Not the Villainess, but the Maid

Chapter 39: The Owner of the Letter

Ruby and Amethyst both pounded on their respective beds and shouted at me.

““Amber, come over to my side!””

It was truly an awkward situation.

Ruby commanded me with a stern face, while Amethyst tilted her head like a playful puppy, clearly enjoying the situation.

‘Which side should I choose…?’

Logically, it was right to obey my master Ruby's order, but the other person was a member of the royal family.

Moreover, I didn’t want to hurt either of their feelings, so I stood in the middle, unable to make a quick decision.

“I, uh, that is…”

Just as I was about to decide and opened my mouth to speak—

Knock knock.

A knock came from the dormitory door, and we all turned to look at it simultaneously.

I instinctively turned my body in the direction of the sound.

“Oh, it seems like Diana is here.”

As I moved to open the door, I let out a sigh of relief.

‘I’m saved…’

I had been in a situation where I couldn’t possibly split myself into two, no matter what.

It felt like being asked, “Who do you like more, Mom or Dad?”

Creak.

As I opened the door slightly, I met eyes with Diana.

“I’m a bit late, aren’t I, Amber?”

No matter how many times I saw them, her eyes never ceased to amaze me.

Like her name Diana, it was as if her eyes truly held blue gemstones within them, glimmering beautifully.

Lost in admiration without realizing it, she blinked and asked me,

“May I come in?”

“Yes, of course…”

As I nodded, she smiled awkwardly and stepped inside.

‘Why am I acting like this, seriously…?’

This was already the second time I had been captivated by Diana’s gaze.

It had happened in the kitchen too, but there was definitely something about her that charmed people.

I felt like there was a term for this—what was it again?

‘Right. Charm stat…!’

The Charm stat was one of the attributes featured in the original game [Chronicles of Magical Lily].

This stat, which could rise up to a maximum of 99, made it easier to win over heroines the higher it was.

However, the methods or items to increase it were all challenging to obtain, and they typically only appeared in the late game, making it nearly impossible to max it out before reaching an ending.

Moreover, the starting Charm stat was 30, which was a neutral state where others felt no particular emotion.

Even if Diana’s Charm stat at the beginning of the game was at its peak, it wouldn’t have been higher than around 30.

So why was I feeling this inexplicable attraction to her?

‘It must be just my imagination…’

If her Charm stat were that high, the other heroines would have already been swept off their feet by Diana long ago, let alone charmed by her.

Since there were no signs of that happening, it was likely just my delusion.

That was the only explanation I could accept for now.

As Diana and I entered the room, I noticed Ruby and Amethyst sitting awkwardly, their faces flushed red.

Diana looked at the two and tilted her head, asking,

“Did something happen while I was away? The room feels oddly heated…”

Ruby shook her head and replied,

“…Nothing happened. Nothing at all.”

Diana still looked curious but didn’t press further.

“Oh, right. There aren’t any beds left for you to sleep on, Diana. What should we do?”

I glanced around and saw there weren’t any more beds for Diana to lie on.

For nobles, it was almost a given to sleep on soft, luxurious beds their entire lives.

Unless it was a special circumstance, it felt like a grave discourtesy to make them sleep on the floor.

As I looked at Diana with a worried expression, she smiled and shook her head.

“It’s fine. I can sleep on the floor with Amber.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

“Yes. Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve done something like this, so it might actually be fun… Haha.”

“Then is it alright if we share one blanket?”

“Yes, no problem at all.”

Thanks to her unexpectedly easygoing attitude, the sleeping arrangements were swiftly decided, leaving Ruby and Amethyst speechless as they watched us.

“…”

The two sat on their beds, stealing glances at each other before quietly adjusting their positions and stepping off the beds.

The first to set foot on the floor was Ruby.

"I've changed my mind. I'll just sleep on the floor."

Not to be outdone, Amethyst quickly climbed down to the floor as well.

"Now that I think about it, I feel like lying on the floor for a change…"

"Excuse me? All of a sudden?"

I shot a puzzled look at the two of them, who had so swiftly changed their stance.

Just moments ago, they had no intention of coming off the beds.

As I stood there, confused, Diana rose from her seat with a slightly touched expression.

"Ah, you must be trying to give up the beds for us, aren’t you? Ruby, Amethyst?"

At her words, both of their eyes widened in surprise.

"...What?"

"No, we didn’t mean it like that…"

Before they could come up with a response, Diana smiled brightly and said to me,

"Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any reason for them to lie on the floor when there are beds, right?"

Knowing full well how uncomfortable the floor was, they were volunteering to sleep there for me, a commoner.

I felt slightly moved by their gesture, my eyes welling up with tears.

"…Were you really doing it for that reason?"

Seeing my reaction, they glanced at each other before offering awkward smiles.

"…Of course! Amber’s comfort is way more important to us. Isn’t that right, Amethyst?"

"…Obviously! Dividing sleeping arrangements by social status is so old-fashioned, haha…"

At this point, refusing their kindness would have been rude.

Smiling with a deeply moved expression, I nodded.

"Thank you for giving up your beds. You two are truly the best."

"“...Yeah…”"

And so, I took my place on the bed I usually used, while Diana settled into Ruby’s bed.

"Goodnight, everyone."

I said as I turned off the lights, but strangely, neither of them responded.

While sleeping that night, I thought I heard someone on the floor gritting their teeth.

The next morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn.

The place I was headed so early was the Student Council Room.

Normally, I wouldn’t leave my lady alone, but with Amethyst and Diana there, I felt assured enough to step out.

"President, I’m coming in."

As usual, I knocked on Citrine’s office door and opened it.

I was eager to hear the results of her investigation into the incident as soon as possible.

The moment the door opened, her booming voice hit my eardrums.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating!"

"What’s wrong? It’s so early in the morning."

Startled, I asked the girl, who was yelling at the ceiling out of nowhere.

Citrine turned to look at me, her eyes shadowed with dark circles.

"Listen, commoner. I’ve been sitting by the mailbox since yesterday afternoon."

She explained that to catch the culprit, she had been intercepting and examining every letter delivered by students.

"Every single one?"

"Yes. But there wasn’t a single letter like the one we’re looking for. Not even a pink letter!"

Looking closely, I noticed her desk was cluttered with oversized coffee cups.

"My goodness. Did you drink all this in just one day…?"

When I stared in astonishment, Citrine scowled.

"I drank it to keep from falling asleep. What if the culprit showed up while I dozed off?"

Watching her, I felt a strange sense of admiration.

Where did so much energy come from in that small body of hers?

Pushing aside the pile of papers on her desk, Citrine casually said,

"You don’t need to clean today. I’ll be heading out again soon anyway."

"You’re going out again? What about classes?"

"Classes? I’ve already memorized all the textbooks. The professors won’t have much to say."

"Wow…"

Throwing off the blanket she had draped over herself, Citrine stood up and said,

"I’m not giving you any additional tasks today, so go stick by your master’s side. You never know when someone might try to mess with her."

"…Understood."

As Citrine left the office, her figure somehow appeared dignified.

Taking it upon herself to solve a student issue so proactively.

That’s what a Student Council President should be like.

***

Throughout that day, my mind was occupied with thoughts of Citrine.

‘…It feels like I’m leaving too much on Citrine’s shoulders.’

She said not to worry about her and that she was fine, but it had already been two days since she last slept.

After finishing club activities, I spoke to Ruby, who was packing her bag.

"My lady, please go back with the others today. I have somewhere I need to stop by."

"…Really? How long will you be?"

"I might be late. If it gets too late, I might not be back until early morning…"

"You’re not planning to do anything dangerous on your own like last time, are you?"

"I’m not. I promise."

When I looked at her, seeking her agreement, she nodded with a reluctant expression.

"Fine. Just don’t overdo it."

I couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t be dangerous, but this time Citrine would be with me, so it should be fine.

Given Citrine’s personality, it was highly likely she hadn’t eaten anything so far.

On my way, I stopped by the kitchen to grab some simple snacks and water.

When I arrived at the mailbox area, just as I had expected, she was sitting squarely on the bench directly across from it.

"What are you doing here, commoner? I told you to stay by that girl’s side."

"My lady is with others right now, so it’s fine. But President, aren’t you stuck here alone?"

When I shook the container of snacks in front of her, Citrine’s expression softened as if she reluctantly accepted my reasoning.

"…Why’d you even bother bringing something like that? You’re so nosy."

Despite her words, she didn’t seem to dislike that I had come.

I sat naturally beside her and opened the snack container.

"Here, have some. You must be hungry."

Inside were some bread and cookies I had prepared in advance.

Citrine picked up a cookie and popped it into her mouth, while I instinctively watched her reaction.

"…How is it?"

"Ugh."

…It was the reaction I expected, but it still hurt.

"Is it bad? I followed the recipe this time."

"What kind of flavor is this? It’s uniquely terrible."

When I explained what ingredients were in the cookie, Citrine shook her head in disbelief.

"Are you completely talentless? Making something taste like this with those ingredients is almost impressive."

Yet, despite her complaints, she quickly devoured the rest of the snacks.

"…You said it was bad, but you keep eating."

"My stomach was growling too much. I just need to fill it with something."

She must have been really hungry since she emptied the snack container completely.

Although she gagged a few times in the middle.

The sky gradually turned dark, and night fell upon the academy.

For some time now, Citrine had been dozing off, her head occasionally bumping against my shoulder.

Unable to bear watching any longer, I said,

"If you can’t stay awake, get some rest. I’ll keep watch."

"…"

"…President?"

Feeling the weight of her head against my shoulder, I turned to look and saw she had fallen into a deep sleep, snoring softly.

‘…She insisted she wouldn’t sleep, but she’s out cold now.’

Maybe she felt relaxed because I was beside her.

The usually sharp-tongued Citrine now looked like an angel with her peaceful face.

But still, would just waiting around like this really bring the culprit out?

Since the last threatening letter was the seventh, there was no telling if another would come within a day or two.

The culprit might have heard rumors about the letters being inspected and stopped sending them altogether.

Sitting in the darkness, waiting for someone indefinitely, felt like I was doing a stakeout as a detective.

"Yawn…"

Just as fatigue began to weigh heavily on me,

Rustle.

I heard the sound of someone approaching from a distance.

Then, a figure holding a letter emerged.

‘Is it them…?!’

In the pitch-black night without any light, their face wasn’t clear, but it was certain they were wearing our academy’s uniform.

Realizing the culprit had finally arrived, I quickly shook Citrine awake in a low voice.

"President. President…!"

"Mmm… Huh…"

"Wake up! Someone’s here…!"

"…Snore."

She was completely out, even snoring lightly.

‘Of all times, why now…?’

Having no other choice, I left Citrine behind and approached the shadowy figure alone.

As I got closer, I could make out more details.

Their hair—or head—was entirely brown.

‘Brown hair? Or are they wearing something over their head?’

There wasn’t enough time to carefully observe.

‘I can’t let them get away. Let’s catch them first!’

Just as the figure reached the mailbox, I dashed forward and grabbed their shoulder.

"Hey…!"

The figure reflexively turned their head sharply, locking eyes with me.

"…!"