I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 260 [Suspiciously Suspicious (2)]

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by Nap (1/1). If you enjoy reading and are willing to help me catch up to the latest chapters faster by sponsoring bonus chapters, see my Ko-fi.

“Oh, you’re not guests for our shop but Cat’s visitors… This is quite embarrassing…”

As soon as she learned that Ethan and I had come at Cat’s request, she carefully let us inside.

The werewolf woman, who hastily retrieved the ‘something too embarrassing to call clothing’ from my hand, brought Ethan and me inside with a slightly reddened face.

‘Given that the power wore off when this person took it, I guess she is indeed Cat’s grandmother…’

…Somehow, she was quite different from the image I had imagined. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

Cat had said there was a “big bad wolf,” so I thought it would be something closer to a wolf than a human. If we divided the stages of beast-people into 10 levels, I expected at least Level 8.

But the woman before us was closer to a human than a wolf. If we had to use the 10-level scale, right now, she was maybe at Level 4 or 5?

She had ears protruding from her head and her face was covered in fur, but her face shape didn’t seem to have changed much, and above all, her body shape was much closer to human than animal.

She was wearing a dress that clung tightly to her body, clearly showing her figure—how could anyone think this was a wolf?

Even someone who had never seen a werewolf in their life couldn’t mistake a woman like this for a “wolf.”

‘Is Cat too young to know that werewolves are a type of wolf?’

Anyway, one thing for sure was that her figure wasn’t exactly educationally appropriate. She had the kind of appearance that might… might give someone strange fetishes if they kept looking.

I’m a woman too, so I don’t particularly feel that way, but well…

“…Ed.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t stare at her too blatantly.”

“…Huh? Why so suddenly?”

It wasn’t jealousy or anything, I was just worried that Ethan’s sexual preferences might become fixated in a strange direction.

I wasn’t particularly a species discriminator, but still, it wouldn’t be great for the next heir of the Blackwood duchy to be mixed with a beast-person.

And Cat’s grandmother was a married woman anyway. Either way, it wouldn’t be good if Ethan’s interest became excessive.

“I see. So Cat said she was waiting to see when her grandmother would return…”

“Yes. Um… Cat’s grandmother.”

“I’m Cassimilie. You can call me Cassi.”

“Y-yes…”

Cat’s grandmother, who introduced herself as Cassimilie, carefully waved her tail behind the chair and spoke with a troubled expression.

“I’m not sure what to do in this situation. Honestly, I want to return to Cat right away, but as you can see, I’m in this state right now.” [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“You mean… you don’t intend to reveal to Cat that you’re a werewolf?”

“I thought I might have to reveal it someday, but I was planning to tell her when she was a bit older. If she realizes at too young an age that we’re of different species, she might go astray thinking she’s not my real granddaughter.”

“…So, you’re saying you’re not blood-related to Cat?”

“As you can see. I’m half human and half werewolf, but I still have these noticeable features, right? Have you seen anything like these ears, this tail, or hands covered in bushy gray fur on Cat?”

“…No, I haven’t seen anything like that on Cat.”

As soon as I inadvertently learned that Cassimilie wasn’t blood-related to Cat, she calmly explained how her relationship with Cat came to be.

“Three years ago, the merchant carriage led by Cat’s parents was attacked by wild wolves. It happened to be a full moon that night, so I rushed there to rescue them, but Cat’s parents had already sustained injuries from the wolves that were beyond treatment. Cat, who I found in the carriage, was only three years old.”

“……”

“This is why I can’t reveal to Cat that I’m a werewolf. Not only would it reveal that I’m not Cat’s real grandmother, but if she sees my werewolf form, it might trigger the trauma from that incident three years ago. That’s why I used to come up to this shop during the full moon cycle, but the day before yesterday, I suddenly returned to my original form without knowing why, so I hurriedly came up to the shop.”

“I see. I suspected as much since you said you left home once a month.”

“So when you told Cat that her grandmother had been kidnapped, was that just to buy time?”

“That’s right. Usually, after the full moon passes, I return to normal in a day, or at most two days. So, this time too, I thought I’d be able to return after that much time had passed, so I said that.”

“I didn’t think I’d still be in this state,” Cassimilie said with a shallow sigh and a self-deprecating smile.

“But, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“Yes?”

“According to what you just said, Cat has actually seen real wolves at a young age, right? But looking at you now, Cassimilie, you don’t look anything like a wolf…”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. You’re closer to a human figure than a wolf, so you don’t really fit Cat’s description of a ‘big bad wolf’…”

“That’s because this form is about halfway back to normal. Right after transformation, I become almost indistinguishable from a wild wolf, and then gradually return to this form over the course of a night. The problem this time is that this period has lasted much longer than one night.”

…Well, if a woman looking like this entered the house, even a young child like Cat would think ‘an unknown woman’ had entered the house, not a ‘wolf’. It would be hard to imagine.

“Do you know why you suddenly transformed into wolf form?”

“Well, the night before last, I was thinking it was about time to put Cat to bed, and I checked the time on the annex clock tower outside the window.” [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“…Can you see the annex clock tower from around here?”

“Our species is half wolf, so we have good night vision. Oh, come to think of it, I think I also saw something like a light flash for a moment from the direction of the annex.”

“Something like a light flashed for a moment?”

“Yes. It seemed to reflect from somewhere in the back garden of the annex. Thinking about it now, it seems like I transformed into a wolf after being hit by that light-like thing…”

The night before last? The back garden of the annex?

If it was something that happened at the annex that night, wasn’t it that noble exchange meeting?

It was the night of that incident where we had a battle with Machart in the back garden of the annex, defeated him, and finally executed him.

And to prove that Machart was using dark magic related to demons, I used the power called the ‘Mirror of Truth’.

I used it to reveal hidden appearances and reflect his original form in order to expose Machart’s ugly face…

‘…Oh?’

Wait, then could that light-like thing that Cassimilie said she saw possibly be…

Thud!

“I’m so sorry!!!”

“Li-Lili?!”

“Wh-What’s suddenly the matter, Miss Lilith?!”

It was the moment when all the mysteries of why Cassimilie had transformed into a wolf even though it wasn’t a full moon were solved.

…In the end, it was my fault.

“Ah, so that sparkling light-like thing was the Saint’s power called ‘Mirror of Truth’…”

“I’m sorry, Cassimilie! I didn’t think the Mirror of Truth would reach this far, and I ended up interfering with your relationship with your granddaughter!”

“It’s alright, please get up, Miss Lilith. Or should I call you Saint Lilith?”

“…Please call me Miss Lilith. The fact that I’m a Saint isn’t publicly known yet…”

“Ah, I see. The person currently known as the Saint is someone named Seriste, right?”

Cassimilie, who accepted my apology with an open mind, forgave my mistake more calmly than I expected.

It was entirely my fault, so I ended up revealing that I was a Saint in the heat of the moment, but she said she would keep that secret, too.

Meanwhile, I was too ashamed to make eye contact, feeling guilty that I had caused the relationship between Cat and Cassimilie to become strained because of me.

‘Really… I’m really glad I decided to really find her…’

I almost unknowingly caused trouble with my mistake and was about to leave for the Witch’s Forest without a care. Next time I need to use the Mirror of Truth, I should aim it at a 45-degree angle to the ground or something…

“W-We’ll explain properly to Cat. Since you can’t return right away, Cassimilie, we’ll explain well to Cat so that it’s okay whenever you return…” [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“No, I can’t trouble the Saint with such efforts.”

“It’s not troubling, I’m trying to correct my mistake…”

“Thanks to you, Saint, I’ve made up my mind. I would have had to tell Cat someday, anyway. So, given how things have turned out, I should tell Cat the truth soon.”

“…Pardon?”

Cassimilie, who seemed to have made a decision, stood up from her seat and carefully asked me.

“But I’m a bit scared to confess a fact I’ve hidden for three years alone, so would you mind coming with me, Miss Lilith?”

It seemed we wouldn’t need to conduct a search operation in the name of the Blackwood family to find Cat’s grandmother after all.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Besides the whole werewolf thing, is Lilith really still in denial???

Thanks for patiently waiting! I’d like to thank James B. for sponsoring the recent set of 14 bonus chapters, and Nap for sponsoring this one! 

The next bonus chapter is sponsored by Lemon, whom you may recognize as the artist of the fanart, and the next 14 bonus chapters after that are sponsored by James B. again.

See you in the next one!