Volume 6, Chapter 11 – The Fire Cat Faces the Music

The cool morning breeze brushed past her face, sending a chill through the nape of her neck and her earlobes. Nola, curled up on the bed, let her eyelashes tremble slightly.

Subconsciously, she frowned at the cold wind disturbing her peaceful sleep. Although her reason told her she should get up and close the window to continue sleeping, her comfortable sleeping position, coupled with the throbbing pain in her head, made her unwilling to move even an inch. So, she remained motionless, continuing to sleep curled up.

After about a quarter of an hour, the intermittent cool breeze finally dragged her consciousness from haziness to full wakefulness. She slowly opened her eyes, raised a hand to block the light streaming in from the window, and spoke in a hoarse voice full of pain.

“Ugh, my head hurts so much…”

No one answered her. The room was quiet, as if she had been abandoned by the entire world. A strong sense of loss surrounded her. She fought back the headache and the soreness in her limbs, climbing up to observe her surroundings.

A spacious room of about twenty square meters.

The simple and tidy bed, the grayish-white stone ceiling, and the floor were spotless. On the bed opposite, there was a neatly folded, pure white quilt. The desk was filled with various cosmetics, and the air wafted with a faint scent of perfume. Dust motes danced freely in the sunlight. It was a simple room, yet full of the breath of life. The owner must like it very much and clean it often.

A familiar scene.

—No, this is the maids’ double dormitory.

I’m a maid now!

I’m screwed!

The moment she realized this, Nola shuddered all over as if electrocuted. She scrambled to throw off the thin quilt and get out of bed. The wake-up time for maids should be 5:30 AM, but now the sun was practically shining on her butt. Without a doubt, she was late, and very late at that.

Why didn’t Talia wake me up?

Nola complained internally, but her hands didn’t stop moving. She reached for the maid uniform placed at the head of the bed. Then, she suddenly realized that under the thin quilt, she was wearing a loose nightgown.

No, I couldn’t possibly wear clothes like this. I don’t even have the habit of wearing nightgowns.

Beastmen were not as delicate and particular as elves. Nola’s living conditions in childhood were extremely harsh. Even after growing up to be the Holy Son, her habits hadn’t changed. She believed that only weak girls wore nightgowns to sleep. Unless the occasion required it, she wouldn’t even wear a dress. So, she would absolutely never wear something as flimsy as a nightgown to sleep.

That meant someone else had changed her clothes? But with her alertness, if someone approached her quietly while she was sleeping, she would definitely have noticed and woken up.

Wait… what happened last night?

Her movements gradually stopped, and distress appeared in her eyes and between her brows. She couldn’t quite remember what happened last night. Her memory seemed to have a chunk dug out of it; it was a blank.

“I remember drinking with Colita in the dining hall… and then… and then…”

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Her groggy brain made Nola’s thinking incredibly sluggish. She shook her head vigorously, grabbed the water cup at the head of the bed, and took a huge gulp. Then, while taking off the nightgown, she pondered.

“I think I went to find Claire… the bathhouse… right! The bathhouse!”

Thinking of Claire filled Nola with joy. Although her memory was hazy from drunkenness, she vaguely recalled hugging her beloved Claire last night and confessing to her in front of everyone in the bathhouse. She had even made that crow elf, who tried to separate her from Claire, cry and flee in anger.

Not only that, but she had also successfully kissed Claire on the cheek. Although Claire avoided her at first, in the end, she accepted her position. Even when other maids later tried to pull her and Claire apart, she and Claire had stuck tightly together.

Nola couldn’t remember clearly what happened after that. Probably she had gone too far and was knocked unconscious by an exasperated Fia.

Also, Nola remembered vomiting profusely in the bath. Her cheeks flushed red.

Ah, so embarrassing.

Thinking this, Nola’s every move was filled with joy. If not for her sore throat and headache, she would have wanted to hum a cheerful tune, jump into bed, and roll around wildly, wriggling and jumping like a maggot.

She had confessed to Claire, and Claire had acknowledged her. Although Claire probably only grudgingly accepted her because she said she could rank after Fia, the agreement itself was something to rejoice over.

“Hehe~”

Bolstered by such emotions, Nola even felt that being Fia’s maid put her in a good mood.

Today I must work hard and serve Fia seriously. No matter how Fia hits or scolds me, I will accept it honestly. After all, I snatched Fia’s ‘thing’. I’m in the wrong. It’s natural for Fia to be angry. I’ll just be magnanimous and tolerate her like a spoiled young lady!

Uncontrollable happiness flew across her face. Nola curled her lips, her thoughts drifting uncontrollably to imagine the sweet life of the three of them in the future.

If only I could find a way to appease Fia’s dissatisfaction and make her accept me.

In her happy mood, she got dressed much faster. Even her faintly throbbing head felt filled with happiness. Nola quickly went to the bathroom to wash up, put on her maid uniform properly, and began to do a final check in the mirror.

Then, her gaze caught sight of her hands, and she couldn’t help but recall the soft sensation her hands felt when hugging Claire tightly last night. Although Claire smelled of Fia at the time and her skin was wet, the texture was…

—Wait a minute.

Nola suddenly noticed something that filled her head with question marks.

Was Claire that bony and small?

The more she thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. She also recalled that the “Claire” from last night seemed shorter than her. That was obviously impossible.

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The “Claire” at that time had a tight chest, and one lick of her face tasted entirely of elf. She even seemed to have said something like she wasn’t Claire…

Vaguely, a fact she was unwilling to believe surfaced in Nola’s mind. Her subconscious sensed this possibility, and it rapidly expanded in her heart. But her brain refused to accept it. Under the conflict of the two, her expression in the mirror gradually turned cold and hard, full of hesitation.

“Impossible. If that wasn’t Claire, why would she have Claire’s scent? And if the person I hugged was Fia, I would have definitely been pushed away long ago…”

Her confidence waned the more she spoke. Nola recalled her octopus-like behavior yesterday. She was a seventh-rank powerhouse. With her using her full strength, a mere few maids couldn’t possibly pull her away, not even if multiplied by a hundred.

Could it be that I really was so drunk yesterday that I mistook Fia for Claire? Doesn’t that mean I not only rubbed against Fia acting spoiled, but also kissed and licked Fia’s face? And did all this in front of Claire, vomiting all over the bathhouse in front of everyone?

No, no, no. Absolutely impossible. If something so shameful really happened, I should hurry up and find an abyss to jump into and end myself. No, even ending myself wouldn’t wash away this shame. I would definitely become the most embarrassing Holy Son in history, a topic of gossip after meals, a laughingstock mocked by everyone.

Thinking of this, cold sweat appeared on Nola’s back. Her whole body tensed up, even her toes curling tightly inside her maid shoes. She just wanted to jump out the window immediately, get away from this place of trouble, find an uninhabited mountain to hide in, and live a life isolated from the world—no, maybe even living isolated from the world, every time she remembered this incident, she would howl and run wild in the mountains, unable to stop herself from slapping her own face.

Then she might become a local legend in nearby villages, like “there’s a monster in the monster forest that screams weirdly.”

In fact, Nola was now so embarrassed and ashamed she wanted to roll on the ground. Not only her ears, but even the tip of her tail began to emit raging flames. The smell of a scorched maid uniform filled the entire room.

Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit!

Aaaaaah! How can I be so stupid! I might as well be a Fire Pig Tribe member—!

Since conditions didn’t allow it, Nola could only scream in her heart. She jumped from the dressing table onto the bed in one step. Like a mental patient having an episode, disregarding her just-tidied long hair and clothes, she kicked her legs, hugged the pillow, and rolled around wildly.

This convulsive state lasted for a full few minutes before ending. Nola, her breath ragged, gasped for air. This was not only physically exhausting but also mentally draining. Exhausted, she stared at the ceiling, a sense of luck gradually rising in her heart.

Maybe… maybe I didn’t hug the wrong person, or the person I hugged wasn’t Fia.

After all, my memory is blurry. It’s too early to jump to conclusions.

If it was Claire, that’s naturally good. Even if it wasn’t Claire, it could be Liti, Milu, or Tilulu. Of course, it could also be Estelle. In that case, I can just explain it as being drunk. Even if it’s embarrassing, it’s only a little bit. It’s better than hugging Fia. Otherwise, if Fia uses this to mock me, I’ll have to bite off my tongue and kill myself. I’ll never be able to hold my head up in front of Fia again.

Right, that’s it! I must have mistaken Liti and Milu for Claire. I’ll apologize to them properly later, and clean the bathhouse.

So embarrassing, causing so much trouble for everyone.

Filled with hope, Nola stood up panting and rearranged her clothes and hair.

When people encounter a huge upheaval, they always first think it’s a dream, feeling that as long as they wake up quickly, everything will be fine. Even after realizing it’s not a dream, the sense of luck won’t disappear. Their second reaction is to think there’s still room to salvage the situation. Nola was like this. Now she deeply believed that the person she hugged last night was not Fia, but someone else.

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Scattered footsteps came from the corridor outside. Clearly, someone was approaching.

It should be the person coming to wake me up. Probably Head Maid Colita.

A few traces of timidity appeared in Nola’s purple vertical pupils. She still remembered what Colita had said to her last night: if she couldn’t get up, she would be made to stand in punishment with a bucket of water on her head for a day.

A mere day is better than hugging someone I shouldn’t have last night.

Nola took a deep breath to calm herself, then turned to the door. She had tidied her clothes and was just waiting for Head Maid Colita to enter.

Click.

The white door carved with exquisite patterns was pushed open from the outside.

But the person who entered her vision wasn’t Colita with her golden hair in a side ponytail, but Fia, with her jet-black long hair tied in twin tails and magnificent red eyes. Furthermore, behind Fia followed Claire, Anastasia, and others. Among them, the expressions of Claire, Liti, and Estelle held faint traces of smiles, while the expressions of Anastasia and Colita were very ugly. Especially Colita, whose face was so dark she exuded a thick murderous aura. Nola even felt Colita might come up and strangle her to death at any moment.

After all, I vomited so much in the bathhouse yesterday. It’s only natural for the Head Maid to be angry.

Nola comforted herself. Her expression was slightly stiff; the sudden crowd left her unsure of what to do.

In any case, apologize first. It’s my fault for oversleeping.

“Er… sorry, I woke up late.”

“Since you’re awake, I won’t stand on ceremony. Nola, you remember what happened last night, right?”

Colita took a step forward, expressionless and full of murderous intent.

Even though Colita was not as strong as her, Nola still felt an invisible pressure lunging toward her. She hunched her shoulders, timidly lowered her gaze, and said hesitantly.

“I’m very sorry for causing everyone so much trouble…”

“Aside from everyone, what about the person you should apologize to the most? Her Highness gave you a day off, and you got carried away, forgetting why you are here. Drunk and defiling Her Highness’s bathhouse aside, you openly and indecorously lay on top of Her Highness in front of everyone! If not for Queen Yulisha’s face, I would have chopped you into pieces last night. You, a newcomer, have completely humiliated us maids!”

Colita reprimanded her with fierce words. Nola opened her mouth wide, her eyes rounded, her beautiful and bewitching face full of disbelief.

“Lay on top of Her Highness… you mean… you mean Fia?”

“Who else but Her Highness the Eldest Princess? is your memory confused!”

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“Ha… haha… Impossible. Absolutely impossible. The scent I smelled was clearly Claire’s. How could it be Fia? Head Maid Colita, don’t make this kind of joke…”

“Do I have to show you the recording crystal for you to give up?”

With a cold face, Colita reached into her pocket and in the blink of an eye pulled out a palm-sized silver crystal.

The moment she saw the crystal, Nola felt her blood flow speed up instantly. Her breathing became rapid, and her face turned scalding red at high speed.

She cast a pleading gaze toward Claire’s group behind Colita, wanting to grasp the last straw. But everyone’s expressions were rather subtle. Estelle looked away, clearly not wanting to get involved. Only Tilulu half-covered her mouth and reminded her carefully.

“What… what Miss Colita said is all true… After Miss Nola got drunk last night, you mistook Lady Fia for Miss Claire and confessed, kissing and licking… no one could pull you off…”

“Just like this.” As if reenacting the scene, Liti wrapped her exceptionally energetic limbs around Tilulu, then rubbed her elastic cheek against Tilulu’s again and again, saying in an exaggerated tone, “Claire~ My Claire~ Sob sob sob~ I love you~”

“Pfft.”

“Liti, that’s enough.”

“Princess Liti, y-you’re hugging too tight.”

Estelle couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Milu, expressionless, grabbed Liti by the back of her collar to stop her. However, while ordinary people couldn’t read Milu’s mood, Fia could tell that Milu was actually suppressing a laugh too. Given Nola’s performance last night, it would be strange not to laugh.

At this point, even a fool would know Colita wasn’t lying. Nola only felt her throbbing brain explode with a bang , momentarily losing the ability to think. She flusteredly reached out to Claire, stammering an explanation.

“Claire, I—!”

But Fia sighed before that, pulling Colita behind her.

“Alright, save your shyness and explanations for later. I’m not here to laugh at you, but to talk business. The busiest first day of the Saint Alexia Festival has passed. Didn’t you want to borrow magic casters to deal with the monster riot in the Weeping Mountains? Now is the perfect time, just as Father has finished dealing with government affairs. Don’t blame me for not warning you. The Netherworld’s winter offensive has passed, and the Kingdom’s attention will soon shift to the Alfrieg Kingdom in the west. If you don’t go find my father now, who knows when the next chance will be.”

As her voice fell, Fia raised her eyes and glanced at Nola’s face, which was red enough to boil water.

“Also, one more piece of advice. Stay away from alcohol in the future, lest you confess endlessly to your romantic rival again while hugging her, making everyone in the palace know you have a secret crush on Claire.”