I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince - Chapter 268 [The Path to the Witch's Forest (2)]

T/N: This bonus chapter is sponsored by James B. (4/14). 

The carriage carrying four passengers and one coachman had been running for roughly six hours since early morning before briefly stopping in a quiet meadow.     

It was a place with level ground, good for getting out of the carriage for a moment to catch your breath, and the open terrain allowed for defense against sudden attacks.

It was the optimal location to rest the horses and have lunch at the same time.     

“We will rest here for about an hour to let the horses rest. I will feed the horses and prepare the meal, so you esteemed guests should also take a short break.”      

Colt Sharp, the female former Royal Knight who was accompanying us as both the coachman and escort, got off the coachman’s seat and told the rest of us, including myself, to rest.     

She was wearing plate armor on her hands and feet, but the part covering her body was a brigandine *1, prioritizing mobility over a full plate mail outfit.

“Hmm, since Knight Colt says we should rest, let’s all take a rest for now.”

Once the break was decided, Knight Colt glanced over at Agnes.

There was one member of the Royal Family.

One member of a Ducal family.

One young lady of a Count family.

And one young lady of a Baron family.

In Knight Colt’s case, as a Knight of the Royal Family, her rank was generally considered higher than a young lady of a Count family. So, it would be natural for her to ask for my and Agnes’s help in feeding the horses and preparing the meal.

The problem was that the prince in front of us happened to have his heart set on that young lady, and I was publicly in an engagement with Ethan beside me right now, making it difficult for Knight Colt to easily give orders.

In other words, at times like this, if the highest-ranking person doesn’t take the initiative, the lone knight has to handle all the work. 

But would Antonio, who fearlessly tagged along despite even Agnes’s gaze, be the first to say such a thing…

“Master Ethan, we need to move the sacks of beans and feed troughs from the cargo compartment, could you help a little?”     

“Of course, Prince Antonio.”

“I’ll move the feed troughs, so I’ll leave moving the sacks of beans to you. …And Lady Lilith.”     

“Yes, Prince Antonio.”     

“I heard you also serve as Master Ethan’s exclusive maid at the Academy, so if it’s not too much trouble, could I see your skills in preparing lunch?”     

“Understood. Since we still have a long way to go, shall I prepare something simple to eat?”     

“I’m in no position to be picky about food when I’m the one asking. Anything is fine as long as it’s edible. Ah, and Knight Colt.”     

“Yes, Prince Antonio.”     

“You go inside the carriage and rest for a bit. I’ll call you when the meal is ready.”     

“No, I can’t rest while everyone else is working.”     

“It’s fine if you’re uncomfortable in the carriage and want to rest somewhere else, but don’t take on any work during this break time. You’ve already been driving the carriage alone for six hours, so you need to rest now to be able to drive properly in the afternoon, right? Plus, we’ll have to rely on you to drive the carriage tomorrow and the day after that too, so if you don’t rest now and your body breaks down, who’s going to drive?” 

“…I understand. Then I will rest for a bit as you say, Prince.”

…Hmm, he’s surprisingly perceptive.     

Well, in the original work, he was in a supporting role for the protagonist from the beginning, so he was a pretty decent guy.

Even though a member of the Royal Family was suddenly added to the travel plans, at least he didn’t seem like the type to throw his weight around and cause trouble over things like this, so we should count that as a blessing.

“…Hmm.”

Antonio voluntarily helping out with the work seemed to leave a good impression on Agnes, as her gaze shifted slightly towards the prince.     

Yes, keep doing that. He may have made many mistakes with Agnes so far, but if he keeps this up, he can sufficiently make up for the wrongs he’s done…

“So, what should I do?”    

“Ah, Lady Agnes, you can just rest.”     

“…What?”

“There’s not enough work to trouble you, Lady Agnes. If you rest in the carriage with Knight Colt, we’ll call you when it’s time to eat….”

“…Are you indirectly saying I’m useless because I’m weak and can’t cook?”

“…Pardon?”

Oh no.

You should have known when to stop.

“N-No, that’s not what I meant. Since it’s work that the three of us can handle, there’s no need for everyone to go through the trouble. And Lady Agnes, as a magic major, it would be too strenuous for you to carry heavy sacks of beans….”   

“Then, why are you telling Lilith to prepare lunch without even asking me? Aren’t you just blatantly ignoring me because you don’t need me?”   

“N-No… That’s not what I meant at all….”

If he had just given her any simple task, he would have earned points with Agnes and moved on. Antonio just had to leave out the little red chihuahua in the work distribution and trigger her inverted scale *2.     

I could understand him not wanting to make the girl he likes work, but still, telling her to rest alone in this atmosphere was bound to be a dubious situation for Agnes.

‘He should have just given her some menial task that anyone could do.’

Before the atmosphere could become awkward because of the clueless Prince Antonio, I hurried and moved to a different spot with Agnes.

“Agnes, I’m thinking of making sandwiches for lunch, and I think it would be better if we lightly toast the bread. Since you’re skilled with fire magic, could you help me out a bit with starting a fire to toast them?”     

“…Got it.”

“Th-That’s okay, right, Prince Antonio? There’s no particular reason Agnes has to rest, right?”     

“Ah, um, yes. I, I just didn’t know what task to give Lady Agnes.”     

“…..”     

“I-It’s not that I meant there was no work to give her….”

“…Hmph.”

Seriously, why did he have to add that last bit?    

It seemed Antonio’s pure love for Agnes would continue to be a rough road.

And so, the first day’s schedule of Prince Antonio and Agnes’s relationship being on the rocks ended.     

As the sky darkened on the second day of the continuing carriage trip, the carriage carrying the five people quietly came to a stop on a field.     

“I apologize, but I think we’ll have to camp here for the night.”

Ah, as expected.     

This was a part I had sufficiently anticipated.     

Thankfully, on the first night of the trip, we were able to sleep and replenish the horse feed in a village not too far from the capital, but from the second day onward, there were no decent villages on the way to the Witch’s Forest in the southwest.     

If we were lucky, we might discover a small community of about ten people living together along the way, but even if we found something like that, it wouldn’t change the fact that we’d have to camp out.     

Usually, places like that only farm and live off of what they can eat themselves, so they don’t sell anything, and even if they took money, they wouldn’t have a use for it. 

To begin with, communities below a certain number of people tend to have slightly lower credibility compared to villages of a certain scale.

Having roughly traveled two-thirds of the distance to our destination over the course of two days, we began preparing for the second night’s lodging by pitching tents taken out from the carriage’s cargo compartment.

Thanks to Prince Antonio, who had reflected on yesterday’s work distribution, the evening meal duty fell to me and Agnes, and since we had ingredients we had brought along for once, we prepared cheese fondue for dinner as I had mentioned before.

I was in charge of cutting the bread, bacon, and vegetables to be dipped into bite-sized pieces. Naturally, melting the cheese to a nice, gooey consistency with fire magic was Agnes’s job.

“Agnes, do you like cabbage?”     

“…Not particularly.”

“But you should still eat a balanced diet. Plus, cabbage is rich in calcium, so it would help quite a bit with growing taller. Are you really not going to eat it?”

“…Then give it to me.”

 Crunch, crunch.

“…..”

“Agnes, do you like carrots?”     

“…Not really.”     

“Is that so? But if you lightly boil them, they’re quite palatable, you know? And carrots contain a lot of female hormones…no, nutrients that are good for women and would help quite a bit with making your breasts grow.”

“…Give me a lot.”     

 Chomp, chomp, chomp.

 “…..”

“Agnes, do you like broccoli?”     

“…Yeah. And for broccoli in fondue, I prefer it raw rather than blanched.”     

“But broccoli contains nutrients that expel female hormones…no, nutrients that make your breasts grow, out of your body. It won’t help make your breasts bigger and will only interfere.”     

“…..”     

“So, how much broccoli do you want to eat, Agnes?”     

“…Eat it to your heart’s content, you boob monster.”

With that kind of conversation, we finished preparing the meal, and everyone dipped the vegetables, bread, and dried bacon into the cheese and ate, concluding dinner.     

…Actually, there was no way her body type would change no matter what she ate at this point, but I didn’t bother mentioning that since it was fun to tease Agnes.

T/N

1. A brigandine, compared to full plate body armor, is sleeveless, allowing for better mobility.
2. The concept of inverted scales is a reference to dragons in Chinese mythology. It is said that below a dragon’s throat, scales that grow in the opposite direction are present, i.e., the inverted scales. If touched, the dragon would kill the one that touched them.

I’m just glad Lilith translates “female hormones” for Agnes to comprehend. 

See you in the next one!