiny nod. If Ronan’s excuse worked, both of them might just survive. Whether the ship had holes or not, she figured it was best to board this rescue vessel for now.
“Then you weren’t following us?”
“We were following, but Shuri said she was worried whether you would find your way properly after she wrote the note, so she suggested we follow for a bit. Please show mercy.”
“Hmm…”
Ariel stared at Ronan for a moment before shifting her gaze with a sidelong glance toward her lover seated beside her. Then she pointed at the pair across from them and tilted her head with a smile and gesture that seemed to ask, ‘What should we do?’
In response, Edgar simply shrugged as if to say it was up to her.
“Well, fine. I can ask Shuri for the details once we return to Hespania.”
It was a statement that she would let the current situation slide for now. The problem was that the words carried a rather chilling undertone. Saying she would ask once they returned to Hespania essentially meant she intended to uncover the truth or deliver punishment when she was alone with Shuri.
A cold drop of sweat trickled down Ronan’s back. He wanted to end the conversation here and protect Shuri somehow, but being too obvious about it might only raise more suspicion.
“Shuri, you wouldn’t refuse, would you?”
“O-of course not. I will follow your words, my lady.”
At the tone that seemed to imply she knew what would happen if she refused, Shuri finally surrendered. Since Ronan had bought her some time with his life on the line, it would be her job to somehow get through it once they returned to Hespania. The problem was that she was terribly weak when it came to lying. All she could do was pray she wouldn’t get caught.
“If the story’s over, shall we go get some now? I was going to buy it earlier but stopped because I was worried it would melt.”
Confirming that the conversation had somehow muddled its way to an end, Edgar pointed toward the back and spoke up. Ariel paused for a moment before nodding. The line had indeed shortened considerably, so now seemed like the right time.
The moment Ariel gave her permission and Edgar tried to stand, the servants sitting across from him stopped him. If even Edgar left, they would be stuck in what felt like a three-way interrogation with Ariel, and they had no confidence they could endure that atmosphere. They would rather stand in line for thirty minutes or even an hour than remain in this seat.
“W-we’ll go buy it! Young master!”
“Hm? It’s fine. I can go.”
“We feel uncomfortable, that’s why.”
When even Ronan desperately pleaded with him, practically begging him to go, Edgar said he understood and took out some money from his pocket. Asking them to run the errand was one thing, but the money was a separate matter.
Once the two of them left their seats and quickly disappeared toward the counter, Edgar let out a small chuckle and nudged Ariel beside him. When their eyes met, Ariel wore a playful smile. It was the same expression she usually showed him.
“Don’t scold her too much. It looks like she came because she was worried about you.”
“Is that so? I’m not sure if it was out of worry.”
“Hmm… Well, that’s true.”
Honestly, Edgar didn’t think the two had come all the way to Etle for that reason either. Shuri wasn’t the overprotective type to begin with. She would have simply trusted that Ariel would enjoy her time and waited at the castle. She was not the kind of person who would follow.
In other words, the established theory was that they had followed along to see something fun. And the “fun” in question was likely the rare sight of their master behaving in ways they seldom witnessed.
“You don’t talk much, so she must have been incredibly curious.”
Many people might assume Ariel shared all sorts of stories with Shuri, but surprisingly, the two of them engaged in very little personal conversation. To be precise, unless Ariel brought up a topic first, Shuri would never approach recklessly. After all, she might accidentally touch upon her master’s reverse scale.
Besides, Ariel was generally a woman of few words. Even when she met Edgar alone, she rarely brought Shuri along, and the number of times she had separately told Shuri about what happened between them could be counted on one hand.
That meant Shuri had no way of knowing how far things had progressed between the two. However, whenever she visited Ariel’s room and saw her rolling around with a face full of happiness, she could tell things were going well. In fact, this scant information only fueled Shuri’s curiosity even more.
“Hmph. There’s no need to go around bragging about it.”
“Still, human curiosity isn’t something you can control.”
“I don’t know. Anyway, I wasn’t planning to scold her, so don’t worry.”
Since the game of cat and mouse had been rather entertaining, Ariel had no intention of lecturing her separately. If anything, the casual remark she had thrown out earlier could be considered the punishment. From now on, Shuri would be trembling just imagining what awaited her back in Hespania, and Ariel found that thought rather enjoyable to watch.
At her truly wicked hobby, Edgar could only smile bitterly. Still, he decided it was Shuri’s own karma and chose not to intervene. He could already picture Shuri returning to Hespania, clinging to them in tears and begging for her life, but that was a problem for later.
“W-we’re back…”
“Thanks for your hard work. But it looks like there’s only one flavor?”
“Y-yes, it seems so…”
When the two returned a little later carrying the ice cream, Ariel tilted her head at the white substance inside. Usually these kinds of desserts had fruit flavors or other added scents. Because of that, she couldn’t tell what it would taste like just from its appearance.
“What’s underneath?”
“It looks like some kind of cookie or baked good. They served it like this.”
“How interesting.”
Instead of serving it in a cup or bowl, they had placed it on bread. Moreover, the texture seemed harder than the fluffy bread Ariel knew, which felt quite fresh. Just as Shuri said, it gave more of an impression of a cookie than bread.
“Eat up, Shuri.”
Shuri, who had sat down, was debating whether to scoop the ice cream with the small spoon she had received or simply eat it with her mouth like the others when Ariel spoke. Taking it as a sign that her recent crime would be forgiven, Shuri’s face brightened and she nodded vigorously.
“Ah, yes…! Thank you, my lady.”
“What’s this? You don’t usually say things like that.”
At Ariel’s unexpected words—words she rarely even said to him—Edgar widened his eyes in surprise. In response, Ariel answered with a smile so pure not a speck of dust could be found on it. The problem was that the content of her words didn’t match the smile on her lips at all.
“Because you should enjoy it. It might be your last meal, after all.”
“Hiiik!?”
“……”
Listening to her words, which could have been a joke or not, Edgar thought to himself. No matter how he looked at it, she had no intention of letting this matter slide easily. It seemed he would have to step in to protect Shuri’s well-being once they returned to Hespania.