I thought I liked you
All the way to Jess’ lab, Lou didn’t stop chattering next to Asion.
The captain of the imperial guard should have been intimidating for a young maid of the kingdom, but it was thanks to the ‘incident’ a few days ago.
“Can I really do well, Captain? I thought I would be in charge of organizing the warehouse or going to the laundromat. I really, really didn’t know that I would be the maid for Miss Riella!”
“I know. There must be some misunderstanding. Should I check again?”
“Ah! No. Captain. Heeing….”
Right away, Lou, who was crying, was so funny and cute that Asion stopped teasing Lou at that point and told the truth.
“This Is directly ordered by His Majesty the Emperor. so please protect Miss Riella by her side so you don’t disappoint us.”
“Yes!”
Lou’s voice was loud as she answered.
Just when the loud echo hadn’t completely gone away, the door to Jess’ lab opened.
Riella, who came out, looked quite tired, but quickly cheerful when she saw Asion and Lou in front of her.
“You had a hard time dealing with that geek. Miss Riella.”
“ah…”
Even though It was a casual, offhanded greeting because without “It’s been a while”, “Nice to meet you”, and “We’ve come to meet you”, Riella quickly understood the meaning and smiled softly.
‘Come to think of it, His Majesty, Jess, and Sir Asion said that the three of them were close to each other.’
“No. Captain.”
“I’m here too! And from now on I’ll be serving Miss Riella! Officially!”
Riella laughed at what Lou said while running around.
Lou seemed a little surprised to hear that she had been assigned a place to stay in the palace. She hadn’t thought that she would be staying in the imperial palace for a long time.
“His Majesty is in a meeting. Follow Lou. She was a very special kid. She said that she has already memorized the map of the imperial palace, so she’ll be able to guide you to the room where you will stay.”
“Yes. What about Captain Asion?”
“My business is actually this way.”
Asion pointed to the inside of Jess’ lab, Riella made a small mouth with an ‘ah’ sound.
Asion watched Riella walk away with Lou, then entered the lab.
Jess was sitting with his back to the back of the lab, but his ears perked up at a sign of movement outside the door.
“Why did you call me here? I’m so busy.”
Asion pulled a chair and sat next to Jess.
It was uncomfortable and ominous that Jess secretly invited him to the lab, keeping it a secret from his Lord, and the look on Jess’ expression when Asion looked into it was not very good.
“It’s not certain yet. so you’re the only one who knows.”
The tone of Jess’s voice was terrible.
So Asion started to get more nervous. The only time Jess uttered such a voice was when there was a problem with her lord’s safety.
There was quite a long silence in the large laboratory.
Jess, who was wasting his time even after inviting Asion to sit down, spoke out the words he had hesitated for a long time.
Jess, who was the proudest of himself in the world, was so arrogant that usually didn’t let his words trail off. But today he was different.
“It’s just my guess so far, but there’s nothing wrong with talking about it. I think.….”
* * *
“It hasn’t been decided yet. He said it was a temporary place to stay.”
“Okay.”
“It’s strange. Why is it temporary? It’s annoying to move the room in the middle. If you’re going to stay in the imperial palace anyway, you can keep using the same room!”
‘That’s because I might not stay in the imperial palace in the future.’
Because Lou was so excited, Riella swallowed the answer inwardly without speaking out.
‘Can I continue to receive this favor?’
In Riella’s hesitant mind, the countless eyes she encountered today came to mind.
The eyes of the maid and attendants who watched her follow the emperor in the courtyard of the imperial palace.
The eyes of the ministers she met in the lobby.
And doctor Jess’s eyes.
All of them were eyes that were wary of her, suspicious, and reluctant.
Riella wasn’t too afraid of being hated by them. What Riella was really worried about was something else.
‘because of me, what if His Majesty gets the same look?’
‘I don’t care who hates me, but I never want to be hated by him.’
“We’re here, Riella, we’re right here, and I’ve heard others say that this is the best and most spacious room in the Imperial Palace, and there’s a garden right in front of it. I heard that it was only occasionally given out to VIP guests.”
It was then that Lou, who had rushed forward, stopped in front of a door.
Riella held her breath, not daring to reach for the doorknob that the servant had polished.
Lou, who didn’t know Riella’s hesitation, continued to urge her with a face full of expectations.
“Come on, Miss Riella, go in and clean up, unpack your things, and there are so many things to do.”
‘okay. I will look for a place to stay outside the imperial palace in the future, but I’ll have to talk to his Majesty first. I have to meet Jess again tomorrow, so I’ll rest here for now…’
Riella thought so and pulled the heavy door.
The moment the door swung open, instead of letting out a ‘wow’, Lou could only spit out a bewildered voice.
“uh…?”
Inside the door, right in the parlor, there were well over ten young ladies standing.
All dressed in good clothes, they all focused their attention on Riella and Lou, who were standing behind the open door.
“We must be in the wrong place, Miss Riella.”
Lou, who was ready to jump inside when the door was opened, began to step back as if he had never done so, seeing the eyes of the girls who were somehow fierce.
Riella also thought the same. She must have entered the wrong room. She was about to turn around and bow politely and apologize to the young ladies.
“Are you Miss Riella?”
One of the young ladies inside tilted her head and started walking towards Riella.
“You must be Miss Riella, right?”
“Right. That’s right! As I heard, you have red hair like petals, and you are so beautiful!”
“Come in! we’ve been waiting for you Miss Riella!”
A bewildered Riella wanted to say, “Do you know me?” But before she could even ask, all the young ladies came pouring out toward the door.
“We are the maids who will help Miss Riella in the future!”
“Oh, is that so? I’m a maid?”
‘ah… I guess I’ll be working as their maid.’
‘I thought it was a good thing. It was so embarrassing to eat and sleep for free thanks to His Majesty, so it was really good that he gave me work like this.’
“What? Phew. Miss Riella is so funny. She’s a good jokester!”
“We’ve done all the packing for you.”
“I chose the bedding and curtains myself.”
“The interior is decorated with sarubia flowers. How is it? I think they’ll look great with Miss Riella!”
Riella couldn’t understand the ladies covering their mouths and continuing to praise her with a roar of laughter.
She also didn’t understand why they were clinging to her everywhere, touching her arms, shoulders, skirts, and even her hair.
“Wait. Are you all going to serve me?”
* * *
It wasn’t until she woke up the next morning that she realized again that it wasn’t just an illusion or a dream.
Perhaps because the day was hard, Riella, who fell asleep as soon as she finished dinner, woke up in a very fluffy bed.
When she just woke up, she felt really good. There was the right amount of sunlight in her hazy vision, and pleasant scents emanated from all directions.
She slept well without any dreams, and every corner of her body felt relaxed and cool.
The moment she realized that the good feeling was actually the result of the maids who were clinging to her body one by one, diligently giving oil massages, Riella jumped up with a loud ‘Kyaak’ sound that echoed through the room.
“Hey, everyone! what are you doing here…!”
“oh! Miss Riella. There’s nothing to be surprised about. If you lie still, we’ll take care of everything. This is the best way to get rid of your morning swelling!”
“You don’t have to do this!”
“Well, of course, Miss Riella is very beautiful even without doing this. But you never know when His Majesty will suddenly come, right? You should always be in top shape.”
Riella, who was already lost in her soul, was dazed as if she had been hit in the back of her head by the sudden story.
As if Riella’s reaction was cute, the maids began to take it one step further.
“In the meantime, why don’t you take a good look at our massage and then do it for His Majesty? I’m sure he’ll love it, especially if you touch him like this…”
“kyaaa!”
Without shame, Riella sat down with a grotesque scream.
The maid, who suddenly put her hand inside Riella’s waist, laughed until her face turned red.
‘What the hell is going on here…!’
Riella couldn’t keep her thoughts straight after that.
It was because there were so many maids that she couldn’t remember all of their names and faces, distracting him by coming and going.
They took out all kinds of dresses and shoes to choose what to wear today, and when Riella roughly chose anything, gloves, and accessories were displayed right away.
She doesn’t know if it’s a luxury that someone dreams of, but Riella was just uncomfortable with all those things.
To make matters worse, Lou, who had been frightened and clung to me yesterday, was nowhere to be seen today.
“Where is Lou?”
“Lou? Who’s she? Miss Riella, don’t let a child of unknown origin be with you. If you need anything, just let us know.”
It was a tall maid with curly hair who responded and started combing Riella’s hair affectionately.
Since it was a favor given to her, she must be grateful, but Riella, who had been forced to accept it, couldn’t stand it any longer and pushed her hand away.
“If you say you don’t know who Lou is, how do you know that she is a child of unknown origin?”
“yes? oh that’s…”
“And Lou Is not a child of unknown origin. If you’re saying that because she is from the kingdom of Liotta, then I’m also from the kingdom of Liotta, so don’t associate with me.”
The curly-haired maid seemed a bit taken aback, but she waved her hands and laughed as if she thought Riella’s words were a joke.
“No way. How is Miss Riella like that scruffy child? Miss Riella is the one who has been favored by his Majesty the Emperor.”
“I never do anything like that.”
Riella answered coldly and coldly.
‘She is the child who stood by my side when I was lonely. She is a child who left her hometown holding my hands, saying that we should be strong and get along well even when we go far away. What a scruffy child for such a person.’
‘If it wasn’t for those words, would I have been so angry?’
“Really? I’m disappointed. I thought I liked you.”
If only it hadn’t been for those words, she didn’t know that she drew a line and got angry and made the emperor who came to her in the morning upset.
“Your Majesty!”
The maids who should have confirmed the emperor’s arrival first, informed Riella and opened the door, all gathered around Riella and bowed their heads in fright at the sudden appearance of the emperor.
Riella couldn’t lift her head and just lowered her gaze.
‘I feel sorry for Lou. Again, sorry to the emperor.’
“It was hard to come, but it’s even more disappointing that you didn’t even show your face.”
* * *
