I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 259 [Suspiciously Suspicious (1)]

Although I confidently declared that all the puzzles were solved, to be honest, I wasn’t the only one who had figured out the truth.

To be frank, the circumstantial evidence was just too obvious. When I turned to Ethan with a self-assured expression as if I had “figured it out,” he already had a look on his face that suggested he had roughly reached the same conclusion in his mind.

“You understand too, Ed?”

“From what I can see, it seems this child’s grandmother is a werewolf. They say some types of werewolves can take both human and werewolf forms. She was probably hiding it until she was discovered the night before last.”

“…You knew?”

“The torn clothes are probably due to her body growing larger when transforming into a werewolf. She told Cat she’d return in two days but hasn’t come back yet, which likely means something happened that’s preventing her from returning.”

“……”

“Her leaving the house once a month before that was probably to avoid the full moon on the lunar cycle. Even for werewolves who can take human form, they would have no choice but to forcibly become werewolves on the night of the full moon. Since she left the house about half a month ago, the timing seems to match up.”

“…I see.”

I hadn’t even thought about the lunar cycle. Well, the night before last was the new moon, so half a month ago would indeed have been around the full moon.

While I was impressed by Ethan’s insight, to be honest, anyone else we might have brought along could have figured it out. It was such a simple deduction problem that even I could figure it out. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

The way I played Luminor Academy in my previous life was essentially just grinding time under the name of “conquering,” not really using any brilliant mind.

So, this is about the level of deduction my mind can handle. As I was quietly feeling somewhat deflated by this realization, Cat looked up at me with her sparkling eyes.

“Did you figure it out, Big Sister?! Does that mean you can find my grandmother?!”

“…Maybe.”

“Where is she?! Where’s my grandmother?!”

“Umm, I think we still need to investigate a bit more…”

One thing that was certain was that Cat’s only blood relative was alive, which was a relief. Though given that she was actually a werewolf, I was a bit unsure if Cat was really her blood relative.

Since it wasn’t a case of a wolf carrying her off, but rather grandmother = wolf, the situation was actually as safe as it could be. 

Even if we were to actually encounter a regular wolf, Cat’s grandmother, being a werewolf, would be more than capable of defending herself. 

With Ethan and me here as well, there’s no real danger to worry about.

However, the fact that there was a heavy truth that needed to be told to Cat remained unchanged until the end.

‘It’s become a bit easier to tell than saying she was eaten by a wolf and died…’

Still, it was a bit difficult to say directly. If handled poorly, it could lead to issues like the secret of her birth.

There must have also been a reason why the grandmother hadn’t told Cat the truth, so it felt somewhat off for Ethan and me to butt in and say, “Your grandmother is a werewolf.”

In the end, unable to reach a proper conclusion, I had no choice but to choose to postpone giving her an answer.

“She’ll probably be back tomorrow morning, if you wait quietly at home, Cat.”

“Then… what if she doesn’t come back?”

“…Well. I-I’m sure she’ll come back, right? At least, it doesn’t seem like your grandmother was taken by a wolf…” [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“How do you know that, big sister? Huh?”

“……”

“Big Sister, how do you know my grandmother will be back tomorrow morning? What did you figure out? Huh? Please tell me, Big Sister.”

…Sigh, how am I supposed to answer this?

This is why I can’t stand kids. They’re so curious, but you can’t give them straightforward answers to everything, so they always put you in a difficult position.

As I was struggling with how to respond, Ethan, unable to watch any longer, interjected into the conversation between Cat and me.

“If your grandmother doesn’t return by tomorrow morning, I’ll use the power of the Blackwood family to conduct a full search for where your grandmother has gone.”

“What?”

“Wait, Ed. Is that really okay…?”

“…Probably.”

…Probably, he says.

It was the first time I’d seen Ethan unable to make a decision so easily. Perhaps his heart had softened because it was a family-related issue.

But would this child really understand if we talked about conducting a full search in the name of the Blackwood family? With children’s level of comprehension, who knows if they’d understand what we’re saying anyway…

“…I understand, Big Brother.”

‘Huh?’

“If grandmother doesn’t come back by tomorrow morning, you’ll find her, right?”

“Yes, that’s roughly what I mean.”

“I’ll wait quietly because the handsome Big Brother said so.”

“……”

…Look at this girl.

When I was talking, she kept talking back, but when Ethan spoke, what? She believes him because the handsome Big Brother said so?

I seriously worried about Cat’s future, having learned how to suck up to nobles from such a young age.

It was true that Ethan was quite handsome even from a child’s perspective, so I couldn’t deny that part, but something felt unpleasant.

“Yes, wait and believe, cute little lady.”

“Okay!”

To prevent Ethan from getting more entangled with that girl, we needed to meet Cat’s grandmother first. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

It wasn’t jealousy or anything. What jealousy could there be towards a kid who doesn’t even look ten years old?

“Lili, are you sure this is the right path?”

“…It’s the path I found using the Saint’s power, so it should be correct.”

About 30 minutes after leaving Cat and her grandmother’s cabin, Ethan and I started searching for traces of the werewolf’s path while climbing a mountain on the outskirts of the Imperial capital.

Using the Saint’s power, it wasn’t too difficult to find lost people. One of the powers possessed by the Saint, ‘Owner of Lost Items,’ included the ability to find the owner of an item whose owner had disappeared.

Of course, it couldn’t be used on just any item; it had to be a precious item that the owner had lost. After all, it was a power meant to return precious items to their owners.

Among the items of hers that we could get our hands on, there was only one item with a strong enough attachment to use ‘Owner of Lost Items,’ so we were simply climbing the mountain path following the direction that the spell was pointing in.

“By the way, Lili.”

“Yes, Ed.”

“Does the Saint’s power always have to be used while holding the item like that?”

“……Yes.”

“I-I see… Then I guess it can’t be helped, haha…”

“……”

“W-Well, it’s fortunate that at a glance, it’s hard to tell what it is. Besides, it’s not very visible unless you’re looking from the side.”

“……”

“M-Maybe it’s fortunate that she went into the mountains. If other people had seen you carrying ‘that’ around, Lili, they might have misunderstood…”

“…Ed.”

“Yes?”

“Shut your trap. I’m feeling uneasy, too.”

“……”

This time, I couldn’t hold back my temper momentarily and ended up blurting it out.

But what could I do? Someone was walking around holding a string of cloth that barely looked like someone else’s underwear, searching for its owner, and when he said such things from the side, it only looked like he was mocking me.

I moved forward holding the underwear fragment that was trying to fly towards the direction where Cat’s grandmother was, feeling like I was dowsing for a water vein. *1

After about 10 minutes of pushing through the mountain path with Ethan, deep into the mountain… [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

Fortunately, at a place that wasn’t too deep in the mountains, the direction the cloth fragment was pointing began to change, and we could spot a cabin that clearly showed signs of human presence.

“It seems to be pointing over there.”

“…It does.”

It was a cabin located quite close by, considering she had fled to escape Cat’s eyes. It was probably close enough that if you looked down the mountain, you could probably see Cat’s house clearly.

Yet when we looked up from below earlier, it was hidden by trees and bushes, making it the perfect place to hide from her granddaughter’s eyes.

“I hope it’s not a strange person.”

“Well, considering she’s hiding the fact that she’s a werewolf from her granddaughter, she might actually be quite sensitive, don’t you think?”

“Maybe…”

To be honest, the fact that someone old enough to be called a grandmother was wearing ‘this kind of underwear’ was quite something, but honestly, this was close to a matter of personal freedom if we really thought about it.

However, even the place she fled to escape her granddaughter’s gaze was ultimately a place where she could keep an eye on her granddaughter. Thinking that while her tastes might be a bit strange, she probably wasn’t lacking in humanity, I knocked on the cabin door a couple of times where I could sense a presence.

Knock, knock.

“Yes~! Just a moment~!”

‘……Huh?’

What was that bright voice just now?

It was a quite young woman’s voice for someone supposed to be a grandmother. Is there someone other than Cat’s grandmother?

Or is this someone else’s house? But no matter how I look at it, this underwear seems to be pointing towards the inside of this cabin. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

Maybe she has a roommate. There was no rule saying that Cat’s grandmother was the only woman who didn’t want her daughter or granddaughter to find out she was a werewolf. From the start, the size of the cabin seemed a bit large for one person to live in.

As I was thinking this, waiting for the door to open from inside, the owner of the voice we heard from inside earlier opened the door for us.

…I couldn’t help but feel quite surprised at the appearance of a female werewolf wearing what looked like a form-fitting dress, the so-called Dongtan dress *2.

“Welcome~!”

“Hello… Huh?”

…Welcome, she says?

“The door was open, so you could have just come in~! Is there something you’re looking for?”

“Something we’re looking for?”

“…Could it be this is your first time at our shop?”

“……Sh-Shop?”

I thought it was just a small cabin in the mountains, but it’s actually a shop?

Thinking this, I looked closely at the sign attached next to the door again, and I belatedly realized that this was not a nameplate but a shop sign.

『Wolf’s Scent』

…I sincerely hoped it wasn’t a shop created for some suspicious purpose.

T/N

1. Dowsing for water involves the claim that someone can locate underground water veins without scientific instruments, but with so-called “dowsing or divining rods.” They’re actually just twigs.
2. A Dongtan (동탄) dress is a stylish garment associated with the Dongtan area in South Korea. Designed to accentuate the wearer’s figure, it features a body-hugging silhouette that highlights curves and often includes a bold cutout to showcase cleavage.