35. Extras Can’t Dance

Lola found herself momentarily speechless as she met Hailey’s bright, sparkling eyes.

“Yes! If a proper maid of the Crown Prince’s palace like you guides me, I’m sure I’ll be able to overcome my ignorance in no time!”

“!”

“Now then, please tell me what to do first!”

What the heck is with this shameless girl?

Flustered, Lola tried to pull her hand away, but Hailey only gripped it tighter in response.

“I’ll be counting on you, senior!”

Hailey’s spirited voice rang through the room.

“No… I mean… I’m not your senior…”

Lola stammered without realizing it, clearly rattled. Hailey smiled inwardly, pleased with the reaction she had predicted.

‘Heh. You can scold a crying face, but you can’t yell at someone who’s smiling.’

That was the approach Hailey had chosen. Lola didn’t know it, but Hailey, who had worked all kinds of part-time jobs in her past life, was a master of reading the room—and Lola herself was the proof. Though she had come intending to discipline Hailey, Lola was already getting swept up in her pace.

“What are you two doing over there?”

The head maid, Marilyn, narrowed her eyes at the two who were so close together.

Startled by the stern head maid’s sudden appearance, Lola finally managed to yank her hand away. Hailey, on the other hand, quickly bowed her head to Marilyn.

“Senior Maid Lola was kind enough to give me advice, since I’m unfamiliar with the Crown Prince’s palace.”

“When did I ever—!”

Caught off guard by Hailey’s calm statement, Lola instinctively opened her mouth to protest, but quickly changed her tone when she saw the sharp glint in Marilyn’s eyes.

“I just offered a word since the apprentice maid from the Detached Palace seemed unaware of the rules here. It was nothing serious, so no need for concern, Madam.”

Lola held her head high and looked straight at the head maid commander, claiming she’d been kindly advising Hailey—not bullying her like before. However…

“Before you go offering advice to an apprentice maid, maybe you should finish your own work first. I told you to organize the inventory of tea leaves for yesterday’s banquet. Have you finished that yet?”

“Ah, well, not yet…”

Lola, who had been putting off the task simply because she didn’t want to dig out the heavy jars of tea leaves in the pantry, fumbled for an excuse.

“What are you standing there for? Move! Or do you really want to be embarrassed in front of a maid from another palace?”

“N-no, Lady Marilyn!”

Snapped back to her senses by the maid commander’s scolding, Lola scurried off in a hurry. Now, that same sharp gaze turned toward Hailey.

Lady Marilyn Rober.

The head maid, formerly the wet nurse of the second prince, Kincaid, and the closest aide among the Crown Prince’s attendants.

Hailey already knew this.

‘They say she has the strictest personality among all the head maids in the palace. I should be careful not to get on her bad side.’

When Linda heard the news that Hailey was being dispatched to the Crown Prince’s palace, she was the first to find out information about that head maid and passed it on to Hailey.

“I heard the tea you prepared this morning was left untouched by His Highness.”

“Yes. I suppose my skills are still lacking… His Highness did not drink it.”

Honestly, Hailey didn’t believe it had anything to do with her tea-making. She was sure Kincaid had simply decided to be difficult. But…

“That is only to be expected.”

Marilyn gave a curt, unsparing judgment.

“There’s no way a rookie who has been in the palace for less than two years could satisfy His Highness’s taste.”

He didn’t just find it unsatisfying, he didn’t even look at the cup .…but Hailey knew better than to say that aloud.

“The Grand Duchess Eleonora of the Detached Palace is known to be gentle and kind. I’ve heard even senior maids are lenient with the apprentices.”

“……”

“But this Crown Prince’s palace is different. Apprentice maids are rigorously trained to become useful talents. Thus, it’s better to filter out the useless ones early on.”

‘Wow, useless ones…’

“Since you’ve been assigned to the Crown Prince’s palace, I shall take it upon myself to train you personally during your stay. You may look forward to it.”

At Marilyn’s cold declaration, a chill ran down Hailey’s spine.

‘Dragged into the tiger’s den… only to find there’s an even fiercer tiger inside.’

In that moment, Hailey suddenly understood how this woman had managed to survive all these years beside a man known as the most dangerous tyrant in the empire.

***

It had been a tumultuous day.

As night fell, Hailey returned to her lodging, flopping onto the bed without even changing her clothes.

“Ugh, when will I ever escape this blasted frog’s life…”

Marilyn, the head maid of the Crown Prince’s palace, faithfully carried out her promise to strictly train Hailey.

“A maid’s foundation lies in the proper care of palace property. Begin by polishing the cutlery here until it shines.”

Thanks to that, Hailey had spent her entire afternoon buffing and organizing what felt like hundreds of silver utensils until her arms ached.

“My shoulders are about to fall off…”

As she rubbed her sore shoulder with a weary fist, her eyes caught sight of a letter sitting neatly on the table.

“To Miss Hailey Brooke.”

That was all it said on the front.
There was no sender name, no return address.
The envelope, a creamy hue of high-quality paper, looked expensive, but without any identifiers, it gave off the air of a threat more than a letter.

“Could this letter be one of those that started in England… or something?”

Hailey tilted her head, puzzled—until she noticed a small initial scribbled in the corner of the envelope.

“Oh! Could it be!”

Did it come from Kassian, the head of the Marion Trading Company? The realization struck her, and Hailey hurriedly tore open the envelope.

“Dear Miss Hailey Brooke,”

The letter began with an elegant, refined hand—each stroke carrying the scent of education and care.

“Though I made every effort to respond quickly, there were several matters to investigate, and I must apologize for the delay. I hope you will understand with a generous heart.”

After that came a paragraph of pleasantries and inquiries about the Grand Duchess’s well-being, which Hailey promptly skipped over—her heart already racing for the real reason she had awaited this letter.

“I instructed one of our agents stationed in the Evas region to investigate the ‘House of Count Vernette.’ The report arrived yesterday and…”

“What? The House of Count Vernette doesn’t exist in Evas?”

Hailey read the words aloud, her voice trembling with disbelief.

The House of Vernette—

That was the family of the original novel’s heroine. And now, she was being told it simply didn’t exist?

“No way… There has to be a mistake.”

“Concerned that there might have been an error, I had our agent thoroughly examine every noble registry and peerage published in the region. However, there was no family with a similar name or even anything phonetically close.”

Hailey’s heart dropped, a chill running down her spine.

If the heroine’s family doesn’t exist… then who exactly is supposed to be the protagonist of this story?

“In conclusion, there is no noble house by the name of Count Vernette in the Evas region.”

“…Then maybe it wasn’t the Evas region after all.”

Hailey murmured the words under her breath, her voice drained of hope.

She had truly believed this time—finally—she would uncover the identity of the original heroine and meet her face-to-face.

In the novel, “The Lily Trampled Beneath the Tyrant’s Feet,” the debut of Lady Vernette, the heroine, has never been clearly described. 

All the reader was told was that the two met at one of the many royal social gatherings and fell in love at first sight. No names, no dates, no place—just a fleeting brushstroke of fate.

“Still, judging by how far we are into the original storyline… it should be about time for her to appear.”

And this upcoming ball—glittering with importance and heavy with foreshadowing—was the most likely setting for her first appearance.

“Thinking about it that way, being dispatched to the Crown Prince’s palace this time is actually a good thing.”

She could observe the invited guests much more closely than when she was staying at the Detached Palace.

“Maybe… I’ll even get a chance to see the guest list.”

There would be other ways, too—subtler ones—and Hailey had already made up her mind. No matter what it took, she would find her.

“The original heroine, Lady Vernette…”

The only sunlight that could illuminate the tyrant’s heart.

That gentle, radiant girl wasn’t just the key to the male lead’s redemption anymore—she was Hailey’s one and only hope as well.

“By the way, Miss Hailey, will you also be attending the upcoming ball? I imagine your duties will keep you quite busy, but I would be truly delighted to catch a glimpse of you in a gown…”

At the very end of the letter, Kassian had left a postscript scrawled in a lighter, almost playful tone.

“…And here we have another person who doesn’t know that apprentice maids aren’t allowed to attend royal balls.”

Even if there weren’t such a rule carved in stone, Hailey had no intention of setting foot on that floor as a guest.

“An extra dance at the ball? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Today, Hailey’s assigned task was to decorate the hall where the ball would be held.

Her duties included laying down a crimson carpet, setting white tablecloths on the tables, and adorning the walls with various flowers and fabrics to create a splendid ballroom.

Her role was to arrange the ball, not to attend it.

“No matter how I think about it, I can’t imagine myself dancing in such a place.”