Chapter 29 : Chapter 29
Volume 1
Chapter 29 : A New Plan and the Darkness Brewing Beneath It
Lorne Campbell.
The current head of the Campbell family, one of the Empire’s Four Great Ducal Houses.
And at the same time, a Crowned-rank powerhouse honored with the title of 【Lion King】!
Who could possibly be more suitable as a teacher than a father like that—close at hand, immensely experienced, overwhelmingly powerful, asking for nothing in return, and able to selflessly pass on all his knowledge to you?
No one!
“Muen Campbell, oh Muen Campbell. You really deserved such a miserable ending. You were sitting on a mountain of treasure without even knowing it.”
Muen beamed at the name written on the page, once again feeling that his future was full of light.
With his bargain-bin father personally guiding him, a top-tier powerhouse no less, and the black book that let him practice whenever he wanted, would his strength not soar at a ridiculous pace?
“Then comes the second point.”
Muen picked up his pen and continued writing on the page:
1.Safety.
Compared with a good teacher, safety was actually the top priority, because it concerned Muen’s life.
The reason he had placed it second, however, was because he had suddenly realized that this issue was not quite so urgent after all.
Why?
“Because of Father, of course!”
All this time, Muen had been trapped in a blind spot, believing that safety depended entirely on making himself stronger.
That was why he had been so anxious to grow stronger before.
But after just now thinking of Father’s reassuring name, he suddenly realized...
Why was he in such a hurry?
Father was so ridiculously strong.
As long as he obediently hid behind him, who could possibly hurt him?
What happened with Selicia’s assassination attempt really had nearly cost Muen his life, but precisely because of that, the Duke’s estate was now so heavily guarded that not even a mosquito could get in!
Hmph. You want to carve me into a thousand pieces?
Father will snap your knives in half first!
“I’ve decided. From now on, I’m becoming a shut-in!”
The more Muen thought about it, the more excited he became.
It felt like some hopeless loser driven into a dead end by debt suddenly discovering that his long-dead father had left him five apartments inside the Imperial Capital’s third ring.
Life truly was full of surprises.
“Mm, if I make my plan based on these two fundamentals, I shouldn’t go wrong.”
Muen looked at the freshly drafted plan on the page and nodded in satisfaction.
→ Become a shut-in. (School? What school? Does school have cute maid big sisters?)
→ Learn martial skills from Father.
→ Cultivate, then use the black book to hone myself.
→ I won’t leave seclusion until I’m at least a fifth-rank powerhouse. Then I’ll stun everyone!
“With a plan like this, no matter how cruel and unpredictable fate may be, I shall answer it with the art of lying low!”
“Hmph hahaha, I can already picture it. A few years from now, when the protagonist comes to the Duke’s estate looking for me, she’ll suddenly realize I’m no longer that useless yellow-haired villain she can ** at will, and the look of terror on her face will be priceless!”
...
Just as Muen was so excited by his perfect plan that he could hardly contain himself, Ann’s voice came from outside the door.
“Young Master, are you awake?”
“Mm? Ah, I’m awake. What is it?”
“The Master is looking for you.”
“Hm? Father is looking for me at this hour?”
Muen glanced at the time and realized it was still only early morning.
He had not even had breakfast yet.
“For him to summon me this early, could it be something important?”
“Whatever. Even if it is, it probably isn’t anything too serious. It’s most likely still about what happened with Selicia’s assassination attempt.”
Without thinking too much about it, Muen answered Ann, hurriedly washed up, and stepped out of his room.
Ann was already waiting outside.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
After greeting Ann, Muen headed toward the study from memory.
By Father’s usual habits, he would always be there in the morning reading the Empire’s latest papers.
But this time Ann suddenly pulled him back. “Young Master, the Master is not in the study.”
“Hm? Then where is he?”
“At the front gate of the estate.”
“The front gate? This early in the morning? What is he doing there?”
Muen was a little baffled, but he still followed Ann toward the main entrance.
“Young Master Muen, Head Maid.”
Along the way, maids respectfully bowed to Muen, and he nodded back in return.
But he immediately sensed that something was off.
“Head Maid?”
Muen turned to Ann in surprise. “Are they calling you that?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Ann bowed slightly and said,
“Not long ago, the Master appointed me as the new Head Maid.”
“The new Head Maid... then what happened to the previous one?”
“She resigned to take responsibility.”
“I see.”
Muen suddenly understood.
The staffing for the coming-of-age ceremony had all been arranged by the Head Maid, so after something like that had happened, the former Head Maid naturally could not escape responsibility.
“I’m sorry. It was clearly because of my orders.”
“Young Master, there is no need to blame yourself. This was not your fault.”
Ann gently comforted him.
“And even without this incident, the Head Maid was already quite advanced in years and had originally planned to retire in two years anyway. This matter merely allowed her to rest a little earlier.”
“Father must be very upset.”
Muen let out a soft sigh.
Just as the current Head Maid was his personal maid, Ann, the former Head Maid had naturally been Father’s personal maid and unlike Ann, who was nearly the same age as Muen because she had grown up alongside him, the previous Head Maid was more than ten years older than Father.
To Father, who had lost both of his parents at a young age, she was someone like a mother.
Father must be finding it very hard to let her go.
“But congratulations anyway, Ann,” Muen said with a smile.
“There is nothing worth congratulating.”
Ann seemed unusually subdued, not nearly as happy as Muen had imagined.
“Becoming Head Maid has made me far too busy. The time I can spend by your side has already been greatly reduced.”
“That is a good thing. We’re not children anymore. Sooner or later, we all have to grow on our own, don’t we?”
“Grow... on our own?”
Ann suddenly lowered her head, her expression hidden from view.
For some reason, Muen suddenly felt that there was a trace of chill in her tone.
But he did not pay much attention to it.
“Young Master means... that one day we will part ways?”
“Isn’t that only natural?”
Muen turned around, clasped his hands behind his head, and lifted his eyes toward the clear blue sky and drifting white clouds outside the window.
The weather was nice today.
“We all have to live our own lives eventually, Ann. You shouldn’t let your identity as a maid bind you forever.”
As a fine young man raised under modern socialist values, Muen felt that even being a maid was only a profession.
Ann should not call herself a servant, nor should she tie her fate to his, a yellow-haired villain who had no idea when he might suddenly keel over and die.
Just like in the original novel, where she ended up being hanged.
“So, Ann.”
Muen turned back around.
His perfectly composed smile, together with the handsome features inherited from his mother, shone as brilliantly as the newborn morning sun beyond the window.
“If there’s someone you like, tell me. I’ll let you go.”
“Be brave and chase your own happiness. That’s the kind of life I want for you. And it’s also my thanks for everything you’ve done for me.”
...
“Part ways?”
As she stared at Muen’s back, a thick, shudder-inducing darkness suddenly began to churn in Ann’s eyes.
“How could you say something like that, Young Master Muen?”
“We cannot be apart.”
“We cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot, cannot...”
“Never.”
Ann bit at her fingernail, and a terrifyingly savage smile suddenly curled across her lips.
“We will... be together forever, Young Master Muen.”