Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Flower of Evil, Aira #2
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Shortly after the uproar involving Finance Minister Belmont and his daughter Clara had died down.
Queen Aira slipped out of the court and headed to her chambers, drawling lazily.
“Theo, cancel the rest of today’s schedule. I’ve been working so hard for the people that I’m exhausted.”
Aira issued her command to me in casual speech, not the stiff courtly tone.
Did anyone else know that this tyrant spoke and acted like an ordinary girl?
“I’m just too tired. I need to turn in early today. Guess I’ve been overdoing it lately.”
Overdoing it, my ass—everything important was handled by me, damn it.
Even though I felt wronged, I couldn’t dare say so. Instead, I just flashed a bright smile.
“As expected of Her Majesty. With your wisdom and benevolence watching over Angmar, the people can rest easy in peace.”
“Yeah. It’s thanks to you too, Theo. Half of this prosperous reign I’m building is yours—you can be proud of that.”
“You honor me.”
She said I could be proud, but I felt none. What Aira was building wasn’t prosperity or peace—it was discord and chaos.
If I stepped out of this beautiful palace street right now, I’d see slums teeming with the poor, bandit rebels running rampant, and foreign tribes and monsters besieging the walls outside. A total nightmare.
And half of that hell was supposedly my fault.
How the hell was I supposed to take pride in that? I wasn’t some sociopathic psycho.
If I had one excuse, it was that I’d done my best in my position to avert disaster.
Like desperately stopping Belmont’s execution just now.
Using my status as the queen’s closest aide, I’d tried relief efforts for the poor and acts of charity, but no one believed me or accepted it.
—What? Just goodwill? Don’t lie to me, you demon monk. What burden are you trying to put on me? I’d rather die than join hands with the likes of you—!
—Please, take your false kindness away from me—. If word gets out I’m tangled with you, I’ll be chased into the streets and stoned to death—!
First impressions and images were terrifying things.
I, Theo, had already been branded as the fox-like schemer propping up the foolish tyrant queen to destroy the kingdom.
No matter what I did, nothing changed.
—Look, Theo’s coming.
—Shh, don’t make eye contact. We might get executed.
—Who’s that behind him? Clara? Poor Clara—.
See? Even the palace maids working here shot me fearful glances.
To be honest, I’d never executed anyone.
—They say he tried to make the Finance Minister and Clara commit incest in front of everyone.
—Theo, that vicious bastard—.
...
But my radical methods apparently made for perfect fodder for misunderstandings and rumors.
Anyway, as the maids’ whispers grew louder, Queen Aira slammed her scepter on the floor with a loud *bang*.
The sudden shock made the startled maids shut up and scatter to their duties.
Watching them go, Aira said.
“Theo. I’ll have those maids who badmouthed you march naked in penance tomorrow.”
Penance march—what the hell.
That was brutal. Especially for young girls like the court maids.
The penance march meant stripping them naked and making them parade through the markets outside the palace and back.
The jeers and mental trauma they’d suffer could turn anyone into a wreck.
In fact, Aira had punished a maid that way for trying to poison me. I didn’t really want to talk about how that maid was doing now.
Shaking my head at the memory, I replied.
“There’s no need to punish the maids. It’s beneath you to respond to the foolish words of the ignorant, Your Majesty.”
“You’re right. A noble doesn’t sway in the breeze. But, Theo—I can’t stand hearing you insulted. They don’t know how hard you work.”
Don’t they know who I’m working hard for because of?
I gave a wry smile.
“Just ignore the malicious talk aimed at me. They’re probably just jealous of your favor toward me.”
“I see. As expected, Theo—you’re sharp.”
“You honor me.”
“Oh, and that reminds me of fools running their mouths. Lately, all those filthy sycophants have been calling you a villain. Saying everyone should stay away from you.”
“Is that so?”
“But of course, I don’t listen to those traitors. You’re the wisest man after me. If I, the queen, say so, it is so.”
“Then, you won’t make the maids do the penance march?”
“Yeah. Not thrilled about it, but fine.”
Aira nodded in satisfaction.
I’d just saved a few more lives.
Though they’d never know it.
They didn’t realize that I—the one they cursed—was the oxygen mask keeping their lives and the kingdom’s survival going.
If Aira were executed and the kingdom’s order collapsed, true chaos would overrun the walls, sparing only a few VIPs while everyone else got crushed.
Nameless extras, commoners, maids like them—they’d plummet into the abyss.
The maids didn’t know.
I wished I didn’t either.
* * *
“Then, Your esteemed Majesty. I have business to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”
I bid Aira a brief farewell in front of her chambers.
She could now retreat to her room to read her favorite books or sleep.
But I, handling most of the governance she’d abandoned, had a mountain of work and no choice but overtime.
Did she appreciate my efforts? As she entered her bedroom, Aira drawled one more thing.
“Theo, you’ve been run off your feet lately. But with the rebellion nipped in the bud thanks to the Finance Minister, you can finally get some rest.”
“Well—.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Finance Minister Belmont had probably walked into court today prepared to die. Death was likely his very plan.
Beloved by both commoners and nobles, his execution would’ve burst the kingdom’s festering abscess, sparking a popular uprising to sweep everything away.
The revolutionary vanguard.
That was Belmont’s role. He understood it well, and in the novel, it played out that way.
But today, he didn’t die.
He even publicly swore loyalty to the queen on the surface.
“Heh, ‘Dawn Society,’ huh? I had no idea a seditious militia was stirring in the borders. Thanks to Belmont spilling everything, crushing them will be easy.”
“It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s wisdom. With the bandit rebels plotting to usurp the throne wiped out, the people can sleep soundly.”
I bowed as I spoke.
The Dawn Society here was the rebels.
In the original story, they weren’t crushed until mid-novel, after inflicting massive damage on the kingdom and queen’s regime.
But because Belmont survived as a variable, the Dawn Society was eradicated before even appearing.
A chill ran down my spine at that.
About the Dawn Society’s destruction—.
Truth be told, I’d done nothing.
I hadn’t even tipped off Queen Aira.
She’d interrogated Belmont herself and uncovered it all.
Frankly, Aira was a tyrant, a dark ruler.
But not entirely incompetent.
That’s why her occasional surprises like this made me flinch involuntarily.
She trusted no one, suspected everything—there was no guarantee she wouldn’t discard me on a whim.
“Oh, and Theo.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
What? Why call me now? Did she catch me cursing her in my head?
“Tonight, as a reward for your services, come heat the water.”
“...”
“Well? Your answer?”
“Yes, understood.”
Reward, my ass.
It’s torture, no doubt. She must’ve caught me badmouthing her inwardly.
“Then, until later.”
I bowed appropriately and backed away. Beside me was a girl with a gag in her mouth, her body tightly bound with thick rope.
Clara.
Daughter of Finance Minister Belmont.
Insurance to keep Belmont from betraying us.
I’d taken her hostage and made her a palace maid. A safety measure to ensure he wouldn’t get ideas.
The palace maids were all in similar straits, spying on each other—no room for disloyalty.
Pitting them against one another worked wonders.
“Come on, Miss Clara. Let’s go.”
“Hmph—.”
A perfect prisoner, but true to her high noble upbringing, she had spirit. Her glare at me was razor-sharp.
I led her to the maids’ quarters.
—Idiot, you pour it like this for the best taste!
—Pouring makes it soggy—!
—Hey, hey—he’s here—!
The maids, chattering excitedly, panicked at my arrival and scrambled to pretend they were working.
Your salaries come from taxes, you know.
I wanted to snap, but I had more pressing matters. I handed the tightly bound Clara to them.
“This is Clara, starting as a maid today. Teach her the dirtiest jobs first, step by step.”
The reaction was icy.
The maids looked at Clara with pity—“Poor thing, you’ve fallen too”—mixed with relief that someone else shared their misery.
“Clara, these ladies are all noble misses like you. Get along and no fighting. Why don’t you greet your new colleagues?”
I loosened her gag. She immediately screamed like she’d been waiting.
“Theo—I’ll never forgive you. I’ll curse you to the end. Angmar’s cancer—vicious collaborator—!”
Thanks for saving your father and you? I smiled brightly and replied.
“Not at all.”
Before, such insults would’ve hurt, but now? Guess I’d toughened up a bit.
But this girl wasn’t one to back down.
“You think your power will last forever? Someday, you’ll pay for your karma—! Queen Aira’s reign ends soon—! You really know nothing—!”
*Ptooey.*
She even spat in my face.
Third time this week alone. Routine by now, so the spit didn’t faze me—but.
Calling me clueless?
That pissed me off, even me.
So for the first time in a while, I raised my hand.
*Slap—.*
“Kyaa—!”
Clara crumpled. I grabbed her collar and yanked her up.
“Nothing? You think you’re qualified to say that to me? Spoiled nobles who’ve only known luxury—.”
Who the hell was fit to talk karma to me, thrown into this purgatory out of nowhere?
“S-Stop, don’t hit me—.”
She’d provoked me first, yet now she trembled, clutching her swollen red cheek.
I had plenty more to unload, but work waited.
“What are you waiting for? Back to work.”
I swallowed my boiling rage. Karma, huh? Cocky for a captive.
Truth be told, I had a rough idea why she was so bold.
She had backing.
And that backing was obvious.
Were those guys about to make their move?
In the original, Clara would’ve contacted them from hiding, triggering the episode.
I pictured the Bellance party, lurking somewhere, sharpening their claws.
Would their claws reach me?
No. I’d make damn sure they didn’t.
* * *
『Border Beastkin Incursions: Wall Repair and Maintenance Cost Report.』
『Disciplinary Bill on Marquis Riones’s Tax Evasion Allegations.』
『Black Robe Gang Bandit Activity Report.』
『Wolf Spiders Mass Strike—Silk Harvest Low—Export Issues.』
『Mitchuri Swarms Ravaging Eastern Plains—Farmers Wretched—Groaning Commoners.』
*Rustle, rustle.*
I roughly processed the headache-inducing documents. After signing the last one, I stretched and chuckled.
“I’ve gotten used to this.”
Sitting in this office handling work still felt surreal.
Who’d have thought I’d end up in an office job like this? A high-ranking one, at that.
Court Gardener Theo.
That was my official title.
Seventy-fifth in palace hierarchy, but everyone in the kingdom knew I was the queen’s right-hand with real power.
I knew about this man, Theo.
In the novel, he was a minor villain mentioned in a few lines—a detestable guy everyone wanted dead quick, nothing more.
His role was meh, but every appearance ignited comments.
In the end, he got a throwaway line: “One day, Theo was executed for his accumulated karma.”
I didn’t remember the exact wording, but something like that. The curt end stuck with me.
After Theo’s death, Queen Aira lost power, and the kingdom fell.
Yes.
By the story’s course, I might get executed.
Who, when, where, how—no details.
‘One day Theo was executed for his karma.’
My life hung on that lazy, vague sentence with no date or method.
Even a rock from an angry mob through the office window killing me would fit perfectly.
I’d nearly died plenty. Just escaped poisoning recently.
Had the swelling on my face from that gone down?
I stood and approached the full-length mirror in the corner. Pulling back the dusty curtain, my face reflected back.
Was this even my face?
Light brown hair, blue eyes.
“This face is growing on me after a year.”
Boyish yet youthful.
Closer to boy, but age unclear. Theo was the kingdom’s ruinous demon monk, after all.
Fine-featured overall—easy on the eyes.
Seeing a handsome kid was bittersweet, but knowing it was me? Not bad.
“Hmm.”
One flaw: a long scar from right eyebrow to right cheek.
Slashed by something sharp. It ruined the perfect symmetry like a villain’s mark.
And I was the villain.
Fitting identity.
As I pondered the scar’s story, someone knocked on the office door.
“Who is it?”
“Sir Theo. Her Majesty summons you. To heat the water now—.”
It had finally come.