<Episode 4>
* * *
The Empress Palace was beautiful in the morning when it was bathed in sunlight.
If you continue walking past the lush green garden with chirping birds and the glass greenhouse delicately surrounded by a vine-patterned steel frame, you
will finally arrive at the Empress Palace.
An old-fashioned building with an emerald roof and delicate carvings decorating the capitals of the pillars spreads out wide below.
Although it was not comparable to the size of the Emperor’s Palace where government affairs were held, the Empress’s Palace was the place with the most beautiful exterior of the Imperial Palace.
‘I heard the imperial palace is really that beautiful.’
Just working in a place like this makes me feel good.
As I approached the empress’ palace, appreciating the scene as if it were engraved in my eyes, my mind naturally became clearer.
Drowsiness disappears completely.
A few hours ago, Paresa washed her body early in the morning and stood in front of the mirror.
Wearing a maid’s uniform that fit her body perfectly and wearing a headband with her neatly tied hair, she looked like an imperial maid in her reflection in the mirror.
‘It’s unfamiliar.’
In the mirror, clear water-colored eyes were showing complex expressions.
Who would have imagined that Paresa would enter the imperial palace as a
maid?
It was something I could not have imagined until I came to the system.
As a dedicated maid, her outfit was a little different from that of regular maids, and she had a small brooch on her chest.
Paresa carefully checked her clothes one last time and left the room.
“Paresa Menzel.”
The chamberlain who had come from Miri greeted her.
As they headed to the empress’ palace together, the chamberlain told her what she would do and basic knowledge about the imperial palace.
Paresa listened intently to what he said.
“You can think of it today as saying hello to Her Majesty the Empress and taking stock of the work you will be responsible for. Now, this.”
The chamberlain handed Paresa a thick booklet.
“This is a reference booklet I put together. Please read it until I call you. “At the front is the most important summary.”
The mayor’s eyes were puffy as he left Paresa in the waiting room and turned
around.
Every time a new person is hired, his or her workload increases.
Was the reason he was in a hurry to ease the burden?
‘If that’s the case, I’m glad.’
The uncertain feeling still persisted.
The chamberlain disappeared, saying he was going to take care of business for a while.
Paresa lifted up the booklet he handed her and then looked at the summary.
All she knew about the imperial family of the empire were fragments of facts
that everyone else knew.
The emperor had three descendants. The two children of the Crown Prince and the current Empress.
The crown prince, the descendant of the former empress, was appointed crown prince early on and established himself as the next ruler of the empire.
A few years after the crown prince’s mother died young, the emperor remarried the current empress.
The empress was from a low-class noble family, and it was an unconventional marriage that was talked about both at home and abroad.
Less than a year after her marriage, the Empress gave birth to twins of different genders.
Because of their mothers’ humble origins, the two were hardly a threat to the
crown prince, who was ten years older than them.
Even in noble families, children acquired through remarriage often cause succession disputes with existing children.
Considering that, it was a very smooth structure. The imperial succession was stable.
What Paresa knew and the information written in the summary given by the
chamberlain were almost identical.
The summary also contained detailed information about the Empress’s tastes, daily routine, precautions, and duties of her exclusive maids.
Paresa read it with concentration.
The place the Chamberlain went to after leaving Paresa for a while was the Empress’s room.
It was neither too early nor too late, around the time she finished grooming
herself and finishing breakfast.
Morning sleep disappeared and a feeling of fullness returned, and it was also
the time when the Empress was most generous.
“Your Majesty, were you peaceful last night?”
The Empress, who had just finished drinking tea, put down her teacup and turned to look at him.
Red-brown eyes focused on the chamberlain.
“Chief Chamberlain, you are a little later than usual today.”
The thin yet elegant voice that rang out was somehow cold.
Although the Empress was so beautiful that one could admire her even in a simple indoor dress, the Chamberlain was nervous in a different way every time
he stood in front of her.
‘Today I feel… … ‘You seem ordinary.’
She is a capricious empress and rarely has enemies in a good mood, so it is fortunate that she is not bad.
I almost sent Paresa Menzel, who I had brought in, with the promise of another day.
“We have brought in a new dedicated maid. “I’d like to say hello.”
“Exclusive maid?”
The Empress snorted. Her pink eyebrows lift, and one corner of her mouth tilts up.
“I don’t need that. I should have said it clearly. “The people I have now are enough.”
The Empress looked back at the maids standing around and serving them with alacrity.
They were low-level maids, ranging in age from their late 20s to middle age,
who had served the imperial family for a long time.
Most of them are widows or have settled in the imperial palace to take responsibility for their own livelihood.
They had a heavy mouth and served the empress according to their salary without any conflict of interest.
A simple but clear relationship.
However, because they were commoners, it was sometimes difficult for them
to become exclusive maids who had to represent the Empress’s wishes.
The chamberlain pointed out that fact.
“They and exclusive maids are different. For the sake of Her Majesty’s prestige, she needs a dedicated maid from a noble family. This is also the will of His
Majesty the Emperor.”
Even if you were an aristocrat, you had to put your name on the list of nobles to become an exclusive maid, which was an honorary position.
When she becomes the empress’s exclusive maid, she is often chosen as a maid brought in by a noble family of a count or higher.
The fact that Paresa was given the opportunity was a strange thing in itself.
Unless there are very special circumstances.
The Empress, who had created that special situation, seemed to flinch for a
moment when ‘Your Majesty the Emperor’ was mentioned.
But she immediately gritted her teeth and fired back.
“So you want me to keep those foxy things next to me again? Who else did they bring this time? I thought the ladies of the system would wave their sins off.
“Did it crawl under me with some kind of wild dream?”
If she wanted to become an exclusive maid even after hearing about her reputation in the system, she must have been an ambitious child.
I don’t know where he got it from, but we must acknowledge the Chamberlain’s talent of always bringing people with him.
“I come from the countryside, so I don’t know much about the rumors of the
imperial family.”
In other words, they had not heard about the Empress’s famous notoriety.
A rare temptress and evil woman.
A vicious and mean woman from a low-class noble family.
About the rumor that she became empress by seducing the emperor with just
her beauty.
Her expression wavered slightly, but she did not give in and spoke nervously.
“As a child from the countryside, you might be even more dreamy. “Am I not
living proof that I made the dreams of the villagers come true?”
The chamberlain carefully moved his tongue.
“I heard you’ve been dreaming of becoming an imperial maid, so I hope you’ll be a little more lenient with me.”
“If that kid doesn’t look down on me, I don’t have any intention of treating him badly.”
The Chamberlain did not believe that.
Didn’t the exclusive maids she had brought in so far run out without being able to last even a month?
‘Heidi, since she left…’ … .’
Heidi, the Empress’s longtime friend and personal maid, gave up her job after marrying the Margrave.
The problem began when she, who was the only one on the empress’ side, left and reappointed a dedicated maid.
The chamberlain selects a dedicated maid, the empress rejects her, and then
selects her again.
It was an arduous and tedious process.
In the Chamberlain’s opinion, the exclusive maids he had brought so far were not bad.
Noble ladies who were carefully selected.
Recently, especially, ‘There is no way she can become an empress. I chose them with the highest importance placed on their positive character, thinking that the rumors are probably exaggerated.
However, ‘Contrary to malicious rumors, the Empress had a great personality’ did not happen.
If not, will there be smoke coming out of the chimney? The empress was indeed as temperamental as the rumors said.
It’s even more surprising that there was someone who endured it.
No, Heidi, who had a close relationship with the Empress, did not even have
to endure it.
After she left, the Empress, who had nowhere to turn, became even colder.
The chamberlain carefully opened the rhyme.
“Anyway, what would you think of it when you see it for yourself?”
“Well, I was thinking of accepting it after seeing the chamberlain’s hard work. “Bring it with you.”
The Empress lightly waved her hand. The Chamberlain sighed deeply as he left the room.
‘You seem strong, so I hope you can hold out for a long time this time.’
Who on earth should I choose to please the empress?
Not long ago, the Chamberlain, who was looking through Paresa’s self-introduction letter in agony, suddenly opened his eyes at a certain point.
That phrase was very impressive.
[No matter how difficult the task is, we do it without saying anything.]
It’s safe to say that she was chosen solely because of that slavish phrase.
Please do so. The chamberlain hoped without conscience.
* * *
In that moment, Paresa read the summary carefully and understood it all.
Just as she was about to open the booklet, the chamberlain called her name.
“Paresa Menzel.”
Finally, the moment of decisive battle… … No, is this our first meeting?
Paresa quickly stood up.
“There’s not much to do. “Anyway, you just have to understand Her Majesty’s
wishes and make sure she doesn’t feel uncomfortable.”
Does that mean to please people?
Paresa recalled the maids who were said to be quick-witted and quick at getting things done.
I think I know what it is. Although I have never served anyone before.
‘I guess it’ll work if you just keep doing it.’
Paresa was confident without any countermeasures.
“I will try my best.”
The chamberlain’s eyes became subtle as he looked at her, who spoke like a
fresh and passionate newcomer.
My heart was tingling.
However, his suffering was too long for him to care about his conscience.
‘I hope this maid will be liked by Her Majesty the Empress.’
The prayer in my heart was earnest.
