Chapter 16
“Can you wait a moment? I think I should change clothes. I’ll be right back!”
With that, the Prince went into the dressing room. He didn’t ask a maid to assist him, but that wasn’t surprising. Thanks to Lou, I was already used to that. Since I had less to do, I decided to wait quietly.
They said servants weren’t allowed to accompany students to the Academy, and it seemed that rule applied even to the Prince. He naturally did everything on his own.
Just looking at the tea already brewed in front of me, I could tell how little he relied on maids, even for small things.
Curious about the unfamiliar tea scent, I walked over to the tea table. Inside a transparent teapot was a purple-colored tea.
“Huh?”
Something beside the teapot caught my eye. On the table were a thin cloth pouch and several stones spilled out from it.
Magic stones, I guess. They looked like ordinary rocks, but I recognized them immediately.
“Want one?”
The Prince, who had somehow come up beside me, asked casually.
That startled me.
I stepped back and shook my head. The Prince was smiling brightly, dressed in comfortable indoor clothes.
“Why not? I have plenty. Giving you one should be fine.”
“Are they all the same kind of magic?”
“Yeah.”
That explained it. I had thought they all looked the same—so they shared the same ability.
The Prince smiled and held out a magic stone to me. Without thinking, I took it. It was cold, without a hint of warmth.
“What does it do?”
I asked casually, forgetting who I was talking to. The Prince answered with a grin.
“When you use it, a bucket of water pours down on your head!”
…Yeah, I shouldn’t have taken it.
I quietly put the magic stone down.
Seeing that, the Prince chuckled and pushed the stone back into my hand.
“I’m joking. It actually makes a shower of pink flowers fall.”
His explanation reminded me of the magic stones used at a past festival. For some reason, I always seemed to get involved with flower-related magic.
“Why do you carry so many of the same magic stone?”
“They’re great for pranks! The flower scent is insanely strong, so everyone hates it.”
Why prank people if they hate it? Just like the prank he played on Young Master Odin, the Prince seemed to enjoy teasing others.
He gathered the magic stones back into the pouch and sat down.
“Can I ask you something now?”
I nodded. Since he liked pranks, I expected him to ask about something trivial, like Lou’s weaknesses.
But his question was unexpectedly about me.
“How long have you been working at the ducal estate?”
It came out of nowhere. I figured he was just starting the conversation, so I answered vaguely.
“About six months.”
A smile appeared on his lips. He was always smiling, but this one felt strangely different. Tapping the tea table lightly with his fingers, he looked at me.
“Lily, you’re sixteen, right? Same age as me.”
How does he know my age?
As if reading my thoughts, the Prince laughed brightly.
“Lou told me. He talks about you a lot at the Academy!”
I wondered how Lou even knew, but I assumed he had looked through employee records or something and let it go.
More importantly—so I’m younger than Deriksha. For a moment, I thought about calling her “older sister” when I got back, but the disgusted look on her face was easy to imagine, so I gave up.
After that, there was no more conversation. The Prince rested his chin on his hand and stared out the window in silence.
After a long pause—long enough for the tea to go cold—he finally spoke.
“That’s enough. You can go now, Lily.”
“…?”
He said he had questions, but he only asked one. Smiling faintly, the Prince handed me a strange-looking magic stone.
“If I need to call you, I’ll use this. It’ll flash for a moment.”
I took the calling magic stone and left the room.
Sunlight streamed in from the window across the hall, making me squint. I stood there blankly for a moment, then tightened my grip on the stone.
Right… the Prince—
I mean, the sub male lead—
Something was off.
Not just a little off. He felt really strange. Throughout our conversation, a cold, uneasy feeling lingered around him.
My sense of discomfort had never been wrong before. There was no doubt—the Prince had far too many strange points to be a normal sub male lead.
With that thought, I headed straight to Lady Abel’s room. At the time, I had brushed it off while happily overthinking things, but looking back, her reaction to a single frog had been far too extreme.
She had definitely experienced something stranger with the Prince.
Just as I reached her door, I heard a familiar voice coming from Lou’s room.
“I seriously hate him!!”
Wow. That was loud.
Peeking through the slightly open door, I saw Lady Abel glaring furiously while Lou covered his ears.
“He’s totally weird! How could you trust him and send Lily there?!”
“Hey, keep it down. Everyone can hear you. You’ll get arrested for treason at this rate.”
“Worry about your personality first! If you weren’t a noble, your head would’ve been chopped off already!”
Goodness. I wasn’t used to hearing such harsh words from Lady Abel, who always acted so innocent around me.
Between Young Master Odin grabbing the Prince by the collar, and Lady Abel acting like this—it really hit me. They truly were Lou’s family.
Lou, who looked utterly exhausted, suddenly turned his head toward me.
Ah. I’ve been caught.
I knocked belatedly and entered the room.
“Good afternoon.”
“Why are you here?”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t come to see you, Young Master.”
I waved my hand with a smile. When my eyes met Lady Abel’s, panic flashed across her face.
She darted her eyes around, then suddenly smiled brightly, as if she’d never been angry.
“Lily! When did you get here?”
Even her voice sounded different.
Lady Abel must be working hard to protect her image…
As if she noticed my pitiful gaze, she dropped the smile and lowered her head, giving up on appearances.
“Now that I look at it… Young Master and Lady Abel really look alike.”
I had only thought their appearances were similar, but even their personalities were surprisingly alike.
I had meant it as a way to lighten the mood, but both of them reacted with clear disgust.
“That’s a forbidden phrase. Say it again and you’re fired.”
“Lily, there are things you can say, and things you can’t.”
I got scolded by employers younger than me. Feeling dejected, I lowered my head.
“Oh—more importantly, Lily! Are you okay? Did he say anything to you?”
Lady Abel suddenly rushed up and asked.
Okay? About what?
I blinked at her.
“You look totally fine. Why do you hate Brother Chris so much? I want to hear the reason too.”
Lou asked, arms crossed. Both of us looked at Lady Abel. Under our gaze, she bit her lip tightly.
“He’s…”
After a long pause, she finally spoke.
“I just have a bad feeling about him.”
Oh my.
Overwhelmed by a sudden sense of kinship, I covered my mouth with both hands. Someone else who relied on intuition, just like me.
Apparently, I was the only one moved. Lou looked completely dumbfounded.
“…That’s it?”
“He’s really suspicious!”
“…Ha.”
Lou turned away and let out a hollow laugh. I grabbed Lady Abel’s hands tightly.
“I trust your instincts, my lady.”
“…Why?”
She looked at me awkwardly, as if she hadn’t expected that.
“Because intuition is the most reliable thing in the world!”
“Both of you, get out.”
Unable to listen any longer, Lou kicked us out.
This is why people who only rely on logic are so difficult.
Lady Abel and I quietly left Lou’s room. I tried to continue talking, but she avoided my gaze and hurried back to her own room as if running away.
I thought about knocking, but she seemed deep in thought, so I decided to leave it for another time.
I headed toward the dormitory instead. We had to start preparing for the ball in the evening, so I planned to rest a bit and save my energy.
But as I turned the corner of the hallway, I froze.
At the far end stood a familiar pair—Deriksha and Young Master Odin—staring at each other in shock.
…Why is Deriksha here?
I clearly told her to rest at the dormitory, just as Young Master Odin had asked. I couldn’t understand why she was standing in front of him, still in her maid uniform.
Carefully, I stepped back and hid behind the wall. Though they weren’t very close, the hallway was empty, so I could hear them clearly.
“Young Master… your hair…”
Deriksha’s gaze was fixed on Odin’s hair. Ah. So it was finally noticed. Since his hair was long—reaching his waist—the color couldn’t be hidden.
“Um, Deriksha. I didn’t do this on purpose… It’ll go back to normal tomorrow, but… it looks strange, right? I know. It just happened so suddenly…”
Odin fumbled awkwardly, his face red as he spoke in a rush.
Deriksha stared at him blankly—then suddenly burst out laughing.
At first, it was a quiet chuckle, but soon it grew louder as she failed to hold it back.
Her laughter rang clear and bright. I stared, stunned.
I had never seen Deriksha laugh like that before—so openly, so happily.
Deriksha smiled brightly.
Brightly.
A breeze slipped in through the window, gently stirring her hair. Her long lashes made her smiling eyes stand out even more. The curve of her eyes, the hand covering her mouth—everything looked beautiful to Odin.
Everything about her was beautiful.
He couldn’t look away. How could he? Seeing that radiant smile for the first time since their reunion, Odin found himself smiling too. It was the same smile—the one he had loved so much in his childhood.
It was the first time I had ever seen Deriksha smile like that.
The original novel’s narration stirred in my mind, blending with my thoughts. This was what I had almost remembered when I saw Odin’s pink hair.
A scene from the original story. The moment when Young Master Odin, who had only thought of Deriksha as his first love from childhood, fell for her all over again.
When I read it, I had scoffed. But now I understood.
Anyone would fall in love with that smile.
I leaned my head against the wall and watched quietly.
“So… that’s why you told me not to come?”
Deriksha asked, still smiling. Odin nodded, cheeks flushed.
She smiled again.
“It’s pretty. So it’s fine.”
She looked at him with eyes full of affection. Odin, receiving that gaze directly, looked so lovely it almost made me jealous.
“Then… it’s okay if I go back to work now, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Odin replied with a smile. Deriksha told him she’d prepare tea and that he should go back to his room.
After watching Odin enter, I stepped out.
“Ugh—don’t scare me!”
Deriksha glared at me, her smile gone as if it had never existed. The contrast made me feel unfairly wronged.
“Why don’t you smile at me like that?”
“What?”
“You only smile at Young Master Odin…”
Her face instantly turned red.
“You saw that?!”
“I was just staring at the air, and you suddenly appeared.”
“Idiot!”
She didn’t listen and slapped my back.
Ow, that hurts.
She smiles so sweetly at the male lead, but hits a side character without mercy… This is so unfair.
With a pitiful expression, I silently took the hit.
