I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Chapter 245

With a dull thud, McHart's head hit the ground, rolling away lifelessly. The sound of it dropping was followed by a rather awkward apology from the one who had wielded the sword.

"I'm sorry for acting without permission, Princess Seraphine. But with the undeniable evidence of Prince McHart's collusion with demonic forces, I felt it necessary to eliminate him swiftly before he could cause further harm."

"No, there's no need to apologize. It was something that had to be done, and if you hadn’t, it would have been required sooner or later anyway. In fact, I should thank you for your swift action, Lord Ethan."

In reality, Ethan's action had been more about silencing McHart before he could reveal that I was the true Saintess, but Seraphine didn't seem to have any sympathy left for McHart. She didn't consider Ethan's impulsive act a problem.

"It’s still shocking to think that my brother McHart would resort to demonic power to alter his appearance and even manipulate the memories others had of him," Seraphine mused, her voice tinged with both sadness and disgust.

"Indeed, Princess Seraphine," Ethan replied solemnly.

"I knew that my brother lacked confidence in his appearance when he was younger," Seraphine continued, "but I never imagined his insecurities would lead him down such a dark path. It’s unforgivable that he not only altered his looks but used that power to harm women and even threaten Lillis."

Seraphine gestured to the royal guards, who quickly began to collect McHart’s body, now severed and lifeless. As the guards moved to clear the scene, Seraphine looked up at the night sky, her expression distant.

"Five years ago, when our brother Philipson died, I wondered if McHart had gone into seclusion to avoid a similar fate. But now, it’s clear he was preparing this large-scale memory manipulation magic all along. Even though we were only half-siblings, it’s still hard to process this so coldly."

"It’s understandable, Princess Seraphine," I offered, trying to comfort her.

"But in a way, I’m relieved that McHart is gone," Seraphine admitted. "So many of my suspicions about him have been resolved. Whenever I recalled memories with him, there was always something off. But now, everything makes sense. The reason why new maids or butlers couldn’t recognize McHart and inadvertently acted rudely, or why he had three different fiancées—all those strange occurrences were because of his reliance on demonic power."

"Princess Seraphine...," I began, unsure of how to console her further.

"And as his sister, I should have noticed his suffering and tried to understand it... but I was completely useless," she said with a bitter smile.

Even though Seraphine could sometimes see the future, it was a sporadic ability, not something she could control at will or use to look into specific moments. Yet here she was, blaming herself for not foreseeing McHart’s descent into darkness. It was just who she was—a person who felt deeply responsible for those around her.

But while Seraphine dealt with her complex feelings, I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. The one person who had posed the greatest threat to my life was finally gone. McHart had been a constant source of torment ever since I ended up in this world, and now, with his head severed, that threat was finally over. If the situation had allowed it, I might have even danced with joy. But given the solemn atmosphere, I had to settle for inward celebration.

"Finally," I thought, "it’s over."

I had gone through so much just to take down this one man. There were moments when I genuinely thought I might die, and countless other close calls. Facing a fourth-act boss before the end of the second act was never going to be easy. The only reason we had managed to succeed was because both Ethan and I knew the story so well.

There were so many variables—facing off against a royal, the fact that McHart hadn’t fully transformed into a demon, and the absence of a fully recognized Saintess. Even in the end, McHart had nearly revealed that I was the true Saintess.

If he had managed to say it, I doubted it would have caused much harm, as the royal guards' silence could have been secured, and the others present either already knew or were trusted allies. But I still preferred to avoid any unnecessary complications.

"H-How...?" she tried to speak, but her voice was faint.

"Found her, Agnes! Over here!" a voice called out.

"I told you not to call me by my first name like we’re close," another voice responded.

It was the Hero and Agnes Elizabeth Blaze, two people the Dark Lord’s army had been monitoring closely. Even as her consciousness faded, Ebelin recognized their voices.

"Wow, you really are next in line to be the Archmage. That detection spell was no joke. You even found a demon using concealment magic."

"Stop exaggerating. It was nothing," Agnes replied, her tone flat.

"Anyway, good thing we got her. If she’d escaped, she might’ve spread dangerous information about Lillis and Ethan. Thanks to you, we avoided that," the Hero said, relief evident in his voice.

"Just make sure Lillis knows this was your fault if she complains about us not meeting up as planned," Agnes warned.

"She won’t be that mad," the Hero shrugged.

"By the way, how did you know she was a demon? I wasn’t certain until just now."

"Uh, well... I sometimes receive visions as a Hero, and one happened to come through just in time..." the Hero trailed off, clearly improvising.

"I need to... warn them..." Ebelin thought desperately, but her body was already failing.

The two didn’t even spare her a glance as they conversed, treating her as little more than an obstacle they had dealt with. With her last thoughts cursing her fate, Ebelin, a nameless demon, crumbled into dust in the palace’s garden.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

"Huh?" I muttered.

"What’s wrong, Lillis?" Ethan asked, concerned.

"Is something the matter, Lillis?" Seraphine added, her brow furrowed.

"No, it’s nothing," I replied, shaking off the strange feeling.

I couldn’t quite place it, but it felt like the purity of the area around me had suddenly increased. Was it a side effect of my newfound powers as the true Saintess? Or maybe it was just my imagination.