Not a Villainess but a Maid

#006 Awakening, and Peculiar Connections

Magic awakened overnight.

I felt static electricity in the blanket while sleeping, and when I woke up, it turned out I had awakened the magic power of lightning.

‘Wow…’

Truly a meager ability awakening event.

***

It was said that the recoil varies depending on the latent potential when awakening magic.

Since it ended with static electricity, it was proven that my potential was significantly low, needless to say.

‘I never thought I’d awaken before Ruby.’

Curious about what I could do with lightning magic, I searched my study for an old spellbook.

Since I couldn’t read all the characters yet, I relied on familiar words to find spells I could potentially perform.

As a result, the only things I could do were some unnamed basic movements that were almost embarrassing to classify as magic.

“Yap!”

Focusing my mind, I gathered strength at the tips of my fingers, and tiny sparks the size of a dust mote flickered and rose.

‘Is this for real…?’

Still, even if it stings when it touches the skin, with something like this, I can’t catch anything, not even a bug, let alone a monster.

Because the visuals looked like welding, I arbitrarily named this technique ‘Welding.’

The second technique was somewhat dazzling.

Concentrating mana throughout my whole body and exhaling forcefully, light emitted from my body, instantly illuminating the dark room.

‘Anyone can tell what this is…’

I decided to call this technique ‘Solar Fist,’ taking the name from a famous manga.

Looking at it now, both techniques were undoubtedly useless excess skills.

Not that I’d have any practical use for them anyway.

***

On this day, I followed Head Maid Merilda to the market.

It was my first outing since becoming a personal maid.

“Do you understand, Amber? When looking at ingredients, freshness should be prioritized above all else.”

Merilda said so, pointing with her hand at two fish of the same kind.

“Do you know the difference between these two fish?”

“…They look the same to me.”

“No! Just by looking at the scales, you can feel that the one on the left is much fresher!”

Despite Merilda’s enthusiastic explanation, honestly, I still didn’t quite get it.

While listening to her scolding, a robust man from the fruit shop across the street shouted.

“Lady, take a look at the fruits we brought in this time!”

“Really? Oh my, seasonal fruits are so…”

I stood behind Merilda, who was admiring the fruits, observing the market.

‘… The fantasy world market doesn’t seem much different than reality.’

Even though it’s in a game, it didn’t seem drastically different from reality.

That’s when it happened.

“Eek!”

In the middle of the market crowd, a sudden chase was unfolding.

‘What’s going on…?’

Being chased was a young child in unfamiliar attire, being pursued by men dressed in black. They swiftly entered an alley between buildings.

‘A crime scene…?’

It might not be a crime, but something definite had happened.

As Merilda was still engrossed in conversation with the fruit shop uncle, I took the opportunity to secretly slip away and discreetly approached the alley.

There, two men in common attire surrounded the young child.

The men were trying to hold the child, spreading their arms and saying something to her.

“I don’t like it!”

Upon hearing the child’s cry in the dead-end alley, I was certain it was a dangerous situation.

‘What should I do…?’

I was still just a 13-year-old girl.

Clumsily helping, I couldn’t ignore the possibility of both of us falling into danger.

As expected in situations like this, involving a third party was a wise decision.

I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted loudly towards the alley.

“Help! There are villains here!”

Passersby turned their heads towards the alley, surprised by my voice.

Startled by my voice, the villains looked at me with bewildered eyes.

“W-who is it…!”

They glared at me with fierce eyes.

‘Scary!’

But if I retreated here, I might miss the timing to save that child.

I thought hard about the best move I could make.

‘Yes, let’s use that…’

Gathering my hands together, I spread mana throughout my body.

In an instant, a flash of light emanated from my body, dazzlingly illuminating the dark alley.

‘Take this, ultimate move!’

Named 『 Solar Fist 』.

The ones staring at me were momentarily blinded by the sudden brightness, shielding their eyes.

“Aargh, my eyes…!”

‘Now’s the time!’

Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed the child’s hand and dashed out of the alley.

So we ran for a while until we emerged into a crowd of people, and only then could we catch our breath.

“…Are you okay?”

I asked the mysterious child after finally calming my breath.

Up close, the child was wearing a peculiar outfit, with a robe and cloth covering the face, leaving only the eyes visible.

“Yeah. Thanks to you, I survived!”

The unexpectedly confident child then removed the robe and cloth that covered their face.

‘It’s a girl…?’

A silver ponytail, hidden until now, was revealed.

I didn’t notice just by looking at her eyes, but now, she appeared to be quite beautiful. She looked at me with violet eyes shining.

Should I say the atmosphere was mysterious? She had a charm distinctly different from rubies and diamonds.

“What’s your name?”

When I asked for her name, she hesitated for a moment before introducing herself.

“…Ame. I’m called Ame!”

‘Ame?’

It felt somewhat strange, but the name was oddly familiar.

“I’m Amber. 13 years old.”

“Really? Then we’re friends!”

Ame pushed herself so close that her sparkling violet eyes were almost touching my nose.

“Thanks for helping, Amber.”

Certainly, judging by her appearance and attire, she didn’t seem like an ordinary girl from a common background.

“But why were you being chased? Who were those people?”

In response to my question, she scratched her head as if it was nothing and answered.

“Well… I guess I’m being a bit obsessed… Anyway, I’m fine now!”

“…Are you really okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

She smiled innocently as if she had completely erased the fact that she was being chased from her mind.

“Instead of that, let’s go sightseeing in the market. I know some interesting places.”

“Sightseeing in the market?”

Although I was curious, Merilda would be desperately looking for me.

“That’s a bit difficult… because I have company.”

“…Can’t we stay together for a little while? I’ve always wanted a friend.”

“…You wanted a friend?”

“Yeah. Amber is my first friend!”

Watching her casually say such a sad thing, I felt like I might cry a little without even realizing it.

“…Alright. Just for a little while, then.”

“Yeah!”

Amber seemed to have no sense of crisis, and she was so bright that it was hard to believe she had just been in danger.

Amber seemed familiar with dangerous places like shops that dealt with various monster materials, weapon stores, and gambling dens.

I followed her and experienced various places in the market.

“Amber, look at this. Doesn’t it look like a knight?”

At the weapon store, she entered wearing a helmet twice the size of her head, flipped upside down.

“More like a monster than a knight, huh?”

“What? That’s too much! hahahaha.”

She took off the helmet she had been wearing and placed it on my head.

“Really…? It does look like a monster like this!”

“Does it?”

Seeing her innocent laughter, I found myself laughing along.

Contrary to her cute appearance, Ame had truly unique tastes.

“Amber, let’s check this place out too.”

She stopped in front of a suspicious-looking street vendor and pointed to skewers made of unidentified monster ingredients.

“Give me two of these!”

Ame, holding the skewers, handed one to me.

“Here, this one’s for Amber.”

“Thanks.”

The monster skewer dish looked even more grotesque up close. Unidentified visuals, whether eyeballs or octopus legs, were entwined in it.

‘Can you really eat this…?’

Ame chewed on it without any hesitation.

“How is it? Ame?”

“Tastes bad. It has a rotten rubbery flavor.”

Ame spat it out, then grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

“Let’s go there!”

The place we arrived at this time was a gambling den where rough-looking men gathered, and the atmosphere was definitely not suitable for young kids like us.

“Let me try too!”

“Go away. There’s no place for little kids like you. Do you have money to buy snacks?”

The men laughed at us, but Ame pulled out coins from her pocket and asked.

“Is this enough?”

“…”

Then, the men who were mocking us stopped laughing.

“…Don’t cry if you lose. I won’t give it back.”

She confidently participated in the risky gambling that looked disadvantageous at first glance and won the prize three times in a row.

“Hooray! I won, Amber.”

‘…Who is this woman, really?’

Moreover, I wondered where she got the money from earlier. She was a woman full of mysteries in many ways.

After exploring the market thoroughly, I declared a break as I felt completely drained of energy.

“Time…! It’s too tough!”

“Is it? Then let’s take a short break.”

Ame put down the various items she had in her hands and said.

She seemed tireless as we had wandered through every corner without looking back.

Impressed, I remarked, “Ame has amazing stamina.”

“Really? It’s not usually like this.”

She added with a smirk.

“I guess I didn’t realize time was passing while I was fooling around with Amber.”

“…Considering that, you seem surprisingly energetic.”

Seeing how my body was spreading as soon as I took a break, I definitely felt my lack of stamina compared to her.

Leaning against the alley, catching my breath, Amber spoke to me.

“…Thanks. I had a great time thanks to Amber.”

“…Really? All I did was follow Ame around.”

“No, it was fun.”

Before I knew it, Ame, who had pressed her face close to mine, looked straight into my eyes and said.

“Yeah, Amber is really kind.”

“…Me?”

“Plus, every little reaction you have is cute.”

The distance had become somewhat dangerously close.

“Ame, hold on. It’s too close…”

“Look, even now your cheeks are turning red, right?”

Ame’s face was so close that I could feel her breath.

“Why on earth…?”

“…”

It was around the time when the atmosphere was becoming slightly strange.

From behind, the voices of some men could be heard.

“We found her! She was with that woman earlier!”

Two men in black attire, who had surrounded us earlier, closed in on us from both sides.

‘This is bad. We’re surrounded…!’

“…”

She remained silent, her expression hardened.

As I pondered on a way to escape, one of the men spoke with a troubled voice.

“Now, please go back. Princess Amethyst!”

As the man shouted, the surroundings became strangely quiet.

‘…Princess?’

Amethyst sighed softly and obediently turned towards them.

“…Ah. I wanted to play a little more.”

As if hearing unbelievable words, I asked her.

“…Amethyst, a princess. What are you talking about?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive.”

She bowed formally towards me.

“Let me greet you again. I am Amethyst Lupin, the second princess of the kingdom.”

‘Second princess…?’

It felt familiar for some reason.

She was Amethyst Lupin, one of the main heroines of “Lily Magic Chronicles.”

The second princess, Amethyst, is a renowned heroine known for the high difficulty level at the beginning of the game. True to her royal nature, it wasn’t easy to engage in casual conversation with the protagonist during the low-stat early stages of the game.

However, once you become acquainted with her, she transforms into a character who can quickly raise affinity due to her unique, brisk personality and proactive attitude.

Amethyst spoke while looking at men dressed in black.

“Wait a moment. I’ll obediently follow along.”

“…Please. If you’re late again, we’ll get scolded.”

Then she came back to me, grinned, and tilted her head.

“I liked you, Amber. Even though I saw you for the first time today, I could tell you’re a really good person…”

She grabbed my hand and said.

“Marry me, Amber.”

“…What?”

For the first time in my life, and from a woman I had just met, not even half a day ago, I was being proposed to.

“I promise to make you happy.”

By none other than the main heroine.

“…Amethyst, I’m a woman, though?”

“Yeah. I know!”

“And I’m a commoner…?”

“It’s okay. If you marry me, you’ll become royalty.”

Her story wasn’t entirely absurd.

The game I had possessed allowed same-s*x marriage, fitting its yuri game nature. Of course, there were still people with prejudices, but compared to reality, the standards were quite lenient.

“She has always been like that. Get a brave and kind spouse.”

“Do I meet that standard?”

“Yeah. Besides, Amber is cute, right?”

Amethyst Lupin was the second princess. As she was pushed down a step in the line of succession to the throne, she was allowed relatively more freedom in her actions.

But to choose a commoner like me as her fiancé?

Something was definitely wrong.

“…”

Unable to answer, I hesitated, and she looked at me with slightly sad eyes.

“…Do you happen to dislike me, Amber?”

I lowered my head with a perplexed expression.

“No, it’s not that. I don’t dislike you, but it’s too early to decide on an engagement…”

I didn’t want to put Ruby in an awkward position by accepting the engagement with the royal family too hastily.

“It’s okay. I promise I won’t do anything weird until I become an adult!”

I didn’t say it was too early for that.

“…You know, Amethyst. I’m a maid. I belong to a family and have a master.”

Amethyst seemed curious at that statement and asked.

“Oh, really? Which family?”

“…The Sarka family.”

“I see…”

After a moment of silence, Amethyst smiled with a disappointed expression.

“Too bad. Well, I guess there’s no other choice!”

Surprisingly, she turned away easily.

One would have expected someone of her status to be more stubborn, but she let it go refreshingly.

“Thanks for playing with me.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Ama briefly turned to me and said,

“See you again soon, Amber.”

‘Soon…?’

As Ama waved at me, she seemed even more joyful than when I first met her.

Standing alone in the middle of the market, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten.

‘Right, Merilda…!’

Only then did I rush towards her, receiving a scolding that felt too harsh for leaving my spot unattended for a few hours.

The fact that I was proposed to by the princess was something I hadn’t told anyone, including Merilda.

It was such an unreal story that I wondered if I had dreamt it.

The peculiar encounter with her, who I might never see again, came to a close.