Vol 2. Chapter 119: A Sense of Familiarity

“I—how am I overreacting? Obviously it was you, Vanessa, who brought up this topic.” Mirexia lowered her gaze. “I only answered.”

“Indeed. Her Highness Mirexia is perfectly proper; everything is the fault of me, this improper maid. I misled you with my words—please punish me, Your Highness.” A bewitching smile tugged at Vanessa’s lips, yet her movements were perfectly correct in etiquette as she lifted her skirt and dipped in a curtsey.

Punish...?

Mirexia involuntarily thought of last time—when, in her own dorm, Vanessa had played the queen. Her acting was so exquisite it could be called playing herself.

“[Virtue +50.]”

“[Current Virtue: 7434.]”

“C-can you help me handle the documents, same as last time?” Looking at the pink-haired girl before her, bright as a dewy blossom, Mirexia turned her eyes aside and very unnaturally shifted the topic.

“Your Highness’s order and request—of course there’s no problem. But, Your Highness truly doesn’t mind?” Vanessa tilted her head. “This is, after all, state business of the Kingdom of Camella.”

“No problem. You’re a noble of the Kingdom of Camella as well, aren’t you?”

“Then I obey, Your Highness.” Vanessa placed both hands lightly at her abdomen and made an elegant maid’s curtsey.

Vanessa fetched a long bench and sat at Mirexia’s side to handle state affairs together with her.

Even so, Vanessa felt it was somewhat improper for her to take such matters directly in hand, so she mostly assisted Mirexia—offering suggestions at her side.

Handled this way, Mirexia’s efficiency rose by a great deal; many points Mirexia hadn’t thought of, Vanessa supplied for her.

And, unlike usual—though Mirexia normally had maids present while handling affairs, the maids certainly would not sit and work through state business with her. They didn’t understand these things and couldn’t share her burdens.

Vanessa was different.

Whenever they paused to think, Mirexia could catch that familiar, soothing scent of white camellia, and even the slight irritability in her mood was smoothed away.

Mirexia closed her eyes and lightly breathed in the white-camellia fragrance suffusing the room—one that had never appeared here before. She liked this feeling very much. Merely by inhaling that delightful aroma, she felt her complicated thoughts, tangled like a ball of yarn, gradually being teased clear; the fatigue of the morning was swept away.

“Your Highness, are you tired? Shall I brew you some tea?” Vanessa asked.

“You even know how to brew tea?” In Mirexia’s impression, Vinny had always had nothing to do with household matters like tea-brewing and cooking.

“A smattering. I can’t promise it will be delicious,” Vanessa said, then asked again, “So, would Your Highness like some tea?”

“Mm. Then, I’ll trouble you.” Mirexia returned her gaze to the documents on the desk.

She didn’t know how long had passed—it had been a while. Her eyes and attention were fixed on the files until that white-camellia scent once more filled the room.

“Tea’s ready.” Vanessa set down the tray and, carefully, brought over a cup of hot tea—but did not place it down.

“Your Highness, shall I feed you?” Vanessa teased with a smiling squint.

“...No need. I can do it myself.” At that, a touch of unnatural color flashed across Mirexia’s cheeks.

“[Virtue +50.]”

“[Current Virtue: 7484.]”

“But the tea is quite hot right now. If you drink it, it’ll scald.” Vanessa didn’t hand the tea to Mirexia; instead, after setting it down, she lowered her eyes, lifted a loose lock of hair, and gently blew.

Mirexia did her utmost to focus her attention on the documents before her, but such a lovely sight left her a little beside herself.

“All right, Your Highness Mirexia—have some tea.” Only after the temperature dropped a little did Vanessa, smiling, lift the cup with both hands and pass it to Mirexia.

Mirexia accepted the tea and took a delicate sip. There was a light taste of lavender and white camellia, and some other flowers she couldn’t name—refreshing to the spirit. She asked, “Are these tea leaves from the palace?”

“Yes—right here in the bedchambers. Is it that my skill is lacking, Your Highness?” Vanessa asked. “I did mind the proper water temperature, the measure by weight, and the technique for brewing this variety of black tea.”

“No, it’s very good. But are you sure you used the palace’s black tea?” Mirexia asked. “There seems to be a floral note in it. Did you put petals in?”

“Yes. I added some flowers suitable for brewing into the tea,” Vanessa replied.

“White camellia?”

“No, there isn’t any white camellia in it,” Vanessa tipped her head.

At that thought, Mirexia glanced at Vanessa’s alabaster fingers, and an odd color passed over her cheeks.

Vanessa hadn’t put white camellia in, yet she tasted white camellia in the tea—exactly like the scent on Vanessa herself.

Could it be that, when Vanessa brewed the tea, her hands holding the leaves imparted the fragrance?

Then wouldn’t drinking the tea Vanessa brewed be like kissing the back of Vanessa’s hand?

At that thought, a peachy flush spread over Mirexia’s cheeks.

“[Virtue +100.]”

“[Current Virtue: 7584.]”

All right.

Vanessa was more or less used to these sudden Virtue strikes by now—though this time there were indeed traces to follow.

“Your Highness Mirexia, shall I rub your shoulders and temples?”

“Mm.” At that, Mirexia didn’t say more; she merely nodded silently.

Smiling without a word, Vanessa moved behind Mirexia and began to knead her shoulders and loosen her temples.

“How is it—comfortable, Your Highness~?”

“Mmh... mm. Not bad.” The easing of the soreness in her shoulders and head gave Mirexia a feeling of release—though laced with pain.

She could feel Vanessa’s soft, warm fingers pressing lightly over her head, like ten little sprites dancing upon it.

“Feels good, doesn’t it? I thought so—after all, Your Highness has been staring at my fingers this whole time,” Vanessa said with playful savor.

At that, Mirexia pressed her lips together and said awkwardly, “I was not.”

“[Virtue +50.]”

“[Current Virtue: 7634.]”

“Don’t move, Your Highness—don’t move your head,” Vanessa said, feeling Mirexia’s superb hair quality while she eased her muscles.

Mirexia’s fatigue was greatly relieved; when her gaze returned to the written documents, she felt her energy fully restored.

By evening, the two stepped out of the bedchambers.

Today’s work had been handled very quickly, with great efficiency. Even though Mirexia had spent the early morning strolling with Vanessa, nothing was delayed in the least.

And just as they left the bedchambers, the person approaching head-on made them both pause.

It was none other than King Friane V, scepter in hand.

All right—within the palace, especially within the bedchambers, one naturally had to be prepared to see the King at any moment. Vanessa had anticipated this.

“Father.” Mirexia stepped forward and saluted.

“Your Majesty.” Vanessa, behind Mirexia, also lifted her skirt in a curtsey. This was her first time appearing before King Friane V in Vanessa’s form.

Honestly, her mood was a bit uneasy. After all, a maid who had never been seen before appearing in the palace—no matter how you looked at it, that was unreasonable.

Running into him was unavoidable—she was already in the palace, and at Mirexia’s side at that. Her presence would make its way to King Friane V’s ears no matter what.

After all, an extra maid in the palace whom no one recognized—how could that fail to attract the attention of those in charge?

“Mmh.” After a rough nod to Mirexia, King Friane V shifted his gaze to Vanessa.

Seeing that sacred cherry-pink hair and those ice-blue eyes, he smiled.

Vanessa felt there was a trace of deeper meaning in King Friane V’s smile, though the meaning was so well hidden as to be almost undetectable.

Besides that, she also felt a touch of warmth in the way King Friane V looked at her and Mirexia—as if both she and Mirexia were children of his own household.

“Father, Karin has matters today. I temporarily found this maid to substitute for her.” Without waiting for King Friane V to ask, Mirexia explained with a calm face—and very deliberately took a few small steps back, as if attempting to block her father’s line of sight toward Vanessa.

This child.

On the one hand, King Friane V was amused and exasperated that his daughter’s elbow turned outward, choosing a spouse over her father; on the other, he felt Mirexia still wasn’t fully mature in these aspects.

Before, he hadn’t been able to be fully certain. Now, with Mirexia guarding a maid who was, on the surface, a complete stranger—though he told himself he had no proof, he could only be further confirmed in his conjecture.

“Hehe. You child—I haven’t even said anything yet,” King Friane V said helplessly.

“I’ve seen this child—she was in that batch of maids admitted to the palace before, wasn’t she? Mm. They’ve served in the palace for a time already, and passed probation. Indeed, it’s reasonable to consider making them permanent,” King Friane V said, studying Vanessa with a thoughtful expression.

That made Mirexia blink. Her father had seen Vanessa? As a maid??

Only after a moment did she realize her father was covering for her.

Vanessa, however, was not surprised at all; she had anticipated it.

Or rather—from the moment King Friane V witnessed those characters fly into her body, she should have foreseen this situation.

With King Friane V’s shrewdness, he would certainly infer that her bloodline had awakened. What tangled him was likely whether the Facilis family would henceforth welcome the first-ever male descendant with an awakened bloodline.

Since letting the Peono royal house know was only a matter of time, there was nothing to be done.

Letting the Peono family know was better than others finding out. Mirexia was her childhood friend, and over this period she had deliberately cultivated goodwill—at least to the level of close childhood companions. And Vanessa had long had eyes on how King Friane V had helped the Facilis family.

One might even say the Peono family rarely produced depraved tyrants; most were virtuous rulers like Mirexia—responsible and morally upright.

Besides, if the Peono family were not to be trusted, why would her great-grandmother Sophia have entrusted them with the notebook—entrusted them with the heirs?

With matters having developed thus far, Vanessa could only tacitly accept this fact.

Moreover, King Friane V was clever and had offered a way down the steps.

This was, in effect, an answer—an answer promising to keep her secret.

That way, even if some factions discovered it in the future and pressed him, he could still say, “Huh? There’s such a thing? I didn’t know. I never noticed.”

Even if he did know, he would not expose it. Though the possibility of his conjecture was already very high, he told himself there was no evidence.

Chances were, His Majesty the King had already laid down a safety net for her in private, including falsified entries in the palace ledgers and the like—arranging the entire set.

“Good. Your eye is very good, Mirexia,” King Friane V said with approval. “This child looks pleasing to me as well—I imagine she’s a very good choice.”

“Mm.” Mirexia turned her gaze aside—unsure what exactly her father’s words were pointing at—and nodded. “Then, Father, I have some matters to attend to. I’ll be going.”

“Mm. Go on,” King Friane V waved.

Watching their backs, King Friane V shook his head as a grave question occurred to him.

If things truly were as he supposed—then wouldn’t the two of them...?

For a moment, King Friane V felt a bit at a loss. Though it was fine that his daughter had found true love and was happy... but this...?

Think as he might, it only turned into a soft sigh.

Elsewhere, the Princess and the maid walked the palace bathed in the glow of dusk.

“Vanessa, my father seems to have already...”

“Mm. That couldn’t be helped. After all, His Majesty witnessed the entire process of my absorbing the notebook,” Vanessa said, perfectly calm where Mirexia felt awkward.

“Sorry. I’d promised before to keep your secret.”

“It’s all right. Telling His Majesty is completely fine. After all, he is Your Highness Mirexia’s father, isn’t he?” Vanessa said with a smiling squint. The trust in her words was ample—not only given to King Friane V, but to Mirexia.

To Mirexia’s ears, what Vanessa said meant that because King Friane V was her father, Vanessa would, just as she trusted Mirexia unconditionally, trust her father unconditionally as well.

“[Virtue +50.]”

“[Current Virtue: 7684.]”

It was nearly dinner time; they should head back to the bedchambers for the evening meal. Along the way, however, they saw a very familiar pair of figures.

“Karin?” Mirexia looked at the shoulder-length-haired maid.

By rights, they shouldn’t be seeing Karin here at this hour. Mirexia had instructed her to stay glued to Shicodale all day.

However, that didn’t mean Karin had disobeyed. She had indeed obeyed—because the honored guest she served was at Mirexia’s side right now.

The two of them seemed to have come out for a stroll as well.

At this moment, the silver-haired little elf was staring with a strange expression at Vanessa at Mirexia’s side.

So this was the pink-haired maid the palace maids had mentioned earlier?

She was truly beautiful.

But... why?

Shicodale looked at Vanessa; a peculiar glimmer flickered in his eyes.

Why did he feel that from this cherry-haired girl he had never seen before there emanated a faint, elusive sense of familiarity...?