Chapter 6 – Part 8

“Phew!”

After returning to my room, I let out a deep breath.

The entire way back from the carriage seat to the servant quarters of the Crown Prince’s palace, I felt uneasy, as if someone were watching me, even during that short walk.

I wanted to hurry back to my room, but I couldn’t run for fear of looking suspicious.

I recalled the marks I saw on the map.

“So it’s true that Noah is being hunted by the royal family.”

Were the people with the Crown Prince earlier members of the Holy Knights? Those people were wearing pitch-black robes and whispering in the alleyway.

“Not holy at all! Isn’t the Holy Knights’ uniform supposed to be white?”

I hugged my diary tightly and rolled around on the bed as I usually did. It seemed to calm me down a bit.

After doing that for a while, my thoughts began to clear.

“They must be recording Noah’s shop locations on the map to see if there’s a pattern.”

It was similar to an investigative technique I’d heard about in my past life.

They said that if you collect the locations where a serial criminal has committed crimes, you can roughly pinpoint their base of operations.

“But opening a shop isn’t a crime!”

Noah was just an outsider like me.

I was reborn here and found a family, but Noah was truly alone.

He longed for his homeland, which he could never return to and shed tears thinking of friends who had gone before him.

Moreover, none of the items sold in his shop, “Whimsy,” were dangerous.

I didn’t want Noah to be caught.

“I need to warn Noah when I meet him later.”

I had to tell him that the Crown Prince was tracking the location of his shop.

But after thinking it over, I realized there might not be much to worry about.

“Didn’t Noah say he’s been on the run for over 150 years?”

That would mean most investigative techniques wouldn’t work on him.

Besides, there was no reason for me to be this anxious.

“I already knew from Noah that the Crown Prince was hunting outsiders.”

I was just startled because I witnessed it firsthand this time.

So really, nothing had changed.

“I just need to keep going to work at the Crown Prince’s palace, earning a hefty salary, and saving all of it.”

Acting differently due to needless worry might actually be more dangerous.

“Everything is just the same as before. So let’s just get some sleep!”

But despite that resolution…

I couldn’t shake off the worry and stayed awake the whole night, only drifting off to sleep in the late hours of the morning.

* * *

When it was time to wake up, the usual chimes of the clock tower rang.

I woke up to the sound but dozed off again, nearly being late.

“When I get to the tea storage, I’m going to brew myself a strong cup of milk tea.”

As I staggered up the stairs to start my day, I noticed someone approaching from the opposite direction, looking just as bedraggled as me.

The person had appeared at the Crown Prince’s palace just a few days ago. Seeing him wandering around this area at this time, he must be a new servant.

Perfect timing. I needed someone to run an errand for me. I had to pick up the tea ingredients I ordered from Roel yesterday.

I approached the person and spoke to him.

“Excuse me, could I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?”

I was nervous about giving a task to someone I didn’t know.

But I was a senior maid. I needed to be confident.

As Chef Kelsey always said, the only person above me was the head maid.

“There’s something I need to pick up from outside the palace. You’ll need to pay for it, but it can be charged to the Crown Prince’s account.”

“So, it’s an errand outside the palace! Should I go now?”

The newcomer’s face brightened instantly, and their golden eyes, which seemed somewhat familiar, sparkled.

I drew a rough map to ‘Wynora’s Tea Leaves’ for this newcomer and even called for a carriage.

As the newcomer quickly boarded the carriage, they leaned out the window and said,

“I felt like I was going to die from all the calculations I’ve been doing these past few days. Whoever you are, thanks! I’ll be back by evening. And don’t tell the advisor!”

“Wait, what calculations? And who’s the advisor?”

“Wow, the air outside is really nice! Let’s go!”

Instead of answering, the newcomer thumped the carriage wall with their palm, signaling the driver to start.

I shouted after the carriage, which was quickly disappearing into the distance.

“Wait, you’re not a maid, but a new administrative officer? Come back here!”

But it was too late. The carriage didn’t return.

I had just sent an errand to an intern from a different department.

Or rather, the intern from the other department had stolen my errand.

I scratched my head.

The Crown Prince’s servant, Archie, was in the kitchen chopping vegetables, and now the advisor’s new recruit had gone out to fetch tea leaves.

What a mess.

“Oh dear…”

Still, he promised to return by evening, so I decided to trust him.

As usual, I prepared the Crown Prince’s morning and afternoon tea times and blended a new tea for the Emperor.

Today, Her Majesty didn’t intrude on the Crown Prince’s meal. Will she not visit anymore?

But I didn’t let my guard down and made sure to bring extra teacups with me, just in case.

In the afternoon, a servant from the Empress palace came to collect this week’s tea leaves.

In front of the tea storage room, the servant spoke.

“Her Majesty sends a message. Please observe proper etiquette.”

I kneeled on one knee and bowed my head as prescribed by etiquette. A message from the Empress was as good as hearing it directly from her.

The servant pulled out a scroll from his chest and cleared his throat before reading.

“Ahem. I shall read… ‘Stand up quickly. Kneeling is not good for your joints.’”

“I am deeply honored by Her Majesty’s grace.”

I immediately stood up and dusted off my knees.

The rest of the Empress’ message was similar to last week’s.

She enjoyed all the teas again this time, especially the black tea mixed with cinnamon, which was exceptionally delicious, so she requested more of it.

After seeing the Crown Prince trying to capture Noah yesterday, I was uneasy.

But hearing the Empress’ unchanged message reassured me.

“I guess she doesn’t suspect me? It seems they haven’t discovered my visits to Noah’s shop. What a relief!”

I sent the servant off with three newly blended teas.

Soon after, it was time for the Crown Prince’s afternoon snack.

When I brought the refreshments to the office, the Crown Prince’s aide was making a fuss.

“Your Highness, the new calculator has gone missing! Do you happen to know where it is?”

“Calculator? Was there such an item?”

Indeed, was there a calculator in the Crown Prince’s palace?

There were mechanical devices in the Empire that could be called calculators, but they were large, heavy, and spring-powered machines.

They frequently broke down and could only do addition, so they weren’t widely used.

In any case, it wasn’t something that could have sprouted legs and run off.

The aide, with his faintly memorable face, explained to the Crown Prince.

“The new calculator we brought in this week. I think it’s the nephew of Duke Roshid.”

“Derek, you shouldn’t call a person a calculator.”

If that calculator was Duke Roshid’s nephew, it must be Lady Pavia’s cousin.

The aide, Derek, continued to whine.

“I wish I could keep them here forever. They have no ambition or desire for promotion, yet they’re rich. How on earth can I keep them? What if they run away and never return…?”

It was a terrifying level of obsession.

Someone came to mind as I listened.

The new administrative officer ran off in a carriage this morning. The one who complained about being exhausted from days of calculations.

I confirmed with the aide.

“Does that person have black hair? They looked extremely tired and had yellow eyes?”

“Yes, that’s right! If you find them, I’ll reward you!”

“I mistook him for a new servant earlier and asked them to run an errand. He said he’d be back by evening.”

The aide covered his face with his hands.

“You know him? Then, do you know what Cecil, I mean the calculator, likes?”

“No, I just found out his name is Cecil now.”

“Aah…”

The aide buried their face in their hands on the desk and started crying.

I glanced at His Highness, the Crown Prince, wondering what to do, but he just folded his arms and shook his head sideways.

It seemed like he meant to leave them alone.

After finishing the Crown Prince’s tea time, I was returning to the tea storage room when I spotted Lady Pavia.

Lady Pavia was escorting Cecil, who had run away under the pretense of an errand earlier, back up the central staircase. Trailing behind them were several knights and retainers of the ducal household.

Though the two were cousins and shared similar hair and eye colors, their impressions were completely different. Cecil had the features of an herbivore.

Lady Pavia gritted her teeth and murmured with a fierce expression,

“If you run away again, I’ll cut off your allowance. Got it?”