I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 244 [Machart, Subjugation (5)]

“AAAAARGH…!!”

Machart dropped the hand mirror and fell backward with a scream.

With that shabby appearance reflected in the mirror, his looks could no longer be called handsome or even average—he seemed terrified as he tried to escape from it.

It seemed he was quite shocked to see his bare face for the first time in nearly four years.

“Wh-Wh-What?! Why… How…”

Machart muttered as he touched his face with his palms, seemingly unable to understand what had happened to him.

Since not only Machart but most people present seemed not to understand the current situation, I took advantage of the confusion to kindly explain to others how the Mirror of Truth worked.

“I’ve heard that the Mirror of Truth has a power that reveals the target’s flaws and shows their true form.”

“Miss Lilith?”

“So, it can be used with the Saint’s power to identify demons mixed among humans. After all, the dark magic of demons is nothing more than an act of hiding the truth.”

“Miss Lilith? Who are you talking to…”

“So if Prince Machart changed to this form after being exposed to the light from the Mirror of Truth… could this possibly be Prince Machart’s true appearance?”

“…!”

Machart visibly panicked upon hearing my words. 

The others who were listening to my explanation also began to nod one by one, starting to understand the current situation. [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“C-Certainly… If he became like that due to the Mirror of Truth, then surely transformation magic…”

“If it’s transformation magic, isn’t that dark magic? Wasn’t dark magic only allowed to be used by mages designated by the empire?”

“The reason why the state banned dark magic is because it’s magic used by demons, you idiot.”

“Then, could it be that Prince Machart really…”

Everyone was murmuring, but they seemed hesitant to finish their sentences, probably worried about committing blasphemy.

It was clear to anyone that Machart had been using dark magic to hide his true appearance, but Machart was still royalty, after all.

As if someone wanted to ride the Machart train in this chaos, one brave young lady stepped forward from the crowd.

“N-No! Th-There’s no way Prince Machart could be such an ugly monster!”

Beige hair, twin tails.

She seemed to be one of the women who came in with Machart earlier, but I didn’t remember her well, so she was probably an extra.

Amidst the murmuring of not only the noble children but also the annex’s guards and maids, the brave ‘twin tails’ came forward and loudly proclaimed Machart’s innocence.

“E-Everyone’s being deceived! There’s no way Prince Machart could be such an ugly man!”

“I-Is that so?”

“But the Mirror of Truth…”

“S-Someone must have cursed Prince Machart! There’s no way a man with such an ugly face could be the prince…”

“…No, that person is indeed Brother Machart, Miss Erishe.”

The one who appeared calling the name of the twin-tailed girl, who had moved to defend Machart as if she couldn’t accept that the Machart she had been flirting with until just now was such an ugly man, was Seraphine, who knew Machart’s ‘true face’.

“P-Princess Seraphine?”

“I sometimes thought there were some strange parts when recalling memories with Brother Machart.”

“Seraphine…? What are you saying…”

“Clearly, in my memories, Brother Machart has always been a handsome man with a good-looking face, but for some reason, the brother in my memories didn’t seem to like his own face very much.”  [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“Wh-what are you saying?! N-no! There’s no way this could be my real face…”

“Magic that not only changes outward appearance, but even alters one’s image in others’ memories. You know that this power is not permitted even to dark mages authorized by the empire, don’t you, Brother Machart?”

“…No, it’s not… Listen to me, please…”

Seraphine quickly assessed the situation and concluded that Machart had already borrowed demonic power, leaving only the twin-tailed girl who had come to defend Machart in an awkward position.

“Miss Erishe? You just said that Brother Machart became like this because of a curse, right?”

“Y-Yes…? N-No… I, I didn’t really…”

“Then, did you speak so confidently without being able to take responsibility for your words in front of me, a member of the royal family?”

“……”

“It’s okay, Miss Erishe. Since it seems you really thought Brother Machart was cursed, I’ll let you confirm whether he’s really cursed or not.”

“……Pardon?”

The twin-tailed girl showed a confused reaction to Seraphine’s unexpected words. As soon as I saw her, the thought that she was about to experience something unfortunate by unnecessarily stepping forward crossed my mind.

The reason why Seraphine was referred to as an ‘absolutely good’ character in Luminor Academy was because she moved for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.

Even her actions that sometimes restricted the player in the story were because she could save many lives with the suffering of one player.

The fact that she didn’t back down until the end and grasped victory in the unfavorable competition for royal succession was because she could create happiness for many people by becoming the crown princess.

The fact that she managed to grasp victory under unfavorable conditions in such a competition for succession meant that her skill in handling crowds was superior to anyone else’s. 

Seeing the twin-tailed girl about to become a sacrifice to this superior skill, I silently offered my condolences in my heart.

“Come to think of it, there was a story like this in old tales, wasn’t there? The story of a prince who turned into a frog due to a witch’s curse.”

“……Pardon?”  [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“And that prince could be freed from the curse by receiving a true love’s kiss from a lady. It’s a famous story, you surely wouldn’t not know it, would you, Miss Erishe?”

“……”

“So, I’ll give you a chance too, Miss Erishe. If you really think Brother Machart has been cursed, you should be able to break it with your sincere kiss, right? Come on, hurry.”

Seraphine dragged the twin-tailed girl, who was wearing an expression that suggested something was going wrong, towards Machart who had fallen to the ground.

It was clear that a greenhouse flower-like *1 young lady who hadn’t even entered the academy, let alone been in a combat-related field, couldn’t possibly overpower Seraphine, who belonged to the Martial Arts Department. Her appearance, with her being forced to take each step like a goat being led to slaughter, was pitiful.

“Now, Miss Erishe.”

“…Y-Your Highness?”

“Quickly. You can break my brother’s curse with your kiss.”

“I-I-I’m s-sorry, I made a mis-“

“…I said do it, quickly.”

“……”

The twin-tailed girl, her nape firmly grasped by Seraphine, was forced to bring her face close to Machart’s, while Machart sat quietly on the ground with an expectant expression for some reason.

Even if she actually kissed him, the curse wouldn’t be broken, but the very premise of kissing seemed quite horrifying to her.

Thwack!

“Guh, Hurk…!!” 

“……” 

“…Urgh, BLEEEEEGH…! BLEEGH…!!“

Splat. Splat.

…Oh dear, how pitiful.

It seemed that the cursed Machart’s face wasn’t very attractive from the twin-tailed girl’s perspective.

The poor girl ended up pushing away Seraphine’s hand just before her lips touched Machart’s, turned her face, and kept retching.

As a result, Machart’s suit got dirty with the twin-tailed girl’s vomit, but this wasn’t particularly pitiful. He wouldn’t have a chance to wear that suit again anyway, as it would soon become his burial clothes.

“Oh my, do you seem to be feeling unwell, Miss Erishe?”

“Guh, ugh… Gurk…”

“Then, shall we try again? It’s okay that you dirtied my brother’s suit. If the curse is broken, Brother Machart will forgive you.”

“N-no… Th-that…”

“And if by any chance you’ve changed your mind and now think that Brother Machart isn’t cursed, I’ll give you just one more chance.”

“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness…”

“Someone might think I’m threatening you, Miss Erishe. Didn’t you want to kiss my brother and break the curse?”

“N-no! That’s definitely not a curse! Prince Machart always had a face like a rotten tomato! I don’t want to kiss a face like one of food waste! P-please, Princess Seraphine…”

The noisy crowd fell silent at the twin-tailed girl’s plea-like confession. Perhaps everyone was feeling varying degrees of sympathy for her in their hearts.

“I understand, Miss Erishe. I thought you could break my brother’s curse, but it’s a shame it turned out like this.”

…Seraphine’s calm demeanor as she said things she clearly didn’t mean was almost scary.

It was easy to predict that if the twin-tailed girl had actually kissed him, Seraphine would have immediately moved on to something else.  [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

Saying something like, ‘It seems Miss Erishe couldn’t truly love my brother. Is there perhaps another volunteer who would like to try breaking the curse?’

Seraphine, who had manipulated public opinion at the scene in this way, gently released the twin-tailed girl’s nape, and the girl who had boldly declared that Machart was cursed with her own mouth fled quickly into the annex.

Among those who remained to watch this situation, about 60% were noble young ladies.

“Is there perhaps another volunteer who would like to try breaking my brother’s curse?”

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Before Seraphine could even finish her sentence, 60% of the people left.

“Oh, by the way, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man. Normally, of course, I couldn’t allow it, but when breaking such an ugly curse, it’s naturally an exception.”

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Three-quarters of the remaining 40% also left, and except for the annex guards, only the main characters seemed to remain.

Me and Ethan, Seriste, Seraphine, and Machart.

I hadn’t seen Gyeongmwajogyegigwat and Agnes even once since earlier; I wonder where they disappeared to. In the end, things worked out well even without them.

Anyway, what was important now was not their whereabouts, but Machart’s proper punishment. It had already been clearly revealed by the Mirror of Truth just used that he had used demonic power, and all the noble children from various families and the annex guards were witnesses to it.

Just before passing immediate judgment on Machart, whose suspicion of collusion with demons had been revealed, Seraphine, with eyes that looked like she was watching a death row inmate, opened her mouth to him.

“Collusion with demons, use of forbidden dark magic, memory manipulation against royalty, and various other crimes… Do you have any last words, Brother Machart?”

“Wh-why…”  [Only on DarkStar Translations! / Axiomatic]

“……”

“That woman, is a fake Saint, she said…”

Machart muttered in a trembling voice, pointing a finger at Seriste.

His hand trembled as if shocked by the betrayal of expectations he had completely believed in, and this time he slowly shifted his gaze towards me, standing next to the pink-haired Saint.

“………..Huh?”

His pupils then dilated greatly as if he had realized something.

I slightly raised one corner of my mouth in a sneer at those dilated pupils that showed an expression of having never expected this for a moment.

“C-could it be…”

Dangerous words that the annex guards shouldn’t hear were about to spill from his mouth as he finally realized everything, but fortunately, Machart’s mouth was able to maintain silence at the last moment with Ethan’s help.

“Could it be, are you the Sai-“

Slash.

…After all, a head without a body couldn’t finish speaking.

T/N

1. “Greenhouse-flower-like” is a metaphor using the fact that flowers in a greenhouse are protected from the outside world.