T/N: This novel has been dropped. Please feel free to pick it up. I still have the raws with me so if anyone is interested, send a DM in Discord.
“Just where are you taking me?”
Alexei, who had been ushered into the carriage, glared at his companions as the carriage veered off course from its original destination.
“Ah, well you see…”
Alfred began hesitantly, choosing his words carefully.
“Stop the carriage. Now.”
Alexei commanded in a cold, authoritative tone, and Gale instructed the coachman to halt the carriage.
“What on earth is your connection to that princess that you’re acting this way?”
“The thing is, she’s Prince Ludwig’s fiancée.”
“So?”
Alexei responded, implying he still didn’t see the relevance.
“You know what we did, right?”
Gale looked at Alexei pleadingly, seeking understanding.
“You stole the prince’s bracelet, and now you’ve run into his fiancée. So you think I’ll rat you out to Ludwig, and he’ll show you no mercy since his temper is so volatile?”
Alexei summarized the situation concisely, to which Alfred and Gale nodded.
“And how does that concern me or prevent me from visiting the imperial palace?”
Alexei spoke coolly.
“…”
Alfred and Gale exchanged a glance, then suddenly muffled Alexei’s mouth with a handkerchief. Despite his strong resistance, the two overpowered him, and he succumbed to the sedative-laced cloth, falling unconscious.
“I’m not sure if this is the right thing to do.”
Gale said, disheveling his own hair in distress. Alfred gave a wry smile.
“We have to look out for ourselves first. Let’s get out of the capital for now.”
“Then what?”
“We’ll find an inn, calm Alexei down, and write a letter to Ludwig, asking him to come meet us.”
“So you’re buying time.”
“There are plenty of knights in the imperial palace, right? If we meet him in the countryside, he’ll likely only bring a few attendants and guards. That would be more favorable for us.”
Alfred smiled confidently, and Gale reluctantly agreed.
“Honestly, all that good-for-nothing head of yours is good for is troublemaking…”
As the carriage rumbled over the country roads, Gale suddenly thought of Ariel.
‘Ariel, what should we do? Alexei doesn’t seem interested in women. Or perhaps he’s a eunuch.’
***
Anna peeked through the window towards Ariel’s bedroom earlier than usual that morning. The rising sun brightly illuminated the room, where Ariel was sitting on the bed, already dressed in her servant’s attire, preparing to start the day.
Tap, tap. The sound of knocking on the window drew Ariel’s attention, and she turned to see Anna, greeting her warmly.
“What brings you here so early?”
“Where did you go yesterday?”
“I met Ian in the afternoon and went to his townhouse in the capital to have desserts.”
“I saw the bed was lumpy last night when I came by late, so I tucked your clothes under the covers to make it look like you were sleeping.”
“Anna, thank you.”
“So, what are you going to do now?”
Anna asked with a hint of reprimand in her voice.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You spent the night with a man, didn’t you? It’s obvious what that means.”
Ariel’s eyes widened at Anna’s words.
“Wait, are you saying I… had my first night with him?”
Ariel asked excitedly, and Anna nodded solemnly.
“Are you feeling alright?”
Anna asked worriedly, and Ariel shook her head.
“I’m fine, I didn’t fall off the bed. The bed was so wide that even if I tossed and turned, I wouldn’t have fallen off.”
“What? But the princess must have had her first night…”
Anna’s words trailed off as she forgot to use the proper title, stunned by Ariel’s innocent response.
‘Oh dear, our princess… What do I do? She doesn’t even have basic knowledge about relationships.’
Ariel had spent most of her time isolated in the mountains, reading books and communing with nature. Unlike Anna, who had picked up various bits of information while running errands and socializing, Ariel had not had those experiences.
“What should I do? She seems so happy about it.”
‘I don’t know. Maybe it’s better to let her continue believing that.’
It would be better if the princess and Ian ended up together. At least he had some common sense.
“From now on, you should be more mindful of your conduct.”
Anna advised, and Ariel enthusiastically nodded in agreement.
***
“Should I provide a servant’s attire or a maidservant’s dress?”
The head steward asked about the appropriate treatment for Ariel, and Leo paused briefly.
‘Rapunzel was briefly transformed into a woman by magic, but they don’t know that.’
Officially, Ariel was considered a woman, so she should be treated as a maidservant. But giving Rapunzel, who was biologically male, a maidservant’s dress would surely anger her.
“Provide the maidservant’s dress.”
Leo responded, and the attendant standing by handed the dress to him. Reluctantly, he took it and went to Ludwig, who had urgently summoned him.
Reclining on the sofa, Ludwig sat up as Leo entered and asked, “Where’s Rapunzel?”
“He hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Really? It’s almost nine o’clock already… Since when have the servants been arriving this late?”
“This is the usual time, sir.”
“Does that make any sense? A servant arriving later than I do? Rapunzel has been quite lax with discipline lately…”
“I’m here, Your Highness.”
Just as Ludwig was voicing his complaints, the door opened, and Ariel entered, looking unusually cheerful.
“Ah, the steward is here as well.”
“Rapunzel, from today, you’ll need to wear this attire.”
Leo handed over the dress, and Ariel’s elated expression immediately fell as he unfolded the garment.
“This is… a maidservant’s dress, isn’t it?”
‘So I’ve been found out?’
On the other hand, Ariel couldn’t help but wonder who would believe such an absurd lie.
“The employees all think you’re a woman since you were temporarily transformed by magic. I suppose that makes sense?”
It seemed like an unreasonable request. After all, Ariel had even undergone magical transformation for his sake.
“I’ll wear it!”
Ariel responded cheerfully, quickly taking the dress from Leo and heading towards the door, but Ludwig grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to change into the dress.”
“Change here.”
Ludwig rudely gestured towards the wardrobe next to the bed.
“Yes, understood.”
Entering the wardrobe, Ariel found hundreds of garments hanging inside, with full-length mirrors lining the walls.
Ariel unfolded the maidservant’s dress, her heart racing. Truthfully, she had always wanted to try it on.
“The Romanov Empire must be incredibly wealthy. This is much nicer than the clothes I wore in the Charden Kingdom.”
Ariel quickly changed into the dress and admired herself in the mirror, flashing a satisfied smile.
Her short, silver hair still concealed by the mask covering the burn scars, and her slender, unimpressive physique remained, but she felt like her former self again.
Creak, creak… The wardrobe door opened, and Elias, Robert, and Leo, who had been in a meeting, stared at Ariel in stunned silence.
“Rapunzel, you were a woman all along.”
Robert muttered disappointedly, his gaze lingering on Ariel’s flat chest.
“If you just don’t look below, it’s clear he’s a woman.”
“Enough with the nonsense. All of you, get out.”
Ludwig, who had been silently observing Ariel the entire time, frowned and ordered everyone to leave.
“Don’t you ever think before you act?”
“Huh?”
Ariel looked at Ludwig, puzzled by the sudden reprimand.
‘Could it be that he found out about me being with the mage yesterday? No, aside from Anna, no one else knows. Then what could it be? Or maybe…’
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for?”
Ludwig asked, perplexed.
His annoyance had actually been caused by the maidservant’s dress, which suited Ariel far better than he had expected. As Ariel emerged from the wardrobe, Ludwig’s heart had been racing uncontrollably, and he had been at a loss for words.
Ariel’s fair, porcelain complexion, beautiful violet eyes, and plump, rosy lips seemed to be tempting him, begging to be kissed.
‘Oh no, he’s so pretty! I need to get him out of here before those scoundrels start coveting Rapunzel. And then I’ll have him all to myself.’
Ludwig’s mind was consumed by these thoughts, unable to understand Ariel’s apology.
“For calling you an arrogant jerk.”
“Ah, yes, now I remember you said that to me.”
Ludwig gritted his teeth.
‘I’ve been giving Rapunzel so much grief, and for him to define me that way… Thinking about it, it really doesn’t sit well with me.’
“Is that the only thing you’ve done wrong?”
Ludwig pressed Ariel, his gaze frosty.
“I called you an arrogant jerk!”
“And what else?”
“And about staying out overnight yesterday.”
“…What?”
Flames seemed to ignite in Ludwig’s eyes.
***
Rumors of Marisa crying bitterly in the Separate Palace spread like wildfire, and letters from the noble ladies she was acquainted with soon arrived.
They were either hypocritical words of comfort or subtle jabs at her past arrogant behavior.
Marisa didn’t regret missing the meeting that day to read .
Since it was revealed that the servant was a woman, it was a losing battle anyway.
Of course, if it had been her, she would have accused the other party of sodomy, adultery, or deception about gender, charging them with lese-majesty. But she felt it wouldn’t change anything, as Ludwig still treated her little better than a palace statue.
“Lotte, take all these letters and throw them in the trash.”
“All of them?”
Lotte felt a bit uneasy about discarding potentially important correspondence.
“Yes, now prepare a letter for me to send.”
Lotte gathered the letters into a box and brought fresh stationery.
Marisa wrote one letter to the Emperor, requesting to be released from her engagement, and another to Prince Johannes, the protagonist of , though he was a fictitious character, so she addressed it to the publisher.
With the Duchess of Carmen’s seal affixed to the two letters, Marisa prepared to go out.
It was not the usual half-day preparation. She simply applied some cream to her face, lightly glossed her lips with oil, and selected a dress from her wardrobe.
Seeing the unusually dressed Marisa, the maids fidgeted nervously.
“Miss, are you really going out like that?”
Lotte asked with an expression that looked about to cry.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s… so common.”
“What do you mean?”
Marisa asked, as Lotte had murmured too softly.
“It really looks like a servant’s dress.”
“And what of it?”
Marisa asked with curious eyes.
“Haven’t you heard the rumors? The imperial palace maid’s dress is sky blue. And the one you chose happens to be that color.”
“…”
“Moreover, without a corset, wearing it like that… it really does look like a servant’s dress.”
Lotte trailed off, feeling she had spoken too much on the subject.
“Heh, what does it matter if I’m seen as a maid or a noblewoman?”
“Yes.”
“In a world where the Emperor holds absolute power, in a male-dominated world, the status of a noblewoman is insignificant.”
Marisa gracefully stepped into the carriage, the sky-blue dress fluttering freely around her. She looked almost like an imperial palace maid.
🍉🍉🍉
