I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince-Chapter 473: The luck is on our side (1)

Lydia personally took on the responsibility of caring for her colleagues, Lora and Neris, through their recovery. She tended to their battered bodies, dressed them, and prepared a new room for their comfort.

Some might question why such dedicated care was necessary, but there was no choice. The knights, aiming to keep the two women subdued, had severed the tendons in their ankles.

They could manage sitting up to eat with their hands, but any movement required someone’s assistance, a role naturally filled by Lydia, who shared a close bond with them.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lilith. Because of me, you've been taking on my responsibilities...."

“What are you saying, Miss Lydia? Now, more than ever, you should lean on your comrades. Lora and Neris especially need your protection, so please focus on assisting them, and leave everything else to me.”

“Thank you for saying that, Miss Lilith.”

Thus, I naturally took over the head maid’s role, assisting others as needed. In the original story, Lilith was the character who always prioritized the convenience of the hero's party, so my role hadn’t really changed.

‘Even if Lydia is absent, there’s still Ethan, and that hero is competent enough anyway.’

Queen Veronica wasn’t likely to stop here. Until she had definitive proof that Princess Rainy was dead, she would continue with her assassination attempts.

The royal knights she sent weren’t the main problem; the real issue was that Queen Veronica’s schemes had drawn attention to Princess Rainy’s unique condition, even among the demons.

This ability, where she absorbs all misfortune until her twentieth birthday and then lives the rest of her life blessed with only good fortune, naturally provoked the demons. They intended to invade hastily, aiming to kill her before her unique magic fully manifested.

Thus, this event became Princess Rainy’s “Rescue Event,” with the party having to fend off both the royal knights advancing from the capital and the demon army approaching from the northern demon territories.

‘It’s tough, but... this is the last event.’

Once this ordeal was over, it would mean the end of the Academy, the hero’s party, and ties to any major figures. I had to see this through to the end for a proper conclusion.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Two days had passed since we arrived at Princess Rainy’s villa.

During these two days, I merely [N O V E L I G H T] ran errands, taking on Lydia’s tasks while she focused on tending to Lora and Neris, who struggled to move independently. Lora, at least, had regained enough strength to greet the other party members, but Neris was another story.

“Ahhh! No! No! Aaaah!”

“Neris! What’s wrong all of a sudden?!”

“I-I’m sorry!! Please forgive me!! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!”

“What did I do wrong?!”

“It’s not your fault, Thomas.... I’ll explain later....”

Upon crossing paths with Thomas in the corridor, Neris had let out blood-curdling screams that drew everyone in the villa. It was clear that after her traumatic experiences, she had developed a severe fear of men, so Ethan, the hero, and Thomas no longer visited the floor where Lora and Neris resided.

In the process, Princess Rainy inevitably became aware of the ordeal her maids had endured in her absence.

"......."

No one explicitly mentioned what had happened, but Neris’ evident fear of men made it easy to guess. Though I’d hoped to keep this hidden, the truth spread to Princess Rainy and those downstairs that day.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Be careful from now on, Thomas. Miss Neris seems to have always been fearful of men.”

“If she’d always been scared, how did she manage as a maid until now?”

“What? Are you implying there’s another reason?”

“...You know, thinking about it, maybe you’re right, Natalie. I’ll be careful.”

...Other than the occasional clueless comment from Natalie, everything was otherwise routine. The hero handled cooking, I managed the bath schedule and errands, and the night watch was rotated among the remaining members except for the three maids and myself.

“Tonight’s menu is potato soup and potato fries.”

“...Sigh, potatoes again.”

“There’s no choice, Agnes. This is all the villa’s storage had left.”

Under normal circumstances, Lora and Neris would have gone to the nearby village to gather supplies or sourced from the backyard farm, but neither was possible. With Princess Rainy’s party at peak misfortune, entering town was too dangerous, and the farm had been destroyed by the knights before our arrival.

Most of the remaining ingredients in the storage had either been consumed or spoiled due to poor handling. Potatoes were all that were left, so naturally, our meals for several days had centered on them. Luckily, the hero knew a few recipes that made it possible to make fries without oil; without such options, we would have likely stopped eating entirely by now.

“Hang in there, Agnes. Only one more day, and Princess Rainy’s misfortune will end.”

“...Will we be able to go to a village restaurant afterward? No offense to your cooking, hero, but I’m really tired of potatoes.”

“There’s no need to head to a village. If we can return to the royal palace, I’m sure Princess Rainy will formally invite us as guests of Defrin Kingdom, won’t you, Princess?”

"......."

– Nod, nod.

Her gratitude would surely turn our hardships into future blessings.

– Crunch.

Continuing with the unsatisfactory meal, we prepared ourselves for the final battle scheduled for the evening.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Hah... hah... Lilith, this way!”

“Understood, Master Ethan!”

Before us stood a massive demon with two large horns and a black body.

Timing my shots with the opening Ethan created, I unleashed three magic arrows, targeting its right eye.

– Thud!

“Gaaahhh!”

The minotaur’s sweeping arm blocked two arrows, but one found its mark, burying itself in its eye, causing it to bellow in pain.

– Slash!

“Lilith, where should we head next?”

“After the minotaur, the cyclops over there! Be careful; it can attack with its eye beam!”

“Got it!”

Acknowledging my advice, Ethan secured his sword from the fallen minotaur and charged at the one-eyed giant. I followed closely, my dagger tightly in hand.

What began at dusk with the royal knights’ third assault continued into the night with the demons’ relentless attacks.

Unlike the royal knights, who could be dealt with if we kept up our guard, each demon was formidable. Even for Ethan and me, handling one demon individually was challenging.

Under normal circumstances, Ethan and I could have taken them one-on-one, but with Princess Rainy’s misfortune looming, we needed to minimize any variables that might hinder our combat.

Sticking close to Ethan, I struck down each demon as they came, while the hero and Silena paired off, dispatching them systematically. Meanwhile, the others defended against the remaining knights on the opposite flank.

“Aim for its ankle, Master Ethan! The big eye isn’t a weak point!”

“Understood, Lilith!”

At my cue, Ethan lunged toward the cyclops’ left ankle, slicing it cleanly. The moment the creature’s movement faltered, I restrained its calf with my magical chain.

“Grrrahhh?!”

Taking advantage of its incapacitation, I anchored the other end of the chain to another cyclops in combat with Gedralt. As our cyclops stumbled, the opposing one tripped, their momentum resulting in both beasts falling to the battlefield.

“Hah... hah...”

“...Are you alright, Lilith?”

“Yes. I used a considerable amount of mana, but I’m fine.”

The magic chain, strong enough to restrain two cyclopes, drained a significant amount of mana—nearly half my reserves. But with these formidable foes defeated, we were closer to safety.

Though these giants weren’t their leader, in the original, overcoming them had always marked the event’s success.

...Only minutes remained until Princess Rainy’s "birthday."

In just a few more moments, “luck” would finally be on our side.