“Are these hugs with dirty thoughts in your mind?”

“*cough* *cough* *cough* … Hue!?” Hearing Rina's question, Clara accidentally swallowed her own saliva, causing her to cough. When she recovered, she looked down at her maid's both grinning and somewhat shy face. But Clara was not one to take a one-sided beating. So she suppressed her embarrassment over the question to counter her maid. To do this, even though Clara was burning hot on the inside, she placed her hand on her maid's cheek and caressed Rina's lips with her thumb. “T-t-that's r-right! L-l-looking at y-you like this, m-my c-c-c-cute maid, I can't help but w-want to take your first k-k-k-kiss.”

Even though Clara only managed to stammer out her words, making it obvious that she was only trying to be mischievous, Rina was hung up on two words, she heard. First kiss. Something Clara had jokingly declared she was going to take away from her, but Rina didn't have anymore, as she had already shared it with a certain brunette sleeping in her room next door.

So, feeling a little awkward, Rina averted her eyes, while also blushing at the memory of kissing a beautiful girl, even if it hadn't been meant to be a kiss.

Naturally, Clara immediately noticed that her maid was acting strangely. After all, she had been observing her for the past two years and therefore knew everything about her. Or at least, she was confident that she knew almost everything about Rina. “Rina?”

“...”

Although Clara noticed her maid's sudden change of mood, she didn't know what had caused it. But after puzzling over it for a while, she came to a conclusion, which she dreaded to her core.

“R-Rina, just out of curiosity. haven't kissed anyone yet, have you?” Clara was too panicked by her thoughts, that it hadn't even occurred to her that her question was extremely rude.

“...”

Seeing her maid blush even more and avoid eye contact with her, Clara lost the colour in her face. “W-who!? W-when?”

“I-it's not important, is it?”

“Is it that perverted High Elf? That shitty, damned hag. I warned her before, I'll see her hanged for this.” Naturally, Clara wasn't serious, but her jealousy was nonetheless driving her mad.

When Rina heard her mistress's unusual, vulgar language, she looked up, to see that her beautiful mistress's face had somehow turned into something that resembled (metaphorically speaking) that of the devil himself. Unfortunately, the poor red-haired girl didn't understand why Clara looked like that and why Fran had suddenly become a topic of conversation.

But because Clara's words sounded disturbing, especially about Fran, Rina shook her head frantically. “No, Fran had nothing to do with it.”

“I see. Then, Rina, please tell me, who was it?”

Although Clara was smiling at her, Rina somehow felt that Clara wasn't actually happy, an emotion that was usually associated with a smile. So, under pressure from her mistress, she gave in. “M-Marianne... you know... the girl sleeping next door.”

“Hehehe... hehehehehe..., I see, a random slut, who appears out of nowhere and declares she wants to serve me... I see... Rina, I'm sorry, but I won't accept her. She has to leave early in the morning.”

“Eh? Clara? Why?” Hearing the blonde's announcement, Rina panicked. “C-can't you at least hear her out tomorrow? She apparently has no place to return to... like me two years ago.” Rina looked up at her mistress and pleaded.

Clara, on the other hand, was once again, struck by Cupid's arrow. For the first time in her life, she saw her maid looking at her with puppy eyes and wishing for something. That was why her boiling jealousy cooled down upon seeing her maid's face. “Then tell me, how it came to be. Your k-kiss with her.”

Rina couldn't help but feel that her mistress was acting strangely today. So Rina remained silent for a few minutes, thinking about that and the other things that had happened today, as well as how to answer her mistress's question. Luckily, Clara was patient and kept quiet, until Rina finally finished her thoughts after almost fifteen minutes. “Before I explain, why are you and Fran so wary of the Prime Minister?”

Clara's expression, which had been calm just a few moments ago, changed to one of shock. She felt that the atmosphere around her maid had suddenly changed. So, with a bad feeling creeping up her spine at her maid's question, while all sorts of horror scenarios were running through her mind, Clara returned Rina's question with one of her own. “Why are you suddenly curious about my opinion of him?”

“Please answer me, Clara... I mean, I kind of understand Fran's reasons. She, with her past and being a commoner, has every reason to be against the Duke, as he is the de-facto leader of the aristocrats. But what about you? Aren't you also an aristocrat? Shouldn't you be usually happy that he visited your Social Debut today? After all, he's the Prime Minister! He's a Duke! So, why?”

“You... Haven't I already explained it to you? He probably wants you, and your magical powe-...”

“And why is that bad?” Rina interrupted her mistress before the sentence was finished. “I understand that you don't want to marry into their family to get a connection... but isn't it a rather cheap price to pay if you have to hand me over to him for your family to be protected by his army?”

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“It's not a cheap price! And don't you know that many of his family are known for their perverted and sadistic nature? You would be living in hell if I had handed you over to him.” Starting to get annoyed, that her maid couldn't understand her feelings at all, Clara unconsciously raised her voice.

But Rina didn't care about the volume of her mistress's voice. “And why should you care?”

Upon hearing her maid's words, the annoyance Clara had just felt vanished at once and was replaced by speechlessness. Only a few seconds later did she recover from it. “W-what's wrong with you? Have I done something that upsets you?”

Rina shook her head. “I've met the Duke when I was on my way to your room after your speech.”

“Wha-”

“Furthermore...” Rina interrupted the blonde once again. “... I've made a deal with him.”

“...”

“In exchange for your family being protected by his army during the demon invasion, I agreed to serve him.”

“...” Clara just looked at her maid with her mouth agape.

“He will give me missions that I must carry out in the future. Although he said there won't be any missions for the foreseeable future, I can't know for sure. So, there will be times, when I will have to leave your side. Additionally, he also seems to want to prevent the war with the demons by finding and killing the Demon Lord preemptively. I have agreed to help when the time for it comes.”

“...”

Seeing that Clara still didn't react to her words, Rina continued. “I have not been at your side for the past two years for nothing. I can see trying your best to learn magic, politics, and economics in order to protect your family, and those who live on the land owned by you.”

“...”

“The same goes for Fran. I know she gave and still gives everything to ensure that we win against the demons... but I think it's enough. ”

“W-what are you saying, Rina!?”

“I know, I know. You both, Fran as a former High Priestess, and you as a noble, have responsibilities. That's why you try so hard.”

“No, seriously, what are you talking about?”

“But it's fine now.” Rina kept speaking, ignoring her crush's question. “I've always asked myself why I was born. Now, I finally understand, what I have to do.”

“R-Rina... please, come to your senses.” Clara opened her hug, grabbed Rina's shoulders with both hands, and shook her, to no avail as her maid didn't stop.

“I finally understand why I exist, why I have this Dark magic, and why I have this healthy, fit, and strong body. I will assist the Duke and his men in killing the Demon Lord. With my powers, it should be possible... I will stop your concerns...”

Rina wasn't even able to finish her sentence, as a *Slap* sound echoed through the room, interrupting her. She slowly moved her hand to her right cheek to stroke it to ease the pain. “... It hurts, Clara...” Rina looked up, only to see that her crush's face was wet with tears.

“Your words are...*sniff*... what hurt me... *sniff*... what are you saying... *sniff*... so suddenly? I don't... *sniff*... understand you at all!”

Rina suppressed the stinging pain in her heart at seeing Clara sob and went on. “No... it's me who doesn't understand you... I was born an orphan in this world, ran away from the orphanage because it was too dangerous there, and lived alone. I went to the capital to look for education and work, and got almost r*ped in return. Then, you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, rescued me, took me in, fed me, educated me, showed me how fun life was, gave me money, gave me warmth, happiness, everything... even though I haven't done anything. And now, you want me to be by your side as your permanent maid, hug me, and accept me for what I am...”

“...”

“Clara, it's me who can't understand you... what do you even want from me, after you've done so much for me... after you've given me so much?”

“Rina... you...”

Before Clara could say anything else, Rina continued. “And Clara... you have to be really careful with your actions... now that you know that I like girls.”

“...”

“Your tendency to skin-ship, your red dress matching my hair, you calling me cute, and how you did so much for me... if it wasn't for me, if another person were in my skin, they would have thought that you had a crush on them...”

Clara's face turned red at an abnormal speed. “Wha-... Rina... you!”

“Hehe, conjunctive, Clara, conjunctive... I know that it wasn't your intention, that's why I said you should be more careful...Your actions were crying out to be misunderstood... You have such a beautiful face, such a sweet, angelic voice, and such a stylish figure. It's already easy enough to fall for you... so please don't make people hopeful with your actions... unrequited really hurts, you know? Believe me, I speak from experience.”

“...”

“... It seems I've gotten off the subject of the Duke.” For the first time this night and since they had met, Rina wrapped her arms around the blonde's body, pulled Clara into an embrace, and buried her face in Clara's chest. “You don't have to worry about the demons... I'll take care of that for you with the help of the Duke. I will see that you have to happy future to look forward to.”

“... Is it because you're grateful to me? Because I've done so much for you?”

Rina, who was still buried in Clara's bosom, nodded.

Clara, on the other hand, was suddenly calm again, after hearing everything her maid had said. She put her hand on Rina's head and stroked her hair. “Then let me return your words to you... I think even you can see that my actions do not justify your devotion to me, can't you?”

Rina looked up with a flushed face and smiled. “Somehow I knew you would return my words...”

“Oh my~... my Rina is learning~~”

“Hehe... well, I guess I can't avoid explaining myself, can I?” After saying this, Rina felt her face heat up, as she prepared her heart.

“Nope, you can't~.”

“... It's because I love you... Because I love you so much that I can do everyt-... mph!?” Before Rina could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a pair of lips touching hers, causing her brain to shut down. It took her a few seconds to reboot it and to register what was happening. But even then, she was motionless. The wet, soft feeling on her lips, the beautiful face just a few millimetres away from her, and the long lashes of Clara's closed eyes sucked Rina into a state of overheating. In addition, her overheated mind seemed to be whispering to her that all she had to do was stay still and enjoy the situation.

Half a minute later, Rina saw the eyelids in front of her parting to reveal a pair of blue eyes. A few more seconds had passed before the face in front of her moved away and her lips no longer touched anything.

Unconsciously, or perhaps even fully aware this time, Rina brought her finger to her lips, as if to relive the feeling.

Meanwhile, Clara observed her bright red maid, then licked her own lips and smiled softly.

“Do you need any further explanation?”