I Became a Tyrant’s Maid - Chapter 70

Calix bit his lip as he sat in the carriage returning to Posnia, looking out the window.

The contract with the princess was successfully made.

At the formal dinner, he smoothly brought up the topic of marriage to the Emperor of Desart, and thus obtained a private audience with the princess.

As expected, the princess was very interested in magic.

As one of the few empires, Desart’s national power was strong.

However, recently, as the neighboring country Eoshil had been fully supporting the field of magic, their national power had rapidly risen, making vigilance inevitable.

The princess felt the need to develop Desart Empire’s magic level because of this.

For her, the proposal from Calix, the Crown Prince of Posnia, which had the most advanced magical technology on the continent, must have been very attractive.

‘By the way, tamers and elves…’

The tamer’s rampage was sure to cause a big ripple across the entire continent.

Apart from Calix, almost all the important figures of the continent had witnessed the tamer’s power with their own eyes.

‘Power no less than a top-class spirit master.’

He could understand why they were driven out of Desart.

They must have been afraid of the tamers’ power.

As it turned out, the wife of the former Desart Emperor’s brother was also a tamer. The Emperor, who had directly seen the power of tamers, was afraid of losing his throne to that power, so he framed them for treason and killed the entire family.

The tamer who carried out the terror attack using demonic energy on the festival day turned out to be their son, the only survivor.

‘Their power was certainly attractive.’

But would it be worth accepting the group of tamers into Posnia, risking being checked by Desart?

In fact, if one were determined, it was an issue that could be kept secret sufficiently.

The Kilbern Desert was called the Desert of Death due to frequent monster appearances.

So, if they fabricated a story about the tamers being annihilated by monster attacks and secretly accepted them under their command, they would surely become a useful force.

But for now, there was a more important issue than the tamers.

‘What the hell are those damn elves planning?’

Elves are known to be the last clear followers of Morisias.

So, it was natural for them to seek Morisias’s resurrection.

However, this was the first time their plans had become so visible.

“Damn it. This is driving me crazy.”

What kind of research are they conducting, and why did that elf approach Rose?

And why did they appear at this particular time?

Moreover, why did they tell Rose that all of this was a mistake in their research? And also…

‘He kissed her.’

The elf’s kiss.

Although it ultimately wasn’t bad for Rose, Calix couldn’t help but lose his mind and go berserk at that moment.

He didn’t want to know why he reacted that way.

But one thing was certain.

It still made his blood boil.

The more he thought about it, the more furious he became.

‘She’s sleeping so well, claiming to be growing.’

Calix stared at Rose, who was sleeping leaning against the carriage wall, for a long time.

She was peculiar.

No, beyond peculiar, she was strange.

It was as if she had come from a different world.

She often didn’t know basic common sense, but showed intelligence in strange areas.

And that intelligence in strange areas mostly worked to his benefit.

Because of that, he started to rely on her in some aspects.

Moreover, recently, that strange formality she used to maintain with him began to disappear.

It felt like they had become a little closer than before.

Unlike when she first met him, now she was comfortably dozing off, wasn’t she?

He quietly folded his arms and looked at his maid.

The noticeable pink hair, the transparent skin that matched it, and even the slightly upturned corners of her mouth.

Calix suddenly came to his senses, shaking off the strange thoughts that instantly filled his mind.

What was important now wasn’t Rose Estanya.

It was the suddenly appeared elf and the tamer controlled by demonic energy.

Calix frowned deeply, but soon had to smooth out his brow as Rose’s voice flitted through his mind.

“Your Highness, if you keep frowning, you’ll get wrinkles.”

It was enough to drive him mad. Why did all his thoughts keep coming back to Rose like a broken record?

Calix tapped the seat with his fingers and pondered seriously.

To be honest, he was curious about Rose Estanya’s identity.

Why did that elf leak information about the experiment to Rose?

And why did he save her from the corrupted beast?

‘Is there some connection?’

How did she receive the elf’s kiss, which is said to be hard to get even if enslaved, and why did that elf reveal his true name to Rose?

Just thinking about it still made his stomach churn unpleasantly.

Rose was the most enigmatic woman he had ever seen.

In fact, Calix could wake up the sleeping Rose right now and ask her.

He had enough justification and power to do so.

Moreover, he had already overlooked her suspiciousness once in the carriage heading to the capital.

The strange mana backflow phenomenon that occurred that day.

‘And the identity of the mana that was floating around Rose’s body.’

That day, Calix had briefly absorbed the mana floating around Rose’s body to resolve the backflow phenomenon.

He should have grabbed her and asked her then, instead of just letting it go.

To reveal her identity immediately.

Although it was a small amount of mana, it was not a concentration that humans could possess.

It was thick and sticky, like demonic energy or holy power…

However, Calix didn’t ask anything.

It just felt like he shouldn’t ask anything.

‘What do I care?’

Calix deliberately ignored the issue.

It felt like a forbidden question.

If he were to find out about her identity, it felt like she would disappear from his sight forever.

What was really driving him crazy was that he didn’t understand why he felt anxious about it.

As if the various issues weren’t complicated enough, seeing Rose in front of him made things even more complex.

‘Is she really some kind of fairy…’

Calix adjusted his posture, moved a bit closer to her, and peered at Rose’s face.

Just observing her face turned the boring travel time into a not-so-bad experience.

The deal with the Desart princess, the demonic energy in the Hamel Mountains messed up by the second prince.

And the research for Morisias’s resurrection being conducted in the elves’ hideout, away from Posnia’s gaze.

Every day, he was thinking and rethinking about how to overcome these damn obstacles, but oddly enough, just quietly observing her seemed to relieve his stress.

‘She’s a bit too big to be a fairy though.’

Identity or whatever, it didn’t matter.

She was beneficial to him.

So, she just needs to stay right by his side like this.

Calix carefully brushed aside her disheveled pink hair.

Rose’s nose twitched. She soon let out a faint groan.

‘As expected, she pushed herself too hard.’

Rose never tells him when she’s struggling.

It must have been her first time seeing someone die.

And up close at that.

Calix carefully moved his gaze to her neck.

The necklace he had saved for her in the Leviathan’s cave sparkled beautifully.

He was satisfied.

Even more so when he recalled how genuinely happy Rose was when she received the necklace he offered.

That’s why he was afraid.

‘If you end up betraying me like others, what should I do?’

It felt like his heart was already turning cold.

Rose’s life was mortgaged to him.

The moment she betrayed him, there was a high chance Rose would be killed by the Duke.

After all, she was in a situation where she had betrayed the Duke and sided with him.

So, considering the possibilities, she could betray him just as she had betrayed the Duke.

He shouldn’t have given her affection in the first place.

But how could that be possible?

“Your Highness, is this really for me to keep forever?”

“Your Highness is the most handsome in the world. It’s an undeniable fact, Your Highness.”

“I will serve you wholeheartedly from now on, Your Highness!”

Calix ran his large hand over his face.

He kept worrying about it.

What she usually thinks about, how she behaves around people other than him.

“Mmm,”

At the sound of her stirring, Calix fixed his gaze back on Rose, which had been lowered.

The more he thought about her, the more it drove him crazy.

Even he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do.

“Your Highness, let’s take a break.”

Along with Ruel’s voice, the carriage came to a stop.

Calix leaned back in his seat with a sigh, his mind in turmoil. He felt Ruel’s gaze as he opened the carriage door.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ruel frowned deeply, looking back and forth between Calix and Rose, and spoke as if warning:

“Your Highness, I think it would be better if you were careful.”

Calix couldn’t help but frown at the words that followed.

“As Your Highness knows, the rumors in the palace these days are not good.”

“….”

“The knights’ reactions lately haven’t been too positive either, Your Highness.”

His mood soured rapidly.

“What rumors.”

At Calix’s question, Ruel hesitated, swallowed hard, and answered.

“The rumor that Miss Rose is Your Highness’s mistress.”

Calix gritted his teeth and quietly looked at the sleeping Rose.

“Of course, I know it’s not true. But if you keep traveling together like this, the rumors might get more serious, so I’m a bit worried.”

“Find out who’s spreading such nonsense.”

Calix turned his head to look at Ruel and smiled brightly.

“I’ll personally pull out their three-inch tongues. Kindly, of course.”