Bedelia is a maid of the Imperial Family, coming from a commoner background, the only reason she was taken in is her looks.
The Diabolus Empire, despite being known as the "Demon Empire" was not home to only demon races but also humans, dwarves, elves… the land was a melting pot of culture and race.
Unlike the other nations, the Diabolus Empire did not segregate people by race but they did segregate people by a certain "purity standard".
Demon races are powerful, they have high magical ability and if they didn't they would still have the natural advantage over all other non-demon races in terms of pure strength.
Yet, this doctrine of strength was just a part of the way classes were divided in the empire.
Blood purity or "how close one is to divine" is an important factor that many empire nobles take seriously.
Funnily enough, the metric for having a strong blood purity is based on appearance, human appearance.
Although humans were weaker and less gifted than the demon races, they were blessed to have appearances that closely resembled divine beings.
As such, there was a history of human slavery, demons would use human slaves in order to "purify" their bloodlines.
Such acts resulted in various hybrids but purity could only be achieved if a child retains their "demonic" strength while having an appearance that was closer to that of a human.
One of the radical examples of such took the form of a certain centaur noble family. The breeding they did with humans had led to the current head having only the hind legs of a horse for his lower body. This allows the man to have a very "human" or "divine" appearance compared to other centaurs.
Yet, despite his different stature, he was still stronger than many other centaurs.
Bedelia had unfortunately earned the interest of this very noble while serving the cleaning the imperial gardens. The bastard was about to make a move on her when the third prince came and helped her out of the situation.
From that day on, Bedelia had been transferred and served in the third prince's palace.
Unlike the other palaces, the third prince's palace was filled only with women.
Whether it was the knights, servants or the maids, the people of the palace were all women.
Initially Bedelia thought that it was just part of the third prince's infamous "eccentricity" but it was only later that she learned that there was more to the palace than she had initially thought.
It happened one night when the prince was taking a stroll through the halls, Bedelia was on a night patrol and the prince approached her.
Unlike the centaur noble, the prince invited her to talk and somehow, the two ended up sitting close to each other.
"Master… we can't"
The prince had broken through a few of her defenses, yet he didn't outright force himself on her.
"Bedelia, won't you calm my aching heart?"
The sight of the prince's face that seemed to want everything, the gentle touch of his hands and the softness of his words. He didn't demand her to do anything, he "begged" her for "help".
If that weren't enough, unlike everyone else who called her names such as "blondie" or sometimes just called her "maid". The prince had recalled her name, a name that he never asked for but he knew.
The fact that he went so far as to learn and remember her name was an honor that Bedelia knew few could obtain.
It was the first time in her life that Bedelia felt "special" and that led her to give herself to the prince.
That night was how she learned of the secrets of the "Third Prince's Manor".
Yet she didn't feel any regret, even if she knew that many of the other maids, servants and even the knights had likely spent a night with the prince, the mere knowledge of having her name recalled was enough for Bedelia.
But the prince did not only recall her name, he recalled all the names of the people around him.
In fact, being designated as "the bedwarmer" was a task that was normal among servants. But such a position was shared and many nobles, when they needed only called for "the bedwarmer". There were even tales of a noble calling "all the bedwarmers" and selecting their choice for the night after.
The Third Prince was different, he never called anyone by a title and requested of them by name.
As such, it was a norm for every servant within the palace to wait together at nightfall. All of them hoping that their names would be called.
Bedelia was one of the special ones, she started working for the Third Prince two years ago and yet, the number of times she was called for numbered in the hundreds.
She matched the maid who served as the Third Prince's nanny that was responsible for relieving the prince to sleep when he was young.
Her relationship with the prince may not lead to anything substantial, Bedelia knew that being the third Prince's maid was as far as she could go. But that didn't mean that she would give up.
Being one of the few women who could call the Third Prince by name, being longed for by the prince, that in itself was a privilege she would not want to give up.
When she heard that the third prince was publicly looking for actors, Bedelia recalled the "recordings" which she had with the prince.
Most of those records were secret and even the ones she had on her was stored securely, unknown even to her closest friends.
The fact that the third prince was looking for actors publicly was a terrifying sign to her.
Was the prince going to make a public show?
Will the third prince show the recording to others?
The prince was not looking for people from nobles exclusively, he extended his recruitment to the general populace.
'Thankfully, most of use are part of the circle'
Although none were aware of the recording in her hands, the existence of the recordings was an open secret to many of the maids and servants.
They maintained strict control of the knowledge, after all, they could only enjoy the third prince's company so long as the secret remained a secret.
But that did not mean they would remain silent when the third prince himself acts!
A few men and unfamiliar faces were in line but most of them were stage actors, performers and even bards.
'They probably think this is for a stage play…'
Bedelia sighed in relief as she waited, although not the first, she was in line early and would likely finish her audition before noon.
'I'm sorry to everyone else but I won't give up my spot to others!'
She would be the prince's comfort woman, the maid who he calls when he needs company, the maid who he calls to relieve his tired soul.
She may not become his significant other but her role would forever be by her liege's side!
Such were Bedelia, the third prince's favorite maid's thoughts as she stepped on stage-
"Bede- no, applicant number 37… let's see, you want to have the lead female role? Hm… then please act out the scenario, "A princess fights against her family and fate for her beloved" you have five minutes to prepare, call when ready"
"Uhm…"
But the audition was not as she expected, Rexford sat alone in the audience stand but the things he said confused her.
Bedelia was prepared to start stripping but the words that came out of her master's mouth threw her in for a loop.
Fortunately, Rexford noticed her confusion and added-
"You need to act, pretend to be a princess, think of a scenario, you don't need to describe it. Just picture yourself as a "A princess fights against her family and fate for her beloved" you could be meeting with your beloved or talking against your mother. Your choice, all you need to do as act, with emotion and make me believe that you are a "A princess fights against her family and fate for her beloved" and not my favored maid Bedelia"
'My favored maid Bedelia…'
A lot of the words that the Third Prince said went past her but Bedelia felt a warmth in her heart when she heard the Third Prince call her name and describe her as "my favored maid".
The emotions that erupted within her mind almost made her blank out but she had to get through this audition, she had to-
'Is… this my chance?'
A thought came to her mind, an act that would never be accepted, one that would even get her killed if known but-
'It's an act… right? Yes… an act-'
Bedelia strengthened her will, she stared directly at the Third Prince, not as he respected master, not as her master who she wished would call for her again and again-
No, Bedelia now saw the Third Prince as Rexford Diabolus, the man she loved and so she stepped forward-
"My Prince…"