Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Attempted Noble Murder (2)
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“M-Maid… over there…!”
-Bam!
Lilith slammed the door shut in a fit of nerves and vanished from the room.
Ethan Richard Blackwood stared at her retreating figure, lost in a whirlwind of thoughts for a moment.
The pure intent to kill he felt for the first time in his life.
Someone truly wanting to end him, even attempting it.
For a scion of the Blackwood Family, it was a raw, extreme emotion he could never have imagined before.
The overwhelming pressure left Ethan frozen in place long after Lilith had stormed out.
“…I…”
All I wanted was to get the maid’s attention.
Even when I pranked her endlessly, she barely reacted, so I just wanted a little more of her focus.
Past Ethan had been too young and foolish to realize his antics could breed such deep resentment and hatred.
And now, this was the result.
The choking pressure of the bedsheet around his neck, the faint marks still lingering on his throat.
Lilith’s fury-filled face staring him down as his mind faded.
Her hesitation to take his life, tears streaming down her cheeks.
And finally, her barrage of curses, insults, and maledictions before she fled the room.
Each event etched itself intensely into the immature Ethan’s mind, a barrage of stimuli too powerful to forget.
It was also the first time he realized his pranks had been utterly wrong.
“Maid…”
He couldn’t grasp every word she’d spat, but the raw emotion she hurled at him—he felt it all.
Even the unfamiliar sentiment she’d hidden from him until now.
Ethan had always played the fool, dodging others’ gazes and expectations.
But strangely, now he craved that attention and hope—from one person alone.
‘Working with you was shit, so let’s never meet again.’
“……”
Recalling Lilith’s final words, dripping with hatred toward him, Ethan felt a stab in his chest like a blade.
Could he apologize now and be forgiven?
He didn’t want to lose the maid forever like this.
Could they return to that secretive pact from their first alone time in the predawn kitchen?
Back to when he’d shared their kitchen secret from when she was in danger, earning her gratitude?
If so, he’d apologize for everything right now.
But recalling her reaction, even a teenage boy knew better than to expect warmth.
‘Don’t talk to me, you fucking bastard Ethan.’
“Hic.”
That terrifying expression—he never wanted to see it again.
He dreaded facing her gaze, brimming with disgust and loathing.
His past misdeeds wouldn’t vanish with a single sorry, anyway.
Even with a teenage boy’s mind, Ethan’s noble upbringing had tangled him with many people.
If an apology could mend it, none of this would’ve happened.
“Ah…”
His torn clothes, too ragged even to mend.
The very fabric that had strangled him, embodying the maid’s grudge’s depth.
Fixing these was as impossible as mending their bond, Ethan sensed.
Normally, he’d dump such messes on his father, Duke Harold Richard Blackwood, and wait.
But not this. He couldn’t tell his father, no matter what.
The moment this reached his ears, Lilith’s fate was sealed.
Just as she’d said before leaving.
‘This is the end for me today. Your dad won’t let me live once he knows I tried to kill you.’
Ethan, who’d already lost his mother, understood death fully.
Irreversible, final—no reunions.
Tell his father he’d nearly died by her hand…
“……”
And Lilith would join his mother among those he could never see again—a truth even a teenage boy grasped.
She hated him enough to kill, but he didn’t hate her that much.
He wanted to prevent her death, to feel that nostalgic childhood warmth from her a bit longer.
Not make her vanish like this.
Solving this alone, without confiding in father or anyone, and somehow conveying his apology to his exclusive maid, Lilith.
That was Ethan Richard Blackwood’s first true task.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
The next day, morning.
“……Hoo.”
Her body, synced to the maid schedule, woke at 5 a.m. sharp—a curse she resented deeply.
‘Even on my last day, I wanted to sleep in.’
Wide awake now, no chance of drifting off amid this foul mood.
She sat quietly on the bed, awaiting her punishment.
‘By now, that pig bastard Ethan’s probably snitched to Harold.’
She’d half-expected guards bursting in while she slept, so her rest had been fitful.
Harold would flip and storm her room the second he heard she’d tried to kill his son.
Maybe he held off out of final mercy before taking her life.
Not her intent, but she’d recovered Thanacia’s necklace—what nearly cost them her forever.
And though unintended, she’d slain the Hookjaw in the commercial district, sparing the territory guard.
Recalling her feats as Lilith, execution seemed unlikely—maybe an exception.
Gouging both eyes and exile, or ‘service’ in Silverwood like Aeria or Alicia.
…Either way, hellish.
She’d rather die.
Though if she could choose…
Facing a second death so closely, Isabel and Katarina’s faces flickered in her mind.
“…Should’ve at least said goodbye.”
She’d skipped it to avoid worrying them early. Knowing now how gentlemanly this was ending, a prior farewell wouldn’t hurt.
No estate guards swarming meant Harold wanted this quiet.
She could’ve spun a transfer excuse to Isabel or Katarina.
A close friend vanishing overnight would shock them; reassurance would’ve helped.
Unless Harold announced her execution publicly—then pointless.
‘What a mess, really.’
She’d toyed with rampaging via shockwave or mana arrows before leaving, but nixed it.
More crimes now could drag Isabel and Katarina down.
Katarina had even covered for her magic use—could worsen her position.
‘If I’m going, just Lilith goes. No point in ugly thrashing now.’
Anyway, her death just meant the game protagonist suffered more, right?
Luminor Academy was a lengthy SRPG visual novel; no Lilith wouldn’t make it impossible.
But her presence surely eased difficulty meaningfully.
If the protagonist was a possessor like her, early game would suck without Lilith.
Not that the plot or protagonist mattered to her anymore.
Crying from dinner till night had sorted her emotions, at least.
Whatever future or hardship came, she could… not quite face it.
But death? She’d steeled herself somewhat.
‘Execution? Take it quietly. Dragged to Silverwood? Try suicide when I can.’
Triple-cast low-tier mana arrow to a vital spot—should kill instantly.
She changed into her maid uniform for work.
Deep breath, bracing for guards at the door.
“……Hooo.”
Impossible not to tense.
Past life accident meant no death prep; steeling for unwanted demise took real resolve.
6 a.m., usual time—she stepped out casually to the exclusive maid lounge.
Opening the door, the face before her nearly toppled her backward.
“……!”
“……M-Maid.”
The Blackwood heir she’d tried strangling yesterday.
Ethan Richard Blackwood waited right outside her door.