I Became a Tyrant’s Maid - Chapter 65

Since it was the opening day of the festival, I also had to polish myself up.

For some reason, I was excited about dressing up after a long time.

“How do I look, Viscount?”

I asked Ruel in a whisper while holding my bangs, but it wasn’t Ruel who answered my question, it was Calix.

“Why are you asking him?”

He said with a deep frown. I thought to myself.

Logically, does it make sense to ask you, my superior, how I look today?

“That guy has no aesthetic sense anyway, so there’s no need to ask for his opinion.”

“What about me, Your Highness?”

“What would a guy who always rolls around in the men’s bath know? Have you ever even met a woman?”

“Have you, Your Highness?”

They must really be friends after all.

They’re fine most of the time, but suddenly they start sharing a friendship like this.

So I quietly stepped back to let them continue sharing their friendship.

They need to continuously share such camaraderie to avoid fighting later. Yep.

“Are you rebelling now?”

“It’s not rebellion, I’m just stating facts.”

“At least I’m better than you.”

“In all my time serving Your Highness, I’ve never seen you keep a woman by your side.”

But guys, aren’t we going to the banquet hall?

I put my hand to my forehead and sighed.

“Since I seem to have met the most women, I think it would be best to depart now.”

“…You meet women?”

Ruel looked at me with wide eyes, and I smiled quietly while looking at Ruel’s silver head.

Why does he always take words so literally?

“Viscount, aren’t you hungry?”

I pushed Ruel’s back, who was staring at me blankly with a bright smile.

“Shall we go?”

***

“His Highness Crown Prince Calix Posman of the Posnian Empire enters.”

I gaped at the scene unfolding before my eyes.

The Emperor of Desart sitting on the imperial throne and the imperial family lined up beside him.

Small white petals flying through the air.

The monsters and the Leviathan Cave we saw on our way here were terrible, but seeing this scene with my own eyes made me feel like it was worth coming.

“Welcome.”

The Emperor greeted Calix with a benevolent face, and Calix walked up a few steps onto the platform and slightly bowed his head in response.

“I greet Your Majesty the Emperor.”

I also discreetly moved to the side and bowed my head.

Even though I wasn’t the one talking, I felt nervous.

Ugh, if I were Calix, I would have long abandoned the throne and run far, far away.

How does one do such tiring work for a lifetime?

Click, click, click, Calix’s knights lined up to showcase the diplomatic items they had brought as if to show them off, and overall, the Emperor seemed satisfied.

While Calix was busy with diplomatic work, I scanned the surroundings.

The banquet seating seemed to be determined by national power.

Posnia, the only country that could rival Desart, had seats at the very front, closest to the Emperor.

Some of the other royals were seated so far from the Emperor that they couldn’t even converse with him.

“We’ll see you at the formal dinner.”

“May the goddess’s blessings be with you.”

Calix gave the Desart-style greeting by touching his forehead with his hand and came down from the platform.

As he turned his back and his appearance was finally properly visible to the gathered onlookers, the surroundings were instantly covered with hot murmurs.

That’s right, he looks even more handsome up close, doesn’t he?

“I plan to make contact with the Imperial Princess right after the formal dinner. Just be aware.”

Calix approached and whispered as he passed by.

He really does have an excellent face no matter how many times I look at him.

I was moved.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Fortunately, Calix’s seat at the afternoon formal dinner was opposite the Imperial Princess.

If he could just get a chance to have a private audience with her, he might be able to persuade her and gain help in the future imperial succession battle.

The hall was lined with countless long couches and tables where each royal family member could sit.

It really hit home how big of an event this was.

Calix’s seat was the most lavish among them, probably because he was the Crown Prince.

As Calix took his designated seat, other royals began to present their countries’ specialties to the Emperor in turn.

Calix frowned as if bored, staring only at the table.

Meanwhile, I observed how the maids and servants of other royals attended to their masters. It seemed everyone had prepared something.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s tea made from mint grown on Desart’s Xios Island, Your Highness.”

I set up a small table I had prepared and arranged some light refreshments.

“I’m asking, what do you think you’re doing?”

At Calix’s nagging, I tapped his arm and nodded toward the seat in front.

Across from us, a handsome servant was bringing a set of refreshments, putting them in the royal’s mouth, and fanning them.

It didn’t make sense by my normal standards, but it seemed to be a kind of culture.

Refreshments and fans at such an important diplomatic event.

It seemed undignified, but every single royal was doing it, so I couldn’t just let the Crown Prince be the only one not being served.

“As the Crown Prince of Posnia, you shouldn’t be outdone, Your Highness.”

Calix’s gaze followed my chin in that direction. His face soon flushed, and the sound of him gritting his teeth followed.

“What exactly is being outdone?”

I took out a fan, not to be outdone by the servant in the seat right in front, and gently fanned Calix’s face while whispering softly.

“Please maintain your dignity, Your Highness.”

At my words, Calix’s expression twisted severely. I quickly covered his expression with the fan, worried someone might see, and put a cookie in his mouth.

Calix’s red eyes turned towards me. It seemed like he was glaring as if to say he wouldn’t speak more now that something was in his mouth.

I shrugged nonchalantly and attended to Calix.

Then my eyes met with the handsome servant in front.

Was it just me? There was a strange spark, and my spine tingled.

Soon, the servant’s eyebrow raised.

He suddenly rolled up his sleeves and started massaging his master’s arms with flashy movements.

“Ah, that feels good.”

“Prince, do you prefer this side?”

Is that a challenge?

I’ll have you know, that I was known as the massage king among my friends during my school days.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s better not to do it.”

“No, Your Highness. You must be tired from the journey…”

Refusing his refusal, I put my hands on his shoulders. When I firmly stroked his stiff neck and shoulders, there was a viscous response.

“What are you, ugh!”

A small moan escaped from Calix’s mouth.

I’m quite skilled with my hands.

I kneaded Calix’s shoulders thoroughly, pressing his trapezius muscles.

“You’re very tense, Your Highness.”

“Stop it right now.”

Calix whispered, yanking his arm away. I tilted my head.

Does he not like massages?

“Does it hurt?”

At that, Calix, with a bright red face, clenched his teeth and started taking deep breaths.

“It’s not that, just stand still quietly.”

“But Your Highness, other attendants are diligently serving their masters. If I just stand here blankly, wouldn’t it lower the dignity of Your Highness, the Empire’s Crown Prince?”

“If you try to maintain that dignity twice more, I’ll lose whatever dignity I had left.”

As Calix rubbed his brow and sighed, the handsome servant in front smirked as if he had won.

Oh no, that bastard?

“That’s enough, sit down.”

Calix said, pointing to the empty seat next to him.

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

What? Sit down?

“Your Highness.”

Fortunately, Ruel, who was standing nearby, seemed to share my thoughts and called him in a low voice, frowning.

Calix seemed to realize what he had said only then.

‘A maid sitting next to the Crown Prince.’

It was truly an unthinkable suggestion.

Especially with people in the Crown Prince’s palace already gossiping about Calix and me being intimate, such rumors absolutely couldn’t spread here.

“Fine, if you really want to serve, just fan me with that fan there. It’s hot.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Indeed, it was currently summer in Desart, so it was very hot.

However, the air wasn’t humid, so it was cool in the shade.

Looking at the map, the terrain was similar to the Mediterranean area.

Should I say it’s like a mix of Greece and Turkey if compared to Earth?

Calix kept gulping down the tea I had poured as if his throat was parched, and I hurriedly covered him with my body as he disregarded etiquette and acted recklessly.

‘No, after maintaining his etiquette and acting noble all this time, why is he suddenly acting like this?’

I bent down and whispered to Calix.

“Your Highness, you must maintain your dignity…”

“Give it here.”

Is he crazy? Calix even snatched the fan from me and fanned his own face.

I was so flustered that I looked at Ruel, and Ruel shook his head with a sour expression.

“Why are you looking? Stop staring and do your job.”

I stared blankly at Calix, dumbfounded by his words.

Once again, Calix’s face turned bright red.

“What are you looking at?”

I pointed to the fan he was holding and answered awkwardly.

“That’s my job, Your Highness.”

Calix looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

Honestly, I feel a bit sorry to say this, but he really seemed out of his mind today.

This was a big problem.

He needed to secure a chance to talk privately with the Imperial Princess at today’s formal dinner…

I made a resolution.

When we return, I would somehow pester Teiron to get some intelligence-boosting medicine to feed him.

Calix needed to become smarter.