The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 2

My giggles chimed through the garden. I couldn’t help myself from acting playful in front of Rose. It’s understandable, since she was the only one who loved and accepted me for who I am.

 

‘She’s the only person I love!’

 

Her cheerful laugh finally came into a stop, “I have missed Lize as well,” she said, kindly.

 

“Really?” 

 

My eyes widened at her words.

 

Sister Rose’s eyes met mine. Her smile blossomed at my probing gaze, finding my scepticism amusing.

 

“Of course, I want to meet Lize every day.”

 

“… tsk, you’re lying.” 

 

I pouted, betraying the happiness that’s pouring out of my heart after hearing her sincere words.

 

‘If it weren’t for her encouragement, would I have survived through this harsh imperial life?’

 

We both laid under the big tree, shading ourselves from the bright sun whilst gazing at the sky. Then,Sister Rose broke the peaceful silence. 

 

“Lize, have you had any trouble these days?”

 

As soon as I heard the question, my mind flashed back to the fireplace incident I had with Becky.

 

I shook my head in a hurry to dispel the bad memories. It’s been a while since I’ve met my sister, and I don’t want to worry her..

 

“Um, no…”

 

“Really? Didn’t you say other maids were bothering Lize before?”

 

Her dark green eyes pierced deeply into me, trying to find the truth reflected from my eyes..

 

Seeing her serious expression, I gulped nervously..

 

One of the problems I had with Sister Rose was her sharp intuition..

 

Not only did she have a beautiful face, but she was also blessed with a brilliant mind. She would see through my lies if I wasn’t cautious and desperate.I tried every trick in the book to hide my guilty expression from her. 

 

I simply didn’t want her to worry too much about me.

 

It was a slip of tongue that led to this issue. In our previous meeting, I accidentally let out my silly complaints.

 

That day, I had told her how the other maids kept ordering me around.

 

I was a new maid in training and we each divided our chores. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

 

The other maids kept picking on me. They think of me as an easy target, since I was the youngest of the bunch. Therefore, they would give me extra duties that I wasn’t assigned for.

 

“Lize, take this to the laundromat.”

 

“Lize, go to the laundry/utility room, and tell them to wash all of this.”

 

“Lize, get the clean laundry from the utility room.” 

 

“Lize!”

 

“… Lize!”

 

“…… Lize!”

 

‘Lize this… Lize that’ 

 

The orders were never ending. My energy was spent on completing the other maids’ responsibilities.

 

Me and Sister Rose had arranged a meeting that afternoon. After finishing the chores, I immediately headed out to our meeting spot. Unfortunately, I was pent up with anger and frustration. So when I met her, I couldn’t help but vented out my aggravation. That day, I cried and clung to her until my tears dried up.

 

Sister was so kind, she was the only one who would listen to my story. She didn’t consider my problem as a joke and listened to them attentively.

 

That time, my sister patted the back of my hand gently and said, “Don’t worry, Lize. It’ll only get better in the future.”

 

My sister’s encouragement somehow gave me the motivation I didn’t know I needed. I was able to gain back my strength and continue on working hard. 

 

Later, when I went back, I was surprised to find out that the head maid came and distributed the work fairly.

 

The head maid had told us with a stern face.

 

“Bullying is not tolerable. I will be monitoring your duties from now on. So you’d better not try to shift your responsibility to others.”

 

Ever since the head maid’s warning, my workload had lessened. With her supervising us all, most of the maids that used to give me a hard time didn’t dare to do so anymore.

 

After that incident, I was transferred to this place, away from the utility room. Only after my transfer, did I hear that the utility room was one of the hardest places to work in the imperial palace. 

 

Thank goodness, I was relocated. 

 

To be frank, I was lucky the head maid came to my rescue. Unfortunately, as a result, some of them resented me even more and one of them was Becky. Henceforth, she had been harassing me behind the head maid’s back.

 

Just like earlier, she would order me to clean up the fireplace. However, I didn’t want to cause any more trouble to Rose, so I put up with her behaviour. 

 

… although, as expected, it’s a bit hard. I wanted to vent my anger and complained about Becky, but…

 

‘Sister Rose cares so much about me.’

 

If I complained to Rose, the head maid would step in and solve my difficult situation.

 

I would be a fool, if I had thought the previous incident was a sheer coincidence.

 

‘Maybe Rose is a high-ranking maid who can influence the head maid?’ 

 

‘Well, that’s a reasonable guess.’ I nodded. ‘However, no matter how much Rose can influence the head maid, I don’t want to see her overdoing it. I should be as careful as I can from now on.’

 

“Lize, what do you think?” Rose suddenly asked, breaking me away from my thoughts.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Please pay attention to me… Lize doesn’t seem to miss me at all…” she said, giving me a sad hurtful look. I felt disheartened seeing her distress. In an attempt to alleviate her mood, clinged onto her neck and told her the truth.

 

“I was thinking of you …” 

 

She raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

 

“I’m telling you the truth. I was thinking about you.”

 

Seeing my stubborn side, an adoring smile made its way to her face as she patted my head. Her sugar-sweet voice tickled my ears. 

 

“Really? I hope Lize will think about me a lot in the future too.”

 

My mind dazed when I saw her smile, just like a fresh red rose. Sister Rose was simply more beautiful than anyone I had ever seen.

 

‘I feel like I’m going to fall for you, at this rate.’ 

 

‘Sister Rose is really just too beautiful!’

 

Beautiful… just like the evil Empress described in the novel…

 

My body shuddered at the ominous thought.

 

‘No! How could I compare my pretty and kind Sister Rose to the evil Empress who will kill me in the future?’

 

The villain in the novel, the Empress, was described as ‘a red rose’. With red hair and green eyes, her general features were really similar to Sister Rose’s.

 

‘Let’s not think about it. Thinking of the evil Empress always gives me a sense of foreboding!’ 

 

I hug Rose’s neck, trying to drive my uneasiness away.

 

“You know, Sister.”

 

“What is it, Lize?”

 

“Have you ever seen the Empress?”

 

Rose went silent at my question. I could feel her body flinching in surprise. 

 

‘Am I mistaken?’

 

“Well… I’ve never seen her…”

 

“Is that so…” I nodded understandingly.

 

“Well, the Empress is in the Imperial City, isn’t she? She can’t be seen without permission.”

 

My sister was silent once again, a nervous timbre laced her voice as she asked, “Why are you asking about the Empress?” 

 

“I was just curious.”

 

She was the one who would end my life in the future, therefore I was trying to avoid her as much as I could.

 

I wished I could explain it like that to my sister, but I obviously couldn’t, so I just smiled in defeat. 

 

‘… but it’s kind of weird.’

 

I tilted my head in wonder.

 

‘There are so many beauties in the palace, but I have never seen anyone as pretty as Rose. Has the Emperor never found Rose?’

 

‘… what am I saying!’

 

“Lize, are you sick? Your face suddenly turns pale. What’s the matter?”

 

My sister asked me with a worried look, her hand rested against my forehead, yet I didn’t answer her question. I grabbed my sister’s dress tightly and asked her straight away.

 

“Sister Rose, have you ever seen the Emperor?”

 

‘Leave my Sister Rose alone, you scummy Emperor! If the evil Empress catches her, it’ll be bad for her. At the worst case scenario, she will be killed!’ 

 

Hearing my question, Rose gave me a strange look. Her hands rested on my shoulder as she looked straight into my eyes. 

 

“Lize…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Lize, honestly, isn’t it better to meet me rather than the Emperor?”

 

‘… Rose, too, doesn’t seem to like the emperor? Thank goodness.’ 

 

‘By the way, did she misunderstand my words? Maybe she thought I wanted to see the emperor?’

 

My eyes widened when the thought dawned on me. I then said in a serious voice, “Sister, you know.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“It’s a waste of time to see the emperor,” I said, correcting her misunderstanding.

 

When she heard that, my sister burst into a full laughter. I just smiled at the pleasing sight as I lay flat on my sister’s lap, enjoying the beautiful melody her laughter brought. The sunlight pouring through the green leaves dazzled me. I just wanted to live quietly in the future. I don’t want to see the Emperor nor the Empress. I hope I could get along well with Rose.

 

“When the maid in training period is over, which palace do you want to go to?” my sister asked, her hand raised up, shading me from the bright sunlight. 

 

Well, that’s already been decided. 

 

I shouted out enthusiastically, “The palace where my sister works!”

 

As soon as she heard me, Rose’s expression brightened up in a flash. She held me tightly in her arms. 

 

“Lize, you’re the best. I love you!” 

 

“I love you, too!”

 

Our laughters burst out. Over the clear blue sky, the sounds chimed far and wide. Giving a refreshing feeling to the sunny afternoon in the mid-spring.