I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

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About two weeks after the start of the second year at the academy…

It was a time when nearly half of Part 2 of Luminor Academy had already passed.

Contrary to my concerns that there might be major cracks in the story due to various events at the end of last year, the academy’s second semester flowed relatively smoothly.

The Hero’s party, which had momentarily fractured, was rejoined by Natalie and Thomas, and they seemed to be trying to mend their awkward relationships somehow.

I also heard directly from Agnes that she had started interacting with Hero Gyeongmwajogyegigwat again.

“…I need to work with him for the sake of my succession. If not him, it would be the Fourth or Fifth Prince, and the Hero is better than them.”

“You’ve thought well, Miss Agnes. Especially Fourth Prince Machart, who will soon be corr…”

“Corr-what?”

“…Isn’t he famous for frequently holding parties soon? I mean parties that only invite noble ladies. To be honest, he doesn’t have a very good reputation.”

…I almost blurted out that he would soon be corrupted. I need to be careful.

The fact that Machart was involved in the death of the First Prince by colluding with demons among the Royal Family had not yet been revealed. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

I almost said it because I didn’t want to see Agnes getting entangled with such a strange guy and falling together, but it would be putting the cart before the horse if I got caught up in troublesome accusations of slandering royalty because of it.

“I don’t know about parties or whatever. But I dislike Machart because he’s slimy. I only met Antonio once before, and I couldn’t tell at all what he was thinking.”

“Is that so?”

…Was there an episode where Agnes met Fifth Prince Antonio? I’m not sure, but it seems there was something.

In the first place, Agnes wasn’t a heroine I mainly pursued in my past life, so there were probably dozens more episodes I didn’t know about.

Seeing that Antonio’s name came out of her mouth, it seemed they at least had some conversation, but there was no way for me to know what happened between them where I wasn’t aware.

“Compared to him, Gyeongmwa… Ah, I forgot again.”

“You mean Hero Gyeongmwajogyegigwat Volt?”

“Yeah, that guy with the weird name. At least you can see what he’s thinking. He’s also close with Seraphine. In that aspect, he’s better.”

Seeing that Agnes doesn’t feel competitive towards Seraphine at this point, it seems she won’t flow into a heroine route.

Personally, I didn’t feel too bad about it. Although Agnes was an ill-tempered little brat, I couldn’t easily hand her over to be a member of that Hero’s harem.

Other than that, I roughly grasped the general flow of the storyline by hearing about the Hero and surrounding characters through Agnes.

For now, she had no plans to approach the first-year newcomers, Lilia and Caniel. This was natural, if anything.

In Barbarian Lilia’s case, there was already Thomas in the party, so there was no need to recruit another spear-wielding character.

Originally, Lilia was just one piece to create an “all-female party” and didn’t have much value beyond that. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Being a woman who could handle a spear was her entire character, and even that performance was significantly inferior to Thomas in the same position.

Similarly, there was no need to recruit Caniel. In the first place, the Martial Arts position was one that directly competed with Seraphine.

He might be useful in episodes where Seraphine is absent, but his performance was clearly lacking to take to the final battle.

On the other hand, Seraphine was an essential companion and main heroine, with good performance and beauty to boot, so there was no comparison.

‘If I think about the number of party members the Hero has gathered so far…’

For now, the number of companions the Hero has definitely gathered is five.

Seriste, Silena, Natalie, Thomas, and Agnes were likely to be companion characters to take to the ending.

Add to that the essential companion Seraphine, and Luke who has synergy when recruited along with Seraphine.

Including the Hero himself, that’s a total of eight people.

As I mentioned before, the maximum number of members in the Demon King Subjugation Party was eight.

So, at first glance, it might seem like all eight spots have been filled, but…

‘…There should still be one or two more spots to fill.’

According to the teachings of the Aurelian Church that the Hero and Saint are one, Seriste is counted as one with the hero.

And while Seraphine is an essential companion who must be taken along, Luke hasn’t been confirmed to be taken yet, so there were at least one and at most two spots left.

‘I just hope he doesn’t bother me by trying to take Lilith along, too.’

Of course, looking at objective performance, taking Lilith would be the right choice, but I was determined to prevent that route somehow.

The standard story in the original storyline where Ethan is killed and Lilith is ‘saved’ and taken along was obviously not going to happen. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

I didn’t want a future where he tried to recruit me normally, regardless of Ethan.

The wandering life of traveling around the world for years after graduating from the academy was enough to experience in the game.

‘Please, if you’re going to recruit someone, recruit Orion instead of me. He’s good at magic too. He can use support magic as well.’

Seraphine and the other female characters would probably welcome Orion with open arms. At least from their perspective, it would mean one less heroine competing for the Hero.

While I was thinking about these things and contemplating my future conduct…

Perhaps because we had just been talking about Fifth Prince Antonio, Agnes’s conversation naturally flowed in that direction.

“…Talking about Antonio reminded me.”

“Yes? What did you remember?”

“His birthday banquet is in two weeks.”

“Ah, it was already that time.”

“…That time?”

“…Ah, no. It’s nothing, Miss Agnes.”

I was familiar with Antonio’s Birthday Banquet as it was an episode I had experienced many times in my past life, so I habitually spoke as if I had experienced it often.

A few years ago, after the incident at Seraphine’s Masquerade Ball in celebration of her birthday, there were no events gathering nobles at the palace for a while, but starting with Antonio’s Birthday Banquet, events gathering at the palace began to be held again.

It was an event I, who had played Luminor Academy 25 times, couldn’t possibly forget.

“Seeing that you know about Fifth Prince Antonio’s birthday, it seems you’re attending, Miss Agnes?”

“…Aren’t you going, Lilith?”

“I’m just the daughter of the Rosewood Baroness family. I’m far too lowly to be invited to Prince’s birthday banquet.”

“Lowly… I-I’m just a viscount’s daughter too, but I’m going because my family told me to. Our status is similar, so don’t worry about it.”

“…Pardon? Ah, yes.”

Of course, it wouldn’t make sense for Agnes to take the time to participate in such a social event.

Considering her personality, there was a high possibility that she would end up awkwardly stuck in a corner and return, just like at Seraphine’s birthday.

Additionally, since she probably got scolded by the elders for hiding her identity with disguise magic at Seraphine’s birthday banquet, she wouldn’t be able to hide similarly this time.

Agnes, hearing that I wouldn’t be attending, muttered with a slightly disappointed expression.

“…I thought you were coming too, Lilith.”

“I told you, my status isn’t enough. I didn’t even receive an invitation.”

“…Can’t be helped, then.”

“Since it’s a royal-hosted banquet, won’t Princess Seraphine be there? I know you have a personal friendship with her.”

“…Seraphine is busy. She can’t be with me the whole time during the banquet.”

…Does she think someone’s not busy enough to stick by her side the whole time?

But then again, imagining the situation if I were to attend, it really did seem like I wouldn’t be busy. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

In the first place, the only case where I would participate in such an event would be if I moved together with Ethan, and Ethan wasn’t the type to busily go around meeting people.

“But something feels off. Are you really not attending? Wouldn’t your fiancé have received an invitation?”

“Of course, Young Master Ethan received an invitation letter.”

“…Don’t tell me the Blackwoods are not attending a prince’s birthday banquet?”

“No? Young Master Ethan will probably attend. Separately from me.”

“…What?”

Agnes looked at me with an increasingly strange gaze at my answer.

I could roughly guess what misunderstanding she had about me, so I added an explanation to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings.

“I’m explaining this only to you, Miss Agnes, but actually, Young Master Ethan and I are not engaged.”

“…Really?”

“Everyone misunderstands Young Master Ethan and me as engaged, and we just don’t bother to correct it. In reality, Young Master Ethan and I are just in an exclusive maid and employer relationship.”

“Then, sharing the same room in the Engaged Couples’ Dormitory…”

“It’s due to personal circumstances. It was an unavoidable choice if I were to attend the academy while being Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid.”

Agnes looked at me with a blank expression, as if my words were somewhat shocking.

Then she muttered in a low voice, as if finding it ridiculous.

“…Last time I thought anyone would see you as a couple. Was that all acting, too?”

“No, we are a couple.”

“…Are you teasing me again?”

“Why? Just because we’re a couple doesn’t mean we have to be engaged. Don’t tell me you’re someone who thinks you have to get married just from holding hands, Miss Agnes?”

“Th-that’s not it, but…”

Although we’re a temporary couple, Ethan and I are indeed in a relationship.

Still seeming to find my answer difficult to understand, Agnes asked me one last question with a somewhat confused expression.

“You share a room, you’re even dating, but you’re not engaged? Isn’t that strange?”

“Dating and marriage are originally different things, Miss Agnes. In the first place, Young Master Ethan should find a better marriage partner than me. How could the only son of a ducal family marry the daughter of a branch baroness family?”

“…Are you satisfied with that? I think I’d feel really empty if it were me.”

“The Blaze family is special in that you can be adopted into the main family if you have the ability. This is how the relationship between main and branch families usually is.”

“……” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

In fact, if we were to be precise, my position was that of a commoner, so I wasn’t even of a branch family.

Seeing Agnes make an expression as if she had asked something she shouldn’t have, I tried to lighten her mental burden a little.

“And in the first place, Young Master Ethan and I aren’t even that deep of a relationship. We haven’t even had the physical intercourse that common couples share.”

“Cough! Cough! Wh-why are you telling me that?!”

“Well, in a normal engaged relationship, physical intercourse would be common. I wanted to explain that Young Master Ethan and I never crossed the line between engagement and dating from the start…”

“I don’t need to know…! And I didn’t want to know…!”

Although she looks young on the outside, she must be an adult in age.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Agnes’s unexpectedly innocent reaction.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Thanks for reading this chapter, see you tomorrow for the following two!