I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 70 [An Altered Future (1)]

Bam! Slash!

 

“Gaaah…!”

 

Seraphine brought order to the chaotic situation, gracefully dispatching several lake serpents at once with her flashy kicks.

For a moment, I almost lost my senses to her appearance, as if moonlight was shining from her very being, but I belatedly came to my senses and started assessing the situation to understand what was happening.

That was because the Third Princess was one of the two people who absolutely shouldn’t be here right now.

The other person was, of course, Agnes.

Without the combined attack of Agnes and Seraphine, the King Serpent cannot be defeated. To be precise, that’s only possible with the main characters present here.

Unlike the Level 4 small fries, the King Serpent was a Level 10 boss monster.

As with all boss monsters in games, the boss monsters in “Luminor Academy” also possess a strength that is on a different Level from ordinary monsters.

One might look down on the King Serpent just because it’s Level 10, but the meaning becomes clearly different just by having the title of ‘boss monster’ attached to it.

To defeat a Level 10 boss monster, you don’t need a single ‘Level 10 character,’ but a ‘party composed of Level 10 characters’; that’s how much its strength is amplified.

Simply comparing its health to a monster of a similar level, it’s nearly 20 times stronger. Considering its defense and skills, it is naturally several times more dangerous.

In fact, a monster at the level of the King Serpent could be compared to Level 40 monsters without any sense of discomfort.

 

‘That’s why I thought Agnes and Seraphine had to charge at it together to just barely defeat it.’

 

The moment even one of them is missing from the operation, this monster wave will never end.

It is virtually impossible to defeat the entire horde of lake serpents, which could number in the thousands, and even if it were possible, there would be no strength left to face the King Serpent.

Moreover, these monsters were still persistently targeting only humans as if they were being commanded by someone, so it was most important to somehow defeat the boss monster and resolve this situation.

 

‘Hiyah…!’

 

Slash!

 

“Ugh…”

 

The number of lake serpents I’ve killed that rushed at Lizzy and me has already reached four.

But Seraphine, who should have gone to defeat the King Serpent, is here now.

Why did she come to support this place instead of defeating the King Serpent and dealing with the remnants?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand her actions at all, and various speculations began to arise in my mind about what Seraphine had seen in the future.

 

‘What on earth did she see in her future sight?’

 

Could it be that Seraphine’s future sight didn’t reflect the future where ‘I protected Lizzy’?

…Or did some action I took when I met Seraphine make her decide to save Lizzy instead of Agnes?

While I was confused with all sorts of questions in my mind, the masked blonde princess began walking towards Lizzy and me, passing through the southern gate.

Even at that moment, I was questioning Seraphine’s incomprehensible actions.

 

“Miss Lilith Rosewood.”

“…Didn’t we not exchange names?”

“Since we already know each other, it doesn’t matter, right?”

 

…Well, that’s true.

What on earth did she see in her future sight that made her come to rescue Lizzy even after seeing the future where she defeats the King Serpent together with Agnes?

The question rose to my throat, and I almost blurted out that rude question.

But before that, Seraphine, who had grabbed my hand first, suddenly started running while holding me.

 

“Why are you even here… Oh, huh?!”

“Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Ah, Miss Lilith, today must be your first time wearing high-heeled shoes. It seems like it would be difficult for you to run quickly.”

“What are you even talking about… Aah?!”

“Pardon me for a moment.”

 

You’re already being rude after doing something rude!

Seraphine, who suddenly tripped my feet and made me fall backward, caught my body in her arms as I was about to fall to the floor.

Unintentionally finding myself in a princess carry position in her arms, I could only show a confused expression, still not understanding what was happening.

 

“I’ll explain on the way. We’re in a hurry right now.”

“W-What?! Why are you suddenly carrying me and running?!”

“Because I saw it.”

“Pardon?”

“The future where you, Miss Lilith, and I subjugate the King Serpent together.”

 

…Seriously, what did she see?

With a questionable appearance, Seraphine suddenly showed up at the shelter and started running towards the western gate of the palace while carrying me.

I unintentionally found myself in her arms, holding the dagger I received from Lizzy, heading towards the western gate.

 

“Princess, this isn’t the time for this! Right now, we need to prioritize defeating the boss monster at the center of the monster wave…”

“Yes. That’s why I came to get you, Miss Lilith. Between the two futures I saw, seeking your cooperation was easier.”

“What?!”

 

What on earth is this princess talking about?

If she saw the future, she should have flown straight to the western gate as soon as she grasped the situation and dealt with the King Serpent first instead of the other small fries.

I couldn’t understand why she was suddenly carrying me and taking me to the western gate of the palace.

In the first place, it was reckless to think that cooperating with me could defeat the King Serpent.

Because my current identity was nothing more than an indebted commoner maid of a ducal family, and thanks to the letter Ethan had sent in advance, Seraphine was one of the people who already knew that fact.

 

“P-Princess, you already know that I’m just a commoner maid!”

“…Yes. I almost fell for your naive appearance for a moment myself.”

“…Pardon?”

“You’re keeping it a secret, right? The fact that you’re a commoner who can use magic.”

“…!”

“It’s no use asking me how I knew. I’m sorry, Miss Lilith, but my future sight has never been wrong.”

 

…Ah, damn it.

If it weren’t for the full moon, there was no way I would have been found out.

Even if I denied the future sight of the Moonlight Shadow Princess, who becomes a cheat character once a month, it probably wouldn’t work on her at all.

I had no choice but to nod my head and acknowledge her words.

 

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Normally, as soon as it was confirmed that a commoner who could use magic appeared, the empire would have taken protective measures.”

“Ah…”

“Fortunately, I’m the only one who knows that fact right now.”

“…”

“I’ll keep it a secret, Miss Lilith Rosewood.”

 

…Huh?

She’s going to hide it?

 

“What did you just say…”

“For whatever reason, you are living like a commoner while concealing the fact that you can use magic.”

“…Of course, because it would be dangerous if it was found out.”

“I’ll keep the scene I saw in my future sight a secret, so in return, Miss Lilith, you must cooperate with me in making the future I saw a reality.”

“…Does that mean the future where I defeat the King Serpent with my magic?”

“For now, yes.”

 

…’For now’? How far into the future did she see to come looking for me?

She saw the future where I use magic and defeat the King Serpent.

Even without further explanation from Seraphine, I could already grasp what kind of situation that was.

Among the magic spells and skills I could use, there was only one means to deal a proper attack on the King Serpent.

Mana Blast.

I could sufficiently guess it from the moment I heard that I had defeated the King Serpent.

If I really did defeat that monster in the future this woman saw, the only attack I could use against it was that.

Although confusion still remained, using the information I heard from Seraphine, I could somewhat grasp the content of the story that had now changed.

…In the end, my intervention in the story changed the future sight Seraphine saw, and amidst that, Seraphine chose the changed future sight.

I didn’t know the reason why she was stubbornly trying to take me to the western gate instead of quickly receiving Agnes’ cooperation to defeat the King Serpent, but anyway, this was a story that had been altered from the original work.

Perhaps even now, Agnes, at the western gate, was cornered while facing the King Serpent.

I still couldn’t understand at all why Seraphine, who had always made choices that minimized sacrifices in all stories, had endangered Agnes.

 

‘If she had seen the future sight where Agnes was at the western gate line of defense, she would have naturally judged to support Agnes at the western gate first. After all, Seraphine would have confirmed through her future sight that the two of them could sufficiently defeat the King Serpent.’

 

But now that she had made this judgment to come and get me instead, Agnes was probably falling into danger by the minute.

…Wait, if the reason Seraphine made this strange judgment was that one of the two targets in her future sight had changed from Lizzy to me…

Could it be that the other target of the future sight had also changed from Agnes to someone else?

 

“Princess.”

“Yes, Miss Lilith.”

“…You said that one of the contents of the future vision you saw was the future where you and I cooperate to defeat the King Serpent, right?”

“That’s right, Miss Lilith.”

“If it isn’t rude of me, could you tell me what you saw in the other future?”

 

As if she had expected me to ask this question as well, Seraphine smiled slightly and nodded in response.

The answer that came out of her mouth was shocking enough to make me flustered.

 

“The futures I saw were two. One was as I mentioned earlier, where I take Miss Lilith from the southern gate shelter to the western gate, and then Miss Lilith and I cooperate to defeat the King Serpent at the western gate.”

“The other is…”

“The other one was the future where I take Miss Agnes from the eastern gate line of defense to the western gate, and similarly, Miss Agnes and I cooperate to defeat the King Serpent.”

“Wouldn’t that have been much easier? Instead of going back and forth between the southern and western gates, if Miss Agnes was at the eastern gate… Huh?”

 

…Wait a minute.

Did I hear that wrong just now?

 

“W-Wait a moment, Princess. Could you tell me about the second future again?”

“In the second future, I defeat the King Serpent together with Miss Agnes…”

“Ah, no. That’s not it; where is Miss Agnes right now?”

“…Miss Agnes is currently preventing the entry of monsters at the eastern gate line of defense of the palace.”

“…”

 

Then, what about the western gate?

I don’t know how Orion defended the palace in the original history, but regardless, there was one thing that was certain.

It was the fact that he had entrusted the defense of the western gate, where the boss monster would appear, to Agnes.

But now, she, who should have been facing the boss monster according to the original story, was stopping monsters at the eastern gate defense line of the palace.

It must be true since it was the content Princess Seraphine saw in her future sight, as she could even see me, who ‘originally wouldn’t be at this scene’, through her future sight.

For now, it was confirmed that Agnes was defending the eastern gate defense line.

…Then, who on earth was defending the western gate where the King Serpent would rush in?

 

<My power may be weak, but I promise I won’t be a hindrance.>

 

“Could it be…”

 

As a familiar face flashed through my mind, I realized that I had been overlooking one of the most important facts all along.

…In the original story, I wasn’t the only character who didn’t attend Seraphine’s masquerade ball.

Argentian Empire, Imperial Palace, Western Gate Line of Defense.

 

“Haa, haa, haa…”

 

Ethan Richard Blackwood, the eldest son of the Blackwood family.

He was currently experiencing the greatest threat to his life with his entire being.

 

“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!”

 

A huge monster opened its mouth as wide as a house, sucking out his soul with a bone-chilling scream.

An overwhelmingly large size that was impossible to even compare to other lake serpents and movements that were too quick and powerful for its size.

Ethan felt considerable pressure from the majesty of the ‘boss monster’ he was facing for the first time in his life.

Still unable to make a single proper wound on its scales, he quietly thought to himself as he looked at the unscathed King Serpent.

 

‘This… is definitely more challenging than the training I received from my father.’

 

His body was already exhausted from facing dozens of lake serpents, but he was still standing on his two legs, defending the western gate of the palace.

He was gripping the sword he was forcibly holding with his trembling arms, trying to focus his mind.

Ethan Richard Blackwood, the heir to the Blackwood family, remained at the western gate of the palace, guarding the last line of defense.

He couldn’t hope for anyone’s help anymore, all alone on the front lines.