A Severed Thread
I am slung over someone's shoulder, carried off to parts unknown. My eyes are blindfolded, and my hands are bound so tightly I cannot move.
I... I don't want to die...
Yet, I refuse to beg miserably for my life. To do so would be to betray Prince Antoni, the man who loved me.
I force myself to ignore my trembling body and the tears stinging my eyes. Just then, a cool breeze brushes past my hands and neck.
Is this... the outdoors?
Perhaps because my sight is blocked, my other senses are heightened to an extreme. Hearing, touch, smell... every sense tells me that I am no longer in a damp, musty dungeon, but out in the open air.
Thud.
Soon after, I am gently set down onto something soft.
"Stop squirming and stay quiet. Do that, and you won't get hurt," a man's voice commands.
Clack, clack... clack, clack...
We begin to move, swaying as we head somewhere. Surely... is this a carriage? Am I being dragged to the execution grounds?
"Whew... the Grand Duke really knows how to run a person ragged," a woman's voice sighs.
"But we got paid handsomely for it, didn't we?" the man replies.
"True... considering it's worth several months' salary, it's a hefty sum."
I eavesdrop on their conversation.
The Grand Duke... hired them? But who are they? And where are they taking me?
"Mmph!"
I try to speak, but the gag and my bound hands make it impossible. I grope around with my palms.
What is this...?
The back of my hand brushes against a plush, velvety texture, the kind only found on the seats of luxury carriages. I am definitely inside a carriage.
Soon, the swaying stops.
Screeech...
The carriage grinds to a halt. The man pulls me to my feet and speaks gently.
"Watch your step."
He lightly grips my shoulders. Step by step, I carefully descend the stairs.
Where is this? I've definitely left the prison, but without my sight, I have no idea where I am.
At that moment...
Rustle.
The blindfold covering my face is pulled away.
It is night, and a crescent moon hangs in the sky. We are in a narrow alleyway, surrounded by towering buildings.
Suddenly—
Grab!
"Kyaah!"
Someone behind me grabs a fistful of my hair.
"Don't resent me too much. I'll make sure to give you a nice, clean cut."
Before I can even comprehend what is happening—
Shring.
A chilling sound echoes right next to my ear. It sounds exactly like a sword being unsheathed...
The woman holding my hair thrusts a dagger before my eyes.
"What do you think? Sharp, isn't it? I personally honed it to make sure it's over in one stroke."
Her voice is sweet and melodic, yet it sends a shiver down my spine.
Ah... is this how I die?
"You know, thank you for tying your hair up so neatly. It saved me a lot of trouble."
Snip!
At the sharp sound...
"Ah...!"
The strength drains from my legs.
Thud!
I collapse helplessly to the ground.
Am I... dead?
It doesn't hurt as much as I expected. In fact, there is no pain at all. Now, I can finally see him again...
"What are you doing?"
Hearing a clear, crisp voice, I turn around.
A youthful-looking girl with brown hair is twirling a neatly tied bundle of black hair around her finger, looking at me with utter disbelief.
"Pfft, hahaha! What is that reaction? Anyone would think we actually killed you!"
I feel a sudden surge of resentment toward this woman, who is laughing so hard she is practically crying.
"Rebecca, stop playing around and bring her inside."
"Pfft! Karl, look at her! Look at that stupid face! Ahahaha!"
Seeing that she cannot stop laughing, the man named Karl shakes his head.
"I'd appreciate it if you remembered we are on a mission."
At his words, the woman named Rebecca wipes away her tears.
"Oh, my stomach... I laughed so hard my belly hurts..."
Karl scoops me up in his arms, opens a door in the alley, and carries me up to the second floor.
Screeech.
The rusty door opens to reveal a humble, ordinary home.
"Where are we?" I ask Karl in bewilderment.
He replies, "Your name is Ipa, right? You'll have to stay here for the time being."
"Pardon...?"
I was absolutely certain I would be tortured and executed.
Antoni... it seems my destiny is to remain in this world a little longer.
They seat me at the dining table and bring over a cup of hot coffee.
"First off, my name is Karl, and you can call the woman next to me Rebecca. What is your name, young lady?"
I reply, "I am Ipa... But... why am I here?"
I reach up to touch the back of my head, feeling an unfamiliar emptiness. My hair has been cut short, barely reaching my shoulders.
Prince Antoni always told me my hair was beautiful...
I don't understand why I, who should be rotting in a dungeon, am here, or what they plan to do with the hair they are holding onto so carefully.
"We don't know the reason either. We are just doing what His Grace the Grand Duke ordered," Karl says.
Grand Duke Deviang... why is he doing this?
"Now, the Grand Duke told us to give you this."
Karl pulls out a heavy cloth pouch and places it on the table.
"Take this first. It's your severance pay, this month's salary, and a full year's salary combined. Go ahead and count it."
Why are they giving me this?
"Count it. If it's short, I'll let the Grand Duke know."
I open the pouch in front of me, and glittering gold coins catch the light.
"Wow, imperial maids get paid a lot more than I thought," Rebecca remarks.
"Well, it's her severance pay and a year's salary combined, so of course it is," Karl replies.
After a rough count, it seems about right. I close the pouch and ask, "It seems correct... but why are you giving me this?"
Instead of torture or execution... are they telling me to take this and leave the Imperial Palace?
"It's a gift from the Grand Duke to someone of such deep loyalty... Of course, you'll have to stay here for a while, but once the time is right, we'll let you go. You can return to your hometown or open a bakery, whatever you like."
The situation makes no sense. Wasn't the Grand Duke trying to kill me? Unable to believe it, I look Karl in the eye.
"Wasn't... wasn't the Grand Duke planning to execute me?"
Rebecca answers instead.
"No? In fact, he praised your deep loyalty and strictly ordered us to treat you well and make sure you want for nothing."
I ask again, utterly bewildered.
"But why?"
Why? I have never done anything for him. I've only seen him from a distance a few times as a maid. And under Crown Princess Theodora's orders, I spied on his every move. If I had been a little braver, I might have poisoned his meals long ago. It was only my lack of courage that stopped me... So I cannot comprehend why the Grand Duke is doing this.
"We don't know that either. We just follow the Grand Duke's orders."
"I see... Then... once I am free... may I return to the Imperial Palace?"
Karl smiles warmly.
"He told us not to interfere with whatever you choose to do once you're released, so I don't see why not."
"I see..."
I have no idea what the Grand Duke is planning. But the sheer relief of knowing I might one day return to the palace washes over me.
"Sob..."
Tears begin to stream down my face.
The next morning.
"Ugh... my head..."
I have finally returned to the Imperial Palace. Last night, I drank late into the night with Minister Victor and ended up crashing at his place. It has been a long time since I drank this much, and my head feels like it is about to split open.
"Have some water, Your Grace."
"Ah... thanks."
I take the cup offered to me and gulp it down.
Gulp, gulp...
"Phew! That's better."
I thought it was plain water, but it turns out to be cool honey water. As expected of Agrippa... the man is a mind-reading genius.
While I am internally praising his thoughtfulness, Agrippa speaks.
"I have cleanly wrapped up the task you ordered yesterday."
Yesterday...? What did I order... Ah! I told him to bring back Ipa's hair.
"So... where is it?"
In response to my question, Agrippa presents a small box containing a long strand of black hair, neatly tied with a hair ribbon.
"They cut it quite cleanly, didn't they?" I remark.
Agrippa nods.
"Well... they are highly professional. However, Your Grace..."
Seeing Agrippa hesitate, I urge him on.
"What is it?"
"Yesterday, Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess visited your office."
My heart skips a beat.
Was it because I arrested Ipa?
"Was it... because of Ipa?"
I ask, just in case. Agrippa gives a slight nod, confirming my suspicion.
I need to press Theodora on our end as well...
What should I do? Can I even have a proper conversation with an enraged Theodora right now? Though negotiations with the Emperor Faction are complete, I have yet to convince Theodora herself. Actually, I don't even know if she can be convinced. After all, I am stripping away the authority of the noble imperial family.
And taking it away isn't the end of it. My terrible reputation must be spreading across the empire, and I will have to clean up the mess. I might end up with a permanent stain on my name—labeled a treacherous minister conspiring with the Emperor Faction to divide the empire...
I let out a dry chuckle.
It can't be helped. I am only doing what must be done. I bear her no ill will. It is simply a necessity.
I sigh deeply.
"Sigh... I suppose blackmail is the only option left?"
"Yes... given the Crown Princess's temperament, that seems to be the only way," Agrippa agrees.
I run my fingers through Ipa's hair as I listen to him.
It's soft...
Touching a woman's hair and thinking about how soft it is in a situation like this—a silly thought crosses my mind that perhaps I've been a bit sexually frustrated lately.
How ridiculous.
Frustrated? If I had the energy to harbor such desires, I should spend it on stabilizing the political situation as quickly as possible.
I place the hair back into the box and lose myself in thought.
"Agrippa, wouldn't it be better to get the Empress's signature as well, rather than just Theodora's?"
The Crown Princess's signature carries weight, but the signature of the Empress—the future Empress Dowager—would carry even more gravity, wouldn't it?
Agrippa looks troubled.
"That might only fuel rumors that you are persecuting Her Majesty the Empress."
"Is that so...?"
I dismiss the idea of obtaining the Empress's signature. I know how gracefully she has fulfilled her role as the mother of the empire... I have no desire to humiliate her unnecessarily. She is a woman who lost both her beloved husband and her son at once. I cannot even begin to fathom the depth of her grief.
"Let's focus on the backlogged work first. Don't tell the Crown Princess that I've returned."
With a mountain of work piled up, I want to postpone the headache of meeting Theodora for as long as possible. Staring at the massive stack of documents on my desk, I pick up the one on top.
"What is this...?"
It is the proposal for establishing a new government agency that I had Agrippa draft a while ago. I flip through it.
My god... the cost...
The initial budget projection is staggering. Looking at the breakdown, everything from equipment costs to maintenance, training fees, and more... the numbers are astronomical. Especially the labor costs—they are absolutely insane.
I fall into deep thought as I review the proposal.
The budget is the biggest hurdle...
We haven't decided on a name yet, but this agency is meant to lead us to victory and prevent the Demon King from descending upon this world.
I. Operational Equipment & Gear: High-grade tactical armaments, specialized field gear.
II. Maintenance & Operations: Safehouse upkeep, secure communication networks, logistics.
III. Training & Facilities: Specialized combat training, intelligence gathering simulations.
IV. Personnel & Labor Costs: Hazard pay, specialist recruitment, informant compensation.
"Agrippa, I looked over the proposal you submitted... No matter how I look at it, the budget is astronomical. Is there any way we can cut it down along the way?"
Agrippa nods.
"Actually, since this is a rough estimate, it's more likely to go up than down."
I let out a heavy sigh.
"Sigh... isn't this way too expensive?"
To my whining, Agrippa replies dryly, "That is because the budget was drafted entirely based on the requirements you laid out, Your Grace."
Well... I suppose my demands were rather excessive.
True... with the war that is about to break out, perhaps we can cover some of the costs with the spoils? If so, it might be feasible... But worried that any further increase would spell disaster, I ask Agrippa cautiously.
"Then... do you think it will increase significantly from here?"
He replies with a bright, cheerful smile.
"Isn't that obvious? I've never heard of a government agency of this nature, so I budgeted with plenty of leeway... but it will almost certainly cost more, never less."
His definitive answer makes my head throb.
"Sigh..."
Where on earth am I going to secure the funds?
Epirus and Egypt, the primary sources of imperial revenue, have been handed over. To make up for it, I plan to use the surplus funds of the Grand Duchy of Francesco to fill the imperial treasury, but it is clear that our revenue will be incomparably lower than during the late Emperor's reign.
Ever since Valorang's successful rebellion, the provincial nobles and free cities have stopped paying taxes altogether. On top of that, even the imperial territories of Epirus and Egypt...
They had branded Valorang and me as rebels and refused to pay taxes, but upon hearing that the Emperor Faction and I had signed a peace treaty, they gave word that they would pay all their back taxes. It is a massive sum, but since Epirus and Egypt are being handed over to the Emperor Faction, our revenue will plummet starting next year.
"But if we squeeze our vassals for more taxes... they won't take it lying down, will they?"
"Undoubtedly, Your Grace."
"And yet they squeeze their own people dry under the guise of window taxes, marriage taxes, and whatever else they can think of... Unbelievable."
My sighs only multiply as I realize I must first rein in the Anti-Emperor Faction before I can even begin to overhaul this convoluted tax system.