Volume 4 Chapter ss2: Extra Story - The Princess Seen From the Maid's Eyes

The Princess Seen From the Maid's Eyes

Chloe was assigned with that role when she was fifteen years old after graduating from the royal sorcery academy.

She was born in a knight household that directly served Melrose House. Her big brother and little brother had been slotted to be knights of Melrose House since they were born, but when woman was born, there was a rule that they would become a knight of the "black ops", unlike the daughter of the common knight household where they would marry other knight.

She didn't feel any discontent about that. Female knights could also be found in Claydale Kingdom, but they weren't really considered as fighting strength. Instead their main duty was to guard the women of high ranked noble house or as decoration in ceremony and the like. They wouldn't be sent to the battlefield and it was impossible for them to climb the rank by raking achievement with their sword skill.

In this world where one's ability got seared into their soul by magic particles to become "Skill", the difference between male and female in a fight wasn't that important, but most likely there were many people with old-fashioned way of thinking among the nobles. In such situation, many women with talent like Chloe harbored discontent, but it was a different story when it came to 『black ops knight』.

Chloe's family was from a lineage of retainer that had served Melrose House since a long time ago. She herself also had no problem with swinging sword around. Using her naturally high physical strength and endurance, she obtained a lot of recognition as a heavy knight.

The black ops knights were those who specialized in combat even among the black ops organization. They would hide their identity, travel not only inside the country but also to other country, defeat enemy, and if necessary steal information.

There were also a lot of people who belonged to the black ops organization but didn't get into any fight and only did administration work, but only people who could be trusted could become black ops knight seeing it was their job to track down and defeat enemy. They could be called as elite just like the royal guards.

For Chloe who only knew about the southern region and the capital, the work of black ops that would require her to go all over the country for spying and fighting filled her chest with expectation although she knew that such thinking was improper.

But, Chloe's first duty right after she graduated from the academy was something so vital that it was unthinkable that a beginner like her would be assigned to it.

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「......Eh?」

「You didn't hear me? Chloe, you are going to become the personal maid of the first princess.」

She got called to the capital and got told that by her direct superior Sera Schildren. At first she thought that she heard wrong, but unfortunately she didn't.

The first princess──her highness Elena was just born several days ago from the second queen. For some reason Chloe got chosen to be her maid.

「......Why am I chosen for that role?」

She understood that an order from the black ops was absolute, even so Chlose couldn't stop herself from asking Sera that question.

Sera Schildren, a lady from a baron house. She was a Cruzian person which was rare among Claydale nobility, so she was also someone who Chloe looked up to.

Schildren House was a lineage with high loyalty and fighting strength even among the retainers of Melrose House. Sera was still a twenty years old youth, but she had already reached rank 4 and got promoted to be in charge of queen palace's security.

The number of people who knew about her strength was limited, but she was more known about her beauty rather than her strength. Her popularity wasn't just limited to within the country. It was still fresh in everyone's memory how an ambassador from the influential desert country Carlfan Empire fell in love with her from the first sight and asked her hand in marriage.

Even though someone like Sera was here, a daughter of a mere knight household like her who was still a rookie was chosen instead as the princess's maid. She didn't understand why. There were a lot of people with tricky personality among the veteran black ops knights, but if it was Sera then she should be able to control them.

Chloe really wanted to refuse this assignment because she still had hope of travelling all over the country. Seeing that Sera opened her mouth without any change in expression.

「Don't spread this around but, the mental state of the princess's mother, the second queen is unwell. I believe that your ability as "shield" will be necessary for her highness.」

「Ee......」

There is a risk the second queen would act violently in a fit of rage, so protect the princess with your body day and night. That was the order that was given to her.

「......I'm, just a girl from a lowly knight household who doesn't even have any achievement though?」

「There's no problem. I have also checked your reputation and grade at the academy. And there's also no problem ideology-wise from you Chloe and your family too, so I recommended you to his excellency the prime minister and he approved.」

「Is that so......」

Her background was already investigated and all paths of escape had also been cut off. It seemed that she had been correctly evaluated as the result of working too hard to become a knight of black ops.

「I understand. I shall give it my all to not betray Sera-sama's expectation......」

She suddenly got thrown into the palace that was like a completely world beyond her reach before this, but if she got Sera as her superior than she would surely manage somehow when she got into trouble. Chloe accepted the assignment with such thought. Sera nodded in satisfaction before she suddenly recalled something and added.

「Aa, that's right. I'm going to marry this month and retire, so I'll leave the rest in your hands.」

「Eh!?」

.

Like that Chloe's first mission in the black ops was working in the palace as the princess's bodyguard maid.

She wasn't completely dumped into it on her own. A fellow black ops male also became the princess's caretaker as a butler, but as expected a male couldn't be expected to take care of her highness's more personal care. It forced Chloe to do some things on her own.

Chloe was not alone by any means seeing that it was the first princess they were talking about here, but in most cases it should be female who was the second daughter or third daughter from baron or baronet house who became the princess's personal attendant. Even though she was in black ops, the still young Chloe had the lowest station in there.

Furthermore the females other than her feared the second queen's temper, so Chloe had to do tasks like being poison taster for the princess or changing her diaper alone.

Even so Chloe gave it her all because Princess Elena was cute.

Not only she had the appearance like a blonde haired and blue eyed fairy, Elena also became incredibly attached to Chloe who was constantly at her side taking care of her. She would hug Elena when she cried thinking of her mother who rarely showed her face. It wasn't long before she started to think of her as her actual little sister.

But, even that situation changed when Elena turned there years old. The special education from the second queen that resembled torture began. Even so Elena sought her mother's warmth and continued to do her best desperately. But, her health became ruined after obtaining for elements and it made the second queen abandoned Elena.

Since then Elena's atmosphere changed. Elena who was overflowing with talent from the start bloomed and even obtained the intellect to advise her father the king.

Chloe felt sad seeing that, even so she offered her loyalty not to the royal family but to Elena herself as a knight, that she would offer even her life to protect her.

That Elena changed once more when she encountered a certain girl.

The king saw a glimpse of Elena's caliber to become queen and called back Sera from retirement. That Sera appointed that pink haired girl to be apprentice bodyguard maid for Elena.

The girl also possessed a characteristic that was unbecoming for a child, similar like Elena. Elena became even more mature after that girl saved her.

That girl headed to the north for a black ops assignment and went missing because of Grave's betrayal. When she heard that news, Elena looked like she was wasting away although she still believed in the girl's survival.

In order to support Elena who was in such condition, Chloe cooperated with the butler Yosef who had also been serving Elena since she was a baby. She did everything she could to improve the environment around the princess. Chloe who couldn't accompany the princess into the dressing room because of her low standing during the kidnapping incident in Dandall also won the position as the princess's number one attendant, so that the same incident wouldn't be repeated. She even got assigned as the princess's chamberlain and obtained authority as befitted that position.

Several years passed after that. When Elena was starting to show talent as a princess that was clearly even more superior than her big brother the crown prince, a report about the survival of the pink haired girl reached them.

Elena also got ordered by the king to go into the dungeon as a royalty. When she heard that the girl would participate as bodyguard adventurer in the dungeon exploration, the tenseness that was always present in Elena's expression before vanished.

***

「I wonder if this is fine......」

「Yes, it really looks good on you, Elena-sama.」

Elena was constantly conducting herself as the princess in her daily life. Although she was still eleven years old, her high intellect allowed her to understand her position as a royalty who had to guide the people.

At less than four years old she gave up on becoming a king herself because of her body's weakness. Even though Elena judged that her brother didn't really have the caliber to become the king, she was resolving herself for even the possibility of dying as a shield for her brother in this dungeon exploration, in order to prevent this country from falling into chaos as a royalty.

But......Elena's strained atmosphere from disciplining herself to constantly look like a dignified princess was splendidly crumbling in these several days.

「But, something that is easier to move around with will be......」

The person herself must be trying to look no different than usual. In fact she was displaying herself as a strict princess when she was in public setting, during the hectic busy day because she was also filling in for the official business that originally should be done by her brother the crown prince. But after that hectic time passed, she became like restless girl who would be going out to an outing. Here she was starting to be bothered about her outfit or hairstyle for going into the dungeon.

「Elena-sama is a sorcerer, so I don't think you need to wear something heavy like armor.」

Chloe was going along with every single one of Elena's conduct that was like that, even so she was watching over the change in Elena with a warm smile.

She knew the reason for such change. It was because Elena was able to meet with that pink haired girl──Aria.

Elena actually was also acquainted with a lot of noble daughters. But until now her relationship with those girls who were soft like the butterflies in flower field was only kept at the level of simple business-like relationship. There was none of them who Elena could claim as friend.

She also often conversed with someone like Mihail of Melrose House, but he was a male and constantly looked at other people with measuring gaze. She couldn't relax around him. Even Clara of Dandall House who could be considered as the only one with equal status to her with the same gender had changed and couldn't be considered as a friend anymore.

It was inevitable that Elena's conversation partners became mostly adult, but although conversing with them could entertain her as a "princess", it couldn't give her any tranquility as simply "Elena".

Even Chloe and the butler Yosef, although Elena was able to let her guard down around them because she had known them since she was a baby, they couldn't become an equal conversation partner for her.

But......Aria was different.

She was an existence that Elena recognized as a "kindred soul" who was her one and only equal in this country.

They weren't friends. There was a large wall that prevented a princess and an adventurer to become friends. But their relationship had a strong bond that couldn't be measured with that kind of common sense.

Right now the wavering heart that Elena was showing was the wavering of maiden heart that wished to show her good side as much as possible in front of Aria who she was finally reunited with.

「Y-you are right. It's not like I will head to the frontline to fight......」

「Indeed. This robe here doesn't look excessively flashy. I believe that this one suits Elena-sama better.」

Inside the closet that had the size as though it could contain a whole house of commoner, there were dozens 『travelling clothes that the princess couldn't see』 that had been gathered by the females of black ops for the dungeon exploration this time.

Chloe concluded that she couldn't possibly allow the other servants and maids to see Elena in this state and sent everyone out except the two of them, but seeing the outfits getting taken out and discarded one after another made her cheeks spasmed from imagining that she would have to tidy up all of them later by herself.

「This one, and this outfit......aah, this one too.」

「Very good. I shall put this one in the list.」

Elena had made decision with intellect and good sense in almost every matter until now, but seeing her hesitating of what outfit to wear made Chloe smiling softly even while a trickle of sweat dropped down her forehead.

(......Will they all fit inside the luggage?)

The spatially expanded bag that was prepared for the princess was specially made. The deeply affectionate king had prepared it for his daughter's sake. He a specially ordered it from the sorcerer guild and it boasted a capacity that was as big as a single horse carriage, but right now Chloe was starting to think that in the worst case she would have to reduce the number of large shield she was bringing in her own expanded bag to free up some space.

Even so thanks in part to Chloe's hardship, Elena finally decided on the outfits that she would wear in the dungeon. She patted her chest in relieve, but then Elena suddenly turned around with a look of realization.

「Is my current hairstyle fine?」

「......Any kind of hairstyle will look good on you Elena-sama.」

.

Even so Chloe didn't consider any of it as a bother. She smiled warmly seeing Elena who never showed any childishness at all until now was getting worked up thanks to interacting with someone who she considered as her equal for the first time.

After that they finished the dungeon exploration safely and Elena who had conquered the feebleness of her body decided to become the queen for the sake of the people. She also succeeded in securing Aria's cooperation.

The scene that was like an establishment of a new oath with Aria had ended and Elena saw her off with the expression of the princess. Then Elena seemed to think of something and fell silent before she suddenly turned toward Sera and Chloe.

「Say, you two. Aria is certainly going to be my bodyguard but, what do you think I should do so she can enroll into the academy with me?」

「「............」」

Sera who was now the princess's head maid made a troubled smile toward that rare selfishness from the princess. Chloe held herself back from bursting into laughter and narrowed her gaze as though she was looking at an adorable little sister.

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(Even if nobody recognizes it, to me Aria and you are "friends" already you know......)