I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by James B. (5/14). If you enjoy reading and are willing to sponsor more bonus chapters, see my Ko-fi.

“I thought you weren’t coming today, Lilith.”

Agnes, who seemed to have arrived at the banquet hall earlier, tugged at the hem of my dress as she approached me.

Sensing that she wanted some explanation, I first described how I ended up participating.

“Come to think of it, I forgot to correct that information last time, Miss Agnes. I originally thought I wasn’t attending either, but Ed insisted that I come along somehow, so here I am.”

“…Is that really all? You didn’t avoid telling me for some other reason?”

“Some… other reason? Why would I have any reason not to tell you about my attendance, Miss Agnes?”

“…It’s just… Maybe you didn’t want to acknowledge knowing me at the banquet.”

“Ah….”

…Saying it like that makes it sound like I’ve done something terrible.

Not wanting to build unnecessary misunderstandings with a newly made friend, I quickly clarified the part Agnes was worried about. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“How could that be? I truly just forgot.”

“…Really?”

“In fact, like you, Miss Agnes, I don’t have many people I can call friends at Luminor Academy besides you. Why would I need to lie to you, my only friend?”

“…I-I have many friends, you know? There’s Seraphine. And Natalie… Oh, no, maybe not her yet….”

“Yes, yes. Still, thank you for being my friend, Miss Agnes.”

“…Somehow, I feel like you’re mocking me.”

Although she glared at me with a strange look, her expression softened as soon as she realized I hadn’t withheld my attendance information with any other intention.

I didn’t expect her to think so much about me being a bit late in mentioning my attendance.

It’s fortunate that Agnes isn’t the type of noble lady who schemes behind others’ backs. If it had been someone else, this could have led to all sorts of unnecessary rumors.

“I’m glad you have such an honest personality, Miss Agnes. We could have had a needless misunderstanding over something trivial.”

“…By the way, what’s with that way of speaking? You don’t usually talk like that.”

“It’s about adapting my behavior and mindset according to the situation and role. In the academy, I’m usually Young Master Ethan’s exclusive maid, so I act accordingly. Now, I’m here as Ed’s fiancée, so naturally, I need to present myself in a manner befitting that position.”

“…Ed? Don’t tell me you call Ethan ‘Ed’?”

“Yes. There’s no clearer way to emphasize intimacy than using a nickname.”

Agnes frowned a bit upon hearing what I called Ethan, but that was all.

After all, since I was here in place of Ethan’s fiancée, I was simply fulfilling my role, and it wasn’t really any of Agnes’s concern.

“So what, you’ve decided to get engaged after all?”

“That’s not it. It’s just that he says having me by his side can deter ladies who only approach him for his family name.”

“…Just for that reason? Even if it doesn’t matter to him since he’s a man, what about you, Lilith? What will you do when it’s time for you to marry?”

“I’ve never really thought about marrying anyone other than Ed. I can just stay single till the end if it comes to that.”

“…..”

Agnes grimaced as if something displeased her upon hearing my words.

Then, suddenly looking towards the self-service bar where Ethan was, she muttered something.

“Shouldn’t you say something? Can you really tolerate this? Your marriage prospects being sacrificed for that young master’s political intentions?”

“Huh? I told you, I have no intention of marrying in the first place. It’s not like this is blocking my marriage prospects, so it doesn’t matter.”

“…Whatever. I won’t listen if you come crying later about being used and discarded.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not being used.”

…Wait, am I?

Come to think of it, disguising as a fiancée to attend an official event wasn’t really within the scope of an exclusive maid’s duties.

It was the same during the previous masquerade ball too. It does seem like I’m being made to do things a bit too sensitive for a maid.

But well… since I’m also Ethan’s temporary lover right now, I guess it’s just barely within the realm of doing him a favor.

“I’m back, Lili.”

“Ah, thanks for your effort, Ed.”

Ethan appeared with cold cocktails in both hands from the self-service bar while we were talking.

As he handed me one of the glasses, he recognized Agnes behind me and exchanged brief greetings. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Lady Blaze? It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.”

“Were you chatting with Lili while I was away?”

“…Yeah. We’re friends.”

“I’ve often heard Lili mention you. I hope you’ll continue to be good friends with her.”

“…..”

This was the first proper conversation between the two, who had only known of each other’s existence through several passing encounters.

Given that Ethan usually viewed people around me with unfavorable eyes, this reaction was certainly a bit unexpected.

While his gaze toward Lizzy or Seraphine had a strangely fierce aura, his look towards Agnes was definitely milder.

…Although Agnes didn’t seem to have particularly good feelings towards Ethan.

“You’d better treat her well.”

“…Hmm?”

“If you dare use her as you please and then discard her later, I won’t let you off easy.”

“…While you seem to have some misunderstanding about me, I promise that at least what you’re worried about won’t happen.”

“…Hmph.”

Despite being almost threatened to his face by a viscount’s daughter, Ethan responded calmly with a smile.

After observing him for a moment, Agnes turned her head with a displeased expression and started to walk away.

“Where are you going, Miss Agnes?”

“Just going to greet Seraphine.”

“Ah, I see. See you later.”

It was easy to imagine that she’d probably return to my side once the banquet started and some time had passed, as she didn’t seem to have anyone else to talk to besides Seraphine.

“She’s a good friend, Lili.”

“Huh? You mean Agnes?”

“At least she’s much better than Lady August or the Princess. She sees you for who you are, without pretense or ulterior motives.”

“…Well, if you say so, Ed. Personally, she is the least burdensome among my friends at the academy.”

“…Although I’m not too happy about her forcibly joining that perverted Hero’s party, but that’s Lady Blaze’s personal circumstance.”

He muttered this while looking at Gyeongmwajogyegigwat and Seriste, who had arrived at the banquet, and Seraphine talking with them.

It seems that due to that after-party incident, Ethan’s wariness towards the Hero had also intensified.

I wanted to somehow make contact with Gyeongmwajogyegigwat and have just one conversation, but with Ethan reacting like this, it seemed it would be quite difficult.

Since Ethan had explicitly told me not to even speak with the Hero, I couldn’t approach him first either. If it weren’t for that incident caused by Natalie at the after-party, I might have had a chance at least once.

More than a year had already passed without me being able to tell him that I had no interest in defeating the Demon King or completing the main story and that he should recruit other characters instead of wasting effort.

‘The candidate characters for the Subjugation Party will still be joining until next year, so I guess it’s not too late yet.’

Still, it would have been better to convey this information as early as possible.

Since I didn’t know what plans the Hero’s side might have, they needed to be prepared for the sudden possibility of Lilith not joining.

As I was thinking about this and casually sipping the cocktail with Ethan, the noisy voices of young ladies began to be heard from the entrance of the banquet hall.

With this decibel level and crowd, the one making an entrance now was probably…

“Kyaaa! It’s Prince Machart!”

“P-Prince Machart! A-A-Are you well…?!”

“Thank you, miss. If it’s alright with you, would you like to dance with me later?”

“R-Really, Your Highness?!”

“Of course, though it might have to be around the eleventh dance. I have quite a few reservations today….”

“Even if it’s the eleventh or the hundredth, I’d be happy to dance with you, Your Highness!”

“P-Prince Machart! H-How have you been…? I-I’m the one from the academy before….”

“I’m sorry. I’m not very good at remembering the names of flowers. Instead, forgive me for meeting such a beautiful lady anew like this, would you?”

“Y-Yes! Of course!”

Ugh, gag.

Wow, this is insane… Seeing him right in front of me after only seeing him in the game is really nauseating…

It was a different kind of unpleasantness compared to seeing Ethan, the Lout Prince, from the original game.

When playing the game, he only appeared in cutscenes so I didn’t feel much, but seeing him mutter such cringeworthy things with that greasy face right in front of me made me feel like I was going to throw up my lunch.

Instead of looking that way and seeing his unpleasant appearance, I quickly turned my body to ignore the commotion at the entrance. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Right, in fact, words like playboy or pervert should be applied to that bastard, not the Hero.

That bastard must have bedded at least a double-digit number of young ladies at the academy, treating them like candy wrappers. I didn’t care much since they were all just extra characters anyway.

He’s a disgusting bastard who hits on all sorts of female characters just relying on his looks.

He was also beyond redemption in that he even hit on the heroines, including Seriste and Agnes.

It was fortunate that he was truly a villain. If there had been a route to recruit that bastard as an ally in Luminor Academy, the genre would have undoubtedly changed.

“Let’s move elsewhere, Ed.”

“…Yes, Lili. It’s better not to catch the Fourth Prince’s eye unnecessarily.”

Just as Ethan and I were quietly exchanging opinions and carefully trying to move away from him…

I felt all the hair on my body stand on end for a moment at the sound of that bastard’s voice calling me from behind.

“…Ah, wait a moment. The lady in the crimson dress over there.”

‘…Oh, fuck.’

I should have moved to another place as soon as the entrance became noisy.

It was the moment when that bastard Machart’s gaze fixed on me as I was moving halfheartedly.

Having received a call from a member of the royal family, I could no longer continue walking and slowly turned my head towards that greasy bastard.

“Even from behind, such a truly beautiful… Oh, oh… How could there be such a perfect lady with such large…”

“…..”

‘Can’t you take your eyes off my chest?’

“Since we’ve met like this, it must be fate. How about we introduce ourselves, beautiful lady?”

‘You want introductions, Prince Machart?’

“…Fuck off, asshole.”

“…Pardon?”

Ah, that was a mistake.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Ethan really isn’t playing around! 

On another note, thanks to Nep and Lemon for donating three dollars each and contributing one bonus chapter each via my Ko-fi! The Google Sheets for the schedule has been updated to reflect these changes and based on my records, bonus chapters will be sponsored until Chapter 259 by Oct. 13.

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!