But what maid in the world has such an upright and proper posture? The white, glowing skin visible even in the darkness was something that only royalty who received daily meticulous care could possess.

Added to that, the dignified demeanor exuding with every step and the confidence as if there was nothing dangerous in this world could not be hidden no matter how hard one tried to conceal it.

‘Does she really think she’s fooling anyone right now?’

Feeling slightly dumbfounded, Mereum decided to see how far she would go with this.

He planned to follow her discreetly and intervene to stop her if she seemed about to show interest in someone.

It was already proven multiple times that even Leonarda couldn’t detect him when he concealed his presence using the power of spirits.

‘It would be nice if she explained why she’s trying so hard to push me away.’

Mereum stared at the hem of the maid’s dress with sunken eyes.

He already belonged to her, so the feeling of being rejected was not particularly pleasant.

‘Good. It’s a success as expected.’

After boarding, I was in an extremely good mood.

Ah, this sense of liberation I’m feeling after so long!

With all attention focused on ‘who the real empress is’, no one would pay much attention to me wearing a maid’s uniform and hiding my blonde hair under a black wig.

That’s what I had predicted, and it really turned out that way.

I lightly stepped through the crowds of people, taking in the sights on the ship. And while at it, observing the people too.

‘The faces are quite decent.’

I had wondered if there were even that many handsome men in this country when Paibel said he’d generously selected 365, but surprisingly there were.

Gentlemanly handsome men, cutely handsome men, prettily handsome men. Tall handsome men, short and petite handsome men.

Everywhere I looked there were faces worthy of being sub-male leads in romance novels, all dressed impeccably, so how could I not be in a good mood with every step?

Moreover, they were all gathered here to become my concubines.

The night breeze would be cool, the lights would be twinkling.

Almost everything looked beautiful.

Ah, of course even amidst all that, there were bound to be some that couldn’t be sorted out properly.

“Ah, shit. What the hell.”

Thud.

When our shoulders bumped in the narrow passage, some man snapped in irritation.

‘Oh dear, your personality is quite awful. Disqualified.’

Just like that, the first disqualification occurred within mere hours of boarding the ship.

As I brushed past the man who was fuming, I left a trace of my magic on his sleeve cuff.

Leaving magic is not proof of passing, but proof of disqualification.

Paibel, who can recognize my magic, will kick him out tomorrow.

Besides him, I disqualified about a dozen or so others.

Mostly those who were being sleazy towards maids or completely drunk and unconscious. Those who were violent towards other candidates.

‘Since personality wasn’t part of the selection criteria, it’s inevitable that some trash with decent faces got mixed in.’

The maid’s uniform was indeed an excellent disguise.

Though I was clearly present, no one saw me, and no one paid attention to me.

The feeling of being present yet non-existent was incredibly strange.

Never in my long life had I experienced anything like this.

‘The actors are doing well. And so far there’s no sign of danger.’

That’s probably because Mereum had prepared the security strategy well, keeping assassination in mind from the start.

Even to my eyes, this ship was now being protected without a single gap.

“Tch, who cares who the Empress is.”

As I was leaning on the railing looking down at the pitch-black sea for a moment, some man appeared swaggering.

Not only was his manner of speaking quite displeasing, he even took out a cigarette.

Seeing that sight, I quietly moved my feet to hide in a shadowy spot.

‘I’m sure they were informed that there’s a proper smoking room…’

Good heavens. It’s better not to smoke at all, but if you must, please do it in the smoking room. Isn’t that how it’s done even in the Imperial Palace?

Even if we allow smoking in places like the billiard room as an exception, this is a place where many non-smokers could be affected.

And those non-smokers included me.

‘On top of that, he’s deliberately throwing cigarette ash into the sea?’

Where did he learn such manners?

‘Should I just push him from behind?’

Just as I thought that, my hand twitched, and the man suddenly turned around and let out a shriek. He was so startled he even dropped the cigarette he was smoking.

“Ah, you scared me! Are you a ghost? Why are you lurking there as a mere maid? If you’re a maid, act like one and go do your work!”

Oh, verbal abuse on top of it.

This is exactly what Charlotte was worried about.

I already knew this kind of thing would happen, so I wasn’t particularly angry or flustered.

But when I saw him stamp out the cigarette butt with his foot and not pick it up again, I couldn’t help but want to punish him.

‘Hmm, it would be just right to stuff two cigarette butts in his nose, five in his mouth, and then sink him deep into the sea.’

I wiggled my index finger to leave a thick trace of my magic on his sleeve.

It was a message to Paibel to give this guy special treatment.

“Oh? But looking closely, your face is quite decent.”

The guy stuck his hands in his pockets, leaned his upper body forward, and looked up at me with a frivolous attitude.

The more I looked at him, the more he seemed like a clown and somewhat funny, so I decided to see how far he would go and remained silent without saying anything.

“Oh, ignoring me? It won’t do you any good to ignore me, mere maid.”

The clichéness of his lines scores a perfect 10 out of 10.

Next, he’s going to assume I’m a maid from the Empress’s palace, isn’t he?

“Ah, are you perhaps a maid from the Empress’s palace? If so, you should have said so earlier. I almost treated you the same as other maids.”

Wow, he got it right.

Next, he’s going to ask who the real Empress is.

Just as I thought that, the man put on a slimy and servile smile and rubbed his palms together.

When he was still, his features weren’t bad, though fierce, and with his tall stature and good build he was overall quite handsome, but when his expression changed like that it became unbearable to look at.

“By any chance, would you be willing to tell me which of the twelve ladies here is the real Empress? If I become a concubine, I’ll share the benefits with you too.”

“Benefits?”

“Yes! If I become a concubine, Her Majesty the Empress will give me various things. I’ll give you a handful of jewels too. How about it?”

The maids brought from the Empress’s palace had already been instructed on how to deal with such situations.

If participants approached and asked to be told about the Empress, they were to unconditionally point to one of the actors.

The judgment was that it’s better to point someone out and get away rather than saying you don’t know, as they would likely keep pestering…

To think that I would receive such a low-class proposal.

“Ah, is that not enough for you? Is that why you’re pretending to be taciturn and trying to create an atmosphere?”

While I was briefly lost in thought, the trash spouted something.

“If I become a concubine, you won’t have anything to regret as I’ll spend time with you too. It’s not like I’ll be by Her Majesty the Empress’s side every day, so I’ll come find you in my spare time.”

Anyone listening would think he was the Emperor himself or something.

Getting tired of listening to this nonsense, I raised my hand to knock him out and dump him in some corner.

The magic filled within me was minuscule compared to my original power, but I could now easily make an ordinary person faint.

But right at that moment.

“Ugh!”

A figure that appeared silently behind the man instantly struck the back of his knees. Then followed up by hitting the back of his neck with full force, and I immediately recognized who it was.

‘Mereum!’

No, how did he know to come here?

Did he recognize that it was me?

The man fell face-first onto the cigarette butt in an unsightly manner.

Mereum deliberately stepped on the man as he strode towards me, and he seemed terrifyingly angry.

“Are you alright?”

“Uh, um, yes.”

Did I not get caught?

I bit my tongue to stop myself from almost saying “Welcome” without thinking.

If I haven’t been caught yet, it means my disguise was that perfect.

I carefully observed the situation and realized there was no escape route with the wall behind my back.

“Ah!”

While I was wondering what to do, Mereum suddenly came close and grabbed my waist as if snatching me.

Startled by the sudden skinship, I reflexively pushed him away.

But surprisingly, Mereum was so firm that he didn’t budge at all.

‘When did this kid grow so big?’

I knew he was a fully grown male… but since he always walked a step away from me, I never had a chance to feel it like this.

“Let… go.”

The body heat felt through the thin fabric was uncomfortable, especially since it was summer.

Mereum then chuckled and drawled:

“A maid should say ‘Please let me go.'”

“Pl-please let me go.”

“What an insolent maid. Giving orders to the captain of Astaroth.”

No, I did as you said, so what’s the problem?

More importantly, this kid, was his voice always this low and sweet?

When is he going to let go of my waist?

I can’t give orders since I’m trying not to reveal my identity.

However, I was born to give orders, so I didn’t know how to speak when not in such a position.

‘Actually, isn’t my acting terrible?’

Mereum was glaring elsewhere while still holding onto me.

No way out, no escape route.

I was completely caught prey in his grasp, and this feeling was fresh to the point of being numbing.

“Your name?”

“A…ti.”

“Ati?”

“……yo.”

When he asked again with a distorted sharp gaze, I hurriedly added the polite speech.

But even then, Mereum showed no reaction.

Throughout the brief silence, I moistened my dry lips with my tongue, overwhelmed by the masculine energy pouring down from him like a waterfall.

It was at that very moment.

“You will attend to me tonight.”