46. ​​I am the Proud Daughter of Heaven

Nilu’s Perspective.

As Miss Kefir’s maid, Nilu had long only needed to serve Kefir well. Thanks to this, she could guess nearly everything about Kefir’s every move, every frown and smile, the emotions on her face, and the thoughts in her heart.

So this time, she wouldn’t miss it either: when exactly did Kefir’s gaze shift from the original coldness that kept others at bay to now focusing solely on one person? Although this didn’t mean she was neglecting others, those interactions were merely polite formalities. In reality… even today, Kefir’s attention had been fixed on Mr. O’Keefe.

And as for herself, being brought along could easily be summed up in one word.

“Master, you’ve completely been turned into a third wheel by that white-haired one!”

Fairy Jiasu timely voiced the very words Nilu least wanted to hear, and even though Nilu was no longer the same as before, she still felt a twinge of annoyance.

“You don’t need to explain, shut up.”

Being treated as a third wheel or even a sidekick was unavoidable, but Nilu didn’t feel as upset as she had imagined; in fact, she felt a bit pleased.

After all, this meant that Kefir had not yet realized her true intentions; otherwise, with her personality, she wouldn’t be so casual and lacking in emotional intelligence. Moreover, opportunities to slip away without raising suspicion from Kefir and Mr. O’ Keefe were few and far between.

For instance, today, Nilu planned to take advantage of Kefir and Mr. O’Keefe showing off their affection at the civil affairs bureau to handle some matters she had long wanted to confirm.

The location was an antique shop in the capital of the Great Ying Empire. Most of those who could run such a shop in the Great Ying Empire were people of considerable means and status, and the deliberately antiquated architectural style further proved this point.

And here was where Nilu’s objective lay.

“Master, judging by the lingering scent, this is the place.”

The fairy also reined in her earlier teasing and spoke seriously, while Nilu merely nodded lightly.

What needed to be done next was simply to walk in openly, and then, as if everyone in the shop had turned into fools, even upon seeing her, they showed no reaction at all. She ascended to the second floor of the shop and made her way to the innermost room.

Upon opening the door, she saw a middle-aged man, the shopkeeper, scrutinizing a stone with a magnifying glass, mumbling to himself about whether it was a fake or not. When he suddenly noticed the visitor at the door, his gaze met Nilu’s in an instant!

“I am your VIP customer.”

After a moment of daze, the middle-aged man immediately put on a professional smile.

“Oh! Look at my memory, how could I forget such a distinguished guest like you? What brings you here this time…”

Halfway through his question, the man’s words awkwardly halted. This was only natural, as the “order” only indicated Nilu’s identity; he certainly wouldn’t know what she was here for.

“I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”

As she spoke, Jiasu had already flown out from Nilu’s sight, and the man before her completely ignored this, as if he hadn’t seen anything.

“Did you used to collect two swords known as antiques? Can you tell me their whereabouts?”

“Antiques? Ah~ You mean those two? To be honest, if you want to buy them, you’re out of luck, as they’re no longer in my possession.”

The man displayed a troubled expression, his face written with displeasure.

“One of the white ones was taken by the emperor over in the Rosia Empire when I went there to acquire antiques. Tsk, those Rosians are nothing but thieves, saying I didn’t know how to preserve antiques, and just threw some money at me to snatch the sword away. Hmph, if they wanted to steal, they should just say so! How dare they say I don’t know how to preserve antiques!?”

But in reality, you really don’t know how to preserve them, not even recognize that this so-called “antique” is actually a fairy’s “artifact.”

Nilu silently chuckled to herself, and Jiasu’s whisper echoed in her mind.

“It’s that iron-headed Alsace. It seems this man indeed once possessed the other one—Ignis, no doubt, Master.”

Nilu did not respond for a moment.

Although, according to Jias, the artifact Alsace that Kephir currently held indeed belonged to her, Nilu had no interest in snatching something that Kephir had obtained with the help of Mr. Oujilide. While she claimed to be helping Mr. Oujilide, in reality, she did not want to become someone who benefits everywhere.

Thus, Nilu’s goal had always been to obtain something that belonged to her. Although she had a vague thought of “meeting” when she encountered Louis IV, the other party was the queen of the Great Yinf Empire. To be safe, Nilu decided to assess the truth first.

“Then, what about the whereabouts of the other one?”

“Um…”

The man showed an awkward expression for a moment, “I’m sorry, miss, the identity of the guests is a secret of this establishment, absolutely cannot…”

“I want to know the whereabouts of the other one.”

After a moment of daze, the shopkeeper, who had just planned to keep his mouth shut, now spoke without reservation, as if possessed: “Her Majesty Queen Louis IV of the Great Yinf Empire, she paid a sufficient amount to buy the other one from me.”

“Master, it seems we can confirm that the dark fairy Ignis we saw that day was indeed her. By the way… it seems she did not appear in front of Louis IV, but that’s understandable. Our master is only you. Only that traitor Alsace has a hole in his head to find your enemy…”

Nilu did not respond but stood up to take her leave, conveniently putting a perfect end to her secret outing this time.

“You did not encounter me today, nor do you remember who I am. I did not ask you any questions.”

“…Yes.”

Her own belongings were with Louis IV. Although she had considered directly using Jias’s power to retrieve them, such an opportunity would clearly not be so easy. After all, her current identity was merely a maid. If it weren’t for her close relationship with Kephir, she might not even get a glimpse of Louis IV and would have to avoid her immediately.

Identity and status, although Mr. Oujilide certainly would not care about such things, but… if she had these, she could surely provide more… much more protection for him.

Completely different from that Kephir, who seemed to be left only with fighting skills after losing her identity. Did she have no other purpose besides causing trouble for Mr. Oujilide?

“Master, be careful, they have found you.”

“!”

Only then did Nilu realize that she had returned to the front of the Civil Affairs Bureau while lost in thought, and she immediately suppressed the gloom on her face.

The disguise continued, but it was almost time to break out of the cocoon. At that time, she would use her own strength to prove: only she could protect Mr. Oujilide, just as he cared for her.

“Nilu, where have you been!? I was so worried!”

“I’m sorry, thank you for your concern, Mr. Oujilide. I was thinking about whether to go take care of an urgent matter…”

Nilu shrugged her shoulders and then hid behind Kephir as usual.

——

The illustration of Ignis has been gushed, and it will be uploaded to the appropriate chapter later.

Stay tuned.