Chapter 50 – The Lion

Living as a tenant in his hometown, laboring as a serf to support his family, was a life without prospects.  

However, there was no guarantee that moving to the city would improve his life compared to staying in his hometown. In fact, the odds of facing harsher conditions were higher.  

Nevertheless, John’s destination was the capital. The capital was the center of wealth, and the royal palace was the pinnacle of that center. Since John had never even been to the capital, let alone the royal palace, this was his chance. Of course, it wasn’t because the capital was an unknown territory to him.  

“My younger brother works at the royal palace, and he says they treat people well there. I don’t know much, but at least they don’t treat you like livestock. Haha.”  

An older neighbor from the same fief, someone John was somewhat acquainted with, had once shared this tidbit.  

The royal palace? The royal palace was home to the upper echelons, even higher than the nobility—the royal family. Surely, one couldn’t expect to be treated like a person there, could they? If one became a servant of the royal family, they might end up longing for the poverty of their serf days, bound to the purges of the royals.  

John pressed the neighbor for more details.  

The story about the brother went like this: Of course, working as a servant in the royal palace was tough. However, the brother regularly sent letters. In those letters, he wrote that his fellow workers were all good people and, above all, praised the Princess Lenoa, who was described as stunningly beautiful and overwhelmingly kind. He also mentioned the high wages.  

The people working alongside him had all entered the palace before him, with some having worked there for as little as one year and others for as long as ten years.  

With such high wages, good colleagues, and a manageable workload, it was no wonder commoners would flock to work at the royal palace. But since it was such a coveted job, people kept quiet about it, so the news didn’t spread widely.  

Somehow, despite being a serf supporting his parents, the neighbor’s living standards were far better than John’s. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that, after the lord, the neighbor was the wealthiest person in the area. John realized that the secret lay in the brother’s employment at the royal palace.  

Thus, against his parents’ opposition, John set out for the capital alone. His only destination: the Celesta Royal Palace.  

He entered the palace as a servant just a few days after Princess Lenoa had ascended the throne. John, who had never paid attention to the affairs of the kingdom, couldn’t help but take an interest now that he was working at the royal palace.  

Everything was exactly as the letters had described.  

“John, that looks heavy. Why are you carrying it alone? Let me help!”  

“Hey, you’re new here, right? Let’s throw you a welcome party! Come to the servants’ quarters after work!”  

He had reliable and now close-knit colleagues among the servants and maids.  

“Your name is John, right? I saw it on the new recruits list. I look forward to working with you.”  

There was also Queen Lenoa, whose radiant smile was almost blinding and whose kindness was unparalleled. She remembered the names and faces of all her staff, including John, and always offered warm words whenever she encountered them.  

The term “noblesse oblige,” which John had learned during social studies at the commoner academy, seemed to have been coined solely for Queen Lenoa.  

She never discriminated against herself or others based on their low status. Instead, she treated everyone with a bright smile, as if they were equals.  

Despite the heavy burden of state affairs as queen, she always greeted her subordinates like John with a smile. John deeply respected her for this.  

‘If it were me, I’d have run away a long time ago.’  

It was an audacious thought, but John once imagined that if he were Lenoa, he would have secretly fled in the dead of night, leaving the Celesta Kingdom to collapse.  

All the worries he had when coming to the royal palace—such as the fear that the neighbor had lied and lured him into a trap—melted away like snow.  

One month after entering the palace, John shed his status as an apprentice servant and became a full-fledged servant. He was assigned to cleaning and maintaining the fourth floor of the palace.  

“The fourth floor has such a high turnover rate… I’m sorry, John. But I trust you, so I’m assigning you there.”  

Even the head servant, who was nearing retirement, bowed his head in apology. The fourth floor was notoriously infamous.  

During his apprentice days, John had heard about the fourth floor’s reputation. Its master was described as a sleeping lion whom even the queen couldn’t tame.  

The lion, known for his extreme sensitivity, would roar and scold anyone who made the slightest noise on the fourth floor, causing them to quit out of fear.  

However, John knew little about this lion beyond his infamous reputation. His colleagues didn’t know much about him either, apart from his name and status.  

Kairan Blandi. The heir of the Blandi Ducal House, the Grand Duke of Celesta, and the secretary to Queen Lenoa.  

Someone had once mentioned, almost in passing, that his family had lost its former glory. But given that he was the lord of the forbidden fourth floor, his authority seemed intact.  

While working on the fourth floor meant a higher salary, John figured he could manage as long as he was careful around the grand duke. Besides, the grand duke was always holed up in his office, working, so there was little chance of interaction.  

Though he wasn’t entirely unafraid, John felt courage welling up within him—courage born from the thought of his parents waiting for him back home.  

Yet, his first encounter with the lion happened by chance.  

One day, John was sweeping the fourth-floor hallway. Since few people passed through, there wasn’t much to clean, but this was the royal palace, so cleaning was mandatory.  

After finishing the hallway, John was organizing the cleaning supplies when he heard a voice in the hallway. Glancing over, he saw the head maid, Betier, standing in front of the office door, speaking.  

She couldn’t have been talking to the door, so she must have been conversing with someone inside the office. Though faint, John thought he could hear a voice responding from within, but he couldn’t make out the words.  

Shortly after, the head maid descended to the third floor. John, intending to mop the hallway next, grabbed a rag and headed to the restroom.  

Just then, someone burst out of the office.  

With fiery red hair, reminiscent of a lion’s mane, and piercing violet eyes, the grand duke locked eyes with John.  

Had I unintentionally provoked the sleeping—or rather, never-sleeping—lion? 

Frozen in place, John clutched his mop tightly.  

“You there, come here. Clean this place immediately.”

The grand duke didn’t approach further, merely gesturing for John to come over. Feeling his frozen body thaw, John hesitantly stepped into the office.  

The floor of the office was littered with shards of glass. 

What could have happened here? 

Though curious, John, aware of his lowly status, refrained from asking and hurriedly fetched a broom to clean up.  

Throughout John’s cleaning, the grand duke stood before a mirror, adjusting his hair and attire.  

‘Is he preparing to meet someone important…?’  

Keeping his thoughts to himself, John silently continued cleaning. When he was nearly done, the grand duke dismissed him.  

Breathing a sigh of relief, John left the office, feeling like prey that had narrowly escaped being devoured by a lion.  

It seemed wiser to postpone cleaning the hallway for now and head to the servants’ quarters. Just as he was about to descend to the third floor—

“Hey, you there. B-bring me a bandage.”

Startled by the trembling voice, John turned around to see the Grand Duke peeking out of his office, calling for him. It felt like facing a lion that had just been woken from its slumber.

Though John was terrified of the Grand Duke, who had crossed paths with him twice already, a strange hope arose within him. If he followed the Grand Duke’s orders well, perhaps he wouldn’t suffer any harm. After all, during the earlier cleaning session, the Grand Duke had let him off peacefully. It seemed that only by disobeying orders would he face the Duke’s wrath.

Regaining his composure, John quickly went to the temporary servants’ quarters to fetch a first-aid kit containing bandages. Just in case he was asked to clean again, he also brought a broom and other cleaning tools, as there were still areas left to tidy up.

As John handed over the first-aid kit, he noticed the Grand Duke’s arm, which was exposed. It seemed he had been cut by shards of glass, as blood was seeping through the wound.

John was so shocked he felt as if his heart had stopped. He couldn’t understand why there were shards of glass scattered around, but since he had been the one cleaning, he feared the Grand Duke might accuse him of causing the injury. At the very least, he expected to be expelled from the palace as punishment.

No, wait. Before anything else, he needed to assess the Grand Duke’s condition.

“Y-your Grace! You’re injured! Should I call the palace physician—”  

“No, it’s fine. I’ll handle it.”  

The Grand Duke, grimacing in pain, dismissed John once again. Having narrowly escaped the lion’s den, John found himself in a dilemma.

Should I call for the royal physician, as I suggested earlier? But he’s injured… No, that would mean disobeying his orders…

“John, why were you in there?” 

At that moment, a soft, soothing voice interrupted John’s internal struggle. Queen Lenoa was standing on the fourth floor, looking down at him.

“Y-Your Majesty…?”

“I came to see the Grand Duke. I saw you coming out of his office just now. Did something happen?”

Queen Lenoa blinked her large eyes, genuinely curious as she looked at John.

“Well, His Grace, the Grand Duke… suddenly called me while I was cleaning the hallway… and told me to clean his office and bring this kit.” 

As the Grand Duke’s subordinate, John explained the situation in a flustered manner, recounting the events to the Queen. However, he stuck strictly to the facts, as he didn’t fully understand the circumstances either. It seemed the Grand Duke had his reasons, and John couldn’t imagine him letting a fool like himself off so easily otherwise.