I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

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“Lilith, I won’t be joining the Student Council in the second semester.”

One week before the start of the new semester…

These were the words Ethan spoke to me after returning from Student Council work for the first time since the end of winter break.

Even though he was upset about what happened that day, I didn’t expect him to already mention leaving the Student Council.

Although Natalie had been rude, I wondered if it was really worth giving up his connection with Seraphine.

“When you say you won’t join the Student Council, do you mean you’re also giving up your connection with Princess Seraphine?”

“It’s not that I’m giving up. She’s given me an excuse to give up.”

…Seeing that he’s already referring to Seraphine as ‘She’, it seems Ethan was quite hurt by the recent incident.

At least judging by that reaction, he seems to have become thoroughly disgusted with Seraphine. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“If it’s because of the incident caused by Miss Natalie’s drinking habit, I think she herself will come to apologize when the semester starts. She probably had no means to meet you during the break.”

“Yes, that’s probably true. Even a commoner wouldn’t be that lacking in manners. Besides, she’s a perfectly normal person when not drunk.”

“So, wouldn’t it be better to think about leaving Princess Seraphine’s Student Council after hearing Natalie’s apology?”

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t particularly because of Miss Natalie’s mistake. I’ve just lost trust in Princess Seraphine, that’s all.”

“Pardon?”

It’s not because of Natalie?

I had naturally thought that Natalie’s drunken behavior that day had sparked Ethan’s anger.

If not that, I couldn’t understand what had made Ethan angry, so I tilted my head. Ethan reluctantly continued his explanation.

“I can fully forgive mistakes made at a drinking party due to drinking habits. Anyone can make a mistake once in a while. Natalie has never behaved improperly before and has always been friendly, so there’s no reason to be angry about that now. Even if it had been Princess Seraphine herself who did it, I wouldn’t have been upset.”

“What? Then…”

“What made me unable to trust the Princess is the fact that she invited that Gyeongmwajogyegigwat… that Hero guy to that gathering in the first place.”

“Do you mean that inviting a guest without prior notice was the problem?”

“…Well, something like that.”

Ethan looked at me once as I asked for an explanation, then let out a deep sigh.

“You know well that the Hero usually goes around with two women, right?”

“Do you mean Saint Seriste and the elf Silena?”

“Yes. To be honest, I didn’t like it from the start. Even if he’s the Hero, he’s blatantly walking around the academy with women on both sides.”

“But isn’t it unavoidable? The Saint is obligated to be with the Hero, and Silena is the only elf, so she has no connections other than the Hero.”

“It’s not just that. I dislike even more the indiscriminate things that the Hero has been doing recently. Just look at that Natalie girl.”

“What? Miss Natalie?” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“…That girl, I heard she originally planned to participate in the Hunting Festival with her hometown friend Thomas, just the two of them.”

…Of course, that’s how it would have gone in the original story if the Hero hadn’t proposed to Natalie to join his party.

I felt like I could roughly understand what Ethan meant by saying this.

Honestly, even to me, it didn’t look good for him to specifically recruit Natalie as a vanguard while already having Seriste and Silena on both sides.

While no one would deny Natalie’s excellent sword skills, what was equally famous was her beautiful appearance.

It wouldn’t look good in others’ eyes for the Hero, who already had beauties like Seriste and Silena on both sides, to recruit Natalie.

“If he needed one more swordsperson, he would have made an offer to me or Caraham. But as far as I know, he only made an offer to Natalie. Only to that girl, the only female.”

“…I see.”

“Of course, I don’t know if I would have accepted even if he had made me an offer, but he should have at least made the offer. His intentions are too obvious.”

I, knowing Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s circumstances, could only quietly swallow the knowledge that only I possessed.

I couldn’t reveal that both Ethan and Caraham were minibosses in Parts 2 and 3 of the original story, making them difficult to approach easily.

I also had seen through the fact that he was acting with truly pure completion goals in mind by recruiting both Natalie and Thomas, but that was something I could understand only because I was a player of Luminor Academy in my past life.

To someone who didn’t know, it would only look like Natalie was the goal and Thomas was just brought along as an extra.

Hiding these inner thoughts, I tried to defend him slightly while maintaining a calm appearance.

“Could it be that the Hero made the offer to Miss Natalie first because he was closer to her than to you, Young Master Ethan? And if Miss Natalie had refused, he might have made an offer to Caraham as the next candidate.”

“…Yes, if that was all, there wouldn’t be anything particularly strange about it. There’s nothing wrong with strong students teaming up to aim for victory in the Hunting Festival.”

“…Is there perhaps something else besides Miss Natalie that troubles you?”

“Agnes Elizabeth Blaze. The circumstances of her suddenly joining Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s party at the end are also somewhat suspicious.”

“You mean Miss Blaze…”

…As Ethan said, Agnes was also a heroine who newly started working with the Hero in this Hunting Festival Party.

Moreover, while Natalie had some connection being in the same Swordsmanship Department, and Thomas was recruited through Natalie as an intermediary link…

It was understandably questionable to Ethan in many ways that Gyeongmwajogyegigwat from the Swordsmanship Department would suddenly recruit Agnes from the Magic Department into his party. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

…Especially since he specifically recruited Agnes, who has terrible interpersonal relationships.

“I know you’re friendly with Lady Blaze, right?”

“…Yes. I took the Spirit Communication lecture with Miss Blaze this semester. We’ve also exchanged small favors.”

“Right. Then in your opinion, do you think that ill-tempered woman would willingly join someone else’s party?”

“…She certainly didn’t seem like that type, even as a polite fiction.”

If I tried to defend her with ambiguous words here, Ethan’s suspicion might extend to me as well.

For now, I explained Agnes’s objective personality to Ethan as best as I knew.

“First of all, since there’s no one in the academy who could be called Miss Blaze’s friend, she would have rejected all other party proposals. She probably thinks of them as leeches trying to get points by clinging to her.”

“…Is her personality that bad?”

“And it’s even harder to imagine Miss Blaze bowing her head first to join another party. She’s too proud to ever put herself under someone else. In fact, the reason for her narrow social circle is because of that unyielding personality.”

“…I-I see. Anyway, that’s what feels strange to me too. Normally, Lady Blaze wouldn’t form a party with the Hero. So, I looked into it a bit. I checked to see if there was any connection between the Hero and Lady Blaze.”

If there was a connection between the two… there was probably only one person that came to my mind.

In fact, in Luminor Academy, when starting in a department other than the Magic Department, the process of recruiting Agnes first was almost predetermined.

Even the ill-tempered and stubborn Agnes had exactly one secret relationship in the academy that she considered a friend in her heart.

“I later found out that Princess Seraphine had a personal friendship with Lady Blaze.”

“Ah…”

“Moreover, it was Princess Seraphine who connected Natalie and Thomas to Gyeongmwajogyegigwat’s party. This was just something I happened to find out.”

“…I see.”

“Princess Seraphine has connected women to Gyeongmwajogyegigwat twice… And then suddenly calling his party to a get-together in that situation…”

“……”

“Of course, it could be a coincidence. But I don’t think I have to endure this uneasiness just because of that possibility.”

…He had a point. Rather than feeling uneasy and maintaining the existing relationship, it might be better to cut it off.

If I were in Ethan’s position, I probably would have felt the same uneasiness.

“Maybe the Hero isn’t pursuing women but really needed Natalie and Agnes for necessity. Or maybe he’s targeting Lady August instead of you, Lilith. But even so, I just can’t trust Princess Seraphine anymore.”

“…I see.”

“Yes. That’s why my choice is to no longer be involved in Seraphine’s Student Council after this semester.”

Ethan now thinks that the Hero asked Seraphine to forcibly create the get-together to approach me.

Although it’s speculation rather than certainty, the basis for this speculation is substantial, and even if it’s speculation, it was sufficient material to make a judgment.

Ethan was saying he’d rather give up his connection with the princess than leave the possibility of losing me to Gyeongmwajogyegigwat. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

‘I didn’t know he thought of me to this extent.’

Of course, I knew Ethan liked me from his previous confession, but I didn’t expect him to try to protect me even at the cost of severing ties with the princess.

Moreover, seeing that he had already found out about the process of Gyeongmwajogyegigwat approaching Natalie and Agnes, it seems he had been quite active during the winter break.

With this much speculation piled up, it’s natural that Ethan would feel uneasy in his position.

Especially since Ethan didn’t know the direction Gyeongmwajogyegigwat was moving in, it only fueled his suspicions more.

‘I don’t think it’s necessary to cut ties with Seraphine, but…’

However, if maintaining the current state forcibly made Ethan feel uneasy, that wasn’t a good situation either.

No, in the end, keeping them together unnecessarily like this might actually increase the possibility of Ethan antagonizing Seraphine, which was closer to the original story.

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to separate them now when they’re merely on lukewarm terms?

In the case of misunderstandings, well, they could be resolved somehow later.

“I understand, Young Master Ethan. If that is your wish, we will only cooperate with Princess Seraphine’s Student Council until this time.”

“…Thank you for saying that. You must have personal friendships with the Princess and Lady August, too.”

“Your well-being is more important than that, Young Master Ethan. When have I ever acted contrary to your wishes?”

“…Hasn’t that been quite often?”

…Come to think of it, I guess that’s true.

Anyway, since Ethan decided to distance himself from Seraphine, my judgment as his exclusive maid naturally came to the same conclusion.

“Still, this time I will definitely act according to your wishes, so you can rest assured.”

“…I see. Thank you for saying that, Lilith.” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“I’m just giving the natural response as your exclusive maid, Young Master Ethan.”

After all, who else would believe in Ethan if not me?

He’s probably already anxious enough, so, of course, at least I should believe in him.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here. 

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!