The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 12

“Of course Charlize would worry when Your Majesty is skipping your meal.” 

 

“Fine, I’ll have my dinner.”

 

The Empress reluctantly lifted her fork.

 

The head maid who was watching the Empress eating suddenly recalled the title that Charlize used to call the empress.

 

“Rose.”

 

The Empress’ real name was Eloise, and her nickname was Rose.

 

“Only the Empress’ family would call her that…”

 

Not to forget, the Empress even disguised herself as a maid and went to such lengths to hide her identity.

 

It seemed that the Empress really cared about that child.

 

As of then, the head maid decided to pay more attention to Charlize.

 

The Empress, who was focused on her meal, seemed to realize something as she suddenly looked up at the head maid and asked, “Haven’t I told everyone to treat Charlize with kindness?”

 

“Yes, Your Majesty. I remember your order.”

 

“Then why did some maids have the audacity to pick on Charlize when she entered the palace?”

 

‘Oh, did the Empress see the scuffle between the maids?’

 

The head maid sighed in resignation, but still, it would be a crime for her to tell a lie to the Empress.

 

“It’s because the maids don’t like Charlize very much.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Since Charlize was just a maid-in-training at the education center, the maids were trying to slight her.”

 

“What?”

 

The Empress’ eyes narrowed.

 

The Empress laid her utensil down on the table and tapped her finger furiously on the armrest of the chair.

 

“How dare they act out in my palace?”

 

“It’s because of my oversight, Your Majesty. I’ll discipline them well in the future.”

 

“They were mean to Charlize, but not to anyone else.”

 

The empress opened her mouth in a rarely seen furious tone. She was really angry.

 

This time, the head maid wisely chose to keep her mouth shut.

 

“I’ve even told everyone in person to treat the child kindly, but they dare defy my order?”

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

“Seems like I’ll have to teach them who the owner of this palace is.”

 

The Empress’ eyes shone with anger. Her lips curved up into a bone-chilling smile.

 

“I don’t need people who can’t follow my rules.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

I couldn’t suppress my happiness.

 

Why?

 

It’s because the meal I just had was really delicious!

 

As I recalled the food, my taste bud tingled with delight.

 

‘It was the best meal I’ve ever had! There was even meat in the soup! And the vegetables weren’t dried up! The soup wasn’t watery, it almost looked like a stew and the bread wasn’t black either!’

 

Having only ever eaten a crusty bread, the fluffiness of the bread made me fall in love.

 

…it was quite embarrassing for me to gush over some food. 

 

‘But it was just too delicious…’

 

I was startled when I noticed the intrigued eyes of the senior maid.

 

She even put down the bread she was holding.

 

“Oh my, did I eat too much? I’m very sorry!”

 

‘Ugh, it’s so embarrassing. I must’ve eaten greedily.’

 

The senior maid was staring at me, her meal left untouched. She waved her hand when she heard my apology. 

 

“No, that’s not it…”

 

Her cheeks were dyed red, and the following words were spoken in a warm tone.

 

“Charlize, why are you so cute?”

 

“…”

 

“Your cheeks are so chubby! They look so soft! Can I touch it once, please?”

 

“D-do, you can do as you please.”

 

The senior maid immediately sprang up and poked both of my cheeks with her fingers.

 

Every time her fingers touched, my cheeks couldn’t help but twitched in response.

 

After a while, she bursted into laughter.

 

“Oh, look at this! It looks just like milk pudding!”

 

‘…this is so embarrassing. Please let me bury myself!’

 

The senior maid sat down after she played with my cheeks for a while, letting that shameful moment pass. But as soon as the senior maid sat down, she placed all kinds of food on my plate. Even my mind was blown away seeing how much food she passed onto my plate.

 

She rested her chin on her hand, and looked towards me with a curious gaze.

 

“Do you like lamb? How about this pumpkin pie? Do you want me to pick the fish bones for you?”

 

“I like everything.”

 

The senior maid had a quirky expression on her face as if she wanted to spectate me while I was eating.

 

‘Am I mistaken?’

 

“Th-there’s so many things…”

 

Even I, who was drooling at the food, was appalled by the amount of food piling up like a mountain.

 

“It’s okay, you can eat as much as you want!”

 

Senior maid Wember spoke with a smile, and in the end, I ended up overeating a little.

 

Well, it was delicious, so it’s okay.

 

After dinner, the senior maid offered to take me to my room.

 

“Hehe,” I laughed happily.

 

It felt a little strange for someone to be looking after me.

 

I parted ways with the senior maid in front of the bedroom.

 

“Go to bed early today, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Good night.”

 

After saying goodbye, I went straight into the room.

 

‘This is really my room!’

 

I was so happy that I felt light-headed.

 

I jumped onto the bed.

 

The fluttering mattress gently wrapped itself around my body.

 

‘Today, I was worried that I would run into her at the palace.’

 

But as if to prove me wrong, I didn’t even see the Empress’ shadow today.

 

I shrugged, ‘Well, why would the Empress meet a maid?’

 

‘I just need to do my job properly. Especially now that I’m in the Empress’ Palace…’

 

My heart became heavy as if it was tied onto a lump of lead.

 

My plan was to avoid the two of them.

 

If I met the Emperor, I would end up with him. I didn’t want that to happen.

 

Worries swirled in my mind, but my body was too tired to keep up.

 

Well, a lot of things happened today.

 

‘I moved to this palace, there was that incident with the maids, and I also had to worry about meeting the Empress.’

 

“Hoamm…”

 

I curled my body up and yawned.

 

‘Oh, I need to wash up.’

 

My eyelids were heavy and I was dozing off without realizing when I heard a knock.

 

Surprised at the sudden loud sound, I immediately straightened up and jumped off from the bed.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Are you sleeping?”

 

When I opened the door, Head Maid Hayden stood before me.

 

She smiled gently and spoke, “I was going to introduce you to the maids myself today, but it seems like Senior Maid Wember took care of it.”

 

“Oh, thank you. You don’t need to worry about me!”

 

“How was it? Was the senior maid good to you?”

 

“Yes, she’s very nice,” I nodded.

 

“That’s a relief. Actually, I’m here to give you something.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The head maid, who nodded, placed something in my hand.

 

When I opened my hand, there was a small bottle of ointment on my palm.

 

“Ointment?”

 

“Her Majesty the Empress asked me to bring it to you.”

 

“…”

 

Hearing her words, I felt emotional.

 

Did she remember the blisters it left when we were cleaning the hallway?

 

“Your hands seemed to be chapped, so she told me to take this medicine to you.”

 

“Please thank Her Majesty the Empress for her kindness.”

 

“Yes, I see,” the maid answered, and she looked at me in silence. Her eyes seemed to be full of thoughts.

 

“Her Majesty kept asking me about you the whole time she was eating.”

 

“Because of?”

 

“It seems that Her Majesty cares very much about you .”

 

…that means…

 

My heart was pounding.

 

The head maid reached out her hand and lightly patted the top of my head.

 

“Her Majesty isn’t the only one who likes you, I do too.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“So let’s get along well in the future, okay?”

 

Strangely, it felt as if my words were caught in my throat, I could only give her a nod as a reply.

 

Once again, the head maid smiled at me before turning around.

 

When she was out of my line of sight, I grabbed the ointment container tightly.

 

‘Why is the Empress so kind to me? It’s not like Sister Rose will ever come back…’

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next day…

 

 

 

I woke up with a determined face.

 

Looking at the clock on the wall, it was still five o’clock.

 

Okay, so I didn’t wake up too late.

 

I clenched my fists.

 

I was going to leave early today.

 

‘Even though meeting the maids is still a bit scary, I can’t afford to make any mistakes. Especially when the maids don’t like me.’

 

While combing my hair, I shrugged slightly.

 

The maids, in their own way, were like the maids-in-training at the education hall.

 

They were much older than me and…they hated me a lot.

 

‘No,’ I shook my head, shaking off the gloomy thoughts.

 

‘Now I’m an official maid and the maids’ superior.’