Chapter 2
As planned, I changed into my maid outfit, which I hadn’t worn in a long time.
I now know Tristina’s four blind date suitors like the back of my hand. To actually have designs on the Queen, hmph! I absolutely must teach them a lesson.
I arrived at the royal garden of Champs Castle. Just as I expected, the four of them were sitting together, drinking.
I scanned them— Prince Number One: A golden-haired prince wearing a crown, dressed in a magnificent blue formal suit, with three swords hanging from his waist. He’s the one with the most “prince-like” charisma of the four. His hidden identity is a disciple of ‘Sword Saint’ Reinhardt. He maintains an ambiguous relationship with a princess from a neighboring country in private.
Prince Number Two: A sporty-type prince with short black hair. His muscles stretch his black, tight-fitting clothes, his physique like a living statue. He’s most likely from the Enchantment school, having trained his body to the extreme, right? He’s here for a blind date for political gain, but in his heart, he’s never been able to forget the woman who saved him during a shipwreck.
Prince Number Three: A shota-type prince with light brown hair. He looks harmless on the outside, an image that would probably attract the affection of an “older sister” type, right? Unfortunately, he’s a pervert.
Prince Number Four: A mature and steady-type prince. Both his appearance and his glasses clearly display this. Unfortunately, appearances are just appearances. On the inside, he’s a pervert who kidnapped a village girl’s father and is holding him hostage, forcing the girl to live with him in exchange for her father.
Good grief. Prince Charming type, sporty type, shota type, and mature type, all gathered in one place. It’s a good thing Tristina was sharp enough to investigate them beforehand. If it were a princess from another country, she would undoubtedly be charmed by one of these four “models,” right?
I calmly walked over and took the wine pitcher from one of the other maids. “Leave it to me,” I said to the maid with a smile.
I saw Prince Number One feeding a cherry to his white horse while saying with a laugh, “Although this is very unfair to all of you, I must tell you that Queen Tristina’s final choice will definitely be me.”
“Hmph.” Prince Number Two snorted. He had his thick arms crossed and was controlling his muscles to bounce a grape up and down… I think that’s so perverted.
“I have something you don’t. Queen Tristina might just fall in love with my muscles.” His words were mixed with his own country’s dialect.
“Hehehehe…” Prince Number Three let out a gloomy cackle. “Pretty big sister’s… feet… are the best.”
“You are all too shallow.” Prince Number Four adjusted his glasses, speaking like a master strategist. “Queen Tristina lost her father at a young age. She must prefer a steady, father-like man who can give her a sense of security.”
”…” Hearing their “conversation between kings” left me speechless.
I walked over carrying the pitcher. “Pardon my bluntness.” tlnote would intrusion be better?
I calmly placed the pitcher on their table.
“None of you gentlemen present are the type Queen Tristina favors.”
The moment I said this, I immediately felt a murderous aura coming from the table. So scary.
“I’m sorry, you’ve angered me. It might be too late, even if you apologize now,” Prince Number One said with a smile.
“Such bold words for a mere maid. Your comments have unfortunately ignited my fighting spirit. When I get fired up, I just can’t stop.”
“Size 34 feet… they would look amazing in glass slippers.” Prince Number Three stared at my feet, drooling.
Prince Number Four adjusted his glasses. “Everyone, calm down and let the little maid finish speaking.”
I gave a weak laugh. “Queen Tristina only likes boys with high magic power. If one’s own strength isn’t up to par, Her Majesty won’t even spare him a glance.”
Er… did my words just taunt the entire group? I could feel magic mixed in with the murderous aura from the table… or maybe murderous aura mixed in with the magic?
“Interesting. And how does Queen Tristina wish for us to prove our strength?” Prince Number One asked.
“Is it a fight against her direct guard, ‘Valkyrie’ Hluwyl? Hmph, I’m fired up,” said Prince Number Two.
“Does marrying the pretty big sister come with Sister Valkyrie’s… feet? Hehehehe.”
Prince Number Four adjusted his glasses. “Based on the data I’ve collected so far, Queen Tristina’s direct subordinate, ‘Valkyrie’ Hluwyl, has magic power at the elementary level of Void-Purple. Adding the home-field advantage and the boost from defending the Queen’s honor, my odds of winning are still greater.”
“No, no, no—” I said quickly. “Why would we need to trouble Her Majesty’s direct guard, ‘Valkyrie’ Hluwyl? Pardon my bluntness, but all of you gentlemen present… probably can’t even defeat a mere maid like me.”
Er… did I just taunt them all again?
Prince Number One was the first to stand.
“Sigh. To think that I, a disciple of ‘Sword Saint’ Reinhardt, would actually draw my sword against a little maid. But it can’t be helped. You’ve angered me, and it’s too late to apologize now.”
As he drew his sword, he held up three fingers at me.
“Three seconds.”
“Ah?”
“Within three seconds, you will be defeated. I so declare.”
…Alright, then I’ll count for him. One…
I transmuted my Holy Light hammer and hid it behind my back.
Two…
He raised his sword and charged at me.
Three…
DONG—!!!
I smashed the hammer down and planted him in the dirt. He’s a disciple of ‘Sword Saint’ Reinhardt, after all. I couldn’t give him the chance to use his swordsmanship.
As I spun the hammer in my hand, Prince Number Two stood up to face me. He was fiddling with the iron rings on his arms.
“Well, this seems more interesting than I thought. I’ll take off two… no, three of my weighted rings.”
The three weighted rings hit the ground with a clang, shattering the floor tiles. They had to be at least three hundred jin.1 To think he carries these around for training? What a monster!
Freed from his burden, Prince Number Two dashed in front of me in one step, a grin of excitement on his face, like a predator pouncing on its prey! Uwaah! That aura is terrifying! I slapped him with the hammer, and he went spinning far, far into the distance.
His speed just now was beyond my expectations. I swung that hammer purely on instinct. That was close…! It wouldn’t have been surprising if I had been the one to lose, right?
“Hehehehe…” Prince Number Three hopped down from his chair, hands in his pockets, staring down at my feet.
“You took care of my rivals for me. Well done. But how tragic for you. Meeting me is your misfortune. You’ll soon regret not losing to those other two.”
“…What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”
But, the feeling this little shota gives me is completely different from the last two. Eh? Suddenly, I feel like my body can’t move!
Behind the little shota, the chairs, the cups, everything was floating in the air. He’s a Manipulation-school mage? And Prince Number Four is still just calmly drinking his wine.
“Hehehehe… I’ll just control little sister into taking off her shoes, and then putting on the glass slippers…”
—DONG!!! I broke free of his magic control, and one hammer strike later, I’d planted him in the ground to keep Prince Number One company.
“Pervert…” I muttered.
Only Prince Number Four was left.
He adjusted his glasses. “I didn’t expect to get dragged into this as well. Sigh, what a bother. Good thing I came prepared for this sort of situation.”
“Prepared…?”
Did he bring some kind of trump card? I have to be careful.
I watched as he took a syringe from his pocket and plunged it into his own neck. I was shocked! What did he just inject?
Reality quickly gave me the answer. His body twisted, deformed, and in an instant, his volume increased several times over! His clothes burst apart, revealing a beast’s mane.
Good grief, he turned into a beast?
He brandished his sharp claws, bared his fangs, and pounced at me—
I spun the hammer in my hand and faced him. Queen Tristina is my childhood friend. If you want to marry her, you have to get through me first—!
I swung my hammer and met his attack—!
DONG—!!!!! A violent shockwave spread out in all directions, blowing the flowers and plants in the royal garden askew. A moment later, everything was calm again. The battle was finally decided.
“Phew. That was a really evenly matched fight. I couldn’t be careless for a second, or I would have lost.”
I let out a sigh of relief, my hammer spinning a few times in my hand like a pinwheel. As far as I could see, Prince Number One, Two, Three, and Four were lying on the ground in various positions, all of them unconscious.
why is he so strong 😭
Footnotes
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斤 (jīn) - A Chinese unit of mass, approximately 0.5 kg or 1.1 lbs. 300 jin is about 150 kg or 330 lbs. ↩