episode_0115

“Your Highness the Princess, do you know what I brought?”

Late at night.

Even though the nobles who openly harbored ulterior motives had quieted down due to His Majesty’s fierce reaction, I was feeling weary from the ongoing confrontation between His Majesty and the nobles.

As I was enjoying the silence while reading a book, Sera, who should have been dismissed from my side, appeared with a sly expression.

“Haa…”

I carefully closed the book and, looking at Sera, let out a sigh.

I didn’t know where to start pointing things out.

Scanning Sera with half-closed eyes, I resolved to point out the most annoying thing first and opened my mouth.

“Sera, haven’t I told you to call me ‘Miss’ when we’re alone instead of ‘Your Highness the Princess’? I don’t know how many times I’ve said this.”

“Your Highness, how many eyes are watching us in the Imperial Palace? Do you think I’m crazy enough to do that?”

“Tsk…”

It didn’t bother me when other people called me “Your Highness,” but strangely, I felt bad when Sera said the word “Your Highness.”

I didn’t know if I should call it goosebumps or awkwardness.

I just couldn’t accept Sera using extreme honorifics with me, physiologically.

If it was just a matter of awkwardness, I could just bear with it and wait until I got used to it, but seeing that thing, who was stubbornly shouting “Your Highness” while spouting platitudes and then smirking at my displeasure, made my anger boil over.

“Ugh! That’s not important right now, so let’s talk about it later. Anyway, do you know what I brought?”

Narrowing my eyes and glaring at her with obvious displeasure, Sera pouted and threw a light tantrum.

Ha, look at her.

Who would think that was the behavior of a maid who was watching her master’s mood?

Even a passing child would think she was a close confidante of the Princess.

“Don’t do anything weird and give it to me quickly.”

“Hmph~ Your Highness, don’t you have any consideration for your loyal maid? You only need to indulge me a little…”

“Sera, before consideration for you, wouldn’t it be rude of you to come at 11 PM and do something incomprehensible?”

“You can just consider it a minor mistake of an immature maid.”

“Haa~”

She was unusually persistent today.

What on earth did she get her hands on that made her smirk like that and be so eager to tease me?

“Okay, what important thing did you bring at this late hour?”

“Ohoho~”

“No less than Sir William, his letter has arrived at the Imperial Palace.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s…”

I was about to answer vaguely and move on, but one word grated on my ears.

“That William?”

“Yes, that William sent a letter, no less, just two days after getting out of prison.”

“……”

Why?

He’s not the kind of person who would meticulously send a personal letter himself.

But it couldn’t be that something happened at the atelier…

“… Bring it here right now.”

“Here you go.”

I snatched the letter from Sera and examined the envelope first.

“William Henry, Howard… Sera, doesn’t ‘Henry’ here look like ‘Handry’? Could it be someone else with a similar name?”

“Your Highness, I understand that you don’t believe it, but that’s too much of a stretch. Even if you look at it upside down, it looks like Henry.”

“… It’s real.”

“That’s why I came to deliver the letter at this late hour.”

That clueless man actually sent a letter.

I knew in my head that there wouldn’t be much content since the person who sent the letter was that man.

But my clueless heart kept lifting the corners of my mouth, clinging to a sliver of hope, recalling the heavy scent of perfume that William had subtly applied to the letter when he asked me to be his partner.

To suppress those raised corners of my mouth, I bit my lower lip slightly and carefully opened the envelope.

“……”

As expected, I didn’t smell any perfume.

‘That’s what I thought,’ I thought as I unfolded the letter.

The first thing I saw was William’s name and a few opening remarks.

This was a part that anyone would write stereotypically, so I skimmed it roughly and went straight down.

“Hmm…”

And until I passed 2/3 of the letter, stereotypical phrases continued.

The content was indeed a letter to a woman, but it seemed like I had seen it somewhere before, and it was just a string of common-sense inquiries, with no substance.

“That’s what I thought…”

And as soon as the trivial inquiries ended, the story about clothes appeared, and I completely gave up my expectations.

I called it expectations, but it wasn’t like I was hoping for something big.

I just wanted him to write at least a little about himself, or to be curious about what I was doing these days, just a little of the kind of story that close friends would tell each other, but in the end, the preceding thirty lines or more were just a waste of ink.

Because all this man wanted to talk about was about ten lines asking where the frilled headband should be worn on a Moin tribe maid.

“Haa…”

“You don’t look good, is there something strange written in it?”

“No, it’s a very man-like letter.”

I wanted Sera to read it too, so I handed the letter to Sera as it was unfolded.

Sera, who had received the letter with a curious expression and started reading it carefully, had an expression that gradually hardened as her head and eyes went down.

“Ahem…”

“How is it?”

“Weell, wouldn’t you say he tried hard…? Even if the main point is a little different, the fact that he wrote a letter like this…”

“The first part isn’t a letter, it’s a report. He wrote it because he learned that he had to write it that way, and he even wrote the latter part about clothes more sincerely.”

“Well, Your Highness and Sir William have a business relationship…”

“Do you want to die?”

“No.”

Sera’s words weren’t wrong, but I felt bad.

And it’s not just a business relationship.

We’ve been partners at banquets, so it’s a relationship that’s higher than an employee, and a little… no, much lower than a lover.

…

Even I felt that it was a little pathetic to think that way.

I shouldn’t be so petty.

“Haa…”

Still, if there was one thing to be comforted by, it was that he at least made a pretense of caring by writing stereotypical phrases.

At least he saw me as a woman with some friendship, not just as a subordinate or Her Highness the Princess.

Compared to a few weeks ago when I had to tell him to apply to be my partner, it was a good change, even a great improvement.

“Sera, I’m sorry, but please prepare some stationery. I don’t like it, but I have to reply.”

“Yes, what kind of stationery should I prepare?”

“Hmm…”

Should I be proactive, or should I just write a plain one this time…?

The deliberation didn’t last long.

It seemed that William had lost his sense of things while being away for so long, so I needed to remind him what stance I wanted William to take.

“The stationery should be cream-colored, the envelope should be decorated with a ribbon, and please use the perfume I usually use.”

“Yes.”

“Haa…”

I asked Sera for detailed items, leaned back in my chair, and sighed.

_

The reply from Elizabeth came really quickly.

I clearly sent it last night, but the reply arrived at lunchtime today.

I thought I would have to wait two days, but since the names of the Imperial Family and the Princess were written on it, the work of public institutions was a free pass.

Is this power?

I didn’t feel bad because I was receiving the benefits.

“Oh, citrus scent…?”

Moreover, the letter had a nice scent coming from it, and the envelope was decorated with a pretty ribbon, so I opened the letter with a pleasant feeling.

“……”

And very quickly, the good feeling plummeted to the bottom.

Unfortunately, the contents of the letter were not as beautiful as the appearance.

Because as soon as the greetings were over, a letter scolding me began.

The wording was gentleness itself, but the meaning contained within expressed that she was sulking in every single letter.

It seems like she didn’t like the contents of the letter, but I put in some pretty good phrases, asked how she was doing, and did everything, didn’t I?

“Hmm…”

I don’t really know what the problem is.

It’s not like I’ve ever written something like this before.

Even in my past life, my dating experience was limited to clearing 4 dating sim titles and a free ring vow in a mobile game.

There, even if you said strange things, the girls would giggle.

“Tch…”

I smacked my lips and quickly skipped over the criticism of my hopeless letter-writing skills.

I don’t know what I did wrong, but reading it will only complicate my head, so I’ll have to ask my mother or sister-in-law about it later.

“That’s a lot…”

One and a half of the two letters were about that.

The writing was so long that I was worried that it was a criticism of me from beginning to end, but at least she wrote the answer to the question at the end.

[A maid is a profession that acts like a shadow.

The ears, which are used as an organ for expressing emotions for the Moin tribe, should be covered as the correct way to wear a headband, but the relationship between employer and employee is also a social life and a relationship between individuals that cannot be ignored.

After friendship and trust have been built between the employer and the employee, it is possible to grant the maid some autonomy and special rights, so being able to freely position the headband can be one of those rights.]

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but admire the wordplay skills of a truly noble person.

It wasn’t just a matter of covering ‘pretty’ or ‘comfortable’, but they even brought in the background from the relationship between employer and employee to give meaning to the position of the headband.

The front is to clearly draw the line, and the back is to slightly blur the line and let them know that it is a trustworthy relationship.

These are the people who make things like drinking etiquette or dress code rules and turn them into etiquette and culture.

“Problem solved.”

This time, Marie was right that I had worked sloppily.

The very fact that I was defining an answer where there was no single correct answer was the height of ignorance.

While I desperately felt that I still needed to study, I started drawing a new design for the headband.