A Maid, an Embarrassed Master, and a Precious Smile.

"Young Master, what are you doing?" the girl in a maid outfit asked in a calm tone, tilting her head questioningly.

That girl's name was Lucia, and she was a servant of house Berion. Earlier today, she was, as usual, waiting outside of her master's room. She did that every morning as a a part of her duties. 

Normally, a personal maid such as Lucy would be tasked with waking her master up as well as helping him dress and prepare for the day. Fabian, however, usually declined such assistance and preferred to do everything himself; a trait he probably picked up from his father.

Hence, Lucy usually waited outside of his room in the mornings: that way she could accompany her master as soon as he finished his morning preparations.

But today, no matter how long she'd waited, her master never came out of his room. The family lunch was already approaching, but there had been no sign of Fabian anywhere. Worried that he had overslept, or (Deas forbid!) she'd missed him leaving his quarters, Lucy had entered his room of her own volition.

...Only to find him having a glaring contest with the mirror.

Respectfully, she'd waited a few minutes. 

And yet, no matter how long she waited, her master continued his stare-off. While she watched, Fabian's expression took on many forms and shapes—all of them terrifically disturbing.

Finally, afraid that her master wouldn't be able to attend lunch in time, Lucy decided to speak up. And that brings us to the current moment.

"Young Master, what are you doing?"

In response, her master jumped up in surprise. When he turned around, his face was a mixture of shock, panic, and embarrassment.

In that moment, Lucy slightly regretted her rash action, which resulted in such a reaction from her master; but after remembering their time constraints, she concluded there was no helping it.

Eventually, her master got himself together and spoke up.

"I-I was just practicing making faces, I-I guess?" Fabian replied. For some reason, her master's answer was phrased like a question. Lucy graciously let it slide.

"Making faces?" she repeated after him.

Lucy was confused. She could understand perfecting facial gestures for the sake of noble meetings and the like, but her master was clearly doing something different.

Although—now that she thought about it—those faces would be pretty useful for throwing his political opponents off their rocker—quite literally at that.

While Lucy stayed quiet, trying to figure out her master's intentions, Fabian became even more panicked. His eyes darted around, and, if you didn't know any better, you would think he was busy thinking up a believable excuse for his behavior.

Thankfully, Lucy knew that wasn't the case. He was merely struggling to come up with an explanation that would satisfy the less intelligent of the bunch, such as herself. After all, situations similar to this one were a daily occurrence for a genius like Fabian.

"I-I was just practicing," her master replied, "...practicing for when I have to pretend I'm someone else!"

"..."

Yeah, uhm... somehow his explanation made him seem even more suspicious than he already was.

Maybe he was, in fact, trying to come up with an excuse of sorts. That thought flashed through Lucy's head for a second, but she quickly shut it down; harboring such suspicions was much too disrespectful towards her master.

Besides, even if Lucy was right, there was no reason to press it and cause Fabian needless embarrassment.

Despite accepting (or trying to accept) his explanation at face value, Lucy still had many questions left. 

What was his motivation for the practice? Was he planning on hiding his identity in the future? Was there another reason he didn't or couldn't mention?

She hesitated for a second, unsure if it would be appropriate to keep questioning him. A man's pride was a fragile little thing after all. But something seemed off to Lucy. Frankly, her master behaved so different this morning it was almost like he was a completely different person.

"I see. Formidable as always, Young Master. I would... never be able to recognize you if you kept that face up forever." Lucy replied with her best attempt at flattery. Whether it actually constituted as flattery was questionable, but that was of little consequence. 

The important part was her master's perception, and, as they said: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

"Y-yeah, I'm getting pretty good, r-right?" Fabian(?) replied, confused but somewhat encouraged.

He looked slightly shocked, as if he didn't expect for her to accept such an explanation. Clearly, he wasn't aware of how mindful Lucy was as a maid! Which, to be completely honest, was suspicious in and of itself. 

In that moment, Lucy decided to further inquire about his motivations.

"Is there a reason you have to hide your identity in the future?" she asked, doubtful.

That question stunned Fabian(?), and, once again, it took him a sizable amount of time to respond.

While he kept thinking, Lucy carefully stared at him, sizing him up. He was jittery under her watchful gaze. This was probably the most nervous Lucy had ever seen her master(?) while alone with her.

Finally, he took a deep breath and replied.

"Y-you know, I-I... I just...," Fabian(?) started, "...just wanted to go to town a-anonymously, you know?"

Silence hang in the room. Lucy was in deep thought, trying to figure out the meaning behind her master's words. Fabian(?), meanwhile, was frozen in silence, his gaze locked onto Lucy. He was carefully watching her every move.

If it was just about going to town, there was no reason for Fabian to hide his identity. Some noble families were pretty strict about such things, but Berions were not one of them. It was only natural, considering they only received their title this generation. 

That meant there were two possible explanations for her master's words: either Fabian(?) was hiding something, or...

"I see...," Lucy responded, "that—"

Lucy paused for a moment, running various possibilities through her head. Fabian gulped and nervously clenched his fists.

"—makes sense." she concluded.

Her master breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you planning on going out with Lady Maria?" Lucy asked, "as usual, Young Master takes good care of his fiancée."

This was another possible explanation for his words. You see, Fabian was engaged. His partner's name was Maria Aes Alcia, daughter of Viscount Alcia. Her family were precisely the kind of nobles to find needless interactions with commoners undesirable. Lady Maria always looked longingly at the town near Berion estate, but if her parents found out she went there, she would be in trouble.

And if Lucy noticed it, then her master would absolutely notice as well. After all, he loved Lady Maria deeply. It even made Lucy somewhat envious.

"Fian—"Fabian started, interrupting himself halfway through, "yeah, that's right. I was planning on surprising her with a secret undercover date, you know?"

Lucy nodded, convinced. It was just like Fabian to hide the fact due to his embarrassment.

Still, there was something weird about her master today.

"Are you feeling unwell by any chance?" she asked, slightly worried.

"W-why would you think so?" Fabian responded. Even as he replied his voice was unusually shaky.

"You seem to be very nervous today," Lucy answered, "I thought the pressure of the upcoming festival might be getting to you."

"Y-yeah, that's it!" Her master exclaimed somewhat desperately, "the truth is I've been a bit sick since I woke up..."

"Young Master, if you're feeling unwell I could notify everyone. I suggest you stay in bed and rest in the meantime," Lucy offered, hoping her master would agree.

"N-no need. I'm already feeling better. J-just let me get dressed and I'm ready to go."

Unfortunately, her master was as stubborn as usual. Left with no other choice, Lucy decided to watch his health carefully today.

"Understood. If so, please hurry up. Lady Maria is arriving soon and your family awaits in the grand hall. It won't do good to make them wait any further," she said and went to the wardrobe to pull out her master's attire for today. 

After handing Fabian his clothes, Lucy left the room. For a second, she thought about making an exception today and helping her master change; but knowing his usual habits, she decided against it. Her gut told her that Fabian wanted to be left alone at that moment.

"Still, Young Master... I hope you don't actually keep that face up the entire date... I doubt Lady Maria would be pleased." Lucy mumbled, slightly worried for her master. Geniuses rarely stuck to common sense after all.

***

After the maid girl left the room, I breathed a sigh of relief.

T-that was close... Or was it? I have no clue honestly...

Frankly, I couldn't tell what was on the girl's mind at all. The entire conversation, the maid stayed completely expressionless. The only clue to her emotional state were somewhat rare gestures she did, such as the tilt of her head and the like.

Her inscrutability aside, I think I handled the conversation pretty well. At the very least, I wasn't immediately busted. Although, if every conversation went like that, I would be in deep trouble...

Leaving my great acting skills aside, I needed to review all the information I learned.

First of all, considering my bedroom's make and the fact that there was a maid who called me 'Young Master', It was safe to assume I was someone high up on the social ladder in this world. There was even a chance I was a noble of some kind! 

That realization helped me come up with the whole 'going to town' thing. You know, nobility is usually restrained by their status and lack freedom, right? ...At least that's how it usually was in web novels...

That excuse somehow worked out, but there was no guarantee that would keep happening. What was I going to do from now on? Everyone around me would naturally assume I was this 'young master', but that wasn't the case at all. Could I somehow keep fooling them?

Maybe I could just pretend that I lost my memories...? That seemed to be my best bet... But what if they had something that could disapprove my lies? While I had no reason to believe technology was particularly advanced around here, they could still have a magical cure or something along those lines.

I didn't know if magic existed in this world, but it was still a real possibility to keep in mind.

Now that I thought about it, the language that maid spoke wasn't Japanese, and yet, I was able to easily hold a conversation with her. That was kind of terrifying. It was like the language was automatically downloaded in my head. Real scary stuff...

Despite somehow being fluent in the language, I didn't even know the name of that girl. It was probably not a big deal; she was just a servant after all. If anything, I was more afraid of being exposed by this noble kid's family and this 'fiancée' that was mentioned. I should forget about the maid and instead focus on th—

Suddenly, my head started hurting. My surroundings became blurry and everything darkened. Once again, I saw the stream of consciousness from before. But this time, a particular set of images assaulted me, refusing to be forgotten. 

I saw a young silver-haired girl, seemingly emotionless as always.

This time there were fewer images and they were slow enough that I could actually remember them.

The images were varied. They all happened in different places and different times. During some of them I was just a kid, and in others I was almost the same age as now. But they all had one thing in common: a silver haired girl who was always by my side.

The time we practiced magic together; that time when I got sick and she refused to leave me for even a second; how she constantly popped out of nowhere when I least expected it; and finally, I saw Lucy's smile. 

It was a slight but clear, beautiful smile. A rare, precious memory that belonged to someone else. Someone who wasn't me.

"—Agh!" I screamed in pain.

My head ached, trying to reconcile with the influx of new information. 

Eventually, the pain subsided. I was covered in cold sweat. By the time I noticed, my breathing grew erratic. 

I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

The visions I saw... That wa—

*Bang*

Suddenly, my train of thought was interrupted by a loud noise.

"Young Master, what is taking you so long? As I thought, you should probably stay in bed." Lucy said as she slammed the door open.

W-what the hell? What kind of maid does that?! This is your employer's property, you know?!

"I-I'm fine I told you. I was j-just..." I replied as I tried to think of an excuse.

"Just?" Lucy repeated after me, tilting her head.

"J-just struggling to get into my clothes!" I answered. " I-I think I might have gained some weight!"

"..."

She stayed silent for a second.

"I-it's fine. I'm almost done, alright? J-just forget about it!" I said, trying to shoo her away.

"...As you wish, Young Master."

Her expression was as impassive as usual, but I could feel some pity in her gaze.

"...Young Master... don't worry about it" she added.

"I'm not worried!" I shot back.

Why do you keep bringing that up!? Y-you're lucky I'm not the original owner of this body, otherwise, I would actually feel offended!

While I was internally expressing my exasperation, the girl started talking again.

"...Regardless of such things," she began slowly.

At first glance it seemed that her tone didn't change in the slightest, but there was a weight to it that hadn't been there before. Inexplicably, I could feel it.

"My faith in you has and always will be unshakable." the maid said with a lightness and certainty that stunned me into silence for a second.

For a while, I couldn't respond. Something about her words tug at my heartstrings. There was a strange, ticklish feeling in my chest. As if an emptiness inside me was filled up ever so slightly.

"...So don't worry about gaining weight, alri—"

"—I'm not worried about it, damn it!" I retorted and the maid nodded in response.

For some reason, there was something comfortable about this interaction. Like it was something I was long used to. Even though I knew that feeling didn't actually belong to me.

By that point, I was already done changing. It was time to go meet Fabian's family.

"...Anyway, let's go, Lucy. It's time for lunch," I said.

Lucy nodded slightly and followed after me.

When I called her name, a slightly bitter feeling rose in my chest. After all, I knew that Lucia's name—or rather her nickname—wasn't for me to say out loud.

Lucy. Only one person called her that. And his name definitely wasn't Ayumu Shinohara.