Chapter 30
“Is Master Lu handsome?”
After what happened this morning, I asked the question while sweeping the corridor with Deriksha.
I wanted an objective opinion from someone my age, not the young maids. Deriksha widened his eyes at my question, then nodded.
“He is handsome…”
Since it was Deriksha speaking, I accepted it. By my standards, only Demian was truly handsome. Maybe this was just a difference in taste.
“Why? Are you interested?”
Deriksha’s excited tone immediately made me frown. The kitchen maids were already like this, and now him too? Why are they all so eager to get me tangled up with Lu?
I replied firmly:
“I’m not interested.”
“Oh…”
Deriksha said, sounding almost sympathetic. I couldn’t tell if he was even talking to me, since he was staring out the window.
Then, as if remembering something, he spoke again:
“Oh, a typhoon is coming soon. We should prepare in advance.”
I looked out the window. The spring day outside was bright and sunny.
“A typhoon? Now?”
“The weather’s been so unpredictable lately. Maybe a new magician appeared or something.”
Deriksha said it with a smile. Judging by his tone, it was meant as a joke, but since I didn’t understand the humor in this world, it just sounded random.
Seeing my blank expression, Deriksha stopped smiling and nodded, as if to say I knew you’d react that way.
“You sometimes forget that you have amnesia.”
“What does a magician have to do with the weather?”
“It’s a common joke here. In history, the weather often changed according to the mood of the Mage Tower Lord, so when it rained suddenly or a typhoon came, people joked, ‘Looks like a new magician was born!’”
Really, what kind of joke is that? Even though the empire feared magic, that didn’t stop them from making jokes.
“You won’t forget anything now, so why not study a bit of history? Do you know why the empire fears magic?”
“No.”
I answered boldly. Deriksha looked puzzled. Since we had nothing else to do while cleaning, I stared at him, silently asking him to explain.
Deriksha paused his sweeping and began:
“So, a long time ago, when the Dern Empire and the Sharond Empire were united, magicians were common. The most powerful magician became the Mage Tower Lord, whose authority even surpassed the emperor. The emperor and the Mage Tower Lord had a peaceful relationship… until the last Mage Tower Lord turned out completely insane. The empire descended into chaos.”
Intrigued, I stopped sweeping and focused on his story. Deriksha continued, arms crossed.
“The last Mage Tower Lord also had the strongest magic, so even if the entire empire rebelled, they couldn’t defeat him. The empire nearly fell, but a brave knight finally led an army and succeeded in killing him. The emperor, impressed, rewarded the knight with a dukedom and the legendary family name Leofram.”
“…Huh?”
That name sounded familiar. I widened my eyes and stared at Deriksha. He smiled and nodded.
“It’s the story of the Leofram Duke family’s head from hundreds of years ago.”
Wow. I shivered. I worked for a family mentioned in history books.
“After that, the empire’s fear of magic grew so great that they sealed the magic of all magicians into magic stones and eradicated magicians entirely. No one has found the magic stones containing all the magicians’ power… until twenty years ago, when some were discovered in a territory of the Dern Empire. The current union of the Dern and Sharond empires is partly for sharing those magic stones.”
“Wow.”
I applauded Deriksha for summarizing an entire volume of history in five minutes.
The Dern Empire had been less developed than Sharond. I’d wondered why they were uniting with a failing empire—now it made sense: the magic stones. I also understood why the Sharond Empire hadn’t yet commercialized them.
“But a typhoon? That’s really random. Did a new magician really appear?”
Deriksha gazed out the window, concerned. I ignored it and focused back on sweeping. New magicians or not, it had nothing to do with me.
“Get up already!”
This morning started the same way, with Deriksha shouting. I buried myself under the blankets and groaned.
“Five more minutes…”
“I knew you stayed up reading last night! Aren’t you going to work? Get up!”
I finally got up. Deriksha pulled me to the mirror and seated me. Still groggy, I let him comb and tie my hair neatly.
“Not going to try getting up on your own? I can’t wake you forever, you know.”
“Why… can’t you stay with me forever?”
“Please, make sense.”
Deriksha tugged my hair annoyingly.
“Ouch…”
My reflection looked utterly miserable.
He handed me my maid uniform from the wardrobe while I still struggled to wake.
“Here, get dressed quickly. A typhoon’s coming, so don’t go outside.”
I nodded and got dressed. After washing my face with the water Deriksha prepared, I yawned lazily. Though late, I remained calm.
Deriksha frowned at me:
“Hurry up! You’re late!”
“I’m fine.”
I brushed my teeth casually, spitting out the water.
“Even if you’re late, the master doesn’t seem to care much.”
“Then why haven’t you been fired?”
I shrugged. Deriksha, anxious at my calmness, finally yelled:
“If you’re going to work like that, just quit! Don’t you feel guilty toward the duke?!”
“Why now…?”
“You made me late too! Don’t treat being late as normal!”
Deriksha was a strict perfectionist—he hated tardiness. I covered my ears. Though I usually heard his nagging, today it felt worse due to oversleeping.
“Listen carefully, Lily! I’m not saying this to make it easier for you. You can’t work like this if you’re being paid! Are you going to fix your bad habits? I may have let it slide before, but now it’s becoming a routine. Master Lu is kind, so it’s fine—but elsewhere, you’d have been fired already! You should be grateful and work harder, not keep acting lazy just because you can get away with it…”
“Fine, I get it. I’m sorry, I’ll reflect! I’m going first!”
I cut him off and ran out of the room.
Walking down the corridor toward Lu’s room, I pouted. It wasn’t even a huge tardiness—just ten minutes—so why such a scolding? Someone hearing this would think I’m late every day. I’m only late two or three times a week!
As I walked quietly, resentment built. The complaints I remembered made me more frustrated. Always scolding me! Smiling at no one like they do with Odin! I do plenty of work for Deriksha, so why does he always act annoyed?
I slammed open Lu’s door in a huff:
“Master Lu, I’m running away from home!”
“Mm. Good work so far. Monica will handle your severance pay.”
Lu answered casually, eyes still on his book.
He didn’t even ask why. He had adapted to me—indifferent to such commotion.
Frustrated at Lu’s indifference, I opened the window to get some air. The wind and rain blew in.
Ah, right. The typhoon.
I hurriedly closed the window. My hair was damp, even in that brief moment.
“…You sure know how to make things difficult in every way.”
I heard Lu’s voice from behind. Turning, I saw him standing there, hair wet from the storm. Even his book was soaked.
He shook the water from his hair.
“So, what’s the matter this time? Go ahead.”
“No, it’s Deriksha!”
I poured out the morning’s ordeal, and Lu listened quietly, then chuckled.
“Why were you angry? Shouldn’t you be apologizing to Deriksha instead?”
“Me?”
“You were late, but he didn’t abandon you and woke you up.”
True.
Instantly convinced, I nodded. I couldn’t even recall why I had been upset. Deriksha had struggled for me, not the other way around.
I bowed my head, remorseful.
Sorry, Deriksha…
Lu chuckled at my expression and asked:
“If you’re running away, do you want to go with me?”
I tilted my head at the unexpected question. Why would he come if I was running away?
“I was planning to stay at my mother’s estate this vacation anyway. If you want, I can take you along.”
He said it as if doing me a favor—but it was just extra work in disguise.
Still, I was curious about the duchess and had spent all my time with Deriksha, so being apart could be a good experience.
I nodded. Lu smiled, satisfied with my response.
“So… even if I said no, you would’ve taken me anyway, right?”
“Yes.”
Just as I thought.
