The dark aura in the Private Library dispersed, and the magic stone lamps responsible for lighting regained their glow.
Harvey remained kneeling on the floor, cradling Lavia in his arms.
The young girl’s chest rose and fell slowly with her breath, and her pale complexion finally regained a hint of color.
Hera had already vanished moments ago, leaving no trace behind.
Like a spectator who had seen enough of a drama, she had left of her own accord, leaving the messy box for others to clean up.
Harvey clenched his left hand. His weak palm was still filled with an indescribable sense of unreality.
The sensation of blood flowing through him fascinated him.
‘Magic is so interesting!’
“Little guy, you don’t have much time to stay entranced.”
Hera’s voice suddenly echoed in his ear, startling Harvey back to his senses.
Before he could understand what she meant—
Click.
A crisp sound of metal colliding came from outside the Private Library.
It was the sound of the door handle clinking during the unlocking process.
The other party clearly possessed the seal required to lift the magic restriction.
Among those who served Lady Lavia, besides him, only the Head Maid, who had worked in the Duke’s Mansion for over ten years, had such authority.
“Eldest Miss?”
A woman’s voice, intentionally softened, sounded through the heavy wooden door.
“Eldest Miss, are you still in the library? It is time for dinner.”
‘Has it really been that long?!’
Harvey’s expression tightened as he looked down at Lavia in his arms.
She had not yet awakened.
On the floor of the library, although the magic array had vanished, the fluctuations of magic remaining in the air had not completely dissipated.
An ordinary person might not notice—
However, the Head Maid had served in the Duke’s Mansion for many years. He was not certain if she would detect the abnormality.
Furthermore, in a situation like this, where the mistress was unconscious in the arms of a male servant—no matter how one looked at it, he was facing an extremely dangerous predicament.
He could not explain what had just happened.
In the Kingdom of Rune, a Slave did not have the right to defend himself.
A noble’s reputation was more important than life itself.
As long as it “looked like a defilement,” it was enough to convict a private slave like him.
“Harvey? Are you in there?”
The voice outside called again.
Receiving no response from her master, the Head Maid’s tone grew significantly heavier.
Harvey took a deep breath.
The Fire Seal on his chest, which had not yet fully cooled, sent a slight sting through him as if reminding him—
As long as he was willing to reach out, he could easily silence the person outside the door.
The moment the thought surfaced, Harvey felt a chill run through his body.
He forced himself to stand up.
He gently placed Lavia back onto the soft couch in the library and tidied her disheveled skirt and hair.
He ensured she looked as if she were merely sleeping from exhaustion.
After completing all this, Harvey brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, walked to the door, and opened the heavy iron entrance.
Outside, the elderly maid stood in the dim corridor with a solemn expression.
Her gaze lingered on Harvey’s face for a moment.
Her black maid’s dress swayed as the Head Maid walked past him directly into the interior of the library.
Her brow furrowed when she noticed Lavia lying quietly on the couch.
The Head Maid turned back to look at Harvey, her eyes filled with suspicion. “Is the Eldest Miss resting?”
Harvey looked at her and nodded coldly.
“Studying the magic arrays today exhausted too much of her spirit. She fell asleep.”
“I was planning to inform you to prepare dinner once the Eldest Miss woke up.”
Similar situations had occurred before, so his explanation had no flaws.
“By common standard, you should address the Eldest Miss as Master,” the Head Maid replied. She began checking the young lady’s appearance—aside from her hair being a bit messy, there was nothing unusual.
Lavia naturally had fair skin, so her pale complexion was not easily discernable in the dim light.
She looked like a sleeping beauty at rest.
Harvey did not argue with her. He simply remained silent.
Lavia did not like him showing excessive respect to her; there was no need to tell others such things.
“If a similar situation occurs in the future, you should fulfill your duty and dissuade her. The Eldest Miss’s health must be the primary concern,” the Head Maid warned sternly. “Furthermore, you should inform us that you are not suitable to care for the Eldest Miss alone.”
The etiquette required of a maid kept her poised and gentle, but the warning and dissatisfaction in her words were not hidden at all.
Harvey responded in a low voice, “It was my oversight.”
The Head Maid stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly wanting to say something more.
Ultimately, however, she looked away.
“Since the Eldest Miss is still resting, please go inform the chef to prepare dinner again and wait for her summons. I will take responsibility here.”
“Very well.”
Harvey was originally somewhat hesitant, but after glancing at the still-sleeping Lavia, he respectfully left the Private Library.
The moment he pushed the door open, the lamplight from the corridor spilled through the gap, casting a long, narrow shadow across the library floor.
His footsteps grew distant in the Library Tower’s gallery, and his thin figure was soon swallowed by the night.
The Head Maid stood where she was, her gaze returning from the corridor outside.
Harvey was merely the Eldest Miss’s personal property; he shouldn’t have caused her any extra concern.
Even if he truly did something, it was up to the Eldest Miss, as his master, to decide how to handle it.
But…
This young boy was always somewhat different from the slaves she was familiar with.
The Head Maid looked around the entire library.
She did not understand why a slave would thirst for knowledge so much.
Everyone in the Duke’s Mansion knew that the Eldest Miss’s little slave was more obsessed with books than his mistress.
Confirming that Harvey had left, the Head Maid approached the couch again.
She leaned down and called softly, “Lady Lavia?”
There was no response.
Lavia lay there quietly, her breathing steady, showing no sign of waking up anytime soon.
The Head Maid reached out to feel her forehead and checked her pulse.
Everything was normal.
Her gaze moved down the slender neck to the elegant court dress.
The decorations at the chest were slightly crooked.
The silk ornaments that should have been flat had faint wrinkles, as if they had been tidied but not fully smoothed out in time.
The Head Maid’s movements paused.
Disorder in such a place was not prominent.
If she weren’t familiar with every cut of the dress, it would have been nearly impossible to notice.
She smoothed the wrinkles with her hand.
If the Eldest Miss had simply fainted from mental exhaustion, such marks were irrational.
But if one were to say a boundary had been crossed…
The Head Maid’s brow furrowed imperceptibly.
Harvey had also cared for the Eldest Miss since they were children.
The Eldest Miss had no defenses against him whatsoever.
In fact, regarding certain details, even maids like them were intentionally excluded.
If the Eldest Miss had approached him herself or unconsciously grabbed at her clothes while falling asleep… it wasn’t entirely nonsensical.
She knew her young lady’s personality.
The Duke’s Daughter, who was as cold as frost to the outside world, would act like a child in front of her little slave.
She watched Lavia’s sleeping face.
Her pale, delicate face showed no sign of alarm or resistance.
She looked more as if she were having a sweet dream.
“…”
The Head Maid fell silent for a moment.
She did not wake Lavia. Instead, she covered her with a thin blanket and began tidying the messy library.
As for the magic array drawn on the ground, it had vanished without a trace at some unknown point.
***
Harvey walked quickly along the gallery until he was certain he had left the vicinity of the Library Tower. Only then did he slow his pace.
The night wind brushed against his cheeks, carrying away the uncontrollable heat.
‘Hera, are you certain the Eldest Miss is about to wake up?’ Harvey asked in his mind once more.
“Heh.”
A cold, lazy voice sounded, making no effort to hide its mocking tone.
He knew how to bow and scrape when seeking help, but now he dared to call the God of the Underworld by her name.
Hera’s response echoed in the depths of Harvey’s heart. “Little guy, you have already asked three times.”
“You humans are always like this.”
“Not even a bit of patience for waiting.”
A hint of embarrassment rose in Harvey’s heart. ‘I just wanted to confirm.’
‘I noticed her breathing has recovered, but her consciousness… I can’t feel it.’
“Can’t feel it?”
Hera let out a sneer. “You’ve only just learned how to stand straight, and you want to use the Authority of the Underworld God to ‘feel’ a living person’s soul?”
Harvey said anxiously, ‘I’m just worried. Worried that she won’t wake up.’
Perhaps annoyed by the repeated questions, a cold aura surged in his heart without warning.
Hera’s response was no longer as gentle as before. “Are you doubting me, little guy?”
“Doubting the god you will believe in for the rest of your life?”
Harvey pursed his lips, staring at his shadow stretched out by the lamplight.
He explained sadly in a low voice, “It is not you I doubt, Great God.”
“It is my own incompetence.”
“If I had the talent for magic, there wouldn’t have been so many… so many troubles. I wouldn’t have affected others because of myself…”
“…”
He stopped halfway through his sentence.
The sound of the wind poured in from the end of the gallery, making his hem flutter.
Those thoughts that he had never spoken aloud were now fully exposed to the night.
Even Hera, the great God of the Underworld, fell silent for a moment.
“Incompetent, cowardly.”
“I actually chose such a spokesperson.”
There was no comfort as there should have been; instead, there was ruthless accusation.
How could a god comfort a human?
She added casually, “Rather than worrying about that, you should think about how to hide the truth from that maid.”
At this point, Hera’s tone became playful again.
“Do you need to confirm your newly acquired power again? On that maid.”
The moment her words fell…
Certain ambiguous and unspeakable images surfaced uncontrollably in Harvey’s mind.
The serious, cold Head Maid was brought close and magnified in those strange imaginings.
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