“Y-Young Lady?!”
It was as if all the blood in her body reversed its flow at that moment, leaving Anna’s face deathly pale.
The secret she had buried in her heart for nine years had been discovered by the one person who must never know.
Anna’s pupils constricted sharply, unable to bring herself to look at Elena’s face.
Anger, resentment, and the pain of betrayal…
That must be the expression on the face of the young lady she served right now, wasn’t it?
Anna didn’t have the courage to confirm it. All she could do was hang her head, her fingers digging into her dress so tightly that her nails pierced her fingertips, drawing blood.
“…Anna.”
Elena’s voice seemed somewhat cold, so Anna trembled violently the moment she heard it.
Tap, tap, tap.
Anna knew Elena was gradually approaching her; the light from the night lamp shining on her was gradually being blocked by Elena’s figure.
Only when Elena stopped, only when the girl’s shadow completely enveloped her, did she muster the courage to look up.
And then she saw it—two dull streaks of dried tears.
“Why…”
Elena’s voice trembled, but Anna could no longer discern the emotion within it.
“Why, Anna, you…
Why, after all these years, did you never tell me any of this?”
Because I couldn’t, Young Lady… Because your maid Anna is a weakling, a coward, a sinner who cannot face the evil she has wrought…
A hopeless fool.
“Young Lady… I, I—!”
What interrupted Anna was not a slap.
It was Elena’s embrace.
“You should have told me this sooner… You should have told me sooner…
I might have hated you, Anna. But I also didn’t want you to be like this, burying everything in your heart, bearing the truth alone!
You’ve been by my side for ten years…
When the servants left one after another, when I couldn’t sleep at night, when Mother wasn’t here… you were always by my side.
Why, why didn’t you tell me all this?”
Elena’s arms holding Anna tightened further, pulling the still-trembling maid tightly into her embrace.
Anna wanted to say something in response, but in that instant, the sour sting in her nose transformed all her words into a warmth at the corners of her eyes that she could no longer contain.
“I might have disliked you, resented you for a while! But I would have surely understood… understood that you were just being used by Sirius, known that you too had suffered the pain of losing a loved one!
So after a while, I would have taken your hand again…
Because—
You are also my family.”
Family.
The moment the word fell, Anna’s tears broke through the dam.
It was as if all her resolve and defenses had become a joke, the self-deceiving days ending at this moment.
But Anna didn’t dislike this feeling.
Family…
Perhaps deep in Anna’s heart, where even she hadn’t noticed, she had always longed for someone to say this word to her.
Like an infant’s wail, the cry was unrestrained, the cry was heart-wrenching… but this cry also symbolized the birth of a new life.
The ghosts and grudges that had clung to Anna for nearly twenty years died at this moment.
After this cry, there would be a new life, reconciled with the past.
“It seems giving the Stardust Flower to Miss Anna was very appropriate.”
Part of the Stardust Flower’s meaning—”To a new beginning.”
Although Ai’er couldn’t remember what the first half of the saying was, as long as the meaning of the latter half was correct, it was fine.
So quietly, Ai’er retreated to the door of Miss Anna’s room, slipped out quietly, and gently closed the door.
Elena now knew the truth. The next step was dealing with Sirius.
[Note: The Host’s core mission is to form a contract with the Supreme Witch and obtain her power.]
“I remember we have to find what she’s searching for first, right?”
[Yes.]
After the system responded, Ai’er nodded towards the air.
The system’s previous task was—to have the Witch of Time, Elena White, “kill” herself. That should be related to what Elena is searching for.
Although it seemed Elena wasn’t actively searching for something, just like the “kill” mentioned by the system was in quotation marks, this “searching” was probably also some abstract concept.
“‘Kill’ oneself” and “searching for something”… sounds very philosophical.
Plus, the previous task hints had keywords like White God and Black God? Those names seem to imply two sides of the same coin?
Could it be… there’s another Elena inside Elena?
“System, it can’t be such a cliché script, right? Two personalities, one must be eliminated, and the so-called search is actually searching for a more complete self?
It can’t be like that, right?”
The system did not respond.
“…Forget it. If you won’t say, I’ll just go ask Elena directly.
But it’ll probably take some time for Elena to come out of Miss Anna’s room. I’ll go find Fina now and ask when we’re having cake~”
But just as she prepared to lift her foot, Ai’er found she couldn’t move.
To be precise, her feet couldn’t move.
“W-Why are my feet frozen in ice crystals QAQ?!”
Why else? Besides Elena, Ai’er hadn’t seen anyone else who could use this kind of magic.
“Ai’er, where are you going?”
“I-I’m not going anywhere! I just wanted to go find some—snacks!”
For the last three words, Ai’er put more force into each one, but the ice climbing up her feet only grew harder.
What’s the big deal QAQ! You won’t even let me have snacks now?!
Elena, what are you doing~ Oh my!
With her feet frozen, even turning around became difficult. If she forced it, she’d end up in a strange, twisted shape like a dough twist.
Dough twist…
Tianjin-style dough twists are pretty good too~
Ai’er was thinking just that, saliva about to drip from the corner of her mouth, when she was suddenly hugged by Elena.
“E-Elena?”
It wasn’t a normal hug.
Elena’s body trembled slightly, just like Miss Anna had earlier.
Elena just held Ai’er, not saying a word.
But soon, the hard ice binding Ai’er’s feet melted.
“Um… Elena, if you keep holding me like this, I can’t go get snacks.”
But after she spoke, Elena still didn’t let go.
Like a little girl acting spoiled towards her mother, she even nuzzled against Ai’er’s back.
Ahem! My good daughter~ If you stay this dependent on your mother, you’ll never grow up—
“…You’re not allowed to go.”
—Huh O.o?
Interrupting Ai’er’s internal monologue, Elena added a bit more force to her arms, somewhat insistently.
“Ai’er, are you also hiding something from me?”
“N-No, no, no! I-I’m Elena’s maid! A maid wouldn’t hide things from her young lady!”
The flustered Ai’er seemed to forget whose room Elena had just come from, forgetting that Miss Anna was also Elena’s maid.
“Liar. Do you think I can’t tell?”
Huh huh huh?! Isn’t this script a bit off QAQ?!
What does Elena know?!
Is it about the system? That this body of mine doesn’t have long to live? Or that I approached her for the system’s mission?!
Elena, hear me out meow QAQ!
Although I did approach you at first for the system’s mission! But now it’s definitely—
Def-definitely…
As if sensing something, a blush suddenly spread across Ai’er’s cheeks.
“But if Ai’er doesn’t want to say, then don’t… Just don’t forget, you are my maid, okay?
A maid who deceives her mistress must be given a little punishment.
So, as your mistress, I’m giving an order… Ai’er, come to my room after dinner. Just you.
Understood?”
…QAQ.
Understood meow QAQ…
Am, am I graduating today QAQ?
It seems tonight, I’ll be shedding “tears” of happiness.