I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince Chapter 444

"Princess zzlen left with Professor Harold, saying she would see him off," Thomas explained.

"...What?"

"I did ask her to refrain since the café was still open, but she was quite adamant."

"...Well, we were nearly done anyway, and trying to stop her would’ve just caused a scene. It happened right after we served the last order."

"...I see."

So, she had left about an hour early. While it wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t exactly sothing to worry about. Sure, it wasn’t great for her to leave early while everyone else was still working, but I could let it slide this ti. After all, everyone else had probably been enjoying the festival with their partners, while zzlen hadn't been able to do that, given her unrequited love. It wasn’t fair to deny her the chance to spend ti with the person she liked, even if only for an hour.

Though I would definitely have a word with her when she returned tomorrow.

"Understood. I’ll speak with her tomorrow when she returns. Thank you all for your hard work today."

"Tomorrow’s the last day, right? Once it’s over, this festival will be behind us."

"It’s a little sad that it’s ending already…"

"Well, that’s the nature of festivals. At least Seraphine and Luke will be helping out tomorrow, so we’ll have the full crew."

"Thank you for your efforts! See you all tomorrow!"

With those words, the fifth day of the festival ca to a close.

...It wasn’t until the next morning that we realized Princess zzlen hadn’t returned to the guest suite the previous night.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

"Princess zzlen... didn’t co back last night?"

"...No, Lady Rosewood. I stayed up late with Seraph—Princess Seraphine, waiting for her to return, but she never ca."

"..."

When I asked about Princess zzlen’s absence after she hadn’t shown up by morning, Prince Antonio gave an unsettling answer. Both he and Seraphine, her older sister, looked visibly concerned by the situation.

"At first, we assud she was running late because she might’ve been out with you and the others. But it seems that wasn’t the case."

"Seraphine, there’s no way we’d have a gathering without you. We were planning to finish today’s shift early and maybe grab dinner outside the academy."

"Do you think sothing might’ve happened to her? If so, we should start searching right away…"

"Maybe. Or she could have just overslept and didn’t feel like coming in. It’s possible she’s just being lazy or has a trivial reason for staying in bed."

"zzlen does tend to act on her whims. She also has a habit of dumping annoying tasks on others after she’s gotten what she wanted. I thought she was improving lately, but... sigh."

Antonio and Seraphine, having known zzlen for years, were quick to assu this was just another case of her acting out. Based on her past behavior, it wasn’t a completely unreasonable assumption. After all, the only reason zzlen had worked at the café for five days was to personally handle Professor Harold.

But while their explanations made sense, both Guimo and I—who knew the events of the original ga—couldn’t feel at ease.

There was a nagging thought that the original story’s kidnapping event might still happen, albeit in a different way.

'The problem is, if I suddenly suggest that Princess zzlen might have been kidnapped, it would raise suspicion.'

It could help us find her quickly, but after the fact, I’d have to explain how I knew she was in danger. There was no way I could brush that off easily. And Guimo, the so-called “prophetic hero,” couldn’t just start making guesses either. If we were wrong, his credibility would take a hit.

"We have no choice but to carry on without her today. Luckily, we’ve got two extra people to help, so things should run smoothly enough."

"zzlen and I will deal with her later."

"Ah, yes…"

With that, Seraphine took over zzlen’s cashier duties, and the final day of the café’s operations began. Both Guimo and I missed our opportunity to raise the issue, and the workday got underway.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

"..."

"...Lilith?"

"..."

"Lilith?"

"Huh? Yes?!"

Ethan’s voice, suddenly right next to my ear, startled . I flinched as I snapped back to attention, realizing both Ethan behind and Princess Rainey and Lydia in front were watching closely.

"Ah, s-sorry! Would you like a café latte and egg tart?"

"..."

-Princess Rainey shook her head.

"...Sorry, but Princess Rainey asked for milk tea and apple pie."

"Ah, right! My apologies! I’ll get that ready right away!"

Hurriedly, I crossed out my mistake on the order sheet and jotted down the correct items, bowing my head as I rushed off. I could feel Ethan’s gaze following , concerned.

"Lilith, are you alright? You’ve been making a lot of mistakes today."

"...I’m sorry, Young Master Ethan."

"No need to apologize to . If you’re tired, do you want to take a break?"

"..."

"You’ve been dealing with Princess Rainey all day, plus you’ve practically been managing the whole café. It’s only natural you’d be worn out."

-Snatch!

"...Ah."

Before I could react, Ethan swiftly took the order slip from my hands and headed for the kitchen. I was so caught up in thoughts of Princess zzlen that I hadn’t even realized what he was doing.

"One milk tea, one apple pie!"

"Got it."

"On it~."

The kitchen staff responded to Ethan’s call, and as he took over my task, my mind remained preoccupied with what to do about zzlen.

'Logically speaking, it would be difficult to proceed with the demonic summoning ritual without Seraphine. The key ingredient—the “pure and noble blood of a princess”—only flows in her veins.'

The First and Fourth Princesses were disqualified due to their commoner mother, and the Second Princess was no longer pure. Therefore, the original plotline involved kidnapping Seraphine. But despite that, the timing of zzlen’s disappearance felt too convenient to ignore.

Either the group responsible for the August family massacre wasn’t aware that zzlen wasn’t a legitimate princess, or they intended to use her to lure Seraphine out. If it were the latter, there might still be ti to save her, but if it were the forr, we needed to act fast. zzlen could already be in a life-threatening situation.

'I can't wait any longer. Even if this turns out to be a false alarm, I have to find her.'

With that thought in mind, I pulled out the Whispering Leaf, focusing on Princess zzlen as I activated it. The leaf instantly pointed in a specific direction, tightening as if to guide .

As I prepared to make an excuse to leave the café for so fresh air, the front door creaked open, and a familiar blonde figure stepped inside.

"I’m sorry, I need to step out for so air—"

-Slam!

"S-sorry for being late... I-I overslept..."

"...zzlen?"

"Princess zzlen?"

Everyone, including the staff and the custors, turned to stare at the blonde princess dressed in a maid uniform. She had finally arrived—two hours late.

Seraphine imdiately walked over to her younger sister, a stern look on her face.

"zzlen, do you have any idea what ti it is?"

"S-sorry, Seraphine... I-I almost overslept…"

"Overslept? Where on earth did you sleep that you could oversleep like this?"

"...Sister, I suggest you choose your words carefully."

"...Sigh. We’ll talk about this later."

Not wanting to publicly air the fact that zzlen had stayed out all night, Seraphine heeded Antonio’s advice and backed off from interrogating her. zzlen seed relieved but pouted as Antonio teased her.

"Hey, at least she showed up. The old zzlen wouldn’t have even bothered until the end of the day."

"...You’re too harsh, Antonio..."

...Well, at least she was safe. I didn't know where she had spent the night, but hearing her excuse about oversleeping ant I’d probably worried for nothing.

Just as I was about to tuck the Whispering Leaf back into my pocket and focus on my duties, my eyes caught sothing that made freeze.

'...What the...'

The tip of the Whispering Leaf was still pointing in a completely different direction, away from Princess zzlen.