Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince - Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Translator: Yonnee

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Accompanied by dragging, sluggish steps, I went down the stairs. Of course, I didn’t my best not to wake up the sleeping Blanc.

After heating up the porridge, I placed one bowl of it and a spoon on the tray.

While thinking about what side dish would be okay even if it’s cooled down, I simply boiled some eggs.

Porridge and eggs would be enough to fill his stomach. I’ll need to see his condition first later before I can decide on what meal he’ll have next. Or, we might have to stick to porridge.

I had no plans of unnecessarily teasing a sick person with food they might not be able to eat.

When I put the porridge on the desk, I yawned again. I really want to sleep right this second.

If I could, I would have wanted to go up to my attic room and sleep right there, but Albert might feel some discomfort by not being able to find me when he wakes up. So I shouldn’t leave.

Looking around, I found the blanket and pillow I was meaning to carry upstairs at a later time.

I plopped down on the soft rug next to the bed. I brought the blanket and pillow with me next to the bed, placing the pillow in front of the bedside table and spreading out the blanket. I’m used to sleeping on the floor anyway.

I have no idea what kind of material this fluffy rug was made of, but it felt like a futon, so I liked it. A stray thought crossed my mind that I wouldn’t have to miss my bed for the time being if I lay this on top of my cot in the attic later.

Planning to write something, I brought a quill and paper with me so that I could stay away while observing Albert’s condition. I wouldn’t sleep this way.

Sitting next to Albert’s bed, I put a book on the floor and placed a piece of paper on top of it. It was a temporary measure in case the floor might get scratched.

Should I draw or make scribbles? Thinking about it, I decided to write down all the things I want to do once I go outside again.

Things I want to do once I get out of this place, which is too narrow with nothing to do inside.

It was kind of like a bucket list.

As soon as I got some ink on the quill, I wrote down my list.

Even though I was doing something, my eyes just kept drooping.

Maybe if I sleep for just a bit, I can stay awake better.

I lay down on the newly prepared, simple bed.

“Wow… I love this.”

I just lied down, but I think about half of my fatigue disappeared just then.

As expected, people were meant to lie down. I decided to close my eyes.

“I’ll just sleep a little and wake up right away.”

I’ll take a five-minute nap and then wake up to check Albert’s condition. With this resolute determination, I closed my eyes.

But of course, the magical, resentful promise of ‘just five minutes’ betrayed me.

Five minutes always turned into thirty minutes, and then an hour, and then more…

* * *

Albert woke up with his head throbbing heavily, as though he was being stabbed by an awl over and over again. Like last night, his back was soaking with cold sweat.

His body also felt heavy, so his mood plummeted even more. He wasn’t in such a good condition to welcome a new day.

Exhaling, Albert sat up. A wet towel fell off his forehead.

As he looked around, he realized that something was different. The room’s atmosphere has changed.

The desolate bedroom now had a cozy feel to it. It smelled much more like a human being’s residence compared to before.

His desk was decorated with old-fashioned things, and it now looked like a small library.

Books, frames, and an inkwell were neatly arranged on the desk, as if the desk itself had been plucked out from an office elsewhere.

A cushion he was seeing for the first time—whether in Liam’s place or not—became the sofa’s focal point.

There were other unfamiliar decorations welcoming him atop the fireplace. Not only trinkets, but also various kinds of famous paintings were perfectly blending in the room.

These were things that were from Liam’s castle, but once they were placed here, they felt completely different.

“……”

There was only one person who would do all this while he was asleep.

The only one here with him.

The one who was in a contract with him…

“Rosé.”

Albert found Rosé sleeping next to his bed, lying down on a rug while covered by a blanket.

Next to the sleeping Rosé was a piece of paper and a quill that had rolled out and spread ink. Albert frowned as he stood up while cradling his head. Then, he picked up the piece of paper.

After going over what was written, Albert had a blank expression as he blinked.

The words written in a round cursive script that was very like Rosé… made him speechless.

—Things I want to do once I get out of this place

The list, which expressed Rosé’s wishes, began with simple tasks like ‘taking a walk’ and other such things.

Taking a walk, talking to other people, buying clothes at a boutique, making friends with people of the same age, traveling, eating delicious food with Blanc, not cooking for a month and hiring a chef…

Most of the wishes were ordinary, yet couldn’t be fulfilled here inside the tower.

The list made it clear just how much she wanted to get out of here.

Albert stared at Rosé’s sleeping face.

‘It’s impossible to live like this forever.’

He knew that, but he liked being here.

There were times when he wanted to abandon everything and just continue staying here, in this place where he could be a simple human being, without such status and without such obligations.

At first, he detested Rosé and the things she did. But after they signed that contract, which she brought up as though she’d become a different person, he gradually became accustomed to her presence and she eventually grew on him.

He got used to hearing her candid praise. The spice-laden food that he didn’t even like gradually suited his taste.

It was like experiencing a calm rain that would slowly but surely break down a once-solid wall.

Like her.