The maids working in the Third Prince’s palace noticeably brightened, and the maids from other palaces approached to ask the reason.
“You used to look like you were going to die when you got assigned to the Third Prince’s palace, but now your face is all lit up!”
“If you were in my shoes, you’d feel the same way! Honestly, I thought I’d die as soon as I got there. The bad rumors about the Third Prince’s palace were countless.”
The maid, who had a gloomy expression while talking about the past, smiled brightly as she talked about recent events.
“But the Third Prince has completely changed. I thought the sun had risen in the west.”
“What? How has he changed?”
Ariel, the exclusive maid of the Third Prince’s palace, recalled her memories as she answered the endless questions from the maids of other palaces.
“Do you know what you had to be most careful about in the Third Prince’s palace?”
“You had to avoid upsetting the Third Prince’s mood. Among ourselves, we used to say he was notorious for his temper. Many servants disappeared after offending him.”
Ariel smiled instead of getting offended by the other maid’s indirect criticism of her master.
“That was the past. But now, Prince Ian is completely different. If in the past, he would have immediately beaten someone for a small mistake, now he just lets it go.”
‘Does poor Ariel know that’s how it should be?’
The other maids felt sorry for Ariel, who was expressing gratitude for something that was common in other palaces.
‘People don’t change suddenly…’
A maid from another palace, who had experienced the Third Prince’s wrath before, asked skeptically.
“Ariel, are you lying to us because you’re stressed? Did the Third Prince really change that much? Even if I hit my little brother while educating him, he wouldn’t change like that.”
A maid who managed the Chancellor’s office defended Ariel.
“But Ariel might be right. I once saw our Chancellor smiling while talking about the Third Prince.”
Ariel lifted her nose proudly as her statements gained some credibility.
“Do you know what happened recently? I accidentally spilled tea while carrying it. Do you know what the Third Prince did?”
“Usually, that would mean a broken limb, right?”
“Exactly. That would be the expected outcome for those familiar with the old Third Prince. But do you know what ‘our’ Third Prince did?”
Everyone waited silently for Ariel to continue.
“He grabbed me with one hand, caught the tea tray with the other, and asked if I was okay!”
“Is that even possible? That sounds like someone else’s soul took over him! In the past, a servant who made a similar mistake was severely beaten and expelled from the palace.”
“That’s what I’m saying. There’s so much more, but I’ll stop here. One thing is for sure: the Third Prince’s palace is now the best place to work. If you want, apply to work here later. You know it’s too late once the rumors spread, right?”
The other maids nodded continuously, considering the Third Prince’s palace as a potential future workplace.
Ariel’s statements might be lies, but her brightened face was convincing. Just a month ago, she had been more irritable and sensitive than anyone else, but now she was smiling benevolently, making her colleagues trust her words to some extent. Words can lie, but actions and expressions often reveal the truth.
As the other maids left, Ariel’s close friend Annie approached her and asked quietly,
“Ariel, be honest with me. Did the Third Prince really change? It was terrifying when I worked there.”
Annie asked with wide eyes, and Ariel replied teasingly.
“Yes, now I’m not envious of you working in the First Prince’s palace with his angelic kindness~”
Annie sighed deeply at Ariel’s words and said,
“The First Prince is no longer as kind as an angel. Recently, he’s been hysterical over the smallest things, probably because something bad happened.”
“See? I told you leaving a friend in hell wasn’t right. Come back to me, and your luck might change.”
Annie replied with a look of grievance at Ariel’s teasing tone.
“You know it wasn’t my decision. The head maid ordered me to transfer.”
“I don’t care about those complicated reasons. I just want to say one thing, Annie.”
Seeing Ariel’s serious expression, Annie perked up her ears and focused on her words.
“Tell them you want to transfer to the Third Prince’s palace immediately. Now is the perfect time. If competition gets tougher later, even I might not be able to recommend you. You know how fast rumors spread in the palace.”
“You mean it? I used to tremble with fear every time I cleaned in front of the Third Prince, fearing for my life whenever he looked at me with those murderous eyes.”
Annie shivered as she recalled her past days working in the Third Prince’s palace.
“I was terrified at first too. But now, the Third Prince is kind, and I work comfortably. Do you know Tom?”
“The Third Prince’s exclusive attendant?”
“Yes, he seems to have rejuvenated recently. He’s always smiling.”
Talking about Tom, Ariel suddenly mentioned a name Annie hadn’t heard before.
“By the way, Tom often repeats a strange word.”
“A strange word?”
“Something like ‘Answer Post’? It sounds like a person’s name. He keeps saying it to us, and he seems pleased when we mention it.”
“Hmm, I’ve never heard that word before. What could it mean?”
“Well, he doesn’t scold us about it. I’ll ask him later.”
“Listening to you, it seems the rumors are true.”
Annie lowered her voice.
“What rumors?”
“That the Emperor and the Chancellor are favoring the Third Prince these days. I heard they support him a lot in meetings and in other ways.”
Ariel responded proudly to Annie’s words.
“Annie, you should be grateful to have me as your friend.”
“What? Tell me quickly!”
“Do you know why Tom’s face has brightened?”
Seeing Annie’s eager eyes, Ariel felt a pleasant sense of satisfaction. She felt it truly mattered whom you served.
“The Emperor restored the budget for the Third Prince’s palace. Now I can buy what I need without hesitation.”
“They restored the budget that was cut due to his reckless behavior? Wow!”
Annie’s eyes widened, and she spoke with determination.
“I’ll go and tell the head maid right now.”
“Yes, hurry up before it’s too late!”
Annie started walking towards the head maid’s quarters but turned back to Ariel, just in case.
“Ariel, you’re not lying, right? If you drag your friend into hell, you both stay there forever.”
Ariel ran after Annie to give her a playful knock on the head, praying that the peace in the Third Prince’s palace would continue.
***
After the internal affairs meeting, Ian headed to the Magic Tower, where his engineer was hard at work.
“Our genius magical engineer is always busy.”
Deus, who was focused on optimizing the Detector, Scanner, and Tablet as Ian had instructed, smiled as he heard Ian’s voice from behind.
“Ah, our Third Prince, who is very popular with the servants these days!”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Seeing you pretend to be humble, you’re starting to look more like a prince and less like a rascal.”
Ian had a very effective way of dealing with Deus’s teasing.
‘Headlock.’
“Ack, isn’t this too much?”
“Is the research going well? You know I’ve secured a generous budget, right?”
Ian released Deus, who had been hitting his arm, and asked about the progress of the research.
“The optimization of the blueprint is complete. Now we just need to get high-grade mana stones from the Chancellor and start production.”
“Any anticipated difficulties in production?”
Deus grinned at Ian’s question. In construction, the design always took the bigger share of the money.
“Following the design is just a matter of having eyes.”
“I see, but can I trust the security to our junior magical engineer?”
“Who else but the genius magical engineer?”
“Can you protect it from the Tower Master?”
“Don’t worry. If you’re really concerned, put it in your space pouch.”
Ian admired Deus, who had figured out he had a space pouch even though he hadn’t mentioned it. Deus truly was the top genius of the Magic Tower.
“Can you develop this too?”
“It might be a bit challenging… but that makes it more fun, right?”
Seeing the burning passion in Deus’s eyes, Ian thought he might soon bring a remarkable item to the Chancellor. Or maybe he should give one to Tom first.
Knock, knock.
“Hmm, who is it?”
“Deus, it’s Tom. I have something urgent to deliver to His Highness.”
“Come in, Tom.”
As soon as Tom entered, Deus cast a concealment spell. No matter how close they were, business was business.
“Your Highness, a letter has arrived from someone named Alex.”
After checking the letter Tom handed him, Ian spoke to Deus.
“Deus, we need to go out.”
“I have a mountain of work to do.”
Deus cautiously expressed his reluctance.
Cliche Novel 