Volume 2 - CH 25

“…You’re saying you saw it in a dream?”

Under the bright summer sky, Christopher, Annemarie, and Maxwell had gathered for a tea party beneath the shade of a tree on a terrace in the royal castle.

They had come together to discuss the events that had occured some days ago at the Royal Academy; it had become clear that the others had withheld information that day, and so it was Maxwell that pressed the questions.

But though they could answer a number of questions, neither Christopher nor Annemarie could possibly reveal how they were reincarnators from a different world. Well, it was more because of how absurd such a possibility sounded.

That led them here, claiming to have learned things about the Demon King and the Saint from dreams they had as young children.

Of course, having grown up with these two from childhood, Maxwell knew how skilled they were at obscuring the truth, and he could see there was still more to their story than they were letting on.

(…But I suppose this time I’ll let them off with only this much.)

He suspected there were circumstances they could not yet reveal, but Maxwell was in no rush; he could continue the questioning another time.

As for what they had told him, that part had been quite an alarming revelation.

They had learned of the ancient battle between the Saint and the Demon King that had not only the kingdom but the entire world at stake, and how, to avoid the worst possible outcome, the two had been doing the things they had been up until now.

“So you’re saying, the things the two of you have done until now — the policies, the national projects — have been to hold off that calamity?

“In a way, yes, but our primary goal has always been to strengthen and uplift our nation.”

“I suppose it is true that an improvement to our economy means an improvement to our military, and on top of that, it seems you have begun taking care of the corruption that has made its way through the kingdom.”

There was a time when Annemarie paid a surprise visit to a certain orphanage in the city, though it was not the kind of place for upstanding noble ladies to visit, especially not one of Annemarie’s station. The living conditions there were at its worst, to say nothing of the sanitation; what stood out was the amount of aid they were supposedly receiving from the royal castle, but the discrepancy between the actual funds and the reported amount had not reached the ears of the authorities in charge.

The minister in charge had been at the root of the embezzlement, and it was only after a much younger Annemarie visited the orphanage that the truth had come to light. With the help of the Crown Prince, Annemarie was able to pin the corrupt official and improve the orphanage.

In other words, the orphanage had no longer been in danger, long before Micah arrived.

“I never knew the two of you had been at this for so long, since we were children. Why hadn’t you thought to include me in your plans as well?”

“Sorry about that. At the time, I didn’t think you would believe us if we said we learned all of this in a dream.”

“Heh, I suppose you’re right. If you had told me so back then, I probably would have ignored you as usual, thinking you were rambling again like a madman.”

Given the usual antics, it was likely Maxwell would have brushed off Christopher with another resigned ‘Of course, whatever you say’, so keeping everything a secret was the best choice to make at the time. That they could freely share the secret now was proof that their bond had grown as they had, together over the years.

“So what happened this time? Did your dreams also foretell this incident? Did it show you who the real culprit was?”

Annemarie shook her head in denial.

“While we knew something was going to happen, there was nothing specific in the dream. It became rather confusing because when the events began to occur, it did so in a slightly different way or with certain people doing different roles.”

In this way, Annemarie explained how reality had changed compared to what originally happened in the game.

“It may have meant that the future was still uncertain, that seemingly minor actions cause ripples that change the future into something completely different from what we saw in our dreams.”

“Which would explain why you see the original future but not the changed one reality becomes.”

The two nodded in affirmation.

“This sounds like quite an arduous problem. From the way you have explained it, the things you called the ‘Demon King’ and the ‘Saint’ seem just as likely to change in the same manner.”

“Nothing would be more helpful to us than if that were to happen, actually.”

Annemarie gave a rather pointed laugh.

“But unfortunately, we have already confirmed they exist. Rather, we know the Demon King does, at least.”

“That was the assailant from the Spring Ball, correct? And this time he targeted Lady Luna?”

“Not exactly. That was actually another victim of the Demon King, under its control. If the Saint were here, we would be able to free him, too.”

Annemarie let out a tired sigh. The main difference between their dream and reality was the absence of the Saint; without the Saint, they had no way to counter the Demon King’s actions.

“That being said, does that also means the two of you also knew about ‘that’?”

” “‘That’?” “

Neither Annemarie nor Christopher understood Maxwell’s question.

“I mean about what happened at the Royal Academy, specifically what had happened to Lady Luna and the other students.”

“Oh, that. I had a general understanding of what would happen, thanks to the dreams, but I did not know the details.”

“I don’t really understand it myself. Even now I’m trying to figure out why Luna and the others forgot everything about the incidents.”

Christopher crossed his arms in annoyance as he voiced his complaints.

With the Witch of Envy case finally resolved, things had reverted to how they were before everything began; they acted as though nothing had ever happened, having seemingly forgotten how suspicious they were of Luciana, to say nothing of the incidents.

And even the Witch of Envy herself, Luna Invidia, remembered nothing of her actions. She was only aware of having had an argument with Luciana and how they made up afterward.

“So why do some students have memories of the incidents while others do not? What was the difference?”

“At first, I thought it came down to the magical power each person was capable of, but later I realized that did not matter, seeing as even staff members at the Royal Academy have also forgotten all about the incidents. As of right now, we are completely in the dark as to the reason.”

But though she claimed to know not, Annemarie suspected this was the world making adjustments to compensate for deviations from how the game originally progressed. After all, she had already seen substitutions and role swaps, so it stood to reason that certain things would happen for the sake of happening… How convenient it all was.

“And what about Lady Luciana? What did she have to say about these events?”

“We did not learn much more from her, either. When I talked with her about what happened, she had said Miss Luna returned to normal after taking a hit from her harisen, so I believe there might be something else at play here, manipulating memories. On that day, the only ones in the classroom were Miss Luciana and Miss Luna.”

“Back then, she wasn’t holding a harisen, was she?”

Hearing that it was a harisen of all things, Annemarie let out another sigh while Maxwell was silent.

“It seems like we have our work cut out quite well for us.”

“Well, there wasn’t much besides that and then having to get rid of the paperwork regarding the incidents.”

Christopher stared off into the distance, a glazed weariness in his eyes. Even if everyone involved had forgotten, the incidents had still happened; Christopher and the others had retrieved the school’s archived investigation records, disposing of them so as to avoid creating a paradoxical scenario.

“Then with that done, I suppose the case is closed?”

“For now and for this time, yes, it is. But unless we find the Saint, things will continue to be like this.”

“Our happy ending is quite far away, isn’t it…”

Maxwell gave a bitter smile as Annemarie turned to look skyward.

At the same time elsewhere, Melody was once again assisting Lect in his office. It was the last day of the seventh month — that is, the last day of the semester — and the Royal Academy would be closing for the summer break. This was also Lect’s last day as a temporary instructor and Melody’s as his temporary assistant; the two were currently tidying up the office together.

“I am glad they found a new full-time chivalry course instructor.”

“Yeah, I suppose…”

“Hm? You do not seem too happy, Sir Lect. Is there something wrong?”

“It’s nothing; nothing at all, but…”

Melody tilted her head in confusion but Lect hastily turned away, a blush beginning to color his face.

Lect was feeling dispirited because no longer would he have an excuse to spend time alone with a certain maid he was still head-over-heels for.

“Are you sure there is nothing troubling you?”

“…No, really, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about how nice it is to have someone with me, helping to clean up the office.”

And what was this coward doing here? He was already twenty-one years old, what was he even doing?!

“This kind of work is not a problem at all. For a maid, this level of cleaning can be done in no time!”

“‘For a maid’, you say. Well, I suppose I was already expecting no less from someone whose goal is to become the greatest maid in the world.”

“Do you truly think so? Thank you, Sir Lect; your words are most encouraging..”

There was something about how Melody carried herself with a proud confidence that caught Lect’s attention.

“Oh what’s this? Did you gotten closer to your dream? Taken another step to becoming the greatest maid in the world?”

“Fufufu, that is a secret ~”

The adorable sight of Melody putting a finger to her lips as she gave him a wink in response left Lect gobsmacked and frozen in silence.

Having finished with helping Lect clean his office, Melody returned to Luciana’s room.

“I apologize for my late return, my lady.”

“Oh, welome back, Melody.”

Back in the room, everything was ready for their return to the estate. With the summer break beginning tomorrow, the girls would not be returning to the dormitory for some time, so they needed to take everything with them this time.

Now, the only things remaining in the room were items they could carry along.

“I apologize for having left all the work to you, Miss Micah.”

“It was no trouble at all, Miss Melody, after all, this is also my job to do as well. Besides, we have someone who can help with the heavy lifting now.”

Micah smiled happily as a knock came from the door. After Luciana allowed them permission to enter, the door opened, and in walked a tall young man wearing a butler uniform.

“…I’m done, loading the luggage.”

“Oh, thank you, Luque.”

“Having a man around really saved us a lot of trouble. Thanks for your help, Luque.”

“Thank you for helping out with moving the luggage while I was away, Luque.”

“…No problem.”

The man the girls called Luque was actually none other than Buque Kischel, and he turned away, shy from their praise..

But he was no longer Buque Kischel; now he went by Luque, a name Micah had given him.

He had been under the control of the Demon King this entire time, but it was thanks to Melody’s power that he was now a free man. It seemed everything had gone well, up until he awakened; it seemed he had lost his memories, perhaps as a side effect of having broken away from the influence of dark magic or because of his sudden growth.

He had even forgotten his name, and any remaining memories he did have of his life until this point were but a vague recollection at best.

As he was wanted for the crimes he had committed first at the Spring Ball and then for his involvement in the recent incident, he would face arrest if someone were to find him. Thankfully, that possibility seemed unlikely since, having aged significantly, he looked quite different from how he did.

Micah could not help but sympathize with him; not only was Buque put under the Demon King’s control, but now he had broken free only to lose his memories. She refused to abandon him in this state, especially after he had once saved her from the Slums.

Then, when she appealed for his situation, Melody came up with a solution: they could hire him as a butler for House Luthorburg.

As Melody recalled, Hughes wanted to hire a male servant, so this was a convenient windfall. Lect wanted to protest against the idea; it was absurd for him to allow some unknown man who exposed his naked form to be around his beloved Melody… until Lect remembered that he too, had once done the same. With that in mind, though he was reluctant, he could not bring himself to give his protest.

On the other hand, the heads of House Luthorburg either lacked any sense of danger or were simply benevolent; Hughes and Marianna accepted Melody’s proposal without question, hiring this nameless man of unknown origins. Perhaps it was better to simply say they were too generous for their own good…

And so, having met little resistance along the way, House Luthorburg welcomed Luque as an apprentice butler. Hughes especially was quite delighted to finally have another male in the household, and it seemed he was taking it upon himself to personally train Luque into a fine butler.

Hughes had stuck so closely to him those first few days that Marianna could not help but wonder if there was something else going on, especially since it was usually the husband who worried about having to hire a new male servant…

And while Buque had a strong aversion to serving under someone, his current self did not refuse to be an apprentice butler, likely another side effect of his memory loss. However, it seemed he was quite weak to praise, and he would often shy away, albeit quite happily, when someone complimented his work.

“Miss Melody, I’ll be checking over the carriage again with Luque.”

“I shall leave that to you two then. I will be taking care of the remaining luggage. Luque, please go with Miss Micah and watch over the carriage.”

He nodded in affirmation, and the two exited the room.

“Fufufu, what do you think of Luque’s speaking etiquette, Melody? Do you think he needs to be trained?”

“I believe that would be for the best, my lady. When we return, I shall have him begin doing some maid-style butler training exercises.”

“…I might have said too much. I’m so sorry, Luque.”

Having remembered her own etiquette training, Luciana winced internally and muttered a quiet apology to an absent Luque.

“Now let’s see; was there anything left behind?”

Melody surveyed the room again, but there did not seem to be anything missing.

“I think this might be the only thing I could have forgotten.”

Luciana placed a piece of paper on the table, presenting it to Melody.

“This must be your report card.”

It was a list of Luciana’s grades for the semester. At the bottom was her placement on the final exam: third highest, just like on the midterms.

As it turned out, the results of first through fourth places remained the same since the midterm. Meanwhile Luna had moved up to place seventh; despite having lost her memories of the incident, it seemed resolving them had nonetheless reduced a mental burden.

Luciana giggled as she recalled the last time she had seen Luna; they were comparing exam scores, and Luna had declared “I’ll beat you in the next exam” with great confidence.

“My lady seems even happier than usual. Did something good happen?”

“Nothing in particular happened. Oh, I just remembered that I still needed to thank you, Melody.”

“Thank me? Whatever for?”

“I have been wanting to tell you, ever since what happened with Luna. It was thanks to your protection spell that I didn’t get hurt, and you were also the one who called for Lady Annemarie and the others, right? Because of you, we were able to save Luna, so thank you so much for everything, Melody.”

Luciana beamed as she gave her heartfelt thanks to Melody, but the maid wore a rather guilty expression.

“I do not deserve such thanks, my lady. In the end, it does not change the fact that I disobeyed your orders to wait patiently.”

“Fufufu, it wasn’t a problem in the end, was it? Everything turned out just fine, so don’t mind it too much.”

“My lady…”

Seeing as Luciana continued to smile, Melody finally understood that the choice she made back then had been the right one after all.

“Then I also have to give you my thanks, my lady. After all, it was because of my lady that I feel I have taken one step closer to becoming the greatest maid in the world.”

“Really? That’s wonderful, Melody!”

And just like that, Melody gave her own sunny smile in return.

(Oh, I know, it has to be that: the smile. All maids should have a wonderful smile, but what’s most important for the greatest maid in the world is being able to protect that smile!)

Knowledge and skills were important, of course, but those alone were not enough to ensure their master’s happiness. Melody might one day learn what it was that is most important, but until then, she would continue searching.

“Fufufu…”

“Is there something on my face, Melody?”

“Not at all, I am simply happy to see my lady smiling so happily.

Being told so directly embarrassed Luciana, and she responded in the only way she knew to hide it.

“R-really? But, you know, I would be even happier and smile even more if you let me do… this!”

“Kyaah! My lady, I have told you again and again that you must not so casually hug your maid!”

“It’s just a little bit, only a little bit! I’ll even give you amother smile! Don’t worry, if you just focus on counting the dots on the ceiling, it will be over in no time!”

“No..! My lady, your smile! That is not your usual smile! Wait, but from where did you even learn to say these strange thiiings?!”

Finally, back at the Luthorburg estate…

“There we go, all done now.”

The Magical Marionette Maid Selena patted away the sweat on her forehead as she finished hanging up the last of the laundry.

A bright summer sun shined down from above, making the sheets look more vibrant and beautiful than usual.

Selena looked on, a gentle expression on her face.

“It seems a wonderful summer is about to begin. Fufufu, I hope you get to enjoy your summer vacation… Melody.

For a moment, it seemed the silver on Selena’s choker gleamed brighter for the briefest of instances.

“Okay, now that the laundry is all put up, it is time for other chores! I need to get everything done before dear sister has returned.”

A refreshing voice hummed a bright tune, and the sounds traveled across the Luthorburg estate.

As a certain someone said, a wonderful summer was about to begin.