Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: The Fake Saintess's Identity (2)
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"What? You lot."
"……."
"Not doing your jobs and just gathered here? What are you up to?"
About two hours after Kairen had made his fake confession to the fake saintess.
"...What's the point of working?"
"Yeah, yeah. It doesn't mean anything anymore."
"Haa... Life."
Schwarz, who had finished overseeing the mansion's daily tasks and was heading back to Kairen as usual, tilted her head at the sight of the maids slouched in the lobby and tossed out a question.
"Why are you like this?"
"Young Master, well..."
Her expression, which had been turning icy as she prepared to reprimand them for slacking off, froze solid at the response.
"He got a girlfriend."
"...What?"
"It's true. That's why we're all like this."
Schwarz had initially thought the maids were just playing some prank, but the lobby's atmosphere was far from playful.
"Young Master came by earlier and told us himself."
"...He said he's announcing her to everyone soon."
"No more dreams or hopes... I'm quitting as a maid...."
Thanks to that, Schwarz instinctively realized their words were true, and her eyes filled with killing intent.
"...Where's the girlfriend?"
"No idea. Probably in Young Master's room..."
After firing off the question at the maids, she heard a half-hearted reply from one and immediately turned on her heel, charging up the stairs.
"……."
Unleashing killing intent so blatant that a normal person couldn't even breathe.
"Schwarz, wait..."
"...Hey, let her go. You never know."
"She might kill her for us."
The maids sensed disaster brewing at the sight, but not a single one tried to stop her.
"Young Master, I'm coming in."
Schwarz marched right up to Kairen's door, kicked it open without permission.
- BAM...!!!
The massive bang echoed down the hall as the door flew open. Kairen, who had been sitting on the bed arranging a bouquet, hurriedly stuffed it into his arms and whipped his head around.
"Ah, Schwarz sis."
"……."
"You came? Hehe."
Kairen greeted her in his usual bright tone.
"Young Master, who's that next to you...?"
"My girlfriend!"
Schwarz glared wide-eyed at the woman sitting beside Kairen with a somewhat dazed expression.
"Ha?"
Her jaw dropped, and she could only blurt out a dumb sound, unable to voice the thoughts swirling in her head.
"Uh......"
The top of the hierarchy demons, the maids' worst nightmare, a great demon who could rival the Belverk clan if conditions aligned.
Also, one of the few beings the fearless Schwarz—thanks to her strength and temperament—actually feared.
- Swish...
The head maid of Belverk, her own older sister, who bore all those titles, was signaling that she was on duty with a look of utter resignation.
"Eugh......"
Not in her usual terrifying great demon form, but as a cute girl in a frilly dress.
"...I saw nothing."
Schwarz stood there dazed, letting out weird groans for a while before giving up on comprehending the scene. To protect her sister's cover, she shut the door.
"See! I told you they wouldn't get mad!"
"...Haa."
"Even Schwarz reacted like that! Case closed!"
Kairen, who had been tilting his head, flashed a triumphant smile and addressed the head maid beside him.
"I wanna die."
"Ah, no!"
But when she muttered with dead eyes, Kairen startled and started shaking her shoulders.
"You can't give up now!"
The head maid kept staring blankly ahead with those dead eyes, muttering to herself inwardly.
'This isn't the time for me to be babysitting.'
She might look like this now, but normally, she was incredibly busy with no time to spare.
'I need to urgently return to the eldest daughter's side, scrap this useless personality, create a new one, and extract more intel...'
To continue her double-agent work, she had to dispose of the now-useless personality and urgently craft a replacement.
That way, there'd be room for the eldest daughter—whom she'd recently made contact with—to keep employing her.
"Ow."
"Say that one more time and I'll get mad!"
The head maid, growing anxious as she pondered an escape, got a flick on the forehead from the frowning Kairen. Her eyes flashed coldly for a moment.
'...Should I just kill him?'
But right then.
- Roooar...
Killing intent started flooding in from all over the mansion.
'What the hell about this brat makes everyone so protective?'
She'd only harbored a fleeting bit of killing intent toward Kairen, yet it drew searches from everywhere. Sighing, she withdrew it and glared at the kid with irritated eyes.
"Hey, Saintess sis."
"...Yes."
"Anyway, can I confess something?"
Suddenly, oblivious to her mood, Kairen started confessing with a sullen face.
"I... did something bad to Mom."
"Something bad?"
"Yeah... Something a son should never do..."
The head maid perked up a bit with interest, but her enthusiasm deflated at the explanation, and she sighed.
"I said I hated Mom."
"...Haa."
"So I wanna apologize, but I don't know how."
For a 'bad thing' a Belverk heir did to the family head, it was far too childish.
'Come to think of it, my mission was to play along.'
She scowled deeply, then suddenly recollected herself.
'If I resolve this, can I get back to work?'
Astridje surely hadn't sent her just to humor Kairen.
So, didn't she want her to subtly broker a reconciliation with her son?
"The solution is simple."
Having judged quickly, the head maid plastered on a fake smile and spoke to Kairen.
"Look your mom in the eye and say it from the heart."
"But... it's embarrassing..."
"Haha, I see."
However, her eyes chilled as she watched Kairen mumble and fidget.
"But nothing hurts more than missing the moment to say it."
This time, it wasn't irritation at Kairen—she knew someone who'd painfully regretted exactly that.
"Come on, say it."
"……."
"It's fine. Right now."
Urging him sincerely, the head maid pressed. Kairen agonized over it.
"...Hmm."
Then, he pulled out the bouquet from his arms and opened his mouth in a bright voice.
"I love you!"
"...!?"
"Like this?"
A brief silence followed.
"Ah."
In that silence, the head maid gaped blankly, then broke into a cold sweat.
"Aah..."
She clutched her head and started screaming.
"...Aaaaaaah!"
The reason for her sudden freakout was simple.
In preparation for emergencies requiring an urgent personality switch, she'd secretly set an emergency keyword—and Kairen had just uttered it.
"Uh, hey."
"……."
"You okay?"
Of all things, that keyword was 'I love you'—something no one would ever say to her as a demon and head maid.
"S-System sis. Wake up."
"……."
"Th-the Saintess fainted!"
The head maid collapsed unconscious and limp. Kairen paled, shook her, and urgently summoned the System in a panic.
Error recovery in progress...
"Ugh..."
"Ah, she's awake."
Just as Kairen worried whether to call for help, the head maid slowly lifted her head—thankfully.
"...What did you just say?"
But she was no longer Belverk's top hierarchy demon head maid.
"I-I said I love you."
"...!"
"Wh-why the sudden freakout?"
Thanks to Kairen's emergency keyword, the fake saintess personality—a commoner girl who firmly believed she'd received divine revelation—had just awakened.
"Ugh..."
The fake saintess blinked dazedly, then covered her flushed cheeks and mumbled shyly.
"...Th-thanks for saving me."
"...?"
"But you can't say stuff like that lightly."
Kairen tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? But..."
He then declared confidently.
"We're dating anyway, so it's fine."
"...Huh?"
"Don't you remember?"
But when the fake saintess looked baffled, Kairen sensed something off and frowned.
"Ah..."
Her face drained of color. She started mumbling with teary eyes.
"M-my memories are gone again..."
She bowed politely to Kairen.
"Sorry... I can't remember..."
"...Do you have amnesia?"
"Yes... Even my false charge happened then..."
As she began explaining, she suddenly widened her eyes and shot back.
"...Wait, dating!?"
"Hm?"
"Y-you're...! Still a kid!"
Hearing that, Kairen stared blankly before asking.
"How old are you?"
"...F-fifteen."
"That's only a five-year difference!"
But her expression grew even more guilt-ridden. She hung her head, mumbling with a voice full of sin.
"St-still... It won't do."
"……."
"A s-saintess dating? Dating the kid who saved me, no less. I'm disqualified..."
Her eyes darkened as she finished.
"...Someone like me could never be loved anyway."
Forcing a smile, she patted Kairen's head.
"You were joking, right? Haha..."
"……."
"...It's fine. I'll forget this soon anyway."
But as black smoke rose from Kairen's head, she yanked her hand back and mumbled sullenly.
"No."
"Huh?"
"I'll remember you."
Kairen cut in seriously.
"And I'll say it over and over."
He'd wanted to reveal it was all fake, but hearing her mutterings, he couldn't. He uttered the keyword again.
"I love you!"
Her pupils dilated massively.
"Then, I'll go apologize to Mom!"
Leaving her behind, Kairen—face slightly red—bolted from the room.
"...Haa, haa."
Meanwhile, the fake saintess slumped again, then snapped back to awareness, gasping raggedly.
"Ugh..."
No—the head maid had barely reclaimed control from the forcibly switched personality at the last second.
"Damn brat..."
Glared coldly at Kairen dashing out, then gritted her teeth and focused her mind.
'Can't delay anymore.'
Feeling her heartbeat and breathing spike, her temperature rise slightly—right on the verge of the crisis she'd long dreaded.
'Time to scrap this useless personality...'
Thus, she tried erasing the pitiful girl persona from her psyche.
"...Ha?"
But after intense focus, she broke into cold sweat and opened her eyes.
'Why... won't it delete?'
The 'fake saintess' persona wouldn't vanish no matter how hard she tried.
More precisely, it was fiercely resisting erasure from within her.
'...No way?'
She finally realized something was wrong—but it was too late.
After consulting the Saintess and realizing I needed to apologize to Mom right away, I left the room without delay.
"Huh?"
But the moment I stepped out, the scene in the hallway froze me in place with bewilderment.
"Kairen, is it true?"
"Wh-what?"
"You got a girlfriend?"
Mom, her usual blank face colder than ever.
"Wonder which bitch seduced our little sprout. Haha."
"Hehe, yeah. She must have at least a hundred lives."
Lilien and Uriel sis beside her, eyes blatantly crimson, questioning Kairen as sweetly as possible.
"Young Master, so who's that bitch... er, girlfriend?"
"Yeah, we're curious too."
"We'll help improve your relationship with her!"
Maids peeking from behind, smiling as they asked.
"...The 1st Knight Order is dying to know too."
"Heh heh, our retainer knights are ready with infinite malice—er, congratulations."
The 1st Knight Captain, visibly annoyed by his subordinates' clamor, and the retainer knights with sinister grins unlike usual.
"Well..., you see."
Staring dazedly at them, I realized one thing.
"Who could it be? The one our adorable little brother loves so dearly?"
No matter what, if I spilled the truth here, the fake Saintess wouldn't survive.
"Who is it? Hm?"
But pretending nothing happened would only fuel more suspicion.
"Kairen, what were you doing in your room?"
And with everyone gathered at my door, dodging would likely lead to them storming in.
"……."
So, only one way to resolve this.
Pass this bomb to someone the whole mansion's wrath couldn't faze—and whom everyone would dismiss as kid stuff.
"Well..."
And in Belverk, I knew only one such person.
"Well, you see..."
Kairen, frozen with a teary face, finally spoke. Everyone in the hall leaned in.
- Rustle...
Suddenly, he pulled out a bouquet from his arms.
"No way, she's in there?"
"Oh, this'll be easier than expected."
"Yeah. No need to hunt her down."
Their eyes widened, then chilled as they realized what he was doing, glancing at each other coldly.
"I lo—"
Right then, Kairen squeezed his eyes shut and thrust the bouquet forward.
"I love you, Mom!"
It flew straight to Astridje in the center. Everyone blinked blankly, then turned to her.
"Date me!"
The next instant, having blurted it out, Kairen flushed beet red and threw himself into Mom's arms.
"...Ah?"
Astridje, holding him, gaped in a daze, then flushed in panic. Deep silence blanketed the surroundings.