Chapter 1079: Betty and Enya

The room fell into a long, heavy silence.

Several minutes later, Betty’s soft gasp suddenly broke the stillness. “Wow!!”

Startled, she stared wide-eyed at the enormous golden egg before her, clearly at a loss. Yet, she seemed to realize she should say something to ease the awkward tension. After a long pause and much thought, she finally whispered, “Hello, Enya… ma’am?”

“Hello, Miss Betty.” The egg’s voice returned—polite, low, and tinged with a magnetic warmth that was surprisingly pleasant to hear.

“You… you can talk?!” Betty’s slow-witted mind gradually caught up. Perhaps because she was naturally a bit slow on the uptake, she accepted the bizarre reality of a talking egg with surprising ease. She even began to converse with the pale golden “egg.” “So, you can see me too?”

“Of course. Though my ‘seeing’ might not be what you understand as seeing,” Enya’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “I’ve been watching you, little one, ever since a few days ago—since you first came here to care for me.”

Betty blinked, both amazed and confused. “Oh, really? Then why didn’t you speak before?”

“Because I only gained the ability to speak today,” the golden egg replied gently. “And it will take me longer to do other things… I’m slowly waking from a long slumber. It’s a gradual process.”

Betty thought for a moment and honestly shook her head. “I don’t really get it.”

“Ha ha, that’s normal. You don’t know who I am, nor my story,” the egg laughed, genuinely amused. “You’re an interesting girl… You seem a little scared?”

“It’s my first time seeing a talking egg…” Betty nodded cautiously, keeping her distance. She was nervous, though unsure if it was truly fear. Since the egg said so, she supposed it was. “And it’s so big—almost as tall as Mr. Light or my master. When my master asked me to take care of you, he never mentioned you could talk.”

“Your master…?” Enya seemed to ponder, her voice occasionally drifting and slow, as if still groggy from sleep. “Who is your master? Where is this place?”

Betty considered it. Since Enya was a guest, there was no need to hide the truth. She nodded. “My master is His Majesty, King Gawain Cecil. This is his palace—I’m Betty, the head maid here.”

“Gawain Cecil? So I’ve come to the human world? That’s…” The egg’s voice faltered, clearly surprised. Then a trace of helpless, amused laughter crept in. “So they sent me here too… unexpected, but maybe not a bad decision.”

Betty blinked, listening to a gigantic egg muttering to itself. She still couldn’t grasp what was happening or understand the egg’s murmurs, but she at least caught that Enya’s arrival was accidental. Suddenly, she remembered what she should do. “Ah, I’ll go tell Lady Hetty! The egg in the incubation chamber has awakened!”

She turned to leave, but the egg called out, “No, wait—don’t tell anyone else just yet.”

“Huh?” Betty stopped, puzzled. “Not tell anyone else?”

“No need to rush,” Enya said softly. “I haven’t enjoyed such quiet for a very long time. I want to remain undisturbed for a while longer.”

“Well…” Betty looked at the pale golden shell cautiously, as if trying to read Enya’s expression from its surface. “Do you want me to leave? You can be alone for a bit…”

“That’s not necessary,” the egg’s voice brimmed with laughter. “You’re not noisy, and having someone to talk to isn’t so bad. Just don’t tell the others for now.”

“Oh,” Betty nodded, half understanding. Then, unable to resist, she scrutinized the egg’s surface, as if searching for where the voice came from. After a moment, she blurted out, “Um… Enya ma’am, do you live inside this shell? Do you want to come out for some fresh air?”

Enya’s voice fell silent for a moment. Though the shell showed no expression, a strong sense of confusion and unease seemed to seep from its faint surface patterns. After a few awkward seconds, she finally spoke: “Come… out? No, I can’t come out, little one. This is how I am now. You might think this is just an egg, but it’s actually a vessel—a physical form that embodies humanity itself. I need this shape to solidify and gradually transform my humanity, to achieve… no, never mind. You probably wouldn’t understand. In short, this is my current form.”

Betty listened, stunned, as an egg explained such complex ideas. After piecing it together with great effort, she nodded firmly. “I get it. You haven’t hatched yet.”

“…”

Seeing no response, Betty grew nervous and asked carefully, “Enya ma’am?”

“It’s nothing. I’m just… unsure how to respond. In some ways, your conclusion isn’t wrong, but… never mind,” Enya said with a hint of helplessness. The faint golden glow on the shell, which had slowed, gradually returned to normal. “By the way, where is your master now? I haven’t sensed his presence.”

“He’s out,” Betty said. “He’s attending to something important—meeting with some bigwigs to discuss the future of this world.”

“Discussing the future of this world?” Enya’s voice sounded thoughtful. “Looks like this world finally has a future… that’s good.”

As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to remember something and asked curiously, “Little one, what are those glowing runes around us for? They seem to maintain a stable energy field. Is this… some kind of seal? But I don’t feel any sense of confinement.”

Betty looked at the shimmering runes and smiled. “Those are incubation runes!”

“Incubation… wait, you just said this is an incubation chamber?” Enya’s tone rose in surprise and disbelief. “Are you… trying to hatch me?”

“Yes,” Betty nodded eagerly. “It’s been a few days already! And it’s working—you can talk now…”

The room fell silent again, the golden egg sinking into an eerie stillness. Even slow-witted Betty began to feel uneasy. Then, suddenly, a burst of laughter erupted from the egg—joyful to the extreme, almost cathartic.

“Ha… ha ha… ha ha ha!!”

The laughter went on for a long time. An egg, of course, doesn’t need to catch its breath, so the laughter didn’t pause. Only after several minutes did it finally subside. A somewhat startled Betty cautiously spoke up, “Enya ma’am, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I just never expected your approach… Listen, little one, I’m not talking because I’m about to hatch. And you won’t hatch me this way, either. I don’t need incubation—I need to transform myself. You… never mind,” Enya’s voice started with a chuckle but ended in resignation. If she had hands, she might have rubbed her forehead—though she had neither hands nor a forehead now, so she could only sigh helplessly. “I don’t think I can explain it clearly to you. You actually want to hatch me… that’s just…”

She seemed on the verge of laughing again but held back. Betty, meanwhile, lightly patted her chest, relieved. “You scared me just now, Enya ma’am. You laughed so hard I was worried you’d crack open…”

Enya: “…??”

The next moment, uncontrollable laughter echoed through the room once more.

Fortunately, this time it didn’t last as long. Less than a minute later, Enya stopped, seemingly having experienced an unimaginable joy—or perhaps, after so many long years, she was feeling happiness by her own free will for the first time. Then she turned her attention back to the somewhat dazed maid, noticing Betty had grown nervous again—clutching the sides of her dress, looking flustered.

“Enya ma’am, did I say something wrong? I always say the wrong things…”

“No, you said nothing wrong. I should be more mindful of my emotions—they’re no longer restrained by my thoughts… though that has nothing to do with ‘cracking open,’” Enya said with lingering amusement. “You’re really interesting, child. No one’s ever dared speak to me like this before, but it’s truly fascinating… Is this strange way of thinking influenced by your equally interesting master?”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Betty scratched her head. “But my master has taught me a lot.”

“What has he taught you?” Enya asked, intrigued.

“Spelling, math, history, some basics about how society works… though I don’t really understand that part. Oh, and mysticism and ‘logical thinking’—everyone needs logical thinking, that’s what my master says.”

“…That does sound very interesting,” Enya’s tone shifted slightly. “Would you tell me more? About what your master teaches you? And if you have time, I’d like to hear about this world—what you know of it, what everything looks like.”

“Of course! I’ve finished my work for today and was wondering what to do with my evening,” Betty said happily. Then, as if remembering something, she hurried toward the door. “Ah, if we’re going to chat, I have to prepare some tea and snacks—please wait a moment!”

This time, Enya didn’t have a chance to stop the energetic, somewhat single-minded girl. Before she could say a word, Betty was already dashing out of the “incubation chamber,” leaving the golden egg quietly resting on its pedestal in the center of the room.

“…Truly fascinating.”

A voice murmured to itself in the room.

Fortunately, as a skilled head maid, Betty didn’t take long.

She rushed out, quickly prepared tea and snacks, and soon returned carrying a large tray. Two soldiers standing guard outside looked on in confusion at the maid’s inexplicable flurry of activity. They wanted to ask what was going on but never found the chance—by the time they realized, Betty had already dashed back inside the heavy doors, tray in hand, and even remembered to close the door behind her.

Outside, the two soldiers exchanged glances. Inside, Betty and Enya faced each other once more.

The incubation chamber was bare of any usual household furnishings. Betty set the large tray down on the floor beside her, then picked up her favorite big teapot. Blinking, she stared at the golden giant egg before her, suddenly feeling a bit lost.

…This kind of confusion felt strangely familiar.

No mouth.

Enya was caught in a similar haze of bewilderment, but as the one involved, her confusion was tinged with a mix of amused embarrassment—though oddly, this awkwardness didn’t upset her at all. On the contrary, this string of absurd and helpless situations brought her a great deal of joy and delight.

“It seems like you can’t drink tea either…” Betty tilted her head, unaware of what Enya was thinking. “Just like Mr. Egg…”

“Oh? There’s another ‘person’ here like me?” Enya said with some surprise, then a hint of regret. “Well, no matter. Looks like your kindness is going to go to waste.”

“Mr. Egg is an ‘egg’ too, but he’s made of metal, and he can float around,” Betty said thoughtfully, then hesitated before offering a suggestion. “How about I pour some for you to try?”

Enya found herself struggling to keep up with this human girl’s train of thought. “Pour some?”

“Just pour it right onto your eggshell…” Betty seemed to realize how odd that sounded and stuck out her tongue. “Ah, just pretend I’m joking. You’re not a potted plant or anything…”

“No, you should try it.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, you should try,” Enya’s voice was filled with genuine curiosity. “It sounds like it could be interesting—I’m very eager to try anything I haven’t experienced before.”

Betty stood there, stunned for a moment, then lifted the heavy teapot and took a step forward. She looked down at the teapot, then back up at the giant egg. “So… I’m really going to try it?”

“Go ahead. I’m curious too—how I perceive the world now.”

…

Outside the heavy door inlaid with brass runes, two elite royal guards stood watch, keeping an eye on the room’s activity. But the layers of wards and the door’s own soundproofing blocked all attempts at eavesdropping; they couldn’t hear a thing.

A long silence stretched on until one royal guard finally broke it. “What do you think Miss Betty was doing, suddenly bringing in tea and snacks just now?”

The other shrugged casually. “Maybe she was just hungry and wanted a little midnight snack.”

“I don’t think so—Miss Betty’s pretty disciplined at night. Even if she wants to eat, she usually goes to the kitchen.”

“Then I don’t know. She’s the head maid, the highest-ranking female official in the inner court. She doesn’t have to report this kind of thing to us,” the guard shrugged again. “Can’t be watering that huge egg, right?”

“…That’s true.”

Silence fell outside the door.

Half a minute later, the two guards muttered in unison, “You know, I’m not so sure about that.”

(End of chapter)