Not the Villainess, but the Maid

Chapter 29: Please Save Me, Princess (3)

Sunlight pleasantly streamed through the window, and I placed the prepared breakfast on the table.

“Please have your breakfast, My Lady.”

“Mmm…”

Perhaps because it was the weekend, Ruby seemed to have slept in without any concern.

With her hair slightly disheveled, she raised her heavy body and sat at the table.

Steam gently rose from the plate placed in front of her.

This dish was flawless from start to finish. Surely, Ruby would be pleased with it.

“Please eat quickly. Your breakfast will get cold.”

Ruby silently stared at the meal I had prepared.

“…Oh, I’ll eat it after you leave, Amber.”

“Is that so? Then please do as you like, My Lady.”

The reason I was bustling about on a weekend morning was, needless to say, because of my training with Amethyst.

For the past few days, I had officially started learning swordsmanship, making it an essential part of my routine.

As I changed into my outfit, I accidentally touched a bruised spot, causing a pang of pain.

“Ouch…”

“What’s wrong, Amber?”

“It’s nothing. Just a small bruise.”

“A bruise?”

Ruby didn’t let my comment slide and approached to examine me closely.

“Raise your arm.”

“Yes…”

I pulled my arm out of the shirt sleeve and raised it, revealing the bruises scattered here and there.

“What hit you?”

“It happened during training with Lady Amethyst. The wooden swords hurt more than I expected.”

“…That wretched princess.”

“Pardon?”

A brief but fierce look of hostility flashed across Ruby’s face, disappearing the moment she met my gaze.

“…Never mind. It just shows you’re working hard.”

“Thank you for acknowledging it.”

I picked up the bag containing my training clothes and greeted her with my usual cheerful demeanor.

“Well then, I’ll be off, My Lady!”

“…Alright. Don’t overdo it.”

“Amber, when you hold a sword, focus entirely on your opponent!”

“Yes…!”

Amethyst and I stood facing each other, each holding a practice sword.

Over the past few days, I had painfully realized that “going easy” wasn’t in Amethyst’s vocabulary.

Although she had a free-spirited personality, her upbringing in the strict royal education system seemed to have instilled a mindset of doing everything properly.

As a result, my body was battered from being hit repeatedly during training.

During a brief break, Amethyst handed me her water bottle.

“It’s hot, isn’t it? You can drink from mine, Amber.”

“Really? Thank you!”

I had forgotten my water bottle, so I was in a bit of a pinch.

She watched me closely as I drank, then retrieved the bottle with a slightly regretful expression.

“You can just drink directly from it. I don’t really mind.”

“It’s yours, Lady Amethyst. How could I?”

Since confiding in me about her secret last time, she had seemed much friendlier.

Previously, our conversations had an inexplicable distance to them, but now, she shared things comfortably.

With her tension completely gone, she smiled brightly at me.

After a while, training resumed, and Amethyst shouted at me.

“Don’t dawdle!”

The moment Amethyst picked up a weapon, she became a completely different person.

“Pick up your weapon again, Amber!”

“Yes…”

The gentle demeanor from earlier vanished, leaving only a determined knight fueled by educational fervor.

She claimed to be moderating her strength to match my level, but honestly, just holding onto my sword without dropping it was a challenge.

I swung my sword with all my might, trying to deflect attacks that could come from any direction.

Amethyst suddenly closed in and shouted loudly.

“Head!”

It literally meant she was going to strike my head.

Having been hit so many times, my reaction speed had improved, allowing me to defend against predictable attacks.

Gripping the sword with both hands, I prepared to block the blow aimed at my head.

“Ah!”

But this time, her strike landed on my abdomen instead of my head.

I let out a pitiful scream and collapsed onto the floor.

Amethyst, having landed a clean hit on me, approached with a satisfied expression.

“You’ve got a long way to go, Amber.”

“You said the head…”

When I glared at her in frustration, Amethyst grinned and said,

“In a real fight, honesty doesn’t earn you any favors.”

“Ugh…”

She had been striking honestly up until now but suddenly decided to switch it up.

As I shot her a resentful look, Amethyst removed her protective headgear and spoke.

“Well then, it’s time for the promised punishment.”

“…Again?”

“Of course. Training without penalties is no fun.”

This time, the punishment was simpler.

I had to hug her.

The only difference from before was that this time, I had to initiate the hug instead of her.

Amethyst removed all her protective gear, stretched her arms wide, and said,

“Come here, Amber.”

“Could you stop using that tone?”

“Doesn’t it suit me? I was imitating royalty.”

‘But you’re actual royalty…’

I approached her with a grumpy expression, taking one hesitant step at a time.

Then, I timidly spread my arms and lightly wrapped them around Amethyst’s waist.

“…Is this enough?”

Before I could even finish speaking, Amethyst pulled me into a firm embrace.

“Yeah, this is fine.”

Through the thin training clothes, I could faintly feel the soft texture of Amethyst’s skin.

Unfortunately, my head was right at her chest level, and the soft sensation enveloping my face was something I could never get used to, no matter how many times it happened.

It felt like the scent of a mature woman was being infused into me.

…The problem was that I felt like I was slowly becoming addicted to it.

“Holding you like this, Amber, makes all the hard moments disappear.”

“…How long are you planning to hold me?”

Normally, she would have let go by now, but today, the hug was dragging on longer than usual.

“Just a little longer, okay?”

“…Alright.”

Honestly, I didn’t mind it, so I decided to play along with her little antics for a bit longer.

I wondered if Amethyst simply liked physical affection or if all women were naturally this way.

Lately, it felt like not a day went by without someone clinging to me.

“Lady Amethyst, perhaps we should…”

I was about to suggest resuming our training.

-Squeak.

The sound of the training hall door opening came from behind me, and a chilling sensation ran down my spine.

“….”

Sensing something unusual, I lifted my head to look at her.

Her expression had turned as cold as ice.

“…Lady Amethyst? What’s wrong?”

“Behind you… behind…”

“Pardon? Behind me?”

At her words, I turned around and saw a familiar figure standing there.

It was none other than my master and only lady, Ruby Sarka.

“What are you two doing…?”

Ruby stood there, holding the water bottle I had left behind in one hand.

She gripped the bottle tightly, crushing it in her grasp.

“I sent you here to train, and yet… you’ve been doing these kinds of things behind my back…”

“My Lady, let me explain. This is…”

Ruby hurled the water bottle aside and grabbed a practice sword hanging on the wall.

“Save your excuses!”

‘This is bad. Ruby’s completely lost it…!’

There was no stopping Ruby once she was this furious.

Ruby, who had been swinging wildly at any object in her path, shifted her focus to me and charged.

‘Why me?!’

I scanned the surroundings for Amethyst, who had been running with me earlier, but she was nowhere to be seen.

When I looked closely, I saw that Amethyst had already climbed up and was hanging from a high ledge on the wall.

‘How did she even get up there?!’

Feeling a deep sense of betrayal, I stared at her, but Amethyst just gave me a look of amused curiosity and shouted down at me.

“Amber! Show her the results of your training!”

“Excuse me?”

“Stand and fight her!”

“Is this really the time to be saying that?!”

There was no time to argue.

-Thud.

Ruby’s practice sword, charged with a menacing aura, slammed into the wooden floor right in front of me.

I instinctively knew that if I got hit by that, I wouldn’t even have time to pick up my bones.

‘This is terrifying…!’

Ruby, who had lost her reason, was more terrifying than when I had encountered the swarm of wolf bats.

Her strikes, brimming with power, flew wildly toward me, and I desperately rolled out of the way to survive.

‘Wait…?’

But something was strange.

Ruby’s attacks didn’t seem to land on me.

‘Did my evasion rate increase?’

In the original visual novel game, the only way to increase the evasion rate was to fail to evade during battles.

It might sound odd, but that was how the game system worked.

The increase was usually so minor that players considered it a useless stat, but now I could feel the difference.

Dodging her frenzied attacks by the skin of my teeth, I noticed that Ruby’s furious gaze was gradually softening.

“…Huff.”

After venting most of her anger, Ruby exhaled deeply and lowered her practice sword.

“So, you haven’t been slacking in your training, I see.”

“Haah… Hah…”

Only after confirming that Ruby had ceased her assault did I lower my guard and collapse to the ground.

As I caught my breath, Amethyst descended from her perch and approached me.

“Well, Ruby, how did I do as a teacher?”

“I haven’t forgiven you yet, you know?”

“…Ugh.”

Both Amethyst and I flinched at the cold tone laced with killing intent.

“…But I can’t deny it. Amber’s improved a lot in such a short time.”

Honestly, the only thing that had improved was my evasion skill, but I was relieved that it had, at least.

Amethyst and I naturally knelt before her in unison, bowing our heads.

“We’re sorry…”

“My apologies, Ruby…”

Ruby crossed her arms and glared at us before letting out a deep sigh.

“From now on, I’ll personally monitor all your training sessions. If you mess around again… you know what will happen, right?”

“…Yes.”

From that day onward, all our training sessions were conducted under Ruby’s strict supervision.