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[Siana’s POV]
Chuchu blinked her black eyes like a calf.
Chuchu asked with a face that heard an incredible story.
“So His Highness the Crown Prince found the hairpin?”
Siana also nodded her head in disbelief.
“Eung.”
“……How? He said the pond was very deep.”
If the method was simple, it was simple.
Rashid mobilized 100 servants to drain the pond.
A small hairpin was quickly found on the drained soil.
Later, Rashid again ordered 100 servants to fill the pond with water.
TL/N: LMAO HALP
Even refurbishing the messed up place due to the water by making a waterway more splendidly than before.
As she recalled that time, Siana made a complicated expression.
“Of course, I’m so glad I found my hairpin. I am grateful to the Crown Prince. But, no matter how you look at it, this situation is very strange.”
The Crown Prince drains all the water from the pond just to find a hairpin for one maid.
Chuchu also nodded with a serious face.
“I know. No matter how much I think about it, His Highness the Crown Prince…….”
Siana and Chuchu’s eyes met.
The two spoke at the same time.
“I think he has some mental problems.”
“Like a crazy man.”
TL/N: I bet Chuchu said that LOL. It sounds more direct and brash.
Chuchu started to seriously worry about Siana with all her heart.
‘In fact, the life of a low-ranking maid is worse than that of a fly, but the opponent is the crown prince.’
It bothered her that such a guy was flirting with Siana.
“I’ll feel relieved if I’m even close.”
Siana also wanted to work with Chuchu at Ruby Palace. However, the reality was not easy.
This is because Chuchu, which is stronger than 10 adult men combined, was popular.
More than one or two places were aiming for Chuchu, who would soon become an official maid.
Siana lowered her eyebrows and said.
“I heard that they wanted to take you here and there. There is no way that you will be assigned to Ruby Palace.”
The Ruby Palace, where Princess Aris is located, was at the bottom of the hierarchy. I didn’t have enough strength to bring in a popular maid.
‘And even if it’s not for that reason…….’
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A clear voice rang out.
“Why aren’t you coming, I came to find you because you didn’t come at all.”
Aris was glaring at Siana and Chuchu with her hand on her waist.
Chuchu, who knew Aris’ true identity, hurriedly lowered her head.
Aris let out a nasty snort at Chuchu, then grabbed Siana’s hand and pulled it.
“Let’s go quickly. I’m hungry.”
“I made you a snack before I came out.”
“Ten cookies come out as poop right away. I’m starving.”
“…….”
“Go and make it again.”
It was like a child whining to her mother.
Ciana looked at Chuchu with an embarrassed face. Chuchu said with her eyes.
‘It must be difficult to attend a picky princess.’
Then she clenched his fist like a pot lid.
She didn’t mean to impale a princess the size of a rat. It was a ‘hwaiting’* for a friend who was working hard.
TL/N: ref pic for ‘hwaiting’
Siana, who noticed the meaning, also clenched her fist and smiled.
Aris growled her teeth in displeasure at the hand signal of just the two of them. Just like a baby lion who won’t lose his mother lion to anyone else.
Siana let out a sigh.
‘This is why I can’t even think of bringing another maid to the Ruby Palace.’
Aris was completely obsessed with Siana.
***
On the way back to the Ruby Palace, Siana was holding Aris’ hand tightly.
Although she has grown a lot lately, Aris is still small.
It is not unusual for an 18-year-old woman to hold the hand of a 10-year-old child, but there was a problem for a princess and her maid to walk hand in hand.
So Siana said with a perplexed face.
“Princess, it’s okay at Ruby Palace, but you can’t do this outside.”
“Who cares. There’s no one watching.”
The Ruby Palace was in a remote place from the Imperial Palace.
It was rare for people to walk by.
‘That’s true, but…….’
After thinking about it, Siana decided to let it go.
As Aris said, there was no one watching, and even if there were, they wouldn’t be very interested.
No one will care whether or not the abandoned little princess holds the maid’s hand.
So, Siana gently held her small hand. Aris’ cheeks turned slightly red.
Aris asked with a slightly flushed face.
“That’s the friend you told me about, isn’t it? Was it Chyubchyub?”
“……Princess, you’re doing it on purpose.”
It’s because she didn’t study, but Aris had a good memory.
Hit with the nail on the head, Aris stuck out her lips.
“Why do you like her so much? Because she’s big and muscular?”
Siana is short and skinny. So there was something like longing for a tall and strong person.
‘And when I’m struggling to carry a bag of flour, Chuchu picks up five bags of flour. It’s cool.’
In that sense, Chuchu was close to Siana’s ideal.
So Siana nodded.
“There’s that, too.”
“……!”
Aris looked shocked at Siana’s answer. Then she said with a serious look.
“Please prepare this much more meat and milk starting this evening. I’m going to be much bigger than the one who’s called Chyabchyab or Chyubchyub.”
Siana burst into laughter at the words that conveyed great determination.
As the days went by, Aris’ affection for Siana deepened.
Siana didn’t hate that feeling at all.
It was rather cute.
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‘That’s not cute at all…’
Siana looked at the man standing in front of the Ruby Palace with a slightly stiff face.
Standing in the bright sunlight and shining, the man was Rashid. Behind him stood the escort knight Sol.
A beautiful man shining in the sun and a muscular man in armor.
It was a heartwarming two-shot* to anyone’s eyes, but Siana felt burdened.
TL/N: a cinema or television shot of two people together.
It’s because it’s been popping up too often lately.
“Hi.”
Aris frowned at Rashid, who greeted her with a bright smile.
“Why are you here again?”
“I came to see if the pond was well maintained.”
“You’ve already come here several times and checked. No problem at all!”
“Even if it seems like it’s finished perfectly right now, you should check it over time. After a week or a month, you can see what you lack.”
Then he lowered his eyes.
Then Sol, who was standing behind Rashid, took a step forward.
Soon Aris’ eyes grew bigger.
It’s because of the cake in Sol’s hand.
The white whipped cream was topped with brightly colored large strawberries, oranges, grapes, and plenty of fruit.
It was a beautiful figure.
Rashid said to Aris, who was staring at the cake in rapture.
“It’s a cake topped with honey and boiled fruit on top of whipped cream made with plenty of white milk.”
“……!”
Aris’ eyes shook violently.
It is already the sixth time that Rashid has been allowed to enter the Ruby Palace in this way.
‘Not this time! I’m not going to be tempted like that!’
Aris said in a reserved voice.
“Then just look at the pond and go.”
“Okay.”
Rashid smiled happily and naturally turned his gaze to Siana.
Rashid held out a tea canister to Siana, who bowed her head.
“Today is Diramasan Asam.”
A voice full of anticipation.
Siana knew for sure now.
Rashid was hooked on the tea that Siana was brewing.
Siana lifted her head and glanced at Rashid.
A beautiful man with twinkling eyes.
Like a dog wagging its tail, hoping you’ll throw a bone.
‘It’s not difficult to give tea, but…….’
If the man in front of me was a servant, I would have given the tea comfortably.
But being the Crown Prince was the problem.
‘To say that the Crown Prince shows strangely excessive favors to a low-ranking maid. You can’t call me sane.’
Siana hid her innermost feelings and received the tea with a thorough maid-like smile on her face.
“Eat it in the palace, Your Highness.”
Rashid smiled and entered the Ruby Palace. Sol followed with a cake.
Sol glanced somewhere.
Someone was watching them in the distance.
* * *
[Yvette’s POV]
The shadow that wandered around the Ruby Palace headed toward the palace wrapped in black thorn flowers.
The shadow bowed its head in front of a girl.
It was Yvette, the sixth daughter of the emperor, who turned 13 this year.
Yvette asked in a nervous voice.
“You mean Brother Rashid went to the Ruby Palace again?”
“That’s right.”
The shadow, or the maid sent by Yvette, nodded.
Yvette’s face frowned at the maid’s answer.
“Brother, why do you keep going to the Ruby Palace, it’s annoying.”
The princesses of the Imperial Palace all had a vague longing for Rashid.
This was because Rashid was the crown prince with the most power among the brothers, and he had a beautiful appearance like an angel in mythology.
However, none of the princesses were close to Rashid.
‘There are no sisters in the imperial family.’
-Like the old saying,  Rashid drew a thorough line against his younger sisters.
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Aris was the only younger sister that Rashid cared for.
As if beans sprouted in a drought, it was sometimes, but taking care of it is taking care of it.
Yvette was unbearably angry about that.
Yvette’s biological mother, Concubine Blaine, who was next to her, comforted her daughter.
“Please understand. Aris is such a poor kid.”
“Still.”
Even if it was sympathy, she couldn’t understand.
In addition, Rashid’s recent care for Aris has been incomparably more frequent than in the past.
How restless the palace was at the news that Aris’ maid brought a confirmation letter with Rashid’s seal to the supply station.
Rashid’s care did not end there.
I also heard that he took numerous servants and decorated the pond of Ruby Palace splendidly.
Yvette’s stomach churned.
Jealous of Rashid caring about Aris and the like.
And the bigger emotion than that was anger toward Aris.
“The lowborn doesn’t know the subject.”
Yvette, the sixth princess, was the closest sister to Aris in terms of rank.
But Yvette had never thought of Aris as her younger sister.
The daughter of a vulgar dancer.
On that subject, it always bothered me to see her as a princess like me and living in the imperial palace.
My stomach twisted at the thought that Aris would be smirking at her older brother’s favor.
‘Maybe it’s pity he’s bestowing on a beggar. Stupid girl.’
[Blaine’s POV]
Yvette raised her eyes.
Her eyes were so ferocious that she couldn’t think of her as a little girl.
The only time my daughter makes a face like that is when she has bad thoughts.
Knowing that, Blaine lowered her eyebrows.
“What are you thinking?”
“It’s annoying no matter how much I think about it. I guess I’ll have to step on the girl.”
The strong can trample on the weak.
That is the law of this imperial palace.
So instead of stopping his daughter’s viciousness, Blaine stroked her daughter’s hair and said.
“Don’t do it too hard. Words can spread.”
“All right.”
Yvette smiled brightly as if telling her not to worry.
It was just like a crocodile’s smile.
***
[Aris’ POV]
Aris’s face looked like she was facing the worst thing in the world.
In Aris’s hand was an invitation with a rose on it.
It was a letter from Princess Yvette.
<I want to have a cup of tea with my sister after a long time and strengthen our bond.>
Aris muttered with a distorted face.
“It’s all bullshit, You’re just trying to harass me to your heart’s content.”
In fact, not many people bother Aris in the castle.
She also had to have a somewhat decent position to be bothered.
Aris, who had only the title of the seventh princess, was inferior to an ant in the imperial family.
Most of the imperial family didn’t care what Aris did. To the point where you don’t even know if she suddenly dies one day.
But Yvette was not.
Yvette’s mother, Blaine, was a maid and did not come from a great family. The emperor’s favor was also fleeting.
She was just one of many low-ranking concubines.
Naturally, her daughter, Yvette, was also at the bottom of the ranking.
So, whenever Yvette had a chance, she would torment Aris severely.
It was because she was one of the few easy opponents in the imperial palace.
Aris muttered with a dark face.
“I don’t want to go.”
But if you don’t go to the tea party, they’ll come to Ruby’s Palace asking why you’re not coming.
Unfortunately, Aris, who has no biological mother, is powerless to stop her.
She will enter the Ruby Palace at will and leave dirty footprints.
‘It’s much better to go on my feet and be bullied than to see that.’
Siana asked Aris, who closed her eyes tightly.
“How does she pick on the princess?”
“…….”
Aris said in a small voice, fiddling with her hands.
“It’s not like she’s cursing while grabbing my hair recklessly.”
No matter how easy it is, Aris was a princess, and Yvette was a princess too.
She didn’t bully me that way.
Yvette’s bullying was shadier than that.
“Laughs and teases me throughout the tea party.”
Aris said with a slight blush.
“… … Such as appearance or behavior. Because I’m not like a princess at all.”
It was as Aris said.
Aris, who has gained weight recently, was beautiful. However, being a princess wasn’t all about being pretty.
They had to have embellishments that would not be embarrassing and etiquette that would not get picked on.
However, Aris knew nothing about etiquette.
[Siana’s POV]
‘……She is the one who tells His Majesty the Crown Prince to go away with dignity.’
Siana’s head was throbbing at the scene that came to mind.
‘Until now, I left the princess because she didn’t want to learn, but I shouldn’t leave it like this.’
She had to learn the minimum etiquette.
Not to show off, but to survive.
So, Siana said bravely.
“There’s nothing to worry about. You can learn the etiquette before the tea party.”
[Aris’ POV]
Aris’ expression turned into one that chewed on shit.
At the Imperial Palace, the princess was not given a separate etiquette teacher. This is because teaching etiquette was the realm of the biological mother.
However, Aris had no mother, and she had never been properly taught etiquette.
Aris had no choice but to ask someone from the royal family in order to learn etiquette.
‘There is no one who can teach me manners… … .’
No, there was one person.
Aris’ face became ugly as she recalled a smiling face.
“If you just want to ask Brother Rashid for a favor, that’s fine.”
I’ve seen his face a lot lately, but to Aris, Rashid was still a non-existence compared to others.
I hated to be indebted to him any longer.
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Siana knew that too.
“Don’t worry. You don’t have to borrow a hand from anyone, not even the Crown Prince.”
Then, with a confident face, she tapped her chest and said.
“I will teach the princess court etiquette.”
Aris furrowed her eyebrows.
Siana was a low-ranking maid.
Most of the lower-ranking maids were from commoners and had only recently lived in the court, so it was common that they did not know much about court etiquette.
But Aris soon remembered another side of Siana.
‘Siana can pour tea in an incredibly cool way.’
Even to Aris, who doesn’t know much about tea, her skills are extraordinary.
Aris looked at Siana with fresh eyes.
Siana, wearing a dull brown maid’s uniform, stood with her hands clasped and her back straight.
In her, I felt the elegance that only members of the royal family had.
I realized in that moment.
That Siana is different from an ordinary maid.
Aris asked with her big eyes blinking.
“…What the hell are you?”
Siana smiled with a pretty face.
“A low-ranking maid from a defeated country.”
Then, her eyes lit up and she continued.
“Even so, I am confident in pouring tea and court etiquette. So trust me and follow me. I will teach proper etiquette to the princess.”