Chapter 41

I spoke to Alice.

“I need to wash up.”

“Should I bring you a wet towel?”

“No, I’ll use the bathroom.”

“Understood.”

Alice quickly ran off to prepare the bath. And somehow, she got the water temperature absolutely perfect.

‘What did she even put in the water?’

It smelled sweet, like milk, but felt light and silky on my skin, almost like floating in a cloud. The way the water wrapped around me was softer and smoother than silk.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ୨ৎ ໒꒱ ‧₊ ୧‿︵

After the perfect bath, I got the full royal treatment. Alice massaged my face and body until they practically glowed, using lotions and oils.

‘If Alice ever insists a spoon is a witch’s broomstick again, maybe I’ll just play along…’

“There we go, our young lady is looking more beautiful than ever today.”

“Absolutely!”

“Even when Emma did a terrible job getting you ready, you were still gorgeous, but now you’re truly dazzling.”

Emma had always aimed to make me look shabby.

But Alice…

“Our lady’s beauty deserves to be known across the world—by dogs, sea bass, plankton, hehe, even you, little plankton, you’ll be blown away…”

‘…She’s totally a B-rate maid.’

The other maids giggled and hurried to cover Alice, telling me not to mind her nonsense.

‘Now that I think about it, the maids’ attitudes have completely changed.’

Before, just like Alice in the beginning, they used to flinch and tremble whenever they saw me. Any time I secretly visited the servants’ quarters, I could always hear them badmouthing me behind my back. But now, they were openly smiling and wearing friendly expressions. They were even standing around debating, right in front of me, about ‘what kind of accessories would suit our young lady best.’

“Are you no longer afraid of me?”

The maids, who had been fussing with hairpins, jumped in surprise.

“W-Were we being too loud?”

“We’re so sorry, my lady!”

I replied with a calm expression.

“No, I actually like hearing you chat. It sounds like birds singing.”

“Oh my…”

“Oh my goodness…”

“Huuk…!”

The maids all turned pink. (Of course, the one who clutched her chest and muttered, “The young lady’s cuteness is going to be the death of me…” was Alice.) The other maids giggled and exchanged sheepish looks.

“Now that Emma’s gone, it feels like we finally get to see the real you, my lady.”

“The real me?”

“Emma used to run into the waiting room crying about how you’d whipped her, and she’d point out servants she didn’t like, claiming you hated them and getting them kicked out.”

“She really did whatever she pleased, huh.”

“That’s why I honestly thought there wasn’t a bigger psycho than you, my lady… Hup.”

The maid who had been talking quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.

“So now that Emma’s gone, the misunderstanding’s been cleared up?”

“That’s a big part of it. But there’s something else too…”

“Something else?”

“You just brushed off our mistake earlier, didn’t you? What other noble lady would just let it go like that?”

Honestly, I had only hurried the conversation because I wanted an answer quickly.

‘I was just trying to figure out how to leave a good impression on people.’

The truth was, Mikarin’s a genius at that kind of thing, so much better at it than I could ever be. And on top of that, I had the disadvantage of a reputation already scraping rock bottom. I just wanted to understand why the maids had become so friendly toward me, so I could maybe get others to do the same.

“Alice told us.”

“…Alice?”

“She said if we ever got a little too excited and stepped out of line, you’d just pretend not to notice.”

“….”

“And that you always brew extra tea, because you know the servants drink whatever’s left.”

“….”

“After hearing that, we couldn’t help but start liking you, my lady.”

Another maid chimed in, “Yeah, me too.”

I opened my mouth.

“How shallow of you.”

“O-Of course! We know servants aren’t supposed to have likes or dislikes when it comes to their masters. We’ve always been loyal, it’s just that…!”

In an instant, the atmosphere changed. The maids were panicking with cold sweat on their foreheads. Even Alice looked flustered as she sneaked glances at me.

I picked up the plate of treats that had been set out for me on the cart and then placed it neatly on the vanity.

“If a bit of tea was enough to make you like me, just wait until you try these fig financiers.”

“T-That’s not—no, what we meant was…!”

“Shallow.”

The maids visibly paled.

And then, smiling sweetly, I pushed the plate of fig financiers toward them.

“You fit perfectly with a crazy troublemaker like me.”

“….!”

“….!”

“….!”

The maids’ eyes grew wide. But not long after, they cried out, “My lady~!” and whimpered tearfully.

“If you tease us like that, our hearts won’t be able to take it. Even handing us fancy desserts like this—munch, munch…”

“Who would’ve thought you were such a trickster. Really, the more we get to know you, munch, munch…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘I think I’m finally starting to figure out how to win people’s hearts.’

Yeah. Considering my public reputation right now, it made sense. Mikarin’s way up at the top. And I was stuck way down at the bottom. The thing about being at the bottom was that the only way to go was up. Meanwhile, from the top, there was nowhere to go but down.

‘And it would be even better if I had someone loyal enough to spin my actions into flattering stories and spread them around for me.’

I watched the maids making a fuss over the financiers, squealing, ‘What is this? How is it so good?’ and ‘Don’t talk, you’ll waste the crumbs!’

I smiled softly as I watched them.

“Ah, all living things, bear witness to our young lady’s magnificence…”

Alice ignored them.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ୨ৎ ໒꒱ ‧₊ ୧‿︵

Imperial Palace.

Akain strode down the hallway, his face twisted in irritation.

“First Empress, Second Empress, Third Empress… At this rate, I’ll have met every empress under the sun.”

“….”

“Why not just grab some random noblewoman and get married? Then maybe the empresses would stop sending suitors left and right, trying to tie their families to Delosif.”

Today’s trip was, once again, because one of the empresses was targeting a marriage alliance with Zerno.

The Second Empress had used her father, the Grand General, to make it happen. The Grand General had formally requested urgent help from Delosif, claiming there was a problem with the capital’s barrier. For Delosif, who acted as the imperial family’s sword, it was an excuse they couldn’t turn down.

“And now I’m getting dragged into this mess too.”

The reason Akain had been summoned along with Zerno was that, since Zerno wouldn’t budge, they decided to target him instead.

“I’m not about to be the backup chicken you settle for instead of the prize pheasant, brother.”

“Are you even worthy of being called a chicken?”

“If I marry into one of the empresses’ families, you’ll be dealing with assassins every single day.”

Their goal was the Grand Duchy of Delosif. They were trying to get rid of Zerno and push Akain into becoming the Grand Duke instead.

“Yeah, real scary.”

“Tch, with Nike maybe waking up soon, should I really be the one getting dragged out here?”

“Why not?”

“Because she’ll want to see me.”

Zerno let out a short laugh.

“Why would she want to see you?”

“Don’t you remember? When she said, ‘I want to go home…’ the first name she called was mine.”

“I’ve told you over and over not to jump to absurd conclusions from trivial things.”

Akain’s face crumpled.

But only for a second because he quickly scoffed with a ‘heh.’

“When Nike called my name four times and only said yours once, doesn’t that make me the winner?”

“Listening to you spout nonsense makes me think you can handle the next training mission. Go to the North and find your sanity.”

“You’re so petty…!”

Akain was just about to shout when—

“There you are, brothers.”

Akain’s expression immediately turned icy as he glanced over his shoulder.

“What are you doing at the palace… Cleas Orsen?”

Cleas smiled politely.

“I was accompanying my father for an audience with His Majesty when I happened to hear the two of you were here. I thought I should stop by and say hello.”

‘Two-faced bastard.’

Cleas Orsen was someone Akain could never stand.

He was as slippery and cunning as a snake. And when Nikaearsha had insisted on getting engaged to Cleas, it just made her seem even more hopelessly naive.

“Have you been well?”