I Became a Tyrant’s Maid - Chapter 39

“Why do you think so?”

The male lead sat me down in front of him and nitpicked at my words like an elementary school boy.

“First of all, as Your Highness said, if we kill the head maid, there’s a high possibility that Your Highness’s reputation spread among the public won’t improve.”

“Why?”

“Well, as this is coming from a mere maid, you can disregard it if you wish, Your Highness.”

“Don’t you think you’re running around too much to call yourself a mere maid?”

I couldn’t help but frown at the male lead’s words.

You’re the one who’s been using this mere maid as you please.

“Ah, I’m joking. No need to take it so seriously.”

The male lead said with a bright smile, tapping the front of his couch.

By the way, that person making jokes.

Make jokes twice and you’ll end up killing someone, seriously.

“Won’t you sit?”

“Haha, Your Highness. How could a mere maid sit face to face with Your Highness,”

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

This authoritative bastard! I obediently sat down in front of the male lead.

At that, the male lead, seemingly pleased, continued to speak with an ill-fitting genial smile.

“Then your opinion is to not kill the head maid. And not to attack the Duke either.”

The male lead’s fingers tapped his knee.

“Then why did we expose the head maid’s crime?”

He then asked, sipping the black tea I had brewed.

“Speak comfortably.”

“Haha, yes. Comfortably.”

Feeling that if I didn’t speak comfortably, he’d forcibly make me do so, I let out a short sigh and opened my mouth.

“From what I’ve gathered in a short time, currently, the power of the 1st Prince, backed by Duke Tianel, is too great.”

The male lead seemed to be offended by my words, raising his eyebrow slightly and adjusting his posture by crossing his legs.

“Your Highness knows as well. That’s why you left things as they were, despite securing evidence of the Duke’s assassination attempt by interrogating the assassin who tried to kill me.”

“You speak as if you know me quite well?”

“Of course, Your Highness. Aren’t you the most outstanding among the four princes? In many ways.”

I said, looking him up and down.

It was true.

Although it would be difficult for him to survive without support, the male lead was undoubtedly exceptional.

He’s intelligent, and his appearance and physique are also extraordinary.

The male lead seemed pleased with my words, puffing up his chest with a rather proud expression.

“Forgive my impertinence, but currently, Your Highness…”

I glanced at the male lead.

Should I say this or not?

“What are you doing? Speak. The reason why you shouldn’t kill the head maid.”

“Well, Your Highness…”

“Speak.”

Under the male lead’s forceful attitude, I finally closed my eyes tightly and said.

“In my opinion, it seems Your Highness has no backing to help you except for Lord Ruel. Therefore, I think it would be good to form a sympathetic public opinion by showing Your Highness’s merciful attitude to the imperial citizens!”

“…”

“For instance, making them understand Your Highness’s situation that forced you to act violently…”

The room suddenly fell silent.

Damn.

It seemed I had gone too far with the fact-bombing.

“Continue.”

“Um, Your Highness. I think I might have overstepped my bounds quite a bit.”

“I said continue.”

I’m not sure what more he wants me to continue in this situation.

The male lead pretended to be merciful, pouring me another cup of tea and offering it while saying,

“You can talk while drinking.”

His red eyes were fixed directly on me. They were eyes that searched persistently.

“There… is a story I heard when I was very young, Your Highness.”

To be precise, I saw it in a drama when I was young.

I watched the male lead’s reaction and then took out a dry tea leaf from a nearby tea container and dropped it into the teacup.

“Who does Your Highness think is the most powerful person in the empire?”

To my question, the male lead looked at the small tea leaf floating on the tea with interest and answered.

“It would be His Majesty the Emperor.”

I nodded quietly at the male lead’s words and continued.

“In the story I heard, the monarch was said to be like this tea leaf, a ship floating on water.”

The male lead stared at me as if asking what on earth I was trying to say. But I pretended not to notice and continued speaking.

“And this water was said to be the people.”

I blew gently into the teacup.

The floating tea leaf moved forward.

“If the ship is floating on water, it can move like this, but,”

I immediately spilled the water from the teacup.

“If there’s no water like this, it can’t do anything.”

The male lead quietly stared at the tea leaf lying on the table where the water had been spilled.

“This is what I think, Your Highness.”

The male lead glanced up at me at my words.

His face had become utterly serious.

“Currently, all the major noble factions have sided with other princes. But these are merely like anchors or oars that make the ship move a little faster.”

I tried hard to remember and fully utilize the world history I had chosen as an elective subject for the college entrance exam in my youth.

Of course, I added a spoonful of historical drama knowledge as well.

“You mean, I should choose my support base from the imperial citizens rather than the nobility, he asked with a smile.

“Yes, Your Highness. If the imperial citizens come to support Your Highness, naturally, the powerful noble factions will side with Your Highness to survive.”

Suddenly, the male lead burst out laughing, “Hahaha.”

What? I’m being deadly serious here, and what’s he doing?

Regardless of whether I looked at him disrespectfully or not, the male lead held his stomach and cackled, then promptly spilled the black tea from his cup onto the floor.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard such an analogy.”

I forced a smile at the male lead who was sitting there stating the obvious.

To begin with, the ship analogy was something Xunzi said, and there’s no way Xunzi would be here, right?

To begin with, the ship analogy was something Xunzi said, and there’s no way Xunzi would be here, right?

And this guy, if you’re going to spill it, spill it on the glass table, not on the carpet, why?

“So, let’s save the head maid to gain sympathy? What’s next?”

The male lead asked me, still with a smiling face.

“If we keep the head maid alive, won’t it prevent the Duke from touching Your Highness for a while? The collusion between the head maid and the Duke has already been exposed to the public since the assassination attempt was discovered. What could he do?”

“There’s also the option of executing the Duke for the crime of attempting to assassinate a royal family member.”

The male lead told me firmly.

I quickly countered his words.

The Duke absolutely must not die here. No, no.

“What do you think about bringing the Duke over to Your Highness’s side?”

At my words, the male lead’s eyes widened.

It was a face that seemed genuinely surprised, without any hint of deception.

“Isn’t he quite useful to just kill off?”

“…Do you realize what you’re saying right now?”

I nodded with a resolute face, clasping my hands together.

“The Duke didn’t get the head maid, who has long been his underling, out of prison. Despite being fully capable of doing so.”

I wiped up the scattered water on the table with a nearby cloth.

Then I tossed it into the trash can with a swift motion.

“I think she was discarded because he became useless.”

“……”

“People don’t change easily, Your Highness.”

The Duke had to unconditionally side with the male lead.

Only then would it be possible for him to meet the female lead at the banquet after the male lead becomes emperor.

And if that happens, the Duke’s reason to kill me would also disappear.

“Then are you saying that the First Prince will soon become useless?”

I answered the male lead’s question seriously.

“As I mentioned before, Your Highness is the most outstanding both externally and internally.”

At my words mixed with appropriate flattery, the male lead’s brow furrowed intensely.

“You’re quite blatant with your flattery.”

“It’s not flattery, but the absolute truth without a shred of lie, Your Highness.”

Who would dare to challenge the protagonist?

Except for the female lead, no one is set up to defeat the male lead.

I looked straight at the male lead.

In fact, the words I had just uttered could sound extremely disrespectful from the male lead’s perspective.

But surprisingly, the male lead listened to my words attentively.

He even seemed to like it.

“The absolute truth without a shred of lie, huh.”

The male lead plopped back, leaning against the couch backrest with his eyes closed.

His slightly disheveled, fine hair covered his right eye.

Tap, tap tap.

The sound of his index finger tapping on the couch seat echoed, as if he was deep in thought.

I have no idea what he’s thinking.

These flexible actions of the male lead keep disrupting my plans.

It’s as if some fundamental premise is being shaken.

The male lead I know is a tyrant obsessed with blood.

Presumably, an emperor who went mad after personally killing his siblings one by one to survive.

“Good.”

The male lead opened his eyes wide and spoke to me, seemingly excited.

“Making the Duke my ally isn’t a bad plan. As you said, I am indeed the most outstanding among my siblings.”

I felt as if the male lead’s red eyes were sparkling.

Eyes full of hope and a voice filled with ambition.

‘I knew from the start that you would betray me. Nothing in this world is eternal. Your meager loyalty only amounted to this much.’

‘Your Majesty, please, I was wrong. So please, let her go now. I’m begging you.’

‘Why should I? Serena loves me. Not you, but me. So, I’ll make the decision. Not you.’

The male lead becomes a tyrant.

It was inevitable for him to become emperor.

If he doesn’t kill the opposing forces, it’s he himself who becomes endangered.

“What’s with that expression? Was it flattery after all?”

“How could that be, Your Highness.”

The male lead approached me playfully and lightly touched my hair.

I blinked very slowly.

The male lead was still quite merciful.

But to be honest, I wasn’t confident about surviving beside the male lead who would go mad after becoming emperor.

So it was right to leave when the female lead appears, taking advantage of that opportunity.

“Then let me ask you one thing.”

The male lead’s index finger tangled with Rose’s pink hair like a skein of thread.

“Are you my person?”

I hesitated at the male lead’s question.

I could just answer yes.

It was easy.

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

But why do I keep,

“Good. Then from now on, your life belongs to me.”

feeling sorry for this person?