I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince Chapter 442

My sudden improvisation with the kiss sohow worked out, thanks to Ethan's quick thinking.

"Lil... Julia...?"

"I'm s-sorry, Leon. I just wanted to be with you until the very end."

"...If that's your wish, Julia, then drinking the poison left on your lips to die with you is a death I can be content with."

"I'm sorry, Leon. I was selfish, and now you're suffering because of ..."

"It's alright, Julia. If it's what you wanted, my decision would have remained the sa. Dying while embraced by your warm lips is a far more graceful death than I deserve."

"...In our next life, let's be together, Leon."

"...Yes, Julia. In the next life, for sure."

Thud.

In this way, we managed to alter the final scene, where I was supposed to hand him the vial, by implying that the poison remained on my lips.

The most important part of the ending was that both Leon and Julia drank the sa poison and died together. Afterward, the play moved on to the epilogue with the other students performing their roles, and the play of Leon and Julia, which almost ended in disaster, was brought to a close.

...And so, after the sowhat chaotic conclusion of the day's performance, Ethan and I were left in an awkward silence in the backstage dressing room, both of us glancing at each other uncomfortably.

"I apologize, Young Master Ethan. I ended up forgetting the final lines of the scene..."

"It couldn't be helped, Lilith. Still, I think it ended quite well. I never would have guessed you'd just lean in and kiss in front of all those people."

"...It was the only thing I could think of. All I could rember was that Leon had to drink the sa poison Julia did, so I thought... well..."

"I'm not upset, but I'm more worried about you, Lilith. Weren't you embarrassed to kiss in front of such a large crowd?"

"...It was embarrassing, yes, but I thought it was better than ruining the play."

...Yes, showing a kiss between Ethan and was better than wrecking the entire performance.

It wasn’t like I was exposing any part of myself, and a kiss is a pretty normal expression of affection that can even be seen in public.

‘At least the heroes from the party were all busy with the café.’

At least I wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassnt of them seeing this. Even though there were 100 to 200 people in the audience, by the ti the story spread around the academy, the effect would be different compared to those who had seen it firsthand.

The theater students were busy enough that they wouldn’t likely talk about it. The main witness who might cause trouble...

"...Ah."

"Hm? What's wrong, Lilith?"

"...Oh, it's nothing."

...Right, Princess Rainey.

Of all the people, it was her watching this performance that posed the real problem. Princess Rainey was secretly engaged to Ethan, after all.

Ethan might not know about the engagent, but there was no guarantee that Princess Rainey didn’t. In fact, based on her recent behavior, she probably did know about it.

Her repeated visits to the maid café where Ethan worked, her subtle interference with our date, and her staying to watch the play—these could all have been motivated by her interest in her betrothed.

And now, I had kissed her future husband right in front of her. Once her unlucky streak wore off, she might seek revenge.

‘Not to ntion... it wasn’t just a kiss we’ve shared.’

I hadn’t really had the chance to process what expression I might have had during the kiss with Ethan.

I’ll have to check on her emotional state later to see how she really feels.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

"So, that kiss wasn’t part of a planned ad-lib?"

"...No, Penelope. I just couldn’t rember my lines in the mont and improvised."

"To improvise sothing like that... Well, at least the play ended smoothly."

"......"

I started to wonder if I had made things worse by stepping in to help. Unlike Ethan and , who were just filling in for one performance, Penelope had to continue performing for the next two days as Julia. I might have committed a huge blunder if people thought my improvisation was part of the official script.

For instance, the audience might think the kiss was part of the original script, which could give the impression that Leon and Julia was a scandalous play, possibly driving the audience away.

"I'm really sorry, Penelope. I didn’t an to do anything that would cause trouble for you and the other students."

"Huh? Oh, no, that’s not what I ant, Lilith."

"What?"

"Actually, I think the new version of the script is much better! The original was a bit too predictable and dull, to be honest. Sure, adding a kiss scene is a bit risky, but from what I saw today, the audience didn’t seem to mind."

"Penelope’s right. We thought the original double-suicide ending was a bit lacking in impact, but adding a kiss would certainly leave a stronger impression."

"...What?"

Instead of the scolding I had expected, Penelope and the theater students seed to respond positively to my actions.

Their reactions were sowhat baffling, but at least it seed like what I did wasn’t a huge mistake after all.

"...So, does that an you'll be changing the script for tomorrow’s performance?"

"It looks like it. If Bo is fine with it, I don’t mind performing the kiss either. I doubt Bo would object."

"You really do live up to your reputation as a romance expert, Lilith. I never thought I’d be taking tips from you in this regard."

"Ah, yes..."

...Why is that "romance expert" rumor still following around?

Still, it seed that everything had worked out well in the end, which was better than causing problems.

anwhile, after the play, Princess Rainey and Lydia approached us. They had stayed until the end of the performance, waiting for Ethan and to co down from the stage.

"You both did wonderfully."

"Oh, Lydia."

"Thank you for finishing the play despite the accident I caused. I really appreciate it."

"......"

"Ah, no... Bo’s injury wasn’t your fault, Lydia. It happened because I wasn’t paying attention..."

"Even so, if I hadn’t entered the auditorium, Penelope wouldn’t have been distracted. I take full responsibility for that."

The incident caused by Princess Rainey's bad luck had led to this argunt between Lydia and Penelope, each trying to claim responsibility for the accident. It seed like they could go on forever, so I quietly shifted my attention to Princess Rainey.

I needed to confirm whether she knew about her engagent to Ethan.

"......"

Princess Rainey had been giving strange looks since earlier.

She had looked at similarly when she visited the maid café, but now her gaze was a bit different—more intense.

‘Could it be because of the kiss on stage earlier?’

No matter how stoic she seed, even Princess Rainey couldn’t have been unaffected by seeing her future husband’s lips stolen in front of her.

To see if she really had feelings for Ethan, I subtly took Ethan’s hand and glanced at her face for a reaction.

Grip.

"......!"

Release.

"......"

Grip.

"......!"

Release.

"......"

"...Lilith, what are you doing?"

...I think that just confird it.

Every ti I held Ethan’s hand, her eyes narrowed slightly, but when I let go, her expression returned to normal.

Her facial expressions were subtle, but if you knew what to look for, it was easy to detect her emotions.

She seed to feel uneasy whenever Ethan and I were close, and relaxed whenever we distanced ourselves.

At this point, it was pretty clear that Princess Rainey knew she was engaged to Ethan.

I had hoped to avoid confirming this, but now that I had solid evidence, there was no turning back.

‘...I may need to end this temporary relationship with Ethan sooner than planned.’

Even I wasn’t confident I could face Princess Rainey and her overwhelming misfortune as an enemy.