r4vu3 upgraded their membership from 🔹 Genin - First Step to 🥇 Shibai - The Divine Reader!
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(Non-main storyline, not counted in daily regular updates. Consider this a small bonus chapter of inspiration—skipping it completely won't affect anything.)
The castle tower where the Tsugikuni family had resided for generations had always been the tallest building in the city.
For hundreds of years, no matter how other buildings in the city changed, this tower symbolizing the Tsugikuni family's power remained standing there.
It was like an immortal monument, constantly demonstrating to the common people living in the city the unquestionable authority of the Tsugikuni family over this town.
Therefore, for the poor families living in this city, perhaps the luckiest thing was being able to send their children to the Tsugikuni family as servants.
Though being a servant might sound inferior, those they served were all the most powerful and influential people in this city!
Not to mention the monthly wages were quite high—if one was fortunate enough to catch the eye of some important figure, the entire family could "rise to prominence" and never have to worry about food and clothing again.
And I was one of them.
At the age of ten, I was sent by my parents into that tall castle tower.
Perhaps because my appearance was still passable, I smoothly passed the first round of selection and was able to remain in this castle tower, learning together with other girls my age who had also passed the selection how to become a qualified Tsugikuni family maid under the guidance of older servants.
It was also here that I first saw the person who later became the head of the Tsugikuni family, and also my master whom I served for many years—
Tsugikuni Mitsuba.
The first time I saw Miss Mitsuba was at the funeral of her father—the then-current head of the Tsugikuni family.
At that time, I had just entered the Tsugikuni family for less than a month, and was still an apprentice maid who needed to follow behind older servants and study hard.
It was through the opportunity of this funeral that I was able to catch a distant glimpse of Miss Mitsuba.
She was truly beautiful.
This was my first impression when I saw Miss Mitsuba for the first time.
Since entering this castle tower, I had always seen many beautiful women—among them were maids like myself, and also wives of other daimyo who came to visit with their husbands...
But compared to Miss Mitsuba, they still fell short.
What I found strange, however, was that throughout that funeral, there was not the slightest expression on Miss Mitsuba's exquisite face.
This was truly strange.
Because this was Miss Mitsuba's father's funeral.
As a daughter, was Miss Mitsuba not at all sad about her father's death from illness?
Even stranger, not only did Miss Mitsuba not cry, but Lord Michikatsu standing beside her also didn't cry.
Clearly on that day at the funeral, whether vassals or servants, everyone was trying hard to make themselves cry.
Yet only the most crucial Miss Mitsuba and her brother showed not the slightest expression of grief, not a single tear fell...
At that time, I only felt this scene was truly absurd, truly eerie...
However, I didn't think much about this point.
Because on the first day I entered the Tsugikuni family, the older servant responsible for teaching me had informed me that when serving in such powerful families, the most important thing was to be "foolish."
Because the powerful have many secrets, yet they don't want these secrets known by others.
But as servants, they easily learn these secrets unintentionally.
Therefore, to prevent their secrets from being exposed, the powerful often perform some small "handling" of servants who know too much—such as making them disappear forever...
So, to avoid being made to disappear forever, as a servant, one must learn to be "foolish."
Don't look at what shouldn't be looked at, don't ask what shouldn't be asked, don't think about what shouldn't be thought about, don't care about what shouldn't be cared about—just obediently do one's own job well, and that's enough.
Being too clever will only bring disaster upon oneself...
Recalling the strangeness of Miss Mitsuba and Lord Michikatsu at the funeral, I deeply agreed with this and resolved to carry it through to the end.
Fortunately, I was never a very clever person to begin with, so achieving this wasn't difficult.
After staying in the castle tower for only a year, many of the maids who entered with me gradually left one after another.
Most of these died from illness or left due to personal reasons.
But there was also a small portion who were forced to "disappear" because they were too "clever."
Among these, I especially remember one person. She was a few years older than me, her appearance was top-notch among us maids, and she was usually quick-witted and eloquent.
Perhaps precisely because of this, she also progressed the fastest among us.
Within just one year of entering this castle tower, she was assigned to serve by the side of Lord Michikatsu, who had become the new head of the Tsugikuni family, responsible for attending to his daily needs.
This should have been an extremely enviable matter, but who knows what got into her—one night she suddenly took advantage of when Lord Michikatsu was alone in his study to quietly slip in, wanting to take the opportunity to become more intimate with him...
And then she disappeared, thoroughly and completely disappeared.
Regarding her disappearance, not a single person in this castle tower asked about it with extra words.
As if she had never existed at all...
Actually, I could understand her thinking.
Lord Michikatsu was not only young and handsome, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes that the relationship between Lord Michikatsu and his wife was not harmonious. After having their child, the two never shared a bed again.
This "extremely clever" maid, believing herself to be beautiful and having the convenience of being a personal attendant, thought to take advantage of her proximity to the water and moon first, dreaming of squeezing out Lord Michikatsu's wife and becoming the lady herself...
Truly pitiful.
She was so clever—how could she not see that Lord Michikatsu was simply not the type of person interested in feminine beauty?
Using something others are completely uninterested in to tempt them...
Sigh, really...
Fortunately, I don't have as much ambition as her.
For me, as long as I can continue being an ordinary maid in peace and stability, receive my monthly wages on time, and then after turning twenty leave the Tsugikuni family to find a good family to marry into, that would be enough for this lifetime...
However, although this is what I thought in my heart, as I grew older, and perhaps because I was usually steady in my work and rarely made mistakes.
I was ultimately forced to give up this life as an ordinary maid and was transferred to Miss Mitsuba's side, becoming her personal attendant dedicated to serving her.
This was my first time truly being able to come into close contact with this young lady of the Tsugikuni family.
Fortunately, unlike the life of constant fear and trembling I had imagined, Miss Mitsuba's temperament was exceptionally good. She wouldn't make people disappear suddenly and was quite tolerant toward those around her.
As long as one didn't commit particularly serious mistakes, Miss Mitsuba wouldn't blame me.
Undoubtedly, the days spent by Miss Mitsuba's side were much better than my previous days.
However, as contact deepened, I always felt that something seemed not quite right with Miss Mitsuba.
I don't know how to describe this feeling—it's just that the impression Miss Mitsuba gave me didn't seem like that of a normal human...
Miss Mitsuba would get up on time every day, eat on time, read on time, engage in entertainment on time, and finally rest on time.
All this sounded normal, but I always felt that normal humans shouldn't maintain the same smile from morning till night.
Nor would they turn pages at completely consistent intervals every time, and throughout the year only ever read those fixed few books.
Even less would they show no reaction whatsoever at their own brother's funeral, as if someone else's brother had died...
This was strange, and eerie.
All of Miss Mitsuba's behaviors seemed as if programmed by some kind of procedure, making me subconsciously want to think deeply about the secrets within.
Then one day, I suddenly realized that Miss Mitsuba had actually been "performing" all along.
She always did fixed things at fixed times—not because she was a very punctual person with planned daily routines.
But because she had been seriously playing the role of "Tsugikuni Mitsuba."
Whatever the young lady of the Tsugikuni family should do every day, Miss Mitsuba would definitely do it, and would definitely do all these things perfectly, without the slightest flaw, leaving nothing for anyone to criticize.
When I realized this, I only felt my blood run cold.
Of course, if it were only this, I feel I could still endure.
What truly made me feel bone-chilling fear was after that Doctor Butterfly arrived.
I heard this Doctor Butterfly was a person with excellent medical skills—many people in the city had been treated by her.
As soon as she came, she said Miss Mitsuba had a strange illness and needed Miss Mitsuba to go to her every day for treatment.
Honestly, I'm not too clear about whether Doctor Butterfly's medical skills are good or not, but since Doctor Butterfly came, Miss Mitsuba's body has indeed been getting worse and worse.
I still remember that a few years ago, Miss Mitsuba's body was actually quite good—at least she could walk and jump.
But starting from these past two years, for some unknown reason, Miss Mitsuba's left side gradually became unable to move, and she would occasionally space out suddenly or even fall into comas.
Once before, I saw Miss Mitsuba sitting alone at her desk in a daze.
When I approached and asked, I found out that Miss Mitsuba wanted to continue drawing that strange "martial arts secret manual" of hers, but she suddenly didn't know how to grind ink anymore...
So grinding ink is something one can forget?
I heard from some older maids that Miss Mitsuba's mother also had this illness when she was alive, and ultimately died from it.
Father died from illness, eldest brother died from an accident in the wild, second brother went missing when very young, mother and daughter have the same illness, and now even this only daughter is about to die from illness...
Nowadays, servants are secretly spreading behind the scenes that the Tsugikuni family has offended the deities, which is why they are encountering these unfortunate events one after another...
Sigh, these gossiping folks...
I don't think so.
I believe the problem likely lies with that Doctor Butterfly.
Don't be fooled by Doctor Butterfly's always smiling and approachable appearance.
But it was precisely after she came that Miss Mitsuba's physical condition began to deteriorate rapidly...
I suspect she is very likely a spy sent by a neighboring country! Her purpose is to slowly eliminate Miss Mitsuba, then take the opportunity to swallow the Tsugikuni family in one gulp!
Of course, this is just my wild guess—if you believe it, that's your business.
In any case, I'm just a foolish little maid who doesn't understand anything and knows nothing...
But undeniable is that since Doctor Butterfly came, Miss Mitsuba has indeed become somewhat different.
I can feel that every time she goes to see Doctor Butterfly, Miss Mitsuba's body would slightly emanate an aura of happiness.
Yes, happiness.
In all my years serving by Miss Mitsuba's side, this was the first time I felt this emotion from Miss Mitsuba.
But it was precisely because of this that I felt afraid.
So Miss Mitsuba was actually a normal person?
So she could also feel emotions like happiness, and wasn't some puppet who couldn't feel any emotions?
Then why in all those previous years had she never shown similar emotions?
Speaking of which, can a normal human with inner feelings really sustain for so many years making themselves like a puppet, perfectly performing as "someone else"?
Thinking of Miss Mitsuba's normal, happy smile, then thinking of her usual completely exquisite expression that always carried a faint smile, I feel so terrified.
This is truly terrifying.
These powerful people are indeed very frightening...
For the first time, I had the thought of wanting to leave the Tsugikuni family...
Speaking of which, tonight happens to be the fireworks festival.
The streets will surely be very lively then, right?
I also really want to go out and play...
But as Miss Mitsuba's personal attendant, I can't just leave Miss Mitsuba in her room and ignore her.
Sigh...
If only Miss Mitsuba could give me a little time off, let me go out and play for a while or something...