(Continuing from the previous side story, same as before—not counted in daily regular update word count, a small bonus chapter of inspiration)
Miss Mitsuba has passed away.
Waking up the day after the fireworks festival ended, I heard this shocking news.
Honestly, when I first heard this news, I once thought it was a rumor.
Because just last night at the fireworks festival, I had seen Miss Mitsuba who had secretly come out to play. At that time, she was hiding in the basket on Doctor Butterfly's back, wearing a fox mask on her face—quite cute.
And at midnight, when I returned to the castle tower, I also happened to see other maids supporting Miss Mitsuba back to her room to rest.
Miss Mitsuba's condition at that time was just like usual, with nothing particularly abnormal. She didn't look like someone about to die at all...
But the fact is, Miss Mitsuba seems to have truly passed away.
Early the next morning, when we woke up, we were informed of this news by several vassal lords. It was said that her condition suddenly deteriorated and she passed away in the early morning hours...
We didn't get to see Miss Mitsuba's remains with our own eyes. We only saw that coffin which had already been placed in the center of the main hall early in the morning.
Under the direction of those vassal lords, Miss Mitsuba's funeral was quickly held. The young son left behind by the late family head Lord Michikatsu was promoted to become the new family head of the Tsugikuni family.
The powerful came to mourn, the common people of the city grieved for this... everything was rapidly advancing, as if someone was trying to cover something up.
I also vaguely felt that something seemed not quite right...
I also heard several young maids privately say that Miss Mitsuba didn't actually really die, that her remains weren't in the coffin, that the coffin was actually empty, and that Miss Mitsuba had actually disappeared on the early morning of the fireworks festival day...
Among them, one maid swore that when she got up at midnight to relieve herself, she had vaguely heard Miss Mitsuba's voice calling out from Miss Mitsuba's room, as well as what seemed like a man's voice talking.
Because her mind was fuzzy at the time, she didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just her imagination.
Now it seems, something must have happened in Miss Mitsuba's room at midnight last night...
Watching them get more and more excited in their discussion, I—who had been in this Tsugikuni family for many years and could be considered somewhat of a senior—finally couldn't help but interrupt them.
These young foolish girls still hadn't fully grasped the "philosophy of foolishness" of being a servant...
When serving in such powerful families, one only needs to do their own duties well. Anything beyond that is not something we servants should inquire about.
Being too "clever" will only lead to quietly disappearing. Having been here for so many years, I am all too clear about this.
So I sternly warned them—regardless of whether the things they spoke of were true or false, whether it was imagination or real hearing, these were not matters they should inquire about, and they were forbidden from mentioning them ever again.
Just looking at the faintly dissatisfied expressions on their faces, I knew they actually hadn't listened to my words at all...
Forget it, let them be. In any case, I will be leaving the Tsugikuni family soon.
I don't know when it started, but I gradually felt that something was becoming not quite right within the Tsugikuni family.
It should be called intuition—I vaguely felt that something strange seemed to have happened within the Tsugikuni family.
Especially after Miss Mitsuba's passing, this feeling was particularly obvious.
But I couldn't say exactly what the problem was. In any case, to avoid getting involved in greater trouble, I thought it best to quickly extricate myself from the Tsugikuni family while I still could.
Fortunately, these past few days the Tsugikuni family has been busy holding Miss Mitsuba's funeral, and no one will notice a small maid like me—this is the perfect opportunity to leave.
Yes, at this time I was only thinking about quickly leaving the Tsugikuni family to avoid being drawn into greater trouble in the future.
But what I never could have imagined was that just over ten hours later, I would see Miss Mitsuba alive again.
If that Miss Mitsuba could really still be considered a normal living person...
That was on the night of Miss Mitsuba's funeral day.
Having successfully resigned from my maid position at the Tsugikuni family, just packed my things, and walking toward home, I unexpectedly saw a strange woman on the opposite street when passing through a street intersection.
She wore a kimono of the same style as Miss Mitsuba's, her clothes somewhat disheveled, her hair completely white, and she walked swaying unsteadily.
She wandered alone on the empty and quiet street, seeming to be searching for something...
For some reason, although I couldn't see her face clearly, I vaguely felt in my heart that this woman was very likely Miss Mitsuba.
But hadn't Miss Mitsuba already died?
Why would she be wandering alone on the street in this form? What was with that white hair?
Feeling inexplicably fearful, I didn't immediately go to confirm the situation, but hid behind a house, deciding to observe her further.
It was also as this woman continuously walked toward my direction that I was finally able to see her face clearly.
She really was Miss Mitsuba?!
But why? Why would Miss Mitsuba, who should have already died, become like this?
What exactly was this situation?
Just as I was puzzled by this, I suddenly noticed that not far behind Miss Mitsuba, a man suddenly appeared.
This man wore a strange black uniform and held a samurai sword stained with strange colors in his hand.
As soon as he appeared, he stared at Miss Mitsuba ahead without stopping, and while watching, he suddenly raised his samurai sword and tiptoed quietly approaching behind Miss Mitsuba.
Undoubtedly, he wanted to kill Miss Mitsuba!
And at that time, Miss Mitsuba for some reason completely didn't notice the movement behind her, still swaying unsteadily as she slowly walked forward.
Seeing that strange man gradually approach to about six feet behind Miss Mitsuba—just one swing away from beheading her—I, who had been hiding in the shadows, finally couldn't help but shout out loudly.
"Miss Mitsuba! Watch out behind you!"
I knew that as a "foolish" maid, at such a time I should actually remain silent and pretend I saw nothing, quickly leaving instead.
After all, whether it was the white-haired Miss Mitsuba at this moment or that suddenly appearing man in black, neither of them looked normal.
Getting involved in these troubles would definitely not be a good thing for me.
But at that moment, for some reason, my mind suddenly thought of Miss Mitsuba in ordinary times.
Honestly speaking, although Miss Mitsuba appeared very repressed, as if hiding many things in her heart, always treating others with a mask of pretense, she was truly quite nice to us servants...
Unless one really made a very big mistake, Miss Mitsuba would never harshly criticize us.
Normally, she wouldn't deliberately find a bunch of things for us to do just because she saw us idle, needing to have us all busy to feel comfortable in her heart.
And in daily living, Miss Mitsuba wasn't picky at all. As long as things were still passable, she wouldn't nitpick us.
More importantly, whenever there was an opportunity, Miss Mitsuba would give us time off to rest, just like last night's fireworks festival.
Speaking of which, it's also embarrassing—I last night originally wanted to see that ring toss game because it looked lively, but accidentally happened to run into Miss Mitsuba who was secretly out playing with Doctor Butterfly...
I really wanted to die at that time. Fortunately, Miss Mitsuba didn't make trouble for me then, and even told me to be careful and go back early...
Ah, I accidentally digressed.
In any case, in my view, Miss Mitsuba was truly a very good master.
If I still serve as a maid in the next life, I would definitely choose Miss Mitsuba as my master again.
Of course, matters of the next life can wait until the next life to discuss. Right now, there are more important things.
Seeing that man with the sword about to behead Miss Mitsuba, I almost without hesitation loudly reminded Miss Mitsuba, who was still completely unaware.
I didn't consider the consequences of doing this, nor did I know how much effect my shout would have. At that time, I just wanted to do this, and felt that I should do this.
After all, having been "foolish" for so many years, I occasionally still want to be "clever" just once.
Fortunately, Miss Mitsuba, who looked confused, seemed to understand my reminder.
Even more fortunately, Miss Mitsuba for some reason seemed to have become especially... powerful?
After hearing my reminder, she suddenly turned and waved her hand, directly disemboweling that unprepared ambushing man in black!
That's right, with her hand.
Immediately after, I saw many strange black flowers suddenly grow from the wound of that man in black.
Those flowers continuously bloomed from his wound, and in the blink of an eye, the man was completely dead. All the flesh and blood in his body was thoroughly absorbed by those black flowers, finally leaving only a bag of bones.
And Miss Mitsuba just stood in place calmly watching this scene. After the man in black was completely drained, she waved her hand again, integrating all those black flowers into her body.
This extremely bizarre and terrifying scene deeply shocked my heart.
At that time, I could even feel my legs uncontrollably trembling. I wanted to immediately turn and flee, but my body couldn't move at all, and I couldn't even shift my gaze half an inch.
Speaking of which, was she really Miss Mitsuba?
Could that scene just now really be something a human could do?
Or could it be, that was actually Miss Mitsuba's ghost?
Just as I felt extreme fear about this in my heart, the white-haired woman seemed to finally regain consciousness, slowly turning her head to look at me.
From the eyes she looked at me with, I finally completely confirmed her identity.
She was indeed Miss Mitsuba.
Although I didn't know what had happened to Miss Mitsuba, the way she looked at me clearly showed she recognized me.
She didn't ask me anything, nor did she ask me to come over.
She just smiled, using her eyes to express gratitude for my reminder just now, and simultaneously used lip movements to silently say to me from afar:
"Hurry home."
In an instant, the fear in my heart completely disappeared.
Fortunately, although Miss Mitsuba had already become very strange, she was indeed still the Miss Mitsuba in my memory.
So, having relaxed, I also from a great distance first deeply bowed to Miss Mitsuba, then similarly used lip movements to silently say to her:
"Miss, please also be careful."
After seeing Miss Mitsuba smile and nod, I then turned and left.
Until I walked dozens of meters away, about to disappear at the end of the street, I could still feel that gentle gaze watching me from behind.
So I subconsciously looked back and discovered that at the edge of my vision in the darkness, Miss Mitsuba was indeed still standing in place watching me.
She seemed to want to watch me leave like this.
Looking back at Miss Mitsuba, at this moment I suddenly realized that this was very likely the last time in my life I would see Miss Mitsuba.
After this, where would Miss Mitsuba go?
Well, forget it, doesn't matter...
Being "clever" once in a lifetime is enough. After getting home, I'll forget everything that happened tonight, and continue being my "foolish girl" in the future...
Thinking this, I once again waved to Miss Mitsuba from afar. After seeing her wave back at me, I then turned and walked toward home without looking back.