The Evil Empress Adores Me

“Lize, why are you taking so long to finish the job?!”

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At the sharp remark, I crawled out from the fireplace and stopped what I was doing.

“Tha-that…”

“Why are you so slow?!”

I shriveled my shoulders in fright, hearing her bitter rebuke.

“You’re useless to the palace if you can’t even clean a fireplace properly.”

“I’ll be quick!”

I squashed the bitter feelings in my mouth and instead scraped the piled up dust in the fireplace away.
It was fortunate the season was still spring and not winter.
When the weather was the coldest and fireplace was used the most.
So the dirt wasn’t that unbearable.

If it had been the winter, I might have to crawl up into the chimney to clean all of the black-chalky dust up.

‘…but, even if I try to think positively…’

‘Isn’t the amount of dust piled up in the fireplace after the spring itself too much for a child like me?!’

After struggling with the dust for a long time, I let out a coughed.

“Cough, cough!”

And as soon as she heard my cough, an angry scream came from outside, followed by a loud rebuke.

“What are you doing?! How can you keep working here this slow?! This is how you pay for your meal.”

…really mean.

‘Becky herself was a maid in training, so why does she loves to order me around?’

I managed to suppress my cough and continued my work.

At the same time, I felt unfair.

‘To be honest, I don’t have to clean the fireplace myself!’ I mused.

In the palace, professional cleaners were hired to clean fireplaces and chimneys, so the normal maid didn’t have to bother with all the ashes and soots.
Aside from the dirt, the fireplace was also very steep and was dangerous for normal people.

This means, Becky was just being grumpy and poured out her anger on me.
That must’ve been the reason she ordered me to clean all of this myself.

It was only in the old days that small children were asked to clean the chimney, but…

What era is this? To make a little child clean up the fireplace all alone.

“…ugh.”

I was so sad that I felt something coming from deep down in my throat.

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‘No, if I cry here, Becky’s gonna cause me more trouble.’

I blinked my eyes quickly, barely letting tears flow down from my eyes.
She should have been nicer to the people around her, but she chose not to.

Even now, other maids in training also didn’t like me.

It’s because I was young that people bully me, even though it’s not morally right.

The imperial palace was basically a world of survival of the fittest.
Of course, the work etique of a palace depends on the nature of the palace’s owner.

However, the palace where I belonged to was a place where I couldn’t find any leisure.

As an addition, every young maid in training was bound to have less work to do than any older maid in training.

Because an adult’s physical strength was different from a child’s, that’s why the younger ones would be given less responsibility.

The regulation immediately drew the jealousy of the regular maid.
Everytime I struggled through the normal job, it would somewhat alleviate the envious maids’ moods.

I was in that ‘hateful’ position.

‘….So, I should try harder.’

I had my heart set, and then I started cleaning the fireplace again.
After a long time, I managed to finish cleaning and crawled out with a frown.

Becky was looking down at me with her arms crossed.
“You, this is why you will never become a full-time maid.”

“…”

“Why are you silent? Don’t you hear me talking?”

Becky gave me a scolding.
I bent my head hurriedly, barely avoiding Becky’s fierce gaze.

“N-No… That’s not it…”

“If not, what?”

“I’ll work hawder…” I’ll work harder…

Becky, who heard my answer, pushed up the corner of her lips in a smirk.
Her face was vivid with mockery.

“Oh my God, Lize.
You still can’t speak properly?”

“….”

‘No matter how big a child is, I’m only five years old kid and I still have a short tongue….’

‘Don’t you ever think that I also don’t want my tongue to be this short?’

‘I’m stressed out, too!’

I had a strong desire to protest… but I tried hard to suppress it.

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Looking up and down my face, all covered with dust and soot, Becky spoke in a disgusted tone.

“I don’t even want to say