🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 37
In truth, he had only hardened his expression, but because his features were naturally sharp, Roabellin became slightly frightened.
“What is it? Do you want to become Empress or something? Did your family tell you to do that?”
“A-a commoner, a family? Let go of me!”
Kaisertern had said that under the assumption that “Yuli” came from a noble family, but since she really was of noble birth, Roabellin felt a sharp pang inside.
However, Kaisertern paid no attention to her reply. Still holding her wrist, instead of letting her go, he wrapped his other arm around her waist. In an instant, Roabellin was trapped in his arms.
“Yuli. Don’t avoid my eyes. Answer me properly. What’s the reason?”
There was desperation in Kaisertern’s eyes. Facing them, it was hard to lie, and Roabellin stammered.
“I-I told you back then. Isn’t it something everyone wants?”
“That’s something I can give you too. Enough for you to live satisfied for the rest of your life. And more than anything, didn’t you also care for me? That day, you clearly…”
As he recalled the last night of the festival, overwhelmed by surging emotions, he could not finish his sentence and pressed his lips tightly together. Even in her flustered state, Roabellin was startled by the emotions on his face.
‘This man who looks so proud….’
As if his lofty pride meant nothing to him, Kaisertern was clinging to her desperately. Roabellin’s eyes wavered as she looked at him.
‘But….’
A life of forming a family and living with the person she loved—she longed for it too. But in this life, where she had become a fugitive, it was something she could never have.
Thinking that made her situation feel even more real.
‘No. If I stay with him, even Kai might be put in danger. Who knows when the Aventador royal family will find me.’
Roabellin forced herself to speak.
“I, uh….”
But she could not continue. Kaisertern suddenly covered her lips with his.
His lips carefully and warmly explored Roabellin’s. Unlike his angry manner, the kiss felt strangely earnest and tender.
At the sudden sweet kiss, Roabellin felt dizzy. But she quickly pushed against his chest and pulled her lips away.
Just as she pulled her lips away, it was also time to cut away the tangled bond between them. She could not explain her circumstances to him, and he did not seem like he would easily give up. In the end, this was the only way.
“Kai.”
Roabellin steeled herself and looked straight into his golden eyes.
“I don’t love you. What happened that day was nothing more than a moment of escape for me. So even if we happen to meet in the palace, please pretend you don’t know me.”
Once she made up her mind to be cruel, the words flowed smoothly from her mouth even as she looked into his eyes.
Feeling self-loathing at herself, she removed his hands from her wrist and waist.
Perhaps because her words were far more resolute than he had expected, the strength drained from his firm hands. Kaisertern could only stare blankly at her after her cold words.
Seeing his shocked expression, Roabellin’s heart ached. Afraid that she might weaken if she kept looking at him, she quickly turned away.
“…I’ll go in now. You should go back too, Kai.”
She could feel Kaisertern’s sorrowful gaze, but Roabellin did not look back and went straight into the maid’s quarters. Since it was already the time when everyone had gone to bed, she quietly lay down in her place.
She closed her eyes to sleep, but instead of falling asleep, his desolate face kept appearing vividly in her mind.
‘I’m the one who hurt him… so why does my heart hurt this much?’
She felt that she had done something unforgivable to someone who had liked her with a sincere heart. Feeling sorry for him, and miserable over her own situation where she could not take the hand he offered, tears fell.
She silently soaked her pillowcase for a long time.
Meanwhile, Kaisertern, who had been standing there for quite a while looking in the direction Roabellin had gone, finally turned away with hollow steps.
Sitting at his desk in the study and thinking for a moment, he summoned the chief steward. His golden eyes, which had been sunken all along, suddenly glinted.
The next morning, the head maid called Roabellin out and scolded her.
“Yuli, why were you so late last night?”
No matter the reason, returning after the set curfew was wrong. She quickly bowed her head and made a vague excuse.
“I’m sorry. I went outside the palace on an errand, and I happened to meet the Chief Steward in the city. I came back late because I accompanied him on his business.”
However, an odd expression appeared on the head maid’s face when she heard Roabellin’s answer.
“Hm? What are you talking about? The Chief Steward was inside the imperial palace all evening yesterday. He’s been busy lately with preparations for the rainy season.”
It was an unexpected reply. What did this mean?
“Yes? But yesterday I was clearly with—”
“Oh, he’s coming over there now. What could it be so early in the morning?”
From the other side, a man in uniform was approaching with quick steps.
He looked like an ordinary man in his thirties. She had never spoken with him, but she had seen him a few times from afar while passing by, so she recognized him immediately.
“W-what? That person is the Chief Steward?”
“Yes. Haven’t you met him before?”
“I’ve seen his face from afar, but I didn’t know he was the Chief Steward…”
Roabellin replied absentmindedly as she watched him approach.
‘Then… does that mean Kai isn’t the Chief Steward? Then what is Kai?’
She was about to ask whether there were two Chief Stewards when, just then, Chief Steward Hail reached them. The head maid greeted him.
“Good morning, Chief Steward.”
“Yes. Good morning, Molly. But…”
He spoke to the head maid while catching his breath slightly, as if he had come in a hurry.
“Is there a girl named Yuli among the maids?”
At the sudden mention of her name, Roabellin, standing beside them, became flustered and stammered.
“Y-yes? Th-that’s me. W-why are you looking for me…?”
At her words, a faintly pleased expression appeared on Hail’s face.
“Oh, so you’re Yuli? Good, I found you right away. Yuli, as of today, your assignment has changed.”
At his cheerful face and sudden words, Roabellin felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Even if the assignment of a novice kitchen helper changed, at most it would be to cleaning corridors or halls.
“Pardon? All of a sudden? But for something like that, why would the Chief Steward come here himself…?”
Before she could finish speaking, Hail dropped a bomb.
“From today on, you will attend personally to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“W-what?!”
Roabellin’s mouth fell open as if her jaw had dropped.
The head maid, who was listening beside her, was just as shocked.
“Chief Steward, what do you mean all of a sudden…? This child isn’t a lady’s maid but a common maid. And she’s a commoner. Could this be some kind of administrative mistake…?”
But the Chief Steward slightly shook his head.
“It can’t be a mistake. It’s a direct order from His Majesty.”
Even if there were a mistake, even if it seemed strange, it was not an order anyone could object to.
At the words “imperial order,” this time both Roabellin and the head maid stood with their mouths open. Seeing them, Hail gave a faint smile and continued.
“I’ve served His Majesty for a long time, but how could I know all that’s in his heart? I simply carry out his commands. Yuli, go straight to His Majesty’s bedchamber. The attendants and maids who have been serving him until now will teach you what to do. Your belongings here will be moved gradually this afternoon.”
“My belongings? Where will they be moved?”
“Attending personally to His Majesty is the duty of a lady’s maid. That means you are no longer a common maid but a lady’s maid now. So you will move to the lady’s maids’ quarters. I will send someone later to guide you to your new room.”
Roabellin felt dazed, but at Hail’s urging to go right away, she went straight to the Emperor’s bedchamber.
The Emperor’s bedchamber was an enormous space that occupied nearly half of the second floor of the imperial palace, not just a single bedroom.
Two large bedrooms, bathrooms, a reception room, a dressing room, a private library, an office, a lounge, and a room for storing collections—many rooms were connected in a long chain.
Because of this, when the servants referred to all of these spaces together, they called it the “bedchamber area” or “His Majesty’s private quarters.” Even Roabellin, who had visited the Aventador royal palace a few times as a child, could not help but be amazed by its scale.
‘Wow… the Emperor’s private living space really is on another level. Is this the difference between a royal palace and an imperial palace…?’
While she forgot her tension and looked around in fascination, the maid and attendant who had been serving the Emperor until now appeared. They were somewhat older and gave the impression of being experienced.
“Ah… h-hello. I’m Yuli.”
“Yes. I heard you were newly assigned.”
They glanced at Roabellin with interest, but without saying much, they taught her the tasks she would need to do.
Cleaning this vast area was the responsibility of the cleaning staff, not Roabellin’s job.
Her duties were small and varied: attending to the Emperor when he woke up in the morning and helping him wash his face, assisting him in getting dressed, making the bed after he left, preparing bathwater at the proper time in the evening, preparing towels and a robe in the bathroom, occasionally bringing tea when the Emperor worked in his study at night, and refilling the ink bottle whenever it ran low. It was, in every sense, the work of a palace lady’s maid.
Roabellin had once learned about such duties during her education as a future queen. Of course, when she learned them, she never imagined she would be the one doing them herself. Still, she was somewhat glad that familiar tasks appeared.
‘Yes, it’s all fine. Fine. But personal service to the Emperor? How did things suddenly work out like this?’
No matter how much she thought about it, nothing came to mind. After thinking this and that, she soon gave up on meaningless guesses and decided to focus on this assignment.
‘Given the nature of the job, I’ll probably have many chances to be alone with the Emperor. If so, there will surely be opportunities to try to seduce him….’
Thinking that the day she would achieve her goal was drawing closer made her body tremble. She felt excited—and afraid.
‘Good. This is good. I’ll serve the Emperor closely and try to seduce him as much as I can. But… but. Why does Kai keep coming to mind?’
