Story By: Choco Lily
Editor: Nutt
Chapter 2
Le XiaoTing had short-sightedness and coincidentally, Xiao Hua had the same eye condition too. It was fortunate that Xiao Hua was not as bad as Le XiaoTing, for she could still make out the prince's blurry appearance.
How can this prince still be this good-looking even when she's looking at everything with her low definition eyesight?
Even though Xiao Hua had never seen the face of the Guilin country's prince, but this man's looks would even make the most beautiful women in the world feel inferior to his oh-so-perfect facial features, so this man had to be him!
Plus, that red jade ring on his thumb was the obvious indication of his identity, the Guilin Country's Third Prince, Long Zhu! For her to be able to spot that red thumb ring means that its brilliance could even be seen by a half-blind man!
But why exactly does this prince look so much like Le XiaoTing's boss in her original world? After years of knowing her boss, without needing to look closely, she would be able to identify him among the crowd! That was why she was able to determine that her boss and the Third prince shared almost ninety percent similarity based on their body features. The most obvious difference between them would be their personalities in which the prince was not shy in showing his charming smiles, while her boss often gave people a frosty look for absolutely no reason.
She often had to remember if she owed him money!
With a blink of her eyes, the man she had been staring at suddenly disappeared. She jumped backward and nearly tripped over her long skirt in shock as she noticed that man was kneeled down right in front of her. He does not even care if his knees would get hurt from the teapot shards! She would have fallen on her ass if the prince had not held onto her leg.
Old Madame MongLu and the servants that were spying on them gasped when he suddenly lifted up Xiao Hua's skirt!
Xiao Hua: (°ㅂ°╬) What is this rascal doing?!
"Your Highness." A tall man wearing a menacing aura like a cloak held out a handkerchief-sized towel towards the prince.
Everyone could only stare blankly at the prince that kneeled before a lowly maid, whom currently wiping her wet legs with a towel!
Just a while ago, the Old Madame MongLu was about to send Xiao Hua out to be punished for making such a big mistake! However, she stopped her order when she saw how the Guilin's prince acted.
The Guilin prince frowned faintly at the sight of her bright pink legs thanks to the hot water. Thankfully Xiao Hua had used lukewarm water to brew the tea, for the tea would be served immediately. If not, her legs would be in a bad state.
"P-Prince," Xiao Hua stammered as soon as she had gotten her wits back. "This servant does not deserve Your Highness' kindness. This lowly one can do it herself."
Reading tons of novels does help in knowing what to say in such an embarrassing situation!
When she first arrived here, it was hard to adapt to her new situation where she would need to constantly insult herself by calling herself a servant! It took her a while to adjust her mind to just pretend the whole things as a role-playing game!
Le XiaoTing hardly knew how to flatter people but Xiao Hua quickly adapted and learned how to keep a low key profile and scrub her superior's shoes when needed! The old her would find it pretentious to speak dishonest words, but right now, fake flattery was a necessary skill to survive and live well in this era.
Lucky for her, no one complained when she would suddenly break out tears in the middle of the night, disturbing her roommates. Everyone knew that her parents died and she was sold as a slave to another country, so they look pass her sorrowful crying.
"Don't move." It was gentle, yet commanding at the same time.
Okay, this young lady won't move, but only because you are the prince and it feels nice to have the wet towel on my burned skin.
"O-Old Madame." A higher ranked maidservant slowly approached Old Madame MongLu with Ah Lian following closely behind.
Ah Lian's expression brightened when her eyes fall on the prince, before turning into one of confusion when she saw what the prince was doing. But she did not speak out and just silently stood like the maid she was forced to be. However, the excitement that shone in her eyes betrayed her external bearing.
No one dared to speak up until the Guilin prince finishes wiping Xiao Hua's legs. Xiao Hua maintained a face of indifference but if one would squint properly, they would have spotted her slight blush at the indecent exposure.
The Le XiaoTing that had worn shorts would not think much about showing her legs but it was different for Xiao Hua that was forced to cover her legs and arms in this world. With everyone staring at her as if she had committed a sin, she got the urge to cover her exposed legs.
When the Guilin prince finally released her skirt and stood up before passed the towel to the menacing man, she had expected him to rush towards Ah Lian with deep concern, but he unexpectedly gripped her hand gently and pulled her along to where Ah Lian was standing.
"Prince Long Zhu, this is Ah Lian that you've asked for," Old Madame MongLu quickly introduced the white-faced maid to the prince. Old Madame MongLu only knew that Ah Lian was a hostage from the Guilin Country and nothing else.
Ah Lian finally broke her composure and ran over to hug the Guilin prince with a few drops of tears escaped from her eyes. By now, many pairs of eyes were staring at them with surprise.
"I apologize for not coming earlier." The Guilin prince rubbed Ah Lian's head affectionately.
"Ah Lian doesn't mind because Ah Lian knows the third brother will come and save me."
The smile that the Third Prince gave to Ah Lian was dazzling to the point that it could mesmerize everyone.
"This prince will be bringing these two with me." The Third Prince did not bother to wait for any reply before urging Ah Lian and Xiao Hua out of the room.
Poor Xiao Hua was so shocked with the sudden turn in the event and when her mind started to work again, she quickly glanced back at Old Madame MongLu with pleading eyes, hoping that the Old Madame would fight for her. However, the old Madame only ignored her gaze and curtsied with respect to the Guilin prince along with everyone.
Seeing that the old Madame would not help her, she could only rely on herself!
"Your Highness, this servant wishes to serve Old Madame MongLu." The Third Prince stopped in his tracks.
"Xiao Hua?" Ah Lian stared at Xiao Hua as if she had lost her mind.
"Old Madame is nice to this servant. This servant is indebted to Old Madame and wishes to repay her." It was a whole bunch of lies, but Xiao Hua was desperate now! No matter what, she must not be with them or she will die!
"Xiao Hua! Munzhu is the one that killed your parents and brought you here as a servant!"
The original Xiao Hua was born and lived in a small village near the north border of Guilin Country which was located between the West side of Guilin and Munzhu country. The war between Guilin and Munzhu countries broke out three months ago and Xiao Hua's parents died as casualties. Unexpectedly, she and a few other children were forced to be servants in Munzhu country.
"I– I have nowhere else to go."
Ah Lian grabbed Xiao Hua's hands tightly. "Xiao Hua can stay with me!"
Xiao Hua shook her head. "How can I stay with you without contributing?"
"Then be my personal maid!"
(°ㅂ°╬) I don't want to!
"You are a princess, right?" Xiao Hua glanced at Ah Lian and the Third Prince worriedly. "I am unsuited to be your servant, much less a personal one."
Ah Lian could not deny it, for Xiao Hua lacked the skills that a personal servant should have. Her Mother Empress would never agree to let Xiao Hua be her personal servant. "T-Then..."
"Xiao Hua, is it?"
Woah, when this prince talks, why does it feel like it's a great honor to listen? His voice was soft and gentle, yet it held hints of command.
"Y-Yes, Your Highness. This servant's name is Xiao Hua."
"Do you think it's not an honor to be this prince's maidservant?"
"O-Of course not!"
"Then from now on, you will be this prince's personal maid."
"...W-What-"
"If you decline this prince's offer, does that mean you lied to this prince?"
"I-I'm not-"
"Then that settles it."
∑(O_O;) H-Hold on! What's going on? How did she agree to it so easily?!
Xiao Hua stared at the Third Prince fearfully but he ignored it and led them to the large carriage waiting at the entrance. "Y-Your Highness! This servant has not packed her belongings."
After packing, I will run away! ε=ε=┌( >_<)┘
"Your Highness, the maid's belongings had been packed." The menacing man that had previously handed the prince a towel suddenly appeared, holding onto a small traveling bag in his hand.
"M-My bag?" Xiao Hua asked weakly as that man handed the bag over to her.
She slowly took the bag just as Ah Lian stared at her brother in hero ship. "Third brother, how do you know I want to bring Xiao Hua with us? She had saved my life and my very good friend!"
"As your brother, it is only right to help you pay back her kindness."
The Third Prince climbed into the first carriage with Ah Lian while Xiao Hua gets to sit on the second carriage with Ah Lian's two personal maids that had gotten kidnapped as well. They were assigned as servants in other households and the prince easily sent his servants to take them back before personally collecting Ah Lian.
The two maids did not seem to be friendly as they had only talked to each other and ignored Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua did not mind it as she was too busy trying to calm herself down. The main reason for her troubled emotions was that the plot was moving differently than what she had read in the novel.
The Third Prince was supposed to arrive after Ah Lian had lived as a hostage for a month, which was after Guilin successfully conquered Munzhu Country.
During that one month, Ah Lian would suffer hardship that helped her to gain more courage and wisdom. The original Xiao Hua would often save Ah Lian and later on, both of them would gradually become close friends. This was the reason why Ah Lian would plead with her brother to take Xiao Hua along and became Ah Lian's maid.
But why had Xiao Hua became the Third Prince's maid now?! Is there a bug? Where's the bloody technician? (°ㅂ°╬)