HSM 2

Chapter 2

“I was just about to call for you, Seolha. From the look on your face, it seems you’ve already heard?”

As I hurriedly opened the door and entered, Lady Gwak greeted me with a smile. But I wasn’t in the mood to smile back.

“Sook said something strange. She said I’ve been assigned as Prince Lee’s personal maid. Is that true?”

It’s not, right?

There’s some kind of misunderstanding, right?

Please tell me that’s the case.

I looked at Lady Gwak with desperate, pleading eyes.

However, the words that came from her mouth cruelly shattered my expectations.

“Yes, it’s true. You seem quite surprised. It was decided so suddenly that I couldn’t give you advance notice.”

Though her tone was apologetic, Lady Gwak still wore a smiling expression.

Why wouldn’t she? Becoming a personal maid was a kind of promotion in this world.

Not only would my salary increase immediately, but if I caught the eye of important people, I could change my fate.

In fact, many people took jobs as maids with exactly that goal in mind.

So in other words, this was a situation where thanking Lady Gwak a hundred times for giving me this opportunity wouldn’t be enough.

…If it were a normal case, that is.

After confirming the facts, cold sweat began to pour down.

This was truly a bolt from the blue. This was something I hadn’t anticipated even by a fingernail’s width.

Shin Seolha, get it together!

I can still turn this around.

I only have two months left on my contract.

Having to find another personal maid afterward could be troublesome from Lady Gwak’s perspective too. I decided to appeal to that point.

“First, thank you for thinking well of someone as lacking as me. There are many other girls who want to become personal maids, yet you chose me.”

“Seolha, you’re quite skilled with your hands, aren’t you? As you may have heard, Prince Lee has a generous temperament, but he has a bit of a cleanliness obsession. Unless it’s a sharp girl, she’d struggle to accommodate that. I believe you could adapt quickly and handle it well.”

Generous temperament, my foot!

I barely suppressed my rising anger and spoke gently.

“But ma’am, I don’t have much time left on my contract. Rather than having to find another personal maid later, wouldn’t it be better to choose someone else from the start?”

“Come to think of it, you have two months left?”

“Yes, it’s such a good opportunity, but it’s quite regrettable.”

I responded with a rather dejected, sullen expression, pretending to be disappointed. Then she held out a document as if asking what the problem was.

“You can just extend your contract. It’s not very complicated. You just need to stamp your seal here.”

Lady Gwak kindly pushed the red ink pad toward me. She seemed to have no idea whatsoever that I intended to quit my maid job.

In fact, unless there were special circumstances, most people did tend to extend their maid positions.

To others, we might just be mere maids, but getting hired at the main sect was extremely competitive.

Because it guaranteed autonomous access to the Palace, which could be called the core of Maegyo, background checks were conducted upon acceptance.

This was to prevent potential spies from the Martial Arts Alliance.

Having broken through such a difficult process to enter, enduring for a long time was everyone’s dream and hope.

“Here, take this.”

Even though I hadn’t stamped my seal on the extension contract yet, Lady Gwak handed me a small booklet.

“I’m taking special care of you. If you just follow what’s written there, you won’t fall out of Prince Lee’s favor.”

“The thing is, I…”

“It’s such a relief that you can read and write. There are so many girls who want to be personal maids but can’t because they never learned.”

Lady Gwak let out a deep sigh as if she found this terribly regrettable.

Regardless, warning lights went off in my head. At this rate, becoming a personal maid was confirmed.

This body couldn’t even remember things from before the possession, yet strangely, it was capable of reading and writing.

I had considered it fortunate in my misfortune, but now I only resented it.

Politely declining with nice words wasn’t going to work anymore. In times like this, only direct communication was the answer.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I don’t think I can do it.”

“You can’t do what?”

“Being Prince Lee’s personal maid. Actually, I’m planning to quit after two months.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask why?”

She seemed quite flustered by my refusal.

It was understandable that a hardworking employee she had cherished would suddenly throw in her resignation right before a promotion.

“I’m worried about my grandmother.”

Unable to tell the truth directly, I used my elderly grandmother as an excuse.

“Since she’s getting on in years, her health isn’t what it used to be. Running a shop is quite physically demanding, you know. At first, I thought I should get a job and earn money to let grandmother live comfortably, but now I think being by her side would be better filial piety.”

“I see.”

Shin Geum was my only family, running a noodle shop. Lady Gwak knew about my family situation.

A young girl living alone with her grandmother, without parents.

I could see pity flash in Lady Gwak’s eyes.

Perfect!

She won’t insist anymore.

I was almost certain.

“If that’s really what you want, then there’s nothing I can do.”

As expected, she accepted my refusal gracefully.

Of course, she looked quite regretful at the thought of losing talent.

“Then let’s do this. Seolha, you’ll assist Prince Lee just until I decide on a replacement. You can do that much, right?”

“What? What do you mean…!”

“As I said earlier, this situation came up so suddenly that I don’t have an immediate alternative. I can’t just send anyone to Prince Lee.”

“But I’ll be quitting soon…”

“Yes, two months. I need to find a suitable person within that time. Seolha, you’ll report to Prince Lee’s quarters starting tomorrow morning. Make sure to memorize that booklet by today.”

As if she didn’t want to waste more time on the same conversation, Lady Gwak glanced toward the door. It was a dismissal telling me to leave.

Perhaps because of the trouble of finding my replacement, there was a faint irritation in her tone.

I wanted to ask her to reconsider, but I had no grounds to refuse.

If I pushed further here, I might fall out of Lady Gwak’s favor and make the remaining two months hell.

So I’m really going to become Prince Lee’s personal maid like this?

Do I really have to serve that crazy psychopath?

In this bolt-from-the-blue situation, I was on the verge of losing my mind.

The past five years flashed before my eyes like a panorama. I had tried so desperately… yet the result was this mess, which was absurd and infuriating.

If I could, I’d want to flee in the middle of the night.

But if I did that, I’d be caught by Manmadan guarding the City Wall and sent straight to Prison.

They’d treat me as a spy, asking what my intentions were for climbing the wall, and I’d be tortured to death.

I really must have terrible luck.

Getting possessed into a martial arts novel out of nowhere was one thing, but now, just two months before my escape, I was about to face Eok I-geon, whom I’d tried so hard to avoid.

To think I’d see that madman with my own eyes.

Throughout reading the book, I cursed him countless times. Calling him a crazy psychopath was actually on the mild side.

No matter how much the current Eok I-geon was hiding his true nature, my status was just a maid. The weakest of the weak who could be treated carelessly.

To Eok I-geon, whose goal was unifying the martial world, I was a completely useless existence.

Come to think of it, Eok I-geon particularly emphasized usefulness.

If someone failed a mission, he showed no mercy regardless of who they were, and even if someone acted against orders, he rewarded them if the results were good.

Right, I need to become a useful person!

I may be just a maid, but if I can prove some usefulness, I might be able to avoid a meaningless death.

I should avoid variables like disappearing without anyone knowing.

Two months at most.

I need to buy time by accommodating Eok I-geon’s moods as much as possible until my replacement is decided.

Fortunately, I knew what he liked and disliked.

I also remembered several important episodes from before he ascended to sect leader.

I could only hope that would help extend my life.

“Excuse me, my lady. Would it be possible for me to go home and sleep there tonight?”

I stopped myself from leaving and turned back to Lady Gwak, making my request respectfully.

“Once I become Prince Lee’s personal maid, I won’t have time to visit my grandmother for a while. I don’t want to cause her unnecessary worry.”

“That makes sense. You’ll be busy adjusting to your new workplace. Very well. Just make sure you return by tomorrow morning.”