Serveyia sat wearily on the sofa in the first-floor lounge.
She didn’t really understand why Lin Sheng’s mood suddenly changed.
Everything seemed normal right after the transformation.
So why was he unhappy after returning to his room?
Serveyia, who bore the middle name of Arcadia, had served the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox since ancient times.
For them, serving the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox was the greatest goal.
That’s why, when she met Lin Sheng, Serveyia deliberately concealed information about the “Princess” and the “transformation.”
For Serveyia, witnessing the appearance of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox was more important than anything else.
Combined with the ancient will of the Academy and the unrest among the various Races she mentioned earlier, everything seemed to urge the emergence of the Princess.
From childhood, Serveyia’s education told her that the interests of Nations and Races should not—and could not—be swayed by a few individuals.
So in Serveyia’s eyes, turning from an ordinary man into a beautiful girl, gaining peerless beauty, noble status, and the adoration of countless people, seemed like an incredibly worthwhile trade.
But why?
Why couldn’t Lin Sheng accept it?
Serveyia truly couldn’t understand.
But fortunately, she still had someone she could ask.
“Serveyia-sama, did you call for me?”
The one who entered was a maid in her twenties.
Unlike Serveyia, she wore a dignified, classic maid outfit, moving with flawless grace.
“Yes, Lien, I wanted to ask you something.”
Lien had followed Serveyia since childhood and was one of the Royal Maids.
To Serveyia, Lien was both a maid and an older sister.
At moments like this, Lien was undoubtedly the perfect person to answer her questions.
After explaining her worries, Serveyia looked at Lien with a pleading expression.
“Lien, you know my personality.
I don’t know if it’s because of who I am that Lin Sheng is upset.
Or did I truly do something wrong?”
“Is the Princess in her room now?”
“In his room. He said he wanted to be alone for a while.”
To distinguish between her own master and the Princess of St. Laia, Lien would use Serveyia’s name when referring to her master, but when speaking of the Princess of St. Laia (Lin Sheng), she would simply say “Princess.”
“Serveyia-sama, you should understand.
Princess was once an ordinary person.
For ordinary people, ‘Princess’ is an unimaginably distant position.
She doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do.
She only knows that she’s been forcibly pulled out of her familiar life and made to adapt to a new world, while everyone around her stares at her with expectations she never had and should never have carried.
Serveyia-sama, don’t you think that’s a bit too cruel?”
For Serveyia, Lien could provide perspectives she had never considered.
Or perhaps, for Serveyia to become a true Sovereign, she still had much to learn.
“I… I don’t know.”
Serveyia hugged her knees, curling up on one corner of the sofa.
She didn’t look at all like the confident, sharp Serveyia she had been in front of Lin Sheng.
“Serveyia-sama, to use an imperfect example, when we buy a pet, we always give it time to adapt to its environment. So why can’t we give the Princess some time to adapt as well?”
“I… I was too impatient… Yes—”
“Save your apologies for when you speak to the Princess.
For now, I’m going to comfort our future Princess.”
Lien walked over to Serveyia, gently stroking her head.
Her tone was soft, just like an older sister’s.
“Of course, Serveyia-sama, this isn’t all your fault. But if you truly wish to be the Princess’s maid, you must learn to be a real maid—not just play at being one.”
“If the Princess doesn’t see you as a real maid, doesn’t want to rely on you, doesn’t trust you, then isn’t this maid uniform you’re wearing meaningless? You already learned all this.”