The Maid's Secret Circumstances (1)
After sending Elfin and Yustina away, I lay on the treatment room bed, staring up at the still-unfamiliar ceiling as I sank into thought. There were mountains of questions about Elfin and Yustina's last 500 years, and endless stories to share... but right now, my mind was completely overtaken by thoughts of Liwin.
‘Just what the hell happened to Liwin?’
If, as Elfin said, she had initially headed to the Demon Realm to search for traces of her parents, that motivation was understandable enough. But why had she conceived such a horrific goal from there? To preserve a single moment and loop only the happiest era forever. I couldn't believe the Liwin I knew would harbor thoughts like that.
“If it's not the Liwin I know...?”
Then Yustina's words to me resurfaced. That the current Liwin was a completely different person from the one I remembered. I'd had no clue what she meant at first, but after hearing the full story and confronting Katarina, I thought I understood now.
500 years wasn't the same for everyone.
‘For elves or dragons, 500 years... isn't short, but it's not long enough to completely change who they are.’
Yustina, who had lived a near-infinite span confined mostly to the academy, had barely changed. Elfin, an elf with a thousand-year lifespan who had wandered the continent, encountering new cultures and piling up experiences, had shifted a little. But for Liwin—a half-demon hybrid of human and demon blood, with an original lifespan under a century—what did 500 years signify?
Or rather, what impact had those 500 years wrought on her?
—‘Humans can't endure 500 years. I'm nothing but a ghost who died centuries ago.’
Katarina's words just before her death suddenly flashed in my mind. Humans and demons had similar lifespans, as did half-demons. So Liwin was a paradoxical being: a spirit too fragile to weather 500 years, housed in a body that time magic let her shrug off like a joke.
‘No wonder time mages don't chase eternal life.’
It was a realm too vast for me to fathom. But if short-lived races like humans truly crumbled under centuries of mental strain, it explained why time mages never bothered—even when they could theoretically freeze their own time and live forever.
‘Liwin... well, she's the exception, I suppose.’
Even among time mages, Liwin was an outlier. Whether she'd always been that way or became it over time, here she was after 500 years—still kicking, willing to do anything to preserve the world's moments and relive only her happiest ones.
Her human heart might have vanished entirely, shattered into something ghostlike.
‘Is that why she allied with the bastard who wants to rebuild Drelin?’
Simply madness, fixated solely on her goal? I wanted to believe there was more to it.
To return to our shared past, she'd partnered with the very man scheming to revive the nation I despised most. Had she grown so numb that ends justified any means?
“......This feels hopeless.”
At the end of the day, I had no earthly idea how to stop Liwin. Katarina alone had been a nightmare opponent this time around. And for whatever reason, her ally—the self-proclaimed last king of Drelin—seemed versed in magitech as well.
Even if we scraped by against him somehow, countering Liwin's overwhelming time magic left me drawing blanks.
‘I've got to figure something out. But how?’
As Yustina had said, holing up in the academy to safeguard my life didn't suit my temperament one bit. She'd known me well enough through her tearful pleas to predict I wouldn't buy it.
So was teaming up with Elfin to hunt the resurrection flower before Yustina the answer? Honestly, in this mess, even that wasn't clear.
‘Charlotte. Right—Charlotte first.’
I'd always been the type to fixate on the tree before the forest, botching big pictures more often than not. But right now, I knew zeroing in on the tree trumped the forest.
Shielding Charlotte, under threat right in front of me, took priority over Liwin slithering in from afar.
To do that...
‘I need to hear it from Charlotte herself.’
Why she was being targeted. What it meant that she was Drelin's final legacy.
Thankfully, by morning, my body felt light as air. The wounds had vanished without a trace, fatigue included. After a quick workout and a thorough wash-up, a knock echoed: tap-tap.
Someone was waiting outside.
“Uh, who's there?”
I figured it was probably Elfin or Yustina. But it wasn't either of them.
Not that it was unexpected. After all, this was the girl who always knocked politely at the mansion door, beaming when I opened it.
“Young master!”
“Charlotte?”
I jolted at her sudden appearance. It still evoked those mansion days, though one difference stood out: today's Charlotte wore a school uniform, not her maid outfit.
And she hadn't come alone.
“Hahaha! Hurt on a mere beast hunt? I'm disappointed in you this time, Deneb! Buckle up next round!”
“H-hello. We're not close or anything, but since we're classmates now, I was worried and thought I'd drop by...”
“She said everyone was going, so she dragged me along. Heh, you look better already. Bedridden by one beast?”
I blinked wide-eyed at the special class students pouring out from behind Charlotte, then narrowed my gaze and tilted my head.
‘What the hell are these guys on about?’
Hurt on a beast hunt? Had they totally blanked on my clash with a 500-year-old witch yesterday? Nearly murdered by brainwashed Katarina?
‘It wasn't even a beast hunt—it was a demon sweep!’
I nearly voiced my grievance when it hit me: Elfin and Yustina must've pulled something overnight.
‘Right—memory erasure potion.’
Evidently, the special class kids remembered yesterday's demon op as a routine beast-hunting drill—minus me, of course. Tragic they'd lost those memories to adult machinations, but... that sky-engulfing magic circle, flesh-slicing blizzard, monstrous demons I'd only heard about? Yeah, maybe blanking it out was healthier.
“Can we all come in? All five of us!”
...That aside, why so many people?
“Charlotte, Yozef, Gines, even Konet?”
“Yes, and Yuz is right behind!”
Charlotte visiting made sense. Yozef had some rapport, so no big surprise. But Konet and Gines? Konet aside, Gines and I had barely—if ever—exchanged words last class.
“Better to all come together, right?! Haha! The more visitors for a patient, the better!”
“No, I'm good. Was about to head out for a run.”
“Nonsense! Your face is still wan! You need a full day of rest looking like that!”
“Ah, uh, uhhh...”
The special class crew shoved through the narrow door: Charlotte first, then Yozef, Konet, Gines... Something felt off at the tail end, so I glanced back—Yustina lingered, arms crossed, awkwardly hovering like she didn't belong.
“......You came too?”
Caught in my gaze, Yustina whipped her head away, hissing like a bristling cat.
“Why glare like that?! Th-this Yustina-sama is a special class student too, you know!”
“Well, sure. Yeah.”
“That pitiful look again! This Yustina-sama had no intention of tagging along like this! That prince insisted everyone go together, dragging me... grrr...”
She balled her fists, cheeks flushing as she fumed. How did this dragon woman—easily over 500—end up cuter than any late-teen girl? Probably my guardian bias kicking in hard.
Guessing as much, I took her hand.
“So, not coming in?”
“Wh-what's with grabbing my hand all of a sudden?!”
“Come on. Looks like you brought stuff. I'm healed up, but it's a holiday—kids hanging out sounds fine, right?”
“Grrr... The chairman of Denebergen Academy shouldn't be leisurely gallivanting like this... Especially not with a spy exposed, things are dire...”
She tugged halfheartedly at the hand I'd caught. But if Yustina really wanted free, shaking me off would've been child's play.
In other words, she was play-acting duty while inwardly whining to join the fun.
‘Hasn't changed a bit, has she.’
After a beat, I found the perfect excuse for her.
“How about this? Counts as chairman business.”
“Chairman business? Babysitting you, Deneb?”
“Not babysitting... call it a sick visit. The spy isn't our only issue, right?”
I nodded toward Charlotte, who was peering around the room in wide-eyed wonder, and flashed a smile. Yustina caught on instantly, tilting her head slyly.
“......Charlotte, you mean.”
“Yeah. Might as well probe her directly while we're at it?”
“Others are here, so not right now... but timing it right... Hm, yes. Vital intel. Uncovering why that girl's targeted is this Yustina-sama's duty, after all.”
We already knew Charlotte was suspicious. Surviving that icicle unscathed? Elfin and Yustina both swore no normal human could. The circumstantial evidence screamed hidden secrets.
To unearth the truth, we'd have to poke directly.
“Leave it to you, then. Digging out buried secrets... that's your wheelhouse. I can count on you, right?”
“Why call this Yustina-sama an expert?!”
“You telling me you don't know?”
“Gr, grrr...”
And I figured Yustina was perfect for the job. Hell, look at all the traps she'd rigged across campus to unmask me.
The seven wonders? One alone had been plenty.
“That was... extra effort just for you, Deneb...”
“Huh?”
“N-nothing. Let's head in already.”
I stepped back into the sickroom alongside a suddenly bashful Yustina.