The Young Lady Has Disappeared

“That’s the maid…”

“The one who knocked down two knights…”

“As expected of the Fortus family…”

Strange sounds reach my ears. I was walking as usual to deliver lunch to the young lady. Although I tried to avoid students as much as possible, since the academy is so crowded, I inevitably saw people passing by from time to time. But every person who passed by would stare at me for a while, and when I looked at them, they would flinch. Then, after I passed, they would start talking among themselves like that again.

Hmm, why are they acting like that? I tilted my head in confusion, but as long as it didn’t cause any harm to the young lady, it wasn’t much of a problem, so I just hurried along my way.

“Young lady.”

“Ah. Catherine.”

Lillian’s face is full of anticipation as she receives the lunchbox, as if she’s already used to it. Originally, I would have saved a seat and set up the lunchbox, but Lillian seemed to find that burdensome and strongly refused, so I had no choice but to just hand over the lunchbox and leave.

Especially after I directly observed her meal once, it became even more so. She always ate the lunchbox I brought as if it was delicious. Seeing such happiness fill the face of the ‘young lady’ was a rare sight that I couldn’t see even after spending almost a lifetime as a maid.

To be honest, I liked seeing her like that a bit, as the young lady usually ate as if just consuming necessary nutrients. 

No, no. I shouldn’t like it. Catherine. That ‘Lillian’ is the person who stole your young lady.

I steeled my resolve again and stepped back from Lillian. The sight of her waving her hand gently towards me almost broke my resolve again as it looked like the young lady, but I slowly grabbed the hem of my skirt and bowed deeply.

After handing over the lunchbox to the young lady, Lillian, I head to the library. After searching for a way to bring the young lady back and doing some studying in the library, I prepare dinner again. 

That’s how another day passes by.

To be honest, the work at the academy wasn’t much different from the mansion. It was just doing the maid’s job of protecting, caring for, and helping the young lady. Well, it was comfortable though. As I headed to the library again, I encountered an unexpected face.

“Oh. Hello!”

“Hello, Miss Yulia.”

“There you go again, calling me that.”

Seeing Yulia puff up her cheeks with a “Buu-” sound, I had the rude thought that there really are people who do such actions, and I slightly bowed my head.

“I apologize. It’s a habit.”

“Mmm, no. I didn’t mean to scold you.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. That’s right?”

As she answered with a bright smile, I glanced around her surroundings and realized there were no familiar faces. Perhaps reading my expression, Yulia smiled brightly and spoke.

“If you’re looking for Lillian, she’s not here. She said she gets drowsy after eating lunch, so she went to sleep.”

“I see.”

Good. Today, as soon as we get back, it’s time for a lecture. 

I organized in my head what’s bad about lying down right after eating and slowly got up from my seat.

“Oh? Are you leaving?”

“No. I’m thinking of looking for other books.”

“Mmm. I see.”

“What kind of book are you looking for, Miss Yulia?”

Seeing that she didn’t have any books in her hands yet, I casually asked, and she went “Umm” for a moment, then handed me a note with a list written on it.

“These books. I need them for homework, but… I’ve looked around once and couldn’t find them.”

“I’ll find them for you.”

“Huh? No, it’s okay. I can find them myself.”

Seeing her roll up her sleeves while whispering, I quietly shook my head.

“I’m going to look for them while searching for the book I need anyway. Please don’t feel burdened.”

“Mmm…”

“By the way, for that much, you could have asked the librarian.”

“Ah, yes. I went to ask, but she was sleeping. It seemed a bit wrong to wake her up when she was sleeping so soundly.”

Just how gentle is this child? I thought to myself and swallowed a sigh. 

Well, never mind. I nodded quietly and moved towards the librarian. 

The library of Aptem Academy is quite large, so it was a bit of a distance to the information desk where the librarian was. After walking for about 3 minutes, I arrived in front of the sleeping librarian and quietly tried to wake her up.

“Librarian, please wake up.”

“Mmm… five more minutes…”

She’s not waking up. It’s a bit awkward to touch her. And since it’s a library, I couldn’t make a loud noise. 

After pondering for a moment, I thought of a method that’s directly effective in waking people up. I slightly bent down to bring my lips close to the librarian’s ear and opened my mouth.

“Ba-babababam-babarabababababam-babam-“

…Of course, I hadn’t gone crazy yet. As I sang the army bugle sound with my mouth as if whispering, the librarian shuddered as if electrocuted, then suddenly got up and looked at me. Dazed eyes, slightly drooling mouth, and slightly askew glasses clearly showed that she had been sleeping until just now.

“Wh-What was that just now…”

“Could you help me find some books?”

“Ah, no. What was that just now?”

“Just now? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“No, wasn’t it you who sang into my ear just now?”

“No, it wasn’t. Perhaps you were dreaming?”

In this situation, denial is the only option. As I denied it thoroughly with an expressionless face, the librarian seemed unable to say anything more and muttered, “That’s strange,” then picked up the paper with the list written on it.

“Ah, could you add a few books related to demon lords and magic to that list?”

“Demon lords and magic…? They’ll mostly be fairy tales though.”

“That’s fine, but the more serious books would be better.”

“Okay…”

The librarian, rubbing her sleepy eyes, touched her dark circles and slowly got up. Then she started to get her bearings as if familiar with the place. 

I received all the books she took out and slightly arched my back at the weight of the books, which felt quite heavy. Hmm, I didn’t notice when I was a man, but when receiving so many books as a woman, the breasts touch them.

“Hey, are you okay? It looks really heavy.”

“This much is fine.”

Having realized this new fact, I nodded reassuringly at the concern coming from the side and started to return to where I was originally. There are many books, but for me who has received intense training, it wasn’t an overwhelmingly heavy weight.

As I was returning to where Yulia was, I started to hear some whispering sounds. Who’s causing a commotion in the library? Thinking that, I put the books that were blocking my view on the table, and I could see why such a commotion was felt.

“Why are you here?”

“Well, to do homework…”

Yulia was surrounded by a group of young ladies. Among them, a young lady with beautiful purple hair and violet eyes glared at Yulia with sharp eyes.

“You? Why? When you’re destined to be at best a concubine of a nameless and unremarkable prince. Is there any reason to put knowledge in that empty head of yours?”

Giggles and mocking sounds reach my ears. 

Hmm, is that person in front the young lady of Ramsdale? Compared to the Fortus family, she’s one step, no, to be honest, about three steps below, but she’s still the eldest daughter of the Ramsdale family, a fairly powerful count family in the empire.

I heard she was of age to enter the academy, so it seems she enrolled in Aptem Academy. 

Thinking this, I took out my books and approached Yulia with the rest. Hmm, I need to pass through. Inevitably due to the route, I ended up between young lady Ramsdale and Yulia, and as I put down the books with a thud, I called Yulia’s name.

“Miss Yulia.”

“Who are you to interfere?”

…I haven’t interfered yet. I looked at young lady Ramsdale for a moment as she yelled at me just for speaking to Yulia. 

Hmm, what should I say? While I was pondering this, young lady Ramsdale glanced at me and started to take a step back.

“Ugh, th-that… Even if you look at me with those eyes, I’m not scared!”

Even if you say “those eyes,” this is my normal face. I was about to say that, but young lady Ramsdale’s backward steps started to quicken. 

What’s this, why is she acting like that? As I reached out my hand to try to stop her, young lady Ramsdale’s face turned pale, and she started to run away.

“Y-You’ll see-!”

“Please be quiet in the library!”

Seeing young lady Ramsdale walking away quickly while trying not to lose her dignity, I suddenly thought I wanted to show this sight to Lillian. She’s been acting too much like a commoner lately. 

As I was thinking this and looking at the place where young lady Ramsdale had left, the young ladies around her started to run away in confusion.

Am I that scary? Feeling slightly depressed, I rubbed my face, and Yulia gently put her hand on my shoulder.

“Umm, thank you.”

“No. It was nothing.”

“Only Catherine can say that.”

“Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Yulia nodded with a slightly deflated face and started to check the books one by one. After checking all 8 books, Yulia nodded with an “Mm.”

“Thank you, Catherine.”

“By the way, how do you plan to carry them?”

“Hmm? Ah, I’m not going to take them all. I’m planning to read a few here.”

“Do you have afternoon lectures…?”

“No.”

“I see.”

Yulia smiled brightly at my response and started to focus quickly as she opened a book. Seeing this, I also started to read the book I had borrowed. So, the title is…

“Even a Demon Lord Wants to Love”

…No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem to be the book I wanted.