Chapter 136

The maid’s ordinary day began early.

Rudi opened her eyes in the dim light of dawn when the morning air had not yet dissipated.

Tuesday morning had arrived.

She stretched her arms up, twisted her bent knees back and forth to loosen her waist, got out of bed, and spent about 20 minutes meditating.

“Today feels particularly refreshing.”

She took off her luxurious pajamas made of thin silk.

Originally, she wore a cotton dress, but thanks to Valenciaunos adding an extra zero to her previous salary and generously distributing bonuses in “pocket” units, she could indulge in such luxuries.

She put on a tough white blouse and tightened a harness made of black leather straps over it.

The harness had straps that crossed from her shoulders to her thighs and also served the role of a belt that could hold twenty-four arrows.

She donned two magic daggers of “Living Ice” and a six-shot magic gun named “Agathe.”

While magic guns usually came in pairs, one had been damaged a few days prior during a battle against Infiltrators and had gone to Sererassie for repairs.

“I’ll try my best, but I can’t guarantee anything. They’re ancient magics with many overlapping magic circles, so even if I know, fixing them is tough.”

“Is it that bad, sister?”

“I hate to admit it, but I can barely make bullets myself.”

Thinking that she had lost a weapon she was accustomed to brought a slight sense of unease, but knowing it was a gift from Valenciaunos only made her feel more melancholic.

Rudi chuckled softly for a moment.

She came from a fallen noble family in the capital, had been more or less forcibly brought into the Imperial Palace at a young age, and had served hundreds of noble bloodlines.

She expected to live her life quietly, working diligently, marrying a suitable man, and aging appropriately.

However, the twin sister of the royal she served became a notorious fratricide emperor, and the royal she served became a legendary Bandit Duke.

Instead of living quietly and diligently, she became a renowned duel enthusiast in the market streets, became a palace administrator in her twenties, and today, she was set to spar with knights as a mana user.

“Duel enthusiast, mana user, palace administrator. It’s funny how the last one sounds the most realistic and modest.”

Becoming a palace administrator was originally an enormous achievement.

It was the highest position one could reach as a mere attendant.

The chief attendant in the main palace where Jeilliris lived was a Count and belonged to a family that had served the imperial family for generations.

Yet, Rudi had become the administrator of a palace handling vast budgets at only twenty-one.

The fact that it sounded the most modest and realistic indicated how deeply she had fallen into an extraordinary world.

She wore a stiff black dress over her blouse, covered the harness straps with frilly shoulder straps, tied a crimson tie, and neatly gathered her brown hair.

When she put on her reading glasses, her preparation as “Maid Rudi” was complete.

If there was ever a chance for her to accompany Valenciaunos on an “outing,” she would wear leather armor enchanted with “Doll Skin” under the harness. Luckily, today was not that day.

She slipped out of the room without making a sound.

Although she wasn’t the type to draw much attention, her footfalls had become even more stealthy and silent after sparring with knights and fighting with other households’ attendants.

“I’m here, Chief Maid.”

“Welcome.”

She went to the back door and opened it.

The servants and maids, along with the cook, began to arrive one by one.

The sun had yet to fully rise.

“Today is delivery day. Please confirm the quantity and sign here.”

A merchant who supplied the palace with various goods smiled kindly.

While Rudi handled luxury goods and delicacies from Valenciaunos herself, items like firewood, flour, and large furniture were delivered through him.

After counting the numbers carefully, she signed.

She didn’t directly hand over the gold coins; rather, the merchant would go to the main palace, show her signature, and collect payment from the budget already allocated to each palace.

The maid prepared warm washing water, the servant put firewood into the fireplace for moisture removal, and the cook began preparing breakfast.

* * *

“Here it is.”

“Thank you.”

“You should let us handle it.”

“I’m doing this because I like it. Besides, you all are still scared of that person.”

Rudi accepted the drinking water and silver washbasin from the maid and went up to the second floor.

The maid opened the door before returning downstairs.

Normally, serving breakfast wasn’t a task for the administrator.

However, the servants feared facing the notorious Bandit Duke directly in the capital.

Valenciaunos’ unconscious aura while he slept could become so intense that ordinary people found it hard to look him in the eye.

Perhaps because she had an attachment to the work she had done since childhood, she continued to do it.

Rudi placed the cup and basin on the bedside table, pulled the curtains aside, and opened the window.

It was better to encourage Valenciaunos to wake up on his own rather than waking him with her voice or shaking him.

As the morning sunlight and fresh air poured into the room, Valenciaunos stirred lightly.

Rudi looked at his face and thought, “He looks like an angel when he sleeps.”

Usually, he tossed his head back to reveal his forehead, presenting an arrogant and light-hearted facade, but now his platinum hair was covering his forehead and swaying above his eyebrows.

The golden eyes, often said to be inhuman, were hidden beneath his eyelids, and the cheeks that had turned pale since he began his bandit antics now had a slight rosy hue while he slept.

As a twin of the emperor with perfect form, he had an incredibly handsome appearance.

His deep-set eyes, along with a pronounced nose and brows, created an unforgettable impression.

He had grown taller and broadened his shoulders within the year, now looking much closer to a young man than a boy.

Eventually, he slowly opened his eyes.

The way light entered his golden eyes was akin to a sunrise.

“Are you awake? Do you want to sleep a little longer?”

Valenciaunos shook his head.

“No, it’s time to get up. Today is the last day of vacation.”

Stretching, he leaned back against the headboard.

As he slowly raised his hand, Rudi immediately offered him the warm water.

“Thank you.”

The Duke’s day always began with the maid.

Just as the servants shouldn’t show a disordered house to the Duke, the Duke couldn’t show an unkempt appearance to the servants.

With Rudi’s help, Valenciaunos wiped his face and put on a white uniform.

That was Rudi’s favorite time.

The Valenciaunos now was the one she knew, and the one she alone understood.

As she watched his splendid platinum hair cascading down to his well-shaped forehead and brows, she sometimes doubted if he was indeed the same Bandit Duke who had kidnapped saints and engaged in backdoor deals with the brothel manager.

However, the moment he inhaled, seemingly conscious, and swept his hair with scented oil in front of the mirror, he transformed from the angel she knew, three years younger than her, into the infamous Bandit Duke of the capital.

The affectionate golden eyes turned inhuman, the defined jaw became arrogant and imposing, and his nonchalantly swept hair gave off an air of frivolity and detachment.

His rosy cheeks had already paled, displaying an ashen complexion, and his once-soft gaze turned sharp and haggard.

Rudi wasn’t sure if it was a fitting metaphor, but every time she saw him like this, she thought of tales like “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Cursed Prince.”

Stories where someone could only return to their original self for a moment.

If those stories were true, he would be a cursed prince who could only return to his original appearance while asleep.

Not knowing his original self, he wouldn’t even realize he was cursed.

Such a pitiful protagonist.

“I’ll be off. You’ll pray for my safe return today, right?”

“I’ll pray to His Majesty the Emperor. The God of Radiance won’t hear the prayers of the one who kidnapped the saint.”

“Hmm… My prayer might not be answered, but I bet yours will definitely be heard for such a guy. You’ve heard such stories before.”

“What stories?”

“The church knight brother suffered because of the rumors about his bandit knight brother, but after he revealed his brother was a church knight, he got caught but was easily released afterward.”

“Valenciaunos!”

However, as he casually recounted such a story, winking playfully, the brilliance pouring in from the entrance, along with the sight of him wearing a sword and leaving the hidden palace, held a brilliance that Rudi could not help but wish to follow for as long as she lived.

Even in death, or after death.

* * *

Click.

The door closed, and from that moment, another task began.

She ordered the servants to clean the palace while writing accounting ledgers where they couldn’t see, before welcoming the gardener who usually arrived around this time.

When it was lunchtime, and the attendants headed to their dining area, Rudi entered Valenciaunos’ room, opened the closet connected to the secret chamber, and began dividing gold and silver coins into a leather pouch.

This money had been given to Valenciaunos by someone and was money Valenciaunos would give to someone else.

“How many bags could this be?”

Rudi chuckled for a moment, gazing at the fortune he had amassed.

The fact that he entrusted her to manage this meant how much he believed in her.

There were several bags filled with gold and silver coins, along with boxes full of jewels and gold ingots.

It was an amount too significant to have been accumulated over just a year.

It was the undeniable evidence of what happens when power is abused and the emperor looks the other way.

Of course, Rudi knew that most of the gold coins he extorted or received were devoted to the emperor to support military expenses.

Even after that, this was what’s left, making her wonder where so much money came from.

Suddenly, an unsettling sound reached her ears.

Rudi pretended she hadn’t heard anything and continued filling her pockets with money.

Then she slowly slipped her right hand into her clothing.

Through her reading glasses, her green eyes sparkled.

She hummed a tune while holding up a silver coin.

The new silver coin was polished to a mirror shine, and with it, she could partially see behind her.

That was enough.

With a sly grin, Rudi pulled the magic gun out from behind her left armpit.

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot erupted, followed by the shattering of a blade and a series of screams.

“Ahhh!”

Rudi brandished a “Living Ice” dagger in her left hand and leaped over the secret door into Valenciaunos’ room.

A servant peering from inside the closet fell to the floor, spewing blood.

His right hand, which had been gripping a dagger, was unrecognizable after being hit by an arrow.

Rudi gathered his identity from the fragments of the dagger strewn on the ground.

They were planning to kill Valenciaunos to strike at Jeilliris.

At first, she was quite shocked, but such things had become so frequent recently that they felt just like a commonplace greeting.

“Didn’t I say not to come upstairs except for cleaning on the second floor?”

With bright green eyes sparkling, Rudi surveyed the surroundings.

Her ability to shoot a magic gun to pop a giant’s eye from 500m away allowed her to accurately pinpoint changes in the environment since she’d come in.

Noticing an odd crease in the bed sheet, she carefully yanked it off whole.

Underneath was a pyramid of powdered poison.

‘They must have seen it open after setting this up. Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot.’

One of the servants showed a somewhat suspicious movement, prompting her to keep an eye on him.

The fact that it matched her deduction made her even more self-deprecating.

“I understand why the head attendant hasn’t aged well day by day.”

Even carefully selected personnel could be bought off or mixed with spies and assassins.

If this small hidden palace was in such chaos, the main palace must be in a deplorable state.

“Please spare me! I’ll, I’ll tell you everything…!”

“The fact that you’re so keen on switching sides suggests you were probably bought off.”

“Yes, yes. That’s true…!”

Thud!

“Well, in that case, you won’t be caught anyway. Valenciaunos said it all revolves around who the higher-ups are, and you’re just receiving money.”

“Living Ice” had blades made of frost and ice, and if deeply pierced, wounds would freeze, stopping blood flow.

“It looks like I’ll need to clean this up before Valenciaunos returns. I need to clean it before it hardens…”

There was a reason she had cleared away the carpet beneath her.

Rudi sparkled her green eyes and had another servant contact the main palace.

They had a staff on standby for such common occurrences.

“You’ve done well.”

“No, it’s all part of my duties.”

With a kind and cheerful smile, Rudi handed them silver coins.

It had been another truly ordinary day.