♛
Ellex, who didn’t care what I thought of him, gently let go of the hand he was holding.
“I’m going to go back now.”
After greeting me, Ellex turned his back without hearing my answer.
“Ah, next time you come! Come in disguise.”
I urgently shouted at the back of Ellex, who was moving farther away.
There was no reply from him, but I just hoped that he would come in disguise the next time, please.
♛
Time went by quickly…
I thought I would be tired of the boring prison life, but my unemployed life suited me well. I was forced to eat one meal a day, but except for that part, it was perfect.
Even if I do nothing or stand still, I get food anyway. Even now, I’ve just finished eating and stretched like a sloth.
‘The meat came out after a while, so I ate more than usual.’
Today’s menu is Beef Stew and Bacon Pasta! It was a very luxurious meal compared to the simple food I had on the first day.
Makia looked at me with very pitiful eyes as I ate in a hurry like a beggar. Although I was a little depressed because her feelings were sympathetic, she still kept her poker face.
‘But I’m glad that I got to know Makia a little bit.’
As we chatted during the meal every day, Makia’s brief reply gradually grew longer.
It’s a boring topic such as favorite food, color, and hobby. She seemed to hate sweet things, but surprisingly, I thought Makia, who likes chocolate, was cute, but I heard faint footsteps from a distance.
I’m sure they wouldn’t have let anyone see me, but why are there so many visitors in my prison? I raised my tired body and straightened my posture.
“How have you been?”
“What’s going on here?”
The unimaginable entity was Erica. With a high-pitched smile, she approached the prison.
“I want to make a deal with you. You must be hungry since you starved for 5 days, right?
No, I’m almost bloated because I just ate too much. But, unaware of it, Erica showed the food on her tray, and she spoke timidly.
“If you tell me what I want, I’ll give you the food that I brought and ask Stella to get you out of prison.”
“I don’t know what you want, but that’s okay.”
Now I just need to wait for two days and Grandiel will be back. On top of that, the food on Erica’s tray was hard bread and lean soup.
‘If it had been a dessert, I would have been a little shaken up.’
Dessert after a full meal gives you the greatest feeling of happiness! Well, of course, it can’t be dessert.
“It won’t be a bad deal. Just let me know what you talked about with Ellex. I’ll keep it a secret from Stella.”
“You’re going to keep it a secret from the princess?”
“Yes. I promise.”
You’re not going to tell Stella? It was even more suspicious. I peeked at Erica to find out what she was up to.
“Why are you so curious about it?”
“It’s a personal interest.”
“Does Erica like the Duke too?”
“You don’t have the right to ask questions. Just answer if you accept or decline my transaction.”
People would think that she was on the Empress’ side. I clicked my tongue inwardly and shook my head.
“If it’s about the conversation I had with the Duke, I have nothing more to say.”
“You must have had a conversation that was too important to say.”
“No. That’s all I said that day. If you can’t believe it, ask the Duke yourself.”
There was nothing to lose because I had already talked to Elex.
‘So, I lied confidently.’
“That’s nonsense. The Duke hates you.”
The conversation ran parallel. No, Erica seemed to have no intention of listening to me in the first place. I took a deep breath and complained as if frustrated.
“It’s unfair for me, too. I ended up in prison for telling the truth.”
“Stop telling lies. Isn’t it strange even if you think about it? The fact that he was with the Crown Prince and asked you, not him.”
“It could have been burdensome to ask the Crown Prince for a favor. As Erica said, I don’t know why the Duke asked me. I just said everything I knew.”
“You’re going to lie until the end. You don’t seem to know your situation yet, so I’ll come back next time.”
Erica, who was staring at me, jerked back without hearing my answer. I was lost in thought in the prison where Erica left and stillness remained.
‘What are you aiming for?’
There were many unnatural things about Erica’s sudden visit.
If her goal was to find out what I talked about with Ellex, it’s more effective to torture me than to imprison me and wait until I reach my limit.
An ordinary person who’s not properly trained has no choice but to become helpless to the terrible pain.
‘Come to think of it, I’m really glad I wasn’t tortured. ‘
There was a possibility that Grandiel would save me, but he might also not. As long as it doesn’t affect my life, I can’t come forward, or I may wait and see if I kept the contract properly.
‘It’s better to go to a peaceful prison.’
I set aside what didn’t happen and thought of another strange part.
Not telling Stella.
At first glance, it’s easy to think that it was to distract me, but I couldn’t understand. Erica is Stella’s exclusive maid. If she asks, of course, it’ll go into Stella’s ear.
No matter how naive a person is, no one would believe it. But Erica was adamant as if she would never say it.
She could be acting, but it seemed to me that she had other conspiracies.
‘I don’t know what’s inside of that other plan.’
Mayerie took a long breath.
I wonder why this keeps happening to me.
♛
I tossed and turned all night thinking about Erica’s purpose, but I did not come up with a good answer. Prison has a limited space anyway, so it’s advantageous to do what I can.
‘Let’s put aside complicated thoughts and rest when we can!’
The moment I vowed to do my best for the rest of the day, footsteps echoed through the silent prison again.
It was morning, so it wasn’t Makia. It hasn’t been a week, so it won’t be Grandiel or Radiata. I looked forward thinking it would be better if it wasn’t for Stella or Erica, but it was Rendle who appeared.
“Sister, you’re released.”
“What?”
Why? It hasn’t even been a week yet! Rendle, who came out of nowhere, brought news that I was not at all happy.
The time to leave the prison was earlier than expected.
While I was bewildered by the unexpected news, Rendle, who was looking at me, said, “It looks like you got a good rest while I was having a hard time.”
“Huh? Never mind. Haha, life in prison was hard.” ᴹᵃʸᵉʳᶦᵉ
He was very prickly, but I smiled awkwardly and denied what he said. However, Rendle was utterly unconvinced.
“If you lie with a face like that, no one will believe you. It’s fine because the maid seems to have kept her promise.”
Rendle, who sighed deeply, opened the cage. His tone was sharp, but there was a faint concern in it. No matter what, Rendle was affectionate.
“Are you worried?” ᴹᵃʸᵉʳᶦᵉ
“I didn’t do much.”
He strode ahead, answering in a blunt voice. If you didn’t do much, it means you did a little bit. I secretly swallowed laughter while watching my younger brother’s cute appearance.
“Hurry up!”
“Yes, I’ll be there!”
I took a step at Rendle’s urging. After being in a narrow prison for a week, no, it’s just six days, I suddenly tried to move, so my legs didn’t have enough strength.
I climbed the stairs slowly, leaning against the wall so as not to stumble.
‘Physical strength also needs stamina, but I want to wash first.’
Being in prison, washing was impossible. I didn’t complain much because I had to be grateful just for having a private toilet, but I also had a great desire to wash up.
“Ah…”
As I climbed the stairs, I was blinded by the bright light even though I was inside the building. The prison was also a semi-basement, so some sunlight came in, but it was different.
While leaving the annex and moving to Royal Palace, I enjoyed the refreshing wind.
I feel like I need to eat tofu for some reason! While walking while breathing in the clean air, I suddenly became anxious and asked Rendle.
“Do I look so fine? What would the Princess say?”
“You don’t have to worry because you’re not going to the Princess right now.”
“Then where are we going?”
No reply returned.
Since the distance between the palace and the annex was close, we had already arrived. Rendle glanced at me and opened the entrance door and entered. A maid was waiting in the lobby.
“Your face… looks good.”
The maid’s face looked bad. Dark circles hung long, and her eyelids sank completely. Somehow, it seemed that the maid had been to prison instead of me.
I didn’t see any other maids who had always been with me. I thought it was strange, but I simply greeted it without expressing it.
The maid nodded slightly to my greetings and then spoke, “After that, I will explain briefly.”
She said that yesterday, suddenly, a document with the imperial seal came down.
The content is Stella Palace’s budget reduction. Then she had no choice but to reduce the maids in her palace, so she was forced to send the extra maids to the main palace.
“Right now, the only maids in the palace are you, Daphne, Erica, and the new maid named Radiata.”
Stella accepted it. Originally, budget adjustments are made quarterly. It was unusual to cut the budget out of the blue like this.
That’s why I thought that Stella with strong pride would insist on not doing it, but seeing that the palace was quiet, it must have been accepted without much resistance.
‘It must have been Grandiel who cut the budget.’
I don’t know why Grandiel used the seal that the Emperor should have, but it wasn’t unusual because the Crown Prince could use his right as the Emperor’s representative.
He already took it once when he wrote my letter of recommendation. I wondered what the relationship between the Emperor and the Prince was, but that wasn’t what was important now.
What bothered me more than that was the maid’s quarters.
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