Chapter 199. Taming the Maid

"... As you requested, I'll make arrangements so that you can be removed from the expedition..."

"I'm sorry. It's a difficult time..."

"Not at all. The situation isn't so dire that Lady Valdrova would have to step in."

"Blancaros warned me."

"Lord Blancaros did?"

Erika couldn't hide her surprise.

As Iorga's representative, she had attended the Grand Ducal Council regularly and had met Blancaros more often than anyone else.

She believed she understood what kind of dragon he was.

"If it's him, he should want the Land of Demons conquered. Then why would he stop Lady Valdrova from going...?"

"He probably fears me more than that."

"Ah..."

She felt foolish for even asking.

The dragon who had accomplished the greatest feats during the Dragon-Demon War 150 years ago, while also earning the most terrifying reputation.

Between Godwin's death and Silverwind's death stood one name—Valdrova.

Countless people had died.

Countless Dragon Spawn had died.

Once a Dragon Spawn experienced death, they never forgot the one they held a grudge against.

Even among the Guardian Dragons, relations couldn't exactly be called good, and Valdrova was hated by everyone regardless of faction.

Erika herself had hated her for a very long time.

Just remembering it now made things awkward again.

"How is Iorga?"

Erika flinched.

"She is doing well."

"She's having a hard time, isn't she?"

"..."

Damn it, this person.

She couldn't fool her no matter how hard she tried.

Those innocent-looking golden eyes merely gazed at her quietly, yet they made it feel as though they could see straight through her heart.

"...As you said, Lady Iorga is not in good condition."

In the end, Erika told her the truth.

"An aura similar to Godwin's, one very much like Lady Valdrova's, has begun to consume Lady Iorga, so she chose to enter hibernation."

"I see..."

Valdrova's expression darkened.

It was obvious she was genuinely worried about Iorga.

"There's something I've been wondering. May I ask?"

The question sounded strangely cautious.

"Please."

"...Can you tell me why Iorga killed her own fiancé...?"

She already knew that Iorga had killed her fiancé.

All dragons knew that much, but none knew the circumstances behind it.

Erika hesitated for a moment.

To her, Iorga was no different from a parent.

A child who spoke ill of their parent invited divine punishment.

Choosing her words carefully, Erika began.

"As you know, Lady Iorga embodies the Aspect of Magic. The magic she wields is purer than anyone else's."

"Yes."

"Because of that, she wished for her partner to be someone who would live a long life and remain noble. So she chose one of the High Elves as her companion."

"Mm."

"...However, that companion failed to resist the temptation of magic and committed a taboo. He laid his hands on Lady Iorga's magic. Lady Iorga flew into a rage and personally killed her fiancé."

"..."

"And from that day onward, the High Elves turned against her. They claimed Lady Iorga had lured him into a trap, and because she refused to return his body..."

She explained everything.

Valdrova lowered her head, quietly reconstructing the events in her mind.

"...How was Iorga?"

"What do you mean by...?"

"Did she cry?"

Erika answered, unable to hide her bewilderment.

"Lady Iorga has always been the same. She bears her duty heavily upon her shoulders. She would never waste emotions on something so trivial."

"Really? ...Yes, I suppose so..."

Valdrova's reply lacked conviction, as though she had hurriedly covered something up.

Iorga crying.

The very thought bordered on blasphemy.

The Iorga who was always calm and guided by perfect reason, overwhelmed by emotion?

If Storeus had said such a thing, Erika would have challenged him even at the risk of her life.

But Valdrova was different.

It felt as though an older sister were asking after her younger sister, sincerely worried about how she had been. 1

Perhaps...

Valdrova knew far more than Erika did.

She wanted to ask.

But she didn't.

Simply facing another dragon like this was difficult enough.

Instead, she changed the subject.

"Then, Lady Valdrova, do you intend to continue acting as the Armored Knight...?"

"I don't think I can."

"...Pardon? Why...?"

"If you look here, the armor's cracked a little. If I put any more strength into it, I think it'll break..."

She showed the gauntlet.

Just as she had said, an unnatural crack ran across its otherwise ordinary appearance.

Erika suddenly remembered seeing her clench her fist earlier.

It cracked Lord Frontesis's armor just from making a fist?

The Bronze Dragon, Frontesis.

The only being on the Cerdes Continent capable of working with the strongest metal in existence, a smith revered as a god.

The dwarves worshipped him, and half the legendary artifacts in countless tales had been forged by his hands.

Wait a minute...

The Armored Knight was Valdrova.

The pieces she had refused to understand until now suddenly began falling into place.

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"Could it be... inside the Yin-Yang Chamber...?"

"The Yin-Yang Chamber?"

"The place underground where you went with Regent Ferda."

"Ah, yes."

"...Did you manage to escape because... you shared your affection?"

"Uh... huh??"

Valdrova recalled being trapped inside that secret chamber.

What came to mind were moist eyes and lips.

But what they had actually done...was him pulling her cheeks.

...Or is that how humans express affection?

Affection between a man and a woman.

The words made her heart flutter, yet perhaps they were simply beyond a dragon's understanding.

Thinking about it that way, even having her cheeks pulled suddenly felt embarrassingly intimate.

Valdrova's face turned bright red.

"That... might be true?"

Seeing her expression, Erika became certain.

They did. They definitely did.

Even in human society, it wasn't unusual for engaged couples to become intimate.

Knowing that nothing strange had happened to Ferda was an enormous relief.

"Ah."

Then she realized...

She alone knew this fact.

"What's wrong?"

"Um... will you publicly reveal that the Armored Knight is Lady Valdrova?"

"Hm? Ah... I can't."

Valdrova answered hesitantly.

Meeting Erika like this wasn't something she should have done in the first place.

She could still vividly picture Luri glaring at her, warning her never to let either Erika or Isabella find out.

"If you continue hiding it, then Regent Ferda might..."

"Will that cause a problem?"

There certainly would be.

Emerging from the Yin-Yang Chamber together with the Armored Knight would leave behind a terrible stain on Ferda's reputation.

They had silenced the expedition members.

But there were limits.

As the saying went, words without legs traveled a thousand miles.

The rumors would spread in no time.

"...It's nothing."

Erika decided to keep it to herself.

Nothing would happen.

After all, back then it had merely ended as a small incident.

There was no need to explain anything.

At least, that's what Erika believed.

***

Luri was cleaning Ferda's office.

Since Ferda always kept it tidy himself, it was spotless every day.

Cleaning amounted to little more than wiping a bit of dust from the window frame.

It didn't even take three minutes.

Even so, Luri deliberately came inside.

There was simply no way to relieve the stress Storeus had burdened her with.

Back when she lived as a warrior, she vented that anxiety by killing Frost Giants.

During her peaceful life as a maid, she dealt with it by eating.

But even those methods had their limits.

Eventually, she found a new way to relieve stress.

Ferda.

Simply lingering around him made her feel at ease.

Of course, Luri herself hadn't realized that yet.

She simply thought it was no different from usual.

I'm just going to say hello and leave.

They might chat about trivial things for a little while.

But that was something they always did.

Ferda had gone to bring Mori so she could translate some books.

When he came back, she could grumble about him translating another strange book.

There was nothing to be nervous about.

If it's something I can read, maybe we can even talk about it...

Without thinking, she picked up one of the books he had brought.

At that moment, the office door opened.

Luri steadied herself, turned around, and politely greeted the visitor—

"Hello, Miss Maid!!"

"...It's you?"

The one who entered was Penelope.

"What's with those eyes? Looking at me like I'm a cockroach!?"

"You're beneath even a cockroach. At least cockroaches die."

"Wow, what vicious abuse. Calling a demon a cockroach."

Looking utterly exasperated, Luri lazily waved her hand.

"Stop loitering around and leave. Everyone else is working."

"Aw, that's so cold. I'm working too, you know?"

"You keep spewing lies no one would ever believe."

"No, really! Didn't you know? Believe it or not, I'm the Heeeead of Product Planning at the Hestia Trading Company!"

So the company's downfall had begun.

If she could breathe dragon fire, she wanted to blast it all out.

Instead, only a sigh escaped her lips.

"Anyway, as Head of Product Planning, I even brought Regent Ferda a wonderful present!"

"What is it?"

"Ta-da!"

She proudly held up a banner.

Written across it were the words:

—Congratulations on the Opening.

Luri tilted her head.

"Did someone finish digging a tunnel?"

"Yep. From what I've heard, something got opened, and the rumors are spreading everywhere."

Where exactly?

That smug smile of hers bothered Luri immensely.

And definitely not in a good way.

"I need to show this to the Regent first. Where did he go?"

"He went to fetch the scribe because he needed a book translated."

"Ah, the cute blonde girl with two moms?"

"Two mothers?"

"You know? The woman with glasses and the gloomy one."

She meant Isabella and Echidna.

"Whenever I tried to approach her, both moms threatened to kill me. Was I actually allowed to approach her?"

"Do not assume everyone is like you, low-ranking demon."

"Aww, that's mean. I could be helpful too."

Pouting, speaking in a nasal voice, pretending to wipe away tears with her fists...

Luri seriously considered punching her.

Penelope casually approached Ferda's desk and glanced at the books resting there.

They were books brought from the East.

"Huh?"

Penelope recognized the writing.

"These are Eastern characters."

"You know Eastern writing?"

"Yeah. Whenever I had nothing to do, I'd just laze around reading human novels... Huh?"

As she read the title, Penelope suddenly froze.

"What? Why is this here...? Wait. Could this one be too?"

"What is it?"

"No, it's just... rather shocking."

Penelope noticed that Luri was holding another book.

"Don't tell me that book too...?"

She glanced at the title, looked back and forth between the book and Luri, then broke into a grin.

That grin finally touched one of Luri's reverse scales.

"Why are you making that face?"

"I mean, how could I not? Seeing a Dragon Spawn who's even more terrifying than us demons holding a book like that... It somehow suits you. Maybe because you have such a cute, girlish body? You look just like a teenage girl."

"Should I take that as you wanting your spine folded?"

"N-No! That's not it! Well... should I even tell you? Once I say it, there's no going back~"

Penelope's sinister grin only widened.

As Luri advanced with every intention of literally folding her spine, Penelope quickly spoke.

"Wait, wait! You don't know Eastern writing, do you?"

"Obviously not."

"So you don't even know what you're holding?"

"No."

"Mhm, figured. Which is why— Gah! Fine, I'll tell you! Let go! My neck's going to snap! It'll crumble like a puffed cracker!"

She only listened after force became involved.

Luri released her.

"...First of all, these are novels."

"Novels?"

"Yes. See this one on the desk?"

She pointed to the book.

"The title is Guunmong. You have no idea what that means, right?"

"What is it?"

"If I translate the title, it becomes, 'The Story of How I, Once a Third-Rate Scholar, Was Reincarnated as the Invincible General and Slept with Forty-Nine Beautiful Women'."

"Became a general and... what?"

"He slept with forty-nine women."

"When you say 'slept'..."

"Like this."

Penelope made an obscene gesture.

Luri barely managed to hold onto her sanity.

"...So... it's an obscene book?"

"Erotica."

"...All of them?"

"Yep."

Her mind went blank.

Ferda had gone to fetch Mori just to translate these erotic novels?

He was going to make that blonde little girl translate such filthy material?

He must not know.

Ferda had common sense.

No matter how emotionless Mori seemed, he would never make a young girl do something like that.

Her instincts refused to accept it, while her reason kept trying to understand, leaving her mind in complete conflict.

"And do you know why I was really laughing?"

"...Why?"

"The title of the book you're holding is..."

Penelope whispered carefully.

The moment Luri heard the title, her expression finally shattered.

"...You're joking."

"I'm not. No matter how you look at it, it feels like destiny, doesn't it?"

"Shut up!"

"Gah!"

Losing all reason, Luri grabbed Penelope by the throat.

"You damned demon! How dare you mock a Dragon Spawn! I'll kill you right here and set everything right!"

"Gahk! Help! Somebody! Zed! Ferda! Lady Valdrova! Save meee—"

"...What are you two doing?"

She failed to kill her.

Ferda and Mori had returned.

Hearing Ferda's voice startled Luri, and Penelope seized the opportunity to escape.

Luri stood with her back turned, while Penelope scampered over to Ferda.

"O-Oh, you're back! My savior!"

"Stay back while you talk. What brings you here?"

"What else? I'm working as Head of Product Planning for the Hestia Trading Company!"

"Doing what?"

"Looking for inspiration."

Ferda understood immediately.

She meant she was loafing around.

"If you have no business here, leave."

"Yep, that's what I was about to do. Since you're about to have veeery important business to attend to. Nya-ha-ha— Guh!"

Still wearing that sly grin as she turned to leave—

Her body suddenly flew sideways.

Luri had kicked her hard in the ribs.

"You're more violent than usual."

"..."

With her back still turned, Luri said nothing.

"Luri?"

"!!"

Luri looked back at Ferda.

It was Ferda who was startled.

The Dragon Spawn who always wore a cold, businesslike expression was nowhere to be seen.

Instead stood an innocent girl dressed in a maid outfit, looking utterly flustered.

Her silver eyes trembled as though struck by an earthquake.

Her cheeks were as red as ripe tomatoes.

Her lips parted as she let out shaky breaths.

Watching her, Ferda came to a conclusion.

"Did you catch a cold?"

"..."

"So even Dragon Spawn can catch colds. You should rest today."

"..."

"Isn't that the book I brought?"

"!!"

Instinctively, Luri hugged the book tightly to her chest.

Inside her mind echoed the cursed words Penelope had spoken.

The title of the book was—

"Give me that book back."

49 Ways to Tame an Arrogant Maid. 2

Ferda looked as polite as ever.

That perfectly courteous expression only made Luri's emotions spiral further.

She knew how gentle those hands were.

Yet now they looked impossibly large and rough.

Her heart pounded just as violently.

"N-Nooo...!"

The words came out in a hopeless stutter.

"I need to read that book."

49 Ways to Tame an Arrogant Maid.

"No!"

"Whether you like it or not, it's mine."

"I belong to Lady Valdrova!"

"...?"

What on earth was she talking about?

"I brought it here, so ownership belongs to me—"

"I said no!!"

Luri shouted at the top of her lungs.

She was so flustered that the horns and tail she usually hid burst into view, baring themselves threateningly toward Ferda.

Completely bewildered, Ferda instinctively took a step back.

Seizing the opportunity, Luri swept every single book off the desk into her arms.

Her hair fluttered as she glared at him.

"You...!"

With tears almost forming in her eyes, she shouted,

"You perverted Masochist!"

After hurling that completely unexpected insult—

Luri vanished like the wind.

She disappeared so quickly that there wasn't even time to stop her.

An awkward silence remained.

Ferda and Mori looked at one another.

"...It seems we won't be doing anything today."

"..."

Mori looked visibly dejected.

Without a word, Ferda gently stroked her head.