To put it plainly, I panicked.

I was like a deer caught in front of a truck's head lights, and it paralyzed me to suddenly lose my purpose. The other maids had relieved me of my chores, and now my list of mission objectives was empty. I didn't know what to do or what to say anymore, and the excuses I had been hiding behind had abruptly disappeared.

Currently, I was idle.

And in my mind, idle = vulnerable.

If this had been my past life, Zhang Guiyu would have immediately excused herself from any social interaction. I probably would have gone home, climbed into bed, and turned on my Nintendo Switch with the window curtains shut. I often walked home from school like a fugitive — taking long detours if I spotted any of my classmates on the streets — because I didn't want to accidentally bump into them and get roped into a conversation. I've been told that ordinary people wave and say 'hi' to their classmates if they spot them outside of school, but I'm the exact opposite. My heart starts thumping whenever I stumble across an unplanned social interaction, and I'll immediately duck my head in the supermarket, hoping they didn't see me.

In this situation, I acted entirely on an instinct.

This was a matter of self-preservation!

I grabbed the nearest maid to me (her name was Nelle) and abruptly pulled her over. I didn't give any explanation, and she almost yelped in surprise when I seized her hand. Then, I turned to Kang Jiesu and bowed as deeply and sincerely as possible.

"My deep apologies, my lord." I said (in Galuterican). "There is something else I must take care of. Allow me to introduce you to Miss Nelle. She is a very capable and experienced maid, and I am sure she can see to your needs."

Nelle, the maid, had a shocked pikachu face.

Kang, on the other hand, just seemed confused.

Of course, the statement that I had 'something else to take care of' was a blatant lie, but it was a scripted automated response. I had practically burned those lines into my memory, and I frequently resorted to that phrase whenever my brain froze.

Surprisingly, my body was still perfectly functional, and outwardly my motions still appeared very fluent, polite, and natural. I wasn't trembling, and I doubt anyone could tell that I was having an internal panic attack. Hanamarie's acting was almost flawless, and I probably looked like an excellent and self-composed maid to everyone around us.

To get the message across the language barrier, I helped them put two and two together. Fortunately, Nelle's arm was as limp as a rag doll, and I simply manipulated her hands a little and placed her dainty little palm directly in Kang's open grasp. Now they were holding hands, and even an idiot could tell that I was connecting the two of them in an extremely proper and totally platonic business relationship.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

Ironically, I didn't even know Nelle that well.

She was just an acquaintance, and she happened to be standing next to me when I panicked.

...Well, whatever!

I was sure she would be fine.

Most of the maids in the royal palace were already excellent, and I figured she would be excited to meet an Otherworldly hero.

I turned away, curtsied politely, and then (calmly) ran from the scene like my life depended on it.

∎

minacia

Short chapter today! Sorry! There's a lot of things I have on my plate, I just wanted to get this out!