"Ceres. When you're done drying your laundry, can you ask me to take care of your garden next?
The elegant old lady who peeked through the window and spoke to us - she is my current master by the name of Laura.
As the general had told me, she was a very good person. Because of his gentle and approachable personality, he was able to solve it early even for the first time and under complicated circumstances.
I explained the situation to Laura like that and started working here a month early.
She's been caring about my physical and mental health from day to day and baking me care for something, even though she's just thankful for accepting troublemakers like me.
I worked hard every day to reward Laura for her benevolence, and I had a busy day. I was originally good at chores, and most importantly, I don't have to think about anything extra when I'm moving my body.
Since I came here in shame, I have been able to regain a lot of calm, both physically and mentally.
Of course, it would be a lie to say, "I no longer remember Richt at all".
Nate told me, "You should try not to think about Richter," but Richter is still just one dear brother to me, and there are times when I really get to show him around.
Now I live away from Richt, but eventually I'm going to face him again, and for that I have to be strong myself.
─ ─ We need to be stronger, mentally. Assuming I'm Richter's sister.
In my heart, I grumble so as to distinguish myself from the past who was just sweet to my brother.
Previously, I couldn't do one thing that looked like a sister to him.
It's too late to regret it, but if the day comes when you can reconcile with Richt - then I want to deal with him as a sister worthy of relying on.
That's how I manage to live under my new master.
And what is Nate doing - he stays in this village and bodyguards me as he helps me do my job, as proclaimed - "I will protect you even in lieu of my life"?
Even Nate is a slave for once, though, and he can't be in this village forever. So he said he was thinking of moving to this village in the future, although he would return to the town of Reeve first after his vacation.
It seems that the circumstances alone give the general a special two months or so of extended leave, so she will be staying in the village for at least another month.
"Yes!"
In response, I quickly dried the remaining laundry in the cage onto a drying rod.
"Hmm... I guess this is it"
Whimpering so, I look away at the dry laundry. The weather is nice and moderate today, so the laundry is going to dry quickly.
◆
The time is after noon.
Having finished my lunch, I was on the verge of taking care of the garden.
Specifically, it's a grasshopper, but this is a pretty heavy labor. Nevertheless, I have to take care of it regularly because if I don't pull the grass out of the corn, the weeds will stretch all I can.
After a while of grasshopping, Laura, who came out of the garden, sat in her rocking chair and began reading.
Watching how it went, Laura smiled gently at him and said, "Come here," and made an offer.
"Celeste, you must be tired, right? Maybe it's time to take a break.
"Thank you for your concern. Now sweeten to your words..."
"Yeah, do that. Still, you're a real worker. Ceres is."
"Thank you.... I hope I can repay you at all"
"Yeah, that's too much. I'm so glad you came. Besides, life isn't the only thing that's helping. 'I'm going to hide,' I hope I started living away from my family, but I ended up missing people. We started living together and the sun is still shallow... but I think of you like a real granddaughter."
"Mr. Laura... I'm so glad you said that"
When I shook Laura's luxurious hand, I conveyed my thanks.
As I was talking to her about a public story with no other love, I was concerned about the book Laura was reading.
"The book, possibly a picture book?
"Yeah, that's right. Have you never read this story?
"Yes. Unfortunately..."
Laura said the picture book was based on fairy tales that had been passed down to the region for a long time. Laura, who has liked this picture book since childhood, apparently reads it from time to time even as an adult.
"So, what's the story?
"Well... that's a very impressive story, though it's hard to say it's a happy ending"
"Heh... it's a fairy tale, but you're not a happy ending"
"Yeah. Maybe that's why I'm impressed. Oh, yeah. Because of this, let me read it to you."
"Is that okay? Well, then, please. But it looks like you went back when you were a little girl..."
"Pfft. It's okay. As I said earlier, you're like my grandson. Oh, I miss you. This is how I used to make my son read pictures when he was little."
When Laura said so to miss the time, she slowly opened the book and began reading.
Instead, there was a grandmother princess in one place.
The princess used to get out of the castle. I preferred playing outside to sitting still in the castle.
Such a princess had a boy's childhood tame.
The boy was good at magic and showed the princess all sorts of magic.
The princess and the boy were very close and together to do anything.
But the king didn't think very well of the boy. Because the boy was a demon child.
The appearance is no different from that of a human child, but that is because a boy is magically transformed into a human figure.
But the boy wasn't a bad demon. I don't even think about hurting humans like this.
One day, the princess came home injured. The king who saw it mistakenly thought the princess's injury was the boy's fault.
The boy has finally been banished by an angry king.
Then, the days of the decade flowed. The beautifully grown princess is to marry the prince of her neighbour.
Around that time, on the other hand, grown boys totally hated humans because they were separated from princesses.
And he was becoming a demon king who threatened people for what it would be.
Rumors have reached the ears of the Demon King that the princess will marry her neighbor. I've loved the princess since I was a kid. The demon king can no longer be there or standing, and he finally grabbed the princess.
At one point, the Demon King asked the princess.
"How can you not accept my love when I love you so much?
The princess answered.
"I like you, too. But that's as a friend. Humans and demons should never love each other. Besides, you're the Demon King now."
The Demon King was not convinced. Why shouldn't we love each other just because the race is different?
The reason I became the Demon King was also because I was banished by the humans. The Demon King increasingly hated the humans, but his love for the princess remained unchanged.
So, the Demon King decided to lock up in the castle until the princess accepted her love.
But the princess didn't try hard to accept the love of the Demon King.
It was about one more day when the moon flowed.
A neighboring prince came to Demon King Castle to help the princess.
The angry demon king tried to drive the prince back. But the prince can't afford to lose either.
The prince took the sword and challenged the demon king to battle. The battle between the Demon King and the Prince went on for a long time.
After a long battle, it was the prince who won. The demon king, who admitted to losing, freed the princess.
The prince took the princess back to her country and had a wedding right away.
Then, they lived amicably and happily ever after.
But that's not the end of the story.
One day, the princess leaves the castle and doesn't know where she is.
The prince took the servants and searched hard for the princess. But I didn't find the princess in the end.
Where the hell has the princess gone?
Oh, my God, the princess was at Demon King Castle. The princess came back here because of her feelings about the Demon King.
The princess who entered the throne room was astonished. Because the Demon King was already dead. There was a sword piercing the Demon King's chest.
The princess noticed a diary falling beside the wreckage of the Demon King. The princess picks up the diary. The princess, who read the diary, wept and regretted it.
The demon king who lost the battle was lonely. All my men, they left the castle and lived alone. I must have turned down too many lives of loneliness.
The princess held the wreckage of the Demon King and cried frequently before pulling out the sword that was stabbing him in the chest of the Demon King.
And with that sword, I momentum stabbed myself in the chest and pierced my heart. The princess falls so that she overlaps with the demon king.
Thus, the two of them are dead.
But why not? The look on their faces seemed very calm and happy.
"This is the end of the story."
When Laura said so, she closed the book.
"... it was a sadder and more endless way than I expected"
"Yeah, right. But... I like how it ends."
"Why not?
"Because if we didn't do this, we wouldn't have been happy, would we? Even if we lived separate lives like that, I'm sure we both would have regretted it. When they died, they were tied."
"But it seems it didn't say that the princess was in love with the Demon King...?
"That's true. Well, don't worry, this is just a hopeful observation. But you know... for a princess, could it have been more important about the Demon King than you could say about love or love or anything like that? Otherwise, you wouldn't want to go back to the Demon King or die after him."
"I see..."
To Laura, who talks like that with a slightly lonely look on her face, I nod yeah.
Having such a conversation, I realized that my situation was similar to that of a fairy tale. Because I can't help but notice about Richt like this fairy tale princess, too.
Richt is unusually obsessed with me, and I don't think he would ever cut his own life off as long as I lived.
But... his lonely face comes to mind.
Of course, Richt is not completely isolated like this fairy tale demon king. Even if I were gone, he would have Almel and Adley at his service, and if he went to work, he would face to face with people who work in the same workplace, such as Dr. Melvin and colleagues.
But... now that I'm gone, my beloved, Richter must be feeling so alone. It really hurts my heart just to know that I'm the only one who can bury that loneliness.
With that in mind, I was staring blurry at the picture book Laura had in her hand.