Lucia led Enya through the garden, all the way to the back gate of the estate, and finally stopped in front of a house.
The area around the house had many flower beds with turned soil, but nothing had been planted in them—only a few stray weeds and wildflowers. The house itself didn’t look lived in.
The doors and windows were tightly shut, and every curtain was drawn.
When they arrived, five young maids who had been cleaning the house walked out. Seeing the three of them, they were all startled, especially at the sight of Enya and Wendy—their eyes widened a bit.
Lucia told them to leave first.
The maids had no idea what was happening, but seeing Lucia back, they guessed that the master must have returned.
So who were these two unfamiliar women? As the maids left with confusion, they kept stealing glances back at Enya and Wendy.
Beautiful women weren’t rare, but one who was both beautiful and possessed such a mysterious aura—that was uncommon.
Enya surveyed the building before her.
It was essentially a small courtyard with a little villa, not taking up much space, and its style was different from what she had seen before.
She could sense a feeling of time having passed over it, as if it had stood here long ago, enduring enormous changes all around.
Time had flown, yet it remained unchanged, still standing firm.
Lucia walked up to the slightly rusted iron gate, pushed it half-open with her hand—it had only been a gap wide enough for one person—then stepped aside and looked at Enya.
Enya stepped forward and entered, asking Lucia as she did.
“How long have you lived here?”
“Ten years.”
Lucia felt a bit puzzled by Enya’s question.
Enya, with the two maids in tow, crossed the courtyard and reached the front door.
She grasped the door handle, its silver paint peeling in places, and pushed open the slightly aged door, revealing the hall inside.
Lucia glanced inside and said, “I was brought here and have worked as a maid for ten years. However, I heard from the head maid that Master Gro only arrived here thirteen years ago. Before that, it belonged to another master, but the head maid never told me who.”
“Mm.”
Enya nodded slightly, then tilted her head to glance at Wendy, signaling with her eyes for her forest elf maid to learn from Lucia—what it meant to be a perceptive, good maid.
Once the three entered, Lucia continued.
“Before Master Gro came, it seems there was a fire here. After buying the place, he rebuilt it, but this house seemed lucky and wasn’t touched by the flames, so he didn’t tear it down.”
After a brief pause, she added, “I only know this from the maids who have worked here longer than me, Lady. If you want more details, you could ask the steward. He knows more.”
“I will.”
Enya nodded.
The living room of the house and the garden were separated by a large window.
Slightly blurry glass let in bright light, reflecting off the clean, brown-red hardwood floor.
All the various furniture in the house was covered with white cloths. Everything in the living room was tidy and orderly—the five maids earlier hadn’t been slacking off.
Enya placed her hand on the back of the sofa and turned to look at Lucia.
Startled by her sudden gaze, Lucia flinched for no reason.
But remembering how Enya had held her in her arms by the garden pond earlier, a faint blush crept onto her fair face.
She lowered her head and bit her lip, perfectly displaying her fluster and nervousness before Enya, which earned her a soft laugh.
“Are you that afraid of me?”
Enya didn’t tease Lucia further and got down to business.
“Take me to that underground chamber.”
“Yes… yes…”
Lucia nodded blankly, then quickly walked toward the staircase to the second floor.
But instead of going up, she stopped at the stairway entrance, crouched down, and lifted the carpet.
The spot she uncovered looked no different from the rest of the floor—no seams, no sign of a passage.
Of course, to the naked eye, there was no difference.
Lucia tossed the carpet aside, crouched, and pressed her hand onto the floor.
As she infused a bit of magic power, faint blue light seeped out from the gaps between the brown-red hardwood planks beneath her feet.
The blue light formed a rectangular shape.
As Lucia released her hand, stood up, and took half a step back, the rectangle of blue light and the floor vanished, replaced by a dark, descending secret passage.
Lucia used a Lightening Technique and entered the passage.
After a short straight stretch, they reached a spiral staircase going down.
It took them a full five minutes to reach the bottom, where a large door stood.
On the door hung a lock, but it was already opened. The door itself looked unremarkable.
Lucia pushed it open, revealing pitch darkness inside. Under her control, three light orbs flew in and then burst into bright light, illuminating the scene within the chamber.
Enya took one look and immediately understood what this place had been used for.
The person who had lived in this house before was an alchemist.
Once they were inside, Lucia said to Enya, “Lady, this is the only secret passage I know of. As for basements… there’s also the wine cellar.”
Mentioning the cellar made Lucia shiver.
Even after reclaiming her identity, the memories from that town had become hazy, but that incident had left a deep impression on her.
“This isn’t bad.”
Enya wandered around. The chamber wasn’t particularly large, but it was divided into several rooms, each with a different function.
She needed the underground space mainly for constructing a magic array.
The area here was just right—if it wasn’t enough, she could always build some additions.
Stealing a bit of space wasn’t a problem as long as she didn’t get caught.
Lucia breathed a sigh of relief at Enya’s satisfied response, but then Enya’s next words made her tense up again.
Enya said to her with a smile, “Why do you keep calling me ‘Lady’?”
“…”
Lucia looked over at Wendy, who was slacking off.
After a moment of thought, she cleverly called out “Mistress” in Elvish.
Lucia didn’t understand the word, but she had picked it up from hearing Wendy say it.
Enya looked at Lucia calmly and said flatly, “Mm, not bad. You have potential.”
“…”
Wendy stared at Lucia from the side, a sense of urgency rising in her heart. She hadn’t understood a word of the conversation between Enya and Lucia earlier.
But that one word from Lucia just now—Wendy had clearly heard it. And her boss clearly liked this human maid. Wendy felt the pressure.
A competitor had appeared?
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.