Chapter 19: Someone Is Using Profanity

Late at night.

After a busy day, Dahlia, as usual, made her way to the secluded laundry room in the academy.

The walls outside the building were covered with star vines and Rhododendron flowers, with patches of dark green intermingled with twinkling white, resembling stars decorating the night sky.

Dahlia quietly admired the scenery for a while, waiting in line.

After a long wait, she finally got an available sink, so she slowly walked in, carrying a basket full of dirty clothes.

Inside the laundry room, people were coming and going. The maids were busy washing clothes while stealing moments to chat and occasionally bursting into pleasant laughter.

At a glance, they were all dressed in uniform and exquisite maid outfits, and the majority of them were young and beautiful.

Basically, every young nobleman is accompanied by one or two such lifestyle maids, and their responsibilities include not only daily service but also sometimes attending to them during the night.

This is what Dahlia has heard from their usual chats, and it's not a secret within the academy; it's quite common.

In addition to their duties, they often gossip and discuss rumors among the nobility. For example, which countess is having an affair with her own knight, which viscount is secretly passionate about gambling, or which seemingly serious archbishop actually has a fondness for young boys, and so on.

Although it sounds interesting, for Dahlia , who has always revolved around the life of young noblemen, it feels distant. She silently listens in without making friends or engaging in much conversation.

However, recently, some inexplicable troubles have actively sought her out.

At first, she only felt excluded, like when the maids deliberately avoided her during meals and occasionally gave her strange looks.

After a while, this exclusion gradually turned into physical friction and conflicts. Senior lifestyle maids often came to pick on her and occasionally pushed her around while they were working.

Then, three days ago, the conflict escalated. While she was cleaning the corridors as part of her duties, a maid named Nina poured a bucket of dirty water on her.

So when she returned home, Char saw Dahlia taking a shower in the middle of the day, but she chose not to mention this incident at the time.

The young master was already working hard with his training and attending classes, so Dahlia didn't want to burden him with minor issues. She pretended like nothing had happened.

With these thoughts in mind, as she sat by the sink washing clothes, her expression softened.

To her, Char was both her master and her younger brother.

While cleaning the underwear, she inadvertently discovered a hard object on it. Remembering Char's embarrassed and evasive demeanor that morning when he woke up, Dahlia let out a soft chuckle.

The young master is at that age, after all.

Especially since there is only one bedroom in the house, and they both sleep on the same bed. Sometimes, upon waking up, she would find the young master tightly embracing her.

She wondered when she would be able to fulfill her duties like the other maids.

With these thoughts, her hand instinctively caressed her flushed cheek.

But just then, a highly discordant voice suddenly came from behind.

"Even though the master was scared out of the academy overnight, I can't believe a lowly maid like you still has the audacity to stay here."

Dahlia turned around and saw a tall maid standing with crossed arms behind her, accompanied by a few attendants.

The maid with short hair had a somewhat attractive appearance, but her expression seemed harsh, and her narrow eyes looked over with disdain and contempt.

It was that person named Nina, who served a famous senior student in the fourth grade and always liked to take advantage of her position.

Dahlia let out a light snort and continued with her cleaning tasks.

She thought to herself, could this be what the young master meant by standing fifty steps ahead of the starting line and mocking those who had run a hundred steps?

They seemed to have an overly inflated sense of self-importance.

Seeing that the other party didn't react much, the maid Nina felt a hint of being looked down upon, which stirred a slight anger within her.

She approached slowly, looking down at the beautiful maid in front of her, who had a better appearance and figure than herself. With a mocking tone, she asked, "I heard that Lord Adelaide won't even be able to hold onto his title soon. In a while, he'll become a commoner, and then there won't be much difference between you, a lowly servant, and him."

"But it's good news for you, isn't it? After all, he used to be an unattainable noble young master. Even if you flaunt your body, you can only barely be his plaything. But now, you even have the chance to become his wife legitimately, right?"

Upon hearing those words, Dahlia's hands, which were in the midst of scrubbing, paused momentarily. She clenched the fabric of the clothes tightly and remained silent.

Observing this, Nina's anger grew even stronger.

Why is she still pretending to be calm when she's about to be kicked out of the academy?

Nina took two quick steps forward and kicked over Dahlia's sink. With a sharp and sarcastic tone, she said, "Are you deaf? Can't you hear me talking to you?"

The sink toppled over, spilling soapy water all over the floor, and even Char's clothes fell out, getting stained with the dust on the ground.

Dahlia lowered her head and fell silent for a moment. Then she shook off the water stains from her hands and slowly stood up.

The young master had also said that when your anger exceeds the limits of patience, there's no need to endure it anymore. The Goddess of Light will forgive you!

"You damn bitch! I'll count to three, and you better fucking use your damn dog paws to pick up the young master's clothes and wash them clean!" Dahlia lifted her head and said coldly. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she covered her slightly parted lips and her expression instantly turned bashful. "Ah, apologies. I spoke vulgarly."

.....

Even though he had just killed someone and disposed of the body, Char's inner state remained remarkably calm.

He didn't rush into the city. Considering the timing, it would be suspicious if the identity of the dead assassin was sensitive enough to attract the attention of the law enforcement officials. They might initiate a thorough investigation of anyone entering the city at night, making it easy for them to discover him.

In that case, there would be no plausible explanation as to why a student from Norton Academy would be found in the dirty and chaotic lower west district at such a late hour.

Bathed in the darkness of the night, Char stood on top of a relatively tall building and glanced at the chaotic cluster of buildings stretching as far as the eye could see. Then, he looked at the distant gray city walls towering high, dividing the poor from the rich, giving him a strong sense of Deja Vu, reminiscent of "Attack on Titan."

A profoundly ironic magical realism.

Char let out a sigh and waved his hand, conjuring a veil of shadows. Silently, he moved to the nearby dimly lit alley.

The alley was quite crowded. Some of the lower district residents who couldn't afford to buy or rent properties would build extremely rudimentary shanties here. They couldn't even provide basic protection against wind and rain, with many families cramming together on piles of grass and tattered cloth to make do with sleeping.

At this time, most of the oil lamps in the shanties have already extinguished.

Char stood quietly at the entrance of the alley, looking at the place he had visited before.

That solitary shanty still stood in its original spot.

Through the gaps in the shanty, one could vaguely see a slender figure sitting on the pile of grass, hugging their knees and looking down, lost in thought.

Char pondered for a moment, took a few steps forward, and lightly tapped on the almost non-existent dilapidated wooden fence.

Upon hearing the sound, the slender figure raised their head with caution. Upon recognizing who it was, they froze in an instant.

"Do you remember me?"

Char gently waved his hand, wearing a gentle smile.

"Bi-big brother?"

The little girl timidly called out and then buried her face in her knees.

However, Char clearly felt that her eyes were slightly shining as she observed him cautiously.

Apart from those gem-like bright eyes, the little girl had dark skin, dry and yellowish hair, a thin and small body, and was not conventionally attractive. Overall, she looked like a beggar who grew up in the slums.

He smiled and said, "Why aren't you sleeping so late?"