Webcomic / A Talented Maid

Marie

Princess Maurina is the last princess and sole survivor of the royal Cloyan family. Shortly before The Kingdom of Cloyan fell to the East Empire, Maurina quickly disguised herself as a maid before Crown Prince Rhaël stormed into the room and demanded to know where the last heir of Cloyan’s royal family was.

Three years later Princess Maurina is working as an indentured low-level maid named Marie at one of the Empire’s palaces as she tries to desperately hide from those in the Empire who are desperately trying to find her. Even though Maurina is clumsy and ill-suited in her job, she still does her best despite the danger of working in an empire that would kill her because of her birthright.

One day, the princess in disguise is tasked with looking after an old prisoner who isn’t long for the world. Though it isn’t expected of her to, she looks after him with the same kindness. But before he does, he asks the maid what she wants and that if she could have anything in the world what would it be.

Marie, more than anything, would want a meaningful life. A life where rather than being the clumsy maid who seems to inconvenience everyone, she wants to be someone who brings other people happiness.

And so he prays for the last of the royal bloodline, Maurina De Brande La Cloyan, that all her wishes come true.

The next day Marie suddenly finds herself doing her everyday tasks with ease and that’s just the beginning of her newfound talent...

A Talented Maid is originally a web novel by Yuin that was soon adapted into a webcomic with the art being done by Spoon. It is currently being translated by Tapas Media.

A Talented Maid contains examples of:

• The Ace: Every single individual who Marie ‘borrows’ the talents of is considered this in their respective fields. From the maid Viola who seems to be the ideal maid to the piano skills of Mozart to being able to find the culprit like Sherlock Holmes.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The King of the Cloyan family was shown in a single panel to be on his knees and offering up his crown to Prince Rhaël. Considering that Princess Maurina is acknowledged as the last of the Cloyan bloodline, his life wasn’t spared.
• Bastard Angst: Even though Marie has the blood of the Cloyan Royal family running through her veins, her father and the rest of her half siblings treated her like dirt and caused her to retreat into her room to avoid their hateful gazes. Ironically, her isolation from others is what saved her life when the East Empire invaded because no one knows what she looks like.
• Berserk Button: Prince Rhaël doesn’t like liars and is visibly displeased if you insist on upholding your lies.
• Dark and Troubled Past:
  • After her mother passed away, Marie was brought to the Cloyan Royal Palace where both her father and her half siblings treated her with disgust. Because her mother was a commoner, they looked down on her and could barely tolerate her presence purposely sending her to a secluded Palace so they wouldn't have to deal with her. The treatment resulted in Marie having very low self-esteem who hid herself and avoided people as much as she could. Three years prior to the start of the story, she became the Sole Survivor of the Cloyan Bloodline after Rhaël killed her half siblings and her father.
  • Rhaël alongside his younger sister were the children of one of the emperor's concubines. His mother died ten years prior to the start of the story and his younger sister became a casualty of the imperial civil war that ended up with all but three members of the imperial family dead- though the Emperor is in a coma. Present day, he suffers severe insomnia as a result of nightmares.
• Decadent Court: What the East Empire’s royal family was like before Prince Rhaël forcefully took control of the crown for himself. His younger sister was murdered as a result of the Imperial Court’s internal politics.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Both Marie and Prince Rhaël agree on this when it comes to their respective mothers. Even long after their deaths, they still continue to love and think of them fondly years later. Completely and utterly averted with their fathers as Marie’s father treated her like an eyesore while the crown prince has no love for his comatose father.
• The Dreaded: Prince Rhaël is this for Marie. Understandable considering that he killed the rest of her family and she assumes that he plans to kill her as well. It doesn’t help that when he was demanding that she be brought before him, he was covered in blood.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Prince Rhaël was originally the son of one of the Emperor's concubines and was pretty low in rank in regards to inheriting the throne. However, after his younger sister was murdered he became a serious contender of the throne who preceded to conquer the Kingdom of Cloyan on his own. In present day, only he and his younger half brother are the only ones alive- though the current emperor is still in a coma.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: The deceased Seventh Imperial Princess, who was also the younger sister of the current Prince Rhaël. She seems to have inherited this from her mother.
• Honor Before Reason: Prince Rhaël accuses his childhood friend Marquis Kielhan of this. Kiel is the current head of the Seytan family and their family pledges their loyalty to the current emperor- who as of the moment is in a coma. Though Rhaël has asked Kiel to switch loyalties to him, Kiel refuses to do so despite their past because the current emperor has not officially recognized Rhaël as his heir. All Kiel can do is continue to refuse while the Crown Prince leaves in disgust.
• Karmic Jackpot: Marie's kindness towards a dying old prisoner has the prisoner pray to God that he grant the selfless wishes of Cloyan's last heir and princess. The next day, she suddenly finds a sudden improvement in her cleaning skills.
• King Incognito:
  • Prince Rhaël does this a lot whenever he needs a break from his royal duties. He often meets with Marie in his civilian guise.
  • The long haired swordsman named Kiel that Marie stumbles across one day at the Swan Garden is actually Marquis Seyten who is also the Commander of the Imperial Knighthood and the family in charge of the strongest military.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Kiel fits this to a T. Even better his hair is pure white.
• Nice Girl: Marie’s one defining trait is that she is a very nice person, something that everyone acknowledges even if some of them call her useless in the same breath. This wins her the affections of Prince Rhaël and Kiel, the commander of the imperial guard. Even in Cloyan, even though no one could see her face, the commons people knew Marie/Princess Maurina as someone who gave money to maids who needed it and handed medicine to the poor. Even Prince Rhaël praises her and sees her as the ideal woman to be his empress- of the entire Cloyan Royal family she is the only one he respects.
• Poisoned Drink Drop: This was how Prince Rhaël's younger sister was killed. Someone slipped poison into her tea and she passed away in the Swan Garden after drinking from the cup.
• Rags to Riches: Marie originally lived with her mother as a child as a commoner. After her mother passed away from an illness, she was sent to the royal family where the rest of her family proceeded to shun and ignore her.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Susan, Marie's employer in Lily Palace, is understandably doubtful that Marie seemed to have become a very competent maid overnight who cleaned the room that she was assigned perfectly when just the previous day she was lecturing the young girl on a poorly done job. However, she also knows that Marie is a good person who doesn't lie so she compromises on sending Marie to do another task while she supervises her to see if she really did clean the room.
• Riches to Rags: After the fall of the Cloyan Kingdom, Marie disguises herself as a maid to avoid being found by the East and West Empires.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Prince Rhaël is very pro-active in running the Empire and was the one who led the invasion of the Cloyan Kingdom with him having disposed of the Royal Family.
  • On a more smaller scale, even though no one knows what she looks like Marie/Princess Maurina often went out to town underneath a cloak to give away money and medicine to those who needed this. As a result she was remembered fondly by the commons folk who now rally against the Empire in her name, which is why both the East and West Empires are desperately looking for her in hopes of being able to legitimately be recognized by the people of Cloyan and prevent further resistance.
• Sole Survivor:
  • Marie is the last member of the Cloyan Royal Family.
  • Prince Rhaël becomes this when his comatose father finally passed away.
• We Used to Be Friends: Prince Rhaël and Marquis Kielhan aka Kiel used to be good friends before the Seventh Imperial Princess was poisoned to death. After that, they drifted apart as a result of their respective positions and duties.