Chapter 44: 19

All-Works Maid – Volume 2 Chapter 19: The Marquis’s Daughter Goes Incognito and the Shaken Puppet

Annemarie Victirium was known as the Siren Maiden out of awe for her looks and personality, and her intelligence was no less admired. In truth, however, she was a reincarnator of Japanese origin: Asakura Anna.

But unsurprisingly, it was impossible for her to maintain that perfect façade at all times; she would need to find a way to give herself a break from the front-facing persona.

And thus was born Anna, her cute commoner alter ego.

She had used this disguise before on occasion, slipping out and away from her duties as a marquis’s daughter to spend time in the Commoner’s Precint, but now she would once again become Anna in order to push the plot forward.

It was because Annemarie’s investigation was getting nowhere. As a member of the student council, Annemarie had been checking records and interviewing students for information, but the only information she could gather was more rumors and hearsay about Luciana.

At the moment, her prime suspect was still Olivia Rankdol, but that was more of a baseless assumption; so far, the only evidence she had found was still just Luciana’s pencil and handkerchief.

And so, having found herself on a trail gone cold, Annemarie realized she could investigate deeper if she were to disguise herself. It was possible, she determined, that the servants at the Academy might have seen or heard something that could shed a light on the case.

Thus, having found herself with a free afternoon one day, Annemarie donned the maid uniform and altered her appearance before sneaking out of her room through a secret passage and escaping into the underground paths.

She had been walking enthusiastically down the pathway when she came upon another realization.

“So… where am I supposed to start?”

It was currently lunchtime, which meant the dining hall should be full of servants enjoying their meal. This was an optimal time and place to start gathering information, so it became a question of how.

Her biggest concern now was if she happened to run into servants of House Victirium. It was quite possible for them to see right through the disguise, but Annemarie was confident that since none of the servants had ever seen the disguise in the first place, it was just as likely they remained unawares. Even so, it was important to Annemarie that she took no risk of being unmasked in the first place.

(I would stand out less if I entered with someone else, but the only maid this identity of mine knows is…)

“Oh? Is that you, Miss Anna?”

“Huh?”

By sheer coincidence, Annemarie happened to run into the only maid she knew: Melody Wave.

“Melody!”

“Oh my, Miss Anna, it was you! I see you have also come to the Royal Academy!”

Melody put her hands together in excitement, beaming with happiness as she reunited with a friend she had not met for some time.

Indeed, Melody and Annemarie — that is, Anna the commoner — were actually good friends.

The two had first met in the fifth month, when Luciana had forced Melody to spend a day outside the estate. Anna and Melody had been strolling about the capital when they met, and the two hit it off as they toured the capital together. At the time, Anna had pretended to be a maid of House Victirium, and Melody, being herself as usual, was ecstatic about befriending a fellow maid.

But most importantly of all…

“So have you been taking care of that doll I gave you, Melody?”

“Yes, in fact, she is so full of energy, it feels more like she has been taking care of me. What about you, Miss Anna?”

“Of course, I keep it safe in my cupboard safe. It is a sign of our friendship, after all.”

(Wait, I don’t get it. What did she mean by ‘full of energy’ and ‘taking care’ of her?)

…There was no way for Annemarie to know that Melody had meant what she said in the most literal sense: the doll Melody received was none other than the true form of the Magical Marionette Maid Selena.

So, in a manner of speaking, Annemarie was partly responsible for the birth of Selena.

“Hm? Melody, who’s this?”

“Hmm… This is the first time I’ve ever seen her.”

“…She’s beautiful.”

As Anna and Melody had stopped to chat near the entrance of the dining hall, a trio of familiar servants had appeared, approaching when they saw the two.

“Oh, everyone, please allow me to introduce Miss Anna, a maid from House Victirium. Miss Anna, this is Miss Sasha and Sir Blish, servants from House Invidia, and this is Sir Warren, a butler from the Gehrman family.

With Melody as their mediator, the four introduced themselves to one another.

“Hey, if you’d like, how about having lunch with us? You’re welcome to join.”

“Of course! I would love to!”

Sasha’s invitation was a truly fortunate windfall for Annemarie; the incognito noble would be able to hide within the group as she gathered information, not to mention being able to catch up with Melody, a friend she had reunited with.

“I am so glad you are able to join us, Miss Anna. It has been quite some time since we last spoke, so there will be a lot to talk about.”

“See, we’re just happy we can get another cute girl joining the group, right, Blish?”

“Hey, don’t go dragging me into this… Not that you’re wrong or anything.”

Melody was genuinely happy to meet with Anna, and Warren and Blish were joking around as usual; the four were enjoying each other’s company, and seeing them have fun together made Annemarie smile. As they began moving to the door, Sasha suddenly had another question.

“Hmm? Where did Micah go?”

Annemarie felt as though her heart skipped a beat; the name Micah sounded very similar to Kurita Maika, Christopher’s, no, Kurita Hideki’s younger sister. Anna and Maika had been very close and had even played The Silver Saint together (with Hideki unwillingly pulled along, of course).

But she shook her head to clear her thoughts; the possibility was too ridiculous… The Micah Melody was talking about was probably a different person entirely; there was no way this world worked so conveniently.

After all, Maika being here would imply she, too, had met a tragic end before reincarnating.

(I would give anything to see her again, but not if that was what it would cost…)

With such thoughts in mind, Annemarie could only settle for hoping she could meet Maika when she passed on from this life.

…Annemarie would never suspect that the Maika she knew had lived a full life and become an old grandmother before reincarnating to this very same world.

“Who is this Micah person, Melody?”

“Micah is the new apprentice maid House Luthorburg hired. She was with me up until a little while ago, but she suddenly ran off, saying she saw an acquaintance.”

“Is it really all right for you to let her go off on her own like that?”

“I intended to follow her at first, but then she said she would catch up with us later.”

“I see. She seems like quite an interesting character; I would have liked to meet her.”

“Fufu, I am sure there will be another opportunity for the two of you to meet. Miss Micah is a very hard-working and diligent girl, so I am sure you would get along with her quite well.”

“Really? I look forward to when we finally meet.”

As an aside, they would be meeting sooner than they would have expected; Annemarie and Micah’s meeting, that is.

“Let’s go get lunch already then. I’m almost starving here.”

Sasha’s voice was like a call to action to the other four, and the group finally entered the dining hall.

As their conversation was happening, Micah had run off to another part of the Academy…

“Hey, wait!”

“…”

“I said wait!”

She was running through the dormitory areas, following a boy she had recognized. When Micah had called out to him, rather than responding, he began running, as though to escape.

Compared to what Micah remembered, the boy was much cleaner and wore the clothes of an apprentice servant, and yet she would not mistake his purple hair nor those hollow, empty eyes.

“I told you to wa–, kyaah!”

He seemed to have disappeared; it was unsurprising that Micah would lose sight of him no matter how hard she tried, given their differences in physique, and she tripped after finally reaching her limit.

“Ouch, that hurt…”

Fortunately, it seemed the long skirt she wore had protected her knees from any scrapes. The fall was still painful, nonetheless.

But something cast its shadow over Micah, and she noticed a hand reaching for her. Looking up, she came face-to-face with the very same boy that rescued her from the slums the day she came to this world.

She had yet to realize the boy’s true identity: Buque Kischel, the fourth love interest and former pawn of the Demon King.

And it remained to be seen how that and now this chance encounter between the two would further affect the game’s story…

The fourth love interest of The Silver Saint was a boy named Buque Kischel.

But while Buque appeared young and childlike, he was already eighteen years old. In the game, the Demon King had manipulated Buque into destroying the seal deep within the Great Forest of Vanargand.

Buque was also the culprit behind the Spring Ball Raid, another of the Demon King’s nefarious plots, but thanks to the presence of Melody’s defensive magic on Luciana’s dress, the attack had completely failed. Furthermore, the once-cursed sword holding the Demon King captive had broken, releasing it into world… only to become sealed within a certain puppy.

So the current Buque should have been free, but… fate was not so kind. Unfortunately for Buque, a fragment of the Demon King still remained in the shattered sword the boy kept, holding him in thrall.

And yet lingering sentiment that it was, it was not in full control. In the game, it had taken until the second half of the story for Buque’s ego to return; here, Buque had already begun to recover in just days after the Spring Ball Raid.

What first brought him back were the sounds of crying. The closed darkness around him gave way, and his eyes opened to see a girl in distress.

Buque simply watched in silence at first, but before he was aware, he had begun moving toward her; he reached his hand out, and he took her out of the Slums.

Seeing her had brought back memories from when he had lost everything: when the slavers came, when they burned the village, when they killed his parents. Buque remembered hearing crying at the time, and what he wanted to do was…

We can’t stay here. We need to get somewhere safe. Only those thoughts filled his head, and before he realized it, they had arrived at the edge of the slums. The girl had calmed down, and her tears had stopped. And with nothing to stave it off, the darkness once again crept back into the cracks of Buque’s heart.

It drove him back into the shadows of the slums, and there he hid until a sudden surge of that hateful silver magic roused the dark power that had been biding its time. Once again, the remnants of the Demon King’s hatred sheltering in the sword took hold, pushing Buque into action.

Under the Demon King’s control, Buque infiltrated the Royal Academy, in search of another pawn. Having learned from the Demon King’s mistakes during the Spring Ball Raid, the remains avoided a head-on confrontation; it knew to search out a pawn to use in bringing down the Saint.

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And the person it wanted to bring down was none other than the girl that caused the sword to break in the first place: Luciana Luthorburg. That overwhelming power, the silver magic in her dress from that time, was all the proof it needed to suspect Luciana was the Saint.

The remnant searched all over the Royal Academy, looking for an appropriate piece: one that held negative feelings for the Saint. And find one, it did.

The Demon King’s power was one that controlled people by amplifying then manipulating the negative emotions they hid within themselves, and even this leftover residue was capable of manipulating a weak-willed person. It was through this power that it acquired a new puppet.

It ordered the puppet to dress Buque up after the boy had mentioned a uniform would better disguise him at the Academy than the ragged clothes he was wearing.

Indeed, this development was one that Buque himself had instigated, one that could not have happened in the game, where the Demon King was still whole and was stifling Buque’s consciousness. But right now, the tiny fragment of the Demon King hiding in the broken sword held only a fraction of its original power, and Buque was returning to his former self much sooner; this change was most evident in the current moment, where, of his own free will, Buque stopped and reached out to a certain fallen girl…

“Th-thank you.”

Micah, confused about the boy’s sudden reappearance, thanked him as she took his hand. He stood unspeaking, silently looking over her until he noticed the dirt stains on her skirt.

“…Injured?”

“Huh? Oh, no, I’m fine. I fell over, but I didn’t get hurt, but thank you for asking.”

“…I see.”

The boy suddenly turned his head away; his face had not shown much emotion, but it seemed he could still felt embarrassed.

“Um, two months ago, you were the one that helped me out and guided me out of the Slums, right?”

“…”

“…Did I get the wrong person?”

Micah tilted her head as she asked; the boy’s eyes wandered about, as though sheepish in answering, before he gave a slow nod. Micah exhaled in relief and smiled, knowing she had not been mistaken in identifying her savior.

“Thank you so much for your help back then! Thanks to you, I am still alive and off the streets!”

“–?!”

She gave a deep bow. Buque’s eyes widened and his shoulders shook with emotion as he registered the gratitude in the girl’s words; it was the first time in a very, very long time that he received such thankful words.

It was after she raised her head that Micah saw Buque’s stiff expression, causing her to worry once more.

“I-is something wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Buque’s face quickly returned to its usual deadpan expression; to him, this was all nonsense, and he should be leaving already.

…And yet, in spite of those thoughts, his legs refused to move. Why was this happening..?

“Ah, I know! I want you to know how grateful I am, so could we have a meal together? It would be my treat!”

“…Don’t need.”

“Oh don’t say that! Besides, we have to hurry. We spent so much time running around that the dining hall will be ending lunch service soon!”

“I said, I don’t need…”

“Miss Micah!”

“Who..? Oh, Miss Melody! I’m over here!”

Having finished her own lunch, Melody had come in search of Micah.

“Miss Micah, I have finally found you! The dining hall will close soon, so we need to hurry… Oh, is this boy your acquaintance?”

“Yes, he is the one who helped me when I got lost in the Slums.”

“Oh, is that how it is. It is nice to meet you; I am Melody, a maid of House Luthorburg. Thank you for helping our Miss Micah back then.”

Faced with Melody’s beaming smile and shining gratitude, Buque once again froze up in shock with a surprised expression on his face.

“You froze up again. Are you sure nothing is wrong?”

“…Nothing’s wrong.”

“Would you like to join us for lunch? I would like to treat you, as thanks for having taken care of Miss Micah back then.”

Melody suddenly suggested the very same thing Micah had mere moments ago. Did these two operate on the same maid-wavelength or something?

“Miss Melody, he said he did not need lunch.”

“Is that so? We can think of other ways to repay him then. Could you tell me your name and the house you serve?”

It was after Melody had asked that Micah realized she had not yet learned the boy’s name.

But the girls would not receive an answer; the question seemed to deeply offend Buque.

“…I serve nobody.”

“You do not? But…”

The boy grimaced as he spat an answer, but his words left Melody confused; if he was not a servant, then why was he wearing servant clothes?

“Nobody controls me… Nobody owns me..! I refuse! You won’t! Ever again..! Ugh…”

Buque flared out in anger, his apathy completely gone, but his words suddenly stopped; he clutched at his chest, as though trying to grasp an unseen pain.

“What’s wrong?!”

Micah panicked at his sudden change, but as Melody reached out to the stricken boy, something like a black mist seemed to leak from his body.

The sudden change caused Melody to instinctively withdraw her hand, and Buque, seeming to take advantage of that moment, leapt high into the air with tremendous strength. He landed nimbly on the roof of a nearby building and quickly disappeared from sight.

“That, just now, what even happened? How did that boy..?”

Melody stared off at the roof where Buque had disappeared, completely confused from the turn of events. Meanwhile, having seen the darkness coming off Buque’s body, Micah finally realized her own situation.

(That was a manifestation of black magic, and with that purple hair of his… that means he must be Buque Kischel! He’s dressed up nicely, like a servant, but that was definitely him, the fourth love interest! Why didn’t I notice? Why did I only now realize it?!)

After that, the two maids searched unsuccessfully for Buque, and, to make matters worse, the dining hall had closed by the time they ended their search, and Micah completely missed lunch.

Of course, Melody would never allow a growing girl to miss a meal, so she prepared a light lunch for the apprentice maid.

“Miss Anna of House Victirium?”

“Yes, she is a friend of mine. I wanted to introduce you to her, but we missed our chance today. I am sure we will get another opportunity in the future.”

“If Miss Melody says so, then I’m looking forward to it.”

(Hm, ‘Miss Anna’, huh? What if Anna-oneechan was reincarnated just like me? Haha, no way, right…)

Anna had been just as big of a fan of the game, but Micah shook her head clear of such thoughts, bemused but doubtful things could be so convenient especially considering her recent mistaken assumptions.

…It was quite unfortunate that this happened to be the one guess that was actually correct.

Meanwhile, having enjoyed a fun luncheon with Melody and the other servants, the commoner Anna shed her disguise and one again became Annemarie.

“Ah, that was so fun! Melody was as cute as ever, and that Sasha girl seems pretty reliable. The two guys are… well, who cares about the men anyway. I hope I can have lunch with them again. I’m really curious about that Micah girl that Melody mentioned. Fufufu…”

“…So what do you want me to say to all that? You want me to thank you for a job well done or something?”

“Ergh…”

It was now evening, and Crown Prince Christopher was once again in Annemarie’s room via the usual secret passage.They were supposed to be meeting to go through everything Annemarie had learned while undercover earlier in the day, but all she had to share was how much fun she had having lunch with some cute girls. Annemarie could only apologize in embarrassment.

“I’m really sorry. I mean, I did ask them about the incidents and all. It didn’t sound like they knew anything more than what the rumors were already saying, so I thought it would be fine to just enjoy hanging out with the girls, you know…”

“Why do you just lose track of everything whenever cute girls are involved…”

“Ughh..!”

To Christopher, Annemarie did not seem to be taking the investigation seriously at all; he sighed at her in disgust as she groaned, unable to refute his accusations.

And elsewhere, Sasha was…

“Welcome home, Lady Luna.”

“Welcome home, my lady.”

Sasha and Blish greeted Luna with a bow. The exhausted Luna handed her bag over to Blish before retreating to her bedroom to have Sasha care for her hair.

“So how was school today, my lady?”

“Let’s see… It still feels tense in the classroom. Things are still a little awkward, a bit oppressive, even.”

“I see. The young lady of House Luthorburg must be having a hard time still then. It seems House Victirium is making their move. They sent one of their servants out to try and help, but it does not seem like the situation will be improving anytime soon.”

“House Victirum sent out a servant? What do you mean, Sasha?”

“Today at lunch, we were joined by a maid from House Victirium, who said she had been instructed by the lady she serves to find out if the servants knew anything about the incident. I told her everything that I knew.”

“…Oh so that’s what you mean. Lady Anemarie is amazing like always. Hey, Sasha? Could you tell me more? It sounded really interesting, having lunch with the other servants.”

“Of course, my lady.”

And so, as she continued brushing Luna’s hair, Sasha happily recounted the day’s events. She talked about her activities earlier in the day in an animated, lively manner, as though to fend off the creeping gloom the recent incidents had sowed.

And then, the very next day, the Surprise Shower event would occur.

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