Chapter 18 : Is She the Queen or Am I the Queen?

For several days in a row, Lorin was buried in mountains of paperwork, completely unaware that both Claire and Phyllis had been around the whole time.

To keep the workload from piling up during their inspection rounds, Claire had dumped the documents on Lorin instead.

But fearing she’d mess things up, the early batches of papers Lorin processed were still being reviewed by Phyllis.

Eventually, though, the sisters headed off again—because Lorin had handled the work so well that Phyllis even commented she saw a bit of herself in her.

Claire wasn’t sure who resembled who anymore, but with Lorin doing all the grunt work, both sisters were living the easy life.

“I quit!”

Lorin, eyes bloodshot and arms limp on the desk, buried her face in a stack of papers and shouted with a hoarse, tear-laced voice.

It had been a full week.

She had functioned like a wind-up machine, tirelessly hunched over endless files, day and night.

Now, every inch of her body ached with exhaustion; she felt completely drained, as if even the last shred of strength had been sucked out of her.

Especially…

“Your Majesty, have you eaten?”

“Good morning, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty, here’s the latest from the human realm…”

The third one was still tolerable.

But the first two?

Why were these even on her desk?

Lorin seriously questioned what kind of useless staff Phyllis had under her.

And it wasn’t even their job?

How did Phyllis not get annoyed answering this stuff every day like someone with a compulsive need to please?

Lorin was dumbfounded.

So…

With fury surging, she hurled the document in her hand across the room and shouted at the top of her lungs, face flushed, “I quit! No matter what you say—I’m done!”

She stomped her foot on the spot, seething with rage, the fire in her chest refusing to be extinguished.

Grumbling to herself, Lorin fumed: Is Phyllis the queen or am I?

These two sisters are insane—making me do all this crap.

Are they deliberately trying to torture me?!

Standing nearby, Grace observed Lorin’s growing frustration without missing a beat.

She hesitated for a moment, then decided not to step forward or speak up.

She simply sighed quietly, sympathy flickering in her eyes, as a thought slipped into her mind: Being a maid really is easier after all…

Because this exact look on Lorin’s face—she’d already seen it hundreds of times on Queen Phyllis.

Lorin raised a hand and beckoned, “Grace, come here.”

Grace, who had been standing just a few steps away, straightened her maid uniform and quickly walked over with a light, practiced step.

When she reached Lorin, she gave a small curtsy and lifted her head, eyes full of respect.

“Princess, is there something you need?”

“Grace… are you really content being just a maid?”

Lorin began, voice dripping with temptation.

“Don’t you want to move up in the world?”

If Grace couldn’t guess what Lorin was planning by now, she might as well hand in her maid badge.

She immediately shook her head.

“No! Princess, please don’t say such things…”

She was perfectly happy as a maid.

Her salary was better than anything outside, and Her Majesty was a kind boss—unlike those corporate managers who acted like emperors.

“Grace… even if not for me, don’t you want to ease Her Majesty’s burden a little?”

Lorin pressed on, her tone coaxing and persuasive.

Grace fell silent.

Before Lorin came along, she had always been Queen Phyllis’s personal maid.

Of course she had seen firsthand how the queen sometimes snapped under pressure.

It hurt her heart to watch—but she was just a lowly maid, powerless to help.

“I’ll teach you!”

Sensing an opening, Lorin doubled down.

“Learning more skills won’t hurt, right?”

“No!”

Just when Lorin thought she had her, Grace shot her down without hesitation.

This princess really was too good at trying to lead people astray…

“Hmm…”

Lorin paused.

For the sake of her own happiness, then…

She suddenly threw her arms around Grace’s thigh, sinking into the soft texture of the maid uniform’s white stockings.

“Grace-sis~”

The silver-haired little girl called out sweetly.

Grace stood frozen, clearly still recovering from the sudden ambush.

Acting cute… I can endure that!

My bottom line is the most flexible thing in the universe! Lorin silently reassured herself.

“Grace-sis~ just for a few days, please help me out~”

Her voice turned soft and sugary.

Grace felt herself wavering.

Grace let out a long, silent sigh. “Just for a few days, then…”

Honestly, she was curious what kind of work made the queen lose her mind every single day.

“Yay!”

Lorin’s eyes lit up with pure joy.

Her tightly pursed lips curled into a grin, brows arching with delight as her whole face lit up.

Excitedly, she stepped aside to make room at the desk, her movements swift and decisive.

Grace could only shake her head in resignation as she took a seat.

Lorin, meanwhile, sat herself gently on Grace’s lap.

Leaning forward slightly, she rested one hand on Grace’s arm and began teaching her the basics of administrative work with the utmost patience.

She even encouraged Grace to share her own ideas.

And to Lorin’s surprise, some of Grace’s suggestions were actually… really good.

A single word formed in Lorin’s mind:

Talent!

Her eyes gleamed—her golden age was finally beginning.

She taught Grace even more enthusiastically.

For the next several days, this became their routine.

In most situations, Grace could already handle things on her own, and Lorin’s role had shifted to brewing tea and serving fruit.

Their roles had completely flipped.

“Grace-sis, here’s your water.”

“Grace-sis, have some fruit.”

“Grace-sis, let me give you a shoulder massage.”

Compared to racking her brain over endless paperwork, these physical tasks were much more her style.

But what Lorin didn’t know was that a mirror in the corner of the room… was actually an alchemy device.

“How interesting!”

Phyllis couldn’t help but laugh as she watched the scene unfold inside the mirror—Grace diligently working while Lorin bustled about like a handmaid.

As her former personal maid, Grace was incredibly capable.

She’d even been entrusted with classified documents, so Phyllis never doubted her.

But Lorin’s antics?

They truly opened Phyllis’s eyes.

She had assistants before, but every single one eventually became… problematic.

So she gave up and handled everything personally.

Now, seeing that Grace might have a knack for this, Phyllis started to wonder if maybe it was time to bring back the position of “assistant.”

Meanwhile, Claire’s face darkened.

She was already planning how to strengthen her mother-daughter bond with Lorin once they got home.

“Alright, Sister, let’s keep playing. I’m sure my little niece knows what she’s doing,” Phyllis said, trying to defend Lorin.

Claire gave a small nod.

Lorin might be a bit unreliable, but at least she wasn’t the kind to cause real trouble.