Your Majesty, Please Don’t Kill Me Again - Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – 28 – #3. Under The Surface

Unfortunately, the current Rupert is someone who is quiet most of the time, so I’m even more worried about the future that could change.

The brick wall along the road is scary. Unlike the South, I didn’t like the quiet, secluded market, so I quickly hopped in the parked carriage.

After passing through the alley, I skillfully maneuvered the prao carriage to the left and entered the affluent, luxurious residential area of Fifth Avenue. I stopped the carriage in front of a nice brick house that I’ve been to before.

“Richie.”

I knocked a few times on the doorknob that stuck out, but there was no immediate reply.

Before going back to the Imperial Palace, I wanted to see her face, but I guess it was for nothing. Shrugging in disappointment, I went down the stairs when a maid I’d seen before popped out and opened the door.

“Young Lady Bellua.”

“Ah… Is Richie there?”

“No… the lady isn’t here. But she’ll be back soon… Do you want to wait inside?”

I nod at the maid’s careful and polite question and entered the mansion. Even in the evening, the air was warm because it was so hot, but as soon as I walked into the house, I felt a cool breeze.

It was true that, unlike the South, the Capital liked magic-made things. Richie is from Gorten, which is a southern province like Bellua. However, she already seems to be at home in the Capital. I caught a glimpse of something that looked like a tight pinwheel hanging from the fancy chandelier. From up above, there was a cool breeze.

“What’s powering that?”

“Ah… that is powered by prao as well, Young Lady.”

After hearing what the maid said, I started to feel sorry for the dying praos in the Capital. The carriage also moved because it used prao, and prao was used to move anything with magic. People say that ten years ago, prao were imported from outside the Capital, where the former Emperor carelessly brought them in and they multiplied and caused a great deal of trouble.

I took off my hat and placed it on the sofa while I waited for Richie. After eating three egg tarts the maid had brought, Richie came back. She blinked as if in surprise to see me sitting on the sofa waiting for her.

“Lari?”

“Hello. It’s been a long time.”

Seeing her again after half a year, she’s still stylish and pretty. Richie took off her fancy, wide-brimmed feathered hat, gave it to the maid, and quickly walked over to me with a quick but smooth pace. She wears a corset, which makes her waist as thin as an ant. She’s thirteen, the same age as me, but she already looks like a lady.

Richie’s aquamarine eyes narrowed as if judging me. I stared at her because she didn’t say anything. With a small sigh, she sat down in front of me.

“Did you go out?”

“The entrance ceremony for the academy was today… and Lehan got accepted—”

“I know.”

Richie interrupted me. How did Riche know about Lehan? I didn’t even tell her. Richie wiped her forehead while I pursed my lips to find out what was going on.

There were clear signs that she was tired, and I felt bad that I had come to see her for nothing.

“I saw you before.”

“Yes?”

“I also went to the entrance ceremony.”

“You? Why?”

When I asked Richie a question, she bit her lip and mumbled something I couldn’t hear.

“…He said nobody would come…“

Richie’s fingers, thin enough to see the bones, tapped the table. She didn’t finish what she was saying and kept quiet.

“But what happened?”

“It’s been a long time since I got permission to see you and Lehan.”

I quickly blurted out.

No matter how nice she was, she didn’t seem happy to see me.

Riche was very nice to me when I first came to the palace as a maid, so I was embarrassed by her cold eyes now.

Even though she worked in the same palace as me, she never came to visit me. Maybe she was afraid that she would have trouble adjusting to her new life, but she’s been in the Capital for a long time, so that couldn’t have been the reason.

“I see. I’m sorry, but I’m a bit tired.”

Richie turned her back on me and stood up.

At the obvious dismissal, I fumbled with my confused hand and grabbed the hat I had taken off.

“I’ll return the hat,” I said.

“Keep it.”

Riche spoke in a soft, but somewhat cold way.

I was stunned by how cold she was.

In the past, there were times when she didn’t like me for no apparent reason and acted hostile. At the time, I didn’t even think to ask why, since she quickly returned to being friendly and lively as ever.

I think when I was thirteen…fourteen… no, fifteen. At least, it was when I was older than I was now. I couldn’t help but think about what had happened to Richie around this time.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No…”

“Is this because I decided to work for her Highness Lapertte and not Princess Nigelle? Do you also think that I’m rude?”

Riche slowly turned her head up when she saw that I was upset. Her thin chin moves slightly.

The royal family knew where the Empress came from, but Richie, who worked for Princess Nigelle, didn’t. She’s probably heard about that dirty rumor, even if she doesn’t know what really happened.

“Lari…”

Richie called my name and put her hand on my shoulder as I stood up. The tip of her nose moved with a light sigh.

“It doesn’t matter who you work for.”

“Then why are you acting like you’re mad?”

“I’m not angry. I’m just a little bit confused…”

“What?”

“Lehan was… I’m sorry, but no. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

When Lehan’s name came up, I couldn’t help but care. I grabbed Richie, confused, but she turned around as if she didn’t want to talk anymore.

I was sad to leave the brick house because she didn’t say goodbye and just left me in the living room.

I watched her go upstairs and felt sad.

I hoped that she would come back like nothing had changed.

This time, it won’t be as direct as it was back then.

#3. Under the Surface

It’s been a year since I’ve entered the Imperial Palace, and winter has come.

After Lehan’s ceremony, I went to see Richie a few times, but she still acted cold towards me, which was different from before. Since I was walking on a different path than before, it makes sense that the past will be twisted, but it still made me sad when my best friend, Richie, acted distant to me. As I walked past the hallway where the winter wind blew and kept it cool, I was thinking about meeting Richie again.

The new year arrived.

I’m fourteen this year, and Rupert is fifteen.

He’ll become the Crown Prince this year.

I got used to Rupert, and it looked like he got used to me too. He didn’t discourage me for trying to get closer to him like before.

He just didn’t care.

It was nice since he didn’t.

Today, I’m on my way to Rupert’s room with the dumplings I bought at the marketplace yesterday and heated up in the kitchen early this morning.

He seemed to like the dumplings I bought on the way back from Lehan’s ceremony. Whenever I go out to meet Lehan, I always buy some dumplings and bring them back. Even though he has bad taste, he should still praise my thoughtfulness.

So I was shocked when I couldn’t figure out why I was put in such a difficult situation.

The darned heavens.

They didn’t care about me at all.

I swear I didn’t look on purpose.

I could swear to the indifferent sky above that there wasn’t even a fingernail’s worth of intentionality for my actions.

But it wasn’t clear if Rupert would think that my mistake was truly a mistake.

I trembled as I stared at the dumplings I was holding.

Say something.

Even though it shouldn’t be so scary, the cold silence gave me chills.

I could feel Rupert’s eyes on my head. I sensed his eyes focusing on me. As Rupert grew older, I became more and more afraid of him.

“Raise your chin.”

… No, don’t say anything.

Even though it was quiet, Rupert’s icy tone was scarier than the cold silence.

His voice sounded more like a boy’s now. So he tries to talk as little as possible when he’s outside. With a low, deep voice like his, its hard to say he’s a girl anymore.

A pretty girl with a scary voice who can kill someone with her words is such a contradiction that even a dog walking by will laugh at it.

“Can’t you hear me tell you to lift your head?”

I didn’t feel any intent to intimidate me, but I was already scared enough as is. My shoulders shook by themselves, and my head creaked like a rusty door hinge.

My gaze moved upward, stopping to look at Rupert’s flat chest, which I couldn’t even imagine belonging to a growing girl. Then I meet his sad, green-blue eyes staring at me and my vision drops quickly again.

“I told you three times to lift your head.”

Rupert’s voice finally showed his irritation. I was very embarrassed by the way I was treated. It was humiliating. The situation was scary, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have any excuses.

It was hilarious to be blamed and get in trouble for a careless mistake.

In fact, I was more bewildered than Rupert, who had been found out.

It’s his fault for getting caught.

Why? I was resentful that his carelessness had put me in this situation.

When the maid told me that Rupert was looking for me, I ran like a puppy to his room and opened the door to his bedroom. I held the dumplings he wanted to eat and didn’t say anything.

Even though I knocked on the door three times, and didn’t get a reply for permission to enter, Rupert had always allowed it. He never answered when anyone knocked on the door, so everyone took his silence as a positive answer. It’s a habit that I’m aware of, as I’ve lived in the palace for a year now.

So I opened the door and walked in.

Rupert was in the middle of changing his clothes.

Clothes.

For a moment, I didn’t understand what was going on and frowned. The boy’s face was so beautiful that I couldn’t believe it was on a man’s body and he wasn’t as small and skinny as when I first met him.

I wasn’t surprised that Rupert had a male body because I know that he’s a teenage boy who grew terrifyingly fast. But I was scared to death by the scene I just witnessed.

I was his maid, but I never helped Rupert dress or take off his clothes. Most of the time, maids and servants did everything for the Imperial Family.

Rupert, however, was different.

He always only asked for Tori’s help when doing things, and he washed and dressed on his own. Other maids thought that he was weird because he only liked Tori, but I knew the real reason.

Because he was acting like a princess with the body of a prince.