Chapter 260 – Side Story 9 – The Ladies of the Domain (1)

In the so-called Knight’s Domain, there were three wives of the lord.

A daughter of the Divine Tree, a woman from another world known as the “long-eared tribe,” a mage so great that even imperial court magicians bowed their heads, and even a mysterious priestess of an unknown god.

They were as remarkable as the lord himself, who was rumored to have once been a hero.

Perhaps because they were so busy, these women were rarely seen in the domain, but unlike the fearsome lord, the people of the domain liked and respected the lord’s wives.

News spread throughout the castle that the lord’s wives had returned after a long absence.

The staff and servants working in the castle bustled about, preparing to welcome the ladies of the house.

And, unusually, the one directing all these people was not the head butler, but the domain’s mage.

“Is the cleaning of the inner chambers finished?”

“Yes!”

“How about the meal preparations?”

“The meals for the first and third ladies are also ready.”

“They are both considerate people, but if things aren’t properly prepared, you’ll be held responsible.”

“Understood. I’ll check again.”

“And the baths…?”

Standing in the center of the first-floor lobby, checking off each item with the heads of staff before her, she looked less like the domain’s mage and more like the head butler or chief maid of the castle.

“Good. Then, everyone return to your posts and get to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Irene, the domain mage, waved her hand to dismiss the supervisors and called for the next group.

Those waiting on the side quickly ran up to her—except for one, all were maids who cared for the lord’s children.

The one exception was Vlad, who had recently become an attendant.

Vlad didn’t understand why he was standing with them.

He was indeed Selena’s attendant, but the maid next to him was the senior maid serving Selena.

It seemed the other maids were in the same position.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason for a newcomer like him to be here.

But since the order had come, he had no choice but to obey.

Irene, the domain mage, swept her cold gaze over the maids and began questioning them one by one.

The first was the maid in charge of the eldest son.

“How is the young master?”

“No issues. Yesterday, he finished his studies as usual and attended to domain affairs. Today, he’s cleared his schedule and is looking forward to seeing the ladies.”

The lord’s eldest child was the son of Lady Zahina, the daughter of the Divine Tree.

He was famous as the first child born from the union of an Ea native and a Divine Tree’s child, and was already designated as the heir to the domain.

Vlad had never met him, but from what he’d heard, he was an exemplary heir.

Satisfied with the answer, Irene turned to the next person—not the maid in charge of the second child, Selena, but the one for the third daughter.

“How is the youngest lady?”

“She stayed up late watching videos last night, so she seemed a bit tired this morning, but after her morning prayers, she was fine.”

Videos.

Vlad now knew what that meant: devices from another world, not magic, but showing sound and images like magic.

At the maid’s answer, Irene’s eyebrow twitched.

“She used divine power, I see. Let me know if it happens again.”

“Yes…”

Her cold words were followed by the maid’s wilted reply.

Next, Irene looked at the maid in charge of Selena.

“And the second, Lady Selena?”

The maid answered calmly, just like the others.

“She still struggles during the day and mostly stays in her room. She’s been reading and studying magic.”

A normal, uneventful answer.

Seeing Irene nod, Vlad thought the questioning was over, but unfortunately, Irene had one more question.

She looked at Vlad and asked,

“Is there anything to report about Lady Selena?”

Vlad snapped to attention at the mage’s question.

‘Is this a test?’

Maybe it was just a routine question, but for him, it was as good as a test.

He didn’t have much time to think.

‘If she’s asking me again, it means there’s something I should say. Something only I know about Selena, not the maids. There’s only one thing, and it’s not a secret, right?’

Having decided, Vlad carefully spoke.

“The lady has been going out every night, late into the early morning, with Sir Seowoo and me, clearing undead around the domain.”

Vlad figured this much was safe to say.

The maids didn’t seem surprised, so they must have known.

But he thought there was no reason to call him here just for that, so he added one more thing.

“Since I arrived, the lady has dealt with two elite undead.”

“Gasp!”

“Really?”

Before he finished, exclamations came from the maids.

Glancing sideways, he saw all the maids looking at him in surprise.

But Irene’s expression didn’t change.

“I see.”

She just nodded.

‘Did I pass?’

Vlad breathed a sigh of relief inside.

If he’d said something wrong, the mage’s expression would have changed.

After that commotion, after lunch, Vlad was summoned to Selena’s room.

He was now used to the door of the lady’s reception room.

Standing before it, he took a deep breath.

It was an ordinary door, but it didn’t feel that way.

A sense of danger so strong it made his fingertips tingle radiated from inside.

It was a fear he’d never felt before.

‘Even the lord’s office wasn’t this bad…’

Of course, the lord usually hid his presence, so Vlad hadn’t noticed, but he didn’t know that.

‘I just want to run away…’

But he couldn’t.

He knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“It’s Vlad.”

“Come in.”

Selena’s voice came, and he carefully opened the door.

The sense of danger grew even stronger.

Biting his lip, Vlad stepped inside, one step at a time.

He glanced up.

As expected, there were others in the room besides Selena—three women as beautiful as the lady herself, sitting together on the sofa.

A woman in mage’s robes, a black-haired woman, and a long-eared woman who was clearly a child of the Divine Tree.

All looked a few years older than Selena, but Vlad knew at a glance who they were.

They were the lord’s wives, the ladies of the domain.

As soon as he saw them, Vlad bowed deeply and introduced himself.

“Greetings. I am Vlad, who recently became an attendant.”

Thanks to his training, he managed a proper greeting even in this nerve-wracking situation.

“He’s well-mannered. Didn’t he just join recently?”

He couldn’t look up, but the speaker seemed to be the black-haired woman, the third wife who used divine power.

“Yes. He’s smart and diligent, so he learns quickly.”

Selena answered immediately.

“Hey, that’s cheating, defending him from the start.”

The third wife laughed, and Vlad sensed her reaching out toward him.

“But first, let’s check, shall we?”

With those words, a wave of energy spread from her.

A sudden sense of danger made Vlad want to step back, but he forced himself to stay still.

Whoosh.

A gentle energy swept through his body.

He felt pain deep inside, but at the same time, his fatigue vanished and he felt comfortable.

‘Is this divine power?’

But Vlad couldn’t understand.

He’d never responded to divine power before.

Priests’ healing never worked on him, and holy water was useless, yet now he could feel divine power.

The pain was strange, but even stranger was that divine power worked on him at all.

As he wondered, another gentle energy washed over him.

This time, it came from the beautiful, long-eared wife—a slightly different divine power.

This time, pain was followed by his wounds healing.

Surprised, he looked at his hands, and the third wife spoke again.

“He accepts divine power well, so he’s not a monster.”

Vlad was about to relax, but the long-eared wife tilted her head.

“But he doesn’t seem like an ordinary person either. The effect of divine power seems reversed.”

At her words, the third wife’s eyes widened.

“Huh, you’re right. The effect of your divine power and mine are opposite.”

The first wife, calm and composed, continued.

“And his senses are unusual. He sensed us from outside the door, and just now, he felt the divine power moving and tried to react.”

“Really? I didn’t sense any mana, though.”

The third wife shrugged and spoke to the mage, the second wife beside her.

“In any case, the divine power check is done. He’s unusual, but he’s not a monster or undead.”

The mage, the second wife, nodded and spoke to Vlad.

“Vlad, was it? Look up.”

Unlike the other two, the mage spoke like a proper noble.

Vlad immediately looked up.

She gazed at him intently, then said,

“Don’t do anything, just stay still.”

Magic circles appeared around Vlad, and he was subjected to all sorts of magical checks.

“No mind control, no corrupted mana, no other magic on him… Magically, he’s fine.”

After a while, the mage spoke, and Selena leaned forward eagerly.

“Then! There’s no problem, right?”

“…I suppose so.”

The third wife answered reluctantly, and Selena threw up her hands.

“Great! Then I can go to another dimension too, right?”

At Selena’s sudden words, Vlad couldn’t help but look at her.

Another dimension? What was she talking about?

He was a spy sent to investigate this domain.

And now, suddenly, another dimension?

This was something he had never even imagined.