Chapter 7 – Part 2

“Is this really okay?”

When I had vaguely imagined this situation, I was indifferent, but now that it was happening, I was far from indifferent.

A flood of thoughts rushed through my mind.

In a day or two at most, the news would reach the Rose Palace.

What should I say if Madeline asks about it? Maybe Camilla will keep her from prying too much.

I had no idea what Charlotte would say. She has been so busy with her own romantic endeavors lately that she might not care.

And in a few days, my parents and sister would hear about it too. Should I write a letter before they find out?

My sister will definitely have something to say!

My sister was the type of person who would wholeheartedly push me towards the Crown Prince.

Oh, sister…

Even thinking about it made me feel as if I could hear her nagging in my ears.

I bit my lip discreetly to compose myself.
The Crown Prince, in a manner akin to a butler, filled my teacup and then sat across from me.

He whispered to me,

“I will find the rat that messed with your tea trolley, even if I have to set this palace on fire. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Pardon?”

What kind of rash statement was that?

Seeing my shocked expression, the Crown Prince added,

“I mean, I won’t hold back. As long as you’re comfortable here in the imperial palace, I have no other desires.”

Did I hear that correctly?

I replayed his words in my head. No, I hadn’t misheard.

‘Was the Crown Prince always like this?’

The Prince took a sip of his tea and then, loud enough for the entire table to hear, asked,

“The aroma is nice. Is this chamomile?”

“Oh, yes. I blended chamomile with rosehip, lemongrass, and ginger.”

The Prince took a few more sips.

“No matter how good the ingredients are, when I brew tea, it never tastes like this. Is there a special secret?”

“I’m not sure if it’s a secret, but I always thoroughly heat the teapot and match the water temperature to each type of leaf and herb.”

The real secret was that I had been a tea enthusiast in my previous life. I had started with an entirely different level of experience from the get-go.

‘If the Prince knew, would he lock me up for being an outsider?’

Noah had said that it was the duty of the royal family.

My thoughts grew more complicated.

Should I have flatly rejected the Prince’s confession from the start?

But then again, wouldn’t such a rejection seem suspicious?

Whatever, as long as I don’t get caught, right?

Noah had told me that as long as I kept my mouth shut, I could live a normal life.

Noah had been caught using grand magic. The outsider before me had been caught destroying the Crown Prince’s palace.

Compared to them, I’m just an ordinary person.

So, as long as I kept my mouth shut, I wouldn’t be caught.

Just as my thoughts began to spiral, the Prince spoke to me again.

“Your chamomile tea is always excellent, but this blend feels particularly special.”

“I also like this blend the best. The chamomile and lavender go well together. It’s also good for helping with sleep.”

The Prince nodded slightly, agreeing with me.

“It seems I won’t be able to sleep without you from now on.”

The maids and servants passing through the dining room silently gasped again.

I nearly choked on my tea in surprise.

Don’t come on so strong all of a sudden! We’re talking about chamomile tea here, right? You didn’t mean anything else, did you?

My face grew hot.

But the Prince must have had a plan to make such a public display.

Let’s just endure it for now.

He had vowed to catch the person who tampered with my trolley, even if it meant burning down the palace.

This must be part of his plan.

* * *

I returned to the tea storage room after the eventful tea time.

In the tea storage room, Archie, who had been diligently tasting various teas, was now suffering from a caffeine high.

“Archie, you’ve had enough black and green tea. Focus on herbal teas now.”

“Y-Yes…”

Poor thing; hang in there.

After explaining the differences between Empire-grown chamomile and East Kingdom chamomile to Archie and brewing some tea with lavender and linden I bought last week, it was finally time to go home.

My last walk home from the Crown Prince’s Palace.

Though ‘going home’ just meant walking to the servants’ quarters from here.

It felt lonely to think this was my last time in the tea storage room, where I had spent so much time.

I gathered the books I had been reading in my spare moments and took one last look around when there was a knock at the door.

It was the head maid.

“Head maid! What brings you here at this hour?”

“Today is your last day working in the Crown Prince’s Palace. I thought it would be nice to walk to the servants’ quarters with you.”

Wow, head maid.

“I’m touched!”

Overwhelmed by a surge of affection and gratitude, I hugged the head maid.

She awkwardly patted my shoulder with a gentle hand.

She had recognized my talent for blending tea, recommended me as a palace maid, and enabled me to dream of opening a tea shop in the capital with an annual salary of 115 gold and 76 silver.

“I won’t forget you, even in the Imperial Palace!”

Walking with the head maid, she gave me helpful advice for the future.

“Someone from the Imperial Palace will come to your room tomorrow morning. They’ll help move your things.”

“Should I pack my clothes and books in advance?”

“Leave everything in your room. They’ll take care of it. The way they prepare tea at the Imperial Palace is different from here. Let me explain how it’s done…”

The head maid walked me to my door and then left.

The door clicked shut.

As soon as the voice of the head maid, which had been ringing in my ears, disappeared, everything around me became extremely quiet.

I changed into comfortable clothes and immediately took out my diary from the drawer.

I wanted to share today’s extraordinary events with my diary friend, but at the same time, I didn’t.

Besides, no matter how I put it, it sounded strange.

“The troublesome guest I mentioned last time… turns out he likes me. And he seems really sincere about it. So now I’m being transferred to another tea shop…?”

That doesn’t seem right. I tilted my head.

“What’s the problem?”

The biggest problem was that I didn’t feel happy about telling my diary friend that someone liked me.

Instead, I wanted to talk about how I was interested in my diary friend.

“Maybe it’s not the Crown Prince, but you, diary friend, who is my true match.”

They say even a brush with someone’s sleeve can be a connection.

But the connection between my diary friend and me was far more special than a mere brush of sleeves.

We were connected through a magical diary, after all. Could anything be more special?

If an ordinary connection was a red thread, then our connection was a bright red mountain rope.

“Of course, it is.”

Just as I was nodding to myself, black letters appeared on the page of the diary I was habitually flipping through.

“Oh, you startled me!”

It was my diary friend.

[I hope you had a good day. If you’re not too busy, could you review my plan?]

I quickly grabbed my pen.

[Sure, what plan?]

[I’m planning to make a public confession to someone I like.]

A public confession…?

“What are you thinking?”

I needed to stop this.

While I was in shock, my friend continued writing.

[So, I’ve come up with a plan.]

“What kind of plan?”

[I’ll lead an orchestra to their window and serenade them.]

“No way!”

Why would they do this?

[Don’t]

[Excuse me?]

[That’s a terrible idea. Absolutely not!]

[Is my plan that bad?]

[Yes, it’s really bad… Do you have any other plans?]

[Then, how about this?]

Their next idea better be decent.

As if sensing my hopes, their next idea seemed somewhat acceptable.

[I’ll write a play for her with her name at the top].

“This is actually pretty good.”

I was honestly feeling a bit jealous.

Watching a romantic play together and setting the mood could really be nice…

But the next part of my friend’s idea shattered my expectations.

“And at the climax of the play, I’ll go on stage and confess in front of the entire audience.”

This is all wrong. Fundamentally wrong.

I didn’t even know where to begin to criticize it.