I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Fourth Prince Machart Paris Valtoria.

He was the only one among Seraphine’s blood relatives who was involved with the demon race, making him a kind of spy for the Demon King’s army.

According to the original plot, he was supposed to have his first battle around Part 4, which meant he was strong enough to only show his combat power in the latter half of the story.

…And although I didn’t want to say this before the battle even started, he wasn’t an opponent that Lilith, a mere maid, could defeat alone.

It wasn’t just that I couldn’t win at “this point in time”, but from the start, Machart was an opponent that could only be defeated by someone with stats equivalent to the Hero in the latter of Part 4. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

For Lilith to reach that level of stats, it would have to be at the very end of Part 5. In terms of levels, it would be almost 60-70; my current level was practically only a quarter of that.

‘I was so focused on Agnes and Prince Antonio’s affair that I didn’t see the hornet’s nest I had stirred…’

I had nothing to say as I failed to prepare for the crisis approaching me, too focused on how their relationship was flowing differently from the original story.

If I had known he would approach like this, I would have asked Ethan to escort me to the Magic Department building for a while, even if it was a bit embarrassing. I should have acted like that at least until Machart lost interest in me.

Machart’s unique ability, this ‘Inner Darkness’, was a mental prison that could only trap one person at a time. If I had to be specific, it was a kind of assassination-specialized ability.

‘He probably used this ability to kill Philipson and the First Empress too.’

Not only was the ability itself specialized for assassination, but for Machart, who could freely move around the Imperial Palace, regicide was an easy task. *1

If Machart’s mood changed capriciously, he might release me safely from this space, but as I just said, he was involved in the death of his stepmother and half-sibling. There was no way this bastard, who regarded the life of a lower noble lady like me as insignificant as a fly’s, would show mercy.

Apart from that, cutting or breaking the space itself with master-level swordsmanship or magic was another means of escape. Of course, I didn’t qualify for either of these, which meant I couldn’t escape on my own.

…If I couldn’t do either, I could just kill the caster who deployed this mental magic.

“Hmm, interesting. Usually, when ladies first come in here, they tremble in fear or scream.”

“…What do you want me to do about it, fucking asshole?”

“Unlike those girls, you’re not particularly scared, nor are you whining noisily?”

I ran through the simulation of taking off Machart’s head, who was grinning in front of me, several times in my mind.

Taking out the dagger from my inner pocket and thrusting it at his neck would be too big a movement and easily countered.

Taking out the dagger from under my skirt might reduce the speed, but to kill him with a sword, I’d need to swing it as fast as the Hero or Natalie. Or, I could make him completely let his guard down to expose his vital point.

Using magic to respond lacked lethality, and large-scale magic like Mana Blast would obviously be blocked while channeling.

On top of that, getting a skill to resolve the situation with my remaining skill points was also an unsatisfactory situation.

In that uncomfortable confrontation, as I couldn’t hide my tension and kept my guard up against him, Machart’s smiling eyes quietly stared at me, and for a moment, curses automatically spilled from my mouth as I got goosebumps from that unpleasant gaze.

“What are you looking at, you fucking bastard?”

“I thought this before, but you’re not a very polite young lady, are you? Didn’t your etiquette teacher teach you?”

“Did your mother, being an empty-headed whore, teach you to unwrap and devour young ladies like gift wrappings?”

“Pfft, hehe…”

“What are you laughing at, fucker. With that disgustingly ugly face.”

“Pfft, AHAHAHAHAHA…! That’s right! It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind of reaction. It’s truly fresh and good, AHAHAHA….”

…Look at this loser pretending to be cool and laughing.

Well, from his perspective, being told he’s ugly might be a funny story. After all, the reason he was involved in killing the First Empress and the Crown Prince was to hide his ugly face.

I, who knew his original ugly appearance instead of that disgustingly fake face, also knew why this bastard goes around with such self-satisfaction. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

He was originally a guy with low self-esteem about his appearance, so he learned a ‘Becoming Handsome’ spell overnight and uses it as he pleases. To be precise, it was closer to a wide-area perception interference magic that makes his own appearance look handsome, rather than a magic that actually makes him handsome.

Perhaps his pride was hurt by my words calling him disgustingly ugly, as he leaned his face a bit closer to mine.

“Would you like to say that again? How is my face…”

“Fuck you! Won’t you move your fucking ugly face away?!”

“……”

“Did your mother even eat seaweed soup after giving birth to a bastard like you? The Third Empress must have had a disgustingly strong stomach.” *2

“I’m not sure what seaweed soup is, but I think I understand that you’re insulting me and my mother.”

“Even a goblin with a brain should understand that much. Or is your mother a goblin, making that level of intelligence something to boast about? You’re sitting here bragging about such insignificant things.”

“……”

Machart began to give me an ominous look as I deliberately and persistently touched on his appearance.

In the slightly changed atmosphere, I could immediately grasp that the current situation was not very good.

“It doesn’t seem like you were cursing to get my attention. At first, I thought you were a young lady approaching me with a new method.”

“Bullshit. Can’t you keep those thoughts chopped by an axe to yourself?”

“If you were a young lady using such a low-grade method like cursing to get my attention halfheartedly, I was going to end it here… but I’ve changed my mind.”

“What does your change of mind have to do with me…”

Thwack!

“…You, become my woman.”

“You son of a…!”

A black hand that sprang out from the darkness beyond the faint light illuminating Machart’s surroundings grabbed one of my wrists, and simultaneously, two hands that sprouted from the floor fixed my legs to the ground.

Thus, with me completely bound in place, unable to escape, Machart leaned his face close to me once again.

“Let go of me, you fucking bastard!”

“Come to think of it, I might have caused a bit of a misunderstanding.”

“…What?”

“Let me rephrase. You, become my wife.”

“……”

“You think it’s an easily obtainable position? Do you believe the opportunity to become a prince’s consort is available to just anyone? The competition to become the consort of the incomparably handsome Prince Machart is especially fierce.”

“…Bullshit.”

“But I’ve taken a liking to you, so I’ll specially make you my first wife. I’m not sure if there will be a second or not, but anyway, it’s not such a bad offer for you…”

Hack, ptoo!

“Fuck off, you fucking bastard.”

Where does he get off propositioning a woman who belongs to someone else?

No, come to think of it, I’m not exactly a woman who belongs to someone else, but anyway, even if all of humanity died out, I’d refuse that bastard.

To begin with, the very idea of marrying a man makes me want to vomit, let alone that bastard involved with the demon race.

If I were to get tied up with him around this time and end up wandering around together, only to perish together, I’d be so resentful that I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Drip.

“Ha! Haha! AHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!“

Machart started laughing like a true madman, not caring at all about my spit dripping between his eyebrows.

With both legs and right arm bound, I secretly moved my free left hand to grip one of the daggers tied inside my skirt.

“It’s not such a bad offer. If you just promise to marry me and show evidence of that, I’ll release you from here and overlook all the rudeness you’ve committed so far.”

“…The rudeness is what you’re committing, you fucking bastard.”

“You can’t escape from here on your own with your skills anyway. I looked into it a bit because you were speaking so arrogantly, but you’re not even an expert, let alone a master, right?”

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

“You just need to make one promise. A promise to marry me and become my first wife, and as evidence of that, leave a kiss on my lips. Simple, isn’t it?”

“…Is it fashionable in the Imperial Palace these days to eat with your asshole? You’re spewing shit from your mouth.”

“…Well, I don’t particularly dislike shy young ladies either.”

“Fucking hell! Won’t you move that face away?! Fuuuck!!”

With those words, Machart silently leaned his lips towards me, with my two legs and one arm bound.

Watching that nauseating face gradually overlapping with mine, I waited as patiently as possible for him to approach.

…While spewing all kinds of curses with my mouth to make him think of me as a powerless maid until the very last moment.

Just as his lips came almost right in front of my nose, I swung the silver dagger in my left hand toward his nape without hesitation, and I definitely felt something being stabbed by the dagger in my hand.

I felt the sensation of the blade in my hand cutting through skin, tearing muscle, and sinking in.

Stab!

…The only regrettable thing was that the blade was stabbed somewhere other than his nape.

Drip, drip….

“Haha, well this is…”

“You fucking bastard…”

“…Not only are you shy, but you’re also dangerous and rough, young lady.”

Machart blocked the trajectory of my knife with his right arm just before the blade could enter his nape, so the dagger in my hand only managed to inflict a wound by stabbing into his forearm instead of his neck.

“I was wondering if you might do something since you didn’t let go of your killing intent until the end, but to think you’d swing a dagger without giving up even in this situation.”

“You’re crazy, you’re really crazy…”

“They say beautiful mushrooms are poisonous, so I was right to be careful before eating.”

No joke, it was an attack swung with the intention to kill.

Anyway, if I didn’t kill him, I couldn’t escape from that space on my own, and if that was the case, I thought it would be better to at least kill him and escape.

Moreover, if I killed him here, it would make it easier to progress the main story in various ways later, and by killing him, who was a spy for the Demon King’s army, I could disrupt the demons’ plans. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Of course, I would be executed for regicide afterward, but I thought if I was going to die anyway, it would be better to at least take this bastard down with me.

When my attempt to do something was futilely blocked, and just as sorrowful and angry emotions were about to well up, suddenly, the darkness surrounding Machart and me began to dissipate, and the scenery of the academy started to come into view again.

“It’s a shame, but we’ll stop here for today. I wanted to play with you longer if possible, but I’ve lost too much blood.”

“…What?”

“Then, see you next time, shy poisonous mushroom lady.”

Crack, clang….

“……”

After roughly pulling out the silver dagger stuck in his forearm and throwing it on the floor, Machart walked towards the church as if nothing had happened.

At that shameless back view, I, with all my strength drained, couldn’t even chase after him and just collapsed on the floor.

Flop.

“Ha, haha, ha….”

…For a while, I’ll have to always move around with Ethan or Agnes by my side.

T/N

Regicide is the intentional killing of a monarch, usually with the aim of usurping the throne. It applies to the First Empress but does not apply to the First Prince.
The joke here needs context to understand. Seaweed soup (Miyeok-guk, 미역국) is apparently eaten by women who have given birth for several months postpartum. It is believed to purify the blood and encourage and enhance breast milk production and is part of the recovery process. So, the insult plays on the idea that Machart’s face is so ugly that his mother would have been nauseated by his birth, requiring exceptional endurance to tolerate the recovery process.

Hello! Axiomatic here.

See you in a bit for Chapter 200!