Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 100: The maidservant

Chapter 100: The maidservant

After the fight in the garden, everyone returned inside the palace, leaving only the men in the garden, playing board games while discussing the upcoming war and birthday ceremony.

Meanwhile, Ave went back inside with Princess Thalia, while the twins had been forced to go and mingle with the other princesses so they could find their suitors. Ave was somewhat grateful that Prince Aaron had remained outside with his lion lying in the shade without coming to bother her again and make her feel anxious that he would know that she had a secret that could cost her life.

She had been told by a maid that the room she would be using in the main palace had been prepared for her, and she could move there today. The room was far away from where she had spent the night with Lucian last night.

It was located on the upper floor, where she was close to the hall arranged for the courtesans who had recently moved into the main palace because of the guests, in case they needed company at night.

"Thalia, where are those books you promised to bring me that day? I might as well read to pass my time," Ave asked the elder princess who was walking beside her to the inner palace.

A small frown settled on Thalia’s face as she said, "I took them to the doomed palace that day when you weren’t feeling well. Um, Brother Lucian’s bodyguard took them inside." She informed her. Those were the only books she had left, as her brother had burned the rest to stop her from daydreaming about a romance she could never experience and would never allow her to have.

Ave sighed, realizing she would have to do nothing but get bored since they wouldn’t be able to go to the doomed palace today. She would have liked to go and pick up the books and, from there, check if Hugo had started his work at the stables and also looked around for Selene’s diary so she wouldn’t have to think about a certain jerk.

"We can go and pick them up tomorrow when everyone will be busy in the garden again in the afternoon," said Thalia as she noticed Ave’s expression and how she looked somewhat disheartened and unlike her energetic self.

"Yeah, we can go tomorrow. I’ll probably spend my time there and return here in the evening," she replied quietly.

"How about I show you my chamber today, and we look at the dresses delivered by the few dressmaker?" Thalia suggested, and Ave agreed quickly. Perhaps that would help her more and distract her until evening.

The day passed in the blink of an eye with Ave distracting herself with the princess in her chamber, which looked every bit like a princess’ room. She was shown around the room and the dresses the dressmaker had made for them, though they didn’t look anything like what Ave had made them draw that day. It was beautiful on its own when Thalia tried it on and even did the Water dance steps in it, causing Ave to smile and laugh genuinely, forgetting most of her worries.

Thalia had mastered the dance so well she made it look more decent and graceful than it actually was, and Ave hoped the Empress wouldn’t cancel the dance for them so they could present it to the rest on the day.

Time passed quickly without her even realizing it was dinner time, until Thalia’s maidservant came to inform her to come down to the dining hall, causing Ave’s eyes to widen as she recalled she hadn’t seen Lydia for the whole day.

As they walked down toward the dining hall, Ave asked the princess, "Now that I am no longer a princess, will I still keep my maidservant?"

Thalia shook her head. "No. Since you don’t have a title, you can no longer have a maidservant and would have to do most things on your own. But don’t worry, you can always borrow my maidservant after she’s done serving me in the morning," she assured, patting Ave’s shoulder.

Ave felt her heart sink at that. She hadn’t thought that her being disposed of would mean Lydia would no longer be by her side. "Then what will happen to my maidservant now?" she asked curiously.

Thalia looked thoughtful for a while before she said, "It depends. She might be assigned to assist the guests, and after the guests have left, she may be assigned to the kitchen servants since the others already have their maidservants. If you’re worried something bad would happen to her, you don’t have to be. She’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t break any rules in the main palace."

Ave didn’t say anything after that. She knew she was kidding herself if she said she wasn’t worried about Lydia. Where was she since morning? She hadn’t even laid eyes on her after she’d helped her bathe.

As Ave and Thalia made their way to the dining hall, in another part of the palace, Lydia was seen sneaking out of a certain room, holding something behind her back as she hurriedly walked down the corridors of the palace. Not watching where she was going, she was looking back to see if anyone was behind her and bumped into someone, causing the person to hiss in annoyance.

"Are you blind or what?" came the fourth prince’s annoyed voice as he looked down at the maid who had bumped into him.

Lydia hurriedly stepped back and bowed her head in apology while tucking the thing she held behind her back more tightly so he wouldn’t see it. "M-my apologies, Your Highness..." she said.

Orion hadn’t seen the maid’s face when she’d bumped into him, but now that she spoke and he saw her maid uniform, he recognized her immediately. The lowly maid he’d touched in the carriage by mistake that day. His earlobe turned crimson as he recalled the day, and he had to clear his throat to stop himself from stammering.

If she’d told her mistress that day that he’d touched her bosom, he would have punished her for it now, but since she hadn’t, he looked at her and said, "What are you doing here when the other servants are in the kitchen?" He looked her up and down and noticed how she was trying to hide something behind her back.

"I...I am..." she said nervously, causing Orion to raise his brow. "What is that you are holding behind you? Let me see," he demanded calmly, but Lydia took two steps backward and shook her head.

"Are you going against a royal order? I said present to me what you are hiding behind you," he said, trying to add more authority to his voice. However, Lydia quickly fell to her knees. "I am sorry, I didn’t mean to," she cried.

When she fell to her knees, Orion caught a glimpse of what she was hiding, and his frown deepened when he noticed something like a blue material in her hand. Did she steal something and was hiding it? He thought. He was going to bend and take it from her hand when—

"Hey, Prince Orion!" his friend, the fifth prince of Nazia, called him from the end of the corridor where he stood with the other young princes from other kingdoms upon noticing him there. "Are you not coming for dinner? Let’s go so we can all sit together and continue our story from this morning, the one about the second prince on the battlefield."

Orion got excited upon hearing that and lost interest in whatever the maid was hiding, and if she had stolen something, it was none of his business. He looked at her and said, "If you get into trouble for stealing, make sure not to mention to anyone that I saw you with it." Saying that, he hurried toward his friends, who were his age mates, and walked away.

Lydia sighed in relief when he disappeared down the corridor. She brought out the dress she was hiding behind her back. It was the dress Ave had put under her mattress, and Lydia had noticed it changed color before she put the mattress back down on it this morning. Glancing down at it, a tear rolled down her cheek, and she muttered,

"I am sorry, Your Highness..." before she hurriedly stood up and continued to walk down the corridors. When she reached a certain part of the palace, she knocked on the door of a room.

Not long after, the door cracked open, and she walked in, her head bowed down.

"I hope you brought good news, Lydia, unless you want to lose your head tomorrow now that you no longer have a position," came a voice that belonged to none other than Catherine.

Lydia quickly nodded her head and presented the dress to the head maid of the palace. "Th-this is the dress I told you about."

Catherine looked down at the plain blue dress that almost looked faded and frowned as she took it from the maid. Unfolding it, she said, "Are you certain you saw it change with your own eyes?" she asked, and Lydia bobbed her head.

"Y-yes, I think it has something forbidden because she was hiding it," she informed, more tears flowing down her cheeks. "Will this be delivered to Her Majesty? Will she be... killed for keeping such a dress?" She clenched the sides of her dress.

"You are not in the position to ask questions, you may leave," Catherine dismissed her, still staring at the dress and trying to figure out in what way she could use it against her stepsister. And just then, she saw something glisten on the dress, switching between two colors and then back to its original blue.

"Interesting," Catherine smirked as she ran her fingers against the fabric.

Before Lydia could leave, she hesitated at the door and turned to ask, "Wh-what about the position you promised me?"

"I will assign it to you tomorrow," Catherine said dismissively as she left the room before Lydia and headed toward another chamber. Though she was supposed to deliver any news or items about the second prince to the Empress, she had ordered this by manipulating Lydia without the Empress’ knowledge.

It had been easy to make Lydia tell her about this dress. All she did was scare the girl about not having a mistress to serve and being at her mercy in the main palace. The Empress had dared insult her that night by calling her ugly, then she’d make sure her precious Selene lose everything.

Catherine had sworn to get back at Selene, and she would stop at nothing until she succeeded.

However, she needed a strong backing, someone who disliked Selene as much as she did, and she knew just the right person.

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