Chapter 254 The Entrance to the Swamp
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The day after I got the truth out of Diana, I was rubbing my sleepy eyes and dealing with paperwork.
I had been unfairly suspected, and Diana had grilled me until morning. But after we both exhausted ourselves, Diana seemed to have a moment to think clearly. She realized that if I had really been with another woman right before, she would have noticed the smell right away, so she admitted she jumped to conclusions.
Even though the suspicion was cleared, it raised the question of what that smell was.
If we had looked for the source of the smell back then, we might have figured something out. But at that time, our bodies and the bed were soaked with each other’s fluids, and the room was filled with our scent, so it was impossible to find the source.
Plus, we were both too tired to care, and we ended up falling asleep n*ked, holding each other until Lewya came to wake us up.
Of course, after pulling such a crazy stunt, we had to face Lucena-san’s lecture the next day.
Especially Diana, who got a strong talking-to: “It’s the servant’s duty to take care of their master’s health, and yet the servant is the one making the master sick. What’s going on?”
As for me, I was told, “You need to take a nap because this is affecting your work,” so I got a couple of hours of sleep before tackling the paperwork again, but that didn’t really help with my drowsiness.
While I was thinking about taking another nap during lunch break, someone knocked on the office door.
”Neil-sama, it’s Lucena.”
”Come in.”
”Excuse me.”
Lucena-san walked into the office and looked at my face before speaking.
”You don’t seem to have had enough sleep. Would you like to take a break a bit early?”
”I am sleepy, but it’s not enough to change the break time.”
”Being in a half-asleep state is the most dangerous. You might think you’re doing fine because your brain is still working, but you could make a serious mistake without realizing it.”
”…You’re right. Well, since it’s a bit early, I’ll take a break.”
I said that and stood up, leaving the office while talking to Lucena-san, who was following me back to my room.
”By the way, how’s Diana doing?”
”I just finished talking to her, so she’s back to work now.”
If she just finished talking, that means she had been lecturing for almost 3 hours while I was napping and working.
”Did you really lecture her for that long?”
”I wasn’t just lecturing. I have things I wanted to tell her before I head back to the mansion. Diana is young and still has a lot to learn.”
”I think she’s doing pretty well for her age.”
”No, Diana is already your servant, and since she has a master, we can’t overlook her inexperience just because she’s young.”
I thought to myself that Lucena-san was really serious about the idea that a servant must be competent to serve their master.
”…Neil-sama, I’m really sorry for causing you trouble because of my mistakes.”
”Huh? What do you mean?”
”It’s about Diana. I feel really sorry for putting an unnecessary burden on you because my teaching wasn’t good enough.”
”I’ve never thought of Diana as a burden, so it’s fine. In fact, it’s also my fault as her master for not noticing this sooner.”
”You have no fault in this matter. It’s my fault for not guiding Diana properly and not being able to help her with her troubles.”
”That’s not true. This is a problem between me and Diana. It’s not just her problem, and it’s definitely not just your problem, Lucena-san.”
When I said that, Lucena-san looked surprised, her eyes wide open. I was also surprised because it was the first time I had directly disagreed with her.
”I’m sorry for being so cheeky.”
”No, even though you’re a servant, I’m happy to see how much you’ve grown since you were young, Neil-sama.”
Her words, filled with warmth instead of her usual strict tone, made me feel a bit embarrassed.
Even though she was Diana’s mother, Lucena-san had always been like a nurturing figure to me, and I was really happy to hear her praise.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at my room, but today, Lucena-san followed me inside instead of stopping at the door like usual.
”Hey, what’s wrong?”
”Neil-sama, you should try not to be alone for a while.”
”Huh?”
”I heard from Diana about what happened last night. She said she smelled someone during… you know.”
”You heard about last night!?”
”Of course! I need to know why you did that before we can talk about it.”
That’s true, but I feel embarrassed knowing that she knows I was with Diana all night. Plus, thinking about how she told my mom makes me feel a bit sorry for her, even if it was a misunderstanding.
”From what Diana said, it seems someone might have broken into your room last night. If someone got into the house, I can’t let you be alone for your safety.”
”Does that mean I have to have someone with me even when I sleep?”
”Of course! And when you go out, you need to have a guard with you too.”
”Even when I’m sneaking out?”
”Exactly. Ideally, I’d prefer you to avoid sneaking out for a while, but if there’s a thief in the house, it might be safer to be outside until we make sure the house is secure.”
”But if I have a guard, it won’t feel like sneaking out anymore!”
”When you sneak out, you can pretend to be with a colleague. Just say you’re going out to eat with friends.”
”Will that really work? I’ve always gone out alone, and who would I even take?”
”Diana wouldn’t work. She wouldn’t go out to eat with anyone but you. What about the spirits?”
”Neither the water spirit nor the earth spirit would agree. Even if I asked them to guard me, they’d probably say no. Wen might agree, but she might accidentally call me Neil.”
”Then maybe Lewya or Zora would be good choices.”
Lewya and Zora seem like they’d be up for it if a colleague invited them, and they can act naturally around me, so they might be perfect… But just thinking about them going out with someone else makes me feel a little jealous.
I shake off that silly feeling and ask Lucena.
”By the way, speaking of spirits, did Lewya hear anything from Wen about the smell from yesterday?”
”Unfortunately, no one was watching the house last night. They’ve been split up lately, keeping an eye on the fields, the frontier settlement, and the commercial area.”
”Things don’t usually happen at the house, anyway.”
”Right, so I heard from Lewya that they’ll be keeping an eye on the house for a while.”
”Got it.”
Spirits can watch without being noticed by anyone except elves. If someone sneaks in thinking they’re safe, it’ll be easy to find out who they are.
I thought this problem would be solved quickly, but a week passed, and even after the people from Toys of Preference started working at the house, no suspicious people were found after Lucena and the others left.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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