It felt like looking into a mirror. How strange it was to see someone who looked exactly like oneself staring right back.

Often, people say that one thing you can “never see with your own two eyes” is your own face. Not a reflection in a mirror, but an actual facetoface encounter. That’s exactly the experience Latil was having now.

“Hello.”

However, the peculiarity of the situation didn’t allow for idle staring.

Feeling somewhat bashful, Latil gave a broad smile, intentionally greeting the counterfeit emperor first, followed by the attending officials and assistants in order.

Then, the fake emperor propped up his chin, asking in puzzlement.

“Why are you greeting me first? Do you know who I am?”

A question posed as a test. No, it was probably deliberately tossed out to test her.

But upon hearing that question, Latil realized that the imposter still didn’t know she was the real emperor.

He asked provokingly like that because there was something he wanted to find out.

‘Should I answer that I know, or that I don’t? Most commoners wouldn’t know the emperor’s face after all…’

After brief consideration, Latil quickly made a decision and answered.

“Aren’t you His Majesty, the Emperor?”

At Latil’s reply, the counterfeit pulled one corner of his lips.

“How do you know my face?”

Again, Latil answered with composure.

“The examiner gave you the highest seat, and one person couldn’t even sit because of you. I thought it wouldn’t be necessary to go to such lengths if an ordinary official or nobleman were visiting.”

The impostor stared at Latil’s face pensively, whereas Latil, pretending to be uncomfortable under his gaze, lowered her head and only glanced at the impostor’s shoes.

Fortunately, the fake didn’t find anything else strange about Latil. Afterwards, the examiner asked a few normal questions.

“You will get the result in a day, so come to the office at two in the afternoon tomorrow to check.”

After the interview, Latil gave a deep bow and cautiously left the interview room. But as soon as the door closed, the tension drained away, replaced by a cold feeling, as if her heart had frozen over.

Seeing this, the other applicants looked at Latil anxiously, their expressions asking, ‘What on earth happened inside that room?’ But as none of them had interacted with Latil, no one dared to ask about the interview.

Without bothering to mix with them, Latil immediately left the interview venue. If she didn’t, she felt like a mix of curses and fury would burst out of her.

‘That impostor. So brazen…’

Naturally, Latil passed the interview.

The real test of the maid exam was the first stage, the documentation, and the second stage was just to see if they were so nervous they’d make a mistake, or if they’d mess up their words in front of highranking nobles, so there was no way she could fail.

Even if the fake emperor showed up, it would be the same. The fake emperor must have come in to find Latil, so it would not have had a significant effect on the evaluation.

‘I need to meet Léan. If I’m in a maid’s uniform, I can wander most places. Even if I stray from my assigned area, I can just say I’m a newbie and got lost.’

As Latil prepared for her first day at work, adjusting her clothes, she contemplated dozens of ways to meet Léan.

‘They won’t place a newbie in an important position from the start. Initially, senior maids will guide me around and give me chores.’

However, when she actually started work, something unexpected happened.

“Am I to work in His Majesty’s room?”

The supervisor in charge of the palace maids had told Latil that she was assigned to the Emperor’s room.

Surprised, Latil asked for confirmation, to which the manager asked with a stern expression.

“Isn’t it a good thing to work in His Majesty’s room? Why are you making such a disgruntled face? Don’t ever show such an expression in front of His Majesty.”

Has she ever seen a disgruntled face? Latil clicked her tongue internally, but externally, she feigned fear.

“I haven’t learned anything about working in the palace, and I’m worried that if I’m suddenly placed near His Majesty, I might make a mistake. Being assigned to such an important position all of a sudden isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

At Latil’s words, the manager seemed to agree but did not change her mind.

“But Her Majesty instructed it, so I can’t change it. You’ll just have to adapt.”

‘Did he catch on? Did he catch on and mock me by summoning me to his side?’

Of course, being by the impostor’s side would give more opportunities to kill the opponent. But killing the impostor had to be done with extreme caution.

Wasn’t it a situation where Latil’s elder brother, Léan, had deceived Latil’s confidants into believing that the impostor was real?

One might distinguish between the impostor and the real person if they compared each and every word, but Léan would never give such an opportunity. To counter this, Latil needed close confidants who could immediately confirm that she was the real one.