“...Still not finished?”

The maid was surprised after I blurred out unconsciously. She was starting to look nervous, then avoided my gaze and tightened her lips. Did she think I’d scold her? I wasn't angry or anything, why was she so scared? 

Looking at her closely, this maid was one of the new servants who were just hired around half a year ago. To be allowed to attend the main buildings shortly after the probation period ended, she was quite skilled. But as a fresh recruit, she might still be on edge so as not to make a mistake. That must be why she was terrified right now. I didn't want her to misunderstand me more than she already had, so I just brushed her off casually and left.

Now that I think about it, lately every time I looked for Amy, she always seemed to be busy cleaning my room. Her job as my maid certainly included tidying my room every morning after I woke up, and making sure that everything inside was in order before I go to bed every night. Since it was a routine, she had been doing it every day even during the school year when I was away from the mansion. At this point, I doubted it would take so much of her time to finish.

I don't remember doing something to dirty my room either. Speaking of maids…

I still couldn't find any clue about that particular maid. I only heard the voice of her mind that morning from the area behind the kitchen once and that’s it. I never heard or discovered anything else. Well, besides paying attention to Theo’s mental state, now I had to accompany Clara and there’s our treasure hunt-cum-my matchmaking activity. Oh, I also had to think of a countermeasure if Grandmother really did discover the new weaving technique first… No wonder I couldn’t focus on finding her.

My body shivered every time I recalled how malicious her mind sounded. She had a deep-rooted hatred and grudge inside her heart. That time, she was thinking about me, wasn’t she? It came as such a shock that I didn’t remember what exactly she thought, but I believed it said something about ruining the family. And that’s also what other people had been saying about me, the Boar Princess who would bring ruin to the Grand Duchy of Bellux.

If she hates me that much, we may have known each other previously… If not, it’s hard to imagine how she ended up harboring monstrous malice toward me. The problem is, I can’t remember her at all.

According to the game plot, that maid became one of the loyal supporters of the villainess long before Theo was adopted. After all, she was already by the spoiled princess’s side when he first came to the Grand Duchy.

Was she her maid? But Amy couldn’t be her, right? 

Amy had been my maid for as far as I can remember, and I could say for sure that she was incapable of having evil thoughts. She was rude towards her master sometimes, but I knew there was no hidden meaning beneath those thoughts of hers. They were akin to an elder sister’s urge to tease her younger sibling, which I also understood more recently. So, I guess that maid wasn't here because Amy was chosen instead?

Huh? Doesn't this mean… the plot has deviated since back then?

Somehow I didn’t know if I should be happy about it or not. Don't get me wrong, this realization was a good thing, but how should I put it? It felt like I'd been a fool. Like I had made a mountain out of a molehill. Well, to be fair, I bet anyone would panic if they were put in my shoes. 

Suddenly getting flooded by foreign memories and finding out you had a huge death flag fluttering over your head… Yeah, you definitely have a few screws loose if you can stay calm.

If changes had happened that long ago, was it safe to assume that this world was already deviating far from the game plot? If so, how should I proceed from now on? Should I be more relaxed and just go with the flow? …No, that didn't feel right. The major events had taken place even with all these changes, so this world must have still followed the game plot. 

Let's be wary like how it was originally planned. Better safe than sorry.

With my mind wandering off like this, I walked towards my bedroom on the second floor of the east building. 

The world was quiet and peaceful since I turned my ability off. It’s been such a long time that instead of fear, now the silence felt so good I began to doze off. The sound of rustling leaves and chirping birds only made my eyes heavier and heavier, and a yawn almost escaped my mouth. If the kids and servants persuaded me to lay down now, I would be out in mere seconds. 

In this quiet corridor, Clara's faint hums echoed from my left earring as if it were a background song to the sound of my footsteps. In contrast, Theo didn’t talk at all except for the occasional “this way” or “over here”. The sounds implied that Clara has stopped her feets several times while being stunned by the artwork dotting our mansion. Her amazed whispers could be heard several times. Even without my ability, I was certain that her mind had been squealing, “As expected of the Grand Duke’s mansion!”

Not long after, Theo suddenly spoke more than two words. 

[This is the inner garden. In its center is the greenhouse.]

[Yes. We had afternoon tea there yesterday, right?]

[...Let's find the gardener and ask where the well is.]

Theo… Isn't your tone a bit too flat?

As soon as they arrived, Theo quickly went to search for the gardeners. I told him to show Clara around the garden, but he sounded like he didn’t intend to do so. Was he upset that I gave Clara the necklace after all? I admitted that Clara's reaction was indeed a bit too much. With her eyes tearing up, cheeks blushing, and then humming happily along the way, she exaggerated. I did catch various emotions flashing across his eyes earlier, I failed to identify what they were though. Well, at least Theo didn't talk or act inappropriately toward her, and he also didn't leave her when she was dazed in the middle of the corridor.

The gardeners usually worked indoors at the greenhouse in the afternoon so they headed inside. Now was around the same time we had tea yesterday, so the view inside should still be fresh in Clara's memory. Nevertheless, a small gasp of awe was sent to me.

[I think so too yesterday, but the greenhouse sure is beautiful. Moreover, being here is so calming.] 

Clara voiced her admiration frankly with soft chuckles. She was nervous ever since she arrived at the mansion, but being given a present seemed to ease her mood a lot. She even felt like starting a conversation now. Yet there’s no response from Theo. 

[What a nice smell... Is it coming from the flowers here? But I think it’s kind of different from the smell of flowers.]

Not scared away by the boy’s silent treatment, Clara kept trying to pull Theo into a conversation. She was like a frightened mouse around him most of the time before, now she sounded like a cheerful, or rather, fearless one. Perhaps their previous bickering had also helped embolden her to talk to him more. 

Regardless, I was happy to hear Clara tried her best to get along with Theo. Someone as awkward and difficult as me was saved by her kindness and friendliness, and I wanted Theo to be too. That’s why the silence from my right earring was unbearable. After a few torturous minutes, a calm voice finally replied.

[These smells must be coming from the herbs being nurtured here. Since there are various kinds, they created a unique mixture of scents.]

…Oh?

[I see. I didn’t know herbs could smell so good. Their scent also mixed well with the flowers.]

[...Now that you mentioned it, the scents are indeed blended harmoniously. I wonder if all of the flowers and herbs here were deliberately chosen.]

Ooh!?

[Really?! Wow, as you would expect from the Grand Duchy, even the plants on their premise were carefully selected.]

[Right, the Grand Duchy is amazing. …Actually, I haven't had a chance to tour the greenhouse yet. I will ask Elder Sister about it later.]

Oooh!!

[Is that so? Then, would you like to look around a little now, Young Master? And we can ask the gardener to tell us more about the plants here.]

[...Hmm. I think we can do that.]

Woohoo!! You did it, Clara!

I couldn’t help but applaud her after hearing the smile in Theo's voice. This wasn’t their longest conversation, but I could feel that it was their first heart-to-heart. Theo's flat tone earlier was no more, and both of them sounded relaxed as they continued to chat. 

So, Theo is not mad. Hmm, he was indeed taking care of Clara and being more patient with her despite that behavior. But, doesn’t it seem like the roles of the host and the guest have been swapped?

I initially thought that his obedience was due to my scolding, but perhaps he genuinely felt he was at fault for being antagonistic against Clara unreasonably. I trusted there were some good feelings among those that I caught flashing across his eyes at that time. And above all, I was just relieved that they could have a normal interaction without me being the topic.

The greenhouse was big and spacious, but they could easily spot the workers clad in overall. From the rustling sound, the gardeners must’ve stopped their work to greet their little visitors.

[Greetings Young Master and dear miss guest. How may we be of assistance today?]

The gruff voice of an old man echoed from the earrings. This friendly and polite way of speech was Philip's, the chief gardener. 

[Apologies for disturbing your work. We wanted to look around the greenhouse for a bit, is that possible?]

[Why, of course. Please allow this old man to be the guide.]

[Thank you. That would be helpful.]

Then, their short tour began. It might be just a guess but Theo was right about the plants in the greenhouse being purposely selected. The one responsible for that now was Philip. Aside from being the chief gardener, he was Old Man Green's, youngest and last disciple. The greenhouse was built according to the botanist’s request, so the care of the plants including the building itself has been the responsibility of his disciples since back then.

Philip was originally a scholar and a teacher so he's naturally good at explaining things. He succeeded in grabbing Theo’s and Clara’s attention in no time. They sounded like they were having fun listening to Philip talking about the plants. It's no surprise now but, aside from many seasonal flowers and common herbs, we also had some rare miraculous plants such as the famous Tree of Life. In regards to this, although Theo didn’t know about it yet, Philip wouldn't deliberately mention it without the family head's permission. 

Good, good. The plan is proceeding smoothly.

"What—?!"

Suddenly, a shout rang through the corridor. It was cut short by hushing voices, but it was enough for stopping my feet. It took me a few seconds to realize the sound wasn't coming from the earrings but from a room not far in front of me. Its door was slightly opened, allowing the chatter of those inside to drift out to the corridor. 

Peeking inside, these servants' faces were unfamiliar so they might be the other recruits. But, unlike that one maid earlier, they were wearing a laundress uniform and were in the middle of changing the sheet of this guest room. Gathering dirty clothes and changing the sheets in the bedrooms in the main building was usually the job of the maids while washing them was solely the laundress's job. But I guessed they were sometimes asked to do the maid's jobs in an unused room like this. 

The two women were whispering to each other. One of them looked upset as the other tried to calm her even though she herself was still visibly shaken.

"Are you alright? Did she hit you?"

"No, no, she didn’t. I'm fine, really."

"You're not fine at all! You realize how pale you look right now?"

"...It must've been my mistake. That's why she got mad."

"Bullsh*t! It's not your fault! You've washed them clean this morning, I saw it!"

"But those stains—"

"It must be that hag! She’s the one who got it dirty again!"

"Hey, don't accuse someone without proof."

The irritated laundress was stomping her foot unconsciously, yet the victim was softly reprimanding her instead. This was more effective than her previous attempts to pacify her angry friend since the complaints stopped. But in the end, she still grunted, convinced at her hunch.

"Who else if not her? She should be the one to re-wash all those clothes."

"Hey…"

"Okay, okay. I'll stop there. Let’s get this done first, I’ll help you do the re-washing later."

"What? No, you don't have to do that."

"It's alright. We can finish it quickly that way. Don't let it get to you. Everyone knows that old hag is mad all the time."

…Was there bullying among the servants? 

I couldn't help wondering as I was listening to them. Honestly, this came as a shock as I've never heard a sign of something like this happening among the workers. 

…No, maybe I just haven't heard it yet. 

Although I was constantly practicing the wide-range mode of my thought-hearing ability, I never used it when I walked around. And, since covering the whole premise of the mansion was still impossible for me, you could say I hadn’t actually reached everyone with my ability. If so, then there's a possibility that I missed the sign. 

Thinking about informing the Butler and head of all the servants, Gareth, I quietly left the room. I would surely give them a heart attack if those two new servants found me there. But their conversation stayed in my mind. I was curious about who this old hag was. From what I heard, she might be a laundress too. One of them also claimed that 'everyone' seemed to be familiar with her bad character. Did that mean this woman was a senior servant who’s been working with us for a long time? Or did the pissed laundress just call her an old hag as an insult and she wasn't an old person?

I have to tell Gareth to report to me later. “That” maid is also a haughty one in the game thanks to her gaining the villainess’ favor—

My steps were halted once again. It just occurred to me that this might be a clue to finding “that” maid. After all, birds of the same feather flock together, so this bad-tempered laundress might know something about her. 

Aargh! I should have turned on my ability just now! I might be able to catch what that laundress looks like from their minds.

Should I find the butler now instead of going to my room? The sooner I told him, the sooner I could get a report. And maybe, we could even prevent an unwanted situation. But… I didn't know where he was.

As the head of servants, he ran around the mansion every day supervising the servants' work. He was super busy even with the assistance of the housekeeper, who's in charge of the maids that numbered half of the workers here. At this time of the day, he could be in the kitchen helping the cooks to prepare dinner. Or he could be tidying the guest rooms in the center building with the maids before Clark and Clara used them again tonight. He even could be in Grandmother's workshop, assisting with her new research. I always thought it was kind of funny how Gareth memorized everyone's schedule, but we were never sure of his. 

Maybe Amy knows?

I gave up on finding him on my own and resumed my steps, going up the stairs to the second floor of the east building. 

The east building mainly consisted of bedrooms. There were a few guest rooms, a dining hall, and a kitchen on the first floor. My room, Theo’s room, and our grandparents' and parents' rooms were all on the second floor. Father's study was on this floor too. Lastly, the third floor was where Gareth and the housekeeper, Gwen's room were, along with the rooms of several personal servants of the Bellux family members. 

The rest of the servants and workers were provided a room in different buildings. We had 2 three-story mansion blocks located not far to the north. The men and women were separated, and each building had a loggia as a connecting corridor with the main buildings.

By the way, Grandmother's workshop was the furthest north of the other buildings. 

The moment I arrived on the second floor, an incoherent singing voice welcomed me. The closer I was to my room, the louder it sounded. Instead of music, the stupid lyrics were accompanied by an arrhythmic rubbing sound of a rag, making it even more chaotic. I deliberately called out to her when I entered the room since she didn’t seem to notice me staring at her with squinted eyes. 

"What are you doing?"

With a jolt, the song instantly stopped. Amy turned and then gaped at me as I waltzed to a chair and sat. A few seconds had passed without a single word being uttered until she slowly straightened up from her frozen posture of wiping the bedside drawer.

"I'm cleaning your room, Milady."

She replied to me normally yet her eyes darted around avoiding mine. I bet her mind was a mess right now. It was clear from how tense her body was, anxious to run away that instant. I never chided her about her hobby, far from that, I usually just let her be. But there were some times that I wasn’t just in the mood, and she could sense that right now.

Let’s let her off the hook. “Amy, do you know where Gareth is at this hour?”

“He must be in the kitchen supervising the cooks in dinner preparation. Do you need something from the Butler?”

You sure looked relieved when I changed the subject. “Yeah, something came up. Can you tell him to come to find me when he’s done?”

“Understood. I’ll go inform him now.”

Amy bowed slightly before tidying up her cleaning tools. She was about to leave the room when I asked what was up with all the cleaning lately. She didn’t answer me immediately and just stood at the door in silence. I blurted that out casually, I didn’t expect her to be at a loss for words. After seemingly mulling over whatever it was that concerned her, Amy turned to face me again and sighed helplessly.

“My apologies. I seem to be unable to figure out where all the dust is coming from yet.”

“Dust?”

“Yes. The dust has easily gathered in Milady’s room for more than a month now. The cleaning in the morning has been done without fail every day, yet the furniture was already covered in a light layer of dust just a few hours afterward.”

"Isn't that because we keep the windows open longer during summer?"

“I also concluded as much at first. However, even when all the windows were closed, they still piled up. And it was even more than when the windows were open.”

“So it didn’t come from the outside of the room.”

“We have checked the whole room and found nothing wrong. We even cleaned the fireplace once again, but it still doesn't get any better. This never happened before…” 

Dust came into my room from somewhere… Happened just a month or so ago, close to the time of my awakening… Clues about The Legendary Wand hiding place which leads to the fireplace… 

My eyes were glued to the fireplace involuntarily. Come to think of it, the placement of the fireplace in my room was different from other rooms on this floor. Others were built into the outer wall of the building, they were placed between the windows and behind the veranda. Meanwhile, mine was built into an inner wall and was at the center of the room.

"Milady, please be patient for a little bit more. I will be sure to find the source soon."

No, no, no… Really? Isn't this… too easy? There's no way such a convenient coincidence existed. Still, all the clues that we’ve found so far… 

My heart began to hammer at this new information. Without fully aware of it, I'd already walked to the fireplace and started to inspect it closely, ignoring Amy who was startled at my sudden movements. 

"Lady Eira?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, no problem. You can take your time."

"...Is there something wrong with the fireplace?"

I'd just responded to her without looking away from the flower sculpture adorning the lintel. Now that she asked this, I was reminded of my initial goal of looking for her. But I guessed I didn't need her help anymore since I'd most likely found the right place.

"I don't know. You and the others had checked the room, right? I just thought that maybe I can do it too. Who knows if I can find something."

"I see. Then please let me help you."

"I'll be fine. More importantly, please inform Gareth that I'm looking for him."

Amy finally left the room. Well, even when I still needed to check all the fireplaces one by one, I would tell her to find Gareth first before helping me. On top of all, it would be dangerous if this fireplace turned out to be the real deal. I didn't want Amy to run around the mansion in panic announcing that I found the Legendary Wand and ended up arousing the suspicion of me being the long-awaited new Mage. 

Hmm… There's nothing here.

After staring at every nook of the fireplace, I didn't find anything that could indicate it was a special spot. I thought that maybe there was a hidden Rune or a Magic Circuit cleverly sculpted between the decorations, but there was none. Doubt began to form. 

I looked around, and the bedside drawer that Amy was cleaning earlier caught my eye. She didn’t finish wiping it, so there’s still a layer of dust covering one of its surfaces. I swept and tried to feel it with my finger, but, as expected, it was impossible to tell if it was dust or ashes. I glanced back at the elegantly decorated fireplace. I had checked the outside, then…

Maybe… There is something inside the firebox?

It's summer. We have no use for the fireplaces this season except for the kitchen, so they were covered with a three-panel fire screen. I had yet to look inside the firebox, but before that, I had to confirm something.

The room below mine was an empty guest room. I almost broke into running as I was heading down the stairs. It was a good thing that no one seemed to be on the first floor; the two laundresses had finished their work and left. My heart skipped a beat when I found that the fireplace in this room was built in the same way as other rooms—into the outer wall and between the windows. The layout of this room was the same as mine above, yet only the fireplace was in a different place. 

The buildings in our mansion used stacked chimneys that extended through each floor. Therefore, the location of the fireplace in the rooms on the first floor was the same as in the rooms above it. But in this guest room, there was only a landscape painting hanging on the wall where the fireplace should have been built. Behind the painting? Nothing but a plain white wall. 

That thick wall between my bedroom windows, I'm sure its size is approximately the same as this fireplace. The chimney must have extended up through the inside of that wall.

Then, what about the room above mine? Since my room was spacious, there were two maid quarters above it. They belonged to Amy and Gwen. Both of them had a fireplace in the corner of their rooms with a connecting flue. The maids won't be in their room right now, but I wouldn’t check their rooms, especially Gwen’s. She was a bit of a clean freak, but still freaky enough that she could tell if you had entered her room without permission even when you didn't touch anything. I didn't want to cause a commotion for trespassing, and I believed there was no need for me to check their rooms. The oddity I found here was enough to make my excitement flare up again.

I rushed back to my room, then carefully removed the fire screen. I had to do this before Amy came back. Proportional to the size of my room, this fireplace was big. Nevertheless, I needed to bend down to enter and once inside, I had to be on my knees so my head didn't touch the throat of the firebox. 

Being inside a cramped space like this makes me overly conscious of my big body…

True to Amy's words, there was indeed a bit of ash, or rather, dust inside the firebox, even though we never used the fireplace during summer. This further convinced me that there was another room behind this fireplace. The dust there must have been blown in here through small gaps in the wall.

I touched the corners of the firebox, trying to find anything that could trigger the mechanism to open the “door”, but this was difficult. I couldn’t distinguish whether what I was feeling was just an ordinary rough surface of a stone or something else.

It's a bit dark here. <Light-orb>

Using the light from the orb I created using Magic, my eyes immediately caught a strange, embossed surface, no bigger than my thumb, at the back of the lintel. After rubbing away the dust, it revealed itself to be a Rune. My lips almost broke into a silly grin as I realized its meaning, "gate".

Wow… It's really here… It’s an ancient Rune. No wonder the others didn’t recognize it. Now, how do I open it? Simply touching it seemed to do nothing. Maybe it needs Magic Power?

I channeled my Magic Power to the Rune, but it only glowed faintly for a second before going back to its original state. I poured in more, but all that could do was prolong the glow by a few seconds. Even the light was no brighter than it was before. Looking around, there were no other Runes in case this "gate" Rune was part of a Magic Circuit. I guessed I could only pour my Magic Power until it opened. 

But how much did it need? I didn't know what this embossed carving was made of, but it clearly wasn't the same stone as the fireplace. If I made a mistake, the fireplace could explode. Feeling impatient, I rub the Rune repeatedly, trying to figure it out.

It's black and feels cold. Is it some kind of metal instead of stone? But— "Ouch!!"

My thumb accidentally scraped the sharp part of the carving and now it's bleeding. 

Oh, great…

I was cursing inside my mind when suddenly the Rune flashed a white light. It's shining so bright, but only the part where it got my blood. 

Almost by reflex, I smeared my blood all over the Rune, ignoring the stinging pain. Once all of it was shining, the carving felt like it could be moved under my thumb. Without much thinking, I immediately pressed the Rune carving like a button. There was a *click* sound, followed by numerous clacking as the stones behind me moved to open a hidden door.