MMFHRK-Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Since I’m Already Here, I Might as Well Pick a Sword Before I Go

When she returned to the terrace, Lilinai saw that Airiya and Luosenni wore serious expressions, as though discussing something important.

But as Lilinai drew near, the two of them immediately lowered their voices; and by the time she arrived, Luosenni was preoccupied with nothing but eating desserts.

She pushed the cart loaded with desserts and stopped it at the edge of the parasol.

“Master, your tea.”

“Oh, finally.”

Airiya responded. But no one could tell whether she meant that Lilinai had finally returned, or that she had finally brought the black tea.

Lilinai bowed slightly and set the tray holding the teapot—filled with fresh tea leaves and hot water—onto the table.

Then she lifted the pot and poured clear tea into the two Witches’ cups.

“Please enjoy.”

“Well done.”

Airiya picked up her teacup, sniffed it lightly, and knitted her brow slightly.

Lilinai clenched her palm. It was soaked with sweat.

“Ah, my beloved butter cookies!”

Luosenni likewise didn’t drink her tea.

She took a bowl of cookies from the dessert cart and began sampling them without the slightest ceremony.

“Mm—do you know, Airiya, I’ve always envied your maids’ skills! Where did you hire these maids from?”

“That’s a secret.”

“That’s a secret too? Don’t you have far too many secrets! Please, let slip just a little to me—”

The two Witches talked and laughed, but the newly served tea went entirely untouched.

Lilinai watched them nervously, her expression struggling to maintain its calm.

Her gaze settled on that pot of fresh tea on the table.

At the edge of the teapot hung the tea packet’s little label.

This label was identical to the labels on the spice packets the maids had prepared. But only she knew that the material inside was a world apart.

Just moments ago, she had already swapped in her own poison.

Originally she had only wanted Airiya to ingest the poison, but since Luosenni and Airiya shared a single pot of tea, there was no longer any way to distinguish between targets.

She felt very sorry about harming an innocent bystander, and felt some guilt as well.

But things had come to this, and she couldn’t turn back.

This was all for the sake of revenge…

“Lilinai.”

“…Yes!”

Airiya’s sudden calling of her name made the purple-haired girl’s nerves snap taut.

Had she been found out? Had Airiya already noticed something amiss?

Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so reckless, dosing the black tea that both Witches would taste—if the other could detect it by smell alone, then she…

“That book I asked for—did you bring it?”

“Huh? …Ah, I-I brought it.”

Lilinai came back to herself and hurriedly retrieved the book from beneath the cart.

She had assumed Airiya wouldn’t care about this, since the instruction to fetch the book had been an offhand remark to begin with.

“Not bad. Although I didn’t specify it, you brought the notes that go with the book as well.”

Airiya nodded in satisfaction and crooked a finger at Lilinai.

“When dealing with a good child, one really must bestow a bit of reward. Come here~”

“Mm-hmm…”

Lilinai leaned in hesitantly and bent down.

Airiya cupped her face and gave the girl’s peach-like cheek a kiss.

“Whoa.”

Luosenni let out a jeering whistle.

“The two of you are on such good terms~”

“Don’t be absurd.”

Airiya released the girl, whose face had flushed scarlet, and picked up her teacup.

“Would you develop feelings for a handkerchief you wipe your hands with, Luosenni?”

“Eh—what a cruel way to put it. Miss Lilinai, don’t take it to heart, all right?”

Lilinai didn’t take it to heart.

Her gaze remained fixed on the white-haired Witch seated before her.

Because at this very moment, Airiya was lifting that cup of black tea steeped full of poison and bringing it to her lips.

And then—

she simply drank it down.

“…”

Lilinai watched this scene in silence.

Her expression didn’t change in the slightest.

But deep in her heart, an unstoppable surge of excitement and joy was pulsing mightily.

Her plan… had succeeded!

“Tch. Somehow the flavor doesn’t seem very good.”

“You’re just too fussy about taste. Besides, didn’t you drink the last pot perfectly happily? Changing the subject won’t be that easy, my dear Miss Airiya~”

Airiya set down her teacup and turned to the purple-haired girl at her side.

“Luosenni and I still have some idle talk to get through. For the time being, there’s no need for you to stand here looking foolish. Go do as you please.”

“Ah… mm.”

“After you leave, go tell Aoleila while you’re at it—Miss Luosenni will be staying here tonight, so have her prepare the guest room.”

“I will abide by your wishes in everything.”

“You may go.”

Airiya didn’t look at her again.

Lilinai withdrew in silence, quietly pressing down on her slightly trembling wrist.

…

——————————

…

The sky was turning toward evening.

The mansion was very quiet. For the sake of their mistress’s and their honored guest’s experience, the maids kept silent and busied themselves with their work.

Lilinai crossed the corridor with practiced familiarity, avoiding those maids, and headed for the storeroom she’d always used for training.

She had changed into a blouse and jacket suited for movement, dressed very neatly.

It was only a pity that Airiya had never bought her trousers, so she’d had to make do with a knee-length short skirt for now.

The storeroom was utterly still. The last light of the setting sun spilled in through the window, illuminating the dust drifting in the air.

She walked to a piece of linen cloth in the storeroom’s corner and lifted it away.

Beneath it lay a small bundle holding the food and water she had secretly stockpiled little by little.

“Farewell, Airiya.”

She murmured in a low voice.

She had been planning for this day for a long time.

She had endured so much, borne so much, and now the end had finally arrived.

“…”

Strange.

She had thought she would feel happier than this.

For her, completing her revenge was her one and only goal in life. Other people’s lives simply didn’t matter.

—That was how it ought to be.

“Lilinai, don’t forget the Kaoenxier family’s grudge!”

She patted her own cheeks, trying to clear her head a little.

“That’s exactly why I can’t put this off any longer—I’ve been humiliated by Airiya for too long, and I’m nearly losing a normal person’s frame of mind.”

It must be because she’d spent a whole month stifled under Airiya’s thumb, growing accustomed to being ordered around, that she’d become this indecisive!

Think back carefully—what hadn’t that Witch done to her?

She’d done so many outrageous things, and now was the time for her to pay it back!

Lilinai thought firmly, casting out the strange notions arising in her mind.

She most certainly would not feel regret, nor would she feel guilt!

Enough, Lilinai!

Pull yourself together—it’s time to set out on a new journey!

She made up her mind, swiftly picked up the bundle and strapped it to her back; then she wrapped that piece of linen around herself and tied it in the style of a cloak.

“Mm…”

Just before leaving, Lilinai looked over the weapons arrayed in the storeroom.

“Since I’m already here, I might as well pick a sword to take with me.”

That Witch had tormented her for so long, after all—this sword could count as the interest she was paying back. Revenge required a weapon, and she certainly had no money to go buy one now.

Having secured a good excuse for her act of theft, the girl nodded, went straight to the rack, took the lightweight composite sword that had felt most natural in her hand during practice, and fastened it across her back.

Once all of this was done, she recalled the direction of Fimu City that she had learned from the maids and made her way to the mansion’s rear courtyard.

She had meant to take one more look at the terrace, but unfortunately the angle was wrong and she could see nothing at all.

“Goodbye forever, Witch.”

Facing the eastern side where the terrace lay, Lilinai whispered softly.

Then she set off, leaping up onto the perimeter wall with light steps, and left the Witch’s mansion.