I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by James B. (1/14). Thanks again for sponsoring another set of 14! I’m not leaving a T/N at the end since this is a pretty big chapter, so just know that starting Aug. 14, I’ll be returning to daily chapters but only publishing one per day until my break ends on Sept. 2. See you on Wednesday!

Thump, thump, thump.

Suddenly facing Ethan while in an unsettled state was dizzying.

I could hear the sound of my heart beating automatically in response to the sudden crisis.

It seemed the pounding that had started during the Subjugation of the Kraken at the lake hadn’t calmed down yet. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The embarrassing feelings about receiving the confession, the guilt for not giving a proper answer, the gratitude for having my life saved…

Various such emotions swirled in my mind all at once.

As Ethan’s face drew closer, the movement of my heart pounding in my chest felt even faster and heavier.

“You look fine on the outside.”

“Ah, yes… Thanks to the Saint’s special care…”

“Thank you for taking care of her, Saint Seriste.”

“Oh, no. It’s my duty.”

“……”

“Is there something you’d like to say- Oh!”

Seriste reacted as if she had realized something from Ethan’s gaze as he quietly looked at her.

She then approached the door without hesitation and quickly stepped out of the hospital room.

“I-I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about… right? I’ll leave you alone for a while, so please talk comfortably!”

“W-wait, Saint…”

“Thank you for your consideration, Saint.”

“If you suddenly feel unwell, please call me anytime!”

Slide, click!

With those final words, Seriste closed the door, leaving just me and Ethan in the room.

Thanks to Seriste’s noisy exit, an awkwardly strange atmosphere began to flow in this three-pyeong space. (T/N: Approx. 10 sq. m. or 107 sq. ft.)

Between the two people who didn’t know how to start the conversation, I felt like only the sound of my heartbeat could be heard quietly in my ears.

“……”

“……”

Thump, thump, thump.

…Calm down, calm down.

It’s a face I’ve been seeing every day for over 5 years now. Why am I suddenly thinking strangely about it now?

It’s just my heart’s misunderstanding because he saved me from a crisis where I might have died.

Surely, this awkward feeling will calm down after a few days. If it doesn’t, then at that time…

“Are you really alright?”

“Y-yes?!”

“…Lilith?”

“Ah, yes, yes! Of-of course I’m fine! I’ve always told you that being healthy and fit is my strong point, right?”

“This is the first I’m hearing of it…”

“Haha, is, is that so…”

…My words keep getting tangled as I think too much.

I hadn’t even imagined that I would be facing Ethan like this already.

It was only yesterday evening that I regained consciousness after nearly dying, and I had been busy contemplating many other things besides Ethan for these two days. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

While I was wondering what words to use to start, Ethan was the one who first brought up a topic of conversation.

“Lilith.”

“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“I’m sorry about what happened last time.”

“…Yes, I’m also grateful for that time… Wait, what?!”

When I heard him mention “what happened last time,” I naturally thought to express my gratitude, but the words that came out of Ethan’s mouth were rather an apology towards me.

I couldn’t understand which part he was apologizing for, so I just tilted my head.

“Sorry? What exactly are you sorry for, Young Master Ethan?”

“I’m sorry for putting you in danger because of the strange things I said last time, Lilith.”

“…What does what you said have to do with me being in danger, Young Master Ethan?”

“If I hadn’t tried to confess to you, Lilith, you wouldn’t have suggested going out on the lake by boat. In the end, it’s no different from me putting you in danger.”

“Wh-what are you saying, Young Master Ethan?! Going to the lake that day was entirely my idea. It, it was because I was overly conscious of others’ gazes…”

“No. If I was going to say something so important, I should have arranged a place where we could talk alone from the beginning. It wasn’t something to bring up on a park bench by the lake with the help of alcohol.”

“No, no… That’s not…”

No matter how I thought about it, Ethan’s words were completely illogical sophistry.

It was me who suggested talking alone on the lake because I was concerned about others’ gazes.

It was me who recklessly entered the lake, forgetting it was the spawn point of the Kraken of the Abyss, putting us both in danger.

It was me who abandoned the boat, trusting only in Water Walking, nearly dying after managing to defeat the Kraken.

I couldn’t find any fault of Ethan’s anywhere. It was truly a crisis that arose from my mistakes from beginning to end.

Ethan was the one who made up for each of my mistakes and saved my life twice in that short battle.

Although it was for a brief moment, when Ethan blocked one of the Kraken’s legs with his sword in front of me, he momentarily looked like a hero.

“No, Young Master Ethan. The incident that day was a mistake that occurred due to my carelessness…”

“Let me ask you just one thing, Lilith. Please answer this honestly.”

“…Yes.”

“If I hadn’t tried to confess to you that day, do you think you would have still gone boating with me by the lake?”

“That’s…”

“……”

“…Probably not. But that…”

“That’s enough, Lilith. That answer alone is sufficient.”

…Huh?

What? What does he mean by ‘that answer alone is sufficient’?

Wasn’t he supposed to hear my answer to his confession first?

“Please pretend you never heard the confession I made to you that day.”

“…What?”

“I was too insensitive. Considering our positions, I should have realized that expressing my feelings to you might be a burden for you, Lilith.”

“N-no… That’s…”

“I won’t burden you like that anymore. I’m sorry for making you worry unnecessarily, Lilith.”

“……”

W-wait a moment.

What exactly is going on right now?

So, is Ethan seriously thinking that I almost died because of him?

That because he tried to confess, we ended up in a life-threatening battle with the Kraken of the Abyss?

Feeling responsible for that, he’s now declaring that he won’t confess to me anymore?

‘…What should I do?’

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how to interpret this conversation.

Clearly, when I heard Ethan’s confession before, I had only thought about how I wished I hadn’t received it.

I had been desperately trying to think of an answer that wouldn’t hurt Ethan while maintaining my loyalty.

…But now that a situation where I didn’t have to answer had arrived, for some reason, I felt a strange sense of tightness in a corner of my heart.

‘Saying he won’t burden me anymore means…’

In other words, I won’t receive any more confessions from Ethan.

It means I won’t have to worry about how to reject confessions from now on.

It’s the future I had hoped for in a corner of my heart.

…But thinking about a future where I wouldn’t even have the chance to receive a confession from Ethan anymore, for some reason, made my chest feel endlessly tight.

‘…Huh?’

No, no, no.

It’s not like I have romantic feelings for Ethan.

I’m just feeling grateful for him saving my life, and my heart was just pounding unavoidably in that situation. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

…It’s just that, for some reason, Ethan looks a bit more handsome than before. That’s all.

Maybe, just maybe, in the remotest possibility…

If I spent a bit more time with Ethan from now on, it might not be impossible to develop some romantic feelings for him.

After all, Ethan is handsome enough to make even a man fall for him.

It’s not like I’m in love with Ethan right now, but such a possibility certainly existed.

The problem is, even if I miraculously developed romantic feelings for Ethan, would he still be attracted to me?

For a moment, a feeling of not wanting to let him go flashed through my mind.

Now that Ethan had indirectly said he wouldn’t confess anymore, saying he wouldn’t burden me again…

That meant this was also my last chance to answer Ethan’s previous confession.

I hurriedly grabbed Ethan’s arm as he was about to leave the hospital room after checking on my condition.

“I’m sorry for bothering you while you’re recovering, Lilith. I’ll go now, so take your time to get better and come back…”

Grab.

“J-just a moment, Y-Young Master Ethan…”

“Lilith?”

“My, my answer… You haven’t heard my answer to what you said on the lake that time…”

Although I was trying to muster up sudden courage to give Ethan an answer from that day, Ethan now showed an expression of not particularly wanting to hear my answer.

Seeing him shaking his head carefully, I felt my heart suddenly sink.

“It’s okay, Lilith. You don’t have to force yourself to answer my forceful confession…”

Squeeze.

“N-no. I’m not forcing myself to answer. I don’t think it was a forceful confession either.”

“……”

“If, if you really don’t want to hear my answer, then there’s nothing I can do, but you don’t want to leave your confession hanging unfinished either, do you, Young Master Ethan?”

“…That’s true.”

Fortunately, Ethan nodded with a slightly serious expression, seeming to have been persuaded by my words.

Now that I had been given a chance to give a final answer somehow…

I carefully conveyed to Ethan the answer I had organized in my own way back on the boat.

…With a bit more of my own changed feelings added compared to then.

“To, to be honest…”

“…Yes.”

“I, I still don’t really understand anything about love between a man and a woman…”

“…Huh?”

“I can’t tell whether this feeling I have for you now is my heart pounding because it’s love, or if it’s just a temporary feeling of gratitude towards you for saving my life, Young Master Ethan.”

“…I see. If that’s your answer, Lilith, then there’s nothing we can…”

“B-but…!”

“…?”

“Du-during the four years at the academy… I’ll, I’ll try my best to develop feelings for you, Young Master Ethan!”

“…Lilith?”

“So, for just the time we’re at the academy, c-could we be like… temporary lovers?”

“…Temporary lovers?”

“Yes. For the remaining time we’re at the academy, you can think of me as your lover, Young Master Ethan. Of, of course, I’ll think of you as my lover too.”

“…So in the end, are you saying you’re accepting my confession, Lilith?”

“Y-yes… But only while we’re at the academy.”

This was the limit of the answer I could give to Ethan.

It couldn’t be helped. Originally, someone of Ethan’s status would naturally have many restrictions in marriage, and there’s no way he could marry a commoner-born quasi-viscount’s daughter maid.

If that’s the case, spending days like lovers, even if only during our time at the academy with its liberal school culture, was the best way I could keep my loyalty to Ethan.

…If, by any chance, Ethan’s feelings didn’t change even after graduating from the academy…

“What about after we graduate from the academy? Since it’s temporary, does that mean we break up after that?”

“If I can come to love you by the time I graduate from the academy, and if your feelings for me still haven’t changed, Young Master Ethan…”

“…If they haven’t?”

“…Then, you can do whatever you want with me, Young Master Ethan.”

“Whatever I want…?”

“…Yes, whatever you want.”