Chapter 7

The Empress looked at me for a long time before she finally left without a word.

…wait. I think she said, “See you tomorrow.”

‘No way. I must have misheard.’

Let’s not think of anything useless. Today was my last day with the Empress.

Feeling an incoming headache, I pushed the problem to the back of my head.

***

The same night as the incident, a distant memory visited me within my dream.

I was running towards the edge of the palace, where people didn’t come and go much.

Crawling into the shadows, I curled myself like a fetus.

My chest went up and down, trying hard to hold back the cry that was about to burst.

“Hi, why are you crying?” out of the corner, a person peeked her head out.

Surprised, I opened my eyes wide.

“Uhh. Sniff, sniff… Who, who are you?”

“Oh, me?”

The lady paused.

She replied with a vague smile, “My name is Rose.”

Rose.

It was very befitting for a pretty woman like her.

I scrambled onto my feet.

“By-by any chance are you visiting the imperial palace? Then I won’t block the road…”

“No, No! I’m, um… I’m a maid!”

“Maid?”

“Yeah, I haven’t had a vacation in a long time. I haven’t changed my clothes yet because I was coming back from going out.”

I see. A vacation… that must have been nice.

I nodded softly.

She stared at me with a curious gleam in her eyes.

“But why are you crying here?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

I couldn’t say that the maid-in-trainings were bothering me, so I roughly equivocate.

Her gaze softened at my reply.

“If it’s hard to say, you don’t have to say it.”

She laid her handkerchief on the floor as she sat next to me.

The warmth from her body soon enveloped my side.

“But you can tell me your name, right?”

“…I’m Charlize. A commoner, so I don’t have a last name.”

On second thought, it was bizarre.

Usually, I wouldn’t have answered that question, but I gave the woman my name.

She rolled my name on her tongue a couple of times.

“What a pretty name. May I call you Lize from now on?”

“We’re meeting again?”

“Of course! We’re both maids. We’ll see each other again and again.”

My cheeks were flushed.

I could see this sweet and pretty woman again.

She kept looking at me with a gleeful smile, but abruptly, she began to move away.

My eyes widened.

“Sister, Sister Rose…!”

‘Where are you going? Don’t leave me behind!’

My eyes opened wide. The dreadful image burned vividly inside my mind.

Before I knew it, my hand was outstretched, grasping onto thin air.

Amid the dark, tears pooled around the rim of my eyes, finally trailing down my cheeks onto the pillow.

‘…I didn’t want to have a dream like this.’

As I retraced the events of my dream, I bit my tongue!

The day when another maid-in-training bullied me, I couldn’t bear the gloom within my heart and ran away.

It was when Rose and I met for the first time then.

She, the only person who cared about me and gave me her affection.

My sister was the calm in the middle of the stormy imperial life.

But…

“Rose is gone now.”

I bit my lips until it bled.

Rose, whom I loved, was a fake persona the Empress created from the beginning.

‘Honestly, I’d like to ask you why you lied to me.’

But how could I ask such insolent things to the Empress?

I felt suffocated at the thought.

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

It’s strange.

That Rose’s real identity was even more shocking than the fact that she was the evil Empress who would one day kill me horribly.

I buried my face in my pillow, refusing to think about the matter anymore.

***

The next day.

The head maid called me early in the morning.

My eyes were swollen and puffy from crying all night. The head maid who saw my face looked at me with a strange expression.

“Don’t be surprised by the news, Charlize, but Her Majesty has asked for you to be assigned to the Imperial Palace from now on,” the head maid said.

…what?

My mind stopped working as my vision dimmed.

Her Majesty…

Was this what she meant by ‘See you again tomorrow?’

Everything faded into the background.

The only thing I could register was the head maid’s explanation. It rang in my ears like a broken record.

The head maid said as she tidied my hair.

In this situation, how could I say, ‘I don’t want to go there?’

Of course, even if I opposed the decision, it was the Empress who had appointed me, so I had no choice but to comply.

‘Am I not going into the tiger’s den by agreeing?’

I didn’t even dare to come close to the tiger’s den in the past.

Of course, the tiger was nice to me, and besides, it’s the prettiest tiger in the world!

‘But I don’t know how to face the Empress now…’

I dropped my head sullenly.

Rose, and the evil empress.

I didn’t think I’ve yet to acknowledge both of them as one person.

My heart couldn’t help but thump in anxiety every time the thought flashed through my mind.

‘Let’s just stop thinking.’

I shook my head.

‘It’s no use feeling depressed. I won’t find a solution by being like this.’

‘Don’t overthink it.’

Adjusting the bag in my hand, I walked fast.

I was supposed to be at the Imperial Palace by two o’clock, and the head maid was in charge today…

What if I was late?

I quickened my step towards the Empress’ Palace, but when my sight fell onto the place, I couldn’t help but gasp in exhilaration.

“…wow.”

My eyes unconsciously widened at the sight. The view of the palace in the distance was simply wonderful!

The immaculate white palace was shining under the golden sun.

Moreover, the red roses were in full bloom…

As expected, it was the prettiest location in the palace.

“It’s as pretty as its owner, isn’t it?’

I felt grumpy when the words came out. My lips pouted in annoyance.

Upon entering the Imperial Palace, I was astonished.

How could it be lovelier than outside?

The inner garden was as pretty as the rose garden.

Even the stones on the floor were pretty!

‘This stone, do you think it was laid down for people to step on?’

After swallowing my saliva, I crept back.

That stone looks very expensive, what if it leaves a stain if I step on it recklessly?

Here, it’s not the same as the grubby palace I was in!

When I was looking around frantically.

“Oh my God, is that the maid-in-training whom the Empress herself brought?”

“I think so…”

A low murmur was heard.

I stiffened my shoulders instinctively at the unfriendly conversation.

‘What the hell is this?’

When I looked around, a few maids huddled together and stared at me.

“I heard that she was stuck as a maid-in-training for so long. It seems like the rumor was true after all.”

“Look at her small figure.”

The maids did not stop gossiping, even though I was right in front of them.

Rather, they made eye contact with me and laughed.

My hand that was grasping the bag clenched in frustration.

“You’re so lucky, how did you catch the Empress’s eye?”

“Don’t you think she’s trying to compare with us just because she was assigned to the Empress’ Palace?”

The maids chattered on as if I weren’t listening.

An official maid.

The difference between a maid-in-training and an official maid was rather a delicate subject that was rarely touched on.

From now on, I would be a maid-in-training in the Empress’ Palace, so it was true that I had a higher status than a regular maid-in-training.

But these maids were official maids from the Empress’ Palace.

They were going to work with me in the future.

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From their point of view, it must be absurd for a maid-in-training from a small palace to enter the Empress’s palace.

“Hey, tell us. You are not that tactless, right?”

“Yes, how did you get assigned to the Empress’ Palace? Tell us the truth.”

When the maids were probing me for the truth.

A stern voice crept into my ears.