Chapter 5 - I - Maddie's regret
Of course, it felt bad. Really bad.
“…”
I didn’t expect Maddie to get angry like that, nor did I wish for Lily to fight her friend…
Yes, and all of that is because of me.
If I understood what Maddie blurted out earlier, Lily’s ‘weird’ actions all amounted to being jealous of her friend for getting engaged to me.
What the hell? Me? A total stranger and nobody from another world? This must be a good joke!
Honestly, this was the first time that I encountered such fights between two girls for that reason. I mean, hey, I’m a former teacher, and I solved cases like this before. But the guy involved was someone else, and not me exactly. And I believed, if my memory serves me right, it’s usually the boy’s fault that things turned ugly; he just couldn’t keep his hands on his pants.
I couldn’t even remember when I seduced Maddie and Lily. Nor did I try to; you know my story.
Just what the hell on Chersea happened?
Anyway, this wasn’t the time to panic. I need to solve this problem before it gets worse than it should.
“…”
So let’s see…Maddie’s angry with Lily because she felt like her friend’s trying to limit her movement, especially regarding me. And Lily’s mad with Maddie because she’s jealous of Her Holiness, or because of me getting all the attention when she’s been with her all the time…or it can be both.
Well damn…if I was a teacher, at least I had some authority to force a solution between these girls. It sure felt different when you know that you’re the source of the problem itself.
Ah…what should I do?
I quickly got up and, intending to take my mind off from the issue at hand for a bit, I went to the library. Perhaps reading some books there would give me an idea of how to solve this problem.
“…”
But then again, when I finally reached the library, I just didn’t know what I would want to read. The fight between Maddie and Lily remained at the back of my mind, no matter how hard I tried to focus on the book I was reading.
You know, I’m already thinking…what if I didn’t get summoned here? Will everything be alright?
“…”
Well, that black-haired Saint told me before that if I hadn’t come, Maddie would be dead by suicide. And Lily would be insane because of her brother’s death.
Ahh…I don’t know anymore.
“!!!”
I suddenly heard a loud thud come from somewhere inside that forest of shelves holding the books and tomes. And then, what followed was a series of smaller thuds, showing that books were falling on the carpet. I quickly went around to check on the source of that noise.
“Ow…”,
Wait, I know that small voice! It’s—
“Eris? What are you doing there?”
I was surprised to see little Eris on the top of the pile of books that fell from its shelves. I didn’t think that she hurt herself that bad, despite that, those falling books were thick enough to cause enough pain to any unfortunate head it hits.
“Are you okay, Eris?” I immediately removed the books that trapped her. Those were kind of heavy, especially when it piled up like what happened to her. Fortunately, Eris could shield her head from those using magic, so it caused little harm to her, save for a few sore muscles her magic failed to protect.
“W-what h-happened?” she asked me, quite dazed.
“Those books fell on you.” I explained, “Are you okay? What are you doing to cause such an accident?”
“Oh…right.” Eris seemed to remember her original purpose, “Well, Eris is looking for some books to read.”
“I see.” I chuckled, “But it seems like you went in for the wrong shelf, huh?”
“Hm? Is Mister Kuro making fun of Eris?” she pouted.
“Ah no, my bad.” I quickly apologized, and then reached out my hand towards her, “Come on! Whatever you’re looking for, I’ll help you with that.”
Eris then happily took my help and said, “Well, Eris is searching for a map.”
“A map? What for?”
“Well, Big Sis Head Maid asked Eris to do it for her.”
“Huh?” When she said ‘Big Sis Head Maid’, I quickly suspect that it’s Lily, “You mean, Lily?”
Eris nodded.
“She asked you for a map?”
“Yes. Eris was surprised to see the Big Sis Head Maid with wet eyes earlier, so Eris asked her what’s wrong. She shook her head, telling Eris that her eyes just caught something.” Eris smiled triumphantly, “But Eris knew that Big Sis Head Maid is lying!”
“Well, of course, she is!” I was about to tell Eris about the incident between the Saint and the head maid, but I ultimately decided against it in the end. It was better that Maddie would be the one to share it, or Lily, should they ever decide to. Eris was too young for such matters.
“Hmm? Does Mister Kuro know anything about Big Sis Head Maid’s problem?”
“Me?” I fiercely shook my head, “I-I don’t! I’m just concerned…”
“Ah…Eris understands.” Eris nodded, “Well, Eris knew that she’s too young to be of help, so she’ll just tell Mister Kuro what Eris knows about Big Sis Head Maid’s problem.”
“Oh? So you know about it, huh?”
“Yes…Eris thinks that Big Sis Head Maid’s problem is because of this.”
“!!!”
Eris produced a folded piece of paper from her uniform’s apron. I was puzzled by it, so I took it from her hand.
“What’s this?” I asked, carefully reading the contents of the letter, which was addressed to Lily herself as the princess of the kingdom of Nerfes. It’s from someone named Nicholas Galahad von Leese.
“That’s a letter from Big Sis Head Maid’s father.” I heard Eris say.
Oh…
Well, by the looks of it, this letter was something I don’t want to read even if it’s addressed to me. This Nicholas person was telling Lily to stay away from their house’s royal fiefs.
For short, she’s being told off in her country.
“What’s up with this guy?” I couldn’t imagine such words being said to someone as dear as your daughter, but then again, who am I to say that? I’m a stranger here, “Why is he telling this to Lily if he’s her father?”
“Eris doesn’t know much about that matter, Mister Kuro.” she admitted, “What Eris heard, however, is that Big Sis Head Maid was exiled from Nerfes when she first came here.”
“Ha? Exiled?” I may never fully comprehend Lily’s pain, but well, I’m still in shock by what I just learned, “Why? And we just came from that place!”
“Well, it’s not that Mister Kuro and Her Holiness went to the royal lands of the House of von Leese. Technically, Big Sis Head Maid didn’t set foot on the forbidden fiefs, so her father is okay with it. However, Prince Nicholas felt threatened and wouldn’t stay quiet when his daughter is nearby, so maybe that’s the reason Big Sis Head Maid got that letter…”
“…” I could only stare blankly at the folded paper that I’m holding. I wasn’t able to find the right words to say. Coming from a place where familial ties were a strong culture, I couldn’t think of anything more painful than this. Truth be told, even if I’m not the one being addressed in the letter, I could still feel and understand the hurt and insecurities of being an unwanted child.
And so that’s why Lily said before that she did nothing right…and that would also explain Maddie’s horrified look when she said bad things about her friend. The head maid just wanted to feel that she’s needed all along!
Fuck, I’m so insensitive! What have I done!?
However, now that some things were quite clear to me, there’s one last thing that I needed to know.
“Hey, Eris, by the way, how did you land your hands on this letter? Isn’t this a personal one?”
“Oh, Eris was the one currently in charge of the laundry of the servants in her department, as well as that of the Big Sis Head Maid. So Eris saw that inside Big Sis Head Maid’s uniform. It seems like she forgot to remove it before giving it to Eris. Eris is about to give it to her, but then, Eris met Mister Kuro.”
“I see…” I nodded, but I hit Eris’ head anyway, “, I know I should be thankful for you regarding this, but don’t go rummaging through other people’s belongings and then reading their letters. Got that?”
“Uuu…” Eris held her head. Not that my fist hurt, but she’s surprised at the sudden gesture. Well, it’s better if she knew her limits for private property than letting her off the hook just because she was of help this time.
In the end, rummaging through someone’s properties is still disrespectful.
