A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 70: True Name

Because of that, Sasha knew just how precious things like vacation time, staff benefits, and decent wages truly were.

In fact, she and most of the remaining staff were only hanging in there thanks to those very perks.

‘...Well, the occasional ghost story-level horror aside.’

As she gave a small shiver, thinking of the main culprit behind the estate’s high turnover rate, something caught her eye.

“...Huh?”

“What was that?”

“Should we go inside and check...?”

“...?”

Sasha blinked as she spotted a group of unfamiliar maids gathered right in front of the bathroom near the office—maids she didn’t recognize despite knowing nearly everyone on staff.

“Excuse me...”

“Eep!”

“Wh-Who are you?”

As Sasha walked over with a puzzled look, the startled maids jumped and turned toward her.

“I’m Sasha, the young master’s personal maid!”

“Aah...”

“And who are you all? I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before...”

The moment Sasha answered brightly and returned the question, the maids exchanged subtle glances—before responding as if on cue.

“W-We’re newly hired maids.”

“We were dispatched from the Holy Kingdom to assist the Hero.”

“Ah, I see! So you’re new hires!”

It all felt a bit rehearsed, but Sasha simply assumed these were her replacements and grinned without suspicion.

“Hm? But why is that one wearing a strange shackle on her leg?”

“Ah, well...”

That was when Sasha’s eyes landed on the silent one among them—who stood out not just for her silence, but also for the crude restraint clamped around her ankle.

“...You filthy human.”

Suddenly, that quiet maid’s expression twisted, and she growled with an openly hostile voice.

“Lower your gaze, you lowly creature.”

“...Huh?”

“You dare look directly at me, you—”

“—Mmph!”

The other two flinched in panic and quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, putting on strained smiles as they scrambled to explain.

“H-Haha, she just has a rough way of speaking! Sorry about that!”

“Yeah, she’s a friend of ours. She’s always been like that...”

Sasha blinked, baffled, but soon brushed it off with a lighthearted chuckle.

“Well, she’ll learn real quick once she meets the young master... Ah.”

Then she flinched, glancing nervously around before suddenly changing the subject.

“S-So... why are you all gathered in front of the bathroom? The office is in the opposite direction.”

“Ah, well...”

After exchanging more silent looks, the maids shifted their gazes to the bathroom and replied.

“We heard someone screaming in there, all of a sudden...”

“And there’s... kind of this weird, eerie energy coming from inside too...”

“...!”

Sasha’s face went pale in an instant.

“Shh! Keep your voices down!”

“Wha—?”

“Don’t make any noise, and quietly leave the area. I-I’ll handle this...”

She was about to usher the confused maids away from the corridor with a tight, worried whisper—

–Creeeeak...

“Ah.”

Of all moments... the bathroom door opened with an ominous creak.

“......”

A thick silence settled over the hallway.

“Hi-Hicc!”

And just as expected, Sasha spotted Whitney stepping out with Parsha in his arms—unconscious, with bloodied shoulders exposed—and began hiccupping as she backed away in fear.

“Well... this is awkward timing.”

Whitney smiled gently as he addressed her.

“...Sasha. Who are these people?”

“T-They s-s-said they were new maids sent by the Holy Kingdom...”

Her eyes darted downward as fast as humanly possible, her whole body trembling as Whitney’s icy voice passed over her.

“Ah, I see...”

“......”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“But I only requested one person—Raphaelle. Strange, that...”

With a quiet, casual step forward, Whitney passed Sasha and gazed coldly upon the ‘new’ maids, who had also turned as pale as sheets.

“So... what exactly are you doing here?”

“W-We volunteered...”

“I-It was our dream to serve the Hero...”

Once again, their responses came in perfect sync, as if pre-rehearsed.

“Haha. Maids these days... can wield divine power now?”

“T-That’s because we were specially trained to—t-to support the Hero, so we...”

And just like that, Whitney’s smile vanished.

“Could it be... you were dispatched from the Holy Knight Order to monitor me?”

Whitney’s sharp remark struck dead-on.

The maids—no longer even trying to hide the tension—began sweating cold bullets, all of them falling silent.

“...Why no answer?”

And right as Whitney’s expression grew even colder, a terrifying pressure rolled off him, causing the ‘maids’ to involuntarily take a step back.

“Haha... Everyone, I’m just kidding. Just a joke.”

Then, suddenly bursting into laughter, Whitney waved his hand dismissively, retracting the ominous aura.

“The Holy Kingdom’s got to be in the middle of a manpower crisis. Surely they wouldn’t waste valuable assets to monitor a well-behaved Hero like me by dressing them up as maids, right?”

“......”

“Well, my house is also quite understaffed at the moment. So I’ll be hiring you all.”

With a gentle smile, he made his declaration, and the tense maids finally relaxed, each of them letting out shaky breaths of relief.

“Normally I’d have you sign a contract, but... as you can see, our head butler’s not exactly in working condition.”

“Um, Master...”

“I’ll make sure your wages are paid properly, so start work today. I’m counting on you all.”

Sasha had tried to say something with a voice barely above a whisper, but it didn’t quite reach Whitney’s ears.

“Sasha, the bathroom’s gotten a little messy. I’d appreciate it if you could clean it together with our new staff.”

“...Eek. Y-Yes, sir!”

Still avoiding eye contact and looking like she might cry, Sasha nodded hurriedly.

“And you... come with me.”

“Tch...”

“...You won’t be able to disobey me anyway. Don’t waste your strength.”

Turning to the one maid still wearing that strange restraint, Whitney gestured with his chin and walked off with her in tow.

“He did it again... brought in another personal maid.”

“First it was Lady Luniel... now it’s her...”

“Shhh, quiet! He might hear you.”

Of course, some of the servants had crept down the hall, peeking around the corner to whisper—but they quickly vanished again when Whitney’s shadow passed.

Still, the veteran staff who’d long since learned how to survive in this place quickly filed it away as just another day in the madhouse.

“H-Hiiieeek...!”

“Wh-What the heck...?!”

...However, the new maid from the Holy Kingdom—the one with suspiciously callused hands—would never forget what she saw that day.

“T-The bathroom... Why is there blood everywhere...?”

“I-I can feel dark mana in here...”

The bathroom Sasha led them into, still trembling herself, was practically a crime scene. Blood—no, fluid—everywhere.

“...That’s paint.”

And then Sasha, standing in front of them, spoke with complete seriousness.

“It’s not blood. It’s paint.”

“B-But no matter how you look at it—”

“Everyone. I’m only going to say this once.”

Sweeping her eyes over the whispering newcomers, Sasha straightened up and spoke in a tone colder than ice.

“No matter what happens in this mansion... we know nothing.”

“......”

“Curiosity is a sin in this house. Understand?”

Just moments ago, Sasha had been trembling like a kitten. But her sudden intensity carried more weight than a thug’s threat.

“S-So, uh... shall we clean up this... paint...?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

“R-Right away!”

No surprise, then, that these newcomers—clearly used to obeying orders—snapped to attention under her command.

It was the perfect demonstration of Sasha’s growing reputation in the backstreets’ information guilds: the silent enforcer of the Lingaard estate, the all-seeing watcher, and one of Whitney’s closest allies.

“...I still haven’t gotten my vacation form signed...”

“Just like the rumors said... she really is a bloodless, tearless watchdog...”

“Shhh. Don’t say that out loud.”

Thankfully, Sasha had grown so used to cleaning blood off floors that the lack of a vacation signature upset her more than the trauma scene itself—so she didn’t bother being offended by the rumors anymore.

***

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

“Haaah...”

Back in the mansion, Whitney let out a long sigh.

He had laid the unconscious Parsha on a bed after she collapsed mid-treatment, and now sat on a chair nearby, resting his chin on his hand.

“...There’s no way I can show this to anyone. This is bad.”

He wanted to call in a doctor to check her condition—but the ominous mark of dark mana on her shoulder made that option... complicated.

It was different from the symbol that had formed with his mana back at the Academy.

Which meant—this one must’ve been there from long ago.

Just as Alfred’s letter had warned—it likely came from her time as a subject of experimentation.

‘To think Parsha’s a clone of the Shadow Leader herself... That’s a hell of a twist.’

Now the story was moving far beyond anything he remembered from the game.

It was official: the plot was diverging. Reality and fiction were no longer the same.

He wanted to ask Parsha more... but she’d need time. Time to mentally prepare herself.

“...Hey. You filthy human.”

Unfortunately, he had another immediate issue to deal with.

“Take off these disgraceful clothes right now and kneel before me.”

“......”

“Swear fealty, and I may grant you a place as my loyal servant for the rebirth of the Demon King.”

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, arms folded, oozing arrogance, was none other than the Greater Demon he had recently acquired.

“...You still don’t seem to understand your situation.”

Yes, the invitations from both Lumen Ordo and the Shadow Council were important.

But this demon had the potential to cause the most chaos if left unchecked.

“You’re the one who doesn’t get it.”

“Hmph.”

“If you think you can bind me with some sloppy contract and this pathetic restraint—then you’ve made a grave miscalculation—!”

Of course, if Whitney hadn’t been confident he could manage her, he never would’ve gone through with summoning a demon maid in the first place.

“Rifaelius Mortem Infernus.”

“—HIIIIK!?”

Even if things had gotten slightly off track, his past-life memories were still proving very useful.

“...Y-You...!”

“Ahaha...”

“How do you know my true name...?!”

...Though, come to think of it, maybe he should actually start worrying about being mistaken for the Demon King.