episode_0144

“Your Highness…”

The Princess’s proposal itself was truly sweet, but that’s why I couldn’t understand her intentions and story at all.

Why would she offer me such a generous proposal?

Why would she make such a dangerous choice that could ruin her reputation?

“Why?”

“I’m really sorry, but I don’t understand anything Your Highness is saying, from beginning to end.”

“What part?”

“……”

Thanks to the Princess tilting her head and widening her eyes as if she genuinely didn’t understand, I felt breathless.

In my life, my Young Master is enough as someone who reacts as if he genuinely doesn’t know the generally accepted common sense.

I looked at Sera with pleading eyes.

Please help me, please guide your blind master to the right path.

“……”

However, Sera mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ and then turned her head towards the window, avoiding my gaze.

If that person had done her job properly, this wouldn’t have happened, and although I didn’t believe it in the first place, I felt a deep sense of betrayal that she wasn’t even pretending to stop her.

Even though Sera and I have different statuses, I thought there would be some kind of bond between people serving the same master…

“Hehe~ Just kidding.”

As I trembled with betrayal and humiliation, the Princess chuckled lightly.

“I know very well that everything from beginning to end is an abnormal thought, it’s crazy for me to make a paramour, and to allow a paramour to someone of much lower status than me, right?”

“Yes…”

“But that’s all in normal cases.”

“Normal cases…? Isn’t making a paramour an abnormal situation in itself?”

“It’s more common than you think among nobles, about two or three out of ten pursue that abnormal secret meeting, it’s the dark side of arranged marriages where the interests of families are intertwined like tangled threads.”

“……”

It’s a truly terrible side that I can’t imagine in the world I’ve watched, mainly focusing on the Hume County family.

If my Young Master or Young Lord were to do such a thing, Madam would cut off their lineage herself.

“But, there’s no way my Young Master would do such a thing.”

“That’s right too, William would respect me to the end, and he would even act like a friend unless I do something wrong first, but Emily, didn’t you forget one important thing?”

“Yes?”

“You said you would step down willingly, but why do you think William would just let you go?”

“If I tell him directly, surely…”

“Are you sure?”

“Sure…”

I have to say I’m sure.

The actions my Young Master took towards me come to mind one by one, and I can’t speak.

The meaningful words he told me while giving me the necklace.

The arms that gently wrapped around my back without pushing me away when I jumped into his arms.

The way his expression and the corners of his lips relaxed whenever he met my eyes.

It would be foolish to think that he would let me go willingly after seeing these things.

Of course, since the other party is the Imperial Family, my Young Master will eventually step down, but I was certain that the process would not be smooth at all.

“That person, even in dangerous moments, always protected you, at the pre-party of the founding anniversary, and in the carriage a few days ago, he naturally put you behind him, it was so natural that I was jealous.”

As I moved my lips, unable to speak, the Princess pouted, mentioning past events.

“That’s, only because he was considerate of me as a woman…”

“Emily.”

I tried to downplay those events as nothing special, but as soon as she heard my words, the Princess frowned as if she was displeased, and raised her right hand as if to tell me to stop talking.

And she glared at me with a faint anger in her eyes, and said in a low voice.

“There’s a saying ‘ladies first’ in noble etiquette, but it’s only limited to ‘ladies,’ nobles aren’t very interested in the honor of commoners, even if the Hume County family is famous for being generous to their people, they don’t go so far as to confront other nobles, they would apologize in front, even if it’s a lie, saying they will manage their servants properly, but what did William do?”

“That’s…”

I naturally tremble as I picture the Young Master glaring at the noble who was slandering us.

The atmosphere was so fierce that I even stopped the Young Master because I was afraid of the aftermath.

“And how many people would bring a commoner maid to the banquet hall at that important event? He even gave her a hand-knitted dress and a necklace he gifted himself.”

The Princess touched the necklace around her neck, which looked almost identical to the one I received, and paused for a moment.

This time, envy and jealousy mixed in her eyes, and I could see the strength in the Princess’s chin.

“So, I hope you don’t try to fool yourself, you know very well that what William is doing to you is not simply directed at a capable servant, right?”

“Yes…”

I couldn’t say anything else and could only lower my head, deeply struck by the Princess’s words in the center of my chest.

I was denying it excessively, to the point where I thought it was ugly.

She must think it’s a deception.

I committed a severe rudeness under the excuse of wanting to help the two of you.

“You may think I’m just throwing things out lightly, but this is a conclusion that came after days of deliberation, you know?”

As I stared at the floor with a gloomy expression, the Princess began to explain the validity of her logical thought process in a voice mixed with resentment.

“Is that so…?”

“Of course, I can tell you about the basis for it.”

As I made a bewildered expression because I couldn’t believe that this result came after careful consideration, the Princess raised one corner of her lips and crossed her arms.

And she raised her right hand, held up one finger, and continued.

“If I remove you from William’s side as you thought, that would be a very foolish thing, I’m not a madman who wants to monopolize him while receiving his hatred.

Then should I create a fait accompli and isolate him? Should I put the shackles of guilt and responsibility on him? When I found out that he had no mana, I was tempted by that dark method, but I want a progressive William, not a dog tied up in shackles.”

“A fait accompli…?”

I was shocked by the way she said something so eerie so casually, so I raised my head sharply and looked at the Princess with wide eyes, but I couldn’t say anything and pursed my lips tightly at the Princess’s finger pointing at me.

“Then, should I just leave you alone? Actually, this isn’t a bad method, I’ll be able to see his good relationship with William and his progressive side, but I’ll have to live in constant anxiety, because of the possibility that you might secretly steal William.”

“I would never do such a thing!”

“Emily, you never know how the emotion of love will change people, who would have known that I, who didn’t even know who William was, would turn out like this?”

“Your Highness, isn’t that too much of a worry…”

“And you know what? All the scenarios where you are excluded and ignored make me feel bad because it looks like I’m taking your place, it’s like I’ve become a villain in a novel, of course… that’s not entirely wrong.”

“Haha… Hic…!”

I nodded my head without realizing it because it wasn’t that I hadn’t thought that at all.

I belatedly realized what crazy mistake I had made and stopped my head in a pale face, but since I couldn’t undo the movement I had already made, the Princess glared at me and twisted the corners of her lips downward.

“Shouldn’t you at least say no, even if it’s a lie, at times like that?”

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay… I have a conscience, what am I going to do with an apology for something like this?”

As I apologized to the sulking Princess by bowing my head as if I were about to slam it on the table, the Princess avoided my gaze, not hiding her discomfort, but also feeling a bit guilty.

“Anyway, unless I can cleanly erase you from William’s side without him noticing, I can’t remove you from William’s side, but I’m anxious if I just leave you alone, but if I give up a little of my pride and take you in, everyone can be happy.”

“Even if you embrace me with your wide generosity, isn’t there little difference from leaving me alone?”

Rather, it definitively allows me to reach out to Young Master.

Even the worst plan that causes problems for Her Highness’s reputation.

From my perspective, there’s nothing bad, but I couldn’t understand that it’s a happy choice from Her Highness’s perspective.

“It’s sad that I have to share William with you, but the big difference is that you and I can cooperate with a common goal, it means that instead of checking and suspecting each other, we can work together to completely conquer William.”

“Conquer Young Master?”

“Emily, how have we been so far? I don’t know how to approach William, so I can’t approach him recklessly, and you know how to approach William, but you can’t touch him because of your status.”

“That’s right…”

I nodded my head, revealing my uncomfortable feelings for the first time at the uncomfortable truth.

And I recalled the moments when I had to stay one step away and watch like an observer, even though I had been right next to him until now, and I could have grabbed him if I had just reached out my hand.

The moment I wake up Young Master in the morning.

The moment I greet Young Master in the evening.

The moment he showed a languid smile while shaking his wet hair after taking a bath…

Moments when my heart flutters and my chest aches, but I have to pretend to be calm and nonchalant.

“I can allow you to have the initiative that you can’t have because of the difference in status, you can directly touch William, who you’ve had to watch until now, and I can get from you the experience and knowledge about William that I don’t have.”

“Initiative…”

Does that mean that if I’m with the Princess, I don’t have to give up the many moments I’ve given up in my daily life?

Can I become Emily, who is no longer a kind and gentle maid, but expresses her affection for Young Master without holding back?

“If you and I can make a little concession, we can definitely have William.”

“……”

Two women sharing one man, it’s a crazy thought.

I know that this is like a devil’s whisper that is only sweet.

I know very well that it’s an unstable alliance with a high risk of collapse, and that it’s a morally wrong choice.

But.

As I watch the opportunities I had been giving up on slowly come back to life, I can’t help but listen to that whisper, even though I know I shouldn’t.

The saying that it’s okay just to be by his side was actually a lie.

I always wanted more than just being by his side.

I wanted to whisper in a sticky voice and feel the touch of skin, and share each other’s body temperature.

“I understand Her Highness’s words well enough now.”

“Then, what is your answer?”

I gently raised the corners of my lips.

“Ask me anything, if it’s something I know, I will answer anything.”

I am ready to work hard for the future Mistress.