Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Translation: godsn
"Your Highness, did you know? That the Head Maid would move like this?"
Medeia, who had been standing by the window watching the Head Maid's subordinates retreat, turned around.
"Yes."
A simple answer. But the implications behind it were anything but.
The words the princess had spoken while manipulating the maids came to mind.
"For borrowing someone's hands, this was quite a bargain."
I never imagined the hands being borrowed would belong to the Head Maid.
And to think she'd cleanly remove all of the princess's maids without any hesitation.
'So from that moment already...'
Neril stared blankly at her.
"The masters of those dismissed maids will be wary of the Regent. When they learn it was his subordinate's doing, he'll be clutching the back of his neck in frustration."
Only then did Neril nod in understanding.
"Who do you think our dear uncle will resent? His competitors? Or perhaps the Head Maid? Certainly not me, at any rate."
Because here, Medeia would simply be the pitiful victim.
"Your Highness, are you planning to set them against each other?"
Instead of answering, a faint smile played at the corners of her lips.
"The princess I knew... doesn't seem to be you anymore."
The original Medeia had been someone whose human innocence stood out more than her royal dignity.
"You're right. The Medeia you knew is gone."
The princess acknowledged this calmly.
"After brushing with death, I realized something. That I can't afford to remain foolish forever."
Medeia looked at Neril.
Her emerald eyes were looking at her, yet somehow seemed to gaze beyond—solemn, as if piercing through some deeper, darker abyss.
"What about you, Neril? Do you dislike having such a mistress?"
There was no wavering in those eyes.
As if it made no difference whether Neril accepted this change or not.
'Just like when I first met His Late Majesty.'
Neril went down on one knee.
She understood the girl's words about not being able to remain foolish forever.
To endure alone in this demon's den with nothing but these small feet, change was inevitable.
"Whatever form Your Highness takes, I will remain by your side."
The corners of the princess's lips curved slightly upward.
"That's fortunate."
An impassive face devoid of expression. A calm voice.
Though none of it resembled the princess she'd known, Neril thought this was more like Valdina's bloodline than ever before.
Hesitating briefly, Neril voiced her remaining concern.
"...It would be good if the Head Maid recognized her mistake and restrained herself, but that seems unlikely. If she tries some underhanded scheme again..."
"It's fine."
Medeia patted Neril's shoulder.
"When you know your opponent's temperament and track record, you can predict them. What they're thinking, what they'll attempt to do."
The Head Maid, her uncle—she'd experienced them all thoroughly in her past life. They operated within Medeia's expectations.
What gave her pause...
Were the unknown elements she'd never experienced before.
For example...
Clang!
A sharp shattering sound as the teacup overturned.
A pale-faced Mariyu hurriedly poured fresh tea into a new cup.
"Your Highness, I merely..."
She had come bearing tea brewed personally to mend relations with the princess.
'I must win back the princess's heart before those new maids catch her eye.'
She'd recently witnessed the Head Maid's people rounding up all the maids from the princess's palace.
Had she not been quick-witted enough to hide, she too would have been dragged out like a dog along with them.
Suppressing her unease, Mariyu worked hard to ingratiate herself with the princess.
After all, she knew intimately what a love-starved princess was vulnerable to and what moved her.
Moreover, when she arrived, hadn't the princess sent Neril away, telling her to wait outside?
Though cold to her lately, this was clearly a sign she'd grown weary of that stone-faced wench's coarseness and wanted Mariyu back by her side.
Steam curled lazily from the cup she'd poured.
"It's berry tea. You always said I brew it best."
Mariyu sat beside her and extended the teacup.
Absently glancing down at the offered cup, Medeia froze.
Dark indigo liquid. So dark the bottom couldn't be seen. Like someone had added three or four drops of the poison she'd drunk before dying.
A sudden dizziness struck. The veins on the back of her hand gripping the table's edge stood out momentarily.
"...I'm not in the mood right now. Perhaps later."
When Medeia unexpectedly refused to take the cup, Mariyu grew agitated.
"Why? Is Her Highness still angry with me?
Hasn't everything been resolved now? "
"I brewed it to the perfect temperature. You've always preferred it slightly cooled rather than scalding hot, haven't you? Shall I feed it to you?"
"Later."
"Ah, Your Highness, please. I went out at dawn to pick these berries, kneeling until my knees were soaked through. At least consider my sincerity."
She stubbornly shoved the teacup forward.
"Just one sip, please."
There was something almost brutish in the way she tried to press the cup to Medeia's lips.
The dark tea rippled before Medeia's eyes.
"Pour it! What are you waiting for?!"
Her throat felt like it was being strangled. Darkness crept at the edges of her vision.
"I said enough!"
Without another thought, she struck the cup away.
Clang!
The teacup Medeia had knocked aside shattered on the floor.
The air turned icy.
"How many times must I repeat myself?"
"Y-Your Highness, I only—"
"It seems my words don't even reach your ears."
"Forgive me, Your Highness. I made a mistake."
Quick-witted maids seized Mariyu's arms, dragging her away as she wailed.
"Your Highness! Please forgive me! Don't despise poor Mariyu any longer! You're all I have!"
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
"...Haa."
Only when she was certain she was truly alone did Medeia finally exhale.
Her pale fingers trembled as they brushed against her throat.
"......"
She stared down at the spilled tea.
Dark liquid.
The same suffocating revulsion rose in her again.
Medeia reached out—
Not for the tea, but for the clear glass of water beside it.
It was fine. From the moment it touched her lips to sliding down her throat, there was no problem.
"Is it only colored liquids, then?"
The lingering trauma of her past life's wretched death—poison forced down her throat.
The aftereffects seemed limited to dark-colored liquids.
"It's fine. As long as no one finds out."
In the pale silence, Medeia murmured to herself.
"Your Highness, are you all right?"
Neril, who had rushed in upon hearing Mariyu's screams, scrutinized Medeia with concern.
The room was a mess of shattered porcelain.
Neril frowned at the spot where Mariyu had been dragged away.
"What on earth gives her the audacity to act like that? If it weren't for Your Highness, I'd—"
Her hand drifted to the sword at her waist.
"Wait and see. With all the maids replaced, she has no one left to vent her frustrations on, and my cold treatment will push her to the brink. She'll snap soon—then we can deal with her for good."
Medeia patted Neril's shoulder.
"Keep a close eye on Mariyu."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Deep into the night, when all the lights in the Princess Palace had gone out, Mariyu slipped away unnoticed.
"Samon!"
Under the dim glow of a lantern, her lover paced restlessly.
Mariyu threw herself into his arms.
As if to dissolve all her longing and sorrow, she buried her face against him, rubbing her cheeks against his chest.
"Shh."
Samon Claudio.
The eldest son and sole heir of the Regent.
He hastily pulled her inside, gripping her arm.
"Mariyu."
The only light in the room came from the faint moonlight filtering through a small window.
Shadows deepened across the man's face.
A slender frame. Ash-brown hair. Delicate features.
Among Valdina's young nobility, Samon was considered exceptionally handsome.
Yet upon closer inspection, his thin lips carried a slyness, and his pitch-black eyes glinting in the dark held something oddly ratlike—petty and cunning.
But to Mariyu, he was the most beautiful man in the world.
"Samon, I missed you so much."
She spread her arms wide, but her lover's embrace—usually so tight around her waist—was absent.
"What the hell happened?"
Her lover's first words after so long were sharp. Mariyu's smile froze.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"All of Medeia's maids have been replaced. What were you doing?"
"Darling, there was nothing I could do! The Princess pushed me aside without warning—what was I supposed to do?"
Mariyu had been worried about the same thing. She needed to win back the Princess's favor before the new maids settled in.
So she had visited Medeia daily, pouring on every charm she possessed—yet the Princess remained unmoved.
Pouting, Mariyu thrust out her leg.
"Look at this! She sent me to the Head Maid, and now—"
"Wait, Medeia pushed you aside?"
Samon's eyes gleamed.