The Warm-Hearted Little Maid

Rena prepared a set of light, easy-to-move clothes for Ellie.

From the looks of it, she had already begun to figure out what kind of outfits Ellie liked.

In fact, counting from the day she was nearly “murdered” by Fers’s tomato sauce, Ellie had been lying in her chambers for three whole days.

Although the medicine was effective and her stomach no longer hurt that much, the trip to the knight order seemed to have used up all the strength she had accumulated over that period of time.

She had lain in bed for a full three days before finally recovering enough to sit up and drink tea.

And by coincidence, that was also when Egmad and Fers came to apologize.

Still, it was a pity that the cake had been personally delivered by Solor.

If Egmad had brought it himself, she might have been able to kick him once.

But there would be a next time.

After all, she probably wouldn’t be dying anytime soon.

She might even have to personally witness his wedding with Iveria…

God, how unlucky.

Did she really do that many bad things in her past life to deserve this?

Was Egmad such a good person back then?

Why couldn’t he just reincarnate into a pile of dog shit?

After leaving the palace, Ellie had truly learned her lesson this time.

Although both her clothes and shoes were suited for movement, she chose to ride in a carriage.

Taking a carriage was the right choice.

Compared to the knight order, the church was farther away.

The Royal Knight Order, being royal property, was naturally located closer to the palace.

But the church belonged to the entire imperial city.

Commoners also needed a place to seek comfort from the gods.

So it wouldn’t be placed too close to the wealthy districts, to avoid conflicts over trivial matters.

Instead, it was built in the central area, so people could easily come to pray.

That made the distance much longer.

There was no way Ellie could walk there directly.

If she did, she probably wouldn’t just be unable to get out of bed for three days.

She would have to rest at home for one or two whole weeks.

That wouldn’t do at all.

She still had cream soup to eat with her royal brother tomorrow.

How could she allow herself to collapse so easily?

So, all things considered, the best solution was to have a royal carriage take her there directly.

If she didn’t want to reveal her identity, she could do the same as before.

Have the carriage stop nearby.

Then walk the remaining short distance herself.

She wouldn’t die of exhaustion on the spot that way.

Whenever it came to moments like this, Ellie always reminded herself that she really needed to start exercising properly.

Putting aside whether her body was sick or healthy, she couldn’t let herself be exhausted to death just from walking a few streets.

Otherwise, many things in the future would become extremely troublesome.

The body was the capital of revolution.

Didn’t that saying mean that you needed a body in the first place?

If she was already gasping for breath just from walking, how could she help her royal brother later?

She might as well just go off and get married for political alliance.

Lie there and think about nothing.

…Hmm…

Would that even work?

If her body really became that weak, even lying there might get her injured…?

Forget it.

That was something for much later.

As for exercising, she could start with something simple.

Doing twenty push-ups at once was obviously impossible.

So she could start with walking and sunbathing.

Maybe she could even pick up sword practice again.

That had been great exercise.

Though with her current body, she probably couldn’t even lift a sword.

Like a child, using a branch as a substitute might work.

If she walked the whole way, it would definitely take a very long time.

With her physical condition, it was quite possible that the sky would be bright before she even reached the church.

But riding in a carriage was fast.

In the blink of an eye, maybe ten or twenty minutes later, they were already near the church.

Since the coachman had brought Ellie here once before, he knew exactly where to stop the carriage this time to keep things discreet.

The coachman didn’t know why Her Highness the Princess refused to use her perfectly valid status.

Why she insisted on hiding a carriage bearing royal insignia.

But since it was the princess’s arrangement, he naturally had no objections.

He simply followed orders.

Her Highness always had her own considerations.

In truth, everyone could see the changes in the princess.

The little maid by her side saw it.

The cooks who prepared her meals saw it.

The gardeners who often saw her in the back garden saw it.

The knights who followed behind her to protect her saw it.

Even the coachman who took her out saw it.

They could all tell that Her Highness seemed to be trying to change herself.

Wanting to change was a good thing.

So of course they supported her.

And because of that, things had been going very smoothly for Ellie lately.

People listened to her.

Whatever she wanted to do, they cooperated.

This probably counted as the right timing, the right place, and the right people.

Heaven had given her a chance to start over.

The timing was perfect.

Everyone was still young.

Others were kind and willing to cooperate.

This kind of perfect alignment was exactly what she had lacked in her previous life.

Well, looking at it that way, she really hadn’t had anything in her past life.

No timing, no advantage, no people.

And yet she still achieved what she did purely through herself.

That was already impressive.

Ellie was actually quite satisfied with the ending of her previous life.

The only thing she had always cared about was her royal brother’s feelings toward her.

As for the ending itself, everything had gone exactly as she wanted.

She had achieved her goals.

She had fulfilled her wishes.

Where in the world did you find something that perfect?

Yet she had managed to complete it all.

“Your Highness, if you go straight ahead, that will be the church…”

The little maid was, of course, still by her side.

As her personal attendant, she was usually inseparable from her.

But Ellie liked having some personal space.

Some things she had to do herself.

And as she had said before, this little maid beside her was like a blank sheet of paper.

She didn’t want to stain that paper with her own messy affairs.

A girl in her teens should live in her own innocence.

She should be full of hope for life.

She shouldn’t end up like her.

“I might go to the prayer room later.

I want to talk to a priest alone about my condition.

So don’t follow me for now.

You can wait in the main hall.

The priests there usually give sermons, right?

You can pray a little for our country, for my father, and for my royal brother.

I hope our country will always have favorable weather and peace.

I hope my father and my brother will always be safe and well.

You should want the same for your loved ones too, right?

So don’t rush to follow me.

I’ll come out soon.

Just like last time at the knight order.

Didn’t you only wait a little before seeing me again?”

With girls like this, you had to patiently persuade them with earnest, sincere words that sounded a bit idealistic.

Young people at this age were full of longing and hope for their country and their future.

They loved hearing things like this.

These words could ignite their passion in an instant.

And this was a church.

Many people wanted to come here to pray.

The palace staff often came here on their days off as well.

This little maid was probably familiar with the rules here.

“Then… Your Highness, you must not eat anything strange again.

I’ll wait for you in the main hall.

I’ll pray for you and everyone else.

But you really must take care of your body.

I’m truly worried about you.

You can’t let anything happen again.”

It seemed Ellie’s words had truly sunk in.

She had easily persuaded the girl.

Rena was even thinking about what she should pray for later.

Ellie didn’t believe in gods.

So she didn’t mind telling a few lies in a church.

And even if they were lies, so what?

At worst, it was just death.

Living every day with the mindset that she would surely die meant there was nothing to fear.

If this second life had been arranged by the gods, then whatever she did should be supported by them.

Otherwise, wouldn’t the gods themselves be the root cause of everything?

Surely, you wouldn’t want to take that blame, would you, gods?

So whatever I say, you don’t need to mind it at all.

“Alright.

I understand.

Thank you for your concern.

Last time… it was my fault too.

I thought that after resting recently, my body had improved a bit.

That’s why I ate the snacks the vice-captain gave me.

I didn’t expect my stomach to be much weaker than I imagined.

Now I know.

I’ll take good care of myself.

You don’t need to worry.”

When facing Rena, Ellie seemed to talk more than usual.

Even more than when she spoke to Solor.

Perhaps it was because only by saying this much would the little maid finally let her act alone.

Or perhaps…

She had been influenced by Rena’s own chatter.

After all, this girl was always talking nonstop.

It even made Ellie unconsciously soften her voice, making herself sound gentler and cuter.

Of course, she only realized this after she finished speaking.

Only then did she notice that she had strained her throat a little from putting on that tone.

“Alright then, Your Highness.

We’ll meet again in the main hall.”

“Mm.

You go on first.

I’ll go in a little later.

I don’t want people to notice that I’m a young lady accompanied by a maid.

I don’t want my identity to be revealed so soon.

Otherwise, I’ll just get pestered…”

“Okay.

Then please come in quickly.”

By the time they finished speaking, they were already near the church entrance.

Only a few dozen meters remained.

After that, Rena quietly performed a small salute.

Just as Ellie had said, she didn’t want people to notice she was a young lady with a maid.

Then Rena quickened her pace.

Leaving the leisurely strolling Ellie behind, she entered the church alone.

As for Ellie…

She continued at her slow pace.

That was precisely why she had Rena go ahead first.

Because she really did feel tired.

Ah…

This damned body…