Rosie yawns while changing from her sleepwear to her work clothes.
The morning of a maid is early.
Especially the morning of the exclusive maids who take care of the royal family.
āRosie ⦠You look terrible, are you okay?ā
Anxiously asked Lina, a fellow maid who shares her room.
Lina is a half-elf, so she looks pretty, sheās also the daughter of the Margrave in the west and has a cheerful personality, a beautiful girl with a trademark ponytail.
Along with Rosie, she was preparing for work early in the morning.
āIām Okay des, just a little sleep deprivationā
Rosie replies, patting her cheeks.
But the sleepiness didnāt go away, and her eyes were still squeezing together.
āAre you really okay? Your master seems to be more motivated recently but⦠arenāt you being forced?ā
āThatās not true desu. Brad-sama tells me to take a rest, but Iām doing it because I want to do it. Besides, Brad-sama is doing his best while Iām sleeping ⦠I canāt sleep peacefully. ā
One week had passed since Brad collapsed during class at the academy.
Since then, Brad has been absent from the academy due to poor health, while he has been very active in the royal palace. The people around him donāt seem to like the fact thatĀ he took a voluntary leave of absence using a false illness while his behavior and grades are not good, but from the perspective of Rosie who is watching him closely, she thinks itās good because he seems more energetic than ever.
Rosie has been busy being Bradās hands and feet every day. As you can tell, she gets very little sleep, but she thinks itās a good thing because the work is very rewarding. Itās a lot better than the old days when she worked in fear of Bradās punishments.
I donāt know what the purpose is, but master himself is motivated.Ā How can I, his loyal aide, not step up here?
Rosie made a fist and renewed her spirit, but Lina looked at her face from the side.
āā¦ā
Staring at her from a close range, Rosie felt somewhat shy and turned away.
However, she was held by the chin and forcibly turned toward Lina.
āAh ⦠youāve gotten some big dark circles and your cute face is ruined.ā
Lina gently touched Rosieās eyes and shrugged her shoulders in dismay.
āItās true that Brad-sama is being generous as if heās a different person, but you shouldnāt expect this to continue forever. Heās going to turn back into a foolish tyrant on a whim anyway, so take a good rest while heās going easy on you.ā
She seemed to be caring for her, but Rosie was a little annoyed because she was saying bad things about her Lord.
āItās not a whim desu, Brad-sama will surely stay kind desu! I donāt think he was originally a stupid tyrant in the first place.ā
āNo ⦠what would you call that if not being a tyrant?ā
Lina shrugs.
āItās true that until now ⦠Brad-sama, At first glance, has been a tyrant des. I can understand why Lina-chan misunderstood. But that was probably all acting.ā
Unable to stand her Lord being ridiculed, Rosie concluded her speculations about Brad over the past week.
āActing?āĀ Lina frowns.
āYes, acting. You know that Brad-sama is selling his fortune and donating it to charity right? Thatās one of the proofs desu.ā
āOh, Iāve heard that story? But isnāt that just to earn points? These days, people are calling for the second prince, Alberto-sama, to be the next king, so they say heās trying to appeal to His Majesty ā
āItās different desu! Thatās probably what Brad-sama had planned for a long time. At first glance, Brad-sama was spending his days in luxury, but in fact, he collected a lot of goods that could be converted into cash desu. It was probably to help the people who were suffering in these times of need. ā
Recently, the national government has been favoring the aristocracy, and the poor and lower-class people have been treated poorly. Anticipating such a situation long ago, Brad had been pretending to be an idiot and had been accumulating a fortune by buying all kinds of luxury goods. At first she was only vaguely convinced, but seeing how thoughtful Brad was recently, Rosie was almost convinced that she was right.
ā⦠Huh? Arenāt you overthinking it? Youāre thinking too deeply about his whims. It doesnāt explain why heās been extremely selfish.ā
āIām not thinking too much desu! There are many other things heās doing for the people, Iām sure there was a reason for being a tyrant! For example, in order to avoid a succession dispute with Alberto-sama, he tried to act incompetent and hand over the throne⦠ā
āIf that was true, wouldnāt he still play the tyrant?ā
Rosie hesitates as she was calmly questioned.
āThat um⦠Iām sure there was a terrible situation where he had to stop pretending and start acting himself. or he decided that he canāt leave the country in Alberto-samaās hands and decided to become king himself. ā
āYe ye ye (no no no), Alberto-sama is as excellent and handsome as ever, and he has a reputation for being the best king candidate, and heās handsome⦠Anyway, I donāt really hate Brad, but Iām also in Albertoās camp. ā
ā Alberto-sama is rumored to have bad tastes in women and said to be black-hearted. Just because someone looks good and is handsome doesnāt mean heās a good person desu.ā
Alberto, like Brad, frequently changes his maid, and there are rumors that the reason is that he has a thing for maidservants.
Of course, itās groundless, and no one, including Rosie, seems to believe it.Ā Alberto is Bradās twin brother, so heās only 14. I donāt think heās doing anything like that right now, let alone in the future.
Lina also brushed it off, saying, āItās just a lie someone spread out of jealousy.ā
āAnyway, itās definitely not the case. Itās nice that Brad-sama seems to have changed, but itās better not to have too many illusions.ā
She laughed, and Rosieās cheeks puffed up.
She poked Rosieās cheeks, forcing her to expel the air and squeezed them, then chuckled, āDonāt be so angryā.
āAnyway, donāt overdo it. I would be sad if you collapsed and quit this job when we get along well.ā
Rosie was not convinced, but she knew that Lina was just concerned about her.
ā⦠Okay desu, Iāll be careful.ā
Thanks for worrying about me, Rosie thanked her honestly.
Lina smiles and strokes her head.
ā⦠Please stop treating me like a child desu. Weāre the same 16 years old?ā
āAh, Iām sorry, itās because youāre so small.ā
Lina sticks out her tongue.
She then suddenly looked out the window.
āSpeak of the devil, I guess heāll also work hard today.ā
When she looked outside, there were two figures in the courtyard.
One is the first prince Brad, Rosieās Lord, known as the ā black pig prince ā and the other is a tall man with a frivolous smile-a hero who is enrolled in the Knights as an honorary knight, Glace Stresemann, the Demon Slayer.
The two have been practicing the sword, with the sound of their swords echoing fiercely since early morning.
Brad, who has been acting differently since a week ago, suddenly asked Glace to take him as an apprentice, and he has been training with him every day for the past week.
āI thought heād quit in a day, but itās been a week now. Heās doing well. Or rather, why did Glace-sama agree in the first place.ā
While Glace is one of the best warriors on the continent, he is famous for his elusive and frivolous personality.Ā Iāve heard that his nature is to enjoy life and not get involved in troublesome matters, and the reason heās in the royal palace is because it provides him with food, clothing, and shelter.
Thatās why she was surprised he took Brad as a student.Ā Was it just a whim, or did he find some talent in Brad?
āBut Brad, he looks as terrible as ever. Rosieā¦ā¦ can you really trust that? As I thought itās tough, isnāt it?ā
Lina looks at Brad as if she were looking at filth and asks.
From the sidelines, you could see there was an unbelievable difference in ability between Glace and Brad, and it looked like Brad was just being played by Glace from the beginning.
Brad was desperately trying to keep up with Glaceās movements, but his body couldnāt keep up, and his movements became as if he was dancing a strange dance. In addition, he was drenched in sweat, and his pained face looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
Because he was always practicing like this, the aristocrats around him and his servants, including Lina, always ridiculed him as humorous.
Butā
āā¦ā¦coolā
Rosie thought so.
Even though he looks like heās in a lot of pain, Brad continued to practice with Glace all week.Ā His single-mindedness she respects wholeheartedly, and his figure that moves desperately while shaking his flabby flesh even looks cool.
These days, Brad has been extremely intelligent, and his thoughts are deeper than the sea.Ā Thatās why I feel a gap in his present appearance of being out of breath and trying desperately, and find it precious.Ā In addition, I feel that his face and body shape have become more dignified and refined, probably because heās endured rigorous training for the past week.
āEh ⦠Rosie, why are your cheeks red?ā
āAh, huh!? Is it red desu!?ā
Pointed out by Lina, I hurriedly touch my cheeks.
I notice that my cheeks are strangely hot.
Lina looked at Rosie, whose cheeks are dyed like an apple, with a startled and amazed face, and shrugged, āThis is a serious illness.ā
āā¦ā¦huh? Alberto-sama?ā
But then Rosie spotted the figure of the second prince, Alberto, in the courtyard.
The handsome prince, who is praised by both the aristocrats and the people, seems to be talking to Brad as he walked across the courtyard with his maidservant in tow.
(What on earth are they talking about?)
Iāve never seen them talk before, but Iāve heard that they donāt get along very well. Rosie frowned, wondering if it was okay.