“Erika, you will go to the Capital in a week.”

It was a direct order from the Viscount - the most powerful person in the territory. He sat behind his desk in his office; eyes sunken with sleeplessness as he yawned.

Erika, who had just been summoned into his office, had her hands trembling as she clutched the invitation letter.

“B-But why? Why would the prince invite me?”

“You do not guess the mind of those crazy royals. But…. My guess is that he saw your face and took a liking to you.”

Erika bit her lips. She wanted to rip the invitation to shreds, but the better part of her rationale told her not to.

“You know my answer, father.”

“Indeed. However, this is a royal summon. You must go.”

Erika silently stood up. She made her way toward the door before opening it.

“Ah—!”

A surprised gasp came as soon as she opened the door. A silver-haired fox-girl fell onto the floor; her left cheek red from pressing against the door just moments earlier.

“N-No, I wasn’t eavesdropping! I swear! The door just feels so cool to press against….”

Neither the father nor the daughter had any particular reaction to Esther’s clumsy excuse. The latter just clenched and opened her fists a couple of times before marching past Esther and stomping down the hallways.

Before Esther could also sneak out, the Viscount cleared his throat.

“Esther Raze, may I have a word with you?”

Esther broke down in cold sweat and slowly nodded. She took the same seat Erika sat at and gulped audibly.

“M-My Lord, how can this humble servant help you?”

“Relax. I don’t mind you eavesdropping that much. As my daughter’s personal servant, you’re bound to know this sooner or later anyways. Rather, I want to entrust you with something.”

He tapped his fingers on the table for a little while before continuing.

“See this as a… performance bonus of sorts. I just need you to keep a close eye on Erika and report to me if she meets a certain boy.”

“...?”

“Messy brown hair, brown eyes, dirty face. He’s the gardener’s grandson. You’ll know him when you see him.”

Esther knew it wasn’t a request. If she refused, the Viscount would surely hold the fact that she eavesdropped against her. With a reluctant nod of her head, she sighed silently.

“I will do my best, my Lord.”

…

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

As soon as Esther left the office, she broke into a run. She had to be quick, else the smell of Erika’s soul would evaporate. It was one of her race-specific abilities. Even though she knew that each person had a familiar smell to them, she only now knew that it was the smell of their soul.

‘This direction…. Isn’t it the garden?’

What the Viscount said resurfaced in her mind again. It seemed that her job would be over sooner than she’d thought.

With her sharp eyes, she saw two figures sitting under an apple tree at an obscure corner of the garden: Erika and a boy with brown hair.

“...”

Much as she wanted to bust them right away, Esther was intrigued. What about the boy was so special that both the Viscount and Erika paid attention to him? With that thought in mind, she lowered herself to the ground and crawled into a nearby bush, listening in to their conversation not unlike a stalker would.

{Peeping again? I didn’t know you were Aerin….}

‘Shut up! Let me concentrate here.’

All Esther could hear were fragments of their conversation.

Father.

Hate.

Prince.

Scared.

And words of encouragement.

It was enough to form an image of what they were talking about. Esther’s eyes shone, for this was prime gossiping material. She didn’t know why, but she had the urge to gossip about every little thing as soon as she became a maid.

Unfortunately, she had no one to gossip with. All the other maids were conscious of her since she hadn’t picked a side yet. Well…. Except for that one maid who always tried to kill her every morning.

‘It sucks that Eileen only cares about cooking…. I can’t blame her, though. She gets cheese as a bonus if she does her job well.’

With a regretful silent sigh, Esther spied on the two kids again. They were already holding hands. And as they blushed and moved their faces closer to each other with their lips pouted, Esther decided that it was enough.

The Viscount would surely kill her if he knew she’d just let this happen.

“Master Erika!”

The two flinched. The boy tried to run away, but he slipped on nothing and fell in Erika’s lap, creating what would’ve been a pretty comical sight if their faces weren’t ghastly pale with horror.

Before Esther could say anything else, Erika gently pushed the boy away and stood up. Her face was stern as she marched up to Esther, yet she couldn’t hide the slight tremble in her gait.

“Is this what maids are nowadays? You perverted stalker!”

“P-Pervert? The Viscount himself asked me to keep an eye on you!”

Erika’s face darkened. She tried to reach the sword that was always by her waist, but stopped herself and clenched her teeth hard as she fell down on her knees.

“P…Please….”

“...?”

“D-Don’t tell him about Derek. Please….!”

Seeing a normally prideful girl begging her like that made Esther feel… strange. As for the boy, Derek, he was also looking at the situation with awkwardness, not sure what he should do.

‘Ah jeez, am I really gonna break the Viscount’s order mere minutes after receiving it?’

Part of her wanted to just report it to get revenge for Erika calling her a “pervert” earlier, but she decided not to. Derek and Erika’s… secret relationship reminded her of herself and Ihwa, both in this life and the previous.

Despite coming from opposite factions in the war, she and Ihwa often snuck out to hang out with each other.

Despite Herald definitely not approving if he knew, she and Ihwa often met together in the snowy forest to play.

With her conscience and rationale playing tug-of-war at her heart, Esther sighed and drooped her shoulders.

“Fine, I won’t tell him.”

“...!”

“But! Please do not meet Derek until after your trip to the Capital. If the Viscount told me to keep an eye on you, he would surely tell the Grand Chamberlain to also do that.”

Erika’s eyes sparkled as if she wanted to cry in happiness. But before she could jump up in celebration, Esther continued.

“Master Erika, now’s not the time to be relieved. You must answer me truthfully. Do you like the prince?”

“...No?”

“Then-” Esther flashed her a smirk- “Allow me to help you with that. I’m an expert at driving away princes.”

After all, she’d seen Saintess Emelia do exactly that countless times.