Chapter 62

After all the other nobles who had approached to somehow get involved with the Blackwood family had retreated at Ethan’s word…

In a corner of the banquet hall that had quieted down, Ethan and I quietly settled down and conversed a bit more.

Since Ethan had already used the excuse of wanting to spend time alone with his partner to dismiss people, I thought it would be better to create an atmosphere of us interacting a bit more.

“Is it alright to be in such a secluded spot at a rare social gathering like this, Ed?”

“…You’re still using that nickname even when it’s just the two of us.”

“Well, this is the Imperial Palace with many unseen eyes and ears, so we should be cautious by default, right? Or have you suddenly become awkward with my nickname for you now, Ed?”

“Ah, no… That’s not what I meant.”

That’s not what he meant, he says. But his expression clearly shows he’s awkwardly dying inside.

It was a strangely enjoyable moment, feeling like I discovered Ethan’s weakness for a change.

‘He probably can’t bring himself to tell me to change the nickname because it’s awkward for him.’

For him to drag me here and ask me to act as his fiancée and then stop me from fully immersing myself in that role as fiancée would be a strange request in itself.

In fact, from Ethan’s standpoint, he should be more than grateful to me.

What kind of maid would have the audacity to even come up with a nickname for a ducal family’s young master and act as his fiancée?

Most maids, let alone lower nobles, wouldn’t dare to even think of it out of fear of possibly committing lèse-majesté *1.

I can do such a bold thing because, as his exclusive maid, I’ve seen him grow up to some extent.

The characters of Luminor Academy may have distinctions between good and bad personalities, but most of them are well-formed characters with “consistency.”

Ethan, although a villain in the original work, was a character who consistently maintained his stance of “I will never give up Lilith even if I die” until the very end.

Considering my actions towards Ethan so far, there were many things I did that were way worse than just coming up with a nickname, so it would be strange if he got angry over just that right now.

‘I was a bit surprised sometimes, though, when he got angry over random things.’

…I had already figured out that those actions were all due to his political moves, so there was nothing to fear.

So, while discussing the nickname I call him, I stood next to Ethan, who had suddenly gone quiet.

I looked around the Evening Rose Hall and diligently continued my motivation for attending today’s masquerade ball.

My main purpose for attending was to find characters presumed to be prospective freshmen entering the academy, in other words, characters from Luminor Academy.

Of course, even if I found them, it was impossible to actually have a conversation or interact with them in this identity.

The least I hoped I could do was to look from afar and appreciate them in person. Especially since I’ve entered the world of my favorite game for a change. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

I won’t be able to enroll in the academy, so it’s a pity I can’t experience the main story, but I should enjoy the game elements as much as possible, even in this way.

However, even with my intense “gamer’s eye,” it was quite difficult to find other characters besides the August siblings.

Characters that should definitely be here were nowhere to be seen, so naturally, questions began to arise in my mind at this point.

‘I don’t know about other characters since some things have changed, but at the very least, Hellfire Agnes should have attended if things were normal.’

Agnes Elizabeth Blaze.

As I’ve been mentioning, some people may have already guessed, but of course, this character was also from Luminor Academy.

She wasn’t just an ordinary character; she was one of the main heroines. She was even equipped with useful skills, making her popular enough to keep in the party even outside of her route.

As her nickname “Hellfire” suggests, she’s a character specializing in fire magic, and as a mage in this world, she was naturally a noble heroine.

Of course, I didn’t think she would attend this banquet solely because she was a noble.

I just mentioned it in the sense that there was a high possibility she would participate, considering Agnes’ background as a character.

‘Agnes is a child of a branch family of the Elizabeth family, and since she learns magic with the support of the main family, she can’t go against the main family’s commands.’

Such crowded and bothersome places were one of the venues Agnes hated, but knowing that going against the main family would be troublesome, Agnes reluctantly attended events like banquets even if she didn’t want to.

Especially since this masquerade ball was an Imperial-hosted event, it definitely took priority over other banquets, and the Elizabeth Viscount family would have certainly received an invitation.

So, even if I’m not sure about other characters’ attendance, I assume that Agnes must have at least participated in this event.

Wondering if she might be mixed in with the people dancing, I was observing the moving crowd when Ethan’s quiet voice came from my left.

“Lili.”

“……”

“…Lili?”

“…By any chance, does ‘Lili’ refer to me, Ed?”

“…Yeah.”

…And here I thought he met an acquaintance with a similar name to mine.

Come to think of it, until recently, Ethan had an appearance that was quite far from such social events, so there’s no way he would have a noble peer acquaintance who could recognize him by face. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Unless he made a pen pal friend somewhere, I don’t know about it, but that’s also far from Ethan’s personality.

To begin with, as his exclusive maid, I managed all the letters addressed to Ethan, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know.

“So, why are you calling me Lili?”

“…You said it would be better this way, Lili.”

“Pardon?”

“You said in the carriage that it would be better to use a closer nickname if we’re going to pretend to be engaged. And Lili, you’ve been calling me Ed this whole time, too.”

“…Aha.”

So that’s what he meant.

He’s been the only one feeling embarrassed and awkward with the nickname, so no matter how he thinks about it, it’s unfair that he’s the only one enduring it.

So, he’s claiming that he, too, will brazenly call me by a nickname.

…That’s cute.

Does he think that if he calls me by a nickname, I’ll somehow get conscious of it and feel awkward together with him?

Unfortunately for Ethan, that definitely won’t happen. To begin with, I don’t think I’d feel awkward no matter what he calls me.

To convey that he can change what he calls me to whatever he wants, I calmly responded.

“That’s a nice nickname, Ed.”

“R-really?”

“If you want to call me Lili, go ahead. Just because you do that, it won’t make me stop calling you Ed, though.”

“Thanks, Lili.”

“…You’re welcome, Ed.”

……Somehow…

…I’m not sure how to explain it well, but somehow, it feels a bit embarrassing.

Even though it was only two letters off from Lilith, I suddenly started to have the illusion that my relationship with Ethan got much closer.

It even gave me a slightly flushed feeling.

Now I can kind of understand why Ethan reacted strangely every time he was called Ed.@@novelbin@@

If he felt this way every time he was called Ed, I can understand his attitude of wanting to die from awkwardness.

Of course, I won’t make it obvious to the point of showing that kind of reaction, and I won’t give up calling him Ed over just this much.

Never stop calling him Ed. The one who gives up first loses.

“So, Lili.”

“…What is it, Ed?”

“If it’s alright with just you, would you like to dance together…”

The moment some kind of proposal was about to pop out of Ethan’s mouth, who seemed nervous…

His words were naturally cut off by someone’s voice coming from a side opposite to him.

“…Fufufu, so this is where you were. I finally found you.”

‘…Ah.’

…I wonder why this character’s impression is being drawn in my mind even though I haven’t seen her face yet.

Actually, it was a natural phenomenon for me as a hardcore player of Luminor Academy.

One of the main heroines, along with Lilith, who I had to stick with for almost 1000 hours out of a total playtime of 2000 hours.

The moment I heard her voice that I was so familiar with, to the point of being sick of it, I could naturally be certain of the character who had just appeared.

…The moment I turned my head, it was the figure of Princess Seraphine standing there as if it was only natural.

“Greetings, nameless young master and young lady~”

‘No, you just said with your own mouth that you finally found us.’

Perhaps wanting to maintain the concept of her masquerade ball, Seraphine brazenly greeted Ethan and me as if she didn’t know us.

The answer Ethan and I had to give in front of her was pretty much set in stone.

“…Greetings, nameless young lady.”

“…Nice to meet you, beautiful young lady.”

We simply responded to her in line with Seraphine’s masquerade ball concept.

A noble who recognizes Princess Seraphine here and starts introducing themselves out of joy is third-rate.

Since Seraphine herself planned this masquerade ball party concept, she would take joy in “socializing without pretense.”

By referring to us as “nameless young master and young lady” in her first greeting, she pretty much outright stated the way of interaction she desired. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Anyone with a bit of tact would naturally match the concept to that.

Fortunately, both Ethan and I were people with keen eyes and weren’t the type to make a fuss just because we recognized Seraphine.

‘Well, I had a feeling she would come find us eventually.’

If she hadn’t been informed in advance, that would be one thing, but Ethan said he told her himself that I would be participating.

She probably wanted to check for herself.

Whether a commoner maid really attended her banquet as a noble’s partner or not.

With Seraphine’s personality, she wouldn’t feel satisfied until she confirmed it with her own eyes.

But putting that aside…

‘She’s really fucking pretty.’

Although she’s wearing a mask that covers her eyes like everyone else, Seraphine’s appearance isn’t something that could be hidden by a mask like this, to begin with.

It wasn’t only the rest of her face that was exposed, but even the parts covered by the mask seemed to burst out with her beauty.

It was like witnessing a scene where her appearance was emitting a radiance.

If you faced this and couldn’t recognize it was Seraphine, it would be no different from having slime cores in place of your eyeballs.

‘Calm down, Lilith. Even if it’s your first time meeting a main heroine, there’s nothing to be nervous about.’

You’ve seen plenty of in-game characters so far, haven’t you? Isabel, Ethan, and the August siblings are all characters from the game.

Of course, Seraphine was a core figure in the game and a main heroine who appeared without fail in the main story, so her rank was different from other characters, but if we’re going to nitpick that, the same goes for Lilith.

So without needlessly being intimidated, if I just talk normally to the point of not being awkward…

“Oh, the weather is so~ nice today…?!”

“…?”

“…?”

Ah, fuck.

I’m such an idiot, seriously.

As if it wasn’t enough to bring up a topic that would make the listener dumbfounded, I blurted out my first line in an acting tone that anyone could tell was awkward.

As a result, it was only natural for this situation to instantly become awkward.

“…Lili, I don’t think that topic quite fits. To talk about the weather, it’s already night.”

“…Pfft, you brought a f-funny partner, it seems… Uh… n-nameless young master…”

Ethan looked at me with a pitying expression, and Seraphine turned her head away, trying to hold back her laughter.

Because they knew my true identity was a commoner maid, their reactions felt strangely considerate, which made me feel even more miserable.

I seriously want to end it all, fuck me…

T/N

Lèse-majesté is a term that means defamation against the head of state or the state itself.

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Ethan’s rizz is infinitely better than mine. I have something to learn from him frfr.

Bonus chapter to follow shortly. See you in a bit!