I Became a Tyrant’s Maid - Chapter 51

I covered my mouth and stared at the scene unfolding before my eyes.

The massive stone door was densely engraved with strange patterns I had never seen before, and surrounding it were the corpses of monsters that seemed to have been stabbed to death by something.

Of course, there were human corpses mixed in as well.

“Ugh!”

I couldn’t help but cover my mouth and retch at the sight accompanied by a terrible stench.

Perhaps feeling sorry for me, the male lead frowned and hid me behind his back.

“Didn’t I tell you to close your eyes?”

The male lead said, as if scolding me. I swallowed the rising nausea and took a deep breath.

“I’m fine, Your Highness.”

At that, he approached the stone door engraved with strange patterns slowly and examined it, wearing a distrustful expression.

They looked more like characters than patterns.

“Braham language group.”

The male lead said, covering his nose with his sleeve, perhaps due to the stench.

“Braham?”

“It’s the language of the kingdom that existed here before the Kilbern Desert was formed.”

The male lead continued speaking while examining the surroundings.

“There are traps set up too, though very basic. Be careful.”

On the wall next to the large stone door, there were round magic circles drawn similar to those that occasionally appear in the diary.

Judging by the corpses of what seemed to be monster hunters and monsters strewn across the floor, they appeared to have died from being pierced by something.

Parts of the bodies were completely punctured.

“Could this be Leviathan’s nest?”

“Given the presence of protective magic circles and adventurers’ corpses in this otherwise empty cave, it’s highly likely.”

It was a visually striking scene, to say the least.

Magic tricks set up all around and a massive stone door covered in Braham characters.

“We need to destroy the protective magic circles.”

The male lead frowned as if it was a headache.

“It’s only 1st Circle magic, but the magical power is so strong that if you mess up, you’ll die.”

I gulped at the male lead’s words.

That must be why the corpses of all sorts of monsters and hunters who came to raid Leviathan’s nest were scattered around.

They must have thought they could easily dispel a 1st Circle magic and approached, only to die from its unexpectedly powerful force.

Judging by the number of completely decayed skeletons in the back, there must have been quite a few failures.

“Your Highness, what should we do then?”

At my words, the male lead seemed to ponder for a moment, then grabbed me and moved far away from the entrance.

Then he drew his sword and aimed at one of the large magic circles.

“We break it.”

As soon as the male lead finished speaking, a blue sword energy shot out from the tip of his sword like an air wave and struck the wall.

With a loud bang, the magic circles all around lit up and shot out green pillars of light.

I covered my eyes with my sleeve against the destructive lights pouring out and asked.

“Your Highness! Is, is this okay?”

“We’ll see if it works.”

The ground shook from the continuous impact.

The magic attacks kept hitting the pile of corpses stacked like cushions, and the male lead continued to shoot out sword energy without blinking an eye.

I clenched my fists tightly behind the male lead’s back, extremely tense.

Due to the recoil, the piled-up corpses flew in all directions. Fortunately or unfortunately, the wall hit by the male lead’s sword attacks began to crumble gradually.

The male lead was aiming precisely at one point of the magic circle.

I frowned and looked at the point the male lead was targeting.

A round circle, a special pattern drawn in the center of the wall.

That’s when it happened.

With a sound like a fuse blowing, one of the magic circles on the left wall lost its light.

“It’s working.”

The male lead staggered for a moment, and I was startled and caught him.

“Your Highness! Are you alright?”

At my fuss, the male lead glanced down at me, then stood up straight, pretending to be fine, and said.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Despite saying that, he was slightly out of breath.

“We’ve destroyed one, so we just need to do the same for the rest.”

The male lead took his stance again.

He was undoubtedly pushing himself too hard.

The remnants left by the battered adventurers told the story.

Broken swords and staffs were scattered on the floor, mixed with the corpses.

Surely they must have attempted to destroy the magic circles too?

Of course, the male lead, being the strongest character in this world, could destroy the magic circles more easily than they could.

But that was only in comparison to the adventurers.

This was presumed to be Leviathan’s nest. These were certainly no ordinary magic circles.

Cold sweat began to form on the male lead’s forehead.

“Your Highness, perhaps we should rest a bit!”

I stood on my tiptoes and shouted in his ear, to which he responded irritably.

“Whether I rest or not, it’s all the sam—damn it!”

The male lead’s expression suddenly hardened, and I frowned in confusion, looking at him.

That’s when it happened.

The male lead hugged me and rolled on the ground.

In that instant, a laser-like beam poured out above my head and split the wall in half.

“What are you doing? Get down!”

The wall collapsed forward, and the male lead caught the falling wall with his hand and threw it away.

I held my breath.

‘What the hell, that’s crazy.’

It was a stone wall the size of a truck.

And he caught and threw it with one hand?

Is he even human?

“Are you alright?”

The male lead urgently examined my complexion.

Of course, I nodded since I wasn’t injured.

“Your Highness, how on earth……”

As I spoke, looking at the huge wall thrown far away, he immediately answered.

“This much weight, if you just enhance your body a little……”

Meanwhile, the male lead’s gaze shifted slightly downward, and soon he let out a suppressed low voice as if angry.

“Damn it.”

The male lead’s warm hand touched my knee.

Only then could I see the soaked bloodstain on my white dress.

‘I got hurt earlier……’

I thought it was nothing, but it seems my knee was quite badly scraped when I fell.

I didn’t even realize it hurt because of the chaos.

“I’m fine, Your Highness. Are you alright yourself?”

At my words, the male lead pressed his lips together for a moment, then looked at me with an extremely angry face.

“Why didn’t you say anything until it got this bad?”

I frowned at the male lead’s words.

What does he mean by that?

“I didn’t know either. And it’s just a scraped knee, Your Highness.”

The male lead silently stared at my knee.

It seems to hurt now that he’s drawing attention to it.

I became afraid to lift my skirt and look.

What if it scars? There’s no Mediform here.

“From now on……”

He spoke to me in a low voice.

“Don’t follow me to places like this.”

I was dumbfounded.

I wanted to say, ‘Excuse me, but you brought me here,’ but how could I?

“As your subject, how could I not, Your Highness.”

However, the male lead still frowned as if displeased and glared at the collapsed wall.

“Subject? What nonsense. As if I have any subjects.”

The male lead laughed self-deprecatingly and gripped his sword again.

“If we keep giving strong shocks to the magic circles, they might burst like just now, so we need to find another way.”

Then he reached out his hand to help me up.

I blankly mulled over what the male lead had said.

His self-deprecating voice kept echoing in my ears like a spell.

“You’re smart, can’t you figure out some way?”

The male lead looked at me with a bitter smile.

I quietly stared at the male lead.

Why is he being so nice to me? From what I’ve seen of his personality so far, he’s not the type to worry or get angry just because I’m in danger.

‘But why……’

I actually knew. That’s why I tried to ignore it.

He wasn’t the cruel tyrant I knew.

He was just a pitiful crown prince who could feel sad like a normal person and form attachments to people.

But I didn’t want to know that.

If I treated him like a normal human being, then I……”

Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable.

“How would a mere maid like me know anything about magic, Your Highness.”

No matter how rude he was, I had observed him closely for a time that was short yet long. He was different from the character that only existed in text.

Emotions can develop even for paper cartoon characters, let alone for a real, living person.

No, but still. I’m a person who’s going to leave.

I’m going to return home, so what am I doing feeling unnecessary sympathy for him!

Have I gotten too immersed in this servant role-play?

“Do you really think you’re just a mere maid?”

I looked at my hand held in his.

Far from being soft, his hand was full of calluses.

The narrative he had protected so desperately, losing precious people and even his humanity, ultimately led to nothing but a mad tyrant ending.

He finally got the person he wanted to love, but the result was disastrous.

In the end, all he got in the finale was the female lead’s body.

For just that, he was struggling to live somehow.

‘Do I really need to run away from this person?’

It was meddlesome of me.

But, nevertheless.

I wanted to help him. If I helped, couldn’t I change his ending even a little?

Living so hard like this, it felt too cruel to let him live in pain for his entire life when I’d already grown so attached.

Do I really have to put everything back on the original story’s track?

Couldn’t I find a way home even while staying by his side?

“If I’m not a mere maid, then what am I?”

I raised my head and looked straight at ‘Calix’, not the male lead.

Rose’s hardened face was reflected in his red eyes.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That I’m your person.”

My breath caught.

“So I solve the answer.”

I put my hand into the bag and firmly grasped the book.

“How we can get inside.”

That’s when it happened.

As I felt a faint vibration under my palm holding the book, my heart started racing madly.

“…What is this,”

My vision swayed as if flipping upside down, and the green magic circles engraved on the wall rotated in reverse, emitting a brilliant golden light.

And then, with a ‘crack!’ sound, all the magic circles shattered.