The Girl's Love Diary

The girl opened her eyes.

She felt a sense of disbelief at the fact that she was awake.

After all, she had sacrificed her life for the man she loved. How could she be breathing and seeing a clear sky now?

“Pathetic demonkind.”

Even the afterlife she had only heard about felt real.

The cool kiss of a sword against her neck and the knight’s voice insisted it was reality.

“Beg for forgiveness in death.”

Just as she was still struggling to understand the situation, the sword descended.

He appeared.

A crisp imperial uniform that proclaimed his noble status, a black sword she never used but always carried at his side, and black gloves he always wore when drawing runes. Most of all, the sight of his gray hair sent her heart, which had been slowly beating, into a frenzy.

She felt tears welling up, but she swallowed them back. She wanted to show the man she loved her best self.

Her lips trembled as she tried to speak, but no sound came out. That wasn’t the real reason. She simply didn’t know what to say.

In the end, he spoke first.

“Welcome.”

She wanted to say the same. She never thought she would meet him again like this. She almost asked if he remembered too.

But fear of a direct “No” stopped her.

“What are you doing standing there? If you don’t want to die right now, get out of here.”

This was nothing like the warm welcome he had given just moments ago. It was the response of a complete stranger.

Only then did she realize he had no memories of the world before regression. He had come here only to save a young demon she had killed.

Skadi could decide what attitude she should show, but the dull ache in her chest was something she could do nothing about.

She had finally confessed her love…

Filling the disappointment with a bit of spite, she said, “Why did you save me? I heard the Malevolent Fiend hates demons.”

“You were misinformed. I did kill every demon blocking my path, but I didn’t touch a minor like you or a woman.”

She already knew that.

Still, she asked because she couldn’t let him know she had regressed.

“Why?”

“Because I am a noble.”

She already knew that too.

It was because you were a noble that I loved you and still love you now. But it’s a little annoying that you forgot your own love confession. I guess this much pout is okay.

“Thanks to that crazy bastard, I got to live…”

“Where did you hear that nonsense?”

As soon as Aaron moved to grab her, she was already running away from the battlefield.

Even if he hated him a little for not remembering, it was enough that a chance for something other than unrequited love had finally come.

Skadi did not return to the Demon Realm. Instead, she headed straight for Skyler, where the Academy was located. First, she had to pass the entrance exam for the Academy where Aaron would be lecturing.

It had been a long time since graduation, and she had worried, but fortunately the test was no problem. She even earned the top rank and could be exempt from the entrance fee.

She spent the waiting days preparing for the Academy in earnest, and the pre-lecture evaluation for Aaron Patrick finally approached.

Skadi sat in the frontmost central seat, where she could see Aaron Patrick best.

At exactly the lecture time, the footsteps she had been waiting for finally echoed.

—Thud, thud.

At last she could see him in his younger days properly.

The lecture was exactly as she remembered.

On the surface he looked rough, as if crushing the audience, but in reality he was restraining unnecessary talk to focus the audience on the lecture content.

If the content had been bad, he would have done the opposite. He made the comparison between basic magic and rune magic easy to understand, drawing the audience’s interest. Then Aaron pointed at her.

“You don’t know anything about rune magic just from scribbling like that. Over there, red eyes.”

She flinched at the words “red eyes.”

She thought it would be nice if it were her, but she looked around just in case someone else had the same eyes.

“There is only one red-eyed person here. So stop looking around at everyone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠else.”

“Ah!”

“…What is your name?”

“I am ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a first-year student named Skadi this year.”

“Come up. Come closer and point out the spell formula inside the line I drew, and tell the audience.”

“Really? Yes!”

She didn’t hesitate to answer. She quickly stood beside Aaron Patrick. The distance was so close that his breathing was easy to hear.

Because it was too close. Or because there had been three months of separation. An ominous desire bloomed inside her.

She wanted to just hug him.

Or at least hold his hand.

The lecture was no longer entering her head. For the entire lecture she imagined the touch of his hands and chest, and at some point the lecture ended.

“That concludes my prepared lecture. Those who are leaving may leave.”

Aaron walked away without even glancing at her once, coldly.

“Ah, well. If it’s about being related, it isn’t related at all… Still, I wanted to say something. What am I going to do? I can’t answer myself and just sighed and gave up.”

On the way back to the dormitory she remembered she had been fired from her part-time job after almost killing a man who sexually harassed her yesterday. Because of that, she had nowhere to stay today either.

It was a good day, but the situation kept subtly throwing her off balance.

“As a daughter of the Demon King, is it right to live so poorly…? I miss Professor.”

Even a paper blown by the wind stuck to her face.

“Really! I’m not in a good mood anyway… Wait?”

The anger she had been suppressing settled as she read the letters on the paper. The content was so good that her anger calmed down.

Basic meals provided, five gold coins paid monthly, Academy student welcome schedule can be adjusted.

Finally, the name Aaron Patrick. There was no reason not to go. Fortunately the estate was not far from the current location.

“Wow…”

It was an estate worthy of the marquis. The overwhelming grandeur and tightly closed main gate made Skadi hesitate whether she was allowed to enter through this door.

“What brings you here?”

The old man who looked like the estate’s butler spoke to her. Skadi let out a sigh of relief and answered.

“I came for a maid interview. May I come in?”

“Ah, please come in.”

Although she was beautiful, she was wearing commoner clothes. He should have been rude, but his manners kept him polite.

He guided her with care as if she had to be this much to show she was a butler. When they arrived at the room for guests, the old man asked.

“Would you prefer fruit juice or tea?”

“Fruit juice!”

She still liked sweet things.

“Understood. Young Master will come down soon, so you won’t have to wait long.”

As he said, a young man with gray hair came down from upstairs. As he was coming down, their eyes met. For some reason his mood became strangely unpleasant.

“…Why are you here?”

“Waa! Professor, hello! So this is Professor’s estate?”

“If it was written in the recruitment notice, you shouldn’t not know.”

“Well, maybe you can’t know.”

She had heard about Patrick’s characteristics before regression, so she couldn’t say she didn’t understand. Still, even if that was the case, she thought it was strange for her current self to show off in front of the person before her.

Whether he didn’t know the discomfort in her heart or not, Aaron’s words were blunt.

“Why did you come?”

“Of course I came to apply as a maid! The hourly wage is good! The time for Academy classes is guaranteed. Why would anyone not apply?”

“Whoa, you know each other? Good. I don’t see that you are close, but I will hire you as is.”

“The interview is an interview.”

She could feel it intuitively.

Aaron Patrick had no intention of hiring her. There was hope, though. Considering his personality, he wouldn’t reject her for unreasonable reasons.

Now that she had come this far, she had no intention of staying away from Aaron.

“Today, receive a rough handover from Sebastian. You’ll be tired if I give you work immediately, so rest well. From tomorrow morning, start maid work.”

“Uh, does that mean I can start right away? Maybe?”

“I will judge after seeing one day of maid work.”

Since the words seemed reasonable, she nodded.

Aaron, who had finished speaking, went back up to his office.

“Then I will explain the minimum maid duties.”

After receiving the handover from Sebastian, she went to bed.

Before 6 a.m., he was still sleeping in bed. Perhaps because he always placed importance on his noble demeanor even in sleep, his sleeping posture was immaculate.

Skadi felt strangely good about this situation, as if waking up her sleeping husband was the bride’s job.

“Wake up, Professor~”

At Skadi’s voice, Aaron lifted his upper body. Still half-asleep from sleep, he said with a dazed mind.

“Point deduction.”

“Eh? Why?!”

“This is the estate, not the Academy. Sebastian must have told you to call me Young Master. Isn’t that right?”

“But that’s not important…”

“It’s not important to me. If you don’t want to be deducted points, it will be important to you.”

“Young Master~ It’s time for breakfast, right?”

“I want to change my tone to match my heart, but…”

Aaron sighed.

“It’s not something I can say to erase human individuality. But I didn’t allow you to stick to me. Keep the distance between master and servant.”

“You are so nitpicky. There are many novels about the love between master and maid, you know?”

“Point deduction. And cut out that vulgar novel. It is not good for the mind.”

“Eek.”

When breakfast time came, she brought the stew she had cooked herself. She placed two soups in front of Sebastian and Aaron.

Skadi’s hands trembled.

Objectively she thought she was a good cook, but she had no confidence that her taste would suit Aaron’s. Before regression, she never heard that he liked her cooking at all.

Aaron picked up a spoonful of stew and ate it. Along with him, Sebastian also ate a bite of stew.

After both of them ate one spoonful, they wiped their mouths. The sight felt like they had eaten nothing, and she felt uneasy.

“Sebastian, how is it?”

“It was made with the role of breakfast in mind. It is not heavy on the stomach and has a subtle taste, so it is enjoyable. Honestly, I should learn from her in cooking as much as she can.”

“I see.”

“More important than me, whether it suits Young Master’s taste. How is it?”

There was no way it was delicious.

Before regression, she had heard that every dish she made as a Patrick could not be accepted. He had definitely said it felt like chewing on vomit.

It would be the same for Aaron now.

Aaron did not answer Sebastian’s question. He just moved the spoon silently.

—Clack.

He placed the empty bowl in front of Skadi.

“This will be the answer.”

“Th, thank you…”

She bowed her head deeply. She couldn’t bear to look at his face. Her cheeks were hot, she could feel them, so she was clearly blushing.

He always said she was a foolish woman, but he wasn’t easy either.

He was doing such actions just because she was a demon, not giving her an unfair evaluation.

Her heart kept falling for his unchanged appearance. It wasn’t empty words; if he lifted his head now, she wanted to explore his lips.

After breakfast, the overall service was evaluated. Aaron first assigned cleaning the estate.

With 100 servants, there was enough work. So she tried to clean with magic.

Aaron gave point deductions without hesitation.

“Why are you deducting points for cleaning…?”

“Clean it with your own hands with sincerity. What kind of attitude is it to use magic when there is a superior next to you from the beginning?”

“No! Even so, I can’t clean this huge estate by myself!”

“If you don’t like it, accept the deduction and leave.”

She wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ask him to change his mind, but she had no choice. If she didn’t want to leave, she had to clean even if she cried. She ended up grumbling and starting to clean with her hands.

Whether it was an excessive demand or not, after hearing the grumbling, Aaron didn’t give extra deductions. After watching her for a few minutes, he returned to his own office.

When despair was about to fill her scarlet eyes from the endless cleaning, someone patted her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Sebastian with a gentle smile.

He gave her a pouch of gold coins.

“Take it.”

“…Butler-nim?”

“Go outside and get some fresh air. The ingredients for tomorrow’s food are missing.”

“But if I don’t clean, I’ll be fired from the maid job tomorrow…”

“Anyway, Young Master didn’t say he wanted the entire estate cleaned sincerely. And cleaning doesn’t have to be done with magic automatically.”

“But… If I don’t, instead of deduction you’ll probably say just leave, right?”

Sebastian smiled gently.

“If you are worried like that, I will tell Young Master well.”

His words made Skadi’s expression troubled. While outwardly refusing, her hand slowly approached the gold coins.

—Tap.

Sebastian placed a gold coin on her hand.

“Don’t hesitate and go. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠young and beautiful lady like you doesn’t need to take such pressure.”

Skadi realized that the demon king’s daughter was still alive and here.

“Then I’ll go and come back~!”

She left the estate with a bright smile and headed to the city. Having escaped the cleaning, she felt radiant liberation for a few hours.

“Ah, right. According to the kids, there was a place in the back alleys that sold good meat.”

She had no friends, but she was good at listening in on conversations. And because Sebastian had said so, she moved to the back alleys.

She didn’t worry about criminals because they could be pressured with strength. She just hoped to get to the butcher shop comfortably without any hassle.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t gone a few blocks when she met a thug.

“Hey, at this late hour, a lady shouldn’t be wandering around a quiet place. It’s dangerous.”

“The danger seems to be you.”

It was a cool voice completely different from when she faced Aaron.

Skadi tried to build a spell to send another foolish man. But as soon as she felt a familiar presence, she immediately stopped the magic.

—Boom!

The gray-haired man landed and stepped on the thug with his foot.

“…When you leave, report to me. It’s not a problem, is it?”

For a moment, Skadi didn’t understand what was happening.