Chapter 8
Kyaaa!
Joyful laughter filled the maids’ break room.
In the middle of it all, Kim and Sarah were each holding one of my hands proudly.
Oh, you’re wondering who Kim and Sarah are? They’re the ones who almost shattered my pelvis a little while ago.
Now, they’re my 19,283rd friends.
Winning over a couple of kids wasn’t even hard enough to be called a strategy.
I simply waited until they were separated and approached them one by one as usual.
That’s how it works with teenagers. In a group, they’re swept away by emotions more easily than when they’re alone.
Sure enough, Kim and Sarah, who seemed rather timid on their own and wary of me at first, quickly opened up their hearts.
So, there’s one important takeaway from this.
‘That last one’s the ringleader.’
Of the three girls I approached, she was the only one who outright rejected me.
I think her name was Bibi.
Bibi, with her dark blonde hair and pretty face, was still sitting off to the side, glaring at me.
Come to think of it, she didn’t even seem close to Kim or Sarah.
Actually, it looked like she didn’t get along with them at all.
Kim and Sarah were getting along great, while prickly Bibi always seemed out of place between them.
‘So she deliberately teamed up with girls she wasn’t even friends with, just to bully me?’
How dedicated. Or maybe she just hates me that much.
Why? Why go to such lengths?
I could understand the other girls being annoyed with me. But Bibi’s behavior seemed excessive.
Just look at those eyes. You’d think I killed her parents or something.
‘…Time to dig a little.’
Life tip #1: If someone has a secret, the best way to uncover it is to make them talk a lot.
So how do you get someone to talk a lot?
‘Obviously, by bringing up something they’re obsessed with.’
Once you do that, they’ll even spill things you didn’t ask.
Let’s see… what are adolescent girls most obsessed with these days?
“Hey, Asha, didn’t you go out to the garden earlier?”
“Then you must’ve seen the knights, right?”
There we go.
I eagerly joined the naturally flowing conversation.
“Yes, I saw a few of them on patrol.”
“Aww, too bad. If you’d timed it right, you might’ve seen Sir Kyle!”
Squeals of giddy excitement followed.
Oh? Looks like this Kyle guy is popular with the maids. Noted.
“Sir Kyle switches patrols in the morning. You should’ve waited a bit longer!”
“Well, I ended up running into Viscount Cooper all of a sudden…”
“Oh, really? What did you two talk about?”
Sarah, who had been quieter than Kim, suddenly jumped into the conversation.
What did I talk about with Benjamin?
Images of his corny jokes, bursts of laughter, and our pact as comrades flashed through my mind… but I couldn’t say any of that.
“Hmm, nothing much, really.”
“Still… I’m jealous…”
Wait, what? Sarah… don’t tell me you like Benjamin?
I glanced at her. Her cheeks were flushed.
Well, Benjamin might look a little worn out, but he’s got a nice, clean face.
‘I guess he could have a niche fanbase. That fragile scholar look can be appealing.’
Still, maybe think it over, Sarah. I’m pretty sure his lungs are shot. His brain too, maybe.
As I tried to mentally talk Sarah out of it, Kim shook her head.
“Viscount Cooper is charming, sure, but doesn’t he seem too fragile? Sir Josh or Sir Bishop are way more appealing.”
Kim, apparently more into muscle than intellect, began listing all the knights she found attractive besides Kyle.
I made sure to mentally jot down all those names for future use.
And then—
“But Sir Winston is the best! He’s so dependable and cool!”
That name rang a bell. I remembered seeing him from a distance once.
Sir Winston… he’s the captain of the Bastion Knights, right? The elderly one with the white beard.
Kim, cupping her cheeks, whispered dreamily,
“Ah, that stern old warrior’s face… I want to make him cry.”
Cough.
K-Kim. You’re still young, but your taste is… wow.
As long as you know it’s unrequited love, I’ll support you wholeheartedly.
Trying to move on from Kim’s bombshell comment, I smoothly changed the subject.
“Um, but if we’re talking faces, isn’t the Duke the best-looking of all? I think he’s the most handsome person I’ve ever seen!”
“Well…”
Kim and Sarah looked at each other uneasily. They seemed to agree, but with some hesitation.
After a moment of silence, Sarah whispered,
“He’s just… too scary.”
Ah.
I nodded quietly.
I might admire and even envy Wolfgang as an employer, but being scared of him is an entirely separate thing.
Even me, with the mind of an adult inside this body, was overwhelmed the first time I saw him. Imagine how terrifying he must be to actual children.
Wolfgang isn’t just the Duke of Bastion.
He’s the Demon Duke of Bastion.
That word “demon” you hear before his name or any Bastion Duke’s name? It’s not a metaphor.
The House of Bastion really is descended from demons.
[In the beginning, the great celestial god Lumière was accompanied by the great demon god Noir.]
That was the opening verse of some scripture I’d overheard at the temple.
Where there is light, there is darkness. Just as holy power and magic coexist.
Everyone in this world knows this origin story: the two opposing gods created the universe together.
But their endings were polar opposites.
The great celestial god Lumière remained divine, while Noir fell—no longer great, no longer a god.
[Noir came down to this land in human form, lured by the master of the barren northern land.]
The master of that barren northern land was none other than the founder of the Bastion Duchy—Roxanne Bastion.
Noir fell in love with her.
He gave up his divine name and chose to live and die as a mere human.
The day Noir stepped into Bastion territory was the day people stopped calling him a god.
‘Instead, they called him the Seed of the Devil.’
The fallen god was condemned by his followers.
Soon after his descent, monsters began appearing across the land. Naturally, he wasn’t welcomed.
People were injured, blamed Noir, and many died.
Then, one day, even Roxanne, the founder of House Bastion, died mysteriously.
And what happened to Noir afterward?
No one knows. Truly, no one. He vanished like magic.
No one knows if he died or still lives.
Some say he was imprisoned in Lumière’s cloud prison. Others say he still roams, spreading plague.
‘But the most likely theory is that he was buried in his wife’s grave.’
They say that his lingering magic turned that place into the Forest of Sorrow, the only known monster spawn zone to this day.
Of course, no one can confirm this theory.
The Bastion Knights do annual purges in the winter, but they only clear the outer edges—the Black Wall.
No one dares to venture deeper.
‘It’s considered the most foolish form of suicide known to man.’
No one has ever returned alive from the Forest of Sorrow.
Thanks to this dark legend, House Bastion is never free of gossip.
The half-divine child born of Roxanne and Noir, and their descendants who inherited the title, are constantly whispered about.
Even if they protect the world from monsters, their blood is still viewed as cursed.
People fear and revere House Bastion out of instinct or indoctrination.
But it doesn’t always mean hostility.
I told you—while they are demons, they are also descendants of gods.
So yes, there are some who borderline worship House Bastion.
“Hey, don’t say disrespectful things about the master.”
Just like her.
Bibi, who had finally taken the bait I tossed, glared at us with wide, angry eyes.
Kim responded just as sharply, like she was used to this reaction.
“There you go again. We’re not even allowed to say we’re scared?”
“No, you’re not. Who do you think you are to talk about the master like that?”
“And who do you think you are to say that to us?”
“Hmph. You’re all swooning over men who don’t even come close to the master.”
“Why you little…!”
Yikes, it’s getting heated. Girls in their stormy years, indeed.
It would’ve been popcorn-worthy if it weren’t for the fact that it was about me.
I still had to lay low.
“Uh, unnies… please don’t fight because of me…”
I whimpered, acting all small and sniffly. Kim and Sarah, flustered, rushed to comfort me.
“Asha, don’t cry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah! It’s all your fault!” Bibi snapped.
Whoa there. You gonna blame me for the earth being round too?
She jumped up and crossed her arms, sneering at Kim and Sarah.
“Seriously, you two are ridiculous. You were bullying her earlier and now you’re all friendly?”
“That’s because you—!”
Kim and Sarah opened their mouths, but no matter what they said, it would sound like an excuse.
They looked guilty and started to let go of my hands.
I quickly grabbed their hands again and stared straight at Bibi.
“Kim and Sarah already apologized to me. Sincerely.”
“…What?”
“The only one who hasn’t apologized is you, Bibi.”
So go on, say sorry—while I’m still being nice.
Bibi flinched under my gaze, then turned and stormed out of the break room.
SLAM.
I sighed at the sound of the door slamming shut.
‘I was going to accept even a fake apology…’
I don’t take territorial bullying lightly.
But if it’s just immature jealousy or childish spite, I’m willing to play the fool and move on.
‘So she overreacted because of her twisted adoration for Wolfgang, huh?’
That would explain why she hates me…
I pondered her emotions for a moment and tilted my head.
Somehow, it didn’t feel like that was the only reason.
Hmm. It’s not decisive. Is there another issue?
Then Kim and Sarah spoke up.
“Asha, we’re really sorry. We misunderstood you…”
“Yeah… we stupidly believed all that stuff Bibi said…”
They apologized again in subdued voices.
Including before we got to the break room, I’d heard these apologies at least twenty times.
Kim had even bandaged my scraped knee, and Sarah washed my dirty apron.
At this point, if they apologized again, I’d start feeling bad.
As I tried to comfort them, Sarah sniffled and muttered,
“Actually… I think Bibi’s just jealous.”
“Huh?”
“Because Asha, you’re really pretty.”
Kim nodded in agreement.
“She always said she was the prettiest girl in the mansion. I guess she felt threatened.”
“…Seriously?”
All this fuss just because she thought I was prettier?
Seeing my disbelief, Kim and Sarah nodded firmly.
“Totally. She got all insecure on her own.”
“Yeah. Especially with spring coming.”
“What does spring have to do with it?”
“Well, the academy’s going on break.”
“And that means… he’ll be returning soon…”
Spring. Academy. He. Returning.
All the puzzle pieces clicked.
No way… Bibi, you little—!
As if confirming it, Kim and Sarah whispered:
“Bibi likes the young master.”
So she instinctively recognized her romantic rival!
