TMDO 27

TMDO

Chapter 27

After finishing the day’s work, I returned to my room. Even though they had found out I was a princess, nothing seemed to have changed much.

I reported today’s events to Able, and ended up having a hard time stopping him from rushing to Odin in shock.

“Sigh…”

Deriksha opened the door with a deep sigh. She looked extremely tired.

“What’s wrong?”

“Master Lu…”

Deriksha frowned and then suddenly collapsed face-down onto the bed.

Lu? But he had gone to the academy today, so we shouldn’t have spent much time together.

I didn’t understand why Deriksha reacted like that. She sighed again and finally spoke.

“I… I really admire you, Lily…”

It was such a sudden compliment. Deriksha praising me? Something must be wrong. I quickly shook her arm.

“What happened?”

“….”

Deriksha glanced at me and weakly sat up.

“I thought I was going to die from fear.”

“Who?”

“Who else… Master Lu.”

“…?”

Was she really talking about the Lu I knew? Lu had a bad temper, but he wasn’t scary. That’s why I had been so cheeky with him.

Deriksha let out everything she had been holding back.

“He didn’t answer when I talked to him, his expression was dark, and he pretended I wasn’t even there. I knew he had a bad personality, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“…Master Lu really did that?”

I could hardly believe it. Even if Lu was unpopular among the maids, his true nature was still good. I thought Deriksha would eventually realize he was a good person.

But judging by her reaction, it seemed she now agreed with the maids’ low opinion.

“He was impossible. How did you survive over half a year?”

Deriksha looked at me with genuine admiration.

Survive? I had just been playing around a lot…

I rolled my eyes and finally stood up.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

“What? Just stay. Don’t get fired.”

Deriksha warned me, but I shook my head and left the room. I was still bothered by Lu’s dark expression from yesterday, and now her words made me even more worried.

I reached Lu’s room in an instant and was about to knock when…

“…What?”

I heard Lu’s voice right next to me. Surprised, I turned my head to see him standing there with a displeased expression, glaring at me.

“Why are you here?”

Just as Deriksha said, he looked extremely grumpy. This wasn’t his usual mumbling tone—it was genuine irritation, and I felt flustered.

“…Did something bad happen?”

I asked carefully. Lu let out a bitter laugh and brushed past me into the room.

Bang! The door slammed loudly. I stared blankly at it.

“Hey! Close the door gently!”

Able opened the door of his room, shouting in annoyance. When he saw me standing in front of Lu’s room, he widened his eyes.

“You’re not off duty yet?”

“Miss…”

I called Able with a confused voice.

“What’s wrong with him…?”

My finger was pointing at Lu’s door.

“That kid who’s usually so nice… doesn’t answer, slams doors, and ignores everything I say…”

“You sound like a parent with a moody teenager. Stop talking like that.”

Able calmed me down as I buried my face in my hands. After being shocked by Lu’s behavior, he brought me to his room and poured me some tea.

I wrapped my hands around the warm teacup and took a sip. It calmed me a little.

“Yesterday he was fine… I wonder if something happened at the academy…”

“I don’t think so. Lu is unlucky sometimes, but he wouldn’t take it out on others.”

“Then… is he mad at me?”

Able nodded.

Why?

I tried to recall if I had done something wrong to anger him, but there were too many possibilities.

I regretted teasing him in the past, especially when I complained about wanting to leave early.

“What if he keeps acting like this?”

“He’ll get over it soon. He has no one else to play with, so after a few days, he’ll pretend to notice you again.”

“Right…?”

Able nodded reassuringly. I drank the rest of my tea, silently hoping Lu’s moody phase would end quickly.

But “quickly” didn’t happen. Lu ignored me for over a week.

Even when I greeted him in the hallway, he would pass by without a glance. If he would just talk, I could apologize, but avoiding conversation entirely made me feel helpless.

“If I kneel in front of his door all day, will he calm down?”

“Wouldn’t that make him angrier…?”

I pouted at Odin’s answer. Over the week, he had listened to my worries, but even when he went to talk to Lu yesterday, Lu gave him the same cold, avoidant response.

I couldn’t understand why a kid who had been so peaceful was showing signs of a villain again.

“Don’t worry too much, Lily. Lu has always been like that.”

“Master Lu?”

“He was like that before you came. Maybe he held it in for months and finally couldn’t anymore.”

Odin smiled brightly. Could I really leave Deriksha with someone like this? I glared at him and sank onto the sofa.

“Deriksha’s the only one suffering… He could’ve just gone to the dormitory instead of commuting.”

“…Lily. I think I know why he’s acting this way.”

Odin spoke, and I looked up, waiting.

“Probably… he’s mad at me.”

I was confused. I had been the one teasing him—why was he upset with Odin? He smiled at me.

“Do you know why Lu chose to commute?”

I tilted my head. I had asked him before, but he never answered. Odin chuckled softly.

“To spend more time with you.”

My eyes widened. I never imagined that the reason he commuted was because of me.

Odin seemed certain of his thought and continued.

“He worked hard to get the magic stone and even decided to commute. And then you say you want to be my exclusive maid. No wonder he got jealous.”

“Then… that’s why he acted the same way with you too…”

“He was jealous.”

Oh my. That made perfect sense. This young master liked me so much that he decided to commute.

I smiled warmly.

“How will he ever get married if he follows me around like this?”

I thought of Lu like a nanny watching a child. I had worried he was on the villain route, but he was just sulking. I chuckled and stood up.

“I’ll go talk to Master Lu!”

“Go ahead.”

Odin naturally saw me off as I left work.

I ran to Lu’s room and flung the door open without knocking.

“Master! I’m sorry!”

Lu and Deriksha looked at me, wide-eyed with surprise.

I strode up to the tea table and stood in front of Lu. He lifted his gaze from his book, staring at me with shock.

“I didn’t know your feelings, and I acted selfishly. You always followed me faithfully, and I didn’t notice why you were angry… Now I understand. You just really like me, don’t you?”

“…Did you eat something bad?”

Lu asked seriously, but I shook my head firmly. I looked at him, understanding everything.

“What can I do? You can’t live without me. I understand your feelings. You had every right to sulk. I apologize.”

Lu’s face softened. He smiled faintly and said,

“Go out.”

“Yes!”

Being chased out after so long felt refreshing. I left his room with light steps.

Deriksha had watched the whole scene in shock. The tense atmosphere was already stressful, and suddenly Lily stormed in and caused chaos.

‘Lily, please…’

She quietly rubbed her face.

Lily left as quickly as she came, leaving only Lu and Deriksha in the quiet room. Deriksha thought the mood would get worse, but she heard laughter instead.

“Ha…”

Lu, shaking and covering his mouth, eventually burst out laughing.

Deriksha looked at him, seeing a smile she hadn’t witnessed in over a week.

“He’s really strange, isn’t he?”

She even spoke first.

“…Lily is unusual, that’s for sure.”

Deriksha calmed herself and responded.

“She’s more than unusual. Seriously… who behaves like that?”

Lu kept laughing. His face, so stiff moments ago, was now bright.

“You must be tired, being with her every day.”

He even worried about her. Deriksha nodded in gratitude, feeling the tense mood finally thaw.

“Master, you spent more time with Lily than I did, right? During the holidays, you were together almost all day.”