'Where is this place?'

I opened my eye. I realized I was laying down without know where it was. I could feel the cushy feeling behind my back. Prison was actually quite comfortable? I slightly opened my eyes and looked around. Despite my expectations that it would be dark and damp, the bright sunlight s.h.i.+ned to my eyes.

Something was strange. How could the infamous prison of the Duke's castle used to torture prisoners be so comfortable? Only then I realized I was in a small but fancy room. I could slightly see an ivory curtain tied with red roses and antique windows. As I turned my head, I could see a bottle of perfume on a small j.a.panese cypress desk. It wasn't a cold metallic room for prisoners. I also have been here several times to clean it up.

'Isn't this the guest's room?'

Oh my G.o.d! Weren't they taking me to the prison?

Are they letting me enjoy luxury before dying? If not, they won't let me use the guest room as Perse is suspecting me to be an a.s.sa.s.sin. Except for cleaning it up, I've never been to this room so I couldn't stop being anxious.

"Are you awake?"

This familiar voice is…I knew whose voice it was without turning my head. My neck was stiff like a doll that hadn't been greased for a while.

"Du….Duke?"

Why is he here? Maybe, he might have been taking care of me while I am…. Of course not. I stopped thinking about that absurd idea. I was watching the Duke with a weird face. Soon, I turned my head back as his expression was too cold and indifferent.

"Until when are you going to lay down? You should get up by now."

What kind of man is Perse Yekart? He was a ruthless man who would always lead the way of the Knight Corps during war and wouldn't fear cutting his own hand if he could slash the enemy's in return. Also, persistence was the right word for him. Regardless of his character, the current situation was pretty much surprising. It was more surprising than me becoming younger. The Duke was a rich man and he was too busy to care about me. I wanted to watch him as long as I could while cupping my chin. But there was one problem, the Duke was looking at me like a rare animal.

"Did I become younger?"

He, a man who wouldn't be surprised even if the sky would fall, was looking surprised. His sharp eyes that looked like an eagle in the wild became large. I was watching him, but soon heard a voice full of confusion.

"The flow of mana…."

He was about to say something but soon closed his mouth. What was he going to say? Whatever it was, something that could make Duke the owner of the ice castle surprised would be something big. I swear to G.o.d, anything happened today was an accident that was unexpected.

"Am I screwed?"

I could hear the song of an angel that looked like a saint ringing a bell and singing

"Yes, you are screwed."

He took out his sword instinctively  and enlarged his eyes. He stared at me with a frightening eye. His sword headed to the ground as if he wasn't going to stab me.

"Saint Bart, am I out of my mind?"

"No Sir, I dare say you are sane."

"That's enough."

He asked a knight who was next to him. It was the first time he asked for his man for an opinion, as he would always decide by himself but he would again not listen to the answer. You know what? You are already a crazy man. I swallowed the words and coughed because of a bitter taste at the end of my tongue. As if the alcohol went into my airway, I held my neck with pain. Duke looked at me if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What the…."

"If you eat it then you die."

I nodded while pointing at the alcohol with poison. I saved you. Lienna was trying to kill you because you were too cold to her like a master of  an ice castle. As he wasn't interested in Lienna, he didn't care much about the way the Saint saw or behaved towards him. Because Lienna had tried several times to be loved by Duke, he still never cared about Lienna. As she forfeited his first love and transferred to a new relations.h.i.+p, the Duke and the emperor was on a compet.i.tion towards the throne so she must have felt uneasy between the two.

"I can see she wants to bargain with me."

He giggled without showing any sign of confusion. Dealing with the Duke sure wasn't easy. Reality and the novel was so different! If it was a novel, it would have been like this even before I opened my mouth. "Oh my G.o.d! You are the first, no after Lienna so second women to save my life." And then he would ask, "What is your name?" And I would say, "Siel, I was a maid working for you."

"Lock her in the prison."

And I would be in prison…… Huh? That's strange.

That's not what I said. I raised my head surprised by the cold voice. Is he out of his minds? He would lock me? I am too young. It must be the eagerness to survive or the effect of poison. I was a bit shameless I said with desperate voice.

"No!!!!!!"

I was expecting to be rewarded by helping him, but that's not what happened. I was absolutely wrong. He wouldn't reward me; he would punish me instead.

'Am I being locked in prison?'

I never thought I would be pulled out by the knights. Only then I realized praying to him to save my life was useless. I was just a nameless extra but I felt like I became a villain who attempted to kill the Duke. This was a little, no really unfair! He looked relaxed just as usual. He would put his sword in his waist and was looking at me while leaning towards the pillar.

"You are an a.s.shole!"

He remained calm like an emotionless doll even though he heard me swearing to him.

"An a.s.shole? I haven't heard that for a while."

He coldly smiled as if he would execute me any minute. As I said earlier this was because of the poison. I would flatter him by saying, 'My lord! G.o.d bless you.' If it weren't for the poison.

'This must be a dream.'

When I opened my eyes again, he was coldly looking at me with his arm crossed. I stared at him too.

"The King is more handsome than you…. Sir! All maids liked the King more than you…."

Actually who is more kind wasn't important. They are the same blood so they were alike. All I could do was scream shabbily. Did my words move him? He suddenly smiled to me. I a.s.sumed he won't kill me right now; he would torture me forever.

"I a.s.sume you have been working for me for a while…"

He knew me? I was really surprised as I never heard this before. He would only look at me as if I am a bug. Now I know he just had good memories. a.s.sa.s.sination towards the duke had been attempted several times so he would at least memorize the face of his maids. He would also know the where my fellow workers are from or what kind of work they did before coming to this place.

"I will remember you saying you liked my silence."

He grinned as if he was going to write that down for the inscription on my tombstone so I a.s.sumed he wasn't going to kill me right now. Oh, I forgot. He was a villain pretending to be a hero.

"I feel so good; my maid was loyal to someone else."

My inscription on the tombstone was already decided. The name is Siel, 17 years old, no surnames as born as a commoner, a veteran maid who worked for 5 years. 4 years before, after running away from her house she luckily found the castle of the duke…But ends her life because of an unlucky accident. The name of sin is deception. I think born unlucky isn't my sin. I struggled hard to survive, to be accepted by the castle.

'd.a.m.n it, I should have used all my money! I should buy all the clothes, eat all the desserts and even lend a luxurious carriage. Why did I care about saving him so much!…'

The fairy tale I read when I was young was right.

A lazy gra.s.shopper and a diligent ant.

Both of them make a mockery of each other. In the end, both of them die because of heavy snow fall in winter. This life as a maid was useless. And I haven't the guts to become a ghost of the castle to cast my revenge on the duke. Maybe tomorrow, even before my burial, my name could appear in the headline of the newspaper. Veteran maid Siel. She was a villain who tried to murder her own master. She was finally finished by the righteous- actually evil- Duke.