Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Translation: godsn
"There's nothing impossible about it."
"You're insane."
"Though the Princess is still young, she's certainly of marriageable age. In fact, her youth would make her easier for us to manipulate."
"Us?"
The Head Maid smiled faintly.
"That depends on the Minister's intentions, of course. Duke Claudio isn't the type to share his power. You never planned to stay by his side forever either—or was I mistaken in that assumption?"
The bait had been cast.
Now all that remained was to wait for the bite.
A heavy silence stretched between them.
The Head Maid waited with practiced patience.
At last, the corners of the Count's tightly pressed lips crept upward against his will.
"No. You're absolutely right."
As she'd said, becoming Prince Consort would allow him to build a faction rivaling even the Regent's power. He'd have both the justification and status to do so.
"You won't regret this decision today, Your Excellency."
The toad had taken the bait.
Only time would tell whether he'd swallowed nourishment—or poison.
Night had fallen over the Princess's Palace, every light extinguished.
Once again, Mariyu slipped out in secret.
But this time, her demeanor toward her contact was startlingly haughty and cold.
"What is the meaning of this? Explain that note."
After being practically chased out of the Princess's chambers, Mariyu had found a note slipped into her door—a summons from Head Maid Cuisine.
"What do you mean, 'what'?"
Head Maid Cuisine flashed a polished smile.
"I heard you've been treated worse than a dog lately. Thought you might have things to say."
"Hah! And when were you planning to beat me down? Besides, how could I compare to you—abandoned by the Regent himself?"
Mariyu's retort was razor-sharp.
How did this wench know about that...?
The Head Maid's unseen jaw clenched tight behind her frigid reply."Aren't we in the same boat? I hear the Princess has been ignoring you—that these days you're scrubbing floors alongside the lowliest maids?"
"......"
"That position of yours has already been filled by Neril. Admit it—the Princess has discarded you."
Mariyu pressed her lips into a hard line, glaring daggers at the Head Maid.
"If you don't find a way to survive, you'll be the one driven from the palace. Your time's running out."
Though Mariyu clenched her fists, eyes burning with fury, she couldn't refute the words.
Every one was true.
"What do you want?"
As if she'd expected this reaction, the Head Maid's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
From her robes, she produced a sky-blue handkerchief.
Embroidered in gold thread along its edge were visible initials.
"L. Etienne... Wait, Larc Etienne? The Minister of Palace Affairs' handkerchief?"
When the Head Maid only smiled in response, an irritated Mariyu snapped, "Why are you giving this to me?"
"Why? You'll secretly place this in the Princess's bedchamber. Somewhere discreet, out of sight—her underwear drawer, perhaps."
Mariyu flinched.
As the Princess's maid, she knew precisely what it meant in their conservative aristocratic society for a woman to hide a man's belongings in her private quarters.
"What are you scheming? Surely you don't mean to..."
Mariyu's face paled as she spoke.
"If you've already guessed, why ask?"
"You're mad. The Princess and the Minister? Are you serious? This is insane. Unthinkable."
The revolting age gap—he could practically be her father—was the least of the issues.
Though she was the royal family's black sheep, she was still the King's sister.
She was in an entirely different league from the Minister of Palace Affairs—an old, ugly man tainted by vulgar rumors.
There were even whispers that the Minister was a sadistic sodomite.
If rumors spread that the two were lovers, no one would dare propose to the Princess, whose reputation was already in tatters.
'Then Count Etienne would become the Prince Consort... Medeia's husband? That's absurd.'
Mariyu, who had always harbored an inferiority complex toward Medeia, couldn't help but shake her head vigorously this time.
Then, with wide, horrified eyes, she stared at the Head Maid, who had concocted this sinister scheme without so much as blinking.
"We just have to make it believable."
"Good heavens, have you no fear of divine retribution?"
The Head Maid sneered at Mariyu's response.
"You'll end up just like me soon enough. Shouldn't you secure your own future before the Princess discards you? If this succeeds, I'll help legitimize you."
Legitimize? The unexpected word made Mariyu freeze.
"You know how I managed to become a noblewoman, don't you?"
The Head Maid crossed her arms and leaned against a pillar.
"My husband's nephew still has no heir. Spend a few years as their foster daughter, and you'll become a noble lady."
"A noble..."
In an instant, the voice from that night resurfaced in her mind.
"A minor duke like me needs a proper justification to marry a commoner like you."
'If only my status could be laundered, I could stand by his side without shame.'
Mariyu's throat bobbed slowly.
"Well? I can't give you much time to decide. You know better than anyone how rare an opportunity like this is."
"......"
Mariyu remained silent, lost in thought. The Head Maid frowned.
"If you're not interested, forget my offer. I don't have the luxury to wait around."
"Wait—"
As the Head Maid moved to take back the Minister's handkerchief, Mariyu hastily grabbed the edge to stop her.
Madame Cuisine smirked faintly to herself.
"I'll take that as your agreement."
After the Head Maid left, Mariyu stared down at the handkerchief.
'...I must keep this a secret from Samon.'
A scandal between the young Princess and the decrepit Minister was far too disgraceful.
Since it also concerned the honor of the Valdina royal family, Samon would never agree.
He wouldn't want her to join hands with the discarded Head Maid either.
The promise of status laundering was bait meant only for her.
She let out a bitter laugh.
Mariyu loved Samon, but she knew he was indifferent.
If he weren't, he wouldn't have left her lingering in the shadows for so long.
'It's all because of the Princess. If she were gone, I wouldn't need to stay here any longer. I could go to his side.'
Her twisted anger veered off course.
'Etienne and the Princess...'
The Princess's cold eyes, always fixed on her, flashed in her mind.
The initial shock she had felt upon learning of the Head Maid's scheme faded, replaced by seething fury.
Even if she became the wife of that repulsive, ugly old toad, would the Princess still dare to look down on her—the wife of Duke Claudio?
'Medeia, you shouldn't have treated me with such contempt.'
Her gaze, fixed on the golden embroidery, flickered strangely. Hesitating no longer, she reached for the handkerchief.
"Your Highness, you were the one who pushed me away first."
Mariyu crumpled the thin fabric like paper in her grasp and muttered.
"So don't resent me."
A few days later. At dawn, as the first light broke.
"Just as Your Highness predicted."
Neril, who had left the palace with Medeia to meet Marquess Gilifos, spoke with her face tightly scrunched in displeasure.
"A few days ago, Mariyu secretly left the palace and made contact with the Head Maid."
Medeia listened to her words beneath the golden morning sunlight. The weather was splendid.
"I couldn't shake off the unease, so I kept my eyes on her. For a while, I thought she was just rummaging around the Princess Palace here and there, but—"
Neril swallowed hard at this point. It was to suppress her rage and regain her composure.
She pulled out a sky-blue handkerchief from her bosom.
"Mariyu sneaked into Your Highness's chambers and hid this inside the jewelry box."
Medeia's footsteps halted.
"It's embroidered with the initials 'L. Etienne.' Isn't this the Minister of Palace Affairs'?"
"Haha."
A laugh, almost pure in its admiration, escaped Medeia's lips.
"To think she'd try to link me with Etienne—the Head Maid has put quite some thought into this."
"Those vile wretches dare to associate Your Highness with that filthy scoundrel...!"
Neril's knuckles twitched as if she wanted nothing more than to draw her sword right then and there.
"I'm skilled in concealment and corpse disposal. Two—no, three bodies could vanish without a trace. If you'd just permit me—"
Medeia smiled.
"Three, including the Minister? Then, Neril, you wouldn't come out unscathed either."
"It doesn't matter, as long as I can rid Your Highness of these wicked fiends."
Medeia didn't know whether to scold or praise her straight-laced maid, swallowing back a laugh.
"It's not yet time."
"......"
Seeing Neril's dissatisfied expression, she added, as if to reassure her.
"I don't let those who scheme behind my back live."
They will die here.
Only at the time and place of my choosing.
"So, the handkerchief?"
Medeia held out her hand.
"Here. I'll take it and burn it. Not even a trace will remain."
"No."
A small, pale hand stopped Neril from taking the handkerchief back.
"Neril, you said earlier you were confident in concealment."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Had Her Highness changed her mind now?
Unable to abandon hope, Neril answered obediently.
Medeia smiled in satisfaction and pulled out a gleaming piece of jewelry.
"This is... Isn't that the trumpet bracelet Mariyu was carrying before?"
It was the very bracelet Samon had gifted her.
"Your Highness, this is the bracelet Mariyu dropped... I found it rather suspicious."
Mariyu hadn't just been caught with the bracelet by Medeia alone. Moreover, her dishonest attitude had thoroughly earned her the disdain of her fellow maids in the Princess Palace.
"She claims it's her late mother's keepsake, but it looks far too expensive for that. She bragged about it so much—I suspect she stole it. Could it be yours, Your Highness? Or perhaps the Duchess's or Lady Virna's? Have they ever had a bracelet stolen?"
"Very well. I'll look into it further, but don't tell Mariyu we've found the bracelet yet."
"Of course! She's been searching for it nonstop for three days and is already exhausted."
And so, Medeia obtained the bracelet imbued with Samon's "love."
She carefully wrapped Mariyu's bracelet inside the Minister's handkerchief.
Then, she handed the now-bulging bundle back to Neril.
"Later, slip this into Mariyu's belongings."