I Became a Tyrant’s Maid - Chapter 42

“Your Highness, please listen to my story.”

The male lead looked askance at the old man prostrating and crying at his feet with an annoyed expression.

“Your Highness, what will you do?”

Ruel asked, standing beside the male lead.

The male lead stared at the pleading old man for a while, then opened his mouth as if bothered.

“Let’s hear how important this story is.”

Despite his expression, it was quite a merciful response.

“However, if what you say isn’t that important, you’d better be prepared.”

Does he have to add words like that?

The intention is clearly good, but the follow-up is about to negate all the goodwill points.

I looked at the male lead with a sour face.

“I absolutely hate being bothered.”

He turned his gaze to scan the old man still prostrating. Judging by his advanced age, he seemed to be the chief of the nomadic village.

Although he was trembling nervously, it seemed he had chosen the right person to petition.

The male lead was a K-tyrant among tyrants, so if this man’s request wasn’t completely unreasonable, there was a high chance he would grant it.

Why, don’t K-tyrants work hard for the welfare of the people?

They might readily chop off the heads of their ministers, but it was human nature to keep the backs of the empire’s people warm.

To be honest, he’s a nasty-tempered benevolent ruler. Yes, indeed.

“Th-Thank you! Your Highness!”

The old man put his hands together and prostrated himself on the ground, expressing gratitude to the male lead.

“So, what is this earnest request you wish to make?”

The male lead asked the old man with his characteristically intimidating gaze.

The old man bit his lip tightly, glanced once at the village where faint lights flickered, and then spoke with a trembling voice.

“P-Please accept our tribe as citizens of the empire, Your Highness!”

At the old man’s words, the male lead’s expression suddenly hardened.

“I thought you’d ask for food or supplies at best, but you want to be incorporated as imperial citizens?”

His eyebrows twitched greatly.

“What’s the reason?”

The male lead looked down at the old man intently, leaning against a tree trunk with his legs crossed as if he had a headache.

The old man, still trembling in fear, said,

“A-As Your Highness can see, this place is not suitable for human habitation.”

At the man’s words, I slowly looked around this settlement.

About ten houses were almost collapsing.

It seemed that fewer than a hundred people were living in this cramped place.

The situation looked quite dire.

“The land is barren, crops don’t grow, and we live in fear every night of monsters that may come at any time.”

I had thought it was just a temporary camp where nomadic tribes stayed briefly, but a village?

Unbelievable.

“It certainly looks that way.”

I almost grabbed the back of my neck at the male lead’s wickedness.

No, how can you say it certainly looks that way to someone begging for their lives!

Does he have no intention of speaking nicely at all?

“Most of the desert is Desart’s territory, so why are you specifically asking me, a person from Posnia?”

At the male lead’s piercing question, the old man prostrated himself on the ground, almost bowing.

“W-We are villagers who were driven out of the Desart Empire, Your Highness.”

At those words, the male lead frowned.

“You were driven out of Desart, and you’re making such a request to me, the Crown Prince of a rival country?”

“That is,”

“You seem determined to put both Posnia and Desart in a very difficult position.”

“N-No! That’s not it, Your Highness! We, we have no hope…”

The male lead looked at the man with quite a cold attitude.

“What benefit would I gain by taking you in? Have you thought about how the Desart Empire would react if I brought you, who were driven out of Desart, to Posnia?”

“Your Highness, that is… Although it’s shameless,”

“Yes. As you say, it’s a completely shameless request.”

The male lead turned away with a sneer as if it wasn’t worth listening to anymore.

Just then, as if on cue, a baby’s cry could be heard from afar.

“Your Highness, please reconsider just once. People are dying. Your Highness, please…”

But the male lead didn’t even flinch.

I stared blankly at the old man prostrating on the ground, crying miserably.

‘Why were they driven out of the Desart Empire?’

As the male lead said, if they were exiled from Desart for committing crimes, we shouldn’t carelessly let them into the Posnia Empire.

In the worst case, it could give them a pretext and destroy this precarious peaceful relationship.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

The male lead called me irritably.

In the end, I had no choice but to leave behind the old man who was begging with a desperate expression.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The male lead led me into his tent.

Then he sat in a chair and stared at me intently.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, I slightly averted my eyes, but the male lead snapped his fingers to get my attention.

“When people converse, it’s polite to look them in the eyes, Rose Estanya.”

“Isn’t it too early to call it a conversation when you haven’t said a word yet, Your Highness?”

The male lead stared at me blankly for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses and spoke to me again with his usual haughty expression.

“You’re my closest aide. Right?”

At the male lead’s sudden question, I nodded with an awkward face.

“Yes… I’m very pleased that Your Highness calls me your closest aide.”

“You’re talking like a lowly servant.”

The male lead glared at me sharply, but there seemed to be no malice in it, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

I shouldn’t do this, but it’s more fun to tease him than I expected.

“They’ll come looking for you around dawn.”

The male lead detached something from his waist and held it out to me.

“Your Highness, what is this…”

“Are your eyes just for decoration?”

The male lead said with a smirk.

What he handed me was none other than a dagger.

“If they try to do anything foolish to you, either stab them with this or call the knights.”

The ornate dagger twirled once in the air before settling in the male lead’s hand.

“They probably won’t attack you unless they’re idiots.”

I received the dagger the male lead handed me with a solemn face and said,

“Yes, Your Highness. I shall eliminate the assassins as per Your Highness’s order,”

“Who said to kill the assassins?”

Huh? Wasn’t that what it was for? Seeing my confused face, he let out a short sigh and explained calmly.

“They will definitely come looking for you. Since I rejected them, they’ll target you, who seems the easiest and closest to me.”

I frowned at the male lead’s words and asked back.

“Why me specifically? Even if they try to persuade Your Highness through me, doesn’t Lord Ruel have more actual power than I do?”

The male lead glared at me disapprovingly at my question.

And he asked.

“Who is with me right now?”

“…Me?”

“Who will be riding in the carriage with me tomorrow?”

“I will.”

“Who is closest to me?”

“That would also be me…”

I suddenly raised my head and looked at the male lead.

“Find out in detail what they want. Coax them gently and figure out what they’re hiding.”

***

Just as the male lead said, a woman came in the middle of the night.

She looked like a young girl, but her face was full of signs of hardship.

“M-Miss Maid.”

“Ah.”

The girl, who looked about 18 years old, looked around and then sat down at my feet, pleading desperately.

“Please persuade His Highness. I beg you.”

I quietly looked at the girl clutching my legs and begging.

“Um, I don’t have that much influence.”

At my words, the girl shook her head repeatedly and continued.

“I saw you staying close to His Highness the Crown Prince. Please, just mention it once.”

The male lead told me to find out what these people were hiding.

After leaving the male lead’s tent, I thought deeply.

Why were they driven out of the Desart Empire?

And why do they want to come to the Posnia Empire?

“Ah, alright. What’s your name?”

“H-Himes, Miss Maid.”

I looked around.

Fortunately, except for the knights on night duty, no one else was awake.

“I’ll listen and judge for myself. You need to speak clearly, including the subject, predicate, and object.”

As I smiled slightly, Himes nodded vigorously with a happy face.

“Actually…”