The maids around agreed with their master and nodded.
Although Stella didn’t want to agree, she had no words to refute them.
The things that Stella had pointed out were in fact good points as far as she was concerned.
“Well, unless it’s a useless man like that, us maids won’t really have any work to do,” a maid said.
“That’s why there’s meaning in working for Shin-kun,” another said.
They had been raised since young to serve others. As such, a person who couldn’t take care of himself was much more preferable to them.
The young boy, who was terrible at handling his day-to-day life, was a powerful stimulant to the maids’ desire to serve others.
—That’s why we understand exactly how you feel.
Stella’s subordinates smiled at her and veins started popping on her face.
But the rest of the maids didn’t notice that and started going on the offensive.
“Isn’t it about time you accepted it already, head maid?”
“Considering you understand Shin-kun so much…”
“And even though you don’t have eyes for any other man anymore…”
That same smile that a certain boy loved to wear when teasing others appeared on these maids’ faces.
In an instant, Stella banished the emotions from her face and took out her halberd.
“…You girls, I take it you’re all prepared?”
Although her master pointing out the truth hidden behind her words had greatly shocked her, the resulting irritation she felt toward her subordinates was much stronger.
Being a maid, she couldn’t attack her master, so she decided to take out that frustration on her subordinates instead.
“Uhe!?”
“Wait! Timeout! You do realize this is another person’s castle, right, head maid!!?” A maid said A maid said.
“…Princess, please deduct the repairs from my salary,” Stella promptly interjected.
“Very well. But don’t be too rough, okay?”
The princess smiled as she drank from a cup of tea that had popped out of nowhere.
Clearly, she was looking forward to the ensuing chaos.
“You’re paying!? Wait! That’s not he problem here, Princess!” A maid said.
“If you the head maid lets loose here, this will turn into an international issue! An international issue!” A maid pointed out.
“Don’t worry.
The furniture, the walls, the floor… A barrier has been casted on everything. Not an eek will leak out of this room,” Stella said.
“What’s with this perfect crime scenario!” A maid complained.
“Please protect us too!” Another added.
The maids cried out, but the princess just acted like none of this was her concern.
One thing the princess learned was her perversion, but another thing was this desire to play with others.
Yes. She had learned it because of the influence of that boy.
Try as the maids might to complain internally, there was already no stopping the killing intent pouring out of the head maid.
“Do you intend to break us on all together, head maid!?”
“Words are futile.
Who would’ve thought that you would have the guts to mess with your superior using the princess?
You maids are in need of some spanking.”
Stella’s was smiling as she easily wielded her battle axe in her hands, but that was a smile formed only by her lips.
That was a smile meant purely to pressure those which she has labeled as ‘enemy’.
“Waa! That smile! That’s exactly like Shin-kun’s!” A maid cried.
The maids had taken out their weapons too, but only fear could be seen on their faces.
Their opponent wasn’t just the ‘head’ for show. She was the head precisely because she could stand victorious even against multiple foes.
That is also why the only ones who could tease her and come out safe were their master or that boy.
The former, because of her position; the latter, because of his power.
“You don’t have to be that angry just because we teased you a little, you know!”
“It’s because you’re so stiff like that that you couldn’t even say anything when he left!”
And because of that, they ended up saying things that shouldn’t have ever been said.
“!?” A maid gasped when realization dawned upon her.
“Ah! You dummy! You stepped on a land mine!” Another cried.
“Eek! She’s coming!?!?” Another screamed.
The beautiful battle maid wore a face like that of a man-eating fiend as she swung about her halberd.
Her attacks showed no signs that this was in another country or that her opponents were in fact her own subordinates.
“—Indeed. The screams of cute girls aren’t half bad either.
I think I’m starting to understand why that person likes to tease others so much.”
As the sounds of metals clanging and women screaming resounded, the princess inclined her cup once again.
In her mind flashed the image of someone screaming and flustered and a boy approaching that person.
To make sure that absolutely no noise would leak out of the room, the princess erected a barrier that blocked even the very vibrations coming from it.
This kind of consideration was also something that she learned after making contact with that person.
Unfortunately, she had no intentions of sharing even a smidgen of that consideration with the maids running around the room.
“…Is it fine like this, Shin?”
She intentionally muttered that to herself under the noise of the room so that no one could hear it.
The failed assassination attempt that he orchestrated. The treatment toward the alliance. The sudden return of the otherworlders.
Lilisha knew that due to various circumstances this was the most favorable outcome for her.
But… Perhaps thats why…
She couldn’t help but think back to that last conversation she had with that person two months ago before they parted ways.
…Will you remain by my side? Me, as a woman?
For all intents and purposes, those words were essentially a confession.
But she knew that given his standing and way of thinking that the only answer that could’ve possibly been waiting for her was a rejection.
Yet in order to change her feelings and as a kind of rite to restore herself as a princess. In order to put an end to the journey that began due to various circumstances. She told him those words.
And just as expected, he was not at all surprised and merely shook his head apologetically.
But the reason he gave was not what she had expected.
Perhaps it was to pay respect to her, who had laid bare her feelings despite knowing the outcome, that while wryly smiling, he confessed that which he would normally have not confessed were it anyone else.
Lilisha,
Unfortunately, it’s not possible. I thought you might have thought way, but it’s really not possible.”
…Why?
A troubled smile appeared on the boy’s face when she asked that, then as if talking about something so trivial, he suddenly revealed a painful, solemn, heartrending truth.
Of which if word were to spread, a great chaos would surely overtake Falandia.
“Actually, I was tricked by a religious group and was turned into the vessel of the evil god,” the boy said.
“!?”
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