Your Majesty, Please Don’t Kill Me Again - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The man looked at the necklace and meticulously weighed it, and after quite some time, carefully returned it to me.

“This is indeed Bellua’s plaque. Please come with me, Count Bellua’s Young Lady.”

The man moved quickly but calmly. Richie also has a habit of walking quickly as well, so I concluded this is how they move around inside the Imperial Palace. I almost had to run to match his pace, but I also worried about not making a sound in the process. I’m almost certain that this man is thinking about how valuable I was the moment I stepped through the gates.

The place the man took me looked like one where high-ranking maids could rest. I looked at the wooden furniture and gold decorations… they all seemed fancy. I thought that perhaps maybe ladies-in-waiting or palace officials take breaks here and not a servant or mere maids.

He told the other attendant to get the tea as he sat on the dark pink velvet sofa and pointed across from him. I sat down and pulled at the tight hem of my clothes, trying to make them a little more comfortable.

The mister asked sharply as I made a slight noise, “Are you sick anywhere?”

“No… As per my health certificate, I’m in good health.”

“You were diagnosed with the plague when you were young, so you must be immune now.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever ingested poison?”

“No.”

“Then the kitchen won’t do.”

On the paper he was holding, a pen was scribbling on top of it.

“What kind of work are you applying for?”

“Maid… or a coat lady for that matter.”

“No. We can’t let Young Lady Bellua do that.”

For a moment, the mister’s face looked worried, and he slowly opened his mouth with a look that appeared uncomfortable as my clothes.

“Your identity has been confirmed, and I trust the recommendation of Young Lady Beatrice. You are certainly qualified, but Princess Nigelle doesn’t need any more maids.”

“I’m not aiming to be Princess Nigelle’s maid.”

“Prince Arnulf doesn’t need a young maid such as the Count’s Young Lady.”

“No… I want to work as Princess Lapertte’s maid.”

The mister bit his lip, unable to hide his surprise at what I said. Actually, it was more surprising to hear that, after the fact, a commoner girl like Tori is his maid due to a lack of aristocratic girls wanting to make connections.

“You want to be Princess Lapertte’s maid?”

The mister tilted his head at me. Even if no one wants to apply, she… he’s still an Imperial child.

Indeed, choosing a maid would be difficult. I gulped to stop my heart from going crazy.

“Yes.”

“No, then there was no need to check. I’ll show you the way, so let’s go.”

The mister made his decision quickly, and I felt terrible for feeling nervous. I could tell right now the state in which Rupert was being treated by the Imperial family by the way the Manager treated me.

So much for being a member of the Royal Family!

It was originally supposed to be difficult to get in. I could be a traitor sent by the Empress to kill him, and there’s no way anyone would know. It was amazing how stupid it was, but it was an opportunity for me. I was grinning from ear to ear while I was being led to Rupert’s palace. It was a separate palace not connected to the main palace.

We’ve been walking for a long time, but the palace is still quite far. I gasped for air and told myself to be strong. 1 When we arrived, the mister looked behind him, and his gaze landed on me. He looked and smiled while tapping my bonnet, wiping off the dust and sweat.

“The hat looks great on you, like a baby.”

He said it softly, but it didn’t sound like a compliment at all, so I didn’t laugh. With a small smile on his face, the mister walked into the palace. It was bigger than the Count’s house but didn’t look like much. It was hard to believe that it was the palace of a princess, who was the emperor’s child, and it was kind of dreary inside. It might’ve been because the forest is close by and there’s a lot of shade. I followed the mister while looking around this bleak palace as if a ghost would pop out at any moment.

I looked around. While the main palace was bustling with people, the number of people here was fewer in comparison.

I followed the mister and asked, “Is it always like this here?”

“Yes, it’s morning, so there’s quite a lot of people right now.”

But shouldn’t there be more people in the morning? I raised my eyebrows because I didn’t understand. 2

“Her Highness is quite picky and is hard to serve, so everyone is trying to finish their work early in the morning because if she said to leave, they have to leave.”

What a douchebag.

I didn’t find it strange, so I just laughed along with the mister. Since it’s still early morning, Rupert will still be in his bedroom. I stared at the door to his room for a long time. As the door got closer, I started sweating profusely, with sweat running down my face.

I’m scared. I was really scared, to be honest. I am very, very, very scared of Rupert.

He killed my whole family. From my father to my younger brother, he killed everyone and dragged them to their deaths.

Even if he didn’t use a weapon to kill us, he still killed us, so there’s no reason to not be afraid of him. I’m a normal, shy person, so naturally, my fear is stronger than hate. In front of the door, I took a deep breath, then a shallower one, and fought back my tears.

Since I haven’t been killed ‘yet,’ I can still do something.

“Your highness, this is Monet. I’m here to introduce a new maid.”

Even though there was no answer, the mister put his hand on the doorknob. It seems the silence was a sign that the answer was yes.

Click

The door opened slowly as the knob turned smoothly, and I immediately forgot the fear that had gripped me.

That’s because my eyes were drawn to something that was compelling enough to make me forget that fear. The first thing that caught my eye was her bright blonde hair, which shined like the sun. The bright color of her hair, which looked like it had been painted on with thick honey, went well with her pale white skin.

A girl as beautiful as a painting slowly turned around. Like a work of art made by a master craftsman, her attractive features blended naturally with her elegant atmosphere. Just like a masterpiece.

The girl was so beautiful that I felt embarrassed. She was clearly a real person, but each feature was delicate and flawless, like a well-made doll. She’s so beautiful that it seemed like the background seemed so plain in comparison. In fact, as soon as I saw the girl, I forgot where I was standing and just stared at her like I was possessed. The girl’s sharp eyes may be her only flaw, but her eyes are a bright green like a leaf in midsummer, so that flaw is perfectly balanced. The girl was so beautiful in different ways that it felt like she was an existence separate from the rest of the world.

She’s beautiful, but it’s not a beauty I want to keep looking at. I felt sick and grabbed my stomach. It was obviously my fault that I didn’t feel good while looking at such a beautiful creature, even though I didn’t realize it at the time. She’s not a girl… that beautiful boy will grow up to be the cruelest ruler in the Empire.

Being human and feeling human is really difficult.

Before I realized that this beautiful girl was the emperor, I was amazed by her perfect beauty, and now I’m just horrified. I don’t even think she was beautiful anymore. It was scary because all I could feel was ‘not like a human.’

No, not a non-human beauty, not a girl, because he wasn’t human.

“I brought in a new maid that wants to work for you, your highness.”

“Your highness, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Rupert wasn’t looking at me anymore, but I smiled and said hello.

He asked the mister right away.

“What’s this?”

It wasn’t loud or clear, and she still sounded like a girl, so I answered quickly on behalf of the mister.

“Your highness, I am Lariette Isabelle de Bellua. I am the only daughter of Count Bellua.”

“That question isn’t for you….”

He suddenly stopped talking and stared at my face.3

His frown made it look like he was in a bad mood. His eyes looked like they were about to punch a hole in my face. I froze and bowed my head in shame at his sudden attention.

“You…”

His voice dropped suddenly, and it sounded like a growling animal. The mister saw that I was scared, so he stepped in and gave me a soft smile.

“Your highness, there aren’t a lot of maids in your palace. Please accept her even if you don’t like her.”

“Take her back.”

“Your Highness, the Bellua family is not only from the South, but it is also a part of the Central Nobility—”

“Did you not hear what I said?”

When Rupert spoke in a sharp tone, the mister moved out of the way. He quickly moved toward me. Rupert was shorter than I was, so I had to bend my head to see his face.

Small.

He was not very big, but I was still afraid of him. Rupert was a child today, but he will eventually turn into a monster. I kept my composure and tried to hold back the fear that was rising up inside me.

“I’ve heard that you’re really beautiful, your highness. I thought the rumors were wrong, but now I know that you’re more beautiful than what they say.”

Both men and women love to be called beautiful. I gave a soft smile, but Rupert’s face went cold instead. He reached out and roughly grabbed my chin. The recoil made the bonnet strap lose, falling to the ground. He pushed my face away, but my jaw didn’t hurt at all.

“Not her.”

He looked at me and told the mister. For a second, I thought she looked familiar. Of course, it makes sense that I would have seen him before when he became the prince or emperor, but I felt like I had seen him even before that. I had a hard time figuring out what was making me feel uncomfortable. Rupert’s words, which came right after, quickly put an end to my worries.

“If you eat a lot of dumplings, then it’ll cost a lot.”

Dumplings?4

I was dripping with sweat as I looked into Rupert’s fierce, angry eyes.

I never thought that the poor brown-haired, bad-tempered dumpling thief was Rupert. At that time, the boy had a scarf and a hat covering half his face, and his hair had a different color.

I never met Rupert when he was this young. He didn’t look like the emperor that I remember. Instead, he just looked like a pretty girl.

The Rupert I know is not a small, skinny, and beautiful girl but a wild beast with a considerable physique and the sharp impression of a powerful person. His face showed all the cruelty that wasn’t unfamiliar to me.

Remember, she’s wearing a ridiculously tight corset and clothes given to her by Richie, and she’s pretty weak with low stamina. Double KO. ↩️

Lari was actually commenting how it’s unusual that there are fewer workers at Rupert’s palace in the morning compared to the main palace, but the mister clarifies that this is actually considered a lot of workers for Rupert’s palace. ↩️

Persephone/TL: I’ll just think that this is the moment he fell for her ↩️