The Maid's Wrath
The stifling air that had wrapped the city in rage no longer pressed down on me, nor did anyone's prying gaze. The vast blue meadows stretching into the distance and the rich scent of the forest filled my lungs completely. Ah, it had been so long. This open expanse, this sweet liberation from everything that had bound me. 'Yes. This is life.'
I shoved the strangely unsettling look in Yua's eyes and the echo of her final, piercing scream to the far corners of my memory. 'I can apologize later anyway. This moment is mine and mine alone.'
The territorial inspection was nothing but an excuse. What I truly wanted was to meet my old war comrades, Claire and Caron, just outside the capital. The comrades who had fought beside me on the battlefield.
'It's been a while. We should catch up properly. No one can know about this. Especially not you, Yua. Absolutely not.'
I had no desire for anyone to interfere with such a personal meeting. I desperately needed this small act of rebellion. It was time reserved solely for me, purely personal time. Meeting them with Yua present would only cause problems. She would ask what happened during the war, or pry endlessly about our relationship. Any of it would be incredibly awkward. Especially since I had talked about Yua so much back then. If she ever found out, I would die of embarrassment.
While giving my horse a brief rest, I scooped cool water into my hands and splashed it across my face. The reflection staring back at me wore a relaxed smile I hadn't seen in a long time. This place was peaceful. Perfect isolation. Freedom in a world where no one followed. How perfectly liberating it felt. It was wonderful.
I closed my eyes for a moment, sinking into a languid happiness as I imagined the conversations I would soon share with my old friends.
"Haaaaaah!"
The scream that tore from Yua's throat was not human. A primal howl no one could believe had come from a young girl. The instant she stepped from the stables into the mansion's living room, her shriek was joined by a deafening crash.
Boom!
Huge plates shot into the air. Nothing visible moved, yet it was as if a giant hand had swept through the room. The expensive porcelain from the display cabinet smashed against the wall with a thunderous roar. The plates exploded into fragments that scattered across the floor. Shards flew in every direction with sharp, vicious sounds.
Crack!
Tiny fractures appeared in the windows. At first they were thin as threads. But as Yua's violent breathing grew louder, the cracks spread like spiderwebs at terrifying speed. Every window in the living room began to shake at once.
Terrified voices burst out. The servants huddled at the edges of the living room, frozen in place, faces white with fear. They screamed at the impossible scene unfolding before them. An invisible colossal force was tearing through the room. Plate shards, fragments of ornaments, even the picture frames—everything had torn free and now floated in midair.
At the center of the chaos stood Yua. Her body trembled faintly, like the eye of a storm fueled by pure rage. Her eyes burned. A murderous aura swirled around her, so intense no one dared come near.
Her message on the wooden board sliced through the living room with bone-chilling cold.
The two words struck like a whip. Every servant closed their mouth instantly. The overwhelming pressure radiating from Yua made it impossible to breathe. Their clothes fluttered as though caught in a sudden pressure front.
"Haah... haah..."
Yua's breathing was ragged, like a beast that had run for days without rest. Each exhale made the furniture groan in protest. The priceless antique wooden table began to creak from its center. Its beautifully carved legs slowly fractured.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The second scream was even longer, even more primal. With it, the destruction reached its peak.
CRAAAAASH!!
The loudest sound yet. Every window in the living room shattered at once. Thousands of glass shards rained down like a storm. The garden beyond twisted grotesquely through the broken panes. The window frames stood bare and hideous, like exposed bones.
The mansion living room was in ruins. Plates lay shattered across the floor, their fragments gleaming with ominous beauty. The priceless table had collapsed with a horrific tearing sound, spraying wooden splinters everywhere. Picture frames lay broken on the ground. The expensive carpet was buried beneath glass and dust. Not a single thing remained intact.
Normally the head maid would have stepped forward to restore order, but today the head maid was the disaster.
The servants screamed in pure terror.
They instinctively searched for Leo, their only refuge, their absolute master. But Leo was not there. And they realized no one could stop this destruction. No one except Young Master Leo.
And the source of all this devastation was the head maid who had once served him with flawless devotion—Yua.
I rose slowly. I stood atop the wreckage, crushing shards beneath my feet. The servants' terrified eyes locked onto me. They looked at me as though I were a monster.
My message did not waver in the slightest. It was cold as ice. It was time to share my hell with them.
"E-eh? Us? W-we have to...?"
One of the smaller maids dared to question me. Her voice shook violently. Where did she find the courage to talk back?
Rage surged through me like fire.
I thrust the board toward the girl in front of me. Her face drained of all color. I placed my hand on her cheek and lifted her chin. Her eyes were flooded with terror.
"B-but... that's..."
Her voice was as thin as a thread. My patience had completely snapped. In the world where I had lost Leo, reason no longer existed.
The servants exchanged frantic glances. They still didn't move. They hadn't yet grasped the full depth of my anger.
When I wrote the single digit, one of them dared speak again.
"One day? That's too sh—"
Were they actually trying to bargain? I could tolerate no more.
I stared directly into their eyes. There was no mercy left in my gaze. They had exactly one hour—the only time they would be given to find Leo.
My pen moved slowly, deliberately. Their faces twisted with horror.
"WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!"
Now every servant screamed at once. Fired. To them, dismissal was death. These people who had given their entire lives to the ducal house could not even imagine losing everything overnight.
I raised the board again. My eyes had frozen over like ice. I watched their spines crawl with fear.
Faced with my murderous intent, they finally understood they had no choice.
At those words, every servant in the mansion bolted like lightning. They ran screaming, driven by the terror that their lives might end, racing madly for the doors. Their footsteps shook the entire mansion as though an earthquake had struck.
The time I had granted them was only one hour. In that hour they must find my Leo. They had no other choice.
To me, his absence was already hell.
Somehow... a chill is crawling down my spine... It must be my imagination...?
From the far end of the once-silent forest path came the sound of approaching hooves. Exactly as expected, yet my heart still gave a small leap. I immediately prepared to hide. The moment I crouched low in the bushes, two tall figures appeared on horseback. It was Claire and Caron.
They looked exactly as I remembered. Claire wore her usual bold smile. Caron kept his expressionless face, though mischief sparkled in his eyes.
Claire shouted as she strode straight toward the bushes. I laughed and stood up.
"You've become quite sharp, Claire. War really does change people."
"That's rich coming from you. Why are you so busy playing noble these days?"
"Playing noble? That doesn't sound like something a proper noble lady like Claire should say~"
Caron approached silently and gave my shoulder a light, familiar pat. The touch carried genuine warmth.
"We have a lot to talk about. Let's move."
I led the way. We headed for the small cabin deep in the forest we had prepared in advance. After walking another ten minutes along the trail, the bare branches overhead turned the daytime forest dim. There, half-covered in vines, stood our little cabin.
It looked long abandoned, but our past care had made it a cozy refuge. Moss on the roof and climbing vines gave it antique charm. The windows were carefully boarded over.
We used to spend nights here during training. It was filled with memories.
The interior was surprisingly spacious. Caron had already lit the fireplace; small flames danced on one side. Thin smoke carried the pleasant scent of burning wood, warming the room. A simple table and log chairs sat in the center. From an old box we pulled well-aged wine and simple fare—smoked jerky, hard bread, and dried fruit. The same rations we ate during the war, yet here with my friends it felt like a banquet.
Claire raised her wooden cup high.
I answered. Caron lifted his cup without a word. The wooden cups clacked together, the sound ringing through the forest. The wine's sweet-tart fragrance brushed my nose.
'Ah, this is it. This comfort. This freedom. Nothing like the cage I left behind. My chest finally feels open. I don't even think about that suffocating mansion.'
We sat together, asking after one another's lives and sharing stories of the years that had passed. After the war, Claire had gone to the northern frontier to run a small farm. Her tales of planting grain across vast plains, raising livestock, and fighting off wild wolves painted a picture of her rugged existence. Of course, the entire northern border belonged to her. Farming was her hobby, and she hunted the wolves herself so the farmers wouldn't suffer. Born a noble yet always leading from the front—I couldn't help but respect her.
Caron lived as a mercenary on the capital's outskirts. His stories of brutal fights in the city's shadows and the cruel people he encountered sent cold shivers down my spine.
Neither of their lives had been easy, but their eyes still burned with unbreakable strength.
"You're still living as the young master of the ducal house in that mansion?" Claire asked, sipping her wine. Her voice held both pity and a hint of mockery.
"Of course. Where else would I go? I'm trapped in a yoke that fits me perfectly." I smiled bitterly.
'Yoke. Yes, that's exactly what it is. And not just the noble life. It includes that girl's relentless gaze as well.'
"Still, do you always have to meet us in secret like this?" Caron asked, chewing jerky with an expressionless face. "Reminds me of the old days. Like when we ran espionage missions."
"Can't be helped. The situation is complicated." I dodged the question.
There was no need to explain Yua to them. They wouldn't understand even if I tried.
'Truth is, it's not complicated at all. I simply ran away. Sometimes I need time for myself. In front of you two, I want to be free.'
As night deepened, so did our conversation. The fireplace flames burned brighter. We looked at one another's faces in the firelight and slowly unpacked the distant memories of the battlefield. The moments we had risked everything. The days we guarded each other's backs while dancing with death. The sound of comrades falling, the smell of blood, the roar of victory. Here, those memories were not pain but vivid proof that we had lived.
The comfort and liberation they gave me was something the mansion could never provide.
Claire laughed. Caron nodded.
Their words warmed my chest. I smiled and refilled the cups.
'Conversations like this. This warmth. These are things I can never feel inside that mansion. This is what being truly alive feels like. This is freedom.'
I took another sip of wine and looked up at the night sky. Without a single city light to spoil it, the stars poured down in brilliant waves. Millions of them twinkled as if blessing me.
'Ah, it's perfect. Everything about this is perfect. Yua must be falling asleep by now. Maybe she needed time to herself too. Definitely.'
I had forgotten.
That at this very moment, someone was racing madly across the plains. That someone was following my faint trail, drawing closer with every second.
That in the darkness, two gleaming eyes—like those of a starving beast—were rushing straight toward us.
The forest's silence was only an illusion. From far away, a faint vibration traveled across the ground. It might have been a snapping branch or an animal's footsteps. But that tiny disturbance was already shattering my perfect peace.