No More Than a Pitiful Maid

Chapter 7: "No More Than a Pitiful Maid"

Without much thought.

I walked and walked, hoping…

I would reach home. Back to my manor. Where Noir and all the others are waiting for me.

I paused.

What am I doing? Nothing will happen no matter how much I long to go back home if I do nothing about it!

Dia slaps his cheeks with both of his hands. He hit too hard it left a red mark. He looks up and thought,

I'm sorry Eldina. I hurriedly excused myself earlier, but of course, I didn't lose my manners. She offered to walk me to my room but I rejected the offer.

To be honest, I would love to be Eldina's friend. Not as 'Dia', but as 'Lumien'.

Since I am Dia right now, I would prefer to stay away from her as much as possible; as much as it pains me. Eldina likely holds a big role in Dia becoming villainess. I should've rejected her offer to be friends. However, befriending her in my (as Lumien) current situation has its advantages too. I need someone with power to be able to visit my original body and Noir. I am just but a pitiful maid who has no money, nor a full name. Without a full name, it means my entirety belongs to the manor I serve.

Befriending Eldina is a double-edged sword.

I just have to play along until I get to visit the Velerace estate. After I see how my body, my family, Noir, and the others are doing, I will slowly distance myself from Eldina and live as a maid until her awaited death.

I notice something glow from inside my pocket. I reached inside to find the source and there was only one object inside.

The pocket watch.

Once it was opened, a rush of the same tiny orb-like particles exited from inside. The same neon words from earlier formed.

'Soul owner: Lumien Dia Velerace'

'Body possessed: Dia'

'Time Limit: 51 120 : 30 : 45'

'Spirit points: *#*%$/*'

Clack… clack.. clack.

The sound of footsteps gets closer and closer. I closed the pocket watch just in time when someone emerged from the corner. I hid it once again inside the pocket.

Him again.

He paused after seeing me, and his eyes fell to the hand tucked inside my pocket. I slowly and in an obviously-not-suspicious way, took my hand out of my pocket. With a nervous smile, I turn around and prepared to walk it off.

Let us pretend we didn't see him.

"Halt." His voice echoed in the empty hallway.

Tsk. I put down the legs that were ready to get me out of here and turned around.

"Greetings, young master Azrael." I bow.

"Greetings."

Azrael Sol Trouvaille. Marquess Trouvaille's eldest child, only son and heir of the estate. Eldina's big brother and in the novel, her protector. He would sacrifice himself multiple times for her sister, the heroine. He is also one of the people I have to avoid.

He tried to kill Dia after all.

"...Why are you the only one here?" He looks around, "where is the head maid?"

I look up and meet his silver-colored eyes. He looks tired and his gaze screams 'wtf is this now'. I just noticed, but his silver eyes had a shade of blue. Honestly, I can barely see the resemblance between Eldina and this guy.

For some reason, he takes a few steps back.

What should I say? I don't know why I'm here either. But first, where is 'here' exactly? I looked around and realized.

Yup. I don't know where the hell this is.

It's a hallway just like all the other areas in this manor. There is a large door right beside me. Looking closely, the door looks familiar…

Right! It looks just like all the other doors in this manor. Haha.

"Don't tell me you got lost?"

Please save me, gods.

Sweat trickled down my face. I feel pathetic. If I were Lumien, I would be a year older and even a higher rank than this guy. But here I am, a pitiful young maid who doesn't even have a full name. I couldn't help but laugh at my misfortune.

I heard him let out a tired sigh. "What were you doing here?"

"I was assigned here." I tried to make an excuse.

"In my bedroom?"

Haha sh-t. So this large door leads to his bedroom?

I slowly shake my head. "What I meant young master, is the other room," I point to the door next to his bedroom. His eyes avert to the door I pointed and his eyes narrow.

"Were you not assigned to that room yesterday, no?"

"Was I?" I smiled innocently as I played dumb.

He looks down at me. 'How suspicious' is most likely what he's thinking with such a gaze.

"You--"

"Young master--!? Dia?!"

Thank goodness.

He was about to say something but he was cut off by an old lady who is now on the other end of the hall. She hurriedly marched towards us, pale as a ghost. Her eyes moved back in forth from Azrael to me. It feels as if she could faint at any moment. This old lady should really calm down..

She grabs my arm and tugs me behind her. "Forgive us…! young master," she bows.

Azrael waves his hand, "It's fine, head maid."

So, this old lady is the head maid. She was the one who saved me yesterday too. Why is she apologizing in my stead? No, why should we apologize to begin with?

"T-thank you, young master.. We will be taking our leave."

"Yes, head maid. Thank you."

She bows once again and drags me away. I looked back to see Azrael standing still, watching us. To be more precise, he was staring at me. He looks away after our eyes meet and enters his bedroom.

Tuk.

The door closes and the hallway becomes out of sight as we reach a corner.

- - -

Azrael's POV

How tiring. I couldn't get any sleep last night. I dragged myself towards my bedroom to rest but stopped when I noticed the same maid from yesterday standing in front of the door.

Why is she here again?

She looks nervous. I glanced down at her hands which were tucked inside her pocket.

No matter how much you look at it, it seems like she stole something??

She turned around casually and was about to step away from the situation, but I could not just let her walk away without an explanation.

"Halt."

She turns around without batting an eye and immediately bows.

"Greetings, young master Azrael."

"Greetings" I reply and head straight to the point. "…Why are you the only one here?" I looked around but there was no head maid to be found. "Where is the head maid?"

She didn't answer.

I tried to find her name tag but its nowhere to be seen. Is she one of those 'lower-ranked' maids who doesn't have a full name?

Are you not aware of how suspicious you are right now, miss?? Is she really a thief or spy caught red-handed?

She looks up to meet my eyes. Her gaze was steady and…threatening.

An assassin? It's just us two here, she can attack at any moment. I'm too tired and have not enough mana to fight back.

I cautiously took a step back.

She starts to look around.

I took another step back.

Is she looking around if there will be any witnesses? But if you look closely, she is genuinely confused. She looks as clueless as a baby. Playing dumb, perhaps?

Let us not jump to conclusions. I ask,

"Don't tell me you got lost?"

She laughs.

!?

My nerves won't calm down. All of the sleepiness from earlier vanished in an instant. Sweat trickled down my back but I must not show any weakness.

I sighed.

"What were you doing here?"

If she doesn't answer this question, I will have to attack her.

She finally answers, "I was assigned here."

Assigned to kill me?

I played dumb and asked, "In my bedroom?"

Her eyes widened as if in shock. Does…does she not know that's my bedroom?

She gains composure and slowly shakes her head. "What I meant young master, is the other room," she points at the other door.

My Painting Room.

The conflicted feelings I managed to control yesterday started to resurface. I am in no mood for this ridiculous act. I only allowed one maid to enter once a month for cleaning, and it was yesterday.

This maid dared to lie to me? Regarding that room no less.

To begin with, no one is allowed to enter this hallway except father, sister, the butler, and the head maid or the servant they personally assigned.

Why is she here?

"You--"

Who are you?

"Young Master--?! Dia?!"

Why are you here?

If it wasn't for the head maid, I would've used the tiny bit of mana I had left to attack.

I quietly sighed in relief.

The head maid apologized and I let it go. I'm too tired for this. The sleepiness returned and once again, I just want to rest.

I watched as the head maid drag the troublesome maid. I looked at her and our eyes met. Her expression was that of a confused person.

Maybe she really was just lost. Is she a new hire?

Azrael opens the door to his bedroom and heads in. He mumbles,

"What a strange girl."

- - -

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