“As long as I took the initiative to apologize, it wouldn’t implicate the Mistress…”
Ximo’s cautious explanation still seemed to echo in her ears, and Xiliya’s anger suddenly dissipated by more than half for no apparent reason. She stood up somewhat wearily and, while she was at it, helped Ximo up from where she had collapsed on the bed.
She had clearly foiled Masha’s scheme today, and even when Charles came to pick a fight with her just like in her previous life, she had shut him down. Yet Xiliya suddenly felt very tired.
She knew Ximo was right. When Charles had latched onto Ximo’s status as a maid, she shouldn’t have kept holding out, because a quarrel between a maid and an honored banquet guest would give others the impression that “the young lady of the Camberlan Family is too overbearing and domineering,” which was unfavorable to her as well.
Merchants were all shrewd and cunning. How could the heads of those chambers attending the banquet today fail to see through Masha’s intentions? In her previous life, Xiliya had lost the support of the merchants because she appeared too weak. If she came across as too aggressive in this life, those merchants would swing to Masha’s side.
An overly domineering superior was not good for their profits, and Xiliya knew full well that Masha was adept at winning hearts with petty favors.
After all, her relationship with Ximo was just one of mutual exploitation. After all, Ximo was merely a tool she used to carry out her revenge plan. Charles hadn’t really done anything to Ximo… That was how Xiliya should have thought about it. But every time she recalled the slap Charles had given Ximo, she felt a massive stone weighing on her heart.
Xiliya suddenly understood why she was so angry. She remembered what had happened at the banquet in her previous life—Masha hadn’t told her in advance that the latter half of the gathering included a dance. When the music started playing in the hall, she could only sit quietly alone in a corner.
Charles had come to mock her just like now. Seeing the Xiliya of her previous life too cowardly to speak up despite her anger, Charles’s words grew more and more outrageous… until he brought up her mother.
That was one of the rare times the cowardly Xiliya had lost her temper. But after drawing a lot of attention, Charles twisted the facts, claiming he was just joking with Xiliya and hadn’t expected her to get angry.
Masha, just like now, had demanded without rhyme or reason that Xiliya apologize to Charles, and the cowardly her had complied.
Just moments ago, she hadn’t even realized it herself—she had seen the shadow of her past self in Ximo. So cowardly, so helpless, so… infuriating.
When Ximo apologized, it was as if she saw her past self, forced to bow her head under pressure from Masha and the crowd… But you weren’t the one at fault.
“I’m sorry. I put you through that.”
Xiliya suddenly deflated, guiltily touching Ximo’s cheek. She shouldn’t have lashed out at Ximo. It wasn’t Ximo’s fault.
She just…
Xiliya looked deeply at Ximo, feeling more and more that the little maid resembled her past self.
“I’m fine, Mistress. And there’ll be a chance to get revenge later. There were too many people in the hall just now, so it wasn’t convenient to act…”
Ximo was thinking that she’d head back to her room in a bit and check if there was anything useful in the handheld suitcase. She could go remove a wheel from Charles’s carriage… A kitty had plenty of mischievous ideas!
Ximo’s words made Xiliya’s eyes light up. Right, if the open approach didn’t work, she could go sneaky. She didn’t have the habit of holding grudges overnight.
“Ximo,” Xiliya reached out and pulled the necklace from Ximo’s chest, “after the gathering ends, go chat with Masha. Stay for half an hour before coming back.”
“Eh? Ch-chat about what?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just stay in front of Masha for half an hour!”
And so, the little maid received her critical mission. After the gathering ended, she found Masha and engaged in a late-night chat. After hemming and hawing for a while, inspiration struck, and she said she wanted to discuss matters related to the City Guard with Masha.
Masha had initially thought this little girl was there to pick a fight and braced herself for a verbal showdown. Instead, Ximo prattled on with nonsense for half an hour.
Something about how the key to solving problems was to grasp the key issues, to steadfastly implement management policies, to delve into every corner… Masha listened in a daze.
Even after Ximo bolted half an hour later, Masha still couldn’t figure out if this was Xiliya’s tactic to lower her guard or just a ploy to waste her time.
Having toughened it out for half an hour, Ximo breathed a sigh of relief as she returned to her room. But the moment she pushed open the door, she keenly caught a whiff of blood.
Some instinct from deep within her body made her subconsciously reach for the sleeve dagger hidden in her cuff, but she touched nothing… Huh? Strange, when had she ever hidden something like that in her sleeve?
The person standing in the room was none other than Xiliya, cloaked in a black robe. She seemed to have just returned as well. As Ximo entered, she caught sight of Xiliya neatly arranging some small, bloody items on the table.
“Three teeth,” Xiliya pulled back her hood, her expression icy cold. “Took three of his teeth as payment for his foul mouth.”
Ximo couldn’t help but shiver. Though she had always known the current Xiliya was no longer some sickly young lady, this was the first time she had directly felt Xiliya’s ruthlessness.
Seeing Ximo, disguised to look just like herself, push open the door and reveal a hint of fear on that face identical to her own, Xiliya felt a moment of disorientation.
“It’s okay now,” she stepped forward and patted Ximo’s head. “I avenged you.”
“O-okay… Thank you, Mistress.”
The form of address snapped her back to reality. Glancing once more at the little maid’s chest, Xiliya imperceptibly curled her lip.
Hmm, the disguise really is spot-on.
“But Mistress, you just beat that Charles up like that. What if he comes looking for trouble?”
“Looking for trouble?” Xiliya sneered. “Let him come. Anyway, I won’t be home tomorrow morning. Ximo, you’ll come with me. We’re heading to the City Guard.”
“Oh.” Though Ximo still had her doubts, seeing Xiliya’s confident demeanor, she said nothing more.
—
“The two of you, please have some tea.”
The next morning, in the City Guard’s office.
Captain Sifuke shed her previous nonchalant attitude. Not only did she respectfully invite Xiliya to sit, but she also served tea to Ximo as well.
“You were amazing, Miss Xiliya! Last night, I personally led the team and lay in ambush outside the city as per your orders. Sure enough, we intercepted the Northern Beastmen’s attack!”
“The Northern Beastmen outmatch humans in strength. We rarely managed to defend against such raids before, but this time, with advance preparation, we repelled those Northern Beastmen with ease!”
While Sifuke admired her, a trace of puzzlement crept in. “But if I may be so bold, Miss Xiliya, how did you know there would be a Beastman attack there?”
