* * *
Late at night, at the Idra Duchy.
“Lady! Lady! Oh dear...”
The maid panicked as she tried to support Linna, who had collapsed inside the carriage.
“Good grief, you’ve gone and drunk this much again...”
Linna had just co back from a party. She was practically carried back, having lost consciousness.
“Mm... uugh...”
She couldn’t even rember what kind of party it was.
An invitation had co, and she just went. That was all.
Who in the Empire’s social circles would dare refuse Linna Idra, the duchy’s only daughter?
Beloved by the Temple and protected by the Empress Dowager, the Empire’s sole noble lady and the master of a Divine Beast.
Whenever she showed up at a party, people would swarm around her like bees, eager to please. If she asked for wine, they gave her wine. If she asked to dance, they danced.
That’s why Linna accepted every party invitation. Because when she drank and mingled with people, for just that mont, her mind went blank.
The problem was, she didn’t even rember their nas...
“Lady! Laaady! Please, wake up!”
It was then, as two maids carried Linna into the duchy, that—
“Linna.”
The Duke of Idra stood with his hands behind his back, staring at her disheveled state. He clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“How long are you going to live like this, huh?”
Linna kept her head down, not answering. She seed completely out of it.
“So weak...”
The Duke shook his head.
“If you keep living so pathetically, you’re just a bad person to everyone.”
“Ugh, ugh...”
“At the very least, can’t you be a good person to your family, Linna? To your mother and ?”
“Ughhh...”
All Linna could do was groan, and the Duke, as if he didn’t want to waste another word, shook his head and turned away.
Dragged by the maids, Linna sohow managed to reach her room.
“ooow!”
Even Cashie sighed in exasperation.
A few maids gathered and poured so sobering dicine into Linna’s mouth.
She slowly opened her eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“A good... person...”
She hadn’t been able to answer earlier, but she had heard the Duke’s words.
That even if it was impossible for her to beco a good person, she should at least be one for her family...
From her golden eyes, tears began to stream down. Her eye makeup ran along with the tears.
“There might be people who only show you their worst sides, but you’re not one of them, my lady. At least, I was happy to be by your side, so don’t think like that anymore.”
Soone had once said that to her.
Even though she didn’t take her along, even though she had gotten on the lifeboat first, that person still said, “I was happy.”
“...I can’t... I can’t do it alone...”
Linna took a deep breath.
“What do I do...”
Tears kept streaming endlessly.
“I want to... I want to be a good person to soone too... It’s ridiculous, but...”
The maids didn’t say a word to Linna as she rambled. They figured it was just drunken nonsense that she’d forget by morning.
“Then maybe this hell would be just a little more bearable...”
Linna wiped her tears and sighed deeply. Then, looking straight at the maid who had been silently tending to her, she spoke clearly.
“Bring a maid.”
“Pardon? Who, my lady? Who should I summon?”
“Not one from the Idra Duchy. A new maid.”
The maids exchanged confused glances.
Linna pressed her forehead and spoke slowly.
“Her na is Heidi. I don’t know her last na.”
“What?”
“She was a maid on the Entoho. Silver hair, green eyes. Small and gentle-looking. About my age.”
“Um... uh...”
The maids looked at each other in frustration. Then one of them cautiously spoke.
“But my lady, with that little information, we can’t find her. And the Entoho even sank... It would be hard to get the full servant list.”
In short, they ant it was impossible.
“Hmm...”
But Linna didn’t want to give up. She took a labored breath, her face filled with thought as she tried to push her mind to its limits.
“You... you’re really good at your job... You look so young, how long have you worked?”
“About fifteen years? Though I had a break in between.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“Fifteen years? Wait, you’ve been cleaning that long when you look that young? Isn’t that against so royal labor law or whatever?”
“Well... There was a pretty wicked place that didn’t follow that.”
Recalling her conversation with Heidi, Linna’s eyes sharpened.
“She’s worked as a maid for about fifteen years. In a really vicious, illegal place, and she had a break sowhere in the middle.”
For the first ti in ages, her eyes lit up brightly.
“And she said she had sowhere to go. Since she didn’t ask to take her, she must’ve had a job lined up after disembarking from the Entoho.”
Her face was more determined than ever.
Clenching her fists, Linna declared,
“That should be enough to narrow it down, right? Find her. I don’t care what it takes—search the whole continent if you have to! I can’t live without her!”
The maids reluctantly nodded.
* * *
“Rosiiiiiiiie!”
As soon as I arrived at the Noart estate, Heidi was the one who rushed over and hugged .
“Oh my, Rosie! You’ve grown so pretty! Goodness...”
Julian and I had returned safely to the Noart estate.
Up until we arrived in the capital, I’d worn the Noart maid’s uniform, but near the Magic Tower, I quickly bought new clothes. I had no choice if I wanted to pretend I was coming out of the Tower.
“But still, what’s going on here... Ready-made clothes...? The only daughter of the Noart Count Family, with nothing but money to her na, wearing ready-made clothes?!”
Heidi huffed in disapproval, stomping her foot.
“Just wait, I’ll make you the most beautiful noble lady in the whole Empire!”
After I entered the Magic Tower, Heidi had left the Noart estate ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) and stayed in her hotown for a while. She did that for .
If soone wanted to dig into my past, they’d obviously co to Heidi first. So I let her live freely, just in case anything happened.
But no one had co looking for her during that ti. Which ant the Temple didn’t know about at all.
“Still, our Rosie... you’re just as cute as ever...”
Heidi was in her thirties now, but she still adored . Probably because we spent so much ti together when I was little.
“Rosieeeeeee!”
And as soon as we arrived, Grandpa ca running.
“My Rosieeeeeee!”
He lifted up out of habit, but paused. I’d grown too much for that now.
So instead, he just hugged tight.
“Rosie, I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Grandpa. You’ve been well, right?”
Of course, Grandpa looked older than in my last mory, but he still seed healthy. I was really relieved.
“You’ve grown, you’ve grown... When did you get so big...”
Tears welled up in Grandpa’s eyes.
I sniffled, burying my face into his solid chest.
“Hey, brat.”
Julian muttered behind , sounding dumbfounded.
“You didn’t cry like that when you saw . Is it okay to treat people this differently, huh?”
“You didn’t cry when you saw either...”
“Well, that’s ‘cause you looked so ridiculous then...”
Yeah, the accessories and makeup I got from Linna had been pretty intense.
anwhile, Grandpa suddenly burst into loud laughter, as if he hadn’t just been crying.
“Wahahahaha! So our Rosie likes better than Julian! Wahahaha! She was more moved to see again! Wahahaha!”
“Ugh, Grandpa! That’s not it, it’s just that the situation between and the brat was...”
“Wahahahaha! No need for excuses! The one who moved Rosie to tears was , ! Wahahaha!”
Grandpa looked like he was in an amazing mood. His hearty laughter echoed through the whole estate.
“Alright then!”
His green eyes lit up with energy.
“Announce it to the entire Empire’s social circles!”
His voice was dignified and powerful.
“That Rosie Noart, the proud treasure of the Noart Count Family, has returned!”
If soone heard, they’d think so war hero princess had co back from the battlefield, it was so solemn.
“She had absolutely no talent for magic, got completely outshined by Ethan who went in with her, and ended up disgracefully quitting and coming ho! Wahahaha!”
Well, that was the return story I expected... but still, it sucked.
Anyway, I stood in the Noart estate’s garden, glancing around.
The wide, beautiful garden, the flashy mansion practically dripping with money, Julian and Grandpa smiling warmly, and even Murlock standing far off with that sa disapproving look...
It was all just like before.
‘I’m back.’
It finally felt real.
At last, I was back.
Back to the people I’d dread of for nine long years.
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