Today was another long day that couldn’t have ended sooner . It’s been three years today since I started working at this estate, but the work here still feels just as harsh . The lord and lady here are kind and gentle people, but mistress here is a relentlessly unreasonable person . While yelling at the slightest displeasure, her fist would be the next thing to follow . I’m just a nice maid girl who can only smile politely while receiving such abuse .
Such a mistress was for some reason acting quite strange on this day . Not to say that she suddenly turned nice, or timid . It could only be described as… 'strange” .
From the instant she opened her eyes till the moment she turned in for the night, she was incessantly murmuring strange things to herself . As I was staring puzzled and worried at such a sight, a sudden shout would escape her lips . And even more strangely, such a shout was not actually aimed at us maids this time, and the mistress seemed to suddenly come to her senses and turned away as if escaping from our glances .
It was as if the girl before today was a lie . If the case was that we had failed to meet some sort of expectation, we would surely be blamed . If we touch upon something that we shouldn’t be getting involved with, we would also be blamed . Thus, after much consultation, we maids decided to not get involved with the strangeness of the mistress’s behaviour today .
And so, for the whole day, the mistress’s strangeness only stood out more and more . Always talking to herself, suddenly shouting out . We maids, trying to pay no mind to such things, it took our utmost simply trying to respond normally when called upon .
At the end of the day, the mistress simply quietly went to bed without uttering another word . Looking back on it, other than the eccentric behaviour, today was certainly much more peaceful than usual .
In a room lined with extravagant decorations, the space was filled with various furniture . All of this was forcibly gathered by the master of the room . Through trickery, threats, and sometimes calling upon father’s authority, all of these things were taken and collected in this room .
At a corner of this room, the master here was in fact fallen prostrate on a large table . Sporting long blonde hair and an extravagant dress, a girl who looked no more than fifteen years of age sat exhausted at the table . With a drained expression plastering her features, she seemed to be grumbling, muttering about something all by herself . Things like “why did this have to happen” and “it’s really so annoying” escaped her incessantly moving lips .
—Well, well, let’s calm down okay?
What resounded in her head was the voice of a young woman . This voice that could only be heard by the girl, had for the entire day been unceasingly brandishing her suddenly new found vocals at the girl .
—Heey, don’t ignore me, Lilia .
Lilia confronted the girl calling out to her, and furiously stood up .
“Enough is enough! You can’t do this, or you can’t do that! Who gave you the right to tell me what to do!”
—No no, I wasn’t particularly giving you orders right? It was simply advice .
The voice, no matter how enraged Lilia became, continued to keep a calm tone of conversation . On the contrary, the voice seemed to be quite cheerful .
“In the first place, what is your advice even supposed to mean? I’ve asked you countless times, but I still have no idea!”
—Haven’t I answered that question every time you’ve asked me? At this rate, you are walking towards your own destruction you know . Meaning total ruin yeah? I’m here to defend you from such a future, and save your neck you know?
“Ha! Ruin? Don’t make me laugh . I haven’t done anything wrong right? Besides, how could a duke’s clan fall so easily?”
The girl was the eldest daughter of a duke’s family . Other than the royal family, anyone would think twice about confronting their influence . At the very least in the current generation, their power was second only to the crown prince .
In such a scenario, it was unthinkable for the duke’s clan to collapse .
“Why do you even proclaim to know of such things anyways . ”
—Why? Well… I’m an angel who can see into the future . You should be grateful .
“Well, I wonder what my plans for tomorrow are . ”
—Ignoring me, how could you! Okay okay I’m not actually an angel, but I really can see a little bit of the future you know!
She may have had an aloof character, but that one line was tinged in seriousness . Lilia was surprised deep inside, and it also showed on her disgusted expression at her own next words .
“If you insist on it that much, then at least show me some sort of evidence that your predictions are accurate . If you can prove it to me…well, I’ll be able to have a little confidence towards this voice in my head . ”
Lilia assured herself that such a thing was indeed impossible . Certainly this voice was a strange entity, but even so something like foresight should be impossible . However, the voice was delighted at Lilia’s words and laughed .
—Really? It’s a promise okay! Here we go…
The voice, seemingly deep in thought about something, fell silent for a while . A small breath leaked out after a long awaited respite from all the noise . While waiting like that, before long the voice returned .
—Here I go, a prediction of two years from now . The season is the beginning of spring, probably .
“That’s quite far into the future . I’ll say this now but, saying I told you so later on will not make me recognise your ability . ”
—Yeah, okay . After all, there shouldn’t be any problems .
Insisting so much on such a thing, will it really prove true come two years? Lilia was innocently interested in hearing about it, waiting for what came next . The voice cleared her throat and said this .
—During the spring of two years into the future, entering your senior year of schooling, you will experience the wrath of the crown prince, earning his hatred .
“Wha-…!”
Lilia’s eyes widened in astonishment . The crown prince was her fiancee . To become hated by the prince, what could be the meaning of this?
“There are limits to nonsense you know…”
Wrath entered Lilia’s voice . But the voice that resounded through her head paid it no heed, and seemed to be enjoying herself after all .
—Of course I understand that . It would be great for you if it turned out false, so there’s no need to get angry right?
It was certainly so, thought Lilia . She had confidence that nothing would come of this prediction . And when it does prove false, this voice will definitely go away too . Lilia nodded in agreement .
“Well then, until we find out the result, please do be silent, agreed?”
—Alright, though I’ll be quite lonely… But, well . Of course . It’d be troubling if my words were simply ignored all the time, so I’ll be quiet .
The way those words were said seemed to catch something in her mind, but instead of dwelling on that uncomfortable feeling the conversation continued .
“Well then, farewell . Please don’t ever come out again . ”
—Hey that really hurts . Well, I get it . Good bye . Let’s speak again in two years’ time .
Lilia frowned at the unpleasantness of the parting laughter of the voice, as it fell silent .
After that, the mysterious voice that followed her all day could be heard no longer . The words of the voice continued to bother her for a while, but in just a month the very existence of that voice was forgotten .
And so the spring of two years later came .
And with it a declaration from the prince that his engagement-