Once we finished our business with Camellia-san, it was time to track down Lilie-san. Apparently, she was rarely at the castle, spending the bulk of her time in the Great Forest surrounding Yugfressia instead.
Fortunately, her location wasn't that far away. After teleporting to the entrance of the Great Forest, we walked for about fifteen minutes through a landscape of lush, vibrant greenery until we reached our destination.
The path leading here had been well-maintained and easy to traverse, but the site itself was truly stunning. It was a plaza with a stone altar at its center, bathed in light like a sun-drenched clearing. The atmosphere was both bright and mystical, feeling very much like a hidden sanctuary tucked away in the heart of the woods.
"This is a place known as the Forest Sanctuary. It’s frequently used for various ceremonies, which is why Lilie-san spends so much of her time here," Alice explained.
"It’s a beautiful spot... though it’s surprisingly deserted."
"Technically, this is considered Lilie-san’s private workspace. There’s a tacit understanding that no one approaches this area unless they’re one of Lilie-san's direct subordinates."
"I see."
Following Alice toward the center of the plaza, I spotted Lilie-san’s back as she stood before the altar. Framed by the massive stone structure and the cascading light, she looked incredibly picturesque—almost like a scene from a fairy tale.
"...Hello there, Miyama Kaito-san. And Shaltier-sama."
"Hello, Lilie-san."
"Hey! I’ve come by on a bit of personal business today."
"Shaltier-sama’s business? My... I wonder what that could be?"
Lilie-san turned to greet us as we approached, and I returned the gesture. However, their brief exchange gave me pause.
Since Lilie-san could read the surface consciousness of others, she usually didn't need to ask why someone was there. These "What brings you here?" conversations shouldn't have been necessary. Was she unable to read the mind of someone as powerful as Alice, one of the Six Kings?
"...No, it is true that someone of Shaltier-sama’s caliber could easily block me from reading her surface consciousness... but Shaltier-sama uses a different method to mask her thoughts," Lilie-san noted.
"A different method?" I asked.
Judging by her response to my own thoughts, it seemed Alice wasn't just putting up a wall. She was doing something else entirely.
"Whenever Shaltier-sama deals with me, she typically creates a 'false surface consciousness' to feed me fabricated information," Lilie-san explained.
"Wait, really, Alice?"
"Well, it’s a pretty standard countermeasure against mind-readers. Think of it like a layer of fake thoughts covering your true intentions. For opponents like Shallow Vernal-sama, who can see much deeper, I use a different trick where I split my consciousness into tens of thousands of simultaneous paths. That way, even if she reads me, she can’t tell which one is the truth... things like that."
The fact that she could explain such an absurd feat so casually was a reminder of how formidable she really was. When it came to information warfare and mental interference, Alice was easily the most dangerous person I knew.
"...Sometimes she creates a false consciousness that is obviously a lie, like she’s doing right now. Other times, she crafts one so convincing that I can’t tell the difference," Lilie-san added with a sigh.
"Wait, what kind of joke thought are you projecting this time?"
"Oh, she’s projecting some obvious nonsense about how the peerage-class system is being restructured to include a 'Maid-class' above the Duke-class, and that I’m being promoted to the Duke-class as part of the adjustment..."
"...Actually, Lilie-san. I hate to break it to you, but that’s all true."
I realized what Alice was doing. She was making the truth look like a prank by projecting it through a "false" consciousness.
Lilie-san blinked, her expression blank as she tilted her head in confusion.
"...E-err? The truth? My? No, but according to what I’m reading from Miyama Kaito-san’s surface thoughts, it really is... U-uuuh? I-is it just because I’m a sheltered girl? Is being a maid actually a peerage rank?"
That was a perfectly reasonable reaction. Honestly, that was how any sane person would respond. I had just been around that maid theorist so much that my common sense had been warped; Lilie-san was the one being normal here.
"...I understand why you don't want to believe it. I don't want to accept it either... but it’s a fact. The Maid-class was created to sit above the Duke-class," Alice said.
"...Um, Shaltier-sama? I apologize for all the questions, but... why 'Maid-class'?"
"Because it was the only thing that would satisfy Ein-san."
"Ein-sama? I-is that so?"
Something about Lilie-san’s reaction felt slightly off. She didn't seem to be following Alice’s logic at all. To me, the explanation was perfectly clear. Then it clicked.
"...Lilie-san, have you not talked to Ein-san very much?"
"Talked to her? I’ve barely even seen her a handful of times. Ein-sama almost never appears in public. She doesn't even show up for official events during the Hero Festival, so opportunities to meet her are virtually non-existent. I believe Camellia and a few others are on friendly terms with her, though..."
Come to think of it, Bacchus-san had said something similar when he ran into her—that meeting her was a rare occurrence since she so seldom appeared on the public stage.
Now that I thought about it, Ein-san hadn't been visible during the Six Kings Festival or the White God Festival either. She seemed to prefer working entirely behind the scenes, focusing on logistics and support.
"Kaito-san is right. Very few people have actually met Ein-san," Alice chimed in. "Even if someone visits Kuro-san’s castle, Funf-san is usually the one who greets them. Besides, most visitors to the castle are there as personal guests of the family, so the person who invited them handles the visit. There’s almost no reason for Ein-san to ever step out."
"I see. So my experience isn't the norm..."
"Exactly. To put it bluntly, the only reason Ein-san—the de facto leader of Kuro-san’s camp—comes out to handle things personally so often is because she’s dealing with you, Kaito-san."
It made sense. While everyone knew her name, Ein-san was essentially a phantom to anyone outside of Kuro's Family or the maid circles.
I had just assumed everyone saw her as often as I did, so hearing the reality of the situation was quite a shock.
Serious-senpai: "...Now that he mentions it, she really didn't show her face during the Six Kings Festival, the White God Festival, or even the Harmonic Symphony. Her obsession with maid theory is so loud it leaves a massive impression, but if you look at the actual scenes, she really is strictly a background player who only pops up when Kuro calls for her..."