Vol 4. Chapter 69: Pipi

With the arrival of the morning light, Wisteria, the imperial capital of Saint Lomari, gradually awakened from its slumber.

And arriving in the capital together with the sunlight was an explosive piece of news—

the estate of the Antreishu Family, one of Saint Lomari’s Ten Great Noble Houses, had been reduced to ruins last night.

In an instant,

the entire capital erupted into an uproar, and almost everyone began discussing this sensational news.

And amid such an atmosphere,

inside an estate in western Wisteria, the maids busy with their daily household chores also began chatting about it with great enthusiasm.

The main reason these maids were so enthusiastic, with some even taking obvious delight in the misfortune, was because the master they served already had a ‘small’ conflict with the Antreishu Family~

--

“Wow, heavens...... Th-This Antreishu Family, how did they...... how did they suddenly just disappear? That family head named Bafilo seems to have gone missing too?”

Beside a pond, a young maid with her hair tied into braids stared at the newspaper in her hands and couldn’t help exclaiming in astonishment.

Hearing her words,

the other maids working nearby involuntarily joined the discussion.

“What do you mean missing? I think that old bastard probably died in the explosion too.”

“An explosion? Why would there suddenly be an explosion?”

“No idea. According to the current reports, apparently they failed to inspect the energy core beneath their residence, causing it to overload and eventually explode. Then, by sheer coincidence, the explosion also set off their armory, causing a chain reaction. That’s how the entire estate ended up getting blown to ashes. Look...... apparently that huge crater in the center was caused by all of that.”

“So that’s what happened. That’s terrifying. We should pay more attention to our energy core too.”

“Don’t worry. Ours gets inspected every day.”

“Mhm. But speaking of which, the Antreishu Family really did disappear at the perfect time!”

“Exactly, exactly! That’s what I’m saying! Ever since our Lady Lingluo obtained the seat of Third Consul, the Antreishu Family has been constantly causing trouble for us. Haven’t they even been suing our lady in the Supreme Court lately, accusing her of cheating in the election and trafficking orphans? They’re so annoying! So their disappearance really came at the perfect time. Otherwise, this would’ve just gone on and on forever!”

“Mhm, exactly. Those black-hearted bastards deserved to die! Our Lady Lingluo worked so hard to rise from a commoner all the way to where she is now. If she were suppressed because of those completely fabricated accusations, or even lost her status as a candidate for Imperial Sovereign, then heaven would truly be far too unfair!”

“Exactly! Exactly!”

......

......

The maids seemed to have completely abandoned the work in their hands as their discussion grew increasingly heated.

Whenever the Antreishu Family was mentioned, every maid wore an expression of disgust, showing absolutely no sympathy despite the tragedy that had befallen the family.

Yet whenever their own young lady was mentioned, their eyes involuntarily filled with admiration and affection.

After all,

most of these maids had come from the lowest levels of society, belonging to the most despised class of people in the Saint Lomari Empire.

They had once been people who could have died miserably on the streets at any moment.

Naturally, they held immeasurable respect for Lady Lingluo, who had given them employment and ensured that they never again lacked food or clothing.

After viciously cursing the Antreishu Family for a while longer, the braided young maid innocently looked up at the sky.

“Do you think our lady...... might be blessed by the Goddess of Luck? A terrifying force like the Antreishu Family actually disappeared overnight because of an accident?”

Faced with the braided maid’s words, a blond maid beside her nodded slightly in agreement.

“Yeah. Lady Lingluo does seem pretty lucky. Every crisis seems to end before it even reaches her. Wasn’t it the same half a year ago? After the Green Ghost Assassination Group publicly declared that they were going to kill Lady Lingluo, they somehow ran into wild Abyss Demons and were completely wiped out.”

“Right, right! And there was the Bakarona Family last month. We thought they were going to compete against Lady Lingluo in the bidding! Who would’ve expected their family head to suddenly die unexpectedly, causing the whole thing to fall apart?”

“Exactly. And wasn’t that person who gave false testimony last week said to have choked to death the day before yesterday because he ate too quickly?”

“Mhm.”

The braided maid silently lowered her head and assumed a thoughtful expression.

“Looking at it that way, our Lady Lingluo really is lucky! No wonder...... she managed to rise all the way to her current position!”

......

However,

not long after the braided young maid voiced her amazement, an older middle-aged maid who had silently been trimming the flowers and plants nearby slowly stood up.

“Lady Lingluo wasn’t always this lucky.”

?!!

The moment the older maid spoke, the younger maids around her immediately stopped chattering and turned curious gazes toward this senior maid who had followed Lady Lingluo for many years.

“Hm?! Sister Vika? Do you mean Lady Lingluo used to have bad luck?”

“Yes.”

The maid named Vika nodded slightly.

A bitter smile slowly appeared on her face, which bore the traces of passing years.

“It wasn’t merely bad luck...... It was absolutely terrible.”

“Terrible?”

“Yes. Not only was she betrayed by people around her multiple times, she was also repeatedly targeted by assassins. Every assassination attempt nearly took Lady Lingluo’s life. Although she survived, they still caused irreversible damage to her body. Besides that, during a subjugation of magical beasts in the past, Lady Lingluo was extremely unlucky and had one of her eyes grazed by a poisoned blade. That was how Lady Lingluo lost one of her eyes...... Sigh......”

Recalling those tragic experiences of the past, Vika helplessly shook her head.

Her answer left the newly arrived young maids around her visibly shocked.

“Our lady...... actually suffered that much in the past......? She was even repeatedly assassinated...... But now, it seems like...... none of those things happen anymore?”

“Mhm. That’s true.”

“Then perhaps...... it means our lady’s luck has finally changed recently?”

“Her luck changed? Perhaps...... Come to think of it, ever since that person came here, our lady’s ‘luck’ really has improved quite a lot.”

As though she had remembered something, Vika revealed a meaningful smile.

Then, temporarily ignoring the questions being thrown at her by the younger maids behind her, the older maid slowly turned her head and looked toward a young girl not far behind them who was elegantly pushing a food cart toward the main residence.

The girl had a tall and slender figure.

Her long, flowing hair was a brilliant violet, fading into a delicate milky white at the ends.

Her exquisitely beautiful features were enough to inspire envy, while her vivid violet eyes gleamed with vitality.

Her steps were graceful.

She could practically be called the model of a proper lady.

Aside from the somewhat unfortunate matter of her chest being as flat as an airport runway, the purple-haired girl was nearly perfect.

Looking at the elegant maid, Vika slowly raised a hand and waved to her.

“Good morning, Head Maid.”

At Vika’s greeting,

the other young maids nearby also noticed the purple-haired girl and immediately offered respectful greetings to the kind yet habitually serious Head Maid.

However,

faced with all the maids greeting her, the purple-haired girl merely responded with a faint smile and did not speak.

When the purple-haired girl’s gaze met that of the older maid Vika, Vika smiled slightly and curiously asked,

“Head Maid, judging from things, last night’s big cleanup went pretty smoothly. Everything looks much cleaner now.”

In response to Vika’s words, the purple-haired girl maintained her usual silent demeanor.

She merely gave Vika a calm smile carrying a faint hint of amusement.

Then,

under the admiring and envious gazes of the young maids, the purple-haired girl pushed the food cart and slowly entered the main residence.

......

......

A short while later,

escorted by several golem guards, the purple-haired girl arrived before a tightly shut door.

And the moment the purple-haired girl stopped,

a pleasant and melodious female voice, like a gently flowing stream, slowly came from behind the door.

“Is that Pipi? Come in~”

“......”

Hearing that name, the girl frowned.

Her sharp teeth unconsciously bit down on her lip, and her delicate face filled with a complicated, conflicted expression.

“Tch......”