Beyond the door, amidst the chaotic and cluttered bookshelves, stood the maid.

She faced a masked man, a knife pointed at his throat.

Suddenly, Calix and the maid’s eyes met.

He looked up at her with the most bewilderment expression on his face in a long time.

“……Your Highness.”

He was taken aback.

She had just been threatening a masked man with a sword and shouting nonsense at him.

And yet, upon seeing him, she quickly erased her bewildered expression, lowered her head gracefully, and greeted him.

Calix stiffened in his posture at the brusque attitude, then turned to look at his new maid.

“Puhaha.”

Ah, what to do with this.

Her stupid face made him laugh for the first time in a long time.

At the same time, it made him uncomfortable.

What the hell was happening here?

Calix immediately composed his expression.

“…..He seems to be an assassin.”

And he enjoyed the maid’s obvious response.

“Although I´m still in the interrogation phase, given the haste of the attack.”

The maid was quite confident.

“I believe he was sent by the duke himself.”

It was quite satisfying to have her stick to him immediately.

He wondered what was in that strikingly annoying pink head going on.

It piqued his curiosity.

Despite his resolution to never take an interest in people again.

* * *

The male lead drew his sword, and his sharp blade, which seemed more than capable of killing someone immediately, was aimed at the assassin’s throat, who had been trying to kill me.

Paradoxically, it felt like a slight relief, as if my breath was being released just in time.

The truth was, whether it was the male lead or the assassin, they were both equally dangerous to me, but still, I was relieved for the moment.

It was a momentary respite.

However, it was not a time to let my guard down.

The male lead clearly smiled at me.

When a madman smiles, it is never a positive sign.

In this desperate situation, I had to strongly appeal that I was on the male lead’s side.

I took a step back and tried to appear as submissive as possible.

I didn’t know the etiquette of this place.

So, I had to do the best I could.

“Before being assigned as Your Highness’s maid, I was instructed by the Duke.”

The corners of the male lead’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Not knowing what that smile meant sent a chill down my spine.

It was a different kind of fear than facing an assassin.

I swallowed nervously and took out a vial of perfume laced with poison that the duke had given me from my pocket and extended it to him.

“This is the poison that was given to me.”

The male lead swiftly grabbed the vial I was holding and, at the same time, pressed the knife closer to the neck of the man presumed to be the assassin.

With a short groan, a thin line of crimson blood appeared on the man’s neck.

“Your Highness!”

Just as I worried if the pounding of my heart could be heard by the male lead, through the crack in the open door, I caught sight of the beautiful silver head of the sub-male lead.

Even with just the male lead, the situation was already overwhelming. Why did this guy have to come out and cause such a fuss.

In addition, the timing of his arrival was a little late, considering he was the commander of the knights.

He wasn’t a sub-male lead for no reason.

Of course not.

It’s in the nature of sub-male leads to always be a step behind.

Also, from my very personal opinion, the guy who got caught cheating with his friend’s girlfriend wasn’t normal either.

He’s just as crazy as the male lead.

“You followed me for no reason, how annoying.”

Upon hearing the male lead’s words, the sub-male lead flinched and reached down to his waist where his sword was.

Things got a bit complicated.

First of all, I had to show that I was a hundred percent on the male lead’s side.

But how?

The male lead looked at the vial of perfume with a serious expression and spoke.

“It’s Lyxa’s poison.

What is a lyxa?

I know it’s the venom of an unheard-of creature.

But to know about it just like that?

Maybe it’s because it’s a novel.

The male lead’s character setting was somewhat over the top.

I frowned, dissatisfied with the plausibility of it.

Regardless, the male lead continued with an arrogant expression.

“Usually, within an hour, you’ll vomit blood and die.”

Swoosh-.

The vial of perfume floated in the air for a moment before settling back into the male lead’s hand.

He had a relaxed expression.

“I’ll take care of it.”

The sub-male, or rather, Ruel, jumped out from behind the male lead, brandishing a sword and cornering the man.

He pulled back the black cloth that covered his face.

“……You!”

Ruel furrowed his brows in surprise, and I roughly followed the atmosphere and pretended to be shocked.

But who is he?

“This time it’s the stable boy…..”

The male lead kindly explained who he was.

No wonder the assassin was clumsy.

The unmasked man’s face was filled with terror.

Of course. Coming in to kill someone helpless and then seeing a massive boss mob right off the bat.

For a brief moment, I felt a little sorry for him, but then I remembered my own situation.

I wasn’t in a position to worry about anyone right now.

While Ruel had a shocked expression upon discovering that the assassin who tried to kill me was the stable boy, the male lead seemed completely unaffected.

Was it Ruel’s own stable boy?

In truth, it didn’t matter to me whether that assassin cleaned up the Sub-male lead’s horse dung or Pegasus’ dung.

Right now, I had to attach a motor to my mouth and flatter him.

I’m on your side!

But it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

One wrong word and I could end up being gruesomely murdered along with this stable boy or whatever.

“Ha, handle it as you see fit.”

The male lead turned around as if annoyed, and I was about to let out a sigh of relief, but.

“You follow me.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

A million thoughts raced through my head.

Was he planning to take me back to his room and punish me for being a bit of a nuisance?

It was quite unsettling, but for now, I obediently followed him without saying a word.

I couldn’t think of any way to rebel in this situation, so I had to listen carefully to whatever he said.

‘I’m not someone who deserve be treated like this.’

In an instant, my emotions shifted from fear to anger.

Yes, it seemed much better for my mental health to grumble than to tremble alone.

Click, click, click.

In the strangely empty corridors of the Prince’s Palace, only the sound of the male lead’s footsteps echoed.

The more his footsteps resounded through the hollow corridor, the more questions arose.

Yesterday, there were so many people, but why is there no one here today?

My legs began to wobble as the unknown came crashing down on me like school holiday homework all at once.

I wish this time would slow down, but the room in question and the male lead’s bedroom weren’t as far apart as I thought.

Which made sense since there were only a few other rooms on this floor besides the male lead’s bedroom.

My steps halted, and the male lead gestured for me to come in, entering the room first.

The prince’s room, dimmed by the setting sun, was extremely gloomy.

An excessively extravagant interior that didn’t match the dull atmosphere.

And even the cold expression on the male lead’s face.

The three elements fit together perfectly, making me feel as if I would throw up any moment.

I really wanted to know who was in charge of the interior design.

“What are you hiding underneath the surface?”

The male lead said to me in a low voice.

I raised my head slightly at his words.

Then, a perfect face that seemed otherworldly came into view.

“You better answer well.”

The corner of the male lead’s mouth twitched.

He looked like a beast that had found a new toy.

“I’ll ask you straightforwardly. Who are you?”

The male lead dropped the perfume bottle containing the poison to the floor as he spoke.

Thump, a dull sound absorbed by the carpet echoed heavily on the floor.

I swallowed my saliva, trying not to let the male lead notice.

It was such a fundamental question.

Who am I?

Was he asking about the fundamental ‘me,’ or was he simply asking who Rose was?

The male lead was smarter than I thought.

No, he was more than smart.

He would have already found out the basic information about Rose.

I had to tell him who I was.

What my purpose was.

I had to tell him whether I was someone who could help him or not.

With a subtle smile, I responded to the male lead’s question.

In a polite yet bold tone.

“I’ve wanted to serve His Highness the Crown Prince since the beginning.”

The space between the male lead’s eyebrows narrowed.

It was already difficult to preserve my life discreetly by his side, with my eye-catching hair color.

If I was going to stand out, I might as well do it boldly.

“If you are a person capable of thinking, you should know whose yard you should kneel in, shouldn’t you?”

I had already made up my mind from the moment I opened my eyes in this strange place.

If I was going to beg, I might as well beg wholeheartedly.

After all, I would leave this place as soon as the heroine appeared.

“I will serve you with utmost sincerity, Your Highness.”