Leave a comment

As Lady Ainsel—or rather, Lady Cielmer—falls asleep, we usually return to our rooms to take our rest as well. However, as we were summoned by Mistress Fiiyanamia tonight, I, Luna, and Mia headed to her room.
Mistress Fiiyanamia does not sleep.
There are times when she does, but she has previously mentioned that sleep is generally unnecessary for her.

In actuality, there had been times when she would be awake for weeks on end. On the other hand, before we welcomed the young ladies into the manor, she had been asleep for several weeks straight.
Wielding great power while needing neither food nor rest. That’s who Mistress Fiiyanamia is.
In truth, when I learned this on my first days of working here, it brought great terror to me.

Mistress Fiiyanamia is said to be a unique kind of elf. Certainly, she does have elf-like features and beauty that only elves would have. However, even elves need to eat and rest.
Needing neither of those and knowing that she’s different from humans, elves, and even other living beings unsettled me greatly. I even thought at times that I might be killed at any moment.
And in fact, there have been servants who ran away due to their fear of Mistress Fiiyanamia, and they have never been seen since.

The chances that they’ve escaped alive… are nil.
However, it can’t be helped. For a servant to run away, unable to bear the knowledge of their master’s secret, even regular nobles wouldn’t allow people with knowledge of their secrets to escape alive.
That’s what it means to be in servitude.

On the other hand, outside of that, Mistress Fiiyanamia has never once raised her voice or her hand against us.
She would gently admonish us if we made any blunders, but never had she scolded us. She is forgiving of any verbal gaffes, as well. Still, the senior servants are sure to scold you later for your blunders.

After seeing Mistress Fiiyanamia’s personality, temperament, and character, her being a completely different existence becomes irrelevant.
Everyone in this manor has reverence for Mistress Fiiyanamia.
Most of all, I’m certain that she’s a being that has a connection to the gods.

I don’t know if she is can merely hear the voices of the gods or is in direct service of them, but I’ve observed many things in my years of duty, and ever since Lady Cielmer—as well as Lady Ainsel—have arrived, the conversations I’ve overheard have only given more credence to this.
And at the same time, I also realized that Lady Ainsel has connections to the gods as well.

This discovery did surprise me, but Mistress Fiiyanamia did come to call Lady Ainsel her daughter, so it does make sense.

I digress.

And so the illustrious Mistress Fiiyanamia called for us, but we were not told the reason why.
Even so, considering that it concerns all three of us, I do have a vague idea.

「Is Ausente really alright with their prince behaving that way?」
「He is the fourth prince, so there is a possibility that they are intentionally allowing him to do as he pleases… But for this matter, I’m of the opinion that their nation should take responsibility.
Still, right now they can assert that they simply assumed the recipient to be a regular hunter, so it’ll be complicated.
After all, this can be seen as an unfortunate accident caused by the involved parties acting incognito.」
「And both Lady Cielmer and Lady Ainsel do not want to escalate this incident either.
What are your thoughts on this, Mohsa?」
「I want to see Ausente give their greatest show of apology.」

As I was silently listening to Saueluna and Sumiaria’s conversation, they suddenly turned to me, so I gave my honest thought.
No, if I had to be even more honest, what I truly wish is for the prince in question to receive punishment. However, as the two ladies do not wish this, I’ll settle with an apology.

「Right? Burning that letter would’ve probably felt so gratifying. When I learned of its contents, it took everything for me to quell my rage.」
「I feel the same way too. Lady Ainsel was the only one who did not feel any anger at that time, I’m sure of it.
Even Lady Fiiyanamia’s eyes were not smiling at all.」

And had Lady Ainsel felt anger, it would have been because the letter had caused Lady Cielmer to be angry.
That is just how important Lady Cielmer is to Lady Ainsel.

Hearing my words, the two nodded in agreement.

「Incidentally, Sumiaria, do you know what sort of character the prince in question is?」
「While there is a lot that can be surmised from that letter, I barely have any information about him as well. Do you know about him, Sumiaria?」

I quickly followed Saueluna’s inquiry.
The servants of this manor, particularly us maids, don’t have much information about the other nations.
Regardless, we do hear about the topics regarding the reputation of the kings and the influential nobles, but we are talking about the fourth prince this time.
He is low in the line of succession and likely has little influence.

Had he been particularly exceptional, we would have heard of his exploits, so we can already surmise that he’s of middling caliber.
Sumiaria silently retreats into her memories for a moment before giving a response.

「I remember thinking of him as the complete opposite of my younger sister.」
「By younger sister, you mean Viviana, right?」
「Yes. While it’s no longer the case now, Viviana once had short magic circuits and had great difficulty in casting larger-scale sorceries.
However, she had above average magic power, so with her ingenuity, she found success as a hunter.」
「In other words, Ausente’s fourth prince is blessed with excellent magic circuits, but has little magic power?」
「To be exact, his magic power is average—average even among the common folk. However, I heard that for royalty, it’s considered to be unsatisfactory.」

Magic power is proof of one’s nobility. That was how it was seen in the past. Even now, when even common folk with magic power exist, it is said that this is due to them having noble blood in their veins.
Due to that, magic power is apparently seen as a status symbol among the nobility.
In short, having little magic power likely lowers the possibility of succeeding the throne, and the people might have little in the way of expectations for the prince as well.

「For better or for worse, I suppose.」
「Had he been exceptional, it could have caused a split within their nation.」

It isn’t inherently bad for an exceptional child to be born from royalty.
If the child is the first-born, it secures the future of the nation.
However, if the child is low within the line of succession, it could cause strife.

At worst, the succession issue could result in the fourth prince being eliminated.

Remembering the contents of the letter with all of this in mind… I can only see the prince as pathetic vermin.
While I do sympathize with his background, that doesn’t mean I will permit his disrespect towards Lady Ainsel.
Besides, in terms of background, Lady Ainsel has gone through far more hardships.

In the end, my anger towards the fourth prince remains smoldering. The air around us had soured, which must have prompted Saueluna to change the topic.

「Nonetheless, the ladies really are going to Ausente, aren’t they?
I knew that they would leave the manor someday, but that day came rather early. I don’t believe that the two ladies need to attend an academy, but would it be best for them to do so?」
「For nobles or those equal to them, there are merits in attending the academy. I was educated at home, but it isn’t unusual for the affluent of Central to study abroad.
However, as for whether the two ladies need it, that’s difficult to answer…」
「To begin with, this matter seems to be a directive from the gods, as well.」
「I know, but still…」

Saueluna let out a sigh.
I’m sure she wants to stop the ladies from going to the academy. I feel the same way, but that won’t be possible. Perhaps that’s why she’s trying to find convincing reasons to change Lady Fiiyanamia’s mind.

And that ends our first non-AinCiel POV chapter of this arc! Side note: I found it funny how the title is just “Maid Chapter 2”. The maids once again find themselves busy late at night.

I don’t remember if I’ve said it before, but while clichéd, I like the composed silent thinker, and the caring and emotionally-driven extrovert dichotomy. It’s funny how Mohsa is half-distracted by her own thoughts as she’s organizing everything in her mind, while Luna is spilling out her gripes at the moment. Sumiaria meanwhile (likely being the most educated and knowledgeable between them) is building up to be a good balance of the two. Also, the fourth prince is catching a lot of strays this chapter, lol. The whole part ending with “-of middling caliber” is my personal favorite backhanded insult, to be honest. Basically “No one talks about your talent, and I can guess why, talentless hack”, lol.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!