The Maid In The Reverse Harem Game Wants To Quit - Chapter 12

‘If it is his people, does he mean Otis?’

“So, Irene, do not hesitate to tell me if Miss Louise harms you.”

‘Oh, he meant me, not Otis.’

At that, Irene answered calmly.

“Miss Louise does not harm me.”

“Just let me know even if she annoys or disturbs you.”

“She does not bother me at all. She does not disturb me either.”

At her resolute answer, Ahibalt just laughed loosely.

“I see. If it were not for your words, I would not have kept her alive.”

Why do they keep trying to kill the heroine?

‘…I might regret how much I will find out later… Maybe this is another unexpected event?’

Irene pondered hard.

On the first day Louise arrived, Otis was depressed and crumpled in his room, while Ahibalt sent a letter warning Lichpen not to do anything useless. Everyone was conscious of Louise because she was from Lichpen.

At the beginning of the routes, Otis hated Louise and Ahibalt was suspicious of her.

The reason for doubt is, of course, Lichpen.

He doubted that Louise might be Henrietta’s spy.

‘If he keeps saying he is going to kill her every day and is suspicious of her, Louise could really be in danger…’

Otis outrightly disliked her, and Ahibalt was wary—hence, the overall view does not look very pleasant overall.

As she continued to think, Irene carefully opened her mouth.

“First Master, Miss Louise is a good person.”

“Are you talking to me like that, knowing that being good here has the same meaning as incompetence?”

It is true that Louise is incompetent.

Still, she just stared at Ahibalt, who was laughing. Although cold words came out of his mouth, his gaze on Irene was soft and gentle.

“What I need is a competent person, not a good person.”

She was going to add that Louise was a trustable person, but Irene bit her mouth. She thought it might backfire.

Though it was a better decision than she expected since Ahibalt suddenly changed the topic.

“Let us stop talking about Miss Louise. I do not want to think about it anymore.”

“Yes.”

When Irene replied silently, Ahibalt’s eyes bent a little as he smiled. The coolness was now nowhere to be found, only the softness of spring flowers filled the atmosphere around him.

“Irene, I did not think you could speak negative words.”

“Me…?”

“You did not know? No matter what I say, you would always reply ‘yes, yes.’ So, I was a little surprised in the office earlier.”

Saying that, Ahibalt started walking ahead. It was the way to Ahibalt’s bedroom.

Since Irene had to tidy up his room anyway, she quietly followed him.

“I do not think I have ever seen you articulate yourself so clearly like that.”

“A maid who conveys an opinion that the master did not ask is a bad maid.”

“Is that how you feel? For me, it was like watching a doll talking, Irene.”

Opening his own door, he glanced at Irenea with a faint gaze.

It was too blatant to avoid. Still, it was too breathtaking whilst suffocating to face directly at the same time. As she made her way in slowly and entered the room, she kept eye contact with Ahibalt.

He shut the door. Now, only the two of them remained in the familiar dark room.

Otis’ room and Ahibalt’s room were completely different from each other, even though they were in the same mansion.

Otis wanted the bed, other furniture, and fabrics to be white. On the other hand, Ahibalt’s room was heavy and dark.

It was a room that kept the feel of wood as it was.

The furniture here was made of mahogany, and the walls are made of dark walnut. Just like the owner’s personality, it feels rather blunt.

Ahibalt, who had closed the door, approached Irene and muttered quietly.

“I have heard a lot of stories that love changes people, though I did not expect it to happen with you.”

“…Is it weird that I am in love?”

“It is not strange. It is just…”

‘…Just?’

Waiting for him to finish his words, she blinked and gazed up at him. Even though he looked tired, nevertheless, he did not lose his well-groomed, gentlemanly smile.

As Ahibalt smiled and distorted his face a little, he appeared to be crying in a way.

“…I do not understand why it could not be me.”

“Yes…?”

‘…What did I just hear?’

At that, Irene looked up at Ahibalt’s shadowed face.

He was smiling. As if it was a habit at this point, an inertia smile.

‘What… is this?’

No matter how she looked at it, it seems like he was asking why he could not become that person she loves in context. No, it cannot be…

Gazing at his handsome face, she began to judge logically.

First of all, it made no sense to think that he likes her. Even if the subject was unclear, it still does not make sense. It does not make any sense as the sun rises in the west, the purple sunsets, and roses bloom in winter…

Because of that, Irene threw away her first guess.

‘Then, what could not be?’

Once the word ‘love’ came out, he was saying something that did not sound like himself.

Love… It could not be.

Couldn’t it be love…?

‘…I do not know anymore.’

‘Louise, please help me… Lend me a little bit of your imagination—your limitless imagination, thinking that Otis is about to throw me into the fireplace after just seeing him touching my neck just for a little bit…’

‘Oh!’

Finally, Irene finally came up with a plausible interpretation.

‘He had his first love before, right?’

Ahibalt had a first love. This had always happened.

She does not know who it is, but he had a crush on someone, although he eventually gave up when Louise appeared.

It was because the line he confessed was quite clear when Louise embraced Ahibalt, who had become lonely after giving up his old, unrequited love.

— I am by your side, Young Master. I will always be by your side.

Inevitably, the lines roared in the rose garden, and Irene, who was nearby picking petals to make rose tea, had to stand immobile like a mannequin for a while so as not to break the atmosphere.

‘Did he thought about his first love because I said I loved Louise?’

Considering the time, it was time to give up on his first love.

Thinking so, Irene raised her eyebrows slightly. Maybe it was because Louise came, so today, unlike usual, the male protagonists are all emotional.

She could see Ahibald’s pensive face, uttering sadly that his unrequited love could not come true. It was an undeniable fact that his face looked so pitiful that she wanted to embrace him immediately, but Irene could not open her mouth.

‘I cannot comfort you here…’

…Because that is what Louise was supposed to do.

What if she gave him some consolation and got involved for no reason? It would be a terrible thing.

Irene began to think seriously. Still, it was too difficult to bear such an ambiguous atmosphere.

Fortunately, Ahibalt opened his mouth first.

“ …I should not have said that, I am sorry.”

“Oh. It is all right.”

It would be difficult to quit unrequited love, so she was able to understand that much.

Above all, Irene’s favorite among the three male protagonists was Ahibalt.

‘Should I have just said something…?’

Now that she thinks about it, this was the first time Ahibalt talked about unrequited love while she was playing the game seven times.

‘I will just tell him in my next life…’

Another love will come, just forget it.

And so, Irene cleared her thoughts and began to draw the curtains.

Ahibalt, staring at her back, walked over to his desk and picked up some of the papers.

“Irene, deliver this letter to the butler. And, bring this to the office.”

“Yes, First Master.”

She answered without looking back. The letters that Ahibalt asked to send are the letters to Lichpen, and the ones that go to the office are documents from the Imperial Family.

She was able to pick it up with her eyes closed because it was something she had already delivered six times.

Irene skillfully drew up the curtains and picked up the iron skewers. Meanwhile, Ahibalt was smiling as he looked at her quickly walking towards the fireplace.

Everything around him was Irene’s touch.

Clothes, furniture, and even the tiniest napkins were decorated nicely by his competent maid.

He also knew that it would all be his own if it were within his reach. Since Irene always looked at them with a contemplative expression on everything.

However, that did not mean he would not love it just because he knew it.

He knew that the stars in the night sky could never be caught by his hand, yet he admires their twinkle.

Ahibalt, who was watching Irene as she picked up charcoal from the fireplace and put it in a heating device under the bed and wiped her hands on her apron, opened his mouth.

“Irene.”

“Yes, First Master.”

It was not a counter-question, but a dry answer came out as if she was waiting.

Because of that, Ahibalt smiled with a slight frown.

“Do you believe me?”