Calix Posman.
As expected, he lived up to his title as the male lead in a trashy novel and was a madman on a level I could never comprehend.
The act of staring at me without any context gave me a feeling as if I were passing through the gates of the underworld.
Fortunately, the male lead didn’t go on with his annoying 10-minute tirade anymore.
After a brief description of the menu, he started eating without saying a word, and I kept my head down and stayed still by his side.
In a little while, he would be heading to his office anyway.
And then, it would be my free time.
“Oh, and today, I want you to accompany me to the office.”
Huh?
I momentarily forgot how to respond to such unbelievable nonsense.
Why would I?
I’m just a chambermaid who cleans your bedroom, so why should I follow you?
Hmm?
Are you out of your mind?
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Of course, I decided to keep all my questions to myself.
Still, I couldn’t erase the confusion.
Did he decide to keep me in the office?
Is there more interrogation left?
Or maybe there’s no trustworthy staff available, so he’s even assigning me to clean the office? What an evil man.
You don’t even pay me for the extra work! I feel like slapping him right away.
So, from now on, I had to figure out how to handle him without disturbing his mood.
“You caused quite a bit of trouble by destroying something valuable.”
The sound of dishes being set down echoed in the room.
I tilted my head up and looked at the male lead. And our eyes met.
Those eerie crimson eyes.
They seemed to glow for a moment.
My heart began to beat furiously in my chest.
I realized that I had overlooked the damage caused to the book yesterday.
You didn’t say anything then.
Why are you saying this now!
“I apologize, Your Highness. If you give me some time, I’ll figure out a way, no matter what,”
As I spoke, cold sweat trickled down my forehead.
Should I just say that I suddenly fell ill and quit my job?
But I had too many enemies for that.
If I didn’t stick close to the Crown Prince, that damned duke would kill me.
There was no way I was going to get out of this, even if I thought about it rationally.
I rolled my eyes, searching for the right answer, and the male lead cut me off with an annoyed sigh.
“What are you going to do about it?”
Thump, thump, the sound of the male lead’s shoes grew closer.
And soon, his large hand clasped tightly my hand resting on my navel.
Then, with a slightly angry voice, he spoke.
“Is there a solution on the ground?”
Does that mean I have to look you in the face?
I immediately responded to the male lead’s words.
“No, Your Highness. I will make amends.”
In the end, the male lead forcefully dragged me to his office, and I began to seriously worry about what would happen next.
Even for a crown prince, and the son of a traitor, not having a single servant in his office was a bit much.
At this point, I was beginning to wonder why I had landed here at all.
“Here. These are the consequences of your actions.”
Bang, a copy of the Imperial History that had been mercilessly torn apart fell to the ground.
Are you telling me to pick it up?
Honestly, it was a bit humiliating, but I pretended to be unaffected and obediently picked up the book.
“Thanks to you, the invitation to the party hosted by the 3rd Prince got damaged.”
He smiled and pointed to the book.
Cautiously, I opened the book in response to his words.
Rustle-.
The scent of an old book wafted through the air, and something that had been stuck between the pages fell out.
It was indeed a torn invitation, just as he had said.
“Retrieve it.”
It felt like thunder striking.
If I continued like this, my mental state would become so fragile that I would turn into a fictional Vibranium.
If I were to ask the male lead what I should do in response, there’s a high chance he would respond with something like,
‘Can’t you do it? Useless. Then die.’
Because of this, I had no choice but to quickly respond positively. Dammit.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I didn’t know if he expected a positive response from me, but the male lead’s expression stiffened slightly.
Then, as if contemplating something, he paused his breath and spoke to me with a slightly bitter tone.
“You have three days.”
I felt an overwhelming urge to smash that sculpted-like face into pieces right away.
Is he telling me to retrieve that torn invitation while I’m already busy with my current tasks?
My uniform is about to explode.
What on earth does this man want from me?
I am a chambermaid.
I’m not some damn spy!
He needed additional manpower immediately.
If this situation was merely for setting up this single line setting.
‘The male lead has lived a life of misery, so he keeps few people around him.’
I wanted to scream at the sky in frustration.
Should I go to a temple or something? I kept thinking.
If I bowed my head to the male lead like this, I would have to carry out his damn order without any clues.
I needed the courage to ask something, anything.
Something that would offend him as little as possible.
“Your Highness, with all due respect, I was wondering if there was anything I should be aware of during the process.”
I was at a loss for words.
How would I know the etiquette here?
Despite being able to communicate in the language of this place to some extent, my fundamental thought process was still in Korean.
So, using the half-assed etiquette I learned from historical dramas, I managed to ask with great difficulty, and fortunately, the only reaction was a face that seemed to be chewing poop.
“Precautions?”
The male lead let out a mocking laughter as if he was amused, then he turned his body and forcefully opened a drawer in the office.
In an instant, a jingling pouch was swiftly thrown at me.
Me, a South Korean citizen.
A member of a fighting nation.
Throwing and catching things, I’m really good at it.
Without hesitation, I caught the pouch, and inside the pouch, there was a considerable amount of gold coins.
To be honest, I wanted to throw it in his face as it was.
It was heavy enough that it would hurt quite a bit.
“I think I’ve paid you enough.”
The male lead crossed his arms and looked at me with a sneer.
For a moment, I thought of an alternative scenario, where I would leave the room and join the Duke’s side. But I couldn’t ignore the protagonist of the story, so I held on for dear life.
“Guess I won’t have to look at your stupid face for two days.”
Does that mean I don’t have to look at that sculpted-like face until I retrieve the invitation?
I was glad to hear that.
“Well, get out.”
“I’ll see you in two days, then.”
The greeting fell and I ran out of the office.
As soon as the door to the office closed behind me and that damn, sculpted figure disappeared before my eyes, my legs went limp.
Out of my entire life, this period was the most agonizing, despite my smooth and uneventful existence.
When I read other transmigration stories, everyone builds their own reverse harem and lives a comfortable life. Why am I stuck being a secret agent like 007!
How on earth did I, a mere maid, end up having to retrieve the invitation to the party hosted by the 3rd Prince? No matter how I think about it, this is not a task for a mere maid.
…Ah, or is it?
A lady’s maid.
Come to think of it, in romance novels, when the maids are given tasks, they all obediently say.
“Yes, Miss!”
And do their work diligently.
But why is that ‘all-purpose maid’ me!
That guy isn’t even a lady.
That’s why it’s even more unacceptable! After all, the male lead should experience the taste of doing it himself, shouldn’t he?
I barely held back the urge to explode in anger and rushed to my room, dragging my heavy body along.
There was no time to hesitate or procrastinate.
I had to tackle the challenge of my life right now!
“This is driving me crazy.”
As soon as I arrived in my room, I sighed deeply.
I laid the tattered invitation on my cramped desk and stared at it.
Two immediate options came to mind.
First, forge the invitation to the party hosted by the royal family.
Second, steal it.
I sat back in my chair, wrapped my head in my hands, and groaned.
My face turned pale and I missed my parents.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
I hadn’t missed my mom and dad even during my overseas internship.
Suddenly, a surge of homesickness overwhelmed me.
I wanted to go back.
But that damn last memory made me hesitate.
Did I die?
Would Mum and Dad know I was gone?
I wished that it was really Rose in my body instead.
Even if the body changed, I hoped that she would continue to live.
If I really died, then Mom and Dad…
Eventually, the tears I had been holding back burst out.
The stress was too much.
I was on edge the whole time.
The fact that I had to use my brain to stay alive, even though I was already in a bad mental state, made me so tired.
I pulled my hair a few times to get myself together.
My scalp tingled.
It wasn’t the time to be immersed in profound thoughts.
First and foremost, I had to find a way to survive and return home or find another way to live.
I closely examined the invitation to the party hosted by the 3rd Prince.
As I opened the crumpled envelope, a torn piece of paper with dazzling gold accents emerged.
However, besides the gold accents, there was nothing written on the paper. In other words, it was blank.
I swallowed hard.
I was in a bloody fiction novel.
Or rather, a romance ‘fantasy’.
I frowned.
Because words were slowly appearing on the blank page.