Chapter 130 - 28 - Invitation Fight In Honor

Chapter 130: Chapter 28 - Invitation Fight In Honor

Standing among the maids on duty at the sumptuous breakfast banquet, I felt like a flower on the dining room wall. The Duke and Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld were entertaining the King and Queen of Belfast with a enjoying breakfast time filled with laughter.

It reminded me of my work experience, when I was forced to laugh awkwardly in front of my boss, trying to make him happy with trivial jokes that weren’t very funny, to the point that I bought a humor book just to make him laugh.

Remembering that not-so-funny joke, I clutched my stomach to keep the cringe-induced stomachache at bay.

"A-Are you in pain?" whispered a maid standing beside me.

"It’s okay; hearing their jokes makes me sick to my stomach because I’m not used to hearing them."

"H-Hold on a little longer before Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld introduces you in front of the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Belfast."

"I know, I’ll hold it in a little longer."

In my experience, the longest I could endure such a trivial joke was two hours. The stomach ache I felt slowly subsided after seeing the three princesses sitting side by side. A complete package of heroine, villainess, and a supporting character who always had trouble breaking up their quarrels.

The descendants of the main royal family of Belfast possess bright blue eyes, varying magical affinities, and superior brainpower. Of the four sons and three daughters born within a year of each other, none are lacking in low charisma.

Apart from having looks that could charm everyone, they were all not fools, and were too alert to the situation around them.

That’s how I felt when I saw the gaze of a princess who had a bad ending as a villainess. Not as bad as Master Reina, who lost everything, because she only received a lighter punishment: a peaceful death after her magic core lost control and exploded.

Yeah, not much different from the enemies that the main character must immediately defeat in the world of this novel.

"Do you have jokes like that too, Liliana?" the maid beside me asked, nuzzling her elbow against my arm to attract my attention.

"I don’t have any," I answered quickly, without using a loud voice.

"You don’t have any jokes like that? T-Then... Do you want to hear one from me?"

"No, thank you. I don’t want to hear bad jokes that spoil my sense of humor."

"Y-You have a taste for other jokes?"

"Yes, everyone definitely has a different sense of humor like me, right?"

"Can I know... what kind of your jokes, Liliana?"

"Oh, it’s easy; I just need a knife to stab Master Reina and treat it as a joke."

"..."

Because I was already so irritated by the current situation, I made a nasty, dark joke, one that was completely inappropriate for the world of a romance novel. My response left the maid standing next to me speechless, as if she couldn’t believe her ears at the sight of such a nasty, dark joke.

"I-Is that a joke?" the maid asked with a forced smile on her face.

"Yeah, it wasn’t that bad, was it?" I smiled to make sure my joke was okay.

There’s nothing wrong with my joke, right?

It all just flowed with a smile on my face, like the Head Maid who was used to openly mocking Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld, even in front of her own eyes.

The maid standing next to me fell silent and tried to process my words, which were a dark, bad joke.

"Liliana means... she prefers to joke around spontaneously with Young Miss Reina. In the previous training, Liliana seemed to enjoy throwing knives at Young Miss Reina and Young Miss Amagi," whispered a maid beside me, adding context to my words.

"Oh! I see. A joke from a maid who already understands her Master joke, huh?"

Well, looks like, there be a bit of a misunderstanding in here.

My dark joke didn’t suddenly turn into a joke that was as beautiful as divine light, did it?

The sense of humor of the maids who worked at Duke Adelheid Von Blutfeld’s residence was too strange for me to understand.

While the conversation about my dark jokes was going on, my meat sandwich with spicy mayonnaise sauce was being eaten by the royal family.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere became silent for a moment; no one spoke while the King and Queen of Belfast ate their breakfast.

Oh! More precisely, when eating a meat sandwich with my handmade spicy mayonnaise sauce.

The small pieces of sandwich make it easy to eat in one bite; they look like enjoying the spicy sandwich, which is served in a fine dining style.

The silence that fell in the dining room made all the maids and butlers on duty tense. No one dared to speak as the royal family ate their meat sandwiches covered in spicy mayonnaise.

Sometimes, I wish my cooking wasn’t considered so special that it gets this much attention.

The King and Queen, who came just to eat my meat sandwich or were attracted to my spicy mayonnaise- that was already painful for my easily stressed mind to survive.

"You always find someone interesting, Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld. I never thought you could find a little maid with such extraordinary talents. Would you be interested in giving her to me?"

The Queen’s voice echoed through the dining room. The atmosphere, which had been calm and enjoying breakfast, became even more tense after the Queen’s remarks disturbed Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld’s composure.

"No way. You already have the greatest head chef in the Kingdom of Belfast, don’t you?" the Duchess replied with a sinister smile.

"Ara~ don’t want to give me your precious treasure?"

"Giving away the treasure I’ve worked so hard to raise? No way!"

"How about making Young Miss Reina the fiancée of one of my sons? Your family will gain much more power, you know."

"That will only happen if Reina is interested in marrying your sons. Unfortunately, she already has someone she needs to take care of to ensure it doesn’t get snatched by another woman."

"Oh? That’s news I’ve never heard before. Who is the lucky man? From which noble family?"

"You don’t need to know, my esteemed Queen."

The smiles of the Queen and Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld were part of a power struggle between them. Their positions as noblewomen might not be much different from those of legal wives, but their authority was different. Nevertheless, the Duchess, whom I loved and admired, would not remain silent in defending me.

Besides that, there was some new information that I got during the conversation.

I didn’t know that Master Reina had a ’special’ interest that didn’t want another woman to steal it. During my time as an apprentice maid serving her, I never heard Master Reina speak of another man.

Could it be... a secret that only her mother knew?

Or I’m still not worthy of keeping that big secret.

No matter what happens, the secret between mother and daughter will remain a secret. Even the Queen cannot pry open the mouth of a mother struggling to keep a secret.

"What have you invested in your maid?" the Queen asked curiously.

"There are various kinds of investments that I taught her. One of them is my family’s sword technique."

"Y-You planning to teach sword techniques at the risk of total insanity, Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld?"

"My maid isn’t that weak. She’ll be fine."

"I’m not sure about that."

"Trust me... sooner or later, my daughter and my proud maid will mastering my family’s sword techniques perfectly."

The Duchess said that without any hesitation in her eyes.

It was I, who doubted I could mastering it. The intensive training I had taken... is already became a toll on my sanity, eroding it bit by bit, every day.

"Woow! Very confident! Then, would you like to try dueling your maid against my eldest son? We can see how far their sword techniques have progressed."

The Queen’s words felt like a bomb that exploded and wanted to trigger an issue of honor among the nobles.

And several maids whispered about the Queen’s brave words.

"..." I didn’t say anything about this, busy silently processing what the Queen had just said.

The Queen wants me to fight against her first son?

An apprentice maid against a prince who has been trained in swordsmanship since childhood?

That’s nonsense Duchess Adelheid Von Blutfeld wouldn’t approve of, would it?

I’m sure of that!

Refuse that request right now, my Duchess!

"I have no problem with that. After all, my maid will not lose," replied the Duchess with a smile and put the last of her meat sandwich into her mouth.

Chhoommpp...

Chhoommpp...

"Well, I hope you won’t be embarrassed if your son loses and goes home sulking after this."

"I don’t want to say that, but the situation has turned out like this."

"Besides my family’s sword techniques, my maid excels in magic as well. I suggest adding two more of your sons so you can defeat my maid decisively."

My troublesome Duchess always adds unnecessary trouble sometimes!

Why should I fight three princes at once, just to show off the prowess of her intensive training?

It’s totally unfair to appreciate maid like me!

I could only voice my protest in my heart, not daring to say it directly to the Duchess.

Master Reina and Master Amagi, for some reason, were looking at me with sparkling eyes, as if they were looking forward to this match.

Kiiirrraaa...

Kiiirrraaa...

"Can I refuse this request?" I asked after mustering up the courage and raising my hand to get everyone’s attention in the dining room.

"I will give you a salary of one thousand gold coins for every prince you defeat, Liliana!"

"Okay, fine! I’m ready to beat them all! Do you want a one-on-one duel or a three-on-one fight?!" I said in an excited tone.

"That’s the Liliana I know!"

The temptation to live a quiet life in old age cannot be separated from my instincts as a commoner.

How could I possibly let this golden opportunity pass me by, right?

Even though I have to risk my pride as a maid, who looks greedy in everyone eyes.