Surviving As A Maid
Chapter 7

Carefully holding the baby prince, I made my way toward the dais where the queen sat. She seemed disinterested in her child and had her gaze averted, which stirred a sense of unease within me. As I reached the top of the stairs, a nanny, who had been waiting at the back, quickly stepped forward to relieve me of the prince, expertly cradling him in her arms.

“Susa, prepare the room across from the baby for Sir Mio. With both Sir Mio and Sir Alex nearby, the baby should be safer now,” the queen said.

Susa, the head maid, bowed in acknowledgment of the order. The head maid’s name is Susa! The queen, looking weary, gently massaged her temples with her slender fingers before rising from her seat. She paused mid-step and turned to Mio.

“Will you be returning right away?” she asked.

“I will first report to His Majesty and return after packing my belongings,” he responded, standing with his hand placed over his heart. Just as I had imagined from reading about knights, he demonstrated formal and old-fashioned courtesy.

The queen looked down at Mio, who respectfully bowed his head.

“Convey my thanks to His Majesty for appointing a personal guard for the child even before giving him a name,” she instructed dryly.

Wow, she has some attitude. I had previously thought her to be submissive for not standing up against Yurigel’s abuses in the novel, but she must have had her own subtle ways of expressing dissent.

With that, the queen exited the assembly hall. Mio watched her depart, and his expression was still clouded with gloom. Perhaps it was their shared sense of unhappiness that made them appear similar in my eyes, despite their different appearances. The maids, including myself, followed the queen out and left Mio behind.

I stole one last glance at him before exiting. He remained frozen with his gaze fixed on where he had last seen the queen. His deep and somber eyes seemed to conceal something flickering within.

Thus, Sir Mio Zodiac entered the queen’s palace, destined to become the guard of the young prince. He was unknowingly poised to whisper venomous words about the queen to her own son, driven by his unrequited love for Yurigel.

The queen found herself between two men in love with the same man as they resided on the same floor of a building—with one to the east and the other to the west. It was a complex dynamic with a king, his queen, and his concubine. What was worse, the queen and two men enamored with the concubine were all living under the same roof. However, seemingly unaware of Mio’s affection for Yurigel, the queen appeared unfazed by his presence.

Following this, Yurigel’s visits to see the baby prince became a regular occurrence. It had turned into a routine for him to hold the prince gently while swaying and humming a soft lullaby. The gentle and undemanding baby prince didn’t seem to mind who held him. Whether it was his birth mother, his nanny, or his father’s lover, he quietly rested in their arms. With Yurigel’s frequent presence, the head maid no longer assigned me to welcome him, which, in some ways, was a relief.

Only once after Mio’s arrival was I tasked with greeting duties during Yurigel’s visit. That was the only time the three of us were together in one room. Yurigel had the prince in his arms, Mio observed silently, and I wished to blend into the background. There were moments when Yurigel appeared genuinely beautiful as he cradled the prince and sang. And he was, indeed, a stunning man. Sometimes, it seemed like the sun rose just to shine on him, the flowers bloomed to praise him, and the wind blew to carry his scent.

Yurigel was seemingly born to be loved, and it felt as if the world itself celebrated his existence.

If I was already amazed by his existence while reading the novel, how much more radiant must Yurigel appear to Mio, who is in love with him? What sins could I have possibly committed in my past life to witness such a sad scene that I can barely keep my eyes open in a world like this?

Ever since Yurigel’s arrival at the queen’s palace, Mio’s gaze had remained unwaveringly fixed on him. There was something about Yurigel that seemed to captivate him entirely. His face, hair, shoulders, back, and even his shadow held Mio’s attention in a way that felt almost consuming. Watching Mio’s intense observation was almost tiring, but Yurigel appeared either oblivious to it or had grown used to such admiration over time. He didn’t seem bothered by the attention at all.

If the novel depicted Alex’s growing affection for Yurigel, then Mio’s infatuation seemed to have taken root from the very first moment he laid eyes on him. It made me wonder what it was about Yurigel that made his feelings for him so strong. He looked at Yurigel as I looked at him. His gaze filled me with a sense of embarrassment, making me wonder if that was what love was meant to be like.

Mio’s eyes were a captivating shade of dark green—a detail I noticed only because I couldn’t help but keep looking at him. Had I merely glanced, I might have missed their rich forest hue. I found myself wondering whether his eyes would appear differently under the bright sunlight or if their depth was a reflection of his unspoken love for Yurigel. It was something I would never know.

After getting off work on time, I returned to my room and pulled a chair up to the window, sitting down to stare at the night sky. Unlike Seoul’s smog-filled skies, the stars here were vivid and abundant, eliciting a deep sigh from me.

Remembering Mio’s face from earlier, I couldn’t help but feel a bit gloomy and curious. It was as if I were observing a man who had mistakenly co-signed a loan for an ungodly amount and now faced financial ruin. Then he received an offer from a wealthy lady to become her kept lover, promising to clear his debts and support his family.

The depth of his internal struggle was evident, as he also had to consider his four younger siblings. Mio didn’t strike me as someone who would whisper bitter words about the queen into the young prince’s ear. It made me ponder what love truly was to have the power to change a person so profoundly.

Mina returned to our room on time from her shift.

“You’re back already? Good work today,” I said to her.

“Why are you sitting there?”

“I just wanted to look at the stars.”

Mina, after changing into her pajamas and letting her hair down, joined me with another chair. “What’s making you feel so down all of a sudden?”

That’s a good question. Why am I feeling down? Mio’s downfall is just a part of the novel’s narrative. It doesn’t have anything to do with me. My life isn’t here. I want to go back home.

“I don’t know. Love seems really complicated,” I replied.

“Oh? Are you thinking about Sir Mio as well?”

“Why are you bringing him up right now?”

“Everyone’s talking about the new handsome knight who just showed up.”

Unlike me, Mina had the advantage of mingling with other maids during her shifts, allowing her to engage in conversations that I could only envy from my solitary tasks. I bet it was fun gossiping about him with the others.

“So... You’re not interested in Sir Mio?” I asked, probing her thoughts.

“Things are still going well between me and my boyfriend, I guess.”

“You guess? What do you mean by that?”

“This place’s rules are just too restrictive.” She huffed. “Being allowed to go out only once every three months is absurd.”

“Well... It’s only during the apprenticeship period.”

While I was concerned about the strain placed on workers at the queen’s palace, I also recognized that—being what it was—it didn’t employ just anyone. In the palace, most of the maids were apprentices and limited to rare outings every three months during their year-long apprenticeship unless a special event intervened.

“Another month before I can go out... I wonder if Gerald is waiting for me.”

Will Gerald be waiting for Mina? Will my ramyun be waiting for me? No one knows. I shared my shawl with Mina as she rested her chin on the windowsill. The sky stretched high above, adorned with numerous stars and a bright moon. I couldn’t help but feel like the only one in a somber mood.

“Oh, Ash,” Mina began, breaking the silence. “Madam Susa told me to tell you that you’re assigned to assist the prince’s nanny tomorrow.”

“Me? Why? I’m scheduled for laundry duty tomorrow.”

“Sev was originally supposed to do it, but she broke her leg after falling down the stairs. Madam Susa plans to reassign her to lighter tasks until she recovers,” she explained.

“That’s terrible! How did she fall? Is she seriously injured?”

“She’s fine. Pepe’s the one who pushed her. It was pretty funny,” Mina said nonchalantly, even giving a thumbs-up. I had thought Sev and Mina were close, just as Sev and Pepe seemed to be.

“Did Pepe push her by accident?”

“Nope. Oh, right! You weren’t around. You don’t know the story, do you?”

“What happened?”

Mina, propping herself up on the windowsill, turned to face me. Her eyes glowed a vivid green in the dim light, reminding me of fresh spring leaves. Would Mio’s eyes shine as brightly as hers under the sun once the sadness of his love for Yurigel cleared?

“Sev seduced Pepe’s boyfriend.”

“What? No way!” I exclaimed.

“She first went to her boyfriend for revenge, and then she confronted Sev right after lunch.”

“Pepe’s pretty cool.”

Given Pepe’s small stature compared to Sev’s taller and leaner frame, it was remarkable that she had managed to push Sev down the stairs. I wouldn’t have thought so if Sev had been seriously hurt, but from Mina’s tone, it seemed like Sev was going to be okay.

“We should keep Pepe and Sev separated for a while,” I suggested.

“Madam Susa thinks the same.”

I was surprised there wasn’t a harsher punishment, but staffing at the queen’s palace was a challenge. With constant changes in positions and the inherent risks involved, it wasn’t a sought-after place for many. Even though Pepe pushing someone down the stairs wasn’t a minor incident, the head maid seemed hesitant to dismiss any staff.

“Pepe’s boyfriend seemed nice...” Mina mumbled.

“Yeah, but he still cheated.”

“Exactly. I just hope Gerald’s different.”

I don’t understand why, in a world where people love and are loved, all these stories of love never seem to end happily. Yurigel and the king’s love might be blissful, but what about people like Alex and Mio, who are in love with someone they can’t have? Does being in love alone bring them any joy? I wish we were all born with a stamp of someone’s name on us, destined to love only that person. That way, no one would waste their time loving the wrong person.

“Ah... I could really use a drink,” I groaned. A beer would be perfect right now. A mild one that wasn’t too fizzy. Just a cold draft beer to gulp down...

“You’re right. Should I sneak some from the kitchen?”

Mina’s eyes brightened at the idea. It appeared that alcohol existed in this world as well. Given that the names of the food and drinks were nearly identical to those in my world, the presence of beer wouldn’t be all that surprising.

“What if we’re caught?” I asked.

“We’ll just take the cheap stuff. If they catch us, they can cut it from our pay!”

“You mean from your pay, right?”

“I’ll be right back. Call Ellie and Jessie and anyone else who’s free.”

Mina rose swiftly, hastily tying her hair and wrapping a shawl around herself. I noted that she conveniently ignored my remark about the consequences affecting her wages. But I was being mostly serious.

“Get some snacks too,” I called.

“Tell the others to bring whatever they’ve stashed away!”

There I was, stranded in another world. It was a vast ocean with no sun or moon and no rescue in sight. Without knowing where the lighthouse was, I stood adrift in the sea, uncertain whether to row or even which direction to head. Too frightened to move, my only hope was to avoid a shipwreck.

However, little did I know that a storm was approaching.