Arthur And The Loyal Maid

It was a dim, underground prison.

Arthur, once unblemished, was left battered and bruised, his body slumped against the cold stone wall, bound by iron shackles that sealed his magic.

Throb… throb… the pain in his wounds pulsed relentlessly.

The hard ground was unbearable— he missed his soft, luxurious bed.

But all of that was gone now.

The nobles who once sang his praises had fled without lifting a finger to help.

Even the servants had abandoned him, seeing no future in standing by his side.

Except for a few…

“Lord Arthur, you’re injured again… Are you alright?”

“You again…? You came back…”

“Oh come on, that tone’s a little hurtful, you know?”

The black-haired girl bowed to the guard and entered the cell to begin treating his wounds.

It was a simple procedure—just wrapping the cuts in bandages.

She didn’t care about staining her clothes.

She focused only on treating him, her touch gentle and warm.

As he watched her work, Arthur hesitantly asked,

“Why… Why do you take care of me, even like this? I’m not a prince anymore. My healing magic is sealed—I can’t heal anyone.”

‘There’s no point in trying to curry favor with me.’

He said it with that meaning behind his words.

Part of him feared saying it might cause her to stop coming.

But he had to ask.

To be honest, he had never been especially cruel to her— but neither had he ever been kind.

To the royal family, servants were tools.

He might have even insulted her before.

So how could someone serve him so selflessly, without any gain?

But the girl didn’t stop treating him.

“Honestly… You really don’t remember, Lord Arthur. Not even my name, do you?”

“Ugh… That’s…”

She was right.

He’d never bothered to remember the names of servants.

Back then, that was normal… or so he’d told himself.

But now he realized—it was arrogance.

“My name… I’ll keep it a secret. You better remember it yourself.”

“Huh…?”

“But I’ll tell you why I’m grateful. Long ago… when my younger sister was sick, you healed her. I know it was probably on a whim. But… I couldn’t afford medicine. For me, that act meant everything. This is my way of saying thank you.”

Arthur couldn’t remember it at all.

But the girl didn’t seem to mind.

With the same gentle hands, she finished treating him and began wiping down his body with a wet towel.

“How arrogant I was… Why didn’t I ever try to know people like you…?”

“Please don’t cry. I don’t mind… And it would be a shame to ruin that beautiful face of yours.”

Seeing Arthur cry, the girl gave a troubled smile and continued wiping him down.

The water in the bucket was cold, and her hands must’ve been freezing, but she showed no sign of discomfort.

This was a memory—one of the few warm ones from the time after Arthur was imprisoned.

And in that moment, he thought:

‘If I could repay her… I’d do anything.’

“Lord Arthur, are you alright? Lord Arthur?”

A sudden headache struck him— a flashback from his past life.

It was real. She had opposed his execution, too.

She was… the loyal maid who had worried about him to the very end.

“Hey… Can you tell me your name?”

“Yes… My name is Kei. But, I’m just a commoner… There’s no need for someone like Lord Arthur to remember it.”

“Kei… I see… So your name is Kei…”

Seeing her apologetic expression, he swore never to forget her name again.

Saying it aloud, he remembered her kindness… and his own failures.

‘I truly didn’t know a thing back then…’

And to show his gratitude for Kei’s loyalty, he made a decision.

From earlier, it was clear Lord Greed had tried to force something on her.

He had to protect her.

“Then from now on, Kei, you will be my personal maid. You don’t have to take orders from anyone else. From now on, do your best as my maid.”

“Yes… Eh—eeeeeeeeeeeh!?”

Kei let out a ridiculous squeal at Arthur’s sudden proposal, her face a picture of complete confusion.

‘Fufufu. She’s screaming from joy, huh?’

Doing good really did feel great.

But Arthur, clueless as always, mistook her shock for joy and nodded with a pleased smile.

“I’m… your personal maid…? For a royal…?”

“Hm…?”

As Arthur watched the still-confused Kei, he suddenly felt a gaze from behind and turned around.

There stood a silver-haired girl, staring straight at him.

“…Morgan?”

Arthur groaned as he spotted his former fiancée from his past life.

How much had she seen?

He hadn’t done anything wrong—he’d only done good things…

But cold sweat trickled down his neck as he recalled everything.

He yelled at a despicable noble.

Demanded the financial ledger.

Even used Morgan’s name to do it…

Then made Kei his personal maid without asking anyone.

Oh no…

Without context from his past life, this totally looked like he was abusing power!!

To an outsider, it looked like he picked a fight with a noble he didn’t like and promoted a maid based on personal favor.

Morgan despised nobles misusing their power.

He remembered her going on and on about “noblesse oblige.”

Even if he tried to explain that his knowledge came from a past life, she wouldn’t believe him.

No—she’d probably just smirk and say,

“For someone with past-life knowledge, you’re still an idiot.”

As Arthur broke into a nervous sweat, he thought he saw Morgan grin.

“Eek…!”

He couldn’t help but let out a squeal.

That smile meant only one thing: a biting comment was coming.

There was only one move left.

“Then… Kei, I’ll make the formal appointment and announcement later. Farewell!”

“Eh—Eh? Lord Arthur? W-Wait a moment…!”

And so Arthur fled before anyone could say a word—a truly small-minded prince.