"Hey there, worthless."
Upon hearing that voice, Aric changed his expression to a cold face—a very cold face.
In the past, the novel's Aric was a crybaby disguised as a tough man. Whenever he saw his brother, his hands got wet, shaking as if he'd just stepped out of a cold shower while it was snowing outside.
The reason was because they both had history. His brother wasn't actually his brother—he was just his stepmother's son.
In the novel, Aric had a specific reason why he treated his maid with a bit of respect.
Years ago, when the stepmother joined the family circle, she already had a son. Her son was Aric's "brother." She was given the title of the second queen—of course, she was just a concubine, but she had some serious experience at night. It only took her one night to get to where she is now. She seduced the king that night, and he declared he would make her his wife.
As embarrassing as it was to take her from her husband, who was an honored noble, she ordered their murder. In the past, back when Aric's stepbrother—who had no blood connection to him—always put him down.
This talentless step-prince humbled Aric again and again. Until one day, the maid found out about it. Since it was her job to protect him, she waited until she found Aric's stepbrother bullying Aric.
Once she saw him doing it, she didn't hesitate. With no remorse, she beat the prince to a pulp—to the point everyone thought he had already become someone else. It took them a really long time to heal his face.
The king furiously tried to torture her. Unfortunately, Aric was always there beside her, making sure he returned her favor.
"Pretty rich coming from a worthless commoner…" Aric smiled while his eyes barely showed, his upper eyelids covering them, his neck bent a bit forward.
And with all his honest rage, he still managed to smirk. His condescending smile irritated his stepbrother.
"What did you just say… you lousy ass?"
Aric, with no change, still wore an irritating smile and a cold gaze. "How dare a step-sibling of mine open his ass-like mouth in front of me.No—you're more like an adoptive son than a step."
The stepbrother of Aric always felt a bit odd when it came to his family. The fact that when he was born, his parents weren't even engaged made him question his father.
His father was a nobleman—but that was a lie fed by his mother. His mother was a noble disguised as a slut. In one of her old, disgusting nights, one of her gigolos accidentally slipped and changed the whole thing, getting her pregnant—a minor mistake.
After realizing it, there was no way she could accept the child, but there was no chance her family would allow her to get an abortion.
So her family introduced her to a man the same age as her. He was from a low family status—especially when compared to her family and some other major families.
What happened next was she had everyone fooled. She said she was pregnant from a boy she loved who was not at her status level, and out of fear and obsession, she hid her relationship with him. She even said she wanted only him and that she didn't care about her family inheritance—she would leave it to her younger brother.
Such beautiful lies…
It worked. Everyone said she was a woman who chose love over her status.
Gradually, she was able to hide that fact—but what about the gigolo who actually noticed?
She got them all slaughtered. She was ranked 3rd in the whole novel. She was way more wicked than she looked. Whenever Aric remembered that, he would always say, 'What a waste of a pretty face!!'
That's why both the stepbrother of Aric and the original Aric from the novel were the most stupid characters.
Even though the stepbrother, unlike Aric, was praised, it was only due to Aric being lousy and weak. But things are flipping over now since Aric—the past—is not here anymore.
His stepbrother furiously gripped his fist. He boldly walked forward but then frightened a bit. The maid that showed him the difference between the sky and earth with bare hands was staring at him. He felt as if she gazed through his eyes. He backed off, grinding his teeth, and clutched his face.
"So we're getting confident, huh? You're gonna regret it, I swear." He passed side by side with Aric.Aric noticed that his stepbrother was scared, so he bumped into him intentionally.
His brother couldn't handle it anymore. He turned around with a punch—just as he was about to reach his face, the maid held his hand, flashing between them both.
"Are you sure you want to repeat history?" the maid asked with cunning eyes.
Getting all mad and irritated, he cursed Aric, mumbling about how he would get his revenge—when he himself was the one who came all the way over to the other side of the castle just to mess with Aric.
Aric laughed it off, saying to his maid, "It's okay. No need to get extra careful—it would only tire you. So don't be, okay?"
"Okay, Master."
While they were walking, she asked him a question. Of course, she would never have done that frequently, but sometimes it was important—sometimes not, just chilling.
"Master… may I ask you something?"
Aric got excited about having even the slightest moment of chitchat with her—as a dream come true. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Is it true that you are going to start a war?" Looking straight into his eyes, she asked him. She usually knew how he would respond to her, even to the stupidest question ever.
"I don't know. And even if I start it, I don't care. What—you won't be by my side anymore if I start it?" He looked her back in the eye to see her reaction.
"As a maid, I will follow you wherever you go. My job is to keep you safe."
"How adorable… But I asked you—I asked Nyxia, not the maid—to answer me. Will you follow me as Nyxia if you get the chance to?"
She gazed down. "I don't know. I mean, I know even I can't question my loyalty to you, Master. But as of now, I have never been Nyxia… not once. So yes, I have no answer to that."
So does that mean she is betraying me soon? I mean, all I remember is that one of my friends, when he was recommending this novel to me, told me to highlight something about it. I remember he said that the hot maid in the end betrayed the king—but she joined another kingdom.
But I must be careful, especially since I don't know what will happen in the castle. If I change the plot twist now, then the future events won't happen. To make sure I will survive, I must do it.
Now that I think about it… I should be hinting at such things so that it might actually change the future.
"So that's why I planned to give you time to be Nyxia…"
She paused, her eyes opening in disbelief at what she heard. "Excuse me, Master…"
He was walking with a bit of distance between them. He turned around face to face with her. "Yes, I'm giving you free time to enjoy your life. I assure you that I'm gonna fund you with all the material you want and extra payment. So just take your time, go join a guild or something, and become a hunter. Return stronger."
"H—how could you allow me to? How could you say it? How—but h—how?" Flabbergasted, she held his biceps. When he turned around to walk straight, she turned him back to her, face to face.
In 1982, Paul Wright's work described the fundamental difference in same-sex friendships, suggesting girls communicate more "face-to-face" while boys prefer interactions "side-by-side". This research on friendship dynamics is often used to explain how these gendered patterns might also translate to romantic communication. Reading about it and not even trying it once since I had no one to talk to when I was on Earth—I really wanted to try it. It turns out it was super cool. The thought of her turning me around just so she could talk to me face to face now makes sense.
If a man were in her place, he could have caught up to me walking by my side while talking to me.
Aric patted her shoulders slowly, sliding his hand to her biceps. "I mean it, okay? I know it's all out of nowhere, but I will at least tell you this: I believe in you more than anyone in this world. I don't care what you think of me, but I always wanted to tell you—I wanna change. I don't wanna be a man hiding behind you, always causing you troubles. It's good for you, too. Plus, I was thinking about leaving the palace for a while now, so maybe you should do the same. Okay?"
Yes! I got a good reason to hold on to her hands. Basically, it depends on the situation, but science says psychological factors for hand-to-hand contact like this one—out of nowhere—play a big role in intimacy, not to mention the oxytocin hormone.
"No, it's dangerous for me to leave you unprotected like that. You see how even your brother acts… It's too dangerous, and I know you will be in trouble."
Her eyes got watery. Not once in her life did she expect it. Of course, I'm the prince, but that doesn't mean I can do whatever I want. If the palace's head butler found out about this, I'm gonna be in a worse shape than hell. So that's why I was thinking—I will from here on give her the freedom she wanted. After all, she was manipulated due to the fact that she found her family.
If I show her the outside world now, maybe the one who manipulated her will show up, thinking she would want to get back to the city.
Aric deeply immersed himself into his thoughts.
He didn't know what happened, but she just jumped on him. Her emotionless face was crying… She clung to his chest,tight.