I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

The atmosphere in the banquet hall momentarily became silent due to the curse that inadvertently slipped from my mouth.

Even on the surface, it was a situation where a noble lady had cursed at a prince.

For those who knew that I was merely a quasi-baroness, it was essentially equivalent to a suicide declaration.

‘I’m screwed.’

I had certainly prepared a proper response in my mind, but as soon as my mouth opened, it reflexively came out.

But really, how can I help it when it’s so physiologically disgusting?

That two-faced expression of pretending to be sweet while openly moving his gaze to my chest without even trying to hide it, and acting like a playboy towards young ladies – of course, no good words could come out when seeing that.

If only Machart had heard it, I might have been able to bluff my way through somehow, but unfortunately, the words that came out of my mouth weren’t exactly quiet.

At least, it seemed to have been clearly heard by the extra young ladies following this greasy prince.

“Y-You…! D-Did you just dare to curse at Prince Machart?!”

“How could you do such a thing! Do you think you can be forgiven for anything just because you have a pretty face?!”

“Do you think you have the right to spout such nonsense just because you have large breasts?!”

‘Shit, really now…’

It was bad enough having to face this greasy blond face in front of me, but these women following him as devotees chiming in one by one was also annoying.

And why are both men and women mentioning others’ physical characteristics? It’s not like I wanted to be possessed by a character with such large breasts.

Barely suppressing the desire to reach for the dagger attached inside my dress skirt, I quietly waited for Machart’s response in front of me. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Although the atmosphere had become hostile due to my initial slip of the tongue, this guy in front of me was, after all, the undisputed villain of Luminor Academy.

Since he was the type who could draw his sword at any moment claiming disrespect to royalty or sacrilege, I remained vigilant, ready to respond to any threat.

“What a bold young lady.”

“…Pardon?”

“I apologize. If I’ve offended you due to my lack of skill in moving a lady’s heart, I sincerely apologize. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Ah, yes….”

However, contrary to my wariness, Machart withdrew from his position with an incredibly cool expression.

He withdrew so abruptly that I didn’t even have time to apologize for my verbal mistake.

“Y-You! Just because you have a pretty face, how dare… W-Wait, Prince Machart!”

“Your Highness, why are you bowing your head to such a woman….”

In addition, the group of young ladies who had been glaring at me with venomous looks until just now also disappeared along with him. Confused about what had just happened, Ethan spoke to me from my right.

“Are you alright, Lili?”

“Ah, Ed. Yes, I’m fine for now….”

“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, Lili. That pervert… I mean, Prince Machart over there was in the wrong first.”

Ethan was using quite strong words against the prince, taking my side.

Well, if you think about it, he was the one who was wrong first.

It was clearly inappropriate for a man to approach the woman first when she was obviously with a partner, and that lecherous gaze openly stared at my chest without even trying to move his eyes.

If an ordinary noble heir behaved like that in social circles, it would be perfect fodder for gossip behind their back.

It was only because he was ‘Machart’, backed by his looks and family background, that there hadn’t been complaints from the young ladies until now. Rather, there would probably be a flood of women willing to undress and show what’s underneath if he looked at their chests.

But even considering all that, the fact that I was more in the wrong for cursing in the prince’s face remained unchanged. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

“I agree with your words, Ed, but this was clearly my mistake.”

“Huh?”

“I had certainly prepared a proper answer, but I was so flustered that different words came out inadvertently. I’ll have to apologize to Prince Machart separately later.”

“Different words… Was it not what you truly meant?”

“No, it’s true that I felt uncomfortable. But even if it’s the truth, the very act of saying it out loud becomes a sin in itself.”

“…Then it’s fine, Lili.”

Ethan seemed to relax for some reason when I said I felt uncomfortable. Seeing his expression, I had a pretty good idea why he had felt uneasy, so I smiled slightly and asked.

“What’s wrong, Ed? Did you think I might have some strange feelings for that person?”

“…..”

“Don’t worry. As I said before, I’ve never thought about dating or marrying any man other than you, Ed.”

“R-Right… I’m sorry for thinking strange things, Lili….”

Since Ethan was wary of me, his temporary lover, possibly having different feelings for Machart, it was strangely enjoyable to tease him about it.

It was enough to make me forget, at least for a moment, how to deal with the curse I had uttered to Machart.

“To begin with, do you think I would like such an unprincipled man who leads around a string of women? With just a handsome face, he’s making nonsensical attempts at seduction. I almost felt like retching….” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

However, my time teasing Ethan didn’t last as long as I thought, as this time, two shadows quickly approached me from a bit further away.

“Hey, hey! Are you in your right mind…?!”

“Ah, Miss Agnes.”

“What were you thinking, saying such things?! Do you know where he stands in the line of succession?! No, forget about succession, how could you in front of royalty…!”

“…You’re right. The words slipped out in the moment.”

“This isn’t something that can be solved with just saying that…!”

Agnes grabbed my shoulders with a very serious expression and shook me.

Due to the difference in our centers of gravity, it felt like she was shaking more than I was as she held and shook me.

But what could I do? The water was already spilled, the words already spoken.

Shortly after, unlike Agnes who had rushed over, temporarily abandoning her decorum as a noble lady, another figure slowly followed and carefully opened their mouth as they approached me.

“Miss Lilith, what were you thinking, making such a dangerous statement…?”

“…I’m sorry, Princess Seraphine.”

“Of course, it’s true that our fourth brother is quite fond of women, but don’t you think it was a bit dangerous to curse… to utter profanities to his face?”

“…It was a mistake. I originally intended to greet him normally, but it slipped out unconsciously….”

“…I don’t particularly like my brother Machart’s behavior either. So I’m not completely unable to understand your feelings, Miss Lilith….”

Seraphine showed a worried reaction to my disrespectful remarks towards royalty.

Although concerned, she surprisingly calmly agreed with the criticism of her own brother.

It was a moment that once again confirmed that even among siblings in the Valtoria Royal Family, which was known to be dysfunctional, the relationships weren’t very good despite them being blood-related.

There might have been a time when the royal children at least pretended to have decent relationships on the surface, but it was correct to view the Royal Family as essentially split apart after the death of Philipson, the First Prince.

‘And it was that Machart who was involved in the death of the First Prince.’

It didn’t matter much that the First Prince wasn’t a particularly good vessel as the next emperor. What mattered was that the First Prince’s death caused a division within the royal family.

In addition, there was no room for leniency given his connections with the demon race.

From that perspective alone, my recent behavior might have been better. Getting involved with him wrongly would only lead to mutual destruction.

It might have been more rational to clearly reject him rather than make things ambiguous which could lead to continuous entanglement.

After all, Machart himself hadn’t properly built up a power base except for the blind young ladies enthralled by his womanizing, so he wasn’t much of a political threat either.

“I apologize for saying this, but I judged Lilith’s decision to be correct, Princess Seraphine. No matter if he’s a prince, I don’t think it looks good for him to openly approach my fiancée… in front of me.

“…I’m not particularly scolding you. I just hope you’ll refrain from such dangerous behavior. While Prince Machart himself isn’t that threatening, if you were to show this attitude to my other siblings, Miss Lilith, it would be difficult for me to protect you. I was just worried.”

“…I-I don’t think Lilith did anything wrong either. I don’t like him, too.”

Perhaps due to my recent statement, there was a strangely ‘anti-Machart alliance’ atmosphere gathering. It was natural, as Agnes and Seraphine didn’t particularly like the Fourth Prince in the original story either.

“Thank you for your concern, Princess Seraphine. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“…Alright. Please do be careful, Miss Lilith.”

As Machart and his group of young ladies disappeared to the opposite side of the banquet hall, and the surprised Agnes and Seraphine also moved back to where Gyeongmwajogyegigwat and Seriste were, the banquet seemed to continue peacefully once again.

In the end, the curse I had uttered to Machart became nothing more than a minor incident after a while. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

…Because after the official start of the banquet, an event occurred that was capable of causing much more commotion in the hall.

T/N

Hello! Axiomatic here.

Thanks for reading, see you in a bit for the bonus chapter!