The Crown Prince's sudden reversal in behavior left an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.

  Although this was exactly what I wanted, it didn't feel like a success. Something instinctively felt off, as if I had picked the wrong route in an otome game, and I had an ominous feeling that I was going to regret this choice. I felt conflicted. A mixture of adrenaline, catechomines, arousal, curiosity, and fear were still pumping through my bloodstream, and this strange chemical concoction resulted in contradictory signals that pulled my brain in opposite directions.

  I screwed up, hadn't I?

  I had thrown slurs and insulted the King's son without thinking of the consequences.

  The Kingdom of Galuterica was not as forgiving and sympathetic as modern-day Earth. Like many ancient societies, the crime of lèse-majesté was punishable by death, and I had pced my neck on the chopping block by allowing Zhang Guiyu's emotions to override my better sense of judgement. The former me on Earth had never been involved with a boy. Even if touching and groping servants was an everyday affair that was normalized in the Kingdom of Galuterica, this type of sexual harassment still left a very strong impression on my 17-year-old heart, and I had a knee-jerk reaction to notion that I might be raped by Prince Leopold.

  Under normal circumstances, it would have been completely justified to throw an insolent maid who offended the royal family into prison. They could even be executed.

  However...

  I looked up nervously at Prince Leopold.

  He didn't show any indication that he would send me to the guillotine for my grossly insubordinate behavior.

  But he also clearly was not happy with me.

  + + +

  "P-Please! Your Majesty!" I spoke up, my throat dry. "I... I overstepped my position. My words were horribly inappropriate, and I beg for your forgiveness. Please allow me to repent for my mistakes."

  "I don't need any of that trash," Prince Leopold spoke coldly.

  My brain made several calcutions at lightning speed. If things continued down its current trajectory, the Majordomo would be the first person to confront me after I was kicked out of the Crown Prince's chambers. Since it had only been half an hour, there would be questions about why I had been sent away when I should have been spending the entire night with the prince. A behind-the-scenes investigation would ensue, and the managers would eventually find out Prince Leopold had drawn a sword on me and sliced up my clothes, and the prince ultimately didn't fuck me at all. The royal family was legally incapable of doing anything wrong, so all of the bme over the incident would sit squarely on my shoulders.

  Even if Prince Leopold made no accusations, it was obvious that I would be fired immediately.

  ...And that was the best case scenario, because it was still possible that the royal ministers might file criminal charges on the prince's behalf.

  "Please if you could reconsider..." I said desperately. "Don't send me away right now!"

  The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes at me.

  "And why can't I do that?" He asked.

  My mind raced to the first answer that I could think of.

  "Because of your reputation, Your Majesty!" I blurted out. "If others see me in this condition, they will think that you have particurly... deviant... preferences."

  My clothes was halfway in tatters and I needed to use my hands to prevent it from sagging and exposing my breasts. Prince Leopold's sword had essentially cut through all the fabric on the right shoulder, which meant that my uniform had essentially been sliced into a lopsided sheet like greco-roman toga. Moreover, my hands were still tied. It was bound loosely enough that I could probably undo the knot if struggled at it for a while, but it would still take some time before I could free myself.

  While the Kingdom of Galuterica was quite promiscuous with regards to the way the nobility frequently surrounded themselves with sex, it was also quite conservative. Like many historical societies on Earth, homosexuality and bestiality were taboos. Simirly, fringe sexual practices such as knifepy, bloodpy, and whipping were frowned upon as freakish and strange. Many people felt that BDSM was the equivalent of being haunted by the devil, and commoners would sometimes visit the local exorcist if they felt that their thoughts were infiltrated with evil and demonic ideas.

  The Demon Lord was a legitimate threat in this universe, and it was probably better for domestic politics if rumors about the Crown Prince being possessed by the enemy were kept to the minimum. The Kingdom of Galuterica was (at least officially) supposed to represent the "Light" side of humanity.

  "Hm... you're worried about my reputation?" Prince Leopold muttered thoughtfully.

  However, he quickly shook his head and covered his forehead.

  "No," he answered himself. "No. There is no love, honesty, or loyalty in this God-forsaken pce. It should have been obvious from the beginning. I can't believe I didn't even notice it. You're just a selfish little maid who doesn't want to be reprimanded by the Majordomo, aren't you? You want to finish your task and save your own neck."

  He stepped towards me again with an ominous bck cloud oozing in the background behind him.

  There was an annoyed look of pity in his eyes.

  "I can fuck you properly if you need it so desperately," he said with disgust. "I am not a cruel man."

  + + +

  I frantically continued to spin a spider's thread at the edge of my wits.

  "I'm... really... not your enemy..." my voice squeaked like a mouse.

  I couldn't think of any more ways to recover from this spiral, but I did genuinely feel this way.

  The Crown Prince had almost certainly misunderstood my intentions. For the time being, our objectives were more-or-less simir. Neither of us could currently use 「Excalibur」, and it would be a big problem for the both of us if my cssmates used the sword to rewrite the universe in some horrible way. That sword was something like the unch code to a nuclear arsenal, and I didn't trust my cssmates to handle something so sensitive and delicate, particurly when even small wishes had the potential to set off the butterfly effect in thousands of unpredictable ways.

  At the very least, I certainly didn't trust Sha Guadi and whatever perverted fantasies id inside his head.

  The least I could do was ensure that the sword didn't go to him.

  The enemy of my enemy was my ally, right?

  + + +

  The Crown Prince was reaching forward to strip my clothes away, but he froze midway.

  A look of disbelief suddenly appeared on his face.

  "You're not lying," he said incredulously.

  He appeared to recognize that my words were actually genuine for once.

  It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps Prince Leopold possessed some type of magical artifact that allowed him to see when people were deceiving him. I didn't even know that magical lie detectors existed, but it shouldn't have been surprising that the Royal Family possessed other strange devices inside of the royal treasury. 「Excalibur」 was a particurly notable magical artifact, and there was no telling how many other overpowered tools existed in this universe.

  I couldn't expin his uncanny ability to determine truth from lie any other way.

  "I don't want anyone to be hurt, and you want to save the world, right?" I said, choosing my words carefully.

  He looked skeptical, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him.

  The objective data was not matching his instincts.

  "I might be just a powerless maid, but we want very simir things."

  "You..."

  "I don't trust the heroes from another world to make a wish that benefits everyone," I tried to appeal to him. "It's scary. Everything about this entire situation is scary and I understand so little of it. Please. I believe that your underlying motives are good, so give me one chance to serve as your pawn..."

  ?