Even though we were some distance apart, the magnolia flower turned its head towards me as if it had somehow heard my words. Our eyes suddenly met, but I didn’t look away.

After staring intently at each other for a moment, we both spoke at the same time.

“Stop right there.”

“Please stop right there.”

Those guys were trying to sneak away. When we called out, the two of them bolted.

No, they tried to bolt.

“Aack!”

“What is this!”

As the magnolia flower lightly waved its hand, a silver rope appeared and tightly bound the two.

They probably think ropes suddenly materialized out of thin air, but to my eyes that could see the flow of magic, a completely different scene unfolded.

First, sea-colored particles of light floated up. Then those particles quickly wove together haphazardly to create a single form.

‘How pretty. It’s even magic manifested without casting. Evidence of having already reached the realm of mastery.’

In this era, magicians were half charlatans and half tricksters.

But causality allowed true magic to only one bloodline.

They were called by various names.

Inheritors of a forgotten age, guardians of magic. Or… descendants of dragons.

Any of those could be considered names for them.

By this point, I had figured out the magnolia flower’s identity.

‘The family guarding the north of Nix, Silverrose.’

But why was the northern grand duke on my ship?

“You don’t seem surprised, Miss Maid.”

“Should I be surprised? No, should I be?”

Ah, using honorifics is really difficult.

No matter how I try, it doesn’t feel natural.

As I was getting frustrated, the magnolia flower who had already forcibly teleported those two guys suddenly strode up to me.

“Are you not afraid of me? Using an unknown power.”

Oh, that’s a power I know.

I couldn’t say that, so I just nodded. Then thinking I might have seemed too casual, I added some praise in a polite maid-like tone.

“It was mesmerizingly beautiful… sir.”

“……”

“Really. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such beautiful magic.”

For a moment, the silent magnolia flower flushed bright red and turned into a purple magnolia.

“Could it be… you penetrated the essence of the magic?”

Looking like a sugar crystal with a drop of cherry syrup on it, the northern grand duke even stumbled over his words slightly.

I looked into his moist eyes like the sea and nodded again.

“Just before the sea-colored light particles took shape, they turned white like sea foam, which was also beautiful, sir.”

“How…!”

As if shocked nearly to the point of fainting, his eyes widened.

I shrugged and thought hard.

Ah, so what was the northern grand duke’s name again?

‘It was a soft-sounding name that suited that face, I think.’

But it’s quite a coincidence.

Magic that should have left no trace originally remained in the Silverrose family due to the law of balance.

‘Since there was a bloodline of the sun god in the desert, a bloodline with matching weight was needed in the northern part of Nix.’

If one side becomes too light, the world turns upside down.

Causality desired for the world to be symmetrical, and for the flow of power to be balanced.

So… if we had to put it in words, Mereum and this person were like two sides of a mirror.

“My name is Shylo Silverrose.”

As I was struggling to remember the name, he introduced himself.

Shylo.

A name that flows smoothly without a single jarring sound.

I really liked it, so when I murmured “Shylo,” he blushed up to his ears this time.

“Um, may I ask your name, Miss Maid?”

“Artie.”

“So it’s Miss Artie!”

Shylo smiled brightly, clearly pleased about something.

At that sight, I was momentarily dazed.

‘That’s cheating.’

His smile like a modest magnolia flower in full bloom was truly national treasure level.

Since all the conditions were perfect enough to fall in love with, I became suspicious.

Did Belleport make some kind of deal with the Silverrose grand duke?

To use seduction tactics?

“It’s already lunchtime. If it’s not too presumptuous, may I invite you to lunch, Miss Artie?”

“But I’m just a maid.”

“Just a maid? Being a maid is an excellent profession. Without maids, mansions wouldn’t run smoothly. You should take pride in it.”

“……?”

Is he usually this talkative?

He was so different from Mereum that I was a bit taken aback.

Mereum was never very talkative in any situation. He tended to be taciturn, almost to the point of seeming brusque.

But the Silverrose grand duke… had a way with words.

As expected of a grand duke, he knew how to lead the conversation and showed no hesitation.

“What do you say, Miss Artie? The restaurant downstairs has delicious salmon en papillote.”

“Um, okay… sir.”

I might as well have a meal with him to find out why he’s on my ship.

When I agreed, the Silverrose grand duke smiled shyly as if genuinely happy and offered his arm. He seemed to want to escort me, a mere maid.

“You’re very kind.”

“Not at all. It’s my pleasure to escort a lady.”

“To call me a lady… in this attire, sir?”

“What does attire matter?”

When I pointed to my pitch-black maid uniform, the Silverrose grand duke narrowed his eyes in a polite eye-smile.

He truly meant that he didn’t care about my appearance.

‘To say he doesn’t care about status at all… but earlier when dealing with those men, he clearly had an air of knowing he was superior.’

What’s he up to?

Was he that pleased that I saw through the essence of his magic?

The walk to the restaurant overlooking the deep blue sea wasn’t far.

The whole way, the Silverrose grand duke brought up cheerful and interesting topics, all positive and bright content that soon had me chuckling despite myself.

“Oh, you laughed! You finally laughed.”

“I did not, sir.”

“Your mouth is still turned up. I’m glad. You looked so serious, I wanted to make you laugh.”

Come to think of it, how old was the grand duke?

He was definitely older than ‘Leonarda’, that much was certain.

Twenty-eight, or maybe twenty-nine. Around that age.

“Miss Artie. Have you been to this restaurant before?”

The Silverrose grand duke, who had personally pulled out my chair for me, sat down across from me and asked.

Since it wouldn’t make sense for a maid to have been here, I shook my head slowly.

“Then… I’ll recommend the salmon en papillote again. But there are many other options if you prefer. The raw oysters with lemon juice are good, or if you’re not feeling well, steamed dishes might be better.”

The grand duke skillfully led the mood as he opened the menu and pushed it towards me.

‘This is a novel experience.’

It was always me doing the leading.

I stared blankly at the menu. Perhaps thinking I couldn’t read, the grand duke pointed to each item and explained.

Considering his status, it was quite considerate.

“This is steamed sea bream. It says the broth is made from simmered mushrooms, seasoned with pink salt, whole peppercorns, and truffle oil. Ah, and this is oven-roasted octopus and squid. This one is seafood marinated in tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked until crisp.”

As I silently listened to him explain in sweet tones, I found myself unusually hungry.

I even thought I’d like to sit down for a meal with him at the imperial palace.

‘He’s good at persuasion too….’

Thinking that, I opened my mouth.

“Then I’ll have the very last one.”

“Is that so? Excellent choice.”

But after answering me like that, the grand duke called over the staff and ordered every single dish he had just mentioned.

“I’m quite hungry, you see.”

“Ah.”

When I stared at him, he said that as if embarrassed.

But when the food actually arrived, the grand duke was busy urging me to try a bite of every dish.

“Wait, this is too much.”

Is he trying to kill me by overfeeding?

I didn’t usually eat this much food at once.

Having lived for so long, all food tended to taste the same to me, and my digestion wasn’t great so I got full quickly.

When I expressed my refusal, the grand duke immediately put down his fork and drooped his eyebrows.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You looked so good eating that I… Did I go too far?”

“Not exactly, but…”

Did he receive special training in speaking prettily?

Or maybe it was his mother’s influence.

Seeing him so dejected, I couldn’t bring myself to speak harshly.

Inwardly groaning, I quickly whispered to him.

“But it was delicious.”

“Really? Thank goodness.”

The way he brightened up again as soon as I affirmed him, his rapid mood changes were fascinating.

‘What a wave-like person.’

There wasn’t much information about the Silverrose grand duke.

Though the north was part of the Nix Empire, it was autonomous and didn’t even send taxes to the imperial capital, handling everything internally.

The Silverrose family would appear for important events like coronations, but otherwise they rarely came down to the capital.

Not only did they not interfere in central politics, but even if someone asked for help, they wouldn’t assist unless it was a national crisis.

And since there was no way to forcibly deal with them and their incomprehensible magical powers, successive emperors had treated the north as if it didn’t exist.

“Shall we order dessert? Tell me if you prefer sweet or sour. I want to know.”

Strictly speaking, this pretty boy before my eyes was no different from the king of the north.