Chapter 1 – Part 4

A few days passed like that.

Being the Crown Prince, his tastes were, as expected, incredibly picky. Just as the rumors said.

His hobby was nitpicking, and his specialty was firing people.

I heard this from Libby the other day.

‘There was a maid who got fired for serving Bergamot-scented tea in a rose-patterned teacup.’

‘She got fired for something like that?’

‘His Highness said the sight and smell didn’t harmonize and dismissed her immediately.’

Oh, by the way, Libby, who told me that story, is no longer here. The Crown Prince fired her yesterday.

What was it again? He complained that the curtains Libby chose didn’t feel seasonal.

I heard this from an attendant who witnessed Libby being fired in real-time.

When I heard that, one thought crossed my mind.

‘Is this guy really insane?’

No matter how high his status or how handsome he is, a personality like that is useless.

As a result, any reverence I had for the Crown Prince evaporated in the past few days.

All the admiration and whatever I had built up by attending various royal events during the social season with my parents and sister was now gone.

‘He looked cool from a distance. Ugh…’

Today, I prepared tea leaves and received suitable snacks from the kitchen for the picky Crown Prince.

Pushing the tea trolley, I quickly made my way through the corridors of the Crown Prince’s palace, filled with golden decorations and ornate frames, to the drawing room.

The Crown Prince was talking with an elderly nobleman in that drawing room.

The old nobleman bowed his head to the much younger Crown Prince.

“If Your Highness could show some leniency…”

“Impossible.”

His Highness refused the old nobleman without even listening to the end of his plea.

I didn’t know what the rigid Crown Prince was talking about, but it didn’t concern me. I was just doing my job.

I set the teacups on the drawing room table and arranged the carefully selected tea foods from the kitchen in an appealing and delicious manner.

By the time I finished the setup, the last grain of sand in the hourglass I had adjusted to this tea leaf fell perfectly.

As I poured my special afternoon blend into the teacup, a rich and mysterious aroma, difficult to trace back to its origin and variety, filled the drawing room.

His Highness paused his conversation to savor the tea’s fragrance.

Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem inclined to throw the cup in displeasure.

‘Could this teatime be safe too?’

Just as I was about to feel relieved, His Highness suddenly demanded an explanation.

“What kind of tea is this?”

Please, just stay quiet and drink the tea calmly.

Did he think I wouldn’t realize he’s trying to find fault and fire me by questioning everything?

But my presentation would be perfect today as well!

“This is a blend of the first flush tea freshly harvested from the south and the second flush tea from the highlands of the Eastern Kingdom, using only the tenderest leaves.”

“Second-flush tea? Doesn’t that mean it’s made from the second harvest of tea leaves?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Isn’t the second harvest of lower quality compared to the first?”

Where did he even hear such things?

‘It’s just another unreasonable complaint today. Help me, head maid!’

Though I was flustered, I didn’t show it on my face.

“Not necessarily. In the case of tea leaves from the Eastern Kingdom, due to the unique cultivation environment, the flavor of the second flush surpasses that of the first flush.”

As I answered calmly, gathering all my patience, His Highness’s lips curled into a smile.

“Interesting. I’d like to hear more.”

What do you want to hear more about, you fool?

His Highness, unaware of my frustration as I gripped the teapot, issued a dismissal order to the old nobleman.

“Count Phlox, you may leave now. I need to discuss this tea with the maid.”

The old nobleman, who hadn’t even touched his teacup, lingered reluctantly before bowing to His Highness and departing.

After easily sending away the old count, the Crown Prince commanded me,

“Sit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, sit.”

“Yes, Your Highness…”

When a superior commands, you have no choice but to obey.

Thus, I was interrogated by His Highness for a long time.

Since serving His Highness, each day has been like this. Dealing with such a troublesome boss was incredibly stressful.

The only things that consoled me were the weekly salary of 1 gold and 92 silver and my beloved diary friend.

‘I’ll quit as soon as I save enough money.’

I will leave the Crown Prince’s palace. I’ll open a tea shop!

If possible, I’d even put up a big sign in front of my future tea shop saying, ‘No entry for His Highness the Crown Prince.’

* * *

As soon as I got off work, I opened my diary.

There was something I wanted to ask my diary friend.

[You said you work for a trading company, right? Could you recommend a small shop space in the capital? Not now, but later.]

After a brief wait, my diary friend’s handwriting appeared.

[Of course. What kind of shop are you planning to open?]

[Obviously a tea shop! I’ll carefully select the best tea leaves and brew them myself. The first floor will be for customers to leisurely enjoy their tea, and the second floor will be reserved for VIPs.]

[That sounds wonderful. By the way, what does VIP mean?]

There goes my diary friend talking like a chatbot again.

Feeling like I was training a chatbot, I explained,

[VIP stands for Very Important Person. It means an extremely important person, a guest of honor.]

[That’s an unusual form of language. What language is it from?]

“Ah, that’s right, there’s no English here.”

But is it okay to say this?

Until now, I hadn’t told anyone that I had reincarnated. Not my sister, not my parents. I kept it a secret.

‘Who would believe that there’s a completely different world and that I have memories of living there?’

It didn’t seem wise to go around talking about a society without a class system. A maid in the royal palace talking about a world without royalty or nobility was reckless.

But maybe it was okay to confide in my anonymous diary friend?

‘They don’t even know who I am.’

Finally, I decided to tell my diary friend the truth.

[It’s called English. I’m probably the only one who knows it here.]

Though our friendship through the diary hadn’t lasted long, I hoped that my diary friend, who had shared a bond with me, would believe me a little.

Gathering my courage, I confessed.

[The truth is, I’m from another world.]

My diary friend fell silent.

“Hey, come on! I trusted you.”

I trusted you to trust me!

Feeling disappointed, I fell asleep while flipping through my diary, waiting for my diary friend’s reply until late at night.

* * *

As soon as I woke up in the morning, I nervously opened my diary.

Thankfully, there was a reply from my diary friend.

[Sorry for the late reply, I was surprised.]

I quickly wrote my response below.

[It’s okay. That can happen. It’s fine if you don’t believe me, really.]

Immediately, my diary friend’s handwriting appeared on the next line. It seemed he had been staring at the diary.

[I believe you. But please keep everything I’m about to say a secret.]

What was my diary friend going to say?

[Okay, I won’t tell anyone.]

[This is confidential, but people with abilities and memories from other worlds occasionally appear in the Empire.]

“People like me?”

There might be others from Earth besides me. I wanted to meet them!

But my diary friend added something ominous.

[And most of them… didn’t have a good ending.]

“What do you mean they didn’t have a good ending?”

While I hesitated on how to respond, my diary friend continued writing.

[Have you told anyone else that you’re from another world?]

[No. You’re the first one I’ve told.]

[That’s a relief. It’s dangerous, so don’t tell anyone.]

[Why is it dangerous?]

[Please forgive me for not being able to provide details. Just be careful.]

Well, I’d never heard of such a thing in all my time living here, so it must be extremely secret information that even their trading company obtained with difficulty.

There must be reasons why they couldn’t reveal everything to an outsider.

While I was lost in thought, my diary friend continued writing.

[You must keep it a secret. Even this diary isn’t safe.]

Then, the parts of my diary mentioning English and my previous life were covered in black ink. It seemed my diary friend was erasing the dangerous content.

“I don’t know anything, and now I have to hide and be cautious…”

I felt helpless.

This friend didn’t seem willing to teach me the detailed circumstances. So who else could I ask about this?

Suddenly, I remembered the shop owner who had sold me this magical exchange diary.

He was an incredibly amiable and friendly man. And probably the only wizard in this world.

‘How surprised I was when I discovered this really was a magical diary.’

Until I stumbled upon that shop, I had thought there was no such thing as magic in this world.

Now that I think about it, could the shop owner have also come from another world like me?

While I was deep in thought, my diary friend wrote a new sentence.