Chapter 28 : The Reckless Maid and the Amnesiac Saint

Aileen Linst was originally a commoner.
She lost her father at a young age, and her mother abandoned her and disappeared when Aileen was six, leaving her and her two-year-younger brother to fend for themselves.

They were evicted from their home for not being able to pay rent, and at a young age, they had to survive in the slums.

Her brother, Gavin, was originally a kind and considerate younger brother who empathized with his older sister.

Until, when she was seven, she was adopted by the viscount’s head maid, and she gained the surname Linst.

She became a noble.

Her brother, however, was not so fortunate. Although Aileen often gave more than half of the money she earned to Gavin, extreme jealousy twisted his character beyond recognition.

Gavin used his sister’s financial support to buy equipment, learn swordsmanship, and become an adventurer.

Worried about her brother, Aileen bravely volunteered to learn physical combat from Selena.

Aileen progressed quickly, reaching the mid-tier level at a young age. When she suggested teaming up with her brother to become adventurers,

At that time, Gavin said these words to her:

“Are you going to come and steal my life again?”

Aileen was startled by her brother’s roar, whimpering as she fled back to the manor.

That was the first time her brother had roared at her. She felt that the brother she knew had long been unrecognizable.

After that, every time Gavin saw Aileen, he either asked for money or made demands of her.

In others’ eyes, Gavin always appeared to be a gentleman.

“Hey, give me your money! What, is that all?”

“Hey, in the Viscount’s manor, there are a few decent-looking maids, right? Introduce them to me.”

Aileen felt a sense of guilt towards Gavin; she couldn’t bring herself to refuse her brother’s requests.

Faced with Gavin’s increasingly frequent demands for money, she proactively asked Selena to let her become a maid.

After becoming a maid, she would receive a considerable salary, and combined with the Viscount’s never-ending generosity towards his maids, Gavin’s demands for money were finally satisfied.

Although she had talent for combat, she had no talent for being a maid.

‘Perhaps, this is what family is?’

Moreover, nearby, the young master named Schiller was also like this. He seemed unable to act against her due to Selena’s presence, but all the reviews she heard from colleagues about this young master were negative.

Only Celia, who was also taken in, wouldn’t allow others to speak ill of him. If she heard it, she would roar and get into a fight.

That was a very long time ago.

‘Are all boys like this?’

Her long life had already been corroded and made fragile by Gavin. When she thought of Gavin, she felt only a faint, indistinct anger and a sense of indifference.

So, when she saw Sheryl, her face flushed with shyness, utter the word “family,” a huge ripple ran through the depths of her heart.

‘That’s not family at all. Lady Sheryl must have misunderstood. Family should be something uglier, more infuriating.’

At least, it would never be a sweet, embarrassing feeling.

As for Selena, Aileen respected her as a teacher.

‘Where exactly is my family?’

The girl thought about such ephemeral stuff while preparing tea for the young master. Recently, she seemed to have become somewhat obsessed with brewing tea. When she saw the young master’s satisfied smile after drinking the tea she personally prepared, the corners of her mouth would also unconsciously curve upwards.

“~~If I had an older brother, he would definitely be as handsome as the Young Master.”

She hummed a lively tune in the kitchen. She had perfectly mastered Schiller’s palate. Recently, Schiller would always frown and look displeased when eating food prepared by others.

Aileen, on the other hand, meticulously noted every detail of Schiller’s actions, every preference, his sleep time, his waking time. For this purpose, she had prepared a whole box of diaries.

Years of twisted treatment made her involuntarily make mistakes. Perhaps, she even unconsciously enjoyed this process.

“Ow, I made a mistake again!” Aileen accidentally cut her hand, but she paid no mind to it.

Although she occasionally made mistakes, she now knew that Schiller wouldn’t punish her at all.

He always spoke terrifying words, but his heart was very gentle.

Rather, she even wanted to deliberately make mistakes in front of Schiller, to make him punish her.

The feeling of being punished by Schiller, after experiencing it that one day, seemed to have become somewhat addictive.

That gentle yet sweet whisper.

The girl softly tilted her head, falling into a reverie.

“Aileen, do you know your mistake?”

“Ow, ow, I, I know.”

“Come, sit on my lap, I’m going to punish you severely!”

Realizing her face was burning too hot, Aileen snapped back to reality. She restlessly rubbed her thighs, feeling her legs go soft.

“! Now, I have to change clothes again.”

…

…

“Liel, don’t you think your hair color is too conspicuous?”

Ophelia was following Evelyn behind her, heading to what Evelyn called a “tavern.”

From the moment they started, the surrounding crowd had been eyeing Ophelia with strange looks.

However, Ophelia paid no mind to the hungry gazes of many men, nor the overt hostility of other women.

As if she hadn’t noticed at all.

“?” Sure enough, she tilted her head, showing a completely bewildered expression.

That innocent expression was as pure as a recent college graduate who had never experienced the harshness of society.

“Re-really?” She shyly scratched her head.

“That’s right. Speaking of blonde hair, the most famous one is probably the ‘Saintess.’ But for us, she’s an unattainable person,” Evelyn shrugged, shouting to the people around them:

“This girl is a member of our Gluttonous Wolf Squad! Everyone, clear out, clear out!”

Upon hearing this, the gazes of the surrounding people gradually lowered.

“Heh heh, Saintess, do I really look that much like the Saintess?!” Ophelia’s face flushed slightly, and the pitch of her voice couldn’t help but rise a few notes.

Seeing her happy expression, Evelyn couldn’t bear to interrupt her.

“Yes, Liel, you’re definitely much prettier than that Saintess.” She patted Ophelia’s head.

“Heh heh, you’re mean~ No, not really~ Just a little bit, just a little bit,” Ophelia turned around, skipping backwards happily.

“Ouch!” Ophelia cried out. Her backward-moving body seemed to have bumped into something, and she fell onto the ground.

“Painful, hurts!”

“Miss, are you alright?”

A man was smiling and extending his hand towards her, seemingly wanting to help her up.

For some reason, a hint of hesitation flickered in Ophelia’s heart.

She smiled, “No, I’m sorry!” She patted the dust off her clothes and stood up by herself.

“Haha, Gavin, did you just get rejected?!” Evelyn seemed to know the man, teasing him playfully.

The man merely rubbed his nose awkwardly and withdrew his hand.

“Evelyn, don’t bully Gavin too much, okay?” A red-haired woman in a black robe walked up behind them.

“Got it, got it.”

“Evelyn, introduce this young lady to us?” The man named Gavin seemed very interested in Ophelia, while the red-haired woman stood by, uninterested.

“Oh, oh, Opheliel, let me introduce you. This gentlemanly-looking man is Gavin, and that beautiful girl is named Shirley.”

“Shirley, Gavin, this child is Opheliel. She’s the fourth member to join our squad.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you! Shirley, Gavin!” Ophelia smiled slightly at the two, trying her best to appear friendly.

“Oh, oh, an angel, huh…” Gavin muttered something incomprehensible on the side.

“Evelyn, you went ahead and… didn’t one just run away?!” Shirley, clutching a large staff, looked at Evelyn with displeasure.

“Oh my, this child definitely won’t leave. It’ll surprise you, but this child is a support!”

“Eh, really?”

“! Really?!”

The two suddenly shed their previous laziness, looking at Ophelia’s eyes as if she were some rare animal.

Gavin clenched his fists.

“Great! Now we can finally defeat the Mist Lord! And we’re close to becoming silver-ranked adventurers too!”

In his eyes, a greedy light sparkled.

And Ophelia, too, was watching above their heads with a puzzled expression.