Chapter 63: The Seal

A short while before the pulse occurred.

“You just… you said you wanted to go where?”

The Head Maid widened her eyes in disbelief.

The other servants who had heard Aier’s words were similarly dumbfounded, unable to speak a single word.

Lady Serina’s… grave?! It must be a slip of the tongue from this young lady, right? Y-yes, it must be! Yes, that’s definitely it!

The Head Maid emphasized this to herself in her heart.

“I said, take me to Lady Serina’s grave—that is, Elena’s mother’s grave.”

The servants certainly knew that Lady Serina was the young lady’s mother, but Aier clearly didn’t realize why everyone was so shocked.

Seeing everyone frozen in place, the silver-haired girl thought she hadn’t made herself clear, and even tilted her head helpfully, adding this sentence.

“You… why do you suddenly want to go to the Madam’s place of rest?”

Hoho, that question?

Of course, it’s because there are ice crystals formed from Elena’s mana gathered there~

Elena’s mana—that was Aier’s hypothesis.

Aier remembered the first time the favorability increased—it was after she gave the ring to Elena.

At first, Aier thought it was an increase in favorability due to her gift-giving, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The ring she gave Elena had the function of absorbing mana.

And her first fainting spell afterwards was also because she absorbed Elena’s mana.

Later, the next significant jump in favorability was when she risked her life to save Elena during her Mana Rampage.

After that, the favorability hadn’t changed.

So this Capture Progress… is it related to her coming into contact with Elena’s mana?

But this question received no answer from the System.

Rather, after the System suddenly gave the current “‘Kill Ailena’s Self'” mission, aside from that sudden flash of memory, the System had been very silent.

It was as if… the previous System was being controlled by someone, and now it was completely automated.

Since that was the case, she could only personally verify her hypothesis.

‘Why go to the Madam’s place of rest? Because I want to try and see if I can absorb the mana from the ice crystals~’

—But Aier naturally couldn’t answer like that.

“Because today is Mother’s Day. I want to visit Elena’s mother and personally give her mother a bouquet of flowers.”

Aier deliberately put on an innocent and naive smile, leaving the Head Maid at a loss for what to do and making the other servants exchange glances.

These people were definitely thinking about whether they could do this.

But what’s there to hesitate about~? Although this request is strange, I’m not going to do anything to Lady Serina, am I?

I’m a good youth of the new era, with proper values, straightforward personality, and absolutely no bad habits!

If you keep hesitating and don’t agree…

If it really comes to that, Aier will have to resort to “Moral Kidnapping.” After all, this method had an immediate effect on Anna.

Aier continued to smile, waiting.

“…May I ask you a question?”

Sure, ask away~

After all, it’s normal to be strict when someone suddenly requests to go to such a place.

Whether asking how she knew about Lady Serina, or confirming if she had any unspoken intentions—Aier had prepared corresponding answers.

If asked how she knew about Lady Serina, she’d say “Elena told me”; if confirming any hidden intentions, she’d steer the topic entirely towards Elena!

After all, this series of things she’s doing really is all for (capturing) Elena~

So come on, Head Maid! A, s, k, a, w, a, y!

At this moment, the dressing room was so quiet.

Everyone was waiting for the Head Maid’s question—

“Miss Aier, you…

What do you mean by ‘offering flowers’?”

Hmph, that kind of question? Although not among the topics I prepared in advance, something of this level—wait?

O, offering flowers O.o?

Why the doubt about that?

What’s wrong with offering flowers? Shouldn’t you offer flowers on Mother’s Day? Have all the Mother’s Days I’ve celebrated before been bootleg versions QAQ?!

This time, it was Aier’s turn to be stunned.

“You said you want to offer flowers to the Madam, is this some custom from your hometown? Mother’s Day here in the Empire doesn’t seem to have this habit.”

“Ah, ahahaha, well~ In my hometown, offering flowers is the, uh, greatest respect for mothers! It’s that thing… right! Flowers have very good symbolic meanings~ Like ‘a hundred years of harmony’… ahem, I mean, ‘peace and happiness’ and such meanings are all in there, right? Ah, ahahaha…”

If she could remember even half a sentence about the meaning of carnations, Aier wouldn’t have been so flustered that she almost blurted out “a hundred years of harmony.”

Amid Aier’s slightly awkward, fading laughter, the servants exchanged glances once more, finally turning their gaze towards the Head Maid.

“Miss Aier.”

The Head Maid’s tone held no discernible emotion, yet it seemed serious to the point of anger.

To make an analogy, it was like the voice characters make in comics when they have a stern expression.

Great, it seems I’m done for.

Hahaha, haha, ha…

QAQ…

“What you said—”

‘I’m sorry QAQ, I shouldn’t have talked nonsense! I was wrong, I won’t go to the grave anymore, so please don’t scold me QAQ!!’

At this moment, Aier’s smile completely froze on her pale face.

Thus, Aier wailed despairingly in her heart, waiting for the Head Maid’s reproachful words to fall—

“You said you want to offer flowers.

Is there a specific type of flower you wish to offer? You can tell me, and I’ll have someone prepare it now.”

…Huh?

Sh-she agreed O.O?

The meaning of the Head Maid’s words… is, is she agreeing to take me to Elena’s mother’s place?

…

Looking at the silver-haired girl before her, the Head Maid felt her eyes grow warm.

Not only did she almost sacrifice her own life earlier to save Miss Elena, and possess the merciful heart to forgive the incident from a year ago… now, she even wants to offer Mother’s Day solace to Miss Elena’s mother.

Miss Aier knows about Lady Serina’s affairs, it must be something Miss Elena personally told her.

And the fact that Miss Elena was willing to tell Miss Aier about Lady Serina means Miss Elena has completely opened her heart to Miss Aier…

The Head Maid felt that just this kindness alone was enough to make her grateful to Miss Aier for a lifetime.

Miss Elena might still feel guilty about comforting Lady Serina on Mother’s Day, but now, this silver-haired girl is willing to extend such kindness on Miss Elena’s behalf—

Then what reason do I have to stop it?

White God above, thank you for letting Miss Elena and Miss Aier meet…

The Head Maid gently wiped away the warmth from the corner of her eye and instructed someone to fetch flowers.

According to Miss Aier’s wishes, if any fresh flowers will do, then take them from the garden.

The flowers planted in the garden were all ones Lady Serina loved during her lifetime.

…

Aier didn’t know what to say.

Although Aier knew it wasn’t her place to say this—

This family… aren’t they too trusting of me?

Aren’t they too defenseless? If there were beings pretending to be friendly to get close to Elena, wouldn’t these servants be deceived in minutes?

Carrying a basket of flowers and following behind the Head Maid, Aier occasionally stole glances at the Head Maid’s profile.

Crow’s feet already spread from the corners of this Head Maid’s eyes.

“It’s true, when people get old, they become kind-hearted…”

But suddenly thinking of the elderly people in her previous life who were sold health supplements, Aier couldn’t help but sigh.

Perhaps those elderly people just wanted to live a little longer to spend more time with their children?

“Miss Aier, it’s the door ahead. But we can’t go any further. The young lady placed a seal on this door. Getting any closer will result in frostbite from the mana—Miss Aier?”

And then? Those supplement sellers, for better sales, squeezed money from the elderly!

“Miss Aier? You must not go any further, if you go further—Miss Aier?!”

‘Darn it! If there are people like that in this world too, I’ll definitely slap their faces until they’re swollen!’

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, the more furious she became!!

“Miss Aier! Stop! Come back quickly!”

“I can hear you, no need to shout so loud—Ow meow QAQ!”

Her still slightly red nose was harshly struck by cold metal.

Why does this keep happening?

These people’s backs, these doors and walls; each one is hard, each one is domineering, striking Aier’s already soft places without hesitation.

It hurts so much, it’s still swollen, and they bully her for being weak and unable to fight back…

‘My nose QAQ…’

“Th-this is!”

Before Aier could react, before she could understand why the Head Maid was so shocked—

*Crack.*

A crisp sound like shattering glass. The solid mana covering the metal door, resembling ice crystals, instantly fractured into pieces.

…

**[Capture Progress: 20.1%]**