SOTBW - 5

“I thought I was going to die of fright, really!” Amelia exclaimed in a small voice as soon as they left the corridor where the commander’s office was located. Najane didn’t reply. She simply continued walking with an inscrutable expression. Amelia followed behind Najane, explaining how scared she had been, then giggled as she recalled Maximón’s face.

“You saw him too, right? He’s incredibly handsome, just like the rumors said. If only his personality were a little more friendly, he’d be as popular as Sir Daniel. Or maybe, since he’s a noble, he probably has a fiancée chosen by his family? Well, what does it matter to me? Even knights with wives are always looking for prostitutes, saying they don’t know when they’ll die.”

Born as the daughter of a tenant farmer, Amelia worked as a maid in the knights’ quarters, which were notorious for having a lot of hard labor, only for money and a chance for a meteoric rise in social status. Fortunately, Amelia was beautiful enough to catch people’s eyes at once, and that meant that if she played her cards right, she could become a concubine of a wealthy man or a noble.

If she told her fellow maids her thoughts, they would surely burst into laughter. Countless countries, more than could be counted on ten fingers, had been destroyed by the Serith. Only two countries remained in the world: the Astien Empire and the Kingdom of Bastronia.

That meant that their homeland, Bastronia, could also fall soon. In such a world, advancement and honor were useless. The best thing was just to live one more day in a safe place, under someone’s protection.

However, Amelia was certain. The Kingdom of Bastronia would not fall easily. There was the continent’s only Sword Master and three Divine Ability users here.

Moreover, even Maximón Elgort alone had terrifying strength, enough to be praised as a hero. The luck of this place had not yet run out. So, before it was too late, before she got any older, she had to become a concubine in a decent family.

In that sense, being summoned by Maximón was quite a big event for Amelia, who had only been doing menial tasks without any results so far. Maximón was a knight commander who was famous for not being interested in women. Why would such a person suddenly call a maid to his office?

Something must have happened last night. Amelia wanted to know about the incident last night. She felt that only then could she definitively change her fate as the daughter of a poor tenant farmer.

“Najane. Why do you think he called us?”

“I don’t know,” Najane replied coldly, as if she wasn’t interested. Amelia carefully recalled the conversation in the commander’s office. Come to think of it, Maximón’s gaze lingered on Najane for a particularly long time. Was that a coincidence? No, it couldn’t be.

As mentioned earlier, Amelia was quite a beautiful woman. So, Amelia quickly realized that when men focused on another woman other than herself, there was a good reason. The perceptive Amelia smiled slyly.

Maximón had summoned Amelia and Najane to find out something from one of them. What could it be? At least Najane would know.

Amelia quickly blocked Najane’s path. Najane, surprised, hesitated. Amelia smiled with the kindest face she could manage.

“Don’t do that, and tell me about what happened last night. At least, since I was on night watch with you last night, I think I have the right to know the truth. Don’t you think?”

“I…”

“I’ll say it in advance, please don’t lie.”

Amelia said firmly.

“Honestly, you know why we were called, right? If I suffer any harm because of today’s events, I won’t let it go. So just tell me. Why did he call specifically us, and what exactly happened near the maids’ quarters last night? I won’t tell anyone. I swear on Sylin’s name.”

Sylin. That is the name of one of the Astrun, heroes who saved the world from the Serith long ago, and a god revered by the Holy Church. One who swears on Sylin’s name must never lie. Amelia was that sincere.

Najane, letting out a long sigh, carefully looked around. If she kept pretending she didn’t know, she would be tormented by Amelia all day. And above all, since she had sworn on Sylin’s name, she wouldn’t carelessly spread it around.

Before opening her mouth, Najane briefly pondered Maximón’s gaze. That gaze that persistently watched her like a hunting dog relentlessly following a scent… Najane briefly stroked her chest. The more she thought of Maximón, the more the cursed mark engraved on her chest throbbed.

“Last night, a Serith juvenile climbed over the wall.”

“What?”

Amelia was genuinely surprised. It was that big of a deal.

“I didn’t know anything like that happened…”

“That’s probably right. By the time the soldiers left in the quarters ran to the scene to deal with the juvenile, everything was over.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means someone dealt with that Serith without anyone knowing. Lord Elgort is looking for that person.”

“So, he thinks one of us caught that monster?”

“Probably.”

“Goodness!”

Amelia’s heart beat rapidly. This was an opportunity. The opportunity she had been waiting for so long, while washing the knights’ dirty clothes and wringing out rags.

“Najane, by any chance, you…”

“I don’t know anything. I just happened to wake up early for the night watch shift and saw the scene.” Najane tried to pass by Amelia, but, worried about the overly excited Amelia, added, “From now on, you’d better watch your words too. If it gets out that the monster climbed over the wall, it will be quite a headache for the Romsoa Knights.”

“Of course, of course. Don’t worry.” Amelia replied without emotion. Najane looked at Amelia, who was trying hard to compose her expression, and then quickened her pace, not wanting to be involved in this any longer.

I should have just left that Serith juvenile alone, whether it ran wild or not….

Najane bit her lower lip hard, regretting what she had done at dawn. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before her carefully hidden origin and status were exposed.

“So, which one of them is the protagonist?”

Daniel, who had just suffered his third consecutive defeat against Belshua, asked in a sulky voice. Maximón, signing off on documents, replied vaguely.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I have no idea. I can’t even tell if the maid really killed that wraith…”

“It was probably that maid, Najane.”

Belshua, shuffling a fresh deck of cards, commented. Maximón gave a faint chuckle, as if he found the remark astute.

“That woman—when I asked her last night if anything unusual had happened, she answered, ‘I didn’t hear any commotion.’ Normally, someone would ask what had happened or say they weren’t sure, like that maid Amelia did.”

Jacob nodded in agreement with Belshua’s observation. Daniel was about to ask how they could be so certain when he sensed someone approaching in the hallway and quickly closed his mouth.

The three knights, excluding Maximón, turned their eyes toward the door with wary expressions.

Knock, knock.

A light tapping sounded in the commander’s office. Without looking up from the tedious documents, Maximón responded with a disinterested tone.

“Come in.”

The person who entered was none other than Amelia. The knights stared at her with puzzled expressions. However, Amelia, compared to the first time she had been summoned here, walked in with a more confident and poised demeanor. Only Maximón and Belshua seemed to notice the subtle change.

Maximón, rolling up a sheet of paper, gave Amelia a sidelong glance.

“I believe I told you to remain in your quarters until further orders.”

“Actually, there was something I couldn’t tell you earlier.”

Amelia smiled dazzlingly.

“With Najane there, I found it difficult to speak freely… but the truth is, I did know about what happened last night—the wraith of Serith that crossed the outer wall and fell into the courtyard of the knights’ quarters.”

Maximón, who had been tying the rolled-up papers with a thin string, paused and looked at her.

Amelia had genuinely seemed unaware of what had transpired the previous night. When she was brought in with Najane, there had been no signs of acting or lying. Maximón stared at the ribbon he was about to tie before slowly curling his lips into a dark smile.

He found Amelia’s attempt to deceive him utterly detestable. Yet, this was a fortunate turn of events. He had been wondering how he might best use Najane, and now the opportunity had presented itself.

“You’re looking for the person who dealt with the Serith wraith, aren’t you?” Amelia asked, her tone light.

“Yes.”

Maximón answered smoothly. Amelia, as if she had anticipated his reply, clasped her hands behind her back and looked down at him confidently.

“Have you found them yet?”

“No, not yet. I was planning to poke around here and there before the day ends. Do you happen to know who covered for my oversight?”

“Of course. I was the one who defeated that wraith.”

Amelia lied shamelessly. At that, Daniel, who had been silently listening to the conversation, looked shocked and tried to rise from his seat, as if about to interject.

Jacob quickly clamped a hand over Daniel’s mouth, while Belshua stomped on Daniel’s foot with all his strength to force him back into his chair. Though Daniel let out a muffled groan of pain, Amelia was too engrossed in Maximón’s gaze to notice. She was entirely oblivious to the commotion happening behind her.

Maximón crossed his long legs, fixing his gaze on Amelia. Her blue eyes were brimming with ambition. A fiery greed burned within her, intent on using this opportunity to extract a handsome reward from Maximón and the Romsoa Knights.

As Maximón scanned the casualty reports—lists of soldiers killed or devoured by the Serith wraiths—he let out a slight smirk. How could he best use the shameless woman before him, who had no hesitation in stealing someone else’s credit, to gain leverage over Najane?

Maximón needed every capable knight he could get. Successfully defending Noctis Fortress was the only way for him to gain recognition as a true son from his adoptive father, Edwin.

“I’ve been blind to my savior.”

Having made up his mind, Maximón stood from his seat. Approaching Amelia, he smiled more elegantly than ever.

“Thanks to you, we averted what could have been a great disaster. It seems I owe you a debt. Rest assured, you’ll be well rewarded. Jacob, bring me the coin pouch.”

Jacob retrieved a small pouch filled with silver coins from the safe. It was slightly larger than Amelia’s hand. Maximón handed it to her without hesitation, as if it were nothing significant—merely a portion of what she would be rewarded with in the future.

But Amelia couldn’t contain her excitement. The pouch, filled to the brim with silver coins, was a fortune she could hardly have dreamed of earning in a lifetime. Stupid Najane, foolish Najane. Amelia forced her twitching lips back into a neutral expression, suppressing her triumphant grin.

“I’m inviting you to dinner this evening. I’ll send someone to fetch you, so make sure to attend. It’ll be an occasion to introduce the new hero to some distinguished guests.”

Distinguished guests. The words lit up Amelia’s face. While Maximón wasn’t the biological son of Marquess Elgort, he was celebrated as the hero of Noctis Fortress and undoubtedly had connections with highly esteemed nobles or wealthy merchants.

Amelia’s heart raced at the thought that the future she had dreamed of for so long was finally within reach. Fearing she might let the opportunity slip, she clutched the pouch of silver tightly with both hands, lowering her gaze in a display of feigned humility.

“Thank you for acknowledging my efforts, Commander. I’ll gladly attend the dinner you’ve invited me to.”

Maximón let out a short laugh at her response. Fortunately for Amelia, she didn’t look up at that moment. Maximón, gazing down at her, wore a colder smile than ever before.