A Capable Maid

persona.

Those clear eyes expressed so much depth, making it difficult to regard her as nothing but an ordinary maid.

‘Why does it feel so strange? Was I imagining things?’

Rael thought as his fingers tapped on the iron mask.

Oren asked, “Then why did you suddenly ask her to play the piano, Your Highness?”

At that question, Rael became speechless for a moment.
There was no particular reason, other than a gut feeling.

‘Could she have done it?’ He considered it for a moment.
However, he thought it was absurd, so he asked her to stop halfway through.

She was trembling and so nervous that it was hard to believe that she’s the musician who played last night.
‘I have no idea at this point.’

Oren, who looked determined, said, “Well, I swear under my name, I will find both the sculptor and the musician.”

Rael nodded.
“Yes, please.”

Then he muttered to himself, ‘Marie?’ The name caught his attention.
‘I’ll have to keep an eye on her for a while.’

Thus marked the beginning of Marie’s involvement with the Crown Prince.

Several weeks had passed since then.
The festival was just around the corner, and Marie was given a new assignment after finishing her work at the Crystal Palace.

‘I’m finally leaving the Crystal Palace.’ Marie let out a sigh.
Fortunately for her, she remained undetected until the end.

Vahan brilliantly completed the rest of the symphony based on the themes she‘d composed.
Everything went well, save for his determination to track down the mystery composer: “I’ll definitely find them and become their pupil!” shouting like so.

It was amazing that he had the look of someone who’d been devoting his soul to music, but Marie was mortified.

‘Anyway, I’m glad everything went well.’

She sighed in relief.

The symphony to be performed at the festival was excellently finished, and most of all, it was a relief that she didn’t get caught.

‘I’ll have to be careful from now on.’ She recalled the Crown Prince’s iron mask.
She’d already attracted his attention twice in a row, including the sculpture incident.
It was fortunate that she wasn’t discovered, but she absolutely refused to get further involved with the Crown Prince.

‘Where will my next assignment be? Since my work at the Crystal Palace is over, I’ll help prepare for the festival elsewhere.’

Then she thought, ‘It doesn’t matter if it’s a tough place to work, I just hope I can be invisible this time.’

Perhaps thanks to that wish, she was assigned to a quiet place with no people.

There was just one problem.

“The Swan Garden?”

“Yes.
All the other maids are occupied with other prep work.
There’s no one else to take the job but you.
It won’t be too difficult since all you have to do is clean up the cluttered garden.”

At that time, unlike her usual temperament, her superior, Susan, spoke tentatively, “O-Of course, there are rumors that ghosts sometimes appear, but those are baseless rumors, so don’t worry too much.”

“…”

There’s one problem.

It’s the rumors surrounding the Swan Garden.

There are ghosts in the swan garden! Rumors like this were circulating among the maids of the imperial palace.

‘What nonsense…’ Marie kept her mouth shut.
The Swan Garden was located in the most secluded part of the Imperial Palace, and had been neglected for more than five years after the 7th Princess got poisoned there.

The garden, covered with vines resembling a witch’s hair, became the fodder for gossip among the maids due to its creepy atmosphere similar to a haunted house.

“R-Recently, rumors have been circulating about a silver-haired ghost… Don’t worry, it’s all hearsay.”

“…”

Marie started to look at her superior, Susan, differently.
She’s more stern than all of the terror instructors combined, but she’s afraid of ghosts!

‘I think Miss Susan would be far scarier than ghosts…’ She recalled how Susan often scolded her whenever she made a mistake.
She was so terrifying that even ghosts would ran away if she yelled and made eye contact with them.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that she didn’t believe in ghosts.
But still, she found it hard to believe that there’s one in the palace.
That’s a little too much, wasn’t it?

‘And the Crown Prince is much scarier than ghosts.’

Recalling the cold iron mask, she shuddered.
If there really was an apparition living in the palace, it would be the Crown Prince.
Or vengeful spirits killed by his sword.

‘There’s absolutely no way I’d encounter the Crown Prince in the Swan Garden.’ Thinking so, Marie lowered her head.

“Alright, shall I go to the Swan Garden tomorrow?”

It’s been a long time since she dreamed of another person.

‘What kind of dream will it be this time?’ Even when she’s dreaming, Marie was fairly lucid.

She’s getting used to experiencing lucid dreams since she’d been having them lately.

‘Don’t tell me it’s related to the ghost stories I’ve been hearing all day?’ She was concerned of its possibility but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Mil! Van! Eat before you go out!”

“I’m busy, Mom!”

“No, but what if you skip meals? Take this egg bread.
Here!”

Marie blinked.
‘What kind of dream is this?’

t/n: you know what, marie is right.
there’s no way anyone would think a maid can play the piano, when they don’t have the time & resources.
but she had no excuse with the mask adhdhfkdlld (in this instance sure, cause she’s scared out of her wits.
but later on when they continuously meet both with & without mask, she no longer has an excuse).

rael: 1

marie: 3

the egg bread (gyeranppang) in question (*´﹃｀*):