Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 33.2

The next time I woke up, I was again on a bed in a room that also served as an infirmary.

It had been about three days since then, and all my injuries had healed without a trace, but Viro, who came to visit me again with meat, told me that my internal organs had been damaged and that I should rest for a while.

He shouldn’t have brought meat to a kid with damaged internal organs… even though that’s what I thought, I still ate what was brought.

Sera praised me but also reprimanded for what I did. The Female Thief was a well-known “kidnapper” in this area, specializing in kidnapping aristocrats using magic. It seemed that it was the right thing to do.

I was still an apprentice, and the senior butler, who had failed to notice the underground presence, was taking responsibility, and I would receive a reward.

In a sense, it was a matter of force majeure, since Elena was unable to have a high-ranking scout escort by her side this time because of her own selfishness, but it was not a matter of that kind.

Sera’s associates had been surrounding her since the moment she was kidnapped, and they had already planned to get her back, although it would have taken some time.

Therefore, Viro secretly told me that I would receive a reward not because I risked my life to get Elena back, but because I brought the situation to an end before it escalated and avoided the problem of the responsibility of the Dandol frontier count, who was responsible for the frontier security.

Sera, however, appreciated the fact that I minimized the burden on Elena’s frail body. Theo, however, was not very happy about it and scolded me in tears and snot for being reckless and getting seriously injured.

I was still alive and Elena seemed to have removed the scar, so I should have no problem being an Escort Maid, right? 

I hadn’t seen Elena since that day.

Even though she was a guest, Elena was the princess of this country, and I was only an apprentice maid from a lowly background, so there was no reason for her to care about me or for me to meet Elena.

Elena would only stay here for about two more weeks.

I thought my body would be back to normal in a few more days and I would be able to return to my duties, but Elena, the object of my watch, was seemingly perfectly docile, and I had been told to take a rest for the remaining two weeks of my assignment.

It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t concerned, but as I was working on my training and repairing my damaged armor, Sera handed me a note and ordered me to burn it as soon as I read it.

“…”

On the eve of Elena’s return to the Royal Capital, I was dressed in a maid’s uniform and stationed on the walls of the mansion.

The appointed time was midnight, when the first bell of the clock tower rang.

At the same time as that bell rang, I wrapped the thread of the pendulum around the handrail on the terrace and sore down to the terrace, strengthening the thread with magic power, and the girl there, who was seated at the table on the terrace in her nightclothes, softly smiled with a slightly surprised face.

“Just in time. Welcome, Aria.”

“I’m here, Elena-sama.”

The note was an invitation from Elena.

Come meet her from outside tonight at midnight without being seen.

I could feel the presence of Sera’s associates outside, but they seemed to know I was coming and let me pass without taking any actions.

I didn’t feel any sign of anyone in Elena’s room. I thought maybe Sera was hiding there, but I decided not to worry about that because there was no need to.

“First of all, thank you for helping me that day. Thanks to Aria, I was able to stay until the end without getting sick.”

“No problem. I’m on a mission.”

“I know you are.”

For some reason, Elena giggled and, like me, who was standing by the handrail, got up from her seat and placed her hand on the handrail, and we faced each other a few meters apart.

“…Aria, who are you?”

Elena’s serious eyes looked at me, and my reflection there gave a small shake of her head.

“Just an orphan, just an adventurer, and a person named Aria.”

“Really…”

She looked a little sad, as if she was expecting some kind of answer.

“Aria…you’re not joining under my wing, right?”

“I’m not going to serve anyone.”

“Even as a mere bodyguard?”

“I am only an adventurer.”

The wind blew by for a moment, making Elena’s golden hair and my peach-colored hair, which was just beginning to grow, dance beautifully in the air.

“Aria, we are not friends.”

“I know.”

“I’m a princess. You’re just an adventurer. We’ll never be on the same footing.”

“I know.”

“Then…”

Elena’s voice got slightly louder, and she fell silent as she searched for words. I opened my mouth instead.

“We are… the same kind.”

“The same kind…”

With bizarre knowledge that didn’t match our childhood, we continued to fight our fate and solitude.

Elena’s calm princess face turned into a look of calmness, and she stared straight at me.

“Then, Aria, my kindred comrade. As a princess, I pledge to use all my strength to be your ally for once, no matter what situation you find yourself in.”

“Then I also swear that I will do as my comrade Elena wishes, and I will kill whoever it is you want me to, even if it is the king, but only one person.”

Elena’s words were an oath to help me, even if she were to be executed for rebelling against the king just once.

So, I swore I would kill for her if she wanted me to, no matter what the risk, even if it was the king of this country, even if it was the Demon King.

“Just one thing… tell me your true name.”

“If you don’t mind if, may I at least know and call you by your real name?”

I responded, and Elena laughed a little, as if it was too late.

“Alicia.”

I told her my name that lightly traveled through the wind, to which Elena nodded softly.

“…Goodbye, Aria, and my very own Alicia.”

“Goodbye…Elena.”

Elena turned around and disappeared into the room without once looking back, and I watched silently as she disappeared soundlessly from the terrace.

*

The next morning, Elena left for the Royal Capital without breaking her position as master, and I, as one of the apprentice maids, saw her off at the end of the line of maids.

I did not know if we would ever meet again. But we were comrades, and that oath would live on even though we were far apart.

And so, my work with Viro came to an end, but for some reason I was summoned not by Sera but by the senior butler, who decided on a new assignment for me.

“Aria, your new assignment has been decided.”