6. I never forget a woman I’ve met.

Kincaid muttered discontentedly.

It was a shame he hadn’t gotten a proper look at that brazen face because of the way she had thrown herself flat on the lawn.

‘Was her hair light red?’

Her figure beneath that shabby uniform looked quite thin. He remembered her skin being pale like kneaded dough.

‘I told her to lift her head, but she didn’t.’

That cunning apprentice maid had stubbornly refused until the end, ensuring both her and her companion’s survival.

Even thinking back on it now, she was quite the audacious little tadpole.

“Now that I think about it, it really was outrageous.”

Burnett chimed in belatedly.

“So those tadpoles dared to throw laundry at the Crown Prince and then had the gall to toy with Your Highness using nothing but a sharp tongue!”

“…’Toy with’ is a bit much.”

“No, no, that was absolutely a manipulation—and a clear act of disloyalty. I’ll search the palace immediately and have that apprentice maid arrested!”

Kincaid cast a chilly glance toward his suddenly overzealous aide.

“And what will you do once you catch her?”

“Obviously, have her executed. Like the traitors, Your Highness.”

Just moments ago, Burnett had scolded his lord for even thinking of killing the poor apprentice maids—yet now he had completely switched sides in an instant.

However…

“You want to drag out and execute the apprentice maids I spared with my own hands?”

Kincaid answered coldly without even lifting his eyes from the documents.

“Are you trying to announce to the entire Empire that I’m a cold-blooded tyrant incapable of showing mercy to apprentice maids?”

“O-of course not, ha ha…”

Finally grasping the full situation, Burnett offered a sheepish grin.

Kincaid pressed his lips together and returned his focus to the paperwork.

“If I meet her again…”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

Kincaid growled fiercely and roughly flipped through the documents in front of him.

***

“How dare you! Do you even have a shred of common sense? Throwing laundry at His Highness the Crown Prince?!”

Maria, the disciplinary maid, had heard about the incident and was absolutely livid as she scolded the two girls. Linda, looking wronged, spoke up.

“But Lady Maria, we didn’t throw it—it flew off because of the wind…”

“If you were proper palace maids, you’d have stopped even the wind from blowing! That’s the duty of a royal maid!”

Uh… even in a romance fantasy novel, that’s a bit much.

Maybe in another genre.

“After causing such a commotion, of course you’ll be punished. Go clean and wax the entire second-floor hallway. Don’t even think about sleeping until it’s finished!”

At the strict order of the disciplinary maid, Linda and Hailey helplessly picked up their rags and headed to the second-floor hallway.

Still pouting with frustration, Linda looked over at Hailey.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Lady Maria doesn’t like excuses. The more you explain, the angrier she gets.”

“That’s not what I meant… I mean, you could’ve told her it was all my fault. Then you wouldn’t have gotten scolded too.”

Strictly speaking, Linda was the root cause of today’s incident. She stumbled and knocked over the laundry rack, and thanks to that, the laundry had flown through the air and landed right on the Crown Prince’s face.

‘It was Linda! It was all Linda’s fault!’

If Hailey had tattled to the disciplinary maid like that, maybe she could’ve avoided the punishment of waxing the hallway?

“…It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, Lady Maria doesn’t like excuses or tattling.”

With a superior who hated finger-pointing, explaining the truth wouldn’t have helped at all.

‘More likely, she would’ve just seen me as a lousy maid who throws her fellow trainee under the bus. It would’ve backfired.’

That’s what Hailey had figured. She turned and looked at Linda.

“You and I were both there. That makes us partners in crime. If we’re getting scolded, we get scolded together.”

After Hailey finished speaking, silence fell between them for a moment.

“You always seem kind of cold, and yet…”

Linda mumbled in a trembling voice before lifting her head with a pout.

“You know my family has been merchants for generations, right?”

“Of course I know.”

Linda’s family owned several sizable shops in the city.

‘Tsk tsk. Why would a rich girl like her willingly throw herself into this madhouse?’

Hailey remembered how she’d clicked her tongue when she first met Linda.

“Our family motto is to never owe anyone a debt. So I won’t ever forget what happened today.”

“?”

“I’m saying I’ll definitely repay your kindness.”

Tears had started to bead under Linda’s eyes as she made her solemn vow.

“Well, go ahead then.”

“Huh?”

“But for now, we have to clean.”

“When you’re done crying, it’s time to get back to work,” as Ms. Oh used to say.

Hailey picked up a dry rag and the wax bucket and began walking.

“What? That’s all you have to say? Aren’t you going to be more touched?”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“I’m serious! I’ll repay your kindness for the rest of my life! I swear on my grandfather’s name…!”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Linda hurried along behind Hailey.

No matter how diligently you clean, dust has a way of appearing again and again. After sweeping the long corridor and mopping it, the two girls were completely exhausted.

“Ugh, when are we going to finish waxing? I’m starving—I can’t move another inch.”

They both slumped down onto the floor of the hallway.

“Want to go grab some snacks? I’ll rest here while you’re gone.”

“That’s a great idea! I’ll raid the kitchen real quick.”

Clearly worn out from all the scrubbing, Linda jumped up and ran off toward the kitchen.

Hailey, feeling sore from gripping the rag for so long, gently tapped her aching lower back.

“Whew… Might as well get it done.”

After a deep sigh, Hailey got to her feet.

She bowed her head again and resumed scrubbing the floor— But at some point, she froze in place.

A knight dressed in full ceremonial attire blocked Hailey’s path.

“Excuse me.”

She politely greeted him as she had been taught and tried to step aside, but… the knight blocked her path again.

‘I’m already exhausted—why is he getting in my way?’

She’d heard that there were some nasty knights in the palace who harassed apprentice maids. Was this guy one of them?

As Hailey lifted her head to protest, a sudden chill ran down her spine.

“We meet again, little frog.”

That familiar—and ominous—voice echoed in her ears.

W-why on earth was she running into the crown prince here?

As their eyes met—his ominously glowing red eyes—Hailey instinctively lowered her head in a deep bow.

“I… I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

“Still refusing to look at my face and offering such a rude greeting, are you?”

The sarcasm was painfully obvious, and Hailey bit her lip hard.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I believe you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

That day, she had been sprawled flat on the grass like a frog.

There was no way Kincaid could have seen her face.

‘He has no proof that it was me, right?’

There were dozens of apprentice maids in the palace wearing the same green uniform.
But in response to her desperate excuse, Kincaid smirked coldly.

“You think I mistook you…?”

He murmured sharply, then suddenly pressed Hailey against the wall, slamming his palm beside her head.

Bang.

The heavy thud of his hand hitting the wall made Hailey flinch.

“You’d better keep this in mind…”

At his eerie tone, Hailey swallowed hard.

Overwhelmed by the crown prince’s sheer presence—his beauty rivaling a masterfully carved statue—she forgot how to speak.

Kincaid leaned in and whispered in her ear.

“I never forget a woman I’ve met. No matter the situation.”

Gulp.

Hailey swallowed again.

‘Wait a minute… isn’t that a classic romantic male lead line in a fantasy novel?’

‘So not only is the Crown Prince a tyrant, he’s also a flirt?’

It seemed like now would be a good time to carefully recall the original story—but this wasn’t the moment for that.

“Raise your head.”

At the commanding tone, Hailey had no choice but to slowly lift her head.

Once again, her gaze met Kincaid’s.

His red eyes, gleaming like those of a predator eyeing its prey, radiated a fierce intensity.

Just locking eyes with him was enough to make a person feel overwhelmed. His gaze slowly scanned Hailey from head to toe.

Then, his eyes came to a halt, fixing sharply on her face.

‘Even if you’re caught by a tiger, there’s always a way out. Think, think, think.’

Statistically speaking, tyrants like him only became more vicious the weaker their opponent appeared.

Bully the weak, submit to the strong—that was Tyrant 101.

‘So don’t get intimidated.’

Making that decision, Hailey straightened her posture and boldly met Kincaid’s eyes. Seeing that, the corners of Kincaid’s lips twisted.

“You really do look like a frog.”

“Ugh.”

Caught off guard, Hailey flinched.

‘What’s wrong with my face, huh?’

She might not have the dazzling looks of the emperor’s concubines, but her features weren’t bad.

She actually liked her combination of glossy red-gold hair and blue eyes quite a bit.

‘And look who’s talking—you look like someone who’s about to start a mass slaughter!’

She didn’t say it out loud, though, thanks to her very strong survival instincts.

The crown prince—whose beauty could outshine any of the emperor’s women—continued to glare at Hailey with a twisted look in his eyes.

“You said my radiance was so dazzling that was too blinding to look upon—and yet, you’re staring at me just fine.”

“……”

“What now? Are you planning to toy with me again using that shameless little tongue of yours?”

“I deeply apologize, Your Highness the Crown Prince. What happened that day was entirely my fault. Please forgive me.”

In response to her sincere plea, Kincaid curled his lips coldly and replied:

“No.”