Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince

Chapter 77

Even as Albert uttered the most romantic words, he was expressionless.

Like the night sky that still lingers at dawn, his demeanor was empty.
An emotion that I couldn’t distinguish had deeply settled upon him.

The Rosteratu that I saw before was a nobody.
And he would have still been the same when Albert met him again.

So it’s no wonder that Albert had to think—why had he been so shaken by that kind of man.

But the time that had already passed would not come back.
Not just the time that passed, but even the innocent people who had been sacrificed and the wounds that could not heal.

Even so, he had to move forward.

And I felt grateful that Albert met that man again.
Because he was able to relieve the emptiness and futility that he’d been harboring all this time.

I stood in front of Albert and went on my tip toes.

Not expecting me to do that, Albert came down from the window when he saw me drawing closer.

“Your neck must hurt.”

He caressed the base of my neck once more.
His touch was warm.
He has always been such a kind person.

Someone who always seemed big.
Someone who was perfect in every way.

Ever since I first possessed Rosé’s body, it was rare for me to see any gaps in Albert’s walls.
He always kept his emotions exceptionally sealed.

I want to know the part of your life that I don’t know.
All the unhappy times you had to endure during your childhood.
The experiences you had to make up who you are today.

I know that I decided to keep my distance until Albert’s feelings became clear, but…

Albert visited my room tonight, and so I decided to blame him for doing so.

I took a step closer to him.

“Prince.”

And I embraced him.

He’s much taller than me, and it rather looked like I was in his embrace instead.
But that didn’t matter.

“You must have had a hard time.”

I patted him on the back.
Like when he would praise me and say that I did well.
I buried my face into his chest, and because of this, I couldn’t see what expression he was making.

“…Rosé.”

Albert uttered my name with a sigh.
His breath fluttered over my hair.
Once more, I patted him on the back.

“You always say what I want,” he said.

Rarely ever does it appear, but now, here was gap in Albert’s walls.

After a moment of silence, he murmured.

“I wanted to hear that.”

“……”

“It’s always either ’Good work,’ ‘You did the job well’… But I also wanted to hear someone say to me that I must have had a hard time.”

“……”

“Even though I know that I need to be perfect.”

He wrapped his arms around my back.
As he hugged me ever so tightly, he was as warm as a bonfire in the middle of winter.
And his embrace was accompanied by a pleasant scent.

We hugged each other for a long time.
Later, as he reluctantly let me go, Albert looked at me with half-lidded eyes while caressing my face.

“I don’t know how I can go on for a month without you.”

“I’ll be back in no time.
There’s a banquet to prepare for, and you’ll also be busy cleaning up the palace, too.”

“Do you still truly want us to be apart?”

“…Yes.”

I nodded.
Right now, my month away from him wasn’t just for the purpose of giving each other time and space.

I had a more important reason now, which wouldn’t make me change my mind.

I have to go to the Dragon’s Tomb.

Albert wanted to switch places as the contractor.
Instead of me, he’s going to be Blanc’s contractor while enduring everything by himself.
I needed to find a way to stop that.

All his life, he always bore other people’s burdens while enduring the pain.

He treated me when I was suffering from black magic.
I could no longer watch him sacrifice himself.

As Albert stared at me, it’s clear that he didn’t like my reply.
However, he never tried to dissuade me.

“Right, I did say that you can do whatever you wish, so of course it should be granted.”

“……”

“I’m not originally such an impatient man, you know.”

He smiled faintly.

“Tomorrow, I will be bequeathing you with praises and the rank of a baron.
Your estate is in the southern region of the country, along the coastline.
It’s small, but I’m sure it’s a place you’ll like.”

“So soon?”

It was only today that he launched his uprising, but there was already a territory ready for me? What about the backlash of other people’s opinions?

There were many things I wanted to ask, but it seemed like none of those were of any concern to Albert.

Since I knew just how well he handled his work, I wasn’t very worried about that part.

“Do you know what this means?” he asked.

With his hand still cupping my cheek, he held me with very slightly more force.

“The contract will end tomorrow.”

And he was mentioning the contract now to point out that one clause there—that from tomorrow on, we wouldn’t need to ask for permission before touching the other person.

My face flushed bright red.

I’m not usually the kind of person who’d get embarrassed so easily, but I found myself finding a new side to myself whenever I’m in front of him.

At first, I still managed to clap back or retort to his teasing words, but as I began to like him more and more, I couldn’t help but get so embarrassed like this.

Taking a deep breath while controlling my train of thought, I smiled and responded.

“You never asked me before anyways though?”

But then, Albert threw a strong punch once more.

“It’s sad, yes.
I had to hold back very much at the time.”

He smiled brightly as he lightly rubbed my lower lip.

“Do you know that you sleep exceptionally well next to me? But on the other hand, it’s thanks to you that I can’t sleep well at night.”

Hearing his whisper, I was momentarily at a loss for words.

“…You never said that! And if I knew that it’s because of me, I would have gone—”

“I knew that you would have gone back to the attic, that’s why I didn’t say anything.
I just thought that it would be better to saddle you with this guilt.”

Albert replied brazenly.
It was so absurd to hear that he even wanted me to feel guilty.
How am I supposed to react to this?

Seeing me pout, Albert laughed out loud.

“Haha…”

As if he was watching a child’s antics, his laughter was as clear as a bell.
He was so beautiful right now that I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

Like the crescent moon hanging in the night sky, his eyes were curved into soft arcs.
And with his voice still mixed with laughter, he spoke.

“You can look forward to it.
Now that I’m not bound by any restrictions after the contract is over, look forward to what I have in store for you in a month’s time.”

“……”

“By then, I won’t have to hold back any longer.”

Why, you… Ah, I’m getting scared of what’s going to happen a month later.

It’s clear that the time we’ll have apart had a different meaning for Albert.

With a more serious expression now, he added.

“Use the coming month to preserve your energy.
After that, wouldn’t it be your turn to lose sleep?”

It didn’t take long for me to realize what he was insinuating.
My heart started pounding violently as my face burned up.

“With that day in mind, I’ll be stopping at just a kiss today.”

The finger that was rubbing my lower lip disappeared.
His face drew nearer.
I couldn’t even close my eyes.

But Albert stopped with a fraction of an inch between us, our breaths mingling.
Leaning towards me, he stared into my eyes.
Our foreheads met.

I could see even his individual lashes now.

“Rosé.”

“…What is it?”

At the thought of just how close the distance between us was, my nerves were on edge.

Albert whispered softly.

“I want to know if you want me, too.”

“……”

“So, once in a while, can’t you tell me what you want with your own lips?”

Now that he mentioned it, it’s always Albert who made the first move.

I always just tried to abide by the terms of our contract.
I was afraid that anything I say would remind him of the old Rosé.

I didn’t want him to be wary of me.

But because of this, he might have felt anxious and upset, too.

…Above all however, if Albert asks like this, I have no immunity for this whatsoever.
No matter who it was, there’s no person out there who’d be able to resist the beautiful him.

“Please?”

Uncharacteristically pleading, hearing him say this almost made my heart stop.

Seriously.
I don’t think my heart would ever be safe every moment I’m with Albert.

As I tried to stop my breaths from hitching, I wrapped my arms around his neck.
And I smiled, wanting to emulate the same cool allure he had.

But the corners of my lips didn’t go up smoothly, instead trembling.
Albert chuckled.

“I can’t be as cool as you are,” I said.

“You’re more than enough just the way you are.”

He glanced down at me, waiting for me to say it.
Eventually, I gulped and opened my lips to speak.

“Please kiss me.”

And as soon as I said that, he covered my lips with his, pushing to enter.

He coveted me like a hungry beast.

I felt my body heating up.

Compared to the hug we shared, this kiss was much longer.
Barely giving me time to breathe in the middle, he kissed me again and again and again.

He didn’t stop kissing me until I had to tap on his shoulder while thinking that I couldn’t do it anymore.

“But it wasn’t that long.”

…It wasn’t? The kisses and skinship we shared just kept increasingly getting longer as time passed.
What’s at the end of this? I’m scared just thinking about it.

With an expression that clearly made it apparent that he wanted more, his persistent gaze remained directed at me.
I mean, it’s the same for me, and I can still feel the heat inside me, but…

Disrupting that thought of mine, Albert let out a long exhale.

“I see that my self-control isn’t all that useless.”

Smirking, Albert rubbed my lower lip again.

“Here.”

He placed something in my hand.
I looked down and saw that it was a key.

“…This is…”

“It’s the key to the tower.
You need to stop by the tower and take your stuff before you leave, right? You and I are the only ones allowed to go in and out of there.”

A space that was only for the two of us.
The tower had become a special place.

I nodded.

“…Are you going to get rid of the tower?”

I asked hesitantly.
It crossed my mind that he wouldn’t want to keep it since it was a place where he had some bad memories.

“No.
It would be nice to go there with you sometimes.”

“Are you alright with that?”

Wasn’t that a place that Rosteratu made to torment him? I was worried that he was just pretending to be alright just because of me.

Albert was so accustomed to hiding his feelings, that’s why I needed to take a closer look and make sure.

“You gave me good memories though, so I don’t mind it that much.”

Shaking his head, Albert explained slowly.
And I examined his expression closely.

If there was any sign that he was only forcing himself, I was going to say that he should just get rid of the tower right away.

…But all that I could see on Albert’s face was utmost sincerity.

This makes me happy.

I’m so glad that I was able to give him good memories in his life.

Although we had some difficulties along the way, I could recall our time at the tower fondly, and I think it’s the same for you.

Now that Rosteratu was gone from this world, we’d only need to settle Blanc’s situation before we could finally live happily together.

 

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t/n: hello~! i noticed that the ratings for this novel here at the website have been going lower and lower these past few months, to the point that it’s come down to just a flat 4 stars… this kind of thing doesn’t usually get to me, but ‘tower maid’ has a special place in my heart and it’s a bit discouraging to see this… if it’s a problem with the story and how the plot is progressing, then i understand! i can’t do anything about that since i’m just translating what i’m reading from the original work.
but if people are giving low ratings because of my translation style or if it’s because of any errors that i might have overlooked, please do let me know so i can improve on those aspects in the future chapters.

that’s all really aaaa im sorry for bringing this up.
anyway, hope you guys had a great time reading this chapter because i sure enjoyed it kek :nosebleed:

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