Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book

“What do you think about the 4^th Prince’s Palace?”

“Well, it’s good. It’s a good place.”

She grabbed my chin and looked at me from an angle. Nevertheless, because of her height, I still had to tilt my gaze upwards.

“Since she’s a templar, it’s a good place for people for me to live in.”

Lené paused for a bit before continuing.

“Are you okay? In more ways than just one?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I missed the timing to say this earlier but I fell on my own.”

I clasped my cheek and laughed.

They kept thinking that someone had hit me so, I had to correct them. I wasn’t comfortable with my sweet and thoughtful maids being known as some bullies.

“… You don’t have to hide it from us. Regardless, bullying such a young child is the worst. Such sadistic behaviour can be reported to the administration in the Central Palace. You can be moved to another palace.”

Her blue eyes fixed onto me as if she was gauging my reaction.

“It’s not too late to help, right?”

“It’s not that. I’m really okay. Really. No one is bullying me.”

I gave her a sullen face but my eyes remained sweet. I smiled as brightly as I could.

“Thank you. For caring about me.”

Avoiding her gaze would be the worst thing I could do now. The girl paused for a beat before replying slowly and vaguely, “If you say so.”

“The 6^th and 7^th Prince often visit the Princess’ Palace.”

“Ah, so I’ve heard. The two princes really adore her, don’t they?”

“Yeah, so they say.”

I lowered my voice and whispered.

“What about the 4^th Prince’s Palace? Do other Princes come to visit?”

“They do.”

“Who?”

Then, her replies that have been flowing steadily disappeared as if they have been cut off.

“Lené?”

She flinched. She glanced to the side with her eyes were fixed on the floor. Her blue eyes seemed to be teeming with secrets that were about to burst forth.

“The 2^nd Prince. And… That person.”

“That person?”

Seeing her stiffen, I fell into confusion.

Was she scared? Scared of what?

Lené spoke without looking at me.

“… Don’t try to find out. I’m telling you this for your sake.”

Lené answered briefly before shutting her mouth again.

That person? It’s not like she couldn’t say their name.

But seeing Lené so frightened, I could easily guess the reason.

It’s Castor.

Only a tyrant could warrant such a reaction. What if, his personality when he becomes the Emperor is the same as that of when he was the Crown Prince? Since his surroundings wouldn’t have changed that much.

I’m talking about how he killed people.

I was going to bring it up but was tuned out by Nancy’s sudden screams.

“Kyack. Asha, step on it!”

When I raised my head, I saw Nancy with her arms outstretched and crying.

She came running towards us before hiding behind Lené. Meanwhile, Asha pulled a long face before pouring away the laundry. Then, she raised her head.

“Ah! That’s right. I saw the Duke of Develo yesterday.”

“Oh my. Oh my! What a surprise! Sir Hernandez? Does he really have snow-white hair just like the rumours? Was his skin fair? What about his eyes? His nose? His height? Is he really that big?”

“I don’t know. I only saw him from afar. I only saw that he was with His Highness, the 2^nd Prince. I guess I could speak about his beauty all night long.”

“Are you talking about the 2^nd Prince again? Are you serious? Do you only see him in your eyes?”

“Sigh (sfx) listen to yourself. I’m telling you he could smile so sweetly at a lowly maid. I almost left my heart there, you know?”

“A—sha. What I want to hear about is the Duke of the rumours!”

“Hmph. You mean the Duke who’s living in the Crown Prince’s Palace? How could I know anything.”

“Oh my, oh my. Look at this girl. Are you trying to show off that you are Her Majesty, the Empress’ Lady-in-Waiting? If you were left alone for even a little while, you would be coveting the Crown Princess’ position!”

Asha snorted as if to show that she didn’t find it funny.

“So, what about that man you like so much, Hernandez? Wasn’t he rumoured to like men? So, wouldn’t it be better than to covet for the Duchess’ position?”

“What? No, he’s not? That rumour is completely false. What nonsense are you spouting! I’m telling you that’s not true! Are you done talking?”

“No, I don’t think I can. Kyack. Are you trying to use force with me?”

“Stop it, the both of you. Do you have any thoughts on finishing the laundry today?”

In the end, their fight only ended after Moana forced them apart.

“Hurry and rinse them. Let’s go back!”

Moana called Lené. Then, when Lené got up and raised her hand, a column of water rose along with her. Five pairs of hands, including my own, gathered to the basket now filled with water. We rinsed the sheets side by side.

In the meantime, Nancy and Asha continued to fight over who was more handsome which reminded me of how idol fandoms would fight in my previous life.

The 2^nd Prince and Hernandez knew how to fight.

‘I mean, they were considered one of the most beautiful men in the original story.’

I looked at the now dazzling white sheets before asking the question I had been wondering about all this while.

“What kind of person is the Crown Prince?”

Just then, the 4 pairs of eyes widened at the same time.

‘Oh?’

In such a lively scene where I could hear loud sounds of laughter in the background, it felt like only this spot was being hidden behind curtains. It felt as if we were going to hold a yoga lesson*.

*T/N: She means to say its hella quiet there.

It felt like I was in a dream where I could tell it was a dream.

This is strange. Was the question that surprising? The supporting characters like Hernandez and the 2^nd Prince could be so comfortably discussed but when it came to the main character, Castor, their lips were all shut. I had never expected one to come but this was a far cry from a good answer.

While I remained confused about what was wrong, Nancy stepped forward determinedly.

“Since it looked like no one has told you anything yet, I’ll tell you just this once.”

The hands grabbing my shoulders were firm. I could easily see the fear that laid deep within the eyes in front of me. I could also see her pupils violently shaking. She looked at me strangely as if I had three eyes. Following suit, I also stiffened and looked back at her. Even I could sense the fear behind her eyes and the air around us seemed to freeze.

“If you wish to live, you must never speak his name.”

Her gloomy voice reminded me of the warning in the fairytale ‘The Blue Beard’s Mansion’. ‘You should never enter that room’ but the taboos in such fairytales were always broken by some courageous and reckless hero^[1].

“His ears are everywhere. He hates it even if his name was only laying on your lips.”

Thinking about it, I could only feel that they were only overreacting. It felt as if there was something more fundamentally substantial behind this than a simple rumour. What did they know?

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

I turned my eyes to the side as far as I can go. Nancy seemed to have thought that she had given me enough of a warning as she walked over to the laundry line with the sheets.

Looking at the back of my sheets, I licked my lips. The laundry was done and the maids at the laundry site were taking back what they had brought one by one.

‘This is not enough.’

I was perplexed. I came here to solve a problem but I only ended more confused. I think I had another question. I wondered if this was what I would feel if I had gone to an amusement park but was met with closed gates at the entrance. I came out to catch the demon king but I didn’t even manage to see the guards at the gate.

The tyrant is not an emperor but he is still a crown prince. If he was to run wild now without reason, the 2^nd Prince could turn the situation around. He was that powerful of a rival.

The wind blew. As the scent of fragrant quilts wafted in the air, the hem of my long skirt fluttered.

<The 4^th Prince’s Palace is often visited by the other Princes…>

The clothes I had taken from Anna were rugged and light. But this dress gave me a hard-earned opportunity. An opportunity to find the answer. It would be such a waste to miss it right now.

“Anne, if it’s alright with you, would you like to eat lunch with us?”

So, I nodded without hesitation at Nancy’s words.

“Alright.”

The sun was right overhead. The day was not over yet.

“Wait here for a while.”

Nancy left me at the entrance and disappeared with Lené and the sheets. Moana and Asha left first, saying that they had to stop by their own palaces first. Left alone, I made shade for myself with my hands as I raised my head.

It was certainly a good day.

The outer walls of the 4^th Prince’s Palace were painted completely in white, as all the palaces situated in the west were. However, the only difference is that the outer wall was surrounded by vines. The whole palace looked like a giant plant. I could only let out a gasp of admiration at the beautiful palace where even its shadows were green.

When I was younger, in the summer, the local cottages in the mountains looked like mysterious castles in the forest as they were wrapped in sweet potato plants. Now, I was looking at the building I had been imagining at a larger scale. There was a sense of grandeur in the dream-like building. Is this how I would have felt if I had seen the Louvre in my previous life?

“Look at this. Hey, what are you doing here?”

Whilst I was admiring, appreciating, and adoring the building, thanking the world for showing me this image, someone grabbed me roughly by the shoulder.

“You! You’re a probationary maid, right?”

When I looked up in amazement, I saw a classy old lady. Her forehead was filled with wrinkles, making her look very intimidating. What could be the matter? Could outsiders just walk in like this? That seemed to be more important to me. Let’s deal with my head aching first*.

*T/N: because the old lady was staring very hard.

“Yes? Ah, yes. I am but…”

“Follow me!”

“Yes?!”

She walked in the lead without giving me a moment to answer. When I didn’t follow, I was forced to after seeing her stern expression.

Since I wasn’t actually a kitchen maid, it’s going to be hard to come up with excuses. But the clothes I was wearing were that of a probationary maid.

But after a few minutes, I already regretted the decision I made to follow her. Wait, what is this?

“All you have to do today is to bring this to His Precious Body. It was supposed to be someone else’s turn but we are short of hands currently. No, I don’t know why it seems like they are taking turns to be sick! Sigh… Anyways, all you have to do is to follow me with this.”

“W-where are we going?”

Wow. Look at her expression. As if to say ‘How could you not know?’, the old lady crumpled her forehead.

“The Prince’s chambers.”

… What?

1. 1. I Had A Friendly Brother

Wait. Wait a minute. Pardon? The old lady replied so perfectly, I almost turned it on her and asked her again. Where? Whose room? There was no answer.

I was taken aback as my gaze alternated between the old lady and the plate she was holding. Since this was the 4^th Prince’s Terret Palace, of course, I should be one of his maids.

After taking a closer look, I realised that the old lady was wearing clothes that of a maid’s. So, this was the Head Maid of the Terret’s Palace. The so-called boss of the maids. Unfortunately, as I was dressed in such rugged clothes, I had no way of going against her orders.

“Follow me.”

As we turned a corner, I was dumbfounded. I could only copy her behaviour while I followed her down the long hallway. Then, I greeted the knight, which I did not have in my palace, who was guarding the first floor of the palace.

Wait. Isn’t this an opportunity? I was originally going to try to match the facts that I knew with the current reality of this place at the laundry site. If I was right, this could be a big opportunity.

I pondered for a bit. No, but could I do this? Being a maid was a job and I was definitely dressed up for it. This visitation to the 4^th Prince felt like they were ordering a new recruit to lead an important meeting in the company.

Damn it. The mistakes of a newcomer should be the responsibility of their superiors. However, even if I shouted, it was a complaint that would never reach their ears.

I closed my eyes and tried to sort the things I knew about the 4^th Prince.

The 4^th Prince, Amor. He was a man close to the 2^nd Prince and they had a relationship akin to that of a tug-of-war.

That may be able to help me in this damned situation.

T/N:

[1]: A tale about bluebeard who left the keys to all the rooms in his mansion to his wife. He explicitly told her not to open one of them. Of course, the wife refuses to listen and found the room to contain the dead bodies of the his previous wives. Bluebeard found out and tried to kill her too but she was saved ;P