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Belphegor Castle, Somewhere in the Belphegor Domain, the Underworld
"Writing my own story, huh?" The thought crossed Kuisha's mind as she recalled Seir's words.
'There's no use complaining. If such a story doesn't exist, then create one.'
'A story that suits your taste. Write your own fairy tale—one where the maid is the protagonist. A girl who is mistreated and bullied by the legitimate wife and daughters of the lord, king, or wealthy magnate. A story where the prince fights for the illegitimate daughter, the maid, and rescues her instead of the princess.'
"But even if he says that… and even if I do try to write my own fairy tale… what would the plot even be?" she murmured.
'Well, if I think about it… my Lord is indeed a prince. And while he didn't fight an evil witch or a cruel stepmother–I hope he had–he did fight a young dragon… Granted, it wasn't to win my hand but to protect my chastity, respect, and honor. But still… through that fight, he unintentionally 'rescued' me from my prison…'
She let out a soft chuckle. "It's kind of ironic… the tale I'm supposed to write—something like it has already happened to me. Just… not in the way I would have imagined."
Of course, she understood that rather than being rescued, she had actually been bought by the House of Belphegor—or perhaps, more accurately, won through a wager. But in a sense, she had been freed from her prison.
'I am not a noble… and perhaps this is the best I could ask for, given my status.'
One should be content with what they have… otherwise, she might end up losing everything.
With those thoughts, Kuisha quieted the longing in her heart.
Then, having prepared herself—now dressed in her maid uniform—she stood before the mirror and asked, "Mirror, mirror on the wall… who is the most adorable of them all?"
Naturally, there was no answer. It was just an ordinary mirror, after all. But that didn't matter because the words spoken to her a few days ago in the library echoed in her mind. 'I never said you looked bad… in fact, you look quite adorable.'
"Stupid master… saying something like that to a mere maid out of nowhere… Do you really think you can win my heart with just that?" she scoffed, turning away from the mirror.
As she made her way toward the door, her steps suddenly faltered, slowing to a stop.
Her gaze fell upon a particular photo frame.
Inside it was a picture of a mature woman who bore a striking resemblance to her—same blonde hair, same green eyes, and nearly identical facial features. Yet, there was one stark difference between them. The woman in the photo wore a bright, radiant smile, while Kuisha, standing before it, merely pressed her lips together, her expression unreadable.
Though many thoughts swirled in her young mind, she brushed them aside without dwelling on them. Turning away from the photo, she stepped out of her room, murmuring to herself, "I have things to do..."
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Carrying a small bucket filled with cleaning tools— including a toilet brush, plunger, bowl cleaner, scrubber, gloves, and cleaning cloths— she made her way to one of the many staff washrooms in the castle. This particular washroom was commonly used by gardeners, drivers, soldiers, and other staff working within the castle.
After confirming that it was empty, she placed a 'Cleaning in Progress' sign outside the door before stepping inside. The moment she did, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Ugh… this place reeks. Who the hell unleashed their wrath in here?" she muttered, grimacing.
She really wanted to hunt down the culprit, beat them senseless, and demand to know what kind of food they ate to leave behind a stench this foul.
But no matter how much she grimaced, all she could do was shove cotton buds into her nose to block out the unbearable odor and get to work… all while reciting a few lines in her heart to keep herself from losing her sanity.
Oh, what a life, so grand, so fine, To scrub this throne that isn't mine!
A queen, they say, deserves a crown, But as a maid, here I kneel, just scrubbing brown.
A masterpiece of scent and stain, A work of art—oh, what a pain!
With brush in hand, I fight with grace, Against the horrors time won't erase.
A symphony of smells so vile, Ah yes, my dream—so worth my while!
And when I'm done, all fresh, all new, I bow and say, Your Highness, poo.
By the time she walked out, the toilet was spotless and smelled fresh, as if it were brand new. But her work wasn't over yet. Without wasting any time, she grabbed the 'Cleaning in Progress' board and moved on to the next one, repeating the process. This routine continued well past the official breakfast time, when Lady Belphegor, her younger brother, and the available members of her peerage gathered for their meal and finished up their breakfast.
As an apprentice maid, the dining table at the dining hall of the Household was not her place. Instead, she had her breakfast alongside the other maids and servants in the servant quarters, next to the kitchen.
However, she wasn't the only one—both Lucia Naamah, the Head Maid of the castle, and Zest B. Steward, members of Lady Belphegor's peerage, also chose to eat in the servant quarters rather than at the dining hall.
'I wonder why… They could easily dine alongside the rest of the peerage, yet they still choose to eat here…' The thought lingered in her mind as she focused on finishing her meal as elegantly as possible under Lucia's watchful gaze.
Mistakes while eating were not tolerated. If she slipped up even slightly, Lucia's sharp glare was enough to make her stiffen and bow her head in silent apology. Each time, she reminded herself to be extra careful, ensuring she didn't make another mistake.
After breakfast, it was time for her to head to the training field for magic and combat training under Lucia.
"I'll see you at the training field…" Lucia had said before disappearing, leaving Kuisha behind to finish one last chore alongside a few fellow maids before she could join the training.
And what was that one chore?
Drying out the laundry alongside her fellow young maids, Kourtney, and her two younger sisters, Kim and Khloé.
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"I heard your mother is pregnant…" Kuisha asked as she picked up a bed sheet, helping the three sisters.
The eldest, Kourtney—sixteen—spread out the sheets as she replied, "Yeah… some human named Bruce Jenner is the father. I met him once—honestly, he seemed a bit sissy to me. Anyway, Mum has already picked out a name for the baby in her womb."
"She's naming her Kendall," added Kim—fourteen—from the side.
"How does she know it'll be a girl?" Kuisha asked, raising an eyebrow upon noticing the clearly feminine name.
"Hm… not sure, but she seems convinced. She doesn't want another boy after Rob," Khloé—ten—shrugged.
"It was through a medical check-up in the human realm… um, I think it's called an ultrasound or something," Kourtney explained. "Well, whatever it is, it helps determine the gender of a baby while it's still in the mother's womb. And that's what mother used."
"I see…" Kuisha murmured, a bit surprised that such a thing was even possible.
"Anyway… tell us something," Kim asked, a hint of envy in her voice. "What's it like being Lord Seirios's personal maid?"
Kuisha, sensing the enviousness, shrugged. "Well, for starters, you have to clean all the toilets in the entire castle."
The three sisters grimaced in unison, their faces twisting in disgust. "All the toilets in the castle? That sounds excessive… Even we didn't have to start with that many…"
Kuisha sighed and shook her head, choosing to remain silent.
Their discussion was abruptly interrupted by the sharp sound of objects slicing through the air.
Shoosh! Shoosh!
Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha! Sha!
"What… what is that?" Kim asked, her face filled with shock and confusion.
Kuisha, Kourtney, and Khloé followed Kim's gaze and saw a swarm of what appeared to be knives whirling through the air.
"Look… there's someone inside that swarm of blades…" Khloé pointed toward the chaotic scene.
The other three squinted, trying to make out the figure at the center.
"It's my Lord…" Kuisha murmured, recognizing the silhouette.
"Lord Seirios?" Kourtney repeated in surprise before asking, "But what's with that swarm of blades circling around him?"
"Is someone attacking him?" Khloé asked, her eyes wide with concern.
"Or maybe he's practicing some new magic?" Kim guessed.
Kuisha remained silent, unable to provide an answer. However, through the gaps in the swirling blades, she caught a glimpse of Seir's expression—it was calm, relaxed. That meant he wasn't under attack.
'He's probably practicing his Telekinesis Magic…' she thought to herself.
Just then, a familiar voice spoke from behind her.
"Hmm? I see… Lord Seirios is finally testing out the Demon Spear Chastiefol."
Startled by the voice, Kuisha turned around and immediately bowed. "Madam Zest…" The three K sisters followed suit, bowing respectfully.
Zest gave them a light nod before shifting her gaze back to the swirling swarm of blades, her eyes settling on Seir standing calmly within them.
Curious, Kuisha asked, "Madam… you mentioned that my Lord is testing the Demon Spear Chastiefol… but that swarm of knives…"
To her, it looked nothing like the Demon Spear she had seen at the Gathering. Instead, it resembled thousands of kunai knives swirling through the air. She couldn't understand how those knives were connected to the Demon Spear at all.
Zest responded casually, "I don't know all the details, but it seems that the Demon Spear Chastiefol has multiple forms it can take."
"Multiple forms?" Kuisha murmured, surprised by the detail.
"Yeah… something like that," Zest nodded before smoothly shifting the conversation, bringing Kuisha's focus back. "Anyway, Kuisha Abaddon, I'll see you in the evening at the library. Make sure you're not late."
"I know," Kuisha replied with a nod.
Satisfied, Zest addressed the group. "You should all hurry up and finish this task." She then turned to Kuisha. "Madam Lucia is already waiting for you at the training field." Shifting her attention to the three Ks, she added, "As for you three, wrap this up quickly—there are other tasks that need your attention."
"Understood…" all four of them responded in unison before returning to their work.
With that, Zest turned and left.
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Sometime later, a certain training field.
"Focus on the flow of your Demonic Power and draw it out," Lucia instructed.
"Hn…" Kuisha hummed in response, clenching her teeth as she summoned the Demonic Power within her. It surged forth, enveloping her body in a dark aura.
Lucia observed with a nod of approval. "Good… the training over the past few days has paid off. You can now summon your Demonic Power at will."
"It's still difficult to maintain control," Kuisha admitted, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
"That is only natural," Lucia assured her. "Children always struggle with controlling their Demonic Power."
"But… but…" Kuisha tried to protest, but before she could finish, she lost control. The energy retracted back into her body, leaving her gasping for breath as she bent forward, resting her hands on her knees. Frustrated, she complained, "But my Lord doesn't seem to have any problems…"
Her gaze drifted toward Seirios, who was effortlessly training—attacking the Water Spheres fired at him by what appeared to be a specialized machine.
Lucia smiled and shook her head. "Don't compare yourself to Lord Seirios… no one can—not even Mistress. He is a once-in-a-lifetime genius, wielding his Demonic Power since infancy. Except perhaps for Maou Beelzebub and Maou Lucifer, no one even comes close to his level of talent."
"Is… is that so?" Kuisha murmured, shocked.
Lucia nodded. "Yes…" she said before reminiscing about Seir's childhood. "Everyone was left speechless back then—no one expected him to be such a genius. And on top of that, he's incredibly hardworking, always training whenever he gets the chance."
"Ah… that reminds me. I've been curious about something," Kuisha said, drawing Lucia's attention before quickly asking, "Why does my Lord train so much?"
She had been pondering this question for quite some time but had yet to find an answer. She wondered if Lucia knew.
To her disappointment, Lucia shook her head. "I have no clue," she admitted before adding, "And… I doubt anyone but himself does."
"Not even Lady Roygun?" Kuisha asked, taken aback.
Lucia sighed. "No, I don't think even Mistress knows why Lord Seirios trains so relentlessly, or why he has always been so obsessed with studying magic." She paused before advising, "If you truly want an answer, you'll have no choice but to ask him yourself. Only then will you learn… though I can't guarantee he'll tell you. He hasn't spoken about it to anyone—not even to Lord Malakarion or Lady Sephie."
"I see…" Kuisha murmured, glancing at Seir in the distance with an unreadable expression.
"Anyway, back to training. Summon your Demonic Power," Lucia instructed, redirecting Kuisha's focus.
"Hn…" Kuisha hummed in response and began following Lucia's instructions.
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A few hours later, at the Library
"Madam Zest, I've finished writing these symbols. Could you check them, please?" Lucia asked, setting down the quill and passing her notebook to Zest, who sat across from her.
"Hm? Yes, let me see…" Zest nodded, taking the notebook.
It was time for Lucia's reading and writing lessons, and with Zest being an expert in multiple languages—among many other things like piano, dance, et cetera—she was the one guiding her.
While Zest reviewed her work, Kuisha's gaze drifted toward Seir, who wore a thoughtful expression as he observed a notebook on the table. A quill pen floated above it, moving on its own, sketching something with precise strokes.
Curious, Kuisha leaned in for a closer look. As she recognized the drawing, she murmured, "Isn't this the Demonic Spear Chastiefol…?"
"Yes…" Seir nodded absentmindedly, his focus still on the notebook.
"May I ask why you are drawing that spear, my Lord?" Kuisha inquired curiously.
Zest, equally intrigued, raised her head and glanced at the notebook in front of Seir.
Seir shrugged. "Chastiefol has many forms. I'm simply recording my observations of the ones I've discovered so far and strategizing how to use them effectively in battle. It will be useful if I ever need to fight while wielding this spear."
"I see…" Kuisha murmured thoughtfully. With her curiosity satisfied for now, she glanced around and noticed a pair of spiral glasses and a hint of green hair peeking out from behind a bookshelf, watching them.
Smiling, Kuisha waved at the girl, but Thea, without responding, quickly disappeared behind the shelf. Kuisha froze for a moment before sighing in disappointment, feeling deflated.
"Am I really that scary?" Kuisha muttered to herself as she slowly lowered her hand.
Zest shook her head. "No, child… you aren't scary at all." And said after a pause, "Just don't mind Thea… she's just shy."
"I do wonder sometimes… how a timid girl like her ended up as the librarian of the ancestral Belphegor Castle," Seir mused, his tone filled with doubt. He glanced toward the spot where Thea had been peeking just moments ago before adding, "Besides… to me, she seems more like a stalker than a shy girl."
"She usually isn't like this… stalking or anything," Zest said. "I suppose she's just curious about you, Lord Seirios."
"I did try greeting her a few times… but every time, she just runs away," Seir sighed. "Now it's starting to get a little annoying."
"Um… what about me? Does she care about me too? Because she acts the same way around me," Kuisha asked.
Before responding to Kuisha, Zest chided Seir, "Lord Seirios, please don't say that. I'm certain she cares about you just as much as Madam Lucia, myself, and everyone else in Mistress' peerage… No, perhaps even more. Maybe as much as Mistress herself. That's why she's always watching you whenever you're in the library."
She then turned to Kuisha and nodded. "Yes, I believe she cares about you as well—because you are Lord Seirios' servant."
Seir frowned. "What do you mean? Why would a timid librarian care about me as much as you all… and my elder sister?"
Kuisha was also curious and turned her attention to Zest, waiting for an explanation.
Zest remained silent for a moment before a sad smile crossed her face. "We don't talk about it much since it happened a long time ago… but I suppose you should know. Of course, I can only tell you as much as I know. That child, Thea… she was one of Mistress' first two servants."
"Wait… huh?" Seir was taken aback. "That timid Thea… She was part of my elder sister's peerage?" It was difficult for him to picture the shy librarian with spiral nerd glasses as a member of Roygun's team.
Zest nodded. "Yes, not only was she part of Mistress' peerage, but she was also her first [Rook]." She then added, "In fact, from what I know, she was more than just a servant—Mistress seemed to care for Thea as if she were family."
"Like a younger sister or something?" Seir murmured, stunned.
Zest nodded again. "Yes."
"Then what happened…? How did she end up… no longer being part of my sister's peerage?" he asked immediately.
At present, the two [Rooks] serving Roygun were Gin Buné and Maria Naamah. If Thea had been a previous [Rook], it meant that one of the current ones had joined later. Moreover, for Thea to have stopped serving as Roygun's [Rook], there were only two possibilities—either she had been traded with someone else and is no longer part of Roygun's peerage, but someone else's… or… there was a darker possibility…
"Dead… she died," Zest answered, her expression heavy with sorrow.
Kuisha's expression turned slightly horrified, while Seir immediately asked, "How?" At the same time, a thought crossed his mind, 'Which means she's possibly a ghost or some other kind of undead! Huh… no wonder the first book she gave me to read was The Tales of the Undead.'
Zest shook her head. "I don't know all the details… and even if I did, it's not my place to speak on it."
"Then who does?" Seir pressed.
"Mistress Roygun, Madam Lucia… and, of course, Thea herself probably unless she hasn't forgotten about it because of dying," Zest replied. "Well, they are the only ones who know everything." She then added, "And since they don't speak about it at all, the rest of us don't know much."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "But one thing I can say for certain is that it's a matter that weighs heavily on both of them. Mistress herself seems to carry a deep sense of guilt over Thea's death…"
"Hm… I see…" Seir murmured, his expression thoughtful. He hesitated, unsure whether he should look into this matter further. 'Asking questions about her death would undoubtedly bring up painful memories for Roygun and the rest of her peerage. Perhaps I could ask Thea instead… or maybe I should question father and mother about it and see if they know something…' he considered, noticing the spiral glasses and green hair once again peek out from behind a bookshelf.
Zest sighed and shifted the conversation. "Anyway… let's not dwell on this topic. Kuisha, focus on your studies."
"Yes…" Kuisha nodded, though her mind was still occupied with thoughts. 'For a member of Lady Belphegor's peerage to have died… it must have been no simple matter…'
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"Even the members of Lady Belphegor's peerage aren't completely safe… they can still end up dead," Kuisha murmured with a sigh. Pulling the blanket over herself, she closed her eyes, hoping to drift into the world of dreams.
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That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading this one!
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