Chapter 14

Translator: wuttisyun

After the shower fell, the colour of the stones as well as the water looked clearer.

“Yeah. Even if she ran away from her God, she retained her powers and she’s using it like this now. Isn’t it such a waste to use it to just play?”

“Are you referring to the ones who serve the Gods?”

“That’s right, child. Though I don’t like the name they call them.”

The woman who we had been watching strode past us while telling us idly.

Heok. (sfx for gasp) When did she get here?

“What are you looking at with that dumb look on your face? How cute.”

I noticed it even when I saw her from afar. But she was just so tall. I think she could easily overwhelm even a man.

“Wow. That was cool.”

As if she liked my mumbles of admiration, she smirked as she rolled up her skirt, exposing her pale white thighs.

“Look at this.”

She pointed at her blue tattoo.

“You know the founding myth of Kaltanias, right? The one about the God who descended on the ground.”

Of course, I knew. Jupiter, the God of the heavens and the leader of all Gods, descended upon this earth upon the will of the First Emperor. Along with him, 24 other Gods descended upon their respective lands. Some Gods instead of residing in the land of their choice decided to reside in humans.

“It was back when there were many Gods. At that time, more than 90% of this land was considered occupied by the Gods. Over a thousand years, some of their powers have weakened or even faded until even dogs and cows could access their powers. This is one of the powers such dogs and cows could use. This tattoo is a sign of a God’s power residing in me.”

“Hey, stop joking around. It’s true that there are still some people worshipping the River God but nowadays, templars are rare, right?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Lené replied as she rolled down her skirt and tightened her waistband. She ruffled her hair before continuing.

“You must be a newbie. How old are you?”

“T-thirteen.”

“Oh my. I guess she must have just got here, right? How did you come here bringing along only one sheet with you? Hey, you. Be honest with me. The people in your palace are bothering you, aren’t they? Yeah? It’s okay to be honest!”

“Get your ugly face out of my sight. If you’re going to talk like that, I’m going to treat your words the same way*.”

*T/N: As in she’ll disregard what she’s saying or treat it nonchalantly.

I could tell that the maids were very close. Were they friends? The two of them spoke to each other without hesitation.

“Oh my. What about me? You should be looking at such a pretty thing closer instead.”

“Like hell it’s pretty.”

Even then I still could not forget the afterimage of the water show as I stared at Lené blankly. After noticing my gaze, she laughed.

“Is this your first time seeing a templar? Since you’ve never seen this before, are you from a rural area?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“It’s more common than you think. There’s no need for you to look that surprised or to think that it’s some kind of miracle. There’s probably one in the palace you work in too, right?”

“Ah, I see…”

Come to think of it, the Emperor seemed to have similar powers too. It seems like the strange power of Kaltanias appeared in the novel while the tyrant fought his final battle. But I didn’t know powers would be so common that even a maid could have them.

It was no wonder I didn’t know anything about the strange powers of the neighbouring country. In the novel, , the story focused on Rusbella’s love with her potential love interests.

Soon, another black-haired maid joined our conversation. The 4 maids then introduced themselves to me.

“I’m Nancy. I work in the laundry room of the 4th Prince’s Teret Palace. You’ve heard her name already, right? Lené. She’s also a maid in the Teret Palace but she’s a former templar. We call her over whenever we need to do laundry. As you just saw, it’s easier to do it with her around.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m the friend of this person who doesn’t think and exploits others for her own benefit.”

“Hey, what nonsense! This friend who doesn’t talk very much is Moana. She works in the laundry room of the 5th Prince’s Tusada Palace. Unlike Lené, she’s a very sweet and considerate person.”

“You can call me Mona. Nice to meet you.”

The maid who had tied her reddish-brown hair neatly smiled at me before stroking my head.

“I can’t even introduce myself while waiting for all of you.”

The black-haired maid who missed her chance to introduce herself while the other two chattered away said.

“I’m Araisha. I’m a lady-in-waiting working for the Empress. I was born in Suribaquy in Rome from a family of gypsies. You can call me Asha.”

She had dark skin with a big nose and a big mouth. When she laughed, she would show all her teeth, almost showing her stomach, giving the people around her a refreshing feeling. I bowed my head.

“Hello. I’m-uh a probationary maid. You can call me A… Anne.”

A name that I had never even heard of popped out. It was a name I came up with off top of my head.

“Oh my, oh my! How cute! A probationary maid? So, your palace hasn’t been decided yet!”

“A probationary maid? Why did you come to the laundry place?”

“Hey, do you really not know?”

Puk—

The sound of Nancy hitting Lené reverberated. Lené glared at her, not even trying to hide her annoyance.

“You want to die? Why else would a 13-year-old be here? Moreover, she only brought o—ne sheet.”

Ah… Moana exclaimed. Then, Moana patted my head before Nancy hugged me.

“Don’t worry!”

Uhm. I think their unintentional misunderstanding seemed to work well for me.

But it’s not it. It’s really not. I was watching the beginning of a rumour that a probationary maid was being bullied. Flustered, I tried to deny it but it didn’t change their minds.

“Don’t worry. It’s fine, it’s fine. You’ll be transferred soon! I’ve been bullied before too. It’s no big deal!”

“Seriously, stop being so insensitive. Even if you experienced the same things, she might feel differently about it. Even if you think it was nothing, how would you know if she was having a hard time or not?”

“Heok. (sfx for gasp) I’m sorry! Was I perhaps too insensitive?”

No. In the first place, this was all a misunderstanding.

“No, it’s fine. Besides, you’re misunderstanding everything.”

I think I said that quite maturely. But the misunderstanding seemed to worsen. Until now, I was being seen as a maid who was being lightly bullied but now I looked like a girl who was just trying to be mature about the situation. Now, they were looking at me more pitifully. Never mind, I shouldn’t care too much about this.

“Anyways, which palace are you from?”

“Terena Palace.”

“You mean the maids there are bullying little kids?”

Now Terena Palace is going to be seen as a place filled with people who bully little kids. I apologised to my maids inwardly. Sorry, everybody. It’s too late for me to deny it already. Amongst the four, Nancy seemed to be the most invested in the situation.

“Wait, wait just a moment. I just had a really scary thought! Don’t tell me. Is the bandage you placed on your face…?”

“Oh my word…”

“Wait. It’s not what you’re thinking!”

“What do you mean it’s not!”

She stomped her foot in anger. She looked like a viewer in my previous life when they couldn’t tolerate the cruelty of the villain in a drama and angrily typed a message in a viewers’ forum.

“Oh my. Oh my. I know now. Isn’t Terena Palace where that strange Princess resides? Seems like their maids are eccentric too!”

“… Eccentric?”

“That’s right. Hey, have you never seen your Princess before?”

“Ah, uhm, no. Since I’m just a probationary maid…”

“You hear that, Lené? I told you that rumour is true!”

“A rumour?”

What rumour. I’ve never heard of it though? I tried to ask without making a weird face.

Nancy blinked dramatically as she looked to her left and right.

“You don’t know? So, there are all sorts of rumours about the Princess of Terena Palace.”

“… What kind of rumours?”

“It’s a rumour about why she never ever showed her face since her birth. And why she had to move all the way to the west of the Empire to avoid the plague. They say that there is a serious problem with her face. Even her closest aides have never seen it!”

“… Is that so?”

“Because she still has not shown her face in high society yet, the rumours are only growing day by day.”

… I didn’t know there was such a rumour. I nodded my head as if I found it interesting.

“Uh… Doesn’t an Imperial family member only show their face in society after they come of age?”

“Oh my, oh my. That’s the society for adults. There are also social circles for young lords and ladies. All 5 Princes, except for the 4th Prince, have already shown their faces though? But this Princess has not once ever shown her face!”

But haven’t I already had a tea party where I drank tea and chatted? Like with Fleon and Dane.

I don’t even know whether that was even counted.

‘But more than anything, if they were talking about all the Princes, that means they were also referring to him.’

The tyrant.

I don’t think I should go out from now on. There’s no reason for me to leave my safe home and enter the boss field.

The maids quickly changed their conversation topic. I guess they had nothing more to say because the information on me was so little.

I’m sorry to my maids but from today onwards, it seems like new rumours about how the maids in Terena Palace was harassing a child are going to circulate.

“No. She told me to fill Donna’s place and cook because she was sick! Oh my goodness. Do you think that made any sense? I’ve never cooked in my life! But Melissa, that little wench, ignored and recommended me. So, I had no choice but to help!”

“I almost lost my voice that day. Nancy here deserved to die for ruining the food on the 1st day of Habermia.”

“What are doing? Don’t interrupt me. I was just about to say that!”

“You should live on forever thanking the 4th Prince for his generosity for your cooking. Even bowing three times a day to him isn’t enough.”

“Tch. I know.”

Mona, who had been quiet all this time, even nodded, seeming to agree about her accident.

“I get it. I said I get it. The 4th Prince has been sick for a long time. So, he doesn’t socialise and stays in his room all the time. Thanks to that, the maids have less work to do. But I’m blessed for the fact that he was generous with our mistakes. I know but, he seems, uh, little mysterious.”

“You shouldn’t be gossiping about the master you serve. I’m telling the Head Maid.”

“Ick. Miss Lené! I wasn’t trying to gossip. He always calls over young maids during his mealtimes, you know? Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“Uhm…”

Lené groaned.

“All the maids are scared. They’re afraid they’ll catch his illness!”

‘That may be true… But he’s still young. Maybe he was just lonely.”

At Lené’s words, the maids nodded their heads. Nancy nodded as well.

“Is the 4th Prince sick?”

I already knew, but I pretended I didn’t.

The 4th Prince. He was a supporting character with keywords like ‘Pure-hearted’, ‘A younger man’, ‘A man who acted like a big puppy’ and ‘unrequited love’ describing him. Most importantly, the everlasting memory of the sad scene when he meets his end…

He had a very important supporting role. He was the closest aide to the crazy Emperor.

“Yeah. You don’t know yet. Prince Amor has been weak ever since he was a child. But he spends his entire day on his bed because of his mysterious illness. Poor guy.”

“If we’re comparing who’s the most pitiful, it should be the 5th Prince. A maid from the Tessada Palace told me. I heard his mother refuses to visit him.”

“That… Again? If that’s the case, I think the 2nd Prince is really interesting. The Princes don’t really get along with their mothers right? But the 2nd Prince has a good relationship with his mother.”

The 2nd Prince is the sole rival to the Crown Prince.

“Gosh, they care for each other terribly.”

By now, oil and dirt from the laundry were beginning to seep out of the laundry. So the maids had no choice but to start stepping on them.

“Hey. Did you hear about Larisa, the maid from the 5th Prince’s palace? She’s been on vacation for more than 10 days and she hasn’t come back. I think she eloped!”

“What, but that happens quite often.”

For some reason, Lené began to sit at the edge of the basket. I could only sit right in front of her because the basket was too small.

“But don’t you think we haven’t seen a lot of faces recently? In the Empress’ Palace, they have already lost 2 men in the span of 3 months. They’re now short-handed.”

“Is that so?”

Lené hummed as she applauded the cheerful Nancy. I glanced at Lené. Lené laughed at Nancy who was not happy with her teasing. Her arms were akimbo and she stuck her tongue out. I smiled softly and asked Lené shamelessly.