Late at night.
In a certain part of Athena’s grand mansion, a secret meeting was taking place.
“Did you call, Master?”
“…You’ve arrived.”
A girl greeted the middle-aged man. Her hair had a deep brown hue.
The middle-aged man, Bordin, was gazing intently at the moon shining outside the window without giving her a glance.
“From tomorrow, for a week, the protagonist will be in the imperial palace instead of the mansion.”
“I see.”
“A week. Can we achieve what he desires within that time?”
“…The play has already begun, so I think it’s entirely possible.”
When Bordin turned to face the girl, she bowed her head even deeper.
“Right. Your role is crucial. I’ve already spoken to the head maid, so there shouldn’t be any further discussions. Make sure it’s done.”
“I’ll follow your orders.”
After wrapping up his business, he returned his gaze to the window.
After another respectful gesture, the girl vanished in an instant.
Left alone in the room, he quietly recited to himself while gazing at the moon gently illuminating the dark night sky.
“Perhaps… that woman could be the key.”
His beloved protagonist.
Outwardly calm, yet intense enough to devour everything within.
“The sun will reveal all sins hidden in its disgusting hypocrisy.”
When that time comes…
The mere mortals will vanish without a trace in the intense flames of the sun.
…
“Do you not need my service anymore?”
Rozalin looked startled at my words.
“Yes… I’m really fine now… I was honestly feeling burdened…”
“Um… Are you embarrassed to show your bare body?”
“Hik?! Ah… no?! I… I’m just genuinely feeling burdened… That’s right.”
With her being hit dead center, I unconsciously covered my covered lower abdomen with my hands.
“If you feel that way, then I can’t help it. I will inform the other maids.”
“Thank you…”
Gladly.
Now that such a mark had appeared on my body, I didn’t want to show my bare body to anyone.
After confirming the location of the mark, I complained to Athena, asking if it really had to be there.
She shrugged her shoulders and casually said,
“It’s just a coincidence. Do you think I wanted to inscribe it there?”
With that, I couldn’t say anything.
Eventually resigned, I decided to be as discreet as possible around others.
So, I declined a bath service. While it would be comfortable, it was better to wash alone than to show this mark to the maids.
“Huu… This is exhausting…”
Like a caterpillar, I curled up in bed, pulling the blanket over my head.
This morning, Athena left for the imperial palace for a week due to business.
She left me with the words that I could do anything except leave the mansion.
During the one week without her,
If it had been the old me, I might have been jumping for joy, but the current me—
‘..I won’t do anything.’
I was already too mentally exhausted.
Last time I went out because I was bored, what had happened?
Every time I recalled that, the urge to step outside disappeared completely.
Even when I had no choice but to visit Rozalin, I was anxious about potentially running into a member of the Dawn Knights.
If I encountered them, all I could do was bow my head like a sinner.
“It’s all my fault anyway…”
Until Athena returns, I won’t leave this room.
I could eat here.
I was merely thinking of becoming one with the bed for a week.
As I was about to close my heavy eyes while sinking into the bed’s coziness—
“Miss!!!!!!”
“HUH?!!”
Bang— The door burst open with such force that it made a sound.
A maid rushed in and boldly approached the foot of my bed, flinging the blanket away.
“Ah… Alina?”
“What time do you think it is that you’re still in bed?! What about your meal?!”
With her hands on her hips, she berated me.
I mumbled in a small voice, “I… I’m going to stay in my room from now on.”
“Excuse me?! Where is the person who came to me saying they were bored?!”
“Ugh… I… I’m fine now…”
Hearing my words, Alina put her face uncomfortably close to mine.
“…Why are you looking so glum? Is it because of what happened in the training ground?”
“……”
“Ha… I heard it was an accident caused by the protagonist’s mana explosion. It’s not your fault, so why are you feeling so down?”
“…If I hadn’t gone…”
Alina slapped her forehead and sighed as she comforted me.
“Miss, that’s a very hindsight perspective. Did you plan for it to happen?”
“Of course not…”
“Then it’s not your fault. So, perk up a bit.”
“…But…”
“I don’t want to hear it. Now—”
“HAH?!”
She grabbed me by the waist with both hands and forcibly lifted me from the bed.
Watching her lift me so easily, she must have quite a bit of strength.
She gently set me down on the floor.
“This won’t do. During this week without the protagonist, I’ll take care of you wholeheartedly.”
“I’m fine though…”
But she put her finger to my lips, silencing me.
“I’m not fine, so it’s not okay. Got it?”
Standing there for a while, I eventually nodded, and she removed her finger.
“Great. So, would you like to have breakfast… oh right, lunch?”
“Can’t I just eat in my room?”
“If you keep eating in bed, you’ll gain weight!”
“But I don’t even gain weight…”
Upon hearing my words, Alina glared at me with a look that could kill.
Her expression, with gritted teeth, was truly terrifying.
“Let’s go to the dining room… Miss~?”
“Hik.”
Eventually, I found myself going to the dining room as she suggested.
Once again, delicious food was laid out before me, worthy of admiration.
Seems like one of humanity’s three basic desires is certainly appetite.
As the food melted in my mouth, I couldn’t help but feel happier.
While having a cozy chat with Alina over the meal, the troubling thoughts in my head began to disappear.
After finishing my meal, I stood up to check out the study, as Alina had suggested.
As I turned to the door—
“Um… Miss…”
I heard Alina’s voice calling from behind.
“Wouldn’t it be better to eat a bit more neatly?”
“Eh?”
Wondering what she meant, I looked at Alina, who was pointing at the mess I had left at the table.
“…Huh?”
In front of me was the messy dining table.
“Although our maids will clean it up anyway, it’s good to maintain basic manners!”
Ah… no…
Did I make such a mess while eating?!
The spoons and forks were all haphazardly tossed around, and it was quite an eyesore.
Having lived alone before my possession, I always had the habit of cleaning up after myself.
I couldn’t believe I had left such a disheveled dining table!
Sure, I ate like a maniac…
But how did I place the utensils at the end…?
I couldn’t quite remember, so I asked her again.
“Alina… did I really do that?”
“…Huh? You’re the only one who ate!”
With a confused expression, she tilted her head and looked at me.
As she said, I was the only one who had eaten here.
Alina was just keeping me company across the table.
That meant I was the only suspect.
I briefly suspected Alina, but she pointed me out shortly after I took my eyes off the table.
It would be hard to think she did anything in that brief moment.
Unless she was someone with incredibly fast hands.
At that moment, I felt immensely pathetic.
I never wanted to admit my fault, wanting to shift the blame onto someone else.
Was I such a disgraceful person?
As I acknowledged it was my fault, the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment hit me.
What must she have thought seeing this messy table?
“S…sorry… I’ll eat neatly from now on…”
Upon hearing my words, Alina smiled lightly and patted my shoulder as if to say it was alright.
“Don’t worry too much about it. Now, shall we head to the study as planned?”
“Uh… please.”
Fan myself with my hands as my face began to heat up, I followed her toward the study.
…
“Wow…”
Upon arriving at the study, it was far larger than I had imagined.
I didn’t think it’d be small, but I didn’t expect it to be this colossal.
There seemed to be countless books, enough to take hundreds of years to read them all.
“Is there a specific type of book you want?”
A specific type of book…
I do have one, but would they have it here?
Yet seeing the size of this place, I had a feeling they might.
“Do you have any novels?”
“Novels? Uh…”
After a moment of thought, her face lit up as if recalling something.
“There aren’t any novels, but there is something similar! Would you follow me?”
So I followed her to a shelf that looked to be at least three times my height.
Alina pointed to the middle of the shelf.
“That book over there. It’s a history book about the Great War era. It’s full of battle stories, so you might enjoy it like a novel!”
The era of the Great War.
Long ago, due to long-standing conflicts between races, a war broke out.
Humans, demons, beastmen, elves, spirits—every race took up arms, and their war didn’t cease even for a day for a whole hundred years.
A tragic era.
The lives lost during this time are far too numerous to even mention.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the peace we have now was born from the fear generated by that war.
It intrigued me.
What had only been summarized in a few lines in novels might be detailed in this place, and I was curious how it would be recorded.
“Okay. I’ll take that one.”
“Great! I’ll go get a ladder, so please wait a moment.”
Huh?
A ladder?
The books were within reach if I just stretched up a bit.
I didn’t think I needed a ladder…
But before I could say that, she disappeared without a trace.
In this awkward situation, I decided to just wait for her return.
However, even after several minutes, she still hadn’t come back.
“…Why is she taking so long?”
Standing there quietly, I started to feel restless.
What if I just take it myself?
It didn’t seem that high anyway.
Reaching my hand up, I was right there but still just out of reach.
“Ugh…”
Raising my heels, I was able to bridge the gap.
“Got it!”
As I pulled the book from the shelf—
Thud—
A very slight contact.
My hand brushed against the shelf for a moment, and if I had to direct the force, it would have only been a mere nudge.
Not enough to topple anything, right?
But.
“Oh…?!”
With my tiny touch, the massive shelf began to tilt backward.
In no time, the shelf fell over dramatically, knocking down the shelves behind it like dominoes.
BANG BANG!
As several shelves crashed to the ground, the multitude of books inside spilled out like collateral damage.
In an instant, dust filled the study, obscuring my vision.
Caught in the thick dust, I stood there dazed.
“….Huh?”
Like a deflated balloon, a weak sound escaped my lips.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.