LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 15
Chapter 15 When I got to the drawing room, there were several other maids besides me.We greeted each other awkwardly. Only the rustling of teacups echoed quietly in the drawing room.It was strange. Of the dozen or so maids, I didn’t recognize any of them.Living in the imperial palace, the maids were naturally familiar with each other, even if they didn’t work in the same palace, as they came and went.‘But I don’t know anyone.’I wasn’t the only one. They didn’t know each other either.If it’s our first time seeing each other…‘Are you saying that only maids who didn’t know each other were brought here on purpose?’Something was wrong. I stared at them. It was a diverse group of people.Some of them were looking around nervously, as if everything was new to them, while others had relaxed faces.Some wore maid’s clothes like me, and some wore plain clothes. There were also two kinds of casual clothes: those that looked worn out, though they had tried to look dignified, and those that were not fancy but of good quality.I realized that we had gathered a diverse group of people. For what purpose, I don’t know.‘Is there something?’As I was contemplating each and every one of them, the head maid of the Empress’s palace entered the drawing room.“Originally, it was the job of the head maid of the Crown Prince’s palace, but even she has changed affiliations, so I’m here.”The head maid skillfully started the story.“All of you in this position may be those who have been to the Imperial Palace for the first time, or those who have worked in the Imperial Palace for a long time. It’s an unusual greeting.”It seems that it was not my misunderstanding that they brought various people.“And you are all here in the capacity of apprentice maids.”Apprentice maids…“Unless you’ve made some kind of huge mistake, it won’t be difficult to become an official maid. The reason for having a probationary period is to see where we can put you, because we all have different things we’re good at.”The head maid began to explain each task.The work of the Crown Prince’s Palace was slightly different from that of the Princess Palace.There were few male servants in the Princess Palace, and the majority were female servants, but it was the opposite here. Apparently, it was customary to use servants of the same gender, as there was inevitably some physical contact involved.Thanks to this, there were significantly fewer maids than in the Princess Palace, and they did less work.“There are three main things you need to do. Hosting outside guests and managing the building, the general education of His Highness the Crown Prince, and finally, being the closest to His Highness.”The maids here are all over fifteen years old. If the tasks were categorized into three categories, there were likely to be fifteen of them assigned to each task.‘I’ll have to do the closest…’In other cases, there will be very little chance of meeting Caesar in person.“The probationary period is one week. During that week, you will experience every task once, and you will have a meeting with me.”After speaking, the head maid looked around us.“Do you have a question?”“I have one.”Raising her hand was a beautiful woman with black hair hanging down to her waist.‘She looks very pretty.’She had a relaxed expression, but she wasn’t wearing a maid outfit. Judging by the fact that she was wearing quite luxurious clothes, I could only guess that she was a high-ranking aristocrat.“What?”“Is the Crown Prince’s opinion included in deciding the task? For example the last… I think the importance of being close with His Majesty is important for the work of taking care of him.”Perhaps it was an unexpected question, the head maid was silent for a moment.“Of course, I will ask Your Majesty. However, since all the servants and maids of the Imperial Palace are under the jurisdiction of the Empress, the final decision will be made by Her Majesty.”At this time, I also raised my hand.“What is it?”“I was wondering if you could tell me the criteria used to select the maids who came to the crown prince’s palace this time?”“Why do you want to know that?”“You said it was Her Majesty the Empress’s responsibility, and I’d like to express my gratitude if she personally selected me.”The head maid snorted a laugh.“Doing the job right is the quickest way to show appreciation.”She didn’t say any more, but I had already gotten the information I wanted.‘If you don’t deny it, is it really true that the Empress chose the maids herself?’If so, it was said that the selection of those who did not have knowledge and the selection of various types of people were all the thoughts of the Empress.‘Aha…’I finally understood why the Empress had changed the maids in the crown prince’s palace.First, to keep Marriott out of sight.If she was the only one kicked out, rumors would surely spread.Some of the maids who worked with the Crown Prince already know that Marriott is the Empress’s person, and she wouldn’t want rumors to spread about her.Second, to hide another spy other than Marriott.Marriott was the Empress’s person. But she is now gone after being kicked out, and putting someone else in her place would be too easy to spot.To prevent that, she decided to replace all the maids with new ones. If all the maids here were new, the Empress’s planting would go unnoticed.‘But what about the former spy? What about the one who’s been spying on the Marriott all this time?There were two possibilities. One is that the original spy was not a maid.If it was disguised as a servant or an escort knight, it was also possible to plant a new maid to see the Crown Prince closer.The second possibility is identity theft. She could have been a maid in the crown prince’s palace before, and now she was here again under the guise that she wasn’t.I narrowed my eyes and looked at the girls who had become apprentice maids with me.‘So you deliberately brought only people who didn’t know each other, to facilitate identity theft?’It was quite a possibility. It wasn’t too difficult to create an identity just by changing the hair style.The imperial palace was huge, and its workers often didn’t remember each other.Just like everyone in this room right now doesn’t know each other. Add to that the power of the Empress, and it’s not hard to forge documents to prove your identity.So, among the maids in this room, there could be a spy that works for the Empress.‘So am I… really just caught up in this by accident? Or does the Empress know something?’I have only been in the Imperial Palace for about a year.I haven’t even been able to make a debut because I haven’t grown up yet. I was Floria’s maid and spent most of my time with her.In short, I had a narrow social circle. It was quite possible that I was chosen by chance.It was a confusing affair in many ways, but it made one thing clear. Perhaps the Empress was even more organized than I thought.‘I need to find a guide quickly.’The first gateway to that is none other than that.‘Being the Crown Prince’s exclusive maid.’I engrave a new goal in my heart.During my week’s probationary period, I must somehow earn my way to Caesar’s side. ***** The head maid’s words were true, they would be able to become an official maid as long as they didn’t make any big mistakes.The task assigned to us was not very difficult. In the first place, we didn’t have a senior to teach us one-on-one.I wondered, ‘Is this really the way to do it?’As I was learning from other palace maids, or from the servants of the Crown Prince, I had no choice but to think like that.For those of us who had worked as maids before, including myself, it wasn’t a big deal, but for those who came to the palace for the first time, it must have been quite a difficult situation.‘Since the number of competitors has decreased, it should be said that it is a good thing.’It was normal for veterans to take on the exclusive maids who were usually on the side of the imperial family. Of course, if the imperial family was a young woman, there were cases where a maid of the same age was assigned. Just like I became Floria’s maid.But this was a crown prince. His maid didn’t have to tell him whether a white ribbon or a blue ribbon would look better on him. He had an aide who did.Naturally, he would choose a skilled maid. No matter how much the Empress disliked the Crown Prince, she couldn’t ignore the gaze.Of the ten maids, only three or four had more experience than me. This meant that if I did well, there was a very high chance that I would become an exclusive maid.“Oh, it’s very beautiful.”The head maid’s cry was heard from the garden. During her one-week probationary period, she did her best to teach us, leaving the affairs of the Empress Palace to the other maids.“Thank you.”It was Erinne who answered with a relaxed smile. On the first day she came to the Crown Prince’s palace, she raised her hand and questioned the woman with the long straight hair.“It’s very harmonious. But it’s not monotonous.”Erinne smiled at the head maid’s compliment.We were learning flower arrangement in the garden. It was for the vases to be decorated in various places in the Crown Prince’s palace, but it wasn’t too difficult.‘But I’ve never heard of such a compliment.’I glanced at her. Indeed, as the head maid said, her bouquet was wonderful.“Did you learn to do that somewhere?”“Just, a little, I guess, because I like flowers.”“Hmm… May I speak with you for a moment?”“Of course.”The head maid took Arene and left the garden in an instant.“It’s ridiculous. She’s showing favoritism.”When all their backs disappeared, the story began as if they had been waiting.The first to speak was a maid with purple curly hair. I hadn’t memorized all of the maids’ names yet, so she was known to me as Violet Doll.“I mean, what’s so different about my bouquet or this one?”The short, yellow-haired maid chimed in.“I wonder if she’s related to the head maid? Has anyone here ever heard of her family?”Some shook their heads and whispered.“That’s odd, too, when you think about it. I’ve never heard of a family named Robane.”