Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Chapter 284
Chapter 284
Translator: Yonnee
—
When our conversation ended, I suddenly felt warmth over my shoulder.
Albert, standing behind me, gazed intently at the three of us.
“Everyone’s here.”
Albert stepped closer in front of us.
“I’ve called you here today because there’s something I need to ask.”
“…What would you like to discuss?”
Liam asked, to which Albert slowly warned.
“Answer honestly. It’s related to Rosé’s disappearance.”
“Did you find something?”
At Mercy’s hopeful question, Albert nodded.
“Yes, but I can’t tell you yet…”
Albert trailed off with a bitter smile.
“Understood. I’ll answer whatever it is!”
Schubert shouted resolutely, his face determined. Liam also nodded cautiously, and Mercy faced Albert with a tense expression.
Albert wanted to hear the sincerity of those serving him.
That’s why he specifically brought up Rosé’s disappearance, the most serious issue at hand, to summon them.
After a moment of silence, Albert spoke.
“Have you ever regretted your decision to serve me?”
Albert’s voice echoed low, a warm smile on his lips.
* * *
How often does one get a second chance in life?
At the end of a lengthy conversation, Jung-in and Albert concluded that the life beginning with Rosé Artius’s death was a second chance given to them.
An opportunity to change an unhappy life and meet Jung-in.
The moment Albert realized everything could be changed, he decided to give an opportunity to those who had truly served him.
Schubert, who started serving him blindly after Marquis Evnen’s banquet.
Liam, who was still haunted by guilt for doing nothing that day, dedicated everything to help Albert become a flawless king.
And Mercy, who blamed herself for not stopping her father.
A long time had passed since that day, but none of the three had ever forgotten that banquet, and neither had Albert.
Albert thought he would become the perfect monarch for their sake.
But the moment Jung-in appeared, his life was completely turned upside down. Initially, he thought he would still do his best.
It was foolish. Even that was a promise he couldn’t keep.
Albert remembered the times he acted like a madman with the singular purpose finding Jung-in’s soul.
He drove the people around him to the brink of death, all to find her.
Although all his actions were to keep living, to keep breathing, he was aware of how heartless and cruel he had been to his subjects.
There was no excuse for his actions.
Even if the same situation occurred again, he would repeat it all, to find his reason to breathe.
So, shouldn’t they also be given a second chance?
If there was even a moment when they regretted serving him, he intended to make it so they need not serve him when the past changes.
“…What do you mean by that, sire?”
Liam was the first to ask. He frowned, unable to understand the intention behind Albert’s question.
“I can’t explain everything, but it needs to be said. So, I am sincerely asking if there was ever a moment you regretted serving me.”
A statement that would sound absurd from anyone else gained credibility coming from Albert.
His voice, tone, and manner of speaking made it impossible to believe the story was a lie.
“Isn’t it that I wasn’t a good enough liege? I’ve turned the whole country upside down and even lost my sanity.”
“……”
“That’s why I’m asking. I was far from the ideal monarch you might have imagined. Even if you honestly complain about my words and actions, I have no rebuttal.”
He knew it might be difficult to speak openly about this.
So Albert tried to lighten the mood.
“Mercy, you should speak first. You’re the one I’ve overworked the most. You would have reason enough to regret.”
Albert casually brought up Mercy first to start the conversation. However, Mercy remained silent.
“Certainly, I have my faults as well.”
“Your Majesty, I’ll speak first. I—”
Before he could continue, Schubert, unable to listen any longer, interrupted. But Schubert didn’t finish his sentence because Mercy stepped forward resolutely.
“I do not regret it.”
Any fatigue and dissatisfaction from the ongoing tasks disappeared, leaving only true loyalty to her lord.
“At the core of everything, Your Majesty’s decisions have never been wrong. Even if I had physically suffered, my mind had never changed.”
Her firm gaze spoke only the truth.
It was a much quicker and more touching response than expected. Albert, seemingly caught off guard, was at a loss for words.
Schubert, looking as if he had found a comrade, began to speak.
“…Mercy, I didn’t expect you to have the same thoughts—”
“Shut it. Your Majesty, no one is more suited to your current position than you. I am satisfied to serve the one best first that position.”
“I feel the same, Your Majesty.”
Liam added from beside her.
“…Your guilt.”
At Albert’s words, Liam shook his head.
“Even if it weren’t for guilt, even if that banquet had never occurred, I would have served Your Majesty.”
His voice, filled with conviction, was undeniably powerful. Schubert also chimed in.
“I’m of the same stance.”
After a pause, Schubert smiled broadly.
“Because you are my liege.”
At Schubert’s words, Liam and Mercy nodded as if it were obvious.
Whatever the beginning was, the fact that Albert was their lord was an unchangeable rule.
Regret never existed in the first place.
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