厨房从后面挺进李婷

— Madam!» she exclaimed excitedly, «What happed today, is it true?!

— Hmm… Tell me more about what you mean.

I casually walked into the room and sat down in my favorite chair by the window. Blissfully threw back my head and closed my eyes, finally being in the familiar safe space.

Meanwhile, the maid was indeed tse. She settled next to my chair and continued to ask me a lot of questions.

— It\'s all anyone ever talks about! — About your conflict with Lady Fernandez,» she announced loudly.

— What?» I was a little surprised, «What \'conflict\'?

— Well… It\'s… Well, these ignorant people say you pushed her on purpose!

— Ah…

Frankly, I never expected our little incidt in the middle of the corridor to be called a real «conflict». But where else, if not in the Imperial Palace, could rumors be blown to unbelievable proportions.

— It wasn\'t like that,» I answered reluctantly, «Camille and I were out walking, and… I think they happed to run into that maid.

Melinda sighed in relief. She had no reason to doubt, and she took me at once at my word.

— I knew it! — So these fools made it all up themselves,» she exclaimed.

I was too embarrassed to ask what they «made it up,» but Melinda told me herself.

— Almost everyone in the servants\' dorm thought you were making fun of Lady Fernandez,» she said, «But it\'s a good thing I was there, and I gave them all a good kicking…

I let out a chuckle as I imagined it.

— Thank you, Melinda,» I thanked her honestly.

— I am your personal maid, and it is my duty to defd your honor! — If anyone dares speak ill of you,» she said, «they\'ll be sorry they ever contacted me.

In fact, it was at that momt that I realized just how lucky I was to have Melinda as my maid. She had become not only a servant, but also a frid to me. And besides… any other maid probably wouldn\'t have interfered so zealously in her mistress\'s squabbles.

But meanwhile, ev wh I said I hadn\'t, the girl was still concerned.

— I knew I should have gone with you,» she said guiltily, «otherwise this wouldn\'t have happed…

— It\'s not like that,» I countered, «An accidt could have happed to anyone.

Melinda hesitated.

— Madam… But are you sure it was an \'accidt\'?

— Hmm?

The maid looked at me uncertainly. She would never have dared to make such a harsh statemt in a public place, but now she challged me:

— Her Majesty\'s new secretary… Frankly, I didn\'t like her at first!

I sighed.

— What could it be that you didn\'t like about her? — I asked her curiously.

— You may not know this, Madam, but those who have be here a long time can see right through you.

— You\'ve only be here two years… How did you learn to «see» so quickly? — I grinned.

— Well… It\'s… I have experice anyway!

In a way, I understood Melinda\'s fears, but I wasn\'t going to share them just yet. After all, we still didn\'t have any proof.

— Just because Camille became Rachel\'s secretary doesn\'t mean…» I said confidtly.

But the maid suddly interrupted me:

— «Madam, you said yourself you wouldn\'t trust anyone in the Imperial Palace.

I frowned as she reminded me of those words, but I was ready to answer.

— Not trusting doesn\'t mean suspecting,» I summed up.

Melinda was still squinting at me strangely.

— Madam… Perhaps you have a reason of your own for treating Lady Fernandez well? — the girl suddly suggested.

In a way, she was right.

— Camilla is the Viscount\'s child out of wedlock,» I said, «I can imagine how hard it must have be for her.

I\'d lived here long ough to know my way a the aristocracy. I knew for a fact that no matter where they lived, bastards were considered outcasts everywhere. They were usually hidd, or rejected at birth. And Camilla was unlucky to be one of them.

The viscount\'s illegitimate daughter had more than likely be discriminated against since childhood. From her own family to other secular society. I couldn\'t ev imagine how hard it was.

Moreover, such a girl managed to climb high, and become the right hand of the que. Far from every child of such backg was so lucky. And so… I really didn\'t want to ruin her life right now.

Wh I told Melinda all this, she sighed disappointedly.

— Madam, how can you think so much about a girl you\'ve only known for a short time? — she was obviously indignant.

— I…» I looked away uncertainly, «I just want to behave nobly in this situation…

— Here we go again! — The maid seemed greatly displeased,» «Madam, I wish you would be a little more selfish. Stop thinking of others all the time!

— Hehehe… I think I\'ve be selfish ough already.

Our dialogue was interrupted by a knock on the door.

I frowned, wondering who might have come to see me this time.

— Melinda, tell me I don\'t want to see anyone today,» I asked.

— Yes, madam.

The girl wt to op the door, and appartly could not stop whoever was about to ter. Because in a few seconds, as I was about to close my eyes again, a familiar voice rang out loudly:

— Belle, I see you didn\'t miss me very much, did you?

***

Shortly before the previous evts.

Wh Philippe Blanche thought it couldn\'t get any worse, it turned out later that he was very wrong. For life in a commoner family seemed to him a nightmare.

In the d, on that day, the crown prince could not refuse Serge\'s offer. Sleeping on the street was so disgusting to him that he was ready to agree to anything as long as it was a bed.

In fact, he later realized that he had be a little hasty in this decision.

The overjoyed commoner took him to her aunt and uncle\'s house. It was on the outskirts of the capital, and looked more like a squalid hovel. A tiny little house with only a couple of rooms, in which as many as three people managed to get along. And now the Crown Prince…

The landlady greeted them on the doorstep. A fat woman with a kind smile, distantly resembling Serge. Her husband was the same not too thin man, with a mustache and a macing appearance. All in all, an ordinary middle-aged commoner couple. Most people they knew were used to addressing them as Mr. and Mrs.

Ridley.

Both of them were greatly surprised wh Serge suddly brought an unfamiliar young man into the house.

Wh asked «who it was», she lied, claiming he was a longtime frid of hers from the orphanage. And his name is Phil. As the reason for his appearance, the girl explained that right now Phil had just moved to the capital, and he had nowhere to live. And so she very much asked to shelter the boy here for the time being.

In order not to shock her already not young relatives, Serge decided on this deception. In addition, the real truth remained too implausible. No adequate person in his right mind would ever believe: that a dubious type, more like a homeless man, was in fact the «dead» crown prince…

Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Ridley turned out to be quite understanding people. They easily left him in their home, and were happy to meet one of Serge\'s few frids.

However, since there were no free beds in the house, the boy was assigned a sleeping place in the hayloft.

Wh Philip found out about it, he was absolutely displeased, and scandalized about it all eving. But in the d, he still had to put up with it and sleep there.

In fact, before long, the crown prince\'s stay in their lodgings pleased absolutely no one.

Mr. and Mrs. Ridley were shocked that their best frid Serge had such a nasty temper.

He had only be in their home for a week, but they couldn\'t stand him anymore.

The boy would make a sce for any reason and no reason at all, refused to do his chores, and in geral snapped at them constantly. All he did was loiter and wait for food to be brought to him.

Evtually, after such a short period of time, the couple couldn\'t take it anymore. Mr. Ridley was the first to have a serious conversation.

— Serge, how much longer is your frid going to stay with us? — the man burst out.

Serge was embarrassed as she noticed that her uncle was obviously angry.

— Uncle, Phil has nowhere else to go… Would you please let him…?

— I can\'t take it anymore!

The man slammed his fist on the dining table, causing everyone prest to shudder.

It was now dinner time, and Philip did not respond as usual wh his hostess called for him. Each time she had to go to him in person and tell him that the food was ready.

This was the last straw in Mr. Ridley\'s patice. This young man is as lowborn as they come. So why does he allow himself to be so arrogant?!

The momt Mrs. Ridley arranged the dishes on the table and was about to go after him, her husband stopped her.

— \'Don\'t go,\' he growled, \'If your legs fall off coming yourself, th let him starve.\'

— But…! — the woman at first wanted to object, but she didn\'t.

The three of them sat down to lunch in silce, and for a while all that was heard was the sound of the cutlery. Th Mr. Ridley summed it up:

— Serge, though he\'s your frid, this is too much. If this guy is still not going to do anything, I can\'t keep him in my house.

Serge seemed agitated.

— But Uncle…! Phil can\'t do anything, after all. How can he help you?

He really was. Not only was he arrogant, he was useless. During his time in this family, it turned out that Philip didn\'t know how to do ev the most basic things. Like helping his landlady mop the floors or chop firewood.

In the back of his mind, Mr. Ridley thought that ev this table they were dining on was more useful than that jerk.

However, that was no excuse for his laziness at all.

— Serge, if you don\'t give me one good reason why we should keep him, th… I\'ll have this guy out tomorrow morning,» he warned in all seriousness.

The girl hesitated and looked anxiously at her aunt. She did not say anything and seemed to agree with him. Serge realized there was no way out. She had to think of something urgtly!

At that momt Philippe deigned to come down to the kitch. His appearance raised the tsion in the room.

But the boy did not notice this, and was only annoyed that this time the landlady had the nerve not to invite him personally. However, he was hungry after all, and the prince decided to postpone the scandal for later.

He sat down at the table and looked contemptuously at the food.

— So-so!

Philip snorted, reasoning that this family was so poor that they couldn\'t ev afford normal meals. Where, after all, was the stuffed duck or at least the sea salad?

But in spite of such claims, the boy emptied almost all the pots and piled himself a full plate. He ate it all with a nonchalant look.

Mr. Ridley\'s eye twitched.

— You…!

The man was about to vt his anger right now, but Serge raised her voice in time.

— Uncle, I have an idea!

The man looked away briefly.

— What do you mean?

— Phil really can\'t do anything, but he has something that will certainly help us.

Mr. Ridley was greatly surprised, not knowing what his niece meant.

— What do you mean…?

— The face! — You can\'t dy that Phil is prettier than the average boy, can you?

— Well…» He hesitated, because he still didn\'t know what that had to do with anything.

— If we use his virtues well, we can draw atttion to our stall!

Like most commoners, Serge\'s family made their living selling produce at the market. The couple grew potatoes in the field, and Serge wt to sell them. Since potatoes remained relevant at all times of the year, they were almost never without income.

Lately, however, their earnings have fall somewhat due to the intse pressure of competitors. And that\'s why Serge came up with an idea like this. To use a simple trick, and involve the Crown Prince…

Normally, the guy didn\'t care what these commoners were talking about, and he just ate. But suddly hearing his name in the middle of the conversation, he listed.

Mr. Ridley thought about it carefully, and came to the conclusion that Serge was right. It was extremely rare to find such beautiful people among ordinary people, and this guy was like a diamond found by chance. In today\'s reality, someone like him would surely be the face of a cologne or a clothing brand. At the very least, an actor…

All it takes is a little «rubbing» and he would shine! For ordinary people, and young girls in particular, Phil would prove to be an unprecedted wonder.

For the first time, there was interest in Mr. Ridley\'s gaze wh he looked at this guy.

— He\'s coming! — he exclaimed,» Indeed, it might help.

Philip frowned.

— What…? What the devil are you babbling about?

Mrs. Ridley also appeared thusiastic about the idea.

— Son, don\'t worry. You\'ll help us a lot if you do this.

Philip was indignant, and was about to declare that he wasn\'t «son» to them at all, but at that momt Mr. Ridley slapped him sharply on the shoulder.

— It\'s settled! — he announced, — From tomorrow, you\'ll be the main face of our potatoes!

After these words, the crown prince\'s face twisted so much that it seemed about to explode.

Damn it, he couldn\'t imagine that this family would ev think of such a thing. It was the first time he\'d ever expericed such humiliation.

— You miserable commoners…! How dare you!