I’m the Only One Who Can Put the Tyrant To Sleep

Chapter 17 ‘Preference?’There was a stir around the room. With that brief statement, Caesar stepped back. He seemed unwilling to explain further.“Well, I’ll wait for you in the examination hall.”Leaving those words behind, Caesar and his aide left together.“What on earth is His highness talking about?”“Preference?”It was the sound of applause from the head maids to silence the chatter of the maids.“The Crown Prince said that no explanation was necessary for the test. It’s that simple.”“However…”“From now on, all you have to do is to pair up and go to the drawing room of the Crown Prince’s Palace, which will be used as the examination room. When all the tests are over, Your Majesty will make the final choice. A total of five people will be selected, and each position will be decided in order of score.”Still unable to see the confused faces of the maids, the head maid wasted no more time.“Devit, and Vernon. Go first.”It was Devit and Vernon, Violet and yellow, who always stuck together as a duo. They seemed annoyed at being the first to be called.“However…!”“Going early or late will not affect the outcome.”The head maid, who spoke firmly, gestured toward the drawing room. Eventually, Violet and Yellow moved.The rest of the maids looked confused, each trying to figure out what the test would be. I was one of them.‘You want us to guess your preference?’It was unlikely that any of the maids here, except for me, had a personal relationship with Caesar. Certainly none of them would know his preferences.‘They told us to pair up….’Did he mean that one of them had to fall, or was it just a coincidence?I racked my brain, but couldn’t come up with an answer.I wondered if Caesar really wanted to choose me because I was a maid who would know his preference, or if he had another purpose.Time passed quickly as we were thinking, and the head maid continued to call others by name. Seeing that those who had gone to the test did not return, it seemed that they were gathered elsewhere.“Next is Erinne, Durael.”Erinne’s name drew the attention of a few of the Handmaidens; she had been the clear leader of the pack before this test, so it was not unreasonable for them to take notice.Erinne seemed to take a deep breath, and then began to walk without hesitation. And then-“Evelyn.”Finally my name was called.“Since you’re alone, I suppose you’ll have to go alone.”The fifteen apprentice maids were paired off in pairs, so it was only natural that one would be left behind.‘But why me?’Maybe Caesar deliberately set the order? So, is it to help me or to hinder me?“Evelyn, come on.”I moved on at the head maid’s urging.In the drawing room were Caesar and his aides. Caesar was seated in a chair, with a long table in front of him.And across from him was another chair.“Sit there.”As I sat down on the chair, and the aide left the room as if he’d been waiting for him.‘It’s just the two of us.’I couldn’t properly look at Caesar, who was sitting across from me. I wondered if I should explain it now, but this wasn’t a private place. There was a risk that someone would hear it, and it was unlikely that Caesar would take my explanation purely.‘He might think I’m just faking it to pass the test…’He didn’t look at me, and neither did I. His arms were crossed and I was buried deep in my chair, staring at the table.The door to the parlor opened again and an aide entered, placing two items on the table.“This…”“You can choose the preference of the Crown Prince among the two items.”I could only open my mouth slightly. There were two types of ribbons on the table.One was similar to the pure white ribbon I wore every day, and the other was a red thin string ribbon.‘Caesar…’I raised my head to look at him, but Caesar’s eyes were fixed on the table as if nailed down.‘This is a test for me.’I had that intuition. Of the two, of course, the one I would choose was the pure white ribbon.‘The problem is… is it a test to bring me down, or a test to keep me in?’Which one? Which one does Caesar want? Looking at the two kinds of ribbons on the table, I finally opened my mouth.“I’ll take this one.”The aide nodded, and the next object was placed on the table.This time it was the ball. One was a bouncing ball that I and Floria played with, and the other was a colorful, solid ball made for decoration.“… I’ll take this one.”Immediately the next item was placed on the table. The last thing on the table was a bouquet of flowers.I smiled inwardly.“You can choose.”One bouquet was white gypsophila and beautiful red roses, and the other was delphiniums.The very bouquet that Caesar and I made together, with yellow wildflowers in between the blue delphinium flowers.I had a gut feeling that I wasn’t wrong.“I’ll take this one.”I chose without hesitation. The aide nodded, and that was the end of the test.“You can go now.”Before leaving the room, I looked at Caesar once more. He was still staring at the table, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised. ***** I believed in Caesar. I chose all three issues because they were relevant to us. A white ribbon, a plump ball, and a bouquet of delphiniums.“The person who will be the exclusive maid of the Crown Prince’s palace has been decided. I will call the person who gets 2 points first.”The head maid looked at the paper in her hand and carefully read it down.“Devit.”Violet screamed. She shot all three, and she bragged that she was lucky enough to hit two.“Mamid.”The veteran maid with short curly hair nodded satisfactorily. Was she able to guess because of her long career working in the Imperial Palace?“Hannah.”Exhaling, I heard the sound of someone taking a deChapter breath. It was a tall, well-built, red-haired woman.“Next up is a three, a perfect score.”If my choice to trust Caesar was correct, I would receive a three; if not, a zero.“The person who scored a 3 is…”My heart pounded furiously.“Evelyn.”I opened my eyes, and then I smiled.‘Caesar…!’Also, my beliefs were not wrong. Caesar must have made an exam to pass me.‘When I become an exclusive maid, I have to explain everything right away! And maybe I’ll even tell him that I’ve found a way to get to the Guide, so he can….’“And lastly, Erinne.”What?I looked at Erinne, unable to hide my surprise.She got a three, too? How?She had black hair and had a beautiful smile on her face.As if she had expected this to happen.Erinne and I had both gotten a three, but when we added up our scores, she was definitely in first place.The five of us made it through, but it was Erinne who would be the one to stay by the Crown Prince’s side the longest. She was given the role of secretary, organizing all the schedules.After receiving the highest score, I became the maid in charge of the Crown Prince’s food, clothing and others. In short, when Caesar was out of the palace, Erinne was in charge of it, and when Caesar was in the palace, I was in charge.‘It’s rather good.’It was a good thing I needed time to talk to Caesar personally. My work also didn’t look much different from the maid of honor who had been by Floria’s side.‘It’s good to have personal time when Caesar goes out.’It would be more convenient to meet Katana or find information about a guide.“Next is Hannah.”At the call of the head maid, the red-haired Hannah nodded slightly.“Hannah takes care of managing the schedule and budget, since you’re more experienced at this sort of thing.”“Yes, ma’am.”It turned out that Hannah was a woman from a fairly high-ranking aristocratic family. She was clever enough to be involved in running the mansion.“Mamid.”“Yes.”“You will be in charge of overseeing the overall management of the palace, and since I will be returning to my original position, you will be the head maid.”“Understood.”Head maid. It was clear from the start that Mamid, the veteran, was going to be the handmaiden. From the sounds of it, she’d been working at the palace for nearly twenty years.“Finally, Devit.”“Yes!”To the head maid’s call, Violet doll answered with an excited voice. She was lucky enough to become an official maid, and she was very excited.“Devit….”The head maid with a troubled face smiled bitterly.“Mamid, I need you to help the new maid.”“Ah… yes.”Devit was gloomy in an instant. ***** We were assigned to do what we were supposed to do as exclusive maids, and we studied many things. The probationary period was intense to the point of ridiculousness.I had to be able to memorize the geography of the vast palace blindly, and I had to know the names of the numerous servants and escort knights.Not only that, but I had to study Caesar’s diet in detail.I had to know what foods he was allergic to, what clothing he wore to luncheons, what balms he used to bathe in, and what bedding he preferred to sleep in…In short, we did everything that made us think, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of work.’I had to forget everything I had learned about Floria over the past year and cram new information into my head.I was worried that I would be treated poorly by talking about ‘Prince with only a name’, but it turns out that, at least on the surface, I’m not that different from Floria.And today was the day I would finally learn all about it and meet Caesar face to face.