“Damn early morning hobby!”

It was my fifth day as a maid in the First Prince’s Palace. I was suffering from severe sleep deprivation. The cause was none other than that unnecessarily diligent prince.

Cahirun, who had been watching the training knights, inadvertently caught my gaze and smiled brightly.

Unlike me with dark circles under my eyes, his face was overflowing with vitality. I forced a smile back and looked up at the sky that was just starting to turn red.

‘Seeing the sunrise again today. Sigh…’

I pressed firmly under my eyes, certain that another layer of dark circles had formed.

Life as a maid in the First Prince’s Palace was tougher than expected. This was because Cahirun unexpectedly led a very diligent and regular life.

He would wake up at 4 AM for his hobbies – horseback riding, walking, exercising, or sword practice – and always took me along.

Even when reading, he kept me by his side, so I had to sit next to him for hours. If I dozed off,

“How can you doze when the man you like is right next to you?”

Then I, who had my weakness exposed, had to keep my eyes wide open to maintain the excuse that ‘everything was because I liked you’.

After the damn early morning hobby ended, Cahirun would immediately take a bath. Fortunately, I didn’t have to assist with bathing. Seeing that he didn’t receive help from other servants either, it seemed he usually did it alone.

‘Then does that mean he washed his face alone too?’

Why did he insist on having me do it?

But if I even furrowed my brow,

“The look in your eyes as you gaze at the man you like is quite affectionate.”

Hearing those words, I had no choice but to relax my eyes immediately.

After bathing, we ate breakfast in the dining room, where I sat across from him and ate together.

Carrots appeared on Cahirun’s table every day, but although he frowned, the chef’s head wasn’t cut off. I became curious about the face of this gutsy chef.

Afterwards, Cahirun would shut himself in his office all morning to process the piled-up documents.

When he was Cal, he seemed somewhat slack and glib, but as Cahirun, he concentrated on work so fiercely that he looked like a different person. However,

“Do you like me that much? Your gaze is so intense I can hardly concentrate.”

Every time he said such things, I had to pinch my thigh to keep from making a disgusted expression.

After a simple lunch in the office, the afternoon was devoted to knight training.

Cahirun was the captain of the Second Knights, the Black Tigers, and befitting one who had roamed countless battlefields, all the knights were quite intimidating and well-disciplined.

When the knights circled the training ground shouting war cries, it felt like the ground was shaking.

I was also formally introduced to the red-haired clerk and the gray-haired man.

“I am Machi Grieden, adjutant serving His Highness the First Prince and vice-captain of the Black Tigers.”

“Adjutant Randolph Hian.”

Like Cahirun, these two also knew full well why I had entered the First Prince’s Palace, yet showed little change in their attitude.

However, the strangely sparkling look in their eyes as they gazed at me was quite unsettling.

As I sat in a corner of the training ground watching the knights’ drill, Cahirun would approach and ask,

“By the way, since when did you start liking me?”

I wonder when he’ll ever stop that insufferable teasing.

After training, we sat across from each other in the dining room for dinner, just like breakfast. It was torture trying to hold back from snapping “It’s terrible” every time Cahirun asked how life in the First Prince’s Palace was.

After dinner, we walked in the garden. It was somewhat unexpected that a man with such long legs would match my pace. Of course, as soon as he opened his mouth, any gratitude disappeared.

Just when I was about to grind my teeth thinking ‘When will this long day ever end’, my duties finally concluded with applying toner to Cahirun’s face after his bath.

“You can stay longer if you want.”

“I shall take my leave now.”

Firmly rejecting the smiling Cahirun, I would return to my room at 9 PM. After washing up and lying in bed, it would be 10 PM. Even if I fell asleep right away, I could only get 6 hours of sleep – an inhumane schedule.

After four days like that, it was only natural that dark circles formed under my eyes.

‘Why is that man so fine?’

Even as I was inwardly crying for freedom and fleeing the room, documents were in Cahirun’s hands.

The next morning, papers would be strewn across the bed, clearly showing he had been poring over them late into the night.

I couldn’t tell when he actually slept. It was amazing how he still had more energy than anyone else.

‘Is he perhaps relieving stress by teasing me?’

It was a plausible theory. Unlike me, who was doubly tired from being unable to let my guard down all day, Cahirun’s eyes sparkled as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Suddenly, my eyes met Cahirun’s as he was looking at me. Seeing that I couldn’t quite hide my sullen expression, he chuckled.

‘Come to think of it, he’s become even more glib lately.’

He had a cheeky side even when he was Cal Demon, but as Cahirun, it was even more pronounced.

Since it started precisely on the day I entered the First Prince’s Palace, he was clearly enjoying playing with me. It was all my karma.

‘Still…’

I gazed at Cahirun standing on the circular tile of the training ground.

He was easily knocking down knights who charged at him vigorously.

Even to my untrained eye, the difference in skill was clearly noticeable. He could face several opponents in succession without even breaking a sweat, truly befitting a Sword Master.

Unlike the epithets of “cruel murderer” or “brutal conqueror” attached to him, his movements were concise and elegant.

Cahirun’s figure, wielding a long and heavy-looking sword lightly while moving his body flexibly, stood out even among the knights.

‘Black hair really does suit him better.’

The black hair suited him much better than the brown hair he had magically created before. The way his black hair fluttered in the wind, sometimes revealing his forehead as he moved, was quite eye-catching.

“Aren’t you bored?”

Startled by the sudden voice that interrupted my absent-minded staring at Cahirun, I turned my head. Machi was sitting next to me, grinning. I wondered when he had arrived.

“You must be getting stiff sitting still for hours.”

“Yes.”

I nodded firmly.

Can’t you tell Cahirun something? Please tell him to go alone, at least during sword practice. Let me sleep during that time!

Seeing my desperate look, Machi rubbed the back of his neck.

“His Highness isn’t one to listen to others. He usually finds it bothersome to keep people around, but Lady Reneola seems to be special.”

Machi emphasized the word “special.” Yes, I suppose I am special.

I sighed softly.

“Wouldn’t it be less boring if you read a book?”

Seeing my lukewarm reaction to his proposed solution, Machi looked around and lowered his voice.

“Have you finished reading the books I brought you last time?”

Realizing from Machi’s words that I still hadn’t cleared up his misunderstanding, I was about to open my mouth when he smiled meaningfully and continued.

“If you need more, just let me know anytime. I’ll search the entire continent to find satisfactory items for you. After all, Lady Reneola is a very special guest.”

“No, there seems to be some misunderstanding. The books I ordered last time weren’t for me to read, but a gift for an acquaintance.”

“I see.”

Machi nodded as if he understood.

“Then if that acquaintance wants more books, please come find me.”

His beaming face showed he didn’t believe a word I said. Feeling that anything I said now would make me seem like someone making excuses about a friend, I just kept my mouth shut. Well, this level of misunderstanding is cute considering my current situation.

Swallowing a sigh, I suddenly turned to Machi.

“About the request I made…”

“You mean when you asked for information about His Highness?”

Feeling embarrassed as he pointed out how I had asked Cahirun’s close aide to investigate Cahirun, I cleared my throat.

Come to think of it, they couldn’t hold back their laughter then either. I recalled Machi and Randolph snickering with their backs turned.

At the time, I wondered what was so funny, but I guess it was amusing that I asked Cahirun about Cahirun.

“I received something like a Q&A then, who wrote that?”

“I made the questions, and His Highness wrote the answers himself. Was it helpful?”

I looked skeptically at Machi, who seemed somewhat proud, and asked,

“It said there that Cal, I mean His Highness Cahirun, sleeps a lot, but from what I’ve seen, he seems to sleep as little as a 200-year-old grandfather.”

Of course, I didn’t think he would have given me accurate information about himself, but things like disliking carrots and early morning hobbies were spot on. So why was only the part about sleeping a lot wrong? Sleep-deprived as I was, I was very curious.

“Ah, it’s true that His Highness sleeps a lot. He also likes to sleep in, so he’s usually in a bad mood in the mornings.”

Then why does he wake up punctually at 4 AM these days? Huh? Why?

“But when something’s bothering him, he doesn’t sleep well. Thanks to spending a long time on the battlefield, he can easily stay awake for three days and nights. There was even a time when he slept for six days straight after five days in the field.”

…Is that even human?