Chapter 52: Aftermath [1]
"Damn. That was a close one," I muttered under my breath, glancing over my shoulder.
The towering silhouette of the Valstein family estate still loomed in the distance, its ornate spires catching the last traces of moonlight. The main gates were behind me now—closed, silent, and thankfully, not sounding any alarms.
I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t afford to.
My mana reserves were running dangerously low after that last stunt. Pulling it off once had nearly drained me. I didn’t have the energy to do it again if they came chasing.
So, without hesitation, I broke into a run—legs burning, lungs tight, every step pushing me further away from the Valstein grounds and closer to the Draken Duchy.
The sky was starting to pale at the edges. Dawn would be here in less than an hour.
I had to make it back before then.
Hans always shows up at my door right as the sun rises, ready with his lectures if I’m even a minute late.
Punctual, obsessive, annoying Hans.
But he only acts that way with me.
Why? Because I’m not just any servant.
I’m Alice Draken’s personal attendant.
That means I have to be on time. Every time. No matter what I’ve just done. No matter how little sleep or mana I’ve got left.
’What a life...’ I thought bitterly, feet pounding against the dirt road.
Still, even as fatigue settled deep in my bones, a grin crept across my face.
The expression Gareth wore when he saw me—his own face staring back at him—was priceless . The horror. The confusion. The outrage. Absolutely worth it.
I knew the disguise wouldn’t last forever. I’d expected it to crack eventually. That’s why I had a little trick up my sleeve. One final performance before my grand exit.
They arrived a little sooner than I expected, though. That’s why I had to slap the [Veil Mask] on in such a hurry.
It didn’t settle right at first. Slipped for just a second.
And for a heartbeat—just one—my real face was exposed.
Brief, but sharp eyes might’ve caught it.
That guard, the one who let me into the relic chamber... yeah, I think he suspected something. He had the look. The kind of guy who trusts his gut.
Still, it’s fine. If he reports it, they’ll probably just assume it was someone else entirely.
Too many faces. Too little time.
The best part? The way Gareth completely snapped when I told him the truth—or at least, the part that matters.
"I don’t have a face."
Oh, the way he froze.
The way his knuckles turned white around his blade.
The flicker of something deeper than anger in his eyes—fear.
That made it worth the risk.
Faceless.
That’s what I am.
Not just a title. Not just a trick.
It’s me .
And the look on his face, the real Gareth’s face—worn by him, and mirrored back at him like some cursed joke?
That’s the kind of memory I’ll carry for a long time.
"That was... really fun."
I couldn’t help but grin as I recalled the chaos I’d left behind.
The relic vault chamber had only one exit—the same gate I entered through. There was no secret passage or hidden lever to bail me out. Just one door. One way out.
And a whole squad of Valstein knights standing between me and freedom.
I knew I couldn’t count on them hesitating out of kindness or confusion. That’s exactly why I put on a little show .
Make them flinch.
Make them hesitate.
Make them fear me—just enough.
It worked.
When they saw me, they didn’t charge in right away. The mask, the cryptic lines, the face reveal—all of it was designed to buy me a sliver of time.
And it paid off.
The opening I needed came sooner than expected.
When Gareth—hot-headed, predictable Gareth—lost his cool and lunged at me, the room snapped into panic.
Their attention shifted entirely to him.
Their first instinct wasn’t to stop me —it was to protect him.
That was all the space I needed.
In that exact heartbeat, I activated [Ghoststeps], an S-rank movement skill I had kept in reserve for one reason: escape.
Normally, even with that skill, I wouldn’t be able to slip past all the knights—not in such a tight formation. But I didn’t hold back.
I poured nearly every last drop of mana I had left into the activation.
And just like that—
I vanished.
A blur.
A shadow.
A ghost.
One moment I was there in front of them. The next, I was gone.
That’s the only reason I made it out of there alive.
Even now, running under the thinning veil of night, my heart pounded—not just from exhaustion, but from the high of it all.
I’d pulled it off.
I fooled the Valsteins.
I humiliated Gareth.
And I escaped a room full of knights with nothing but wit, nerves, and a flicker of mana.
And honestly?
That was the most alive I’d felt in a long time.
[Calculating The Reward....]
At the moment System voice sounded in my head as blue pannel open in front of me.
I quickly close it next second, I don’t have time to see reward.
If I wasted any seconds I would be late.
So I did nothing but run despite the protest of my already half dead legs.
----
By the time the stone towers of the Draken estate appeared on the horizon, the sky had already begun to brighten.
Pale threads of morning light tugged at the night’s edge, casting long shadows across the rolling fields. Birds were starting to stir in the trees.
And I... I was barely standing.
My lungs burned. My legs felt like they’d been carved from stone and filled with lead. Every breath was a quiet war.
But I kept moving.
One step.
Another.
And another.
I couldn’t afford to collapse now—not before reaching the gate. Not before slipping back into the mask of the "dutiful attendant."
Because that’s what I was, after all.
Hans would remind me soon enough.
" You’re not just anyone—you serve Lady Alice Draken herself. Tardiness reflects poorly on her."
He always made it sound like a royal decree.
And if I was even a minute late, he’d be standing at my door with that same infuriating scowl—arms crossed, voice tight with disappointment like some overbearing father I never asked for.
But honestly? At this point, I almost welcomed the scolding.
It meant I’d made it back alive.
The guards at the gate recognized me on sight.
One of them raised a brow when he saw my ragged state, but didn’t question it. I nodded at them with whatever energy I had left, muttering, "Training run," as I passed through.
They didn’t stop me.
They never did.
Inside, the estate grounds were still quiet.
Too early for the nobles, too late for the patrols to be alert.
The perfect liminal hour.
I dragged myself toward the servants’ quarters, boots scraping softly against the cobbled path.
My cloak hung loosely around me, soaked in sweat and night air, and underneath, the [Viel Mask] still clung to my skin like second breath.
I’d take it off once I reached my room.
Maybe.
If I didn’t pass out first.
I reached the side entrance, opened it with a key I definitely wasn’t supposed to have, and slipped inside unnoticed.
A few more turns. Down the corridor. Up the stairs.
Room 7-B.
I closed the door behind me, locked it, and finally—finally—let my legs give out. I slumped to the floor, back against the wall, chest heaving, vision swimming.
Still alive.
And the Enhancement Orb?
Still with me.