“Heh heh heh~ I finally found a chance to mess with you legitimately!”
Tilly thoroughly enjoyed the feel of Lian’s cheeks and the envious gazes of her fellow sisters working around them.
Like everyone else employed in the Court, she was quite fond of Lian.
The Lian who was currently being teased by her was simply too lovable.
When Tilly first saw her, she felt her features were handsome, clear, and full of heroic spirit—there was also a strange sense of familiarity.
After thinking for a while, she realized that this familiarity came from the banknotes, paintings, and statues found everywhere in the city depicting the heroic figure of the Hero.
She was not the only one who thought so. She and her sisters, who idolized the Hero, often stayed up at night too excited to sleep, whispering about her in the dark—
“Hey, don’t you think the new Xiao Lian looks a bit like the Hero? She is so handsome…! I really want to call her Lady Sister… or have her call me Lady Sister!”
“And her hard-working appearance, even though she is clearly not good at the job but forces herself to adapt, is so cute! Even though this means she 100% did not pass our Completion Exam… as long as she is cute, it is fine to go through the back door!”
“Handsome and cute are both true… but I feel her temperament really doesn’t seem like a simple Maid. Just imagine her holding a Frostblade?”
“She really would look more like the Hero then. Isn’t her age also similar to the Lady’s? Do you think there’s a possibility—”
“Impossible!”
While some with rich imaginations and less obsession raised similar questions during their discussions, they were immediately shut down by the others who treated the love story of the Hero and the Duchess as scripture.
Lian, who mostly interacted with her colleagues in the Xīlong Pavilion only during work and meals, did not know that in just a few days, she had become the object of admiration and affection for these young girls because of her appearance and her own “love story”—so at this moment, she could only lower her head shyly, hoping Tilly and the others would let her go as soon as possible.
“I apologize for the interruption… lovely Ladies. May I ask… if you could lead us to our seats?”
The maids’ playfulness was ended by a group of Nobles dressed in exceptionally magnificent clothing.
Lian immediately recognized the man who stepped forward to greet them—the Blood Demon Noble named Vlad Che…ton.
That day, he had approached her trying to perform a hand-kissing rite, only to be shoved away by her.
“Oh my… isn’t this red-cheeked one… the Maid from the other day… who wasn’t quite used to physical contact? *Cough, cough*—”
Lian was somewhat on guard against him doing the same thing as that day, but he showed no intention of approaching further.
Not only that, his voice was very dry and raspy, ending with a coughing tremor… though his words were as frivolous as before.
“Um… are you… are you alright, Lord?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he began clutching his chest and coughing incessantly. Seeing him looking even thinner than she remembered, Lian couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity.
“I’m… I’m fine. I just had a bit too much internal heat from my last meal… I’m not criticizing your service… but the meals you provide are indeed different in taste from what I am usually accustomed to… cough, cough, cough, cough!”
The more he spoke, the harder he coughed—as if he were about to cough up his lungs.
“You should stop talking, Lord. Sister Lian, could you please lead the honorable guests to their seats? It seems you were responsible for receiving them before.”
“Leave it to me. Everyone, please follow me.”
His pitiful state was even hard for Tilly and the other Maids to watch.
After accepting their request, Lian looked somewhat displeasedly at Nolan’s group behind him—the appearance of those Royal Family siblings was still as striking as ever.
For this occasion, both had changed into magnificent new clothes she had not seen before, making them look even more radiant.
The large Warrior accompanying them had not changed much… but from his neat clothes and clean-shaven hair and beard, it was clear he had also carefully groomed his appearance.
Strange. These children seem perfectly fine and full of energy… why would they let a sick person who can barely speak clearly take the lead to communicate with the servants?
Though dissatisfied with the character of these sons of old acquaintances, Lian could not preach to or complain about them as they were State Guests.
After greeting each of them, she led the group to their designated seats.
“Ah, Sister Lian.”
As the most distinguished guests in the Xīlong Pavilion, their seats were naturally arranged near Milin, the host.
Seeing Lian approach, Milin instinctively stood up from her seat, smiling broadly as she waved and called her name—
“…Chester.”
But upon seeing Nolan’s group following behind, her face immediately fell.
Especially when she saw the Prince who had previously sparred with her at the Training Ground step forward, she could not help but let out a complaint.
“Hello, Princess. After changing into your gown, you appear even more lovely and delicate than when I last saw you.”
“Lovely… delicate…!”
The Prince showed a provocative smile, leaning down to take the hand of Milin, whose forehead was bulging with veins, to kiss it. But just as his hand reached out, Milin slapped it away.
“What is the meaning of this? You should perform this kind of etiquette for my Mother.”
“…I didn’t expect the Princess to be so familiar with etiquette? Doing such a thing to an unmarried woman is indeed very frivolous and rude. I am willing to reflect deeply on this.”
“Is that so? I don’t see any intent of reflection from you at all.”
Milin squinted at him—this Prince still held his head high. Normally, she would not care about this nonsense etiquette, but today’s occasion was different.
Moreover, since the first moment she met him, this man had been dancing recklessly on her nerves—
How could Roland Uncle’s son be such a worthless fellow? There is simply no one more annoying in the world!
“Really? Then please introduce me to your Mother, and I will make amends for my rudeness… Oh, why is the Duke not here?”
“…She won’t be coming today. Perhaps Mother feels that a guy like you isn’t worth her personal appearance?”
“Then why hasn’t the Princess… no, Aunt Vera arrived either? This Breakfast Gathering should have already started, right?”
“She won’t be attending either… and what’s with that title?”
Milin could hardly stand his pretentious attitude. His gaze had clearly confirmed that there was only one main seat behind her, yet he still asked such a question…!
“Don’t you know? Aunt Vera asked us to call her that. When we went to visit her yesterday, she seemed quite happy. Afterward, we even accompanied her on a stroll through the Street while she was feeling unwell, and we even went to see the Martial Tournament… I heard you were also participating in the Martial Tournament yesterday? It’s a great pity we couldn’t witness your heroic spirit, comparable to that of the Hero, alongside Aunt—”
“You—!”