Boiling Blood
The next day, the day after that, and the day after that again.
Harassment that was neither brazen enough to be called outright bullying nor subtle enough to dismiss continued without any clear definition.
In the dining hall of the main house, surrounded by dozens of servants attending him, a boy with a face full of irritation stared down at a plate of soup and spoke.
"Hey. Demon maid."
"..."
No one answered the boy's call. Dozens of maids surrounded the table where he sat, yet none of them reacted to his words.
And for good reason — hadn't the boy just said "demon maid"?
The mansion's maids blinked at the rather abrupt remark. Sitting alone at the large table and tasting his soup a few times, the boy was now claiming that a demon had infiltrated the mansion of Hugo Prien, the empire's strongest knight. So it was only natural they found his words questionable.
A demon infiltrating the mansion meant a demon had appeared in the capital where the emperor resided. Not something one said so casually.
A demon was a sentient being that harbored demonic energy. Their mere existence instilled fear in most. And yet — a demon casually playing the role of a maid? What absurd nonsense was this?
"Demon. Can't you hear me?"
But Shiron spoke clearly, as if certain there was a demon maid in the dining hall. When there was still no answer, he lifted his head and fixed his gaze on one spot. Everyone rolled their eyes to follow where he was looking.
"......Are you referring to me?"
His gaze rested on Elysee, the apprentice maid that Lady Siriel had brought in not long ago. Receiving dozens of stares pouring down on her, Elysee's face stiffened.
It's starting again.
Elysee — Seira felt a slight throbbing headache as she looked at Shiron.
"Yeah, you. You, the demon maid."
Beside him stood Encia and Ophelia, who to Seira's eyes were clearly demons, but Shiron looked at Seira in Elysee's form and called her the demon maid. Calling Seira, who looked like nothing more than a human woman, a demon... to those who didn't know the circumstances, it could only look like bullying.
All the maids in the dining hall cast pitying gazes at Elysee. But no one could stop Shiron's behavior. Every maid in this mansion had experienced Shiron's delinquent antics at least once, and it was something the master of the house, Hugo, had tacitly permitted.
"Haa..."
"Can't you hear? Or are you blatantly ignoring me?"
"Yes, Young Master. For what reason have you called me?"
Seira suppressed a slightly weary air and forced herself to answer. As if he had been waiting for her reply, Shiron raised one corner of his mouth.
"The soup is salty."
"I... I'm not a cook, though."
"A mere maid talking back so cheekily? It's pissing me off."
Seira tried to push back, but Shiron ignored her pointedly. Instead, he started getting irritated right back at her. Seira cooled her boiling anger and obediently lowered her head.
"I'm sorry. I'll bring the soup again."
In the end, Seira complied with Shiron's demands without any resistance. Because she was acting the part of a slave constantly abandoned and wounded in heart, Seira couldn't even properly express her emotions. And so, little by little, Seira's spirit was worn away.
But Seira's pitiful performance wasn't entirely useless.
The form of Elysee that Seira had created was beautiful enough to inspire jealousy, yet perhaps because of the shared sense of being bullied by the delinquent young master, Seira was able to quickly become close with the mansion's servants.
"That little brat. He seems to treat Elysee especially meanly."
When a coworker was being bullied by a rotten noble kid, you couldn't help but talk behind his back.
"Is that so?"
"I'm telling you. He used to just seem like a bit of a mischievous troublemaker, but lately it feels like he's crossing the line."
"Right. If I were Elysee, I definitely would have quit."
A maid with impressive dimples spoke up.
"Well, the pay was decent and it would look good on a resume, so I thought it was a good job, but what is this."
"Ever since that little kid came here, the atmosphere's been weird. Lady Siriel and Lady Lucia are kind even to the servants and don't feel high-handed, but that brat is a devil all on his own, you know?"
"Exactly!"
A maid with somewhat messy hair looked at Seira.
"Elysee?"
"Yes? What is it?"
"It's hard, right? Eat this and hang in there. I tried baking it with leftover ingredients from the kitchen."
The messy-haired maid handed over a package of cookies wrapped in rough paper.
"...Thank you. I'll enjoy them."
Perhaps because she felt overwhelmed by the act of being comforted, or because she was immersed in the pitiful slave act — a bit of moisture gathered at the corners of Seira's eyes. Seira dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve.
By now, even Seira herself couldn't tell whether the act was performance or genuine.
Seira's private room.
When evening came and work hours ended, Seira dispelled her Polymorph magic. Her crimson hair turned to silver, and her pointed ears returned.
"Haa..."
Collapsing face-down onto the bed, Seira heaved a sigh deep enough to sink into the earth.
"Aaaaagh! Aagh!"
Seira began thrashing her hair wildly and screaming loud enough to shake the mansion.
"Why are you doing this to me? Why on earth?!"
It wasn't just screaming. Seira was now flailing around, rolling on the bed.
Flap flap. Struggle struggle.
Her behavior of rolling this way and that, waving her arms and legs, was just like a child begging for a toy. Who would believe her true identity was the mage who, five hundred years ago, had defeated the Evil God alongside the hero? Seira's actions were so undignified that they could hardly be seen as befitting her great achievements.
"Did I do something that wrong? Was it that wrong?! Why only me?!"
After ranting for a good while, Seira glared at the ceiling, panting. Because of the tears gathered at her eyes, her vision, which had been clear even at night, blurred. Seira rubbed her eyes roughly with her fluttering sleeve.
"...Sniff."
Seira felt a slightly burning sensation and sniffled. Where had things gone wrong, exactly?
Of course, without even needing to examine the cause, Seira herself was the cause for controlling Siriel's actions and making her press the bid button. But due to Shiron's bullying that had continued for months, Seira couldn't bring herself to care that far. Having enjoyed a life of amusement for hundreds of years, Seira felt no pangs of conscience over something like mental interference.
"Just what is that brat?"
Crunch—
Seira chewed on her thumbnail as she pondered carefully.
Shiron Prien, the root of all evil...
The boy was as wicked as his black hair and black eyes. Calling him wicked might seem like an exaggeration at first glance, but in Seira's assessment, among all the sentient beings she had met so far, the word wicked suited him best.
And for good reason — Shiron never crossed the line. He didn't provoke her to the point of losing her reason, nor did he act so lukewarmly that the impact was negligible. As if he knew exactly what kind of person Seira was, Shiron's line-crossing was almost possessed.
But there were a few strange parts.
Didn't he think I was a demon? So why is he messing with me like that?
When dealing with demons, one had to be even more thorough. An act of inducing anger was as good as suicide. Especially since that brat was endlessly weak. Shiron was stronger than an ordinary human, but in Seira's eyes, it was like comparing the heights of acorns. Even the two demons he always kept with him were no match for Seira.
With my Polar Light White Night, I could easily kill a demon like that...
Seira's ultimate technique, Polar Light White Night.
One shot of Polar Light White Night could kill even a high-ranking demon without leaving a speck of dust. A magic developed to face the Evil God, so a demon that hadn't reached divinity...
No, absolutely not.
As an unfittingly extreme thought crossed her mind, Seira shook her head vigorously to clear it. Getting caught up in a child's provocation and using her true power wasn't mature, and though she had been nearly erased from the world at great cost, she still possessed a righteous heart. If she got excited by a child's provocation and caused an accident, Seira would be no different from the Evil God who descended five hundred years ago. The story of a good person who defeated evil becoming corrupted into evil themselves was the narrative Seira most detested.
In truth, it wasn't as if there was no way to resolve this situation at all.
Erase the memories of everyone except the boy and leave the mansion.
But her pride wouldn't allow that. It was ridiculous for her, who prided herself as the greatest mage, to withdraw because she couldn't endure the bullying of a brat who hadn't even grown hair yet. Moreover, Seira had the personality of always paying back any quarrel that came her way.
However, Seira couldn't think of any scheme. Shiron had blatantly withstood even the mental interference she prided herself on. Every time she cast magic to stop the bullying, Shiron would smile pointedly at Seira while blood streamed from his nose. That sight gave even Seira the chills.
Vicious bastard. Creepy bastard. He knows everything and is still pulling this shit, isn't he?!
Chewing on the corner of the blanket, Seira continued thinking about how to break through this hopeless situation.
"......That's it!"
After long contemplation, Seira shot up from the bed.
"Am I a genius?"
I just need to make it so he can't endure without coming to me for help, right? Why didn't I think of this method until now?
With this method, she could reverse the relationship without needing to feel any guilt. A bright smile bloomed on Seira's face.