The Archduke, which would not blink even if the world collapsed, looked surprised.
His sharp eyes grew like hawks wandering in the wild.
I looked at it because it was amazing, and I heard a confused voice.
“The flow of mana...”
The Archduke's mouth, which seemed to say something, was shut up.
What did he say?
Even if I don't know what it is, the Archduke, who is called the owner of the Ice Castle, is also surprised by it.
To be sure, today was a sudden accident that no one had predicted.
'I'm doomed, right?'
From somewhere, I heard an angel resembling a saint rang the bell and sang, 'Yes, my life is ruined.'
Archduke Ferze, who instinctively drew his sword, opened his eyes wide.
Ferze looked at me with a heavy gaze.
I don't know if you were trying to cut me,
The tip of his sword, who was dealing with a huge monster, went to the floor.
“Sir Bart, am I crazy?”
“No, I dare say that you are in your right mind now....”
“That's enough.”
Ferze interrupted the knight standing next to him.
It was rare for the Archduke, who always gives orders arbitrarily, to personally ask the lieutenant's opinion.
This time he did not listen to the lieutenant again.
You know what? You used to be crazy.
I swallowed my words inside and coughed in the bitter taste that lingered on the tip of my tongue.
I grabbed my neck in a burning pain, and the Archduke looked at me in disbelief.
“What the hell....”
“If you eat it, you die.”
I pointed at the poisoned wine and shook my head.
I saved your life. Riena was mad and tried to kill you because you acted indifferently like the owner of the icy castle!
Ferze, who had no interest in Riena, didn't really attach much importance to the change in the way the saint looked at him.
She had a history of doing a lot to win the Archduke attention, so he was interested in what Riena was doing.
With Riena giving up her first love and switching to a new lover, it must have been too much to handle when Archduke Ferse fought for power with the emperor.
“It seems you want to bargain with me.”
I looked at him as if I was confused, I heard a low laughter.
Again, the Archduke was not an easy man. Although reality and fiction are different, they are so different.
Usually, before I even spoke, “Oh my God! You're the first woman to save me.” Then I would have asked, “What is your name?” I would have replied, “Ciel. I'm the maid who served the Archduke.”
“Put this maid in jail.”
And being locked up in prison...
Huh? Something went wrong.
I didn't say that. I was surprised by his cold voice and raised my head.
Are you crazy? You're going to put me in jail when I'm this young?
Perhaps because of my survival instinct or the effects of poison, I was a little shameless.
An urgent voice came out of my mouth.
“No way!”
I thought of him as Heungbu* who fixed the swallow's leg, but it wasn't.
My expectations were wrong. It was a bad Nolbu* who broke the leg of a swallow!
'Am I going to end up in jail?'
It would be a terrible thing to be dragged by the hands of the knights!
I've come to realize that it's no use begging for help now.
It was just a minor role with no name, but I felt like I was doomed as a wicked woman who tried to kill the Archduke.
It was a little, no, very unfair.
Ferze looked relaxed as usual.
He put the sword in the sword-case of his waist, leaning against the pillar of the hall, watching me.
“This jerk!”
He would have heard a sincere swear word, but his expression didn't change like a doll whose emotions had been bleached.
“Jerk? It's a word I haven't heard in a while.”
A cold smile that seemed to be beheading me spread across his lips.
Again, this was the effect of poison.
Normally, I will look at you with flattery eyes, saying, 'Our Archduke, stay safe and long life!'
'This must be a dream.'
When I opened my eyes again, Ferze looked at me with his arms folded.
I glared at him with my eyes wide open.
“His Majesty Emperor is more handsome....! The maids also liked His Majesty more than the bad Archduke.”
The reason why I mentioned Callan in front of Ferze is that the two were not on good terms.
In fact, it didn't matter who the bad guy was.
The two are cousins and share the same blood line, so that guy was him.
All I could do was cry out hastily.
Did I sound sincere?
His expressionless face suddenly gave a friendly smile.
Seeing that, I guess he will make it so painful that he won't kill me but torment me for the rest of my life.
“···········I know that you have looked after me for a long time.”
Did you really remember me? I was genuinely surprised when I heard it for the first time.
The Archduke who passed me if I was an ant and didn't even look at me?
Now that I think about it, he just had a good memory.
The duke was a man who had been threatened with an assassination. So even if it's not the maid's name, I'm sure he remembered her face.
You probably know where my colleagues are from and what kind of work they have been doing besides me.
“I remember the saying that, you like how quiet I'am”
Seeing him smile so kindly as if he would engrave my tombstone on his own, I thought he wouldn't just kill me.
Alas, I forgot.
That Ferze is a villain with a hero's shell overturned!
"It feels so good that my maid had another master in her heart."
It seemed that my tombstone had already been decided.
Her name is Ciel, and she is seventeen years old. And a veteran maid of 5 years without a last name because she is a commoner.
Four years ago...., after running out of the house, at the age of 13, she was lucky to be spotted by the head maid and came to the Archduke's residence, but unfortunately, she died in an accident. The charge is deception.
I don't think it was my fault to be born unlucky.
Anyway, I worked so hard to survive and be recognized by the maid.
'Damn! If that's the case, I should've spent all my money! I should have bought as many clothes as I wanted, eaten as many desserts as I wanted, and rented a luxury carriage! Why are you so blind to saving money, like in my previous life...…'
It was a fairy tale that I knew when I was young.
The grasshopper and the diligent ant who know nothing but work.
They mock each other saying that you are more foolish, but the sad ending that both of them die in a heavy snow in the middle of winter.....
In the end, I thought that this life, waking up as a maid, was useless.
However, I was too afraid to appear as the ghost, saying that I would take revenge on the Archduke.
Maybe tomorrow. Before the tombstone, it might appear on the front of the Imperial newspaper.
The veteran maid, Ciel.
In fact, she is a rare evil woman who chased the emperor's back and aimed at her master.
Then she came to an end as a murderer in the hands of a righteous -actually vicious- Archduke.
*****
I opened my eyes. I don't know where, but I realized I was lying down.
IÂ even felt a soft touch behind my back. Is prison more comfortable than I thought?
I opened my eyes and looked around.
Contrary to the expectation that it would be dark and humid, the soft sunlight covered my eyes first.
'Where am I?'
Something was out of the ordinary. How can it be so comfortable in a notorious prison that traps prisoners and tortures spies?
I only realized that I was in a small but fancy room.
The ivory curtains tied with red roses and the old-fashioned windowpanes were slightly opened.
As I turned to the side, I saw a bottle of perfume on a table made of old cypress.
It was not the room of the users who smelled of cold metal.
Moreover, I have been here several times to clean.
'Isn't this the VIP room?'
Oh, my God! Didn't you drag me to jail?
Do you want me to enjoy luxury for the last time before I die?
If not, there is no way that Ferze would give me a VIP room when he suspects me as an assassin!
Except for cleaning, it was the first time I had been to the VIP room, so I couldn't let go of my mind.
“Are you awake?”
This familiar voice is..... I could tell without see it.
“Archduke?”
I turned my head slowly like a doll that had not been lubricated.
Why are you here, by any chance. There is no way to take care of me who fainted....
I've given up the absurd idea.
I looked at the Archduke with a puzzled gaze, then turned my head back to his cold, expressionless face.
“How long are you going to lie down? You'd better get up now.”
What kind of man is Ferse Yekart?
He was a cold-blooded man who led the Knights of the White Night at the forefront and cut off the enemy's neck with his own arm, even his arm was cut off as food. Persistence was a bonus.
His personality was out of the question, but the current situation was very strange.
It was more so than when I was young.
The Archduke, who had a precious body and was so busy that I couldn't even see it well, was right in front of me.
I wanted to keep my chin down and look at him to my heart's content, but there was one problem.
The fact is that the Archduke is looking at me like a rare animal.
*****
TL note : *Heungbu is story from Korean Folktale Series Heungbu Nolbu. He saved a nest of swallows from a snake. One of the swallows broke its leg and Heungbu healed it. Then swallow repaid the favor.