── That day, Roswaal L. Mathers' broken mansion quietly collapsed.
The first to notice the collapse was, the woman more than anyone else who desperately struggled to maintain it, because of that her manner could have been said to be vicious.
"────"
The master of the house, Roswaal, she had received from him a great benefit.
So hearing that the maid sisters who had taken care of the mansion no longer held their positions, knowing then that the owner had nobody to take care of him, she immediately rushed to his side.
The sight of that master who had become pale drove a great deal of pain in her chest.
Even those two suspiciously glinting, brimming with confidence, differently-colored pupils.
Which if said nicely could be called quirky but really were more weird. That perfectly sinister clown makeup, even that strange aesthetic which seemed like nails scratching to the senses of others, in all that having lost his light, that was Roswaal.
After receiving such a reunion with him – ─ ─ Frederica tightly grasped her hand into a fist.
"It cannot end like this. Even for the sake of those children, I-"
If she did not protect her position, if she chose that, then it would become even more desperate, was her thought. Not thinking of if something could be done, but rather focusing on hope and wanting to do something, for that reason she had started to act.
To raise the mansion once again, she moved, and even if she did not know how, with a hand seeking cooperation she would drag the master by the arm every day, busily running around.
There was in Frederica no thought to stop and fret.
Even sometimes feeling pain that might have slowed her feet, she always desperately lifted up her head and continued on.
If in this place I collapse, then I am – not worthy to gaze upon the faces of those precious to me.
Since some point, she had forgotten to laugh. Since some point, she had forgotten to spend the night resting correctly.
Even then, desperately, Frederica sought to protect the person she loved, to not let go of the bubbles spreading away on the water and to grasp them in her hands.
Even with that,
"─ ─ Ah"
When Frederica finally realized, it was already too late for everything in the mansion.
In that frozen white hallway, her world flipped upside-down as her shoes were frozen, she did not recognize where she was.
The sight of the once-familiar mansion had become distinctly different from what she knew.
The carefully-cleaned corridor, the kitchen where she had cooked, and where she had worked with her hands for those that needed her care, in front of her eyes had now become a clouded white world.
And as for who had done all this──,
"Great Spirit-sama …"
"Sorry, Frederica, you are not to blame. It is just that, if I would like to protect my most precious thing, then this is the best decision to make."
Saying this, showing its face and floating in the air, was a small cat with gray fur.
So tiny as to ride on the palm of a hand if desired, but in that small body holding definitive power, it was a portrait of that kind of being.
She did not want to believe. But now there was no reason to doubt.
There was the one who had changed the mansion to this white end.
"Why, do this …"
"I said it already, all my actions are for Lia. Lia leaving the forest, that act is what she wanted to do. For that girl's safety, I thought.. But there is no worth here anymore. It must have fallen to somewhere else."
"────"
"Roswaal was my mistake. That man is a pitiful criminal."
Shaking their head, Puck shot at her with voice devoid of any emotion.
At those words, Frederica stopped breathing. And with that their sharp fangs firmly closed shut.
"─ ─ The master of this house, insulting them to me, as a maid, it cannot be forgiven."
"You, too, are a pitiful child. It is just you that is desperate to protect this fallen place."
"Please stop talking as if you are referring to the past, it is not over yet."
She called sharply. Without having a chance, towards the great spirit
The sight of the once-familiar mansion had become distinctly different from what she knew.
The carefully-cleaned corridor, the kitchen where she had cooked, and where she had worked with her hands for those that needed her care, in front of her eyes had now become a clouded white world.
And as for who had done all this──,
"Great Spirit-sama …"
"Sorry, Frederica, you are not to blame. It is just that, if I would like to protect my most precious thing, then this is the best decision to make."
Saying this, showing its face and floating in the air, was a small cat with gray fur.
So tiny as to ride on the palm of a hand if desired, but in that small body holding definitive power, it was a portrait of that kind of being.
She did not want to believe. But now there was no reason to doubt.
There was the one who had changed the mansion to this white end.
"Why, do this …"
"I said it already, all my actions are for Lia. Lia leaving the forest, that act is what she wanted to do. For that girl's safety, I thought.. But there is no worth here anymore. It must have fallen to somewhere else."
"────"
"Roswaal was my mistake. That man is a pitiful criminal."
Shaking their head, Puck shot at her with voice devoid of any emotion.
At those words, Frederica stopped breathing. And with that their sharp fangs firmly closed shut.
"─ ─ The master of this house, insulting them to me, as a maid, it cannot be forgiven."
"You, too, are a pitiful child. It is just you that is desperate to protect this fallen place."
"Please stop talking as if you are referring to the past, it is not over yet."
She called sharply. Without having a chance, towards the great spirit.
Gazing in front of him at that Frederica and what she said, this kitten narrowed their round eyes and gazed with pity on their face. That movement and expression in an existence, which to some extent smelled like humanity, Frederica leaned forward and lowered her body at it.
"Emilia will be sad."
That one brief hesitation from the small great spirit might give her the win, this was what Frederica was hoping.
But,
"Unfortunately, since I am weak to Lia. I cannot move on from my child, you know. Because of that."
Even a moment's hesitation, some small opening, from that great spirit did not appear.
As the world of difference between her and Puck reflected in her eyes, she firmly grit her teeth.
Whether it was the beginnings of regret or grief, it was too late to to be felt.
Just a simple white breeze blew, and from that the woman named Frederica stood there frozen.
The collapse of Roswaal's mansion was beginning.