13. I don’t like ugly frogs either.

Kincaid gave a very slight nod. Hailey stepped closer to Kincaid.
She then brought her lips to his ear, hidden behind her wet, lustrous black hair, and whispered something.

“!”

In the next moment, Kincaid’s eyes hardened fiercely. He picked up the sword he had just thrown aside and aimed it at Hailey’s neck.

“Seeing you talk so recklessly, it seems you’ve truly resigned yourself to death.”

As the well-sharpened blade touched her nape, Hailey swallowed hard.

“If you were going to kill me with that sword, you wouldn’t have saved me earlier.”

Looking into Kincaid’s murderous red eyes, Hailey spoke clearly and firmly. Right now, she was taking a gamble. Coming to the hot springs itself was a gamble, not just this moment.

“I believe that the kindness of the boy who shyly offered me a flower still exists in his heart.”

Just as the Grand Duchess had said, Hailey believed that the Crown Prince still held a deep affection for her. That belief gave her the courage to take the risk.

After a long pause, Kincaid lowered the sword with his unchanged cold expression.

“You’d better watch your mouth. If someone hears what you just said, you won’t be able to keep your life.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“So, you want me to save your companions for the sake of the Grand Duchess’s honor?”

Kincaid coldly reiterated the point after clearly summarizing it.

“Do you think I would move just to save a mere apprentice maid?”

Can’t you just do it…?
An apprentice maid of the palace is still a citizen of the empire you rule.

As expected of a potential tyrant, your personality…

“I apologize for speaking out, but the Grand Duchess cares for and loves everyone in the palace.”

“And?”

“If Annie has to leave the palace as a punishment for this incident, Her Grace will be terribly heartbroken.”

Grand Duchess Eleonora was blaming herself for not paying attention to the situation of the young apprentice maid while lamenting her own helplessness in not being able to save Annie.

“The Grand Duchess hasn’t slept a wink since last night and hasn’t eaten anything. I’m worried she might harm her health.”

“Hmm.”

Hailey pleaded once again.

“Please help Her Grace, the Grand Duchess. You are the only one in this palace who can defend her.”

A plea to save the honor of the Grand Duchess, not just that of a mere apprentice maid. Hailey was subtly expressing that refusing this would undermine the prestige of the next heir to the throne.

“You really are…”

Kincaid glared at the apprentice maid who was using the palace’s language once again.

“I warned you last time—don’t think you can manipulate your master with that sharp tongue of yours.”

“Unfortunately, this is the only skill I have.”

“Well, what skills could a frog possibly have, anyway?”

With his mocking tone, Hailey felt like jumping up and down like a real frog.

‘You’re the first man to call me incompetent!’

A legendary part-timer with maxed-out skills, heaven-sent.
The pride of the university district. The hope of self-employed business owners. And THIS is how you see me?!

“If I save your companions, what will you do for me?”

“Ugh.”

Caught completely off guard by the unexpected turn, Hailey’s mouth fell open.

Can’t he just help without making it a deal? So stingy, seriously…

As she was trying to frame this in a way that she could say to the Crown Prince, she suddenly flinched.

“Your Highness, whom are you speaking with?”

It was a knight who had been standing guard outside the hot springs. The guard, puzzled by the voices coming from inside the hot springs, knocked on the door.

“How did you get in?”

“Well, that is…”

Flustered by Kincaid’s question, Hailey was just about to answer—

“Pardon me, Your Highness. I will come in, just in case.”

A loyal knight would do anything for the well-being of his lord. Without waiting for a response, he flung the door open and entered the hot springs.

“Ugh.”

At that moment, the knight’s face twisted in surprise. Crown Prince Kincaid was entangled with someone on the bench. His muscular body was mostly bare, glistening with moisture. The face of the other person was obscured, but their dark maid’s uniform hinted at their identity.

‘The Crown Prince… with a maid?!’

The knight was taken aback by this unprecedented sight.

“Do I really have to say get out myself?”

Snapped back to reality by his lord’s sharp voice, the knight quickly replied.

“My apologies, Your Highness.”

He hastily retreated, but Kincaid did not react. The last thing the knight saw was his lord holding the other person’s cheek and leaning down. He hurriedly exited the bathhouse.

“Ugh.”

Hailey, pinned beneath Kincaid’s muscular frame, groaned.

She was trapped under someone three times her size. Unfortunately, to outsiders, it merely looked like they were lost in the heat, exploring each other’s bodies.

Moreover…

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, Kincaid leaned in as if to kiss her.

With features as beautiful as if carved from jewels and a strong jaw, Hailey was overwhelmed by the sight of his wet black hair and ominously glowing red eyes. She couldn’t even struggle.

‘Why does this damned tyrant have to be so handsome!’

She began to understand why the original author had spent half a chapter praising Kincaid’s looks. Enchanted by his irresistible beauty, Hailey forgot to resist…

“Ugh.”

But Kincaid’s lips landed not on her mouth, but on the calloused back of her hand. With his palm still clamped over her mouth, he whispered mischievously.

“I don’t like ugly frogs either.”

“!”

Hailey was dumbfounded by Kincaid’s lingering, savage comeback.
At last, Kincaid lifted his body off her.

“Phew, haah!”

Hailey took a deep breath, forced to hold her breath earlier. It seemed that this would-be tyrant had decided to call her a frog.

Just as Hailey managed to catch her breath, Kincaid roughly threw a robe at her.

“Cover your face with that.”

“?”

Kincaid picked up the discarded clothing to cover his bare upper body and whispered coldly to Hailey, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

“There’s something I want you to do in return for my help.”

Hailey swallowed hard at the proposal she couldn’t dare refuse.

‘I’ve seen this in movies before.’

It was usually in cruel crime films featuring gangsters or mafia.
The villain would make such a proposal to an extra who was about to meet a tragic end, right?
She just wanted to save her friend. Why was there a death flag hanging over her?

***

A trial to hold accountable the impudent apprentice maid who had stolen treasures from the palace was being held in the main palace under the leadership of the Empress Dowager.

“Sigh…”

The Grand Duchess, attending the trial with a heart full of desperation, sighed deeply upon seeing Annie trembling, bound by ropes. The sigh darkened the faces of the other maids.

“Your Grace, please don’t worry too much. The Empress Dowager won’t be too harsh on a foolish child.”

“I hope so. If this young apprentice maid loses her life over this, I don’t think I could forgive myself.”

At the Grand Duchess’s words of self-blame, the head maid’s expression subtly twisted.

‘Though she says that, the child will likely struggle to survive.’

Hailey, standing behind the Grand Duchess, looked up at Annie. Spotting Hailey, who was terrified, Annie’s face showed a hint of color. Hailey sent a silent apology to her friend.

‘I’m sorry, Annie. You got caught up in this because of me.’

That day, it wasn’t supposed to be Annie running the errand. Because of that, Annie had fallen victim to the plot aimed at Hailey. Did Annie somehow realize this? She slowly shook her head toward Hailey.

‘No, it’s not your fault. I was the one who volunteered to run the errand.’

Even in this situation, Annie did not blame Hailey.

‘I will definitely save you.’

Seeing her friend like that, Hailey reaffirmed her resolve once more. As expected, the Empress Dowager, who was determined to restore order in the palace, did not let this incident slide.

“How do you manage your subordinates, Grand Duchess?”

Instead of directing her anger at Annie, the suspected thief, the Empress Dowager unleashed her fury on the Grand Duchess.

“What sort of contempt must that impudent girl have for the imperial family to even think of committing such a disgraceful act!”

At the Empress Dowager’s harsh scolding, which rang out stern and sharp, Annie—kneeling and trembling—showed a look of utter despair.

“I have no excuse, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. I sincerely apologize for failing to properly manage my servant and thus bringing shame upon the imperial family.”

“Well, at least you acknowledge it. That’s something.”

“This incident is entirely due to my negligence. So please, I beg you, spare the life of that poor child. She acted out of ignorance, youth, and poverty. I implore you to show mercy.”

The Grand Duchess bowed her head again in pleading, but the Empress Dowager’s displeased expression did not change.

“Oh my…”

It was the Duchess of Siela who spoke in surprise. As the owner of the Summer Palace and the Emperor’s favorite concubine, she exclaimed with authority.

“What are you saying, Your Grace? If we forgive her simply because she is young and poor, how can the royal family serve as a proper example to the citizens of the Empire?”

Hailey, watching the situation from a distance, shook her head.

‘What kind of example… it’s already a mess of a family.’

The Duchess of Siela, merely a concubine of the Emperor, was clearly influencing the moral decay of the citizens by meddling in palace affairs.

Furthermore, sensing her unstable position, the Duchess viewed Eleonora, the Grand Duchess, as a thorn in her side, especially since Eleonora still remained in the palace despite her reduced status.

Her interference in the trial of an apprentice maid she didn’t even care about stemmed from that reason.

“Your Majesty, this matter cannot be easily overlooked due to personal feelings. As a member of the royal family, I earnestly request that you render a just judgment.”

“I understand the Duchess’s intentions. Naturally, the sinner must receive a severe punishment. However, there should also be an appropriate consequence for the Grand Duchess, who failed to manage her properly.”

At the blatant revelation of intent, Eleonora’s face turned pale. Just as the Empress Dowager was about to declare the fate of the poor Annie…

“The Crown Prince has arrived!”

A chamberlain announced in a loud voice.