Chapter 7 – Part 3

Morning dawned on my last day in the servants’ quarters of the Crown Prince’s palace.

I had stayed up late cutting down my diary friend’s absurd public confession plans.

I felt like the sandwich I had for dinner was stuck in my throat; jealousy of the person my friend liked gnawing at me.

“It’s wrong. Every single plan was terrible!”

I shouted, stuffing my diary at the bottom of my luggage and covering it with letters from my sister and friends.

Then, after packing my spare clothes and small belongings, I heard a noise outside and soon heard a knock on my door.

Knock, knock.

When I opened the door, I saw three people I had never met before.

The person standing at the front introduced herself.

“We’re from the Imperial Palace. I’m Natalie. Duke Pherennis is my uncle. Are you Erica of the Marnel Count’s family?”

“Yes, that’s me. Nice to meet you, please call me Erica.”

I shook hands with Natalie, who smiled warmly.

“Good morning, Erica. Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

As the head maid had told me, these were the people sent to help move my things.

I grabbed the small luggage bag I had just packed and followed Natalie. The remaining items in my room would be taken care of by the people Natalie had brought.

While riding the carriage with Natalie, I was briefed on the upcoming schedule.

“Usually, an Imperial Palace maid undergoes a two-month probation period. But since there’s currently no one to exclusively serve the Empress’ tea, an exception has been made.”

“I see. And I’m not a complete newbie maid either.”

“Exactly. So, you’ll have a shortened two-week probation period.”

“Thank you. I’ll be like a new hire with experience.”

When I nodded, Natalie continued her explanation.

“Even though it’s a training period, it’s nothing grand.”

As we conversed while moving by carriage, I learned that Natalie was a maid directly under Her Majesty the Empress. She also mentioned that she would be my roommate starting today.

“Since it’s your first day, let’s take a light tour around the palace.”

Then, Natalie tapped on the carriage wall and said something to the coachman, causing the carriage to make a sharp turn.

Natalie began guiding me as if she were my tour guide from a previous life.

“The clock tower you see on the left was built by order of His Majesty Astrid, the fifth emperor before, and it’s still the tallest clock tower in the capital. And the building you’ll soon see through the right window is…”

We spent the morning and into the afternoon experiencing the palace like tourists.

After having lunch with Natalie, we went to see the room we would be sharing from now on.

My luggage had already been neatly arranged in the room.

‘Wow. It looks like a professional moving service did this.’

The palace staff worked quickly and meticulously.

Next, I was guided to the tea storage room of the imperial palace.

‘It’s not much different from the tea storage room in the Crown Prince’s palace.’

I felt like I would be able to adapt quickly.

Natalie left me alone to explore the tea storage room. She said she had many tasks to attend to as a maid directly under Her Majesty.

Just like in the Crown Prince’s palace, I packed a few books in my bag, planning to relax when there was no work.

However, the atmosphere in the imperial palace made me feel like I shouldn’t do that here.

‘Even though I’m the only one in the tea storage room right now, I can’t help but feel a bit uneasy…’

I put the books in the corner of the cupboard and started examining the tea leaves.

The overall quality of the tea leaves wasn’t much different from those in the Crown Prince’s palace.

But there were more varieties of rare tea leaves that I had classified as top-tier in the Crown Prince’s palace.

“Wow, they even have Golden Needles. Look at the soft fuzz on them!”

Some of the tea caddies had their origins and types written messily, while others had no labels at all.

‘If I start by tasting the most noticeable ones and organizing a bit, the probation period will pass quickly.’

I served appropriate tea to the empress’ attendant who came by, and continued brewing and tasting black, green, and the subtle oolong teas in between.

* * *

A few hours later.

‘Now… now I really should stop…’

If I drank any more tea, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

So I switched to herbal tea. I could easily guess the flavor without brewing it, so I felt relaxed.

I started to get hungry and was thinking about heading down to the staff dining hall, where I had lunch earlier, when Natalie came to find me.

“Erica, have you had dinner?”

“No, not yet. How about you, Natalie?”

“Me neither. The kitchen is busy right now, but we should be able to get something to eat.”

We headed to the staff dining hall together.

Just then, we happened to run into His Highness the Crown Prince in the central corridor.

‘Oh, that startled me!’

The Crown Prince was in full uniform, accompanied by several knights and officials, probably on some business at the imperial palace.

Everyone who was passing by stopped to bow and steal glances at the beautiful Crown Prince.

It seemed that even etiquette lost its effectiveness in the face of such captivating beauty.

The Crown Prince, ignoring the intense gazes following him, walked briskly toward me.

He moved through the crowd like a ship cutting through the sea, leaving a wake.

Before I could even bow with Natalie, the Crown Prince spoke first.

“If I had known we would meet like this, I would have brought your gift in person.”

There was an unusual warmth and joy in his voice, which surprised the knights and officials following him.

And then, to everyone’s shock, he approached me and made a gesture as if to kiss the back of my hand.

“Have you eaten? If not, would you care to join me for a meal here?”

It was an invitation to dine together at the imperial palace!

Her Majesty would surely be at that dinner, and perhaps Duke Oscar too, and of course, His Highness the Crown Prince.

‘Are you asking me to join the royal family’s intimate dinner?’

I would definitely get indigestion. I had to avoid this.

“Thank you for the invitation, but… I’ve already eaten.”

Natalie flinched beside me.

‘I didn’t lie. I did have a meal earlier, lunch.’

I just hadn’t had dinner yet.

“That’s a shame. I wish I had come a bit earlier.”

The Crown Prince smiled softly.

“I must be on my way now. I hope you have a pleasant evening.”

The Crown Prince left first, so I didn’t have to stand in the corridor for long and could leave soon after.

However, after telling the Crown Prince that, I couldn’t head straight to the staff dining hall.

The gazes of the staff passing by and the nobles visiting the imperial palace made the back of my head tingle.

I might have to skip dinner at this rate.

Natalie whispered.

“Erica, why don’t you go back to the room first? I’ll bring you something to snack on.”

“Thank you so much, Natalie.”

After expressing my gratitude to Natalie, I headed back to the newly assigned room.

I thought things over carefully.

A maid directly under Her Majesty bringing a meal to a newly appointed maid who hasn’t even spent a full day in the imperial palace felt somewhat odd.

‘And this morning too. Using the training schedule as an excuse, I took a royal carriage and toured the imperial palace grounds.’

It didn’t seem likely that all new palace servants went through such a process.

‘It’s exhausting to think so much after a long time. I’m running low on sugar…’

Before I got the job at the palace, I didn’t have to think about such things. My sister usually handles all the thinking in our family.

But my sister isn’t here with me now.

I continued to think hard.

I understood why His Highness, the Crown Prince, was concerned. It was obvious what people would say if I rejected him.

‘How dare someone without a title or anything to show for themselves refuse the Crown Prince?’

There would be complaints like that.

So, to prevent such comments from arising, he placed me in the position of the Empress’s maid.

Part of it was likely because it wasn’t safe to keep me in the Crown Prince’s palace while they were still searching for the person who sabotaged the tea trolley.

And maybe the Crown Prince didn’t feel comfortable making advances while I was a maid in his palace.

The servants’ quarters in the Crown Prince’s palace were outside his usual living quarters, but depending on how you looked at it, it could still be interpreted in a rather unwholesome way.

‘I just wanted to work in the palace and save up a lot of money.’

I simply wanted to earn 500 gold and open a modest tea shop in a prime location.

But the situation had already spiraled far beyond my control.

And my already confused feelings grew even more chaotic when I found a small hill of gifts piled up in front of my room in the palace servants’ quarters.

* * *