Chapter 22

After spending a chaotic and busy Sunday thanks to Yul’s previously unknown hobby, a sudden thought struck me, and I lifted my head abruptly to ask Yul.

“Yul! Can I borrow that camera for a bit?”

At my words, Yul nodded. Despite it being her precious camera, there was not a single trace of hesitation in her actions. As expected, Yul really loved me too much.

“Yes, you may use it as much as you like if the Young Lady desires. However, if it is not too rude to ask, might I know what purpose you intend to use it for?”

Hearing Yul’s question, I realized I needed to reveal a truth I had been hiding from her until now. Without doing so, it would certainly be difficult to get Yul’s help later on.

Gulp—

Swallowing hard once, I spoke cautiously.

“Actually, I don’t like Prince Fren anymore. No, I hate him.”

At my words, Yul replied with her trademark blank expression.

“I see.”

Huh?

I had secretly been expecting a bit more of a reaction, but the response was so dry and lukewarm that I suddenly felt like a fool for getting nervous.

Still, it also felt very much like Yul.

No matter what I said, Yul would probably give a similar reaction.

Well… except when it came to photos, which seemed to be exceptionally special to her.

That didn’t seem like something I needed to worry about too much, so I pushed it to the back of my mind.

“Then might I know what you plan to use it for?”

“What would I use a camera for? To take pictures, obviously.”

“I understand.”

Yul nodded, then followed up with another question.

“May I ask what kind of pictures you intend to take?”

“Um, pictures I can use to blackmail the prince.”

“……….”

Seeing Yul clamp her mouth shut the moment I finished speaking made me wonder if I should reconsider the thought I’d had just a few seconds ago, but Yul soon checked the time, slowly stood up, and opened my bedroom door.

Right after, a woman wearing the exact same uniform as Yul awkwardly wheeled a serving cart into the room from outside the doorway.

That’s right. This woman was Lien, who had become my second maid.

Though she had ended up becoming a maid, perhaps because the terror she received from Mother that day was still too immense, every time she looked at me—who bore a resemblance to Mother—she trembled like a sick rabbit. It made me feel uneasy and unnecessarily guilty.

Because of that, Yul was handling pretty much everything herself, but…

If Lien ever made one major mistake like that and crossed paths with Mother the wrong way.

Snap! That’s it.

I will leave what that sound signifies to everyone’s imagination.

“W-waiting for you, Young Lady. T-today’s l-lunch is….”

She was having this much trouble just saying what the food was, so how on earth was she going to manage going forward? But I couldn’t just fire her as a maid either. Of course, I didn’t know whether Mother even remembered her or not, but even aside from that, Lien herself had firmly insisted she could never quit because she felt like she would die if she stopped being a maid.

I hadn’t expected a flawless maid on Yul’s level, but this was… completely the polar opposite.

Being the kind-hearted person I was, I decided to just smile and let it slide.

“It’s fine. Lien, leave it to Yul and go take a break outside.”

Every time I spoke, Lien flinched and leaked a tiny tear, yet she still shook her head.

“N-no. I, I can do it too.”

With that, she looked like she was trying to set the dishes out one by one, but watching her made me feel even more uncomfortable and anxious. Sensing this vibe from me, Yul grabbed Lien by the wrist and spoke.

“Go.”

“B-but.”

Yul looked at Lien without a word, and soon Lien burst into tears and bolted right out the door.

What I realized from watching that was that Yul was surprisingly cold to others and not just purely kind, and also that crossing paths with Mother the wrong way could leave someone with a lifelong trauma.

If other nobles trembled just hearing my mother’s name, my mother was a being who instilled terror in everyone else simply by existing in this world.

‘Is she the ultimate demon king?’

As I pondered over this mysterious final boss, I turned my gaze toward the food.

In this peaceful world where you could barely find a single orc or criminal, what demon king?

“Heh.”

The food that revealed itself before me, eliciting a soft chuckle, was none other than pizza.

The thick bread, heavily loaded with top-quality, stringy cheese like noodles and all sorts of delicious toppings, stimulated my appetite just by looking at it.

I quickly bit into a slice of pizza and let out an exclamation.

“Mm, so good!”

The heavenly taste, as if my tongue were melting away, left me unable to even speak properly. As I enjoyed it, the orb hanging on Yul’s chest emitted a faint magical glow and flashed.

The moment I saw that, it clicked.

‘So she’s been taking pictures like this normally.’

Once you realized it, it was obvious, but when you didn’t know, you couldn’t notice it at all. It truly was a spine-chilling tool the more you looked at it.

After devouring a slice of pizza in a flash, I was reaching out for the next piece when Yul asked.

“By the way, why are you taking pictures to blackmail the Prince?”

“Uh, um… of course, to make him stop liking me.”

Actually, I was taking them to keep him from clinging to Miel, but if I said that, Yul might get the wrong idea, so I vaguely brushed it off. But now that I said it out of my mouth, even I thought it was an absurd reason.

Only after speaking did I realize there were other good reasons, like getting revenge on a man who had treated me like cold leftovers until now, but it was already too late to take my words back.

At my words, Yul thought for a moment before opening her mouth.

“It may just be my personal opinion, but as far as I know, the Prince disliked the Young Lady even when you met last time. Of course, I don’t know how it is now, but I find it unlikely that he would suddenly start liking a Young Lady he hated without any particular catalyst. Is there really any need to go out of your way to take blackmail photos?”

I was slightly flustered by the sharp reality check, but I stubbornly pushed forward anyway.

“Right, that’s true, but… um, I don’t know. Let’s just take the blackmail photos first, anyway. He’s a prince, after all. A time to use them will surely come someday. Anyway, Yul, the camera, please. Got it?”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

With that, I spent my golden Sunday like a snail inside my blanket, preparing to meet the prince, one of the damn male leads.

And time flew by like lightning until the following evening, when I waited ahead of time in the rented top floor of a top-tier luxury restaurant. Seeing a man step through the entrance, I muttered involuntarily to myself inside my head.

Damn, he’s insanely handsome.

August 8th, 1689 of the Imperial Calendar. Monday.

Even today, having finished his assigned paperwork and miscellaneous tasks early before evening, Fren von Tarten—a man with golden hair that suited him far too well, who radiated the majesty of a ruler simply by sitting still, and who was destined to become the future king—checked the time and clicked his tongue.

“Tch, this majestic body has to go and see that damn bitch, again and again.”

Not long after the season for banquets, balls, and other parties had ended, he had thought he wouldn’t have to see her for a while. Yet, because of an existence that inspired fear even in someone who feared nothing in the world, he had been forcibly dragged into setting up a dinner appointment, and he was deeply dissatisfied with it.

Inspecting his clothing and face this way and that in the mirror, he muttered,

“Hmph, I am a being destined to become king. To dare inflict such humiliation upon this body—there is no way I can forgive it.”

However, since he lacked the courage to actually say those words right in front of the person herself, he decided to endure it in silence. The woman, whose very name was terrifying to utter, would undoubtedly subject him to threats over and over again if it was for the sake of her beloved daughter.

So, Fren had made up his mind to settle things today with Armienne de Celion, the daughter of that damned woman.

Resolved to act with a harshness incomparable to his usual demeanor so that she would never dog his footsteps again, he headed toward the meeting place.

Not long after boarding the carriage, he arrived at the destination. Welcomed with utmost courtesy and brought upstairs, he soon found Armienne, who had arrived earlier than him. Seeing her, his expression twisted automatically.

Without needing to guess, that woman was clearly still in love with him. After all, a woman who had never once kept a promise of time in her life always arrived at places where she met him much faster than anyone else.

‘Being too attractive is a crime, too.’

He could never have imagined that the entity residing inside Armienne’s body might be a completely different existence, and he didn’t know that this existence happened to have a habit of arriving earlier than scheduled, which left him with no other choice but to think this way.

Fren walked proudly as a prince toward where Armienne sat. She seemed to spot him as their eyes met for a split second; she looked momentarily startled before breaking into a smile, prompting Fren to think,

‘She is beautiful, at least.’

Pity about her terrible personality, though. Armienne had undoubtedly inherited a heavy dose of her mother’s blood, making her face so breathtakingly gorgeous that no one could rival it. The problem was that she had inherited her personality, too. Because of that alone, how pretty Armienne was didn’t even matter.

In truth, when objectively comparing Armienne and Harmiel based purely on appearance, Armienne was the more striking and beautiful one. However, while her behavior constantly stripped away all the credit of her looks, Harmiel’s shy charm and ability to stimulate one’s protective instincts were right up his alley.

Fren cleared his useless thoughts and spoke first. Catching sight of the ducal princess right in front of him naturally kept him from uttering pleasant words.

“Tch, you arrived quite early, didn’t you, Lady Armienne? I trust you haven’t been waiting long.”

“Oh my, I just got here myself, Your Highness. You can drop the needless worry.”

“Is that so? I should have walked a bit slower, then. Ha-ha-ha.”

“You can say that again. Ha-ha. You didn’t even have to show up at all, for that matter.”

Exchanging thorn-filled remarks while laughing heartily, the two of them had no idea what the other was thinking at that exact moment.

‘She’s unusually prickly today. Not bad. Today, I’ll put a definitive end to this relationship with this crazy bitch.’

‘This jerk, he dared mess with an innocent Miel by feeding her some nonsense about palm readings, didn’t he? The moment I get some leverage on you today, you’re dead meat.’

Indeed.