Chapter 4: Black-Hearted, Two-Faced Little Maid

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Black-Hearted, Two-Faced Little Maid

"Caius jumped into the lake on his own."

[Caius’s Favorability has decreased.]

"To save a girl."

[Caius’s Favorability has decreased.]

"I saw it with my own eyes."

[Caius’s Favorability has decreased.]

The three consecutive system notifications rang in Lilia’s ears like a deadly curse.

Lilia turned her head and saw Caius standing not far away.

She smiled at him, a very beautiful smile.

Seeing her smiling face, Caius’s expression darkened even further. When he used to look at her, his eyes had always seemed to reflect the stars. But at this very moment, that suppressed joy had long since vanished, replaced by a thicker, far darker emotion: disgust.

Seeing her son’s reaction, the Countess was not surprised in the least; instead, she chuckled softly.

She put on a show of reprimanding the maids and ordered them to escort the young master back to his room to rest. But when Caius refused to leave, the Countess didn’t force the issue.

The tall woman walked up to Lilia and slowly crouched down. She reached out. Her fingernails were painted with dark red polish, which perfectly accentuated her fair, slender, and well-maintained right hand.

The Countess cupped Lilia’s cheeks. The girl’s skin was delicate and soft, like fluffy cotton or pristine white clouds in the sky. She caressed it fondly, unable to bear pulling away.

Lilia tilted her head up into the woman’s touch, her eyes sparkling.

The Countess smiled. "What a clever little girl."

Scheming and vain, she was easy to manipulate. At the same time, she knew her place and clearly understood who she needed to please to survive here.

"I like you very much, Lili," the Countess said softly. "Would you be willing to stay by Caius’s side and be his personal maid?"

Lilia’s voice was crisp. "If I become his personal maid, can I go to Lien Royal Magic Academy?"

The Countess couldn’t help but laugh. "You want to attend Lien Academy?"

"Mhm!" The girl nodded, her expression earnest. "The Priest at the church said I’ve met the minimum enrollment qualifications, but to study there, I need a letter of recommendation from a Noble."

So that was it. The Countess understood. It was quite adorable.

Meeting only the minimum enrollment qualifications meant Lilia’s talent was merely average, though still rare for a small town like Ernst. Moreover, the Countess didn’t need a Magic genius; she needed a helper who could stay by Caius’s side and monitor his every move.

The Countess patted Lilia’s head. "Become a member of the Beaumont family, and you can study wherever you want."

Lilia smiled. That was exactly what she wanted.

The two quickly reached an agreement.

Just as Caius had said, the term at Lien Academy was about to begin, and the Beaumont family would be returning to the Capital Taronia in a few days.

Since Lilia had agreed to be Caius’s "maid," she naturally had to go back with them. For a very long time in the future... no, it was more likely that she would never return to Ernst.

This meant she would never see her parents again.

The Countess had overlooked this point, and Lilia didn’t care much about it either.

[You did not go home tonight. Under Lady Beaumont’s arrangement, you moved into the room next to Caius.]

[Your Morality: -5]

Lilia: "?"

Intentionally pushing Betty into the water earlier had already docked her 5 Morality points, and now it was happening again?

She pulled up her character panel. The glaring "-10" next to Morality looked a bit eye-piercing.

After pondering for a moment, Lilia finally remembered she wasn’t some orphan without parents. Bypassing them to arbitrarily agree to stay in a Noble’s house as a maid did indeed seem a bit immoral. But Lilia was only doing this so she could attend a better school. She believed her parents would understand her choice.

The game *Holy Sanctuary* had a very high degree of freedom and many branching storylines. Even with the same identity and starting point, a high or low Morality Level would greatly influence the subsequent developments.

Lilia had understood one truth since childhood: whether someone was extremely good or extremely bad, they would leave a lasting impression. Only the mediocre were forgotten.

Since her Morality was already in the negatives, there was no need to grind it back to a positive value. She might as well take the "innocent-looking villainess" route for this playthrough.

At this thought, Lilia paused her movement to get up and comfortably lay back down on the bed with complete peace of mind. She had originally planned to go downstairs and find the older maid she had just met to pass a message about her situation to the Sifris couple. However, since she had decided to take the villainess route, this patchwork fix was no longer necessary.

She focused entirely on thinking about her future.

The term at Lien Academy was about to begin. Once they arrived in the Capital Taronia, aside from acting as Lady Beaumont’s spy, Lilia had to accomplish two things.

First, the different starting scenarios in *Holy Sanctuary* were independent of one another but could still mutually influence each other. For example, the talents that refreshed at the start of each playthrough were related to the skills the player had mastered in previous games. Additionally, the longer and more frequently one played, the higher the probability of rolling high attributes at the start.

To make her next playthrough a bit easier so she wouldn’t have to spend so much time rerolling her starting stats, she had better become a top scholar—after all, studying was the only thing she was currently good at, and the only skill she could master with a C+ Magic Talent. This way, the randomized talent Level in her next starting scenario would be higher.

Second, unlike other text-based games on the market, *Holy Sanctuary* offered no way to save in the early stages. Only when a character’s Level rose would it be possible to obtain rare save items. Therefore, every starting scenario with high attributes was extremely precious.

Lilia hated walking away empty-handed. In this playthrough, she had to achieve at least one special ending.

According to the settings of *Holy Sanctuary*, every romanceable character possessed a main storyline, and Favorability was a necessary condition to unlock it. Thus, if Lilia wanted to reach a special ending, she had to actively romance the characters. However, the only romanceable character she could currently interact with was Caius, whose Favorability toward her was likely in the negatives.

Moreover, it was incredibly difficult to raise his Favorability.

Fortunately, *Holy Sanctuary* had many romanceable characters, so Lilia’s options weren’t limited to just Caius. It didn’t matter if progress dragged on this end. As one of the main stages for the story, Lien Academy would undoubtedly provide her with new targets.

[A week passed by in a flash.]

[The day of departure quickly arrived.]

[During this week, you lived well in the Beaumont family—better than ever before.]

[Your biological parents spoiled you and wished they could offer you the very best things they could get their hands on, but there was an inherent chasm between commoners and Nobles. Items seen everywhere in the Earl’s mansion were things you might have spent your entire past life unable to obtain.]

[Every night, you went to see Lady Beaumont to report Caius’s every word and deed.]

[Caius couldn’t stand the sight of you, but every butler and servant besides him had already fallen for your charm. You remembered everyone’s names and validated their worth. Clever, empathetic, and resembling a sweet little dumpling—no one could possibly dislike such a little girl.]

[Under the banner of the Countess, you made them willingly become your spies and helpers.]