I Can’t Keep Watching This Any Longer
Financial authority meant the right to manage the imperial palace’s money and manpower.
In other words, the power to set each palace’s budget and dispatch people there.
In effect, it was the lifeline that had allowed the Grand Empress to pad her own pockets.
Regina was saying she meant to cut that lifeline off.
Conrad let out a satisfied snort.
“Good idea. If it’s you, you can probably do it.”
“I’ll need to check how things are handled under Fredericks law first, but after that…”
There was no way the current Empress would fail to obtain that authority. Regina curved her lips into a crooked smile and leaned toward Conrad.
“So cooperate.”
Conrad did not avoid her face as it drew nearer.
Instead, he slipped his tongue into the parting of her lips and indulged himself in the narrow, damp warmth beyond them.
He pulled her by the waist and settled her onto his hard thigh. Once she’d found a comfortable angle, Regina wrapped her arms around his neck.
As her soft body pressed against him, heat stirred through Conrad’s own.
Whether it was because of mana or because of some other, more selfish desire, even he could not yet be certain.
After the two of them had exchanged mana for a while and left the Empress’s Palace bedroom, neither could quite hide the gleam on their lips.
“She accepted it without a fuss?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, Grand Empress.”
“That can’t be.”
Chloe tilted her head, as if to say there was no way things could have gone so smoothly.
And for good reason. The Regina she had seen before was not someone to take lightly. So why had this matter been handled so easily?
She had anticipated Regina’s resistance and made preparations for it, yet the result had been disappointingly bland.
“Could it be that she’s from such a worthless family that she can’t even tell quality goods apart?”
“Could anyone really be that lacking in discernment?”
They had filled the place with items so blatantly suited to commoners that the Empress’s dignity should have been offended by the sight alone. Chloe had expected Regina to come running to the Grand Empress’s Palace demanding more money or a replacement.
“This is a good thing, isn’t it, Your Majesty? She really was just some forgettable woman after all!”
The chief maid, who had once been thoroughly humiliated by Regina, fawned over the Grand Empress.
He did not tell the truth of what had happened to him in the Empress’s Palace.
If it became known that he had been made to look ridiculous before an enemy, what would become of his standing?
As a long-serving favorite of the Grand Empress, he might even have to surrender everything he’d enjoyed until now, so the chief maid quietly buried the truth.
Because of that, Chloe missed her chance to assess Regina accurately.
“I’ll need to learn more about the Madarin Barony. Whether there are any collateral branches or other blood relatives worth using as leverage.”
“I’ll go and look into it.”
The chief maid, pretending to be loyal, stepped forward and accepted Chloe’s order.
After he left, Chloe was alone with her thoughts.
No matter how I think about it, something about this is strange.
She had not seemed like someone who would retreat so easily.
Her thoughts continued, but no answer came. Even the imperial palace’s budget was in her hands now; there was no way an impoverished baron’s daughter could avoid hardship forever.
“Yes, it’ll just take time because she’s slow to judge things.”
Chloe soothed her restless mind by convincing herself that, after a little more time passed, Regina would surely come crawling to her.
A few days later, evidence surfaced that the maids of the Grand Empress’s Palace had been embezzling money and using it to buy cheaper goods.
At last, Regina drew her sword.
The maids from the Grand Empress’s Palace, summoned by Regina, arrived flushed with excitement, none of them understanding the situation.
In the Grand Empress’s Palace, it was common to hand out spending money as a reward after a certain amount of service, and they had assumed Regina would do the same.
“It must be that, right?”
“Of course. She hasn’t given us anything until now.”
She might even bring out some tasty snacks to win them over, but Regina had never done anything like that.
Convinced that today was finally the day they had been waiting for, the maids of the Grand Empress’s Palace entered the reception room with eager expressions.
“Her Majesty the Empress is entering.”
At the imperial palace steward’s announcement, Regina appeared.
Unlike before, she was dressed in a properly formal gown, and every movement she made was elegant.
Walking as smoothly as flowing water, she lowered herself onto the sofa, and the maids of the Grand Empress’s Palace stared, transfixed, at the graceful figure she presented.
“The chief maid of the Grand Empress’s Palace and the maids there know nothing of etiquette either.”
Regina spoke lightly to those who had failed to greet her even after she appeared before them.
Only then did the maids realize their mistake and bow deeply.
“We greet the moon of the empire.”
They were inwardly bewildered.
After all, Regina had never once demanded greetings from the maids who had been moving about, tidying up the Empress’s Palace.
It had always been palace etiquette for attendants to stop what they were doing and offer at least a brief salute when the Empress passed by, but the Grand Empress’s Palace maids had naturally ignored that custom.
At first they had at least minded their manners, but once neglecting the salute became habit, they had begun to lift their chins haughtily.
Once that became routine, even when summoned, not a greeting came from their mouths.
“I watched silently because it seemed you were trying, in your own way, to serve me.”
The maids’ faces brightened. Just as they had expected, she must be about to reward them.
But moods changed in an instant.
“However, I can’t keep watching this any longer.”
“What do you mean by—”
Viola was the first to notice that something was wrong. The other maids also sensed the shift and began exchanging glances.
In a clear voice, Regina pointed at the curtains by the window.
“These curtains were brought into the imperial palace in name only, yet the pattern is crude and there isn’t even any sheen to them. They’ve only been dyed in flashy colors; anyone can see they’re cheap.”
When the Empress pointed out what they had assumed a country-born girl would never notice, the maids flinched.
Regina went on, item by item, identifying the sly defects in the sofa, the table, the carpet, and everything else in the room. The more she spoke, the paler the responsible faces became.
At last the Empress said coldly, “To place such trash in a reception room that is meant to display the majesty of the Fredericks imperial family is nothing short of disloyalty. And it’s not just this room, is it? The corridors and the banquet hall are even worse!”
Then, from among the maids, Viola stepped forward with a haughty expression.
“That cannot be. Everything brought into the Empress’s Palace was bestowed by Your Majesty, the Grand Empress. She is the one who has flawlessly guided the imperial palace in the Emperor’s stead for more than ten years. She would be heartbroken to learn she was being misunderstood like this!”
Her tone was half threat, and the other maids held their breath, but Regina only smiled faintly.
“It seems Her Majesty the Empress still doesn’t know quality goods very well…”
Gah!
Viola’s mouth snapped shut in an instant. Magic bloomed from Regina’s hand as she formed a seal.
“I’m not done speaking yet.”
Regina added with a cool smile, as if asking who had given Viola permission to talk at all. Then, after pressing them down with silence, she blew a soft breath against the tip of her nail.
“Yes. There’s no way the Grand Empress would have sent me such shoddy things on purpose, so someone must have dared to put their hands on imperial property. In my opinion, the only possible culprits are the ones who furnished the Empress’s Palace themselves.”
There was no emotion to be found in her cool blue eyes.
“So, I went ahead and investigated in advance.”
Chills ran down the maids’ spines.
“Steward.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The steward, who had been standing almost invisibly behind Regina, unfolded the document he held.
“The list of embezzlement by the maids of the Grand Empress’s Palace is as follows. They took food supplies not from the original vendors but from cheaper sources and pocketed the difference. We also confirmed that the furniture brought in did not match what was recorded in the ledgers. Furthermore…”
Regina listened quietly as each offense was listed one by one. Only the maids were in an uproar.
Yet as she watched them with an expressionless face, the maids of the Grand Empress’s Palace grew more and more bewildered.
Up until now, Regina had seemed like someone rather easy to handle. Even when they were rude, she brushed it off as if it were nothing.
The maids of the Grand Empress’s Palace, who had decided she simply knew nothing because she came from a minor family, had gradually begun to cross the line. Even then, Regina had not scolded them.
Only far too late did they realize that it had not been tolerance, but the silence before a hunt.