I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

The moment Ethan read the first line of the letter, he couldn’t hide the surprise that flickered in his eyes. He steadied himself, suppressing the initial shock, and continued reading, wondering if this “Blackwood family assassin Lily” might be a lead to the Lilith he was so desperately searching for.

“...?”

The further he read, however, the more his thoughts spun with bewilderment and disbelief.

The contents were too serious to be dismissed.

“E-rank adventurer... Goblin King...?”

The letter detailed an incident in which three F-rank adventurers, including an individual named “Assassin Lily,” had unexpectedly encountered a Goblin King during a promotion test. What followed was a lengthy apology: the Goblin King incident occurred due to insufficient research by the adventurer’s guild, and they assured him it would never happen again.

Along with the apology, the letter included additional compensation from the territory’s goblin king reward funds, pleading for leniency. Just knowing that Lilith was active in Ironhold under the alias “Assassin Lily” was surprising enough, but the fact that she had nearly lost her life in the process filled Ethan with a simmering anger.

“These damned idiots.”

“...”

Unable to contain his anger at the thought of the danger they’d put Lilith in, Ethan seethed, while Dietmeyer, his head butler, kept a cautious silence by his side.

Imagining what punishment he might extract from the Ironhold guild master, Ethan soon calmed himself. After all, he wasn’t yet certain if the “Assassin Lily” in question was truly her.

“‘Lily’ is a common enough name. It could very well be some woman posing as a member of the Blackwood family who just happened to have that name.”

It was true that Lilith, with her skill in handling daggers, fit the profile of an assassin.

She might lack the status and magic prowess of a true mage, but she was more than capable of taking down a Goblin King if given enough time to cast.

‘Then again, what are the chances of there being two people like that in the world?’

Even so, he couldn’t be fully convinced until he saw it with his own eyes. Quickly, Ethan prepared to head for Ironhold.

“I’m afraid that will be it for my duties today. Inform the chef and coachman that I’ll be departing immediately after bathing and eating.”

“Understood, young master.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Perhaps, this time, he’d finally find Lilith.

With that hope in mind, Ethan was on his way back out toward Ironhold after barely half a day’s return to Blackwood Manor.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

‘Come to think of it, I was overcomplicating things from the start.’

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

As Ethan saddled up and left Blackwood territory, he reflected.

‘If she was truly trying to escape me, she wouldn’t have gone to any of our shared places. Nor would she have gone to visit anyone we both knew.’

Not the imperial capital, nor the Auguste estate, nor Professor Mamari’s residence, all of which he’d already searched. And of course, there were places he hadn’t visited due to their distance or inaccessibility, like the Kingdom of Defrin or the Witch’s Forest.

Striking those places off the list made Ethan feel a strange sense of relief.

If Lilith had fled to somewhere like the Witch’s Forest or Defrin, tracking her down would have been a much more difficult and taxing endeavor.

‘The fact that she didn’t do that... Maybe, deep down, Lilith wants me to find her.’

Using the alias “Lily” could also mean she wasn’t really trying to hide her identity.

Opting to fight the Goblin King rather than flee suggested she had no intention of living quietly in hiding.

Most importantly, she hadn’t kept her connection to the Blackwood family a secret from the adventurer’s guildmaster—hence the letter reaching him.

...If she hadn’t given up entirely, this might be her way of signaling for him to come find her.

“...Just this once, I’ll let it slide, Lilith.”

He knew he was partly to blame for not giving her enough reassurance.

He could forgive this moment of impulsive jealousy.

...But if she tried to run again after this, he’d have to think things over more seriously.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

A month had passed since Lilith traveled to the commercial city of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Ermia with Mirif’s group.

It had been about a month and two weeks since she left Blackwood Manor. Excluding the travel time, she’d been living communally in the church for roughly four weeks.

Each morning began with a group shower in gender-separated facilities, followed by a morning prayer and breakfast with most of the church members.

After handling chores like cleaning and laundry during the morning, the afternoons were free. She could take on monster hunts through the adventurer’s guild, enjoy solitary hobbies like reading, or even take a casual stroll around the city.

‘Technically, since I’m a guest, I’m not obliged to do chores like cleaning or laundry.’

But she had her pride. It would be too parasitic to let others take care of her while she was getting free food and lodging. Though she couldn’t use cleaning magic, given her “commoner” status, her maid experience from just two months ago meant she didn’t mind doing chores manually.

“Sister Lily, are you going monster hunting again today?”

“...Yes.”

“In that case, why not join us in clearing the orc horde that appeared north of the city? With you along, Sister Lily, we’d feel so much stronger, haha!”

“...Sure.”

Most afternoons, she went on monster hunts organized through the Ermia adventurer’s guild. When her schedule aligned with the holy knights, she preferred joining them.

Guild assignments were usually solo with Mirif occasionally tagging along, so the scale of the fights was smaller. In group hunts with the holy knights, there were more opportunities to gain experience.

And best of all, the holy knights, being religious, had little interest in material wealth, meaning she could keep the full reward without paying a guild commission. Unlike the greedy adventurer’s guild, which took a hefty 30% fee.

When bad weather kept her indoors, she practiced swordsmanship in the training hall with the holy knights. Since there weren’t many people skilled with daggers, she often found others eager to spar with her.

This gave her the chance to practice against those at or slightly above her skill level, making it a mutually beneficial arrangement.

After spending her afternoons this way, she would take a second shower, have dinner, and turn in for the night.

Various prayer sessions punctuated the day—early morning, post-meal, evening, and bedtime prayers—but she skipped them all.

She had no patience for sitting through an hour or two reciting fixed phrases, and the others didn’t press her, as they knew she wasn’t a priestess.

Days followed this routine, and after four weeks, she had grown accustomed to life in Ermia.

‘By now, the academy must be in the middle of midterms.’

Competing with Agnes for the top magic ranking felt like a distant memory.

Now, with her as the sole contender, Agnes was probably comfortably holding the top position.

‘Thinking about it, I miss them a little.’

She missed Agnes, of course, and even Lizzy, Natalie, and the others—Ceris, Seraphina, Lara, Meline, Liria...

It seemed she’d made connections with nearly all the notable figures at the academy. Even those she wasn’t close to, like Silena or Luke, were familiar enough not to ignore her if they met on the street.

Though not from the academy, she missed Isabel and Katarina, too.

And also...

“...Sigh.”

Whenever she reminisced, the first face that came to mind was always Ethan’s.

“...Maybe I should go back.”

She’d ruined her semester, but graduating from the academy didn’t hold much significance for her.

The thought of graduating alongside Ethan had some meaning, but now even that was gone.

And since Ethan had surely returned to the academy, going back to Blackwood Manor wouldn’t guarantee seeing him. Isabel might even be there as his personal maid in her stead, meaning she’d probably only see Katarina or Dietmeyer.

‘There’s no point in going back right now.’

If she wanted to see Ethan badly enough to return, she’d have to time it right.

Thinking tomorrow would likely follow the same routine, she drifted off to sleep.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

And so, the next morning.

“...Thank you for the meal.”

I joined in the last phrase of the priests’ grace and began breakfast as usual.

Just as I took a spoonful of the mild soup—a typical, repetitive part of the menu—a foul taste surged from the back of my mouth.

“...Ugh?!”

A nauseating bitterness suddenly overwhelmed my taste buds.