The Maid's Hidden Secrets (3)
The moment I heard Charlotte say she knew nothing, a swirl of complex emotions washed over me. I was glad she hadn't deliberately hidden anything from me, yet at the same time, subtly disappointed that I hadn't gained any new information. But as a rather sentimental assassin, the joy outweighed the unease.
"Really? You don't even know who the last king of Drelin is? Or why he's targeting you? Nothing about being an essential legacy for rebuilding the Drelin Kingdom?"
"......Yes, I have no idea at all. I'm sorry, young master."
Charlotte maintained her stance of complete ignorance. I glanced at Yustina, who looked slightly troubled. Still, she nodded, affirming my suspicions.
"Hmph, the magic is still firmly in place, nira."
"She calls me 'young master,' though? You're sure she hasn't snapped out of it?"
"What dost thou take this Yustina for? 'Tis a spell that compels only the truth, and makes one forget after speaking—but it steals not the personality itself."
"Th-then......"
So Charlotte truly knew nothing. Which meant we were no closer to learning about Drelin's last king. But my questions weren't over yet. The fact remained that she was being targeted by him, and we needed to uncover why. With that in mind, I decided to probe deeper into the odd vibes I'd always sensed from her.
"Charlotte, I've always thought this, but isn't your recovery way too good?"
"My recovery?"
"You got hit by that witch's icicle yesterday and were fine, and when Hempton hurled you into the wall, you bounced back in seconds."
"That's... I've thought it was strange too. Even minor injuries heal so fast sometimes."
"Why hide it?"
As I pressed her, Charlotte shrank back.
"I didn't mean to hide it, I'm sorry. But since I'm different from normal people... it scared me."
Just a unique constitution, then. Come to think of it, she was an orphan. Maybe one of her parents was from a race with troll-like regeneration, and it passed down genetically.
"Hmmm......"
"Worry not overmuch about her constitution. This Yustina hath ways to investigate it separately. Once the questioning ends, I'll put her to sleep and examine her myself."
"Yeah, that'd be great. Next up, then."
The biggest reason I'd suspected she was hiding something was the Trial of Fear. It felt awkward asking about her weaknesses like this, but skipping it would leave a nagging doubt.
"Alright, why'd you keep what you saw in the Trial of Fear secret?"
"It was... too bizarre."
"Bizarre how?"
Charlotte fiddled with her hair before speaking cautiously.
"In the Trial of Fear, I honestly imagined... being abandoned by the Lehinar family, or getting scolded by you, young master."
"......Scolded by me?"
"Tch, Deneb. How much have you nagged the poor girl for her to fear that?"
"N-no! I've never scolded Charlotte! No one in the household's as close to me as her—why would she?!"
Charlotte waved her hands in surprise.
"That's not what I meant! You're the one person who'd never scold me, so getting scolded by you would be the scariest... that's all."
"Hmph, not all that curious anymore. So, what did you see? Some demon scarier than Deneb emerged from the Trial of Fear?"
"A demon, maybe. Honestly, I couldn't even tell what it was."
Yustina's dry question drew a serious look from Charlotte.
"I was lying on... some kind of operating table. Bright lights flashing overhead, and even fully conscious, no anesthesia—they just started the surgery."
"Surgery? Out of nowhere?"
"I don't know either. I've never had surgery in my life, so I wasn't even afraid of it before. You can't fear what you don't know—like someone who's never seen a spider fearing spiders."
I nodded at her words. In my own Trial of Fear, I'd seen a scene where even Yustina, Elfin, and Liwin couldn't catch up to me as I left with the kids. It stemmed from the pain of parting with them, the agony of knowing we wouldn't meet again for seventeen years—that knowledge birthed the terror. But for Charlotte, who'd never experienced surgery or even heard much about it, to fear it most was undeniably strange.
"And that was it?"
"It hurt so much, but I couldn't say a word. My body was being sliced by knives and magic, changing bit by bit—it was so repulsive......"
"Your body changing......"
Could this tie into her constitution? I glanced at Yustina, who was chewing her lip, deep in thought. Our eyes met, and she spoke uncertainly.
"Er, hmm... perchance a memory?"
"A memory? But she said she's never had surgery."
Yustina pointed with a finger.
"This spell compels her to speak all she knows truthfully—not the truths she knows not, nira."
"So she had a surgery she doesn't remember, and it lingers in her subconscious as her deepest fear?"
Yustina nodded at my guess.
"This Yustina thinks so too."
"Then can't you read her subconscious? Like how the Trial pulls from it to summon fears—you could surely......"
"Too dangerous."
Yustina cut me off firmly.
"The human subconscious is an exceedingly complex realm. Even for this Yustina, rummaging through it risks breaking it."
"You breaking?"
"Nay, the little one named Charlotte would shatter."
This was tricky. We were so close to touching something vital, yet circling just out of reach. Yustina approached and patted my back soothingly.
"Ask thy final question first. About the buried surgery memory, or her odd constitution. Then we'll piece it together after her last answer, doda."
Her words reignited my resolve. Truth be told, just confirming Charlotte hadn't deceived me was satisfaction enough. Uncovering why Drelin's last king—the self-proclaimed monster—targeted her would be ideal, but even clues would suffice.
"Alright... last question. Charlotte, how do you know so much about magitech?"
In the heat of battle, it hadn't seemed that odd. Katarina's magitech devices numbered three: the brainwashing leash, life-support gear, and the cloak. I'd known of the first two already.
But that cloak generating a concealment barrier? Never heard of it.
Elfin had confirmed it later in the hospital room—not just me; even she, head of the Imperial Secret Service, had never heard of a magitech cloak that freely created barriers. Yustina, lacking magitech knowledge, was clueless too.
—"Young master...! That cloak's magitech! It forms a barrier around us, hiding our fight no matter how close they get!"
Yet Charlotte had known exactly what it was. I'd chalked it up to her voracious reading, but if Elfin was ignorant, that changed things. Elfin not knowing meant the imperial court didn't either. How could Charlotte know of a magitech device unknown even to them?
Her answer matched her previous ones.
"Magitech devices... I-I don't really know. My head starts hurting when I try to recall... All I know for sure is, seeing it made the info pop into my mind on its own."
"Popped into your mind? Subconscious again?"
"Likely so."
The questioning ended. More could be dug, but this was enough for Yustina and me to hypothesize the truth. Our suspicions were solid; she just needed to examine Charlotte physically for proof.
Sure enough, Yustina stepped forward, gripping my shoulder.
"I grasp it now, Deneb. Step back."
"Gonna investigate?"
"Aye. Charlotte, rest a moment."
"Huh? What are you—zzz... zzzz......"
Yustina flicked her finger, and Charlotte's eyes closed. Her eyelids, once light, grew impossibly heavy. She toppled backward into sleep. Yustina approached and began scrutinizing her intently.
"Hmmm......"
Yustina seemed nonchalant, but it felt awkward to watch, so out of respect for her privacy, I turned away and sorted my thoughts.
A unique constitution with freakish recovery. A subconscious terror of surgery modifying her body with knives and magic. And inexplicable deep knowledge of magitech devices from who-knows-where.
Dismissing her claim of no surgery as false memory, the picture emerged.
This ties to magitech too. Her constitution's probably the result.
Drelin's last king seeking his kingdom's legacy. Both the legacy and the king linked to magitech somehow. Details were hazy, but we could guess.
"......Hmph."
"What is it?"
As Yustina probed Charlotte's body innocently for clues, she groaned. She redressed her, then turned to me.
"Trouble, Deneb."
"Why?"
Her ominous tone beaded sweat on my nose. Yustina sighed faintly and perched on the bed.
"As expected, magitech-related, nira."
"Knew it! But why trouble?"
"This Yustina's skills can't probe deeper."
"Can't?"
She nodded.
"Aye—security, perhaps. Some secret device blocks close inspection. Forcing it would endanger the child's life. Were this Yustina a magitech expert, I might breach it......"
"But you're not."
"Hmph, embarrassing, but true."
Indeed, Yustina was a magitech novice. It was cutting-edge tech, and she'd lived in ancient dragon culture without delving into the nascent field—like elders fumbling new gadgets.
"So we can't learn what surgery she had, or why she's Drelin's final legacy?"
"Not quite—fear not. This Yustina's connections are vast. A reliable magitech authority shan't be hard to summon."
"......That's a relief."
What experts are for, right? As academy chairwoman and famed pro-human dragon, she'd draw them like flies. A specialist examining Charlotte's modifications would unravel everything.
Charlotte, what kind of past did you have?
No answer came from within; she just slept obliviously, somehow irritating me today.