Chapter 157

I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 157 [On the Boat (1)]

The sudden picnic with Ethan had been timed to match the afternoon tea time.

In an atmosphere that seemed to have a strangely awkward current flowing, Ethan and I quietly clinked our cups together.

Clink.

The two wooden cups filled with red wine collided between us, making a dull sound.

They were rather plain cups for wine, but it wasn’t easy to find glass or porcelain wine glasses in a place like this to begin with.

Glass cups, being expensive, would be difficult to procure even if somehow found.

Rather, I was amazed that Ethan had managed to get wine and wooden cups in such a short time. It almost made me think he had prepared in advance for this moment.

‘…Well, probably not.’

As Ethan’s exclusive maid, I spent most of my time with him. If he had been up to something strange, I would have noticed long ago.

If he had planned in advance to buy cheese for a picnic or suddenly buy wine to go with it, there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Above all, today’s date… no, outing, was a spontaneous promise that came from the result of Ethan’s duel with Harold.

Ethan and I each took a sip of wine, with a few bite-sized pieces of cheese between us on the spread-out paper bag.

Perhaps because the alcohol entered my empty stomach, I felt like my intoxication was rising quickly.

“How is it, Lilith?”

“…I’m not sure. This is my first time trying wine.”

“For someone trying it for the first time, you seemed to be savoring even the aroma.”

“…I was just imitating what I’ve seen other nobles do.”

Of course, saying this was my first time trying wine was a blatant lie.

Wine wasn’t particularly expensive in reality, either. …Well, most of my drinking life in my previous life consisted mainly of beer.@@novelbin@@

“Although it’s my first time drinking it, I personally think it’s quite good. It’s a bit heavier than the cocktail I briefly tasted at the masquerade ball, but the aftertaste seems a bit cleaner, perhaps because the sweetness is gone.”

“…Are you sure this is your first time drinking?”

“I told you, it is.”

To avoid Ethan’s suspicious gaze, I deliberately picked up a piece of cheese between us, pretending to eat it.

As I was about to put a piece of dark-colored cheese, presumably cheddar, into my mouth, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Should I feed Ethan first instead of myself?’

Although I came out today as a viscount’s daughter rather than an exclusive maid, strictly speaking, there was still a certain difference in status between Ethan and me.

Even if I wasn’t Ethan’s servant right now, it didn’t mean the status gap had completely disappeared.

However, I couldn’t put the cheese I had already picked up back on the bag, so I naturally brought my hand towards Ethan, as if this had been my intention from the start.

“Here, Ethan.”

“…Huh?”

“Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach will upset it. You should eat some food with it.”

“…Ah, yes. Thank you, Lilith.”

Ethan awkwardly took the piece of cheese from my hand and brought it to his mouth.

For some reason, his face was a bit red as he ate the food I gave him.

…Well, now that I’ve fed him first, there shouldn’t be any issue with me eating now. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

With that thought, I quietly picked up another piece of cheese and brought it to my mouth.

The savory and salty flavor of the cheese quietly resonated in my throat.

‘This is pretty good.’

Even though I had only eaten cheese in hamburgers or pizza before, I could tell that the cheese in my mouth was quite delicious.

Come to think of it, eating cheese in this world would be no different from eating authentic cheese on location, since it would be difficult to distribute it far without making it on-site.

For that reason, I’m not surprised that it tastes good.

While there was still a slightly sticky sensation left on my tongue, I let a sip of wine flow into my mouth.

The slightly remaining saltiness and the bitter aroma of the wine seemed to blend oddly well, swirling on my tongue.

“Mmm.”

“…?”

It was the first proper taste of alcohol I had tasted in nearly a year, no, almost two years. That’s if you count the cocktail I had at the masquerade ball as alcohol.

Come to think of it, I had almost no memory of properly drinking alcohol in this world. I suppose being the exclusive maid of a duke’s son didn’t provide many opportunities for drinking.

As I started to feel oddly elated by the taste of proper alcohol after so long, Ethan looked at me with a somewhat curious expression.

“Lilith, are you drunk?”

“No, Ethan. I’m not weak enough to get drunk on just half a glass of wine.”

“…How do you know if you’re weak to alcohol or not if this is your first time drinking?”

“Just a feeling, I guess.”

“I think you are drunk…”

Ethan mumbled something while looking at me, but it didn’t seem particularly important, so I let it pass.

Above all, I wanted to focus on the remaining wine and snacks in front of me.

For the second bite, I put a piece of cheese with holes in it (presumably given as a freebie by the cheese shop owner) into my mouth.

A strong flavor with a slight bitterness filled it.

Immediately after that, I finished by drinking the remaining wine in the glass.

Perhaps because it had been so long since alcohol had entered my body, this oddly elating feeling wasn’t so bad. A pleasant drowsiness seemed to come along with it, perhaps because my stomach was slightly full.

“Lilith, you seem to like alcohol more than I expected.”

“…No. I thought you might feel disappointed if I didn’t show that I was properly enjoying the wine you bought, Ethan.”

“For someone saying that, you seem to be drinking very enthusiastically.”

“…Why don’t you drink a bit more, too, Ethan? Everything seems to go well with the wine.”

“I’m fine with just watching you eat. There’s still wine left, want another glass?”

“…Just one more glass.”

“Alright, alright.”

Unlike the first glass, which was only half full, this time, Ethan filled about three-quarters of the glass. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

I noticed the increased amount, but I just accepted it without comment.

It’s not like I would pour it back into the bottle if there was too much.

“Here, Lilith. Try this too.”

“Huh?”

“Here, you didn’t get to try the cheddar cheese earlier, right? This is delicious, too.”

With those words, Ethan held out a piece of deep yellow cheese in front of me.

As the cheese piece came right in front of my eyes, I accepted the cheese he offered with my mouth without much thought, along with a word of thanks.

“Thank you, Ethan. …Ahhh~ Mmmm.”

“…Huh? Wait, huh?!”

“Mmm… This is quite good, too. It’s savory and has a nice salty taste.”

“Ah, u-um…”

“…?”

For some reason, Ethan suddenly became flustered and quickly pulled back his hand that had given me the cheese.

Feeling something was odd, I looked at his expression and saw Ethan avoiding my gaze with a face several times redder than usual.

…He didn’t seem to have finished even one glass yet. Is he the type with a weak liver?

With that thought, I emptied the contents of the second glass that had been refilled, fully enjoying the suddenly started picnic.

Just then, I inadvertently heard Ethan’s voice calling me in a serious tone.

“Lilith.”

“Yes, Ethan.”

“…There’s something I’d like to talk to you about seriously, will you listen?”

“…Pardon?”

The intoxication that had started to circulate in my head suddenly seemed to clear away, and my eyes shook in confusion. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

In contrast, Ethan’s eyes that met mine were more serious than anyone else’s.

“Lilith”

“…Yes.”

“Actually, I’ve had something I’ve wanted to say to you for a long time.”

No, don’t.

I’m not sure what you’re going to say but just don’t.

“W-what is it? Is it something that must be conveyed right now?”

“If I don’t convey it now, it will only be delayed further in the future.”

“…I see.”

You can delay it forever.

No, at least until we graduate from the academy would be fine.

“I think it’s already quite late, but I’ll say it clearly on this occasion. If it’s alright with you, Lilith, from today on, our relationship…”

“…Ethan, wait a moment.”

“…Lilith?”

Before more dangerous words could come out of his mouth, I interrupted Ethan and hurriedly looked around.

A bench in front of the lakeside walkway on a weekend afternoon. The atmosphere wasn’t so crowded that people were packed like sardines, but it wasn’t completely empty either – a moderate population density.

If there was anyone among them who could recognize me and Ethan or was an academy student, our current conversation would be extremely problematic.

If we weren’t careful, it was the perfect situation for rumors to spread about how a viscount’s daughter, who was the exclusive maid of the Blackwood Ducal family, shamelessly rejected the young master she served.

To smoothly reject Ethan’s words, we needed to move to a place where some commotion wouldn’t be a problem.

“…I understand you have something you want to say, Ethan. However, before that, shall we go somewhere where we can be alone?”

“…Somewhere we can be alone?”

“Yes, somewhere beyond the reach of other people’s eyes and ears.”

There were too many people here for a ‘serious conversation.’

When Ethan expressed his feelings towards me, and I responded to them, there might be people who could spread secondary and tertiary rumors.

Love stories of high-ranking people were good gossip material regardless of the era.

Moreover, in the case of me and Ethan, similar rumors had already spread once in the academy. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Somewhere we can be alone… Where do you mean?”

“Well, that…”

The problem was that in the current situation, the only place we could urgently be alone was, at best, a room in an inn.

If we suddenly entered a double room at a nearby inn just to hear what he had to say, it would be practically the same as accepting Ethan’s words.

I needed to find a place where we could reasonably talk alone but where Ethan couldn’t do anything rash, somewhere…

Any other place would do, so just where…

|Boat Rental|

‘Ah…!’

…Right, no matter how bold Ethan might be, he wouldn’t try anything on a lake.

With that thought, I pointed to the boat rental sign that had caught my eye and called out to Ethan.

“How about there, Ethan?”

“…A boat rental?”

“If we’re on the lake, we can talk without worrying about other people overhearing, right? I think it’s a good place for an important conversation. What do you think?”

“…Yeah, not a bad idea.”

It was the moment I succeeded in cutting off Ethan’s words and led us to a place where only the two of us could be.

Now, we wouldn’t have to worry about others seeing or hearing, so I just needed to reject him carefully.

If possible, I had to reject him with as much explanation as I could so that Ethan could understand, too.

This was the most rational decision to continue my life as an exclusive maid without things becoming awkward with Ethan.

“……”

Ethan looked at the boat rental I had pointed to with a meaningful gaze.

At that time, I still didn’t know.

I wouldn’t have known that the boat, the place I had led Ethan to for us to be alone, would become a place I couldn’t escape from.