I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Chapter 435

After Princess Rainey began her “memory overwriting,” I took over serving her, as Lydia would never allow Ethan, who had already made a mistake (though it wasn’t really his fault), to serve her again. Since I had been the first to respond to the situation, I had to see it through to the end.

Memory overwriting was more effective when small details were altered rather than repeating the exact same scenario. For instance, instead of ordering the tea and cookies she had initially mentioned, Rainey ordered coffee and croissants. I knew a lot about her, but that didn’t mean I could do anything about her tendency for bad luck, so I had to be extra careful to avoid mistakes.

• Thud.

“…Ah.”

As I moved toward Rainey with the coffee, I bumped into a guest who was getting up from their seat, causing me to lose my balance for a moment. Luckily, I had been on high alert, knowing I was dealing with the "Unlucky Princess," and I was able to recover quickly. I stepped forward to regain my balance and steadied the tray in my hands. With the help of the wind spirit, Sei, the shock was absorbed, and I avoided spilling the coffee onto Rainey.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Please don’t worry about me. Are you hurt?”

“N-No, I’m fine as well.”

After exchanging a few brief words with the guest, I made my way back toward Rainey with the tray, now more stable. I quickly used Clean Magic to wipe away a few stray drops of coffee that had spilled on the tray, then placed it carefully in front of her.

“Your coffee, my lady.”

“…”

Just in case, I had kept the coffee lukewarm to avoid any unfortunate accidents, and I had Sally use her fire magic to warm it slightly before serving it, managing to counteract Rainey’s bad luck.

“…”

“I’ll bring the croissants right away. Please take your time to relax.”

• Nod nod.

“…Phew.”

Facing her like this was still nerve-wracking. If I had put even one more croissant on the tray, I might have lost my balance. Or, perhaps, the coffee would have spilled onto the croissants, and I would’ve had to replace the entire order.

She was definitely a troublesome guest, but as one of the main heroines of Luminor Academy, I couldn’t risk offending her. Her streak of bad luck would end soon enough, and it was important not to make any enemies before then.

? ? ?

“Please take care as you leave, my lady.”

“…”

• Nod nod.

“Princess, is there anywhere else you’d like to visit?”

After spending about 30 minutes in the café, Princess Rainey finally finished her refreshments and prepared to leave. I had barely managed to see her off, completely drained. Of course, I hadn’t let my exhaustion show in front of her.

Having focused solely on attending to Princess Rainey, I knew the café had gotten busier without me, but it was a sacrifice I had to make. After all, building goodwill with her was crucial in the story.

It wasn’t because she was engaged to Ethan, but rather because Princess Rainey would become an incredibly powerful character in the middle of the third arc. Her special ability was called “Attract Bad Luck.”

At first glance, the name might suggest she pulled bad luck from others onto herself, but that wasn’t entirely true. In fact, the bad luck she attracted was not from others, but from her future self.

‘Princess Rainey should be turning 19 around the time she enrolled at the academy, so there’s not much time left.’

From the moment she was born, she had absorbed all the bad luck she could possibly endure for the first 20 years of her life. In just a few months, that cycle of misfortune would end, and from then on, she would walk nothing but a path of good fortune.

To avoid making an enemy of Princess Rainey when she becomes blessed with such luck, it was critical to stay in her good graces for now.

After the café closed for the day, Ethan approached me with an apologetic expression, looking downcast from the incident earlier.

“…I’m sorry, Lilith. I ended up causing you so much trouble because of my mistake.”

“Please don’t say such things, Young Master Ethan. Princess Rainey has always been prone to such incidents. It wasn’t your fault that you made a mistake in her presence.”

“…”

“In fact, I should have recognized her sooner and informed you. I never expected her to visit while I was helping in the kitchen.”

At this point, I was the only one capable of fully understanding Princess Rainey’s bad luck and serving her without issue. Despite the small mishap, I had managed to resolve it without much trouble, and tomorrow we could resume normal operations.

‘Tomorrow, Gwa, Cerista, and Silena will be taking the day off.’

With Thomas and Natalie back on duty, I figured things would run more smoothly than today, but that expectation was soon shattered.

“Welcome, my lady. Have you come to see the master?”

“…”

• Shake shake.

“…Pardon?”

• Point.

“…”

Princess Rainey, instead of responding to Thomas, suddenly pointed at me. Understanding her unspoken wish to be served by me, I quickly stepped forward.

“Welcome, my lady. Thank you for visiting again today. The master is busy at the moment, but may I escort you to the reception room?”

“…”

• Nod nod.

“Thomas, I’ll take care of the lady. Could you please attend to the other guests?”

“O-Of course!”

And just like that, I smoothly took over serving Princess Rainey from Thomas. As I began leading her toward the reception room, her bad luck struck again.

• Crack.

“...!”

Just as she took a step into the café, the heel of her shoe broke, causing her to stumble. It was a sudden accident, but I was prepared. I had anticipated something like this.

• Thud.

“...?”

“Are you alright, my lady?”

“…”

• Nod nod.

“I’m glad to see you’re unharmed. Would you mind if I carried you to the reception room?”

“…”

• Nod nod.

True to her title, Princess Rainey, like a proper royal, allowed me to lift her into my arms, nodding as I carried her to a seat in the far corner of the room. I carefully placed her down onto the chair.

• Plop.

‘…Phew.’

I had been nervous that the chair legs might give out, but thankfully nothing of the sort happened. Her ankle wasn’t swollen either, so it seemed like only the heel of her shoe had broken. If she had been injured, it would have been a much bigger problem, especially with Cerista on break today.

“While you wait for the master, I’ll attend to you with the utmost care. If you need any tea or refreshments, please let me know.”

• Nod nod.

“…”

I hadn’t expected her to visit two days in a row. But there wasn’t any rule against returning customers, and we already had a few regulars who had visited the café for three days straight. With such a beautiful staff, it was no surprise that people wanted to return multiple times. Thanks to Antonio filtering out the rude patrons on the first day, the café was running smoothly.

‘Now that I think about it, maybe Princess Rainey came today because she wanted to be served by Ethan.’

Though her engagement to Ethan wasn’t public knowledge yet, it was clear that she had a high status as a princess. Their engagement had been kept a secret due to their difficult childhoods, but it seemed likely she had come to the café to learn more about her fiancé.

Unfortunately, due to the mishap on the first day, I couldn’t hand her off to Ethan again. If he made another mistake, it would be too humiliating for him to bear.

“…”

• Tap, tap.

“You’d like Darjeeling tea and cheese cookies, correct? I’ll prepare that right away.”

• Nod nod.

As Princess Rainey quietly ordered what she hadn’t been able to enjoy the previous day due to Ethan’s mistake, I noticed her broken shoe as I bent down to collect the menu. Since Thomas was here today, I saw an opportunity.

“One of our staff members is quite handy. Would it be alright if I had him repair your shoe while you wait?”