Chapter 39
Lunchtime.
With a tray holding a sandwich aloft by telekinesis, I stood before Senior Estelle's room, where she was in detention.
Knock-knock- I knocked, and I heard a flurry of movement inside before the door opened.
“Ah, it's already lunchtime... Huh? Lu, Luna?!”
Senior Estelle, who opened the door, widened her eyes at the sight of me in a maid uniform.
Clearly startled, she kept blinking before bursting into a long-suppressed laugh.
“You... aren't you laughing a little too openly?”
“Ahahaha...! S-sorry! Sorry. But I know I shouldn't say this, but... Luna, you... do you know how cute you look? Ahahahaha!!”
I clicked my tongue, tapping at the frills on the maid outfit.
“I wasn't exactly trying to be cute, you know.”
With an unsatisfied look, I brushed past Senior Estelle and stepped into the room.
Senior Estelle giggled at my reaction, then started gathering up the papers scattered on the floor.
Now that I looked, quite a lot of the papers plastered thickly on the walls and floor had been torn down.
“Were you cleaning up?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Senior Estelle gave me a sidelong glance and shrugged.
“I've had everything stripped away from me, like top-student privileges and scholarship status. Next semester I'll be staying in Edelweiss Hall, and I can't exactly stick things like this on the walls there either, can I?”
Edelweiss Hall is the lowest-ranked dormitory students use.
The rooms are small, and more importantly, she'd be living in the same space as other students. There'd probably be a lot of restrictions on how she could use the room.
“Still, isn't it a waste to peel it all off like this?”
“Mm~ not really?”
Senior Estelle shook her head with a carefree expression, as if she truly didn't mind.
“If anything, I'm relieved I can clear everything out all at once now. Truth is, I should have torn it all down ages ago.”
Even so, her hands were surprisingly meticulous as she tore the paper away.
Fidgeting and dawdling like that made her look pathetic and full of lingering attachment, and before I knew it, a snort of laughter slipped out.
“Then just tear it apart all at once. Why are you peeling each one off so carefully?”
“That won't do. I need to turn these blueprints and circuit diagrams into a family tree and sell them to my juniors, of course...”
Senior Estelle's gaze shifted to the paper in front of the desk, the one with her resolution written on it.
‘I can do it!’
A flame flared in her eyes as she glared at the memo.
“Though things like this, which I can't even sell, are useless.”
-RIP!
The papers that had trapped Senior Estelle—her resolutions—were torn to shreds.
At the sight of it, I couldn't help but snicker.
She definitely hadn't sorted out her feelings yet. She was still probably in a complicated state of mind.
Still, seeing her shake it off like that made her look better than I'd expected.
It's Senior Estelle, after all. She'd probably be back to normal in no time and drag me around everywhere again.
“It's going to take a while to tear all this down. Eat lunch first, then keep going.”
When I set down the tray I'd floated over with telekinesis on the desk, Senior Estelle's eyes sparkled.
“I was just hungry, thanks~ See? There's no one but Luna for me.”
With a bright smile, she picked up the potato-salad sandwich and took a huge bite.
Munch munch.
As she chewed the sandwich, her expression gradually stiffened.
The corners of her mouth sank lower and lower, and soon she was peering inside the sandwich with a flustered expression.
“...Luna.”
“Why?”
“Did you, by any chance, make this?”
Feeling oddly guilty, I averted my eyes.
“Well... I didn't make it myself... I just helped a little, I guess...?”
Senior Estelle set the sandwich back down, then forced it down with an awkward smile.
“The potato salad inside... tastes incredibly unique.”
“...”
“How should I put it? It's both crumbly and mushy... Anyway, something's a little off.”
“...”
“It's not easy for potatoes to have this much personality.”
Senior Estelle looked at me seriously once more and said,
“Luna, you should never cook again.”
“...Just eat it. Think of this as a kind of punishment.”
*
A languid afternoon, with a gentle spring breeze blowing.
With summer drawing near, the sun beating down was sharper than usual.
On a day like this, I should be taking a power nap on the rooftop of the Mage Hall, getting some proper sleep in my room, dozing in the ghost-story research club's office—anyway, I should be napping.
“Ugh...”
Here I was, standing rigid in the middle of the lounge with a teapot in hand. I couldn't help wondering what on earth I was doing.
“Lunaris, my cup's empty.”
This was all because Senior Miriel was monopolizing the long sofa all by herself and enjoying teatime.
“Would you pour me a cup yourself?”
She rested her chin elegantly and slid the teacup toward me.
The refined little ohoho- smile on her face couldn't be more infuriating.
“...Senior, don't you have class this afternoon?”
“Lunaris, did you know? Enjoying teatime is also part of the Department of Political Science curriculum.”
“When did Linea Hall become a classroom?”
It was surprising enough that they were running a four-day lecture schedule, but to think remote work(?) was active too. In the black companies of 21st-century Korea, you couldn't even dream of that.
No way... was the genre fantasy because of this...!
“Of course, on normal days we have teatime in the Council Hall where the lecture rooms are. But...”
Trailing off, Senior Miriel looked me up and down—more precisely, the maid uniform I was wearing—and drew a deep smile.
“With such an enjoyable event waiting for me, how could I possibly resist.”
Ohohoho-
Her loud, ringing laughter made her sound like a villainess through and through.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and pour the tea. My arm's about to fall off.”
“Ghh...!”
As I silently filled the cup, contorting my face miserably, Senior Miriel's laughter only grew louder.
“My, your hand's shaking. What if you spill it?”
“Just drink it already. A drop or two won't even show.”
“Do you know? One drop of this is a whole gold ingot.”
...Huh?
“D-don't lie to me.”
“Hehe. Doesn't seem like it, does it? Rumor has it this tea increases the mana in your body, so at the Magic Tower it's sold for whatever price they ask.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. So be careful not to break the teapot you're holding right now~”
“...”
“Of course, I won't make you pay for it if you make a mistake, so don't worry.”
Senior Miriel moistened her lips with the tea, saying that if one teapot could buy my favor, it was a cheap deal.
“Mm- not bad.”
I couldn't tell whether she was commenting on the tea or judging how I looked in the maid uniform.
Well, probably both.
*
...I'm dying.
I really think I'm going to die.
Being a maid is truly an extreme occupation.
It's exhausting both physically and mentally.
“Miss Lunaris, how was your day today?”
As I lay face-down on the break-room table, groaning like I was dying, Ms. Odette, sitting across from me, asked while elegantly sipping tea.
No, how was that supposed to be a question?
“I'm tired... I want to quit...”
“You've only done one day. You'll need to keep it up until the week after next.”
“...You're joking, right?”
Instead of answering, Odette looked at me with a faint smile.
The silent affirmation made me flinch.
“Do you understand our maids' hardships now?”
“Mm... I didn't want to know, but...”
At my whining, Ms. Odette gave a low chuckle and set down the teacup in her hand.
“It's a bit sudden, but, Miss Lunaris.”
“Why... what are you making me do now...”
“Thank you for protecting Linea Hall and the maids in my absence.”
At her sudden words of thanks, I slowly lifted my head.
“...You don't need to thank me. I'm one of the accomplices who helped wreck Linea Hall too.”
“If it hadn't been for you, miss, the damage would have been far greater.”
Embarrassed for no reason, I just scratched my head.
Honest words like that felt strangely embarrassing.
“Don't just say thank you—cut my punishment time a bit. Like, a week or so?”
At my words, Ms. Odette smiled sweetly and shook her head firmly.
“Absolutely not, miss.”
*
After the short break ended, Ms. Odette handed me today's final task.
-All you need to do is clean this room.
That was how I ended up in a particularly large and quiet room on the top floor of Linea Hall.
The moment I stepped inside, I tilted my head without thinking.
“...Is there anything to clean?”
It already seemed perfect.
What, was I supposed to clean even the dust I couldn't see?
I glanced around half-heartedly.
Come to think of it, this room wasn't merely luxurious.
Every piece of furniture here was sleek and refined. They must have spent a fortune...
My wandering gaze landed on the huge bed in the center of the room.
...I could tell at a glance that it had an extraordinary aura.
“Oh...”
Like I was under a spell, I walked over to the bed and placed a hand on the sheets.
The soft warmth that reached my fingertips made my face loosen into a dazed grin without me realizing it.
This is... insane.
This softness that transcended reality... was soft enough to die for...!
Entranced, I flopped onto the bed and rubbed my face against it.
“Ah... this is happiness.”
It felt as if my fatigue was melting away like snow.
Heaven wasn't... far away after all... This is heaven...
I thought the bed in my room was top-class for the empire.
But this bed was on a whole different level.
As expected, there is always a sky above the sky.
Should I just sleep for five minutes and get up...
“...Hup. No, can't do that.”
I snapped upright and slapped my cheeks with both palms, pat-pat.
Get a grip. I came here to clean, remember? Even if there doesn't seem to be anything to do.
I straightened the rumpled blanket and looked around again.
Suddenly, a small ornament on the desk caught my eye.
...Wait. That pattern engraved there looks familiar. Where have I seen it?
As I groped through the far side of memory, a recollection suddenly surfaced.
I'm sure the seal stamped on the Imperial Mage Corps recommendation letter I burned looked like this.
Hold on. Then could this room be...?
Someone from the imperial family's...?
At that very moment, the door suddenly opened.
“Huaaah... I'm tired...”
At the languid voice, I reflexively turned my head.
My eyes met those of a girl who had naturally walked into the room.
“Ah, the cleaning isn't finished yet...”
She had barely finished sighing when she gave a startled twitch.
“...Wait, Lunaris?”
I stared at her blankly.
Soft blonde hair and mysterious violet eyes.
A face I remembered.
“Ah, the one I saw in the interview waiting room.”
Wait. Then this room's owner is...
The puzzle pieces snapped together in my head in an instant.
The same year as me.
The appearance described in the original novel.
The imperial seal.
And above all, the bed sheets boasting an unreal softness.
“...Princess Celestina?”
“Why are you here... Ah, come to think of it, you're starting service today... Wait! M-more importantly, you knew who I was? Since when?!”
I deliberately tried to seem calm and bowed slightly at the waist.
“I'm sorry I'm late, Your Highness. I'm done cleaning, so I'll be going now.”
It was the very moment I turned to leave the room.
“W-wait!”
The princess suddenly grabbed my wrist.
I stopped walking and quietly looked down at her hand gripping my arm.
Her grip seemed stronger than I expected.
“Um... Lunaris.”
“...”
“Just a moment, just a very brief moment... could you talk with me?”