Chapter 22: Disqualified Maid

Coco didn’t understand why she had been so bold, suddenly taking the initiative to kiss Yiluo on the cheek and even blurting out those hard-to-say words—I like you.

Standing at the gate of the viscount’s estate, her face was flushed red, and she didn’t dare turn back to look at Yiluo even once.

I must seem really strange, right?

Will Miss Yiluo stop coming to see me because of this? Hate me because of this?

Aaaaah!

The more Coco thought about it, the more wronged she felt.

But at that moment, she had felt as if she were possessed by a ghost.

Every inch of her skin, every drop of blood beneath it, every place that blood flowed through had urged her, pushed her to do that and to say those words.

Coco pressed both hands to her cheeks, feeling the heat there.

Every bit of warmth was whispering to her.

Coco, all of this was given to you by Miss Yiluo.

Coco closed her eyes and nodded.

Yes.

It was because of Miss Yiluo that her heart burned and blazed like this.

In her mind, every expression of Miss Yiluo, every movement, could be recalled clearly—so vivid, so real.

Miss Yiluo, thank you for giving me this emotion, and this feeling I can’t put into words.

And thank you for looking after me all along the way.

For working so hard for my sake.

I will cherish it.

Coco opened her eyes and pushed open the gate of the viscount’s estate.

For Miss Yiluo’s sake, I have to keep working hard too!

The courtyard in front of the estate wasn’t small.

At that moment, two older maids were cleaning the grounds.

When they looked up and saw Coco coming in through the door, their faces showed clear shock.

One of them ran over and exclaimed, “Coco, you’re back?”

“Wait here, I’ll go tell the master!”

“Mmhmm.”

Coco showed the gentle maid’s smile she had long since grown used to wearing and answered softly to the maid holding her hand.

The viscount’s estate didn’t seem to have any problems.

.

When Coco had been kidnapped, she was in the courtyard doing the same kind of cleaning as these maids.

A few brutish humans had suddenly jumped down from the wall.

Before she could even cry out that there were bandits, she was knocked out.

When she woke up, she was already locked in a cage.

She’d been beaten many times for shouting.

Before that, a very dignified-looking butler had been coming often.

He would sit and drink tea with the viscount, and the two always looked like they were chatting happily.

But every time the butler left, the viscount’s face would twist with worry.

Coco had once accidentally overheard the usually gentle viscount cursing furiously about something.

Coco’s job was to look after the viscount’s only daughter, Meris, and keep her company.

Meris was eleven and looked like a porcelain doll from a fairy tale.

She was still shorter than Coco.

They had grown up together and were very close.

During that period, because the viscount was in a bad mood, everyone in the estate felt gloomy.

Yet even so, the time he spent with his daughter Meris actually increased.

Those days went on for about a week.

Then the butler stopped coming, and the viscount finally let out a long sigh of relief.

And then, Coco was taken away.

Green City’s public order was fairly good.

Coco had always worried that perhaps some villain had set their sights on the viscount, and she just happened to be the first person they ran into and captured.

.

At this moment, Coco also glanced around.

Then she relaxed a little.

At dusk, the viscount’s estate was very quiet.

Not far away, the ivy-covered, time-worn castle glowed with familiar lights.

Everything seemed as usual, just like before.

Slowly, Coco’s boiling blood calmed down.

The rest of my life will probably be spent serving the young lady.

Day after day.

Year after year.

That had been her destiny since birth.

It was never supposed to be full of surging waves like the sea.

As Coco walked deeper into the estate, the few servants in the house all looked delighted to see her.

She nodded back to each of them.

Coco seems… more mature now.

She didn’t know whether that was good or bad.

She felt as though she were walking on thin ice.

The day she was taken, the viscount had been out.

Coco didn’t know if he had ever learned the real reason for her sudden disappearance.

“Oh, so Coco has returned.”

Coco was brought straight to the viscount’s study.

The furniture was arranged with artistic taste.

Several pots of “water-blue dragons”—an expensive flower—sat on the windowsill.

They had been there since she was small.

A sizeable bookshelf lined the wall, filled with all sorts of books.

The viscount sat at the red-maple desk before the shelves.

He put down his book and looked toward Coco.

“Master, Coco has come back.”

If this had been before, Coco would have anxiously rushed to explain the reason for her disappearance.

But now, she didn’t know why—if the viscount didn’t ask, she didn’t want to explain on her own.

Coco lowered her head slightly and performed a maid’s curtsey.

Maid etiquette required that you not look your master directly in the eye while he was speaking.

But when she came in, she had already secretly looked him over.

She didn’t know why, but even though she had only been gone for a month, the viscount looked as though he had aged ten years.

He no longer had his former energy, and he hadn’t even shaved his beard.

That wasn’t like the viscount at all.

Her mother served as the viscount’s maid; she shouldn’t have allowed such a mistake.

“Hmm. Coco, you’re a very lucky child, to have found your way back. Did you run into any trouble along the way?”

The viscount’s expression held a hint of doubt.

“Master, I met a kind adventurer on the road. He rescued me and brought me back to Green City.”

“Then that adventurer must be both strong and kind. Do you know his name? Since he saved my servant, I must thank him properly.”

Coco sneaked a glance up at the viscount, then answered after a short pause.

“Master, I’m truly very sorry. That adventurer left right after bringing me to Green City. He only left a few silver coins and refused to reveal his name. He was a young, handsome adventurer.”

“Oh, I can understand that.

A hero saving a damsel in distress… young people do still have that hot blood in them.”

“I hope the Empire will have more youths like that. Very well, you may go.”

“Yes, Master.”

All the way until she left the study, Coco didn’t dare lift her head.

She had lied to the viscount.

For the first time, she had lied to him.

She had gone against a maid’s principles—something she would never have dared even to imagine before.

“Coco, let me walk you back.”

“No need, I can go back by myself.”

Coco smiled softly at the maid beside her, using it to hide her inner sense of guilt.

The viscount’s castle wasn’t actually that big.

Counting both the viscount’s family and the servants, there were fewer than twenty people.

Coco knew every corner of this place, every breath of air.

On her way back to her own room, she kept reflecting on the fact that she had deceived her master.

Miss Yiluo had hidden her identity and name for the entire journey.

After arriving in Green City, she had practically changed disguises every day.

Coco had even begun to wonder whether Miss Yiluo might not be a young lady at all, but a criminal or a heretic.

Miss Yiluo didn’t want anyone to know where she was.

That thought had flashed through Coco’s mind in an instant.

Then, without thinking, she had paused—and lied.

In my heart, is my master no longer as important as Miss Yiluo?

As soon as that question formed in her mind, she shook her head and forced herself not to think about it.

Because the answer seemed ready to leap out at her…

“I’m no longer worthy of being a maid.”

Looking at the door to her room, Coco muttered to herself with her head bowed.

The family name she had once so longed for the viscount to grant her…

Suddenly, it felt a little… frightening.