Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41
I froze in shock, then looked at Eriki.
‘If even one calf dies, she’ll devour me.’
The decision came easily. With a sharp tap, I covered the quotation and spoke coldly.
“If we extend the cauldron’s firebox by one more, we can heat two cauldrons with the same amount of firewood.”
In other words.
“Until next month, everyone in the castle eats gruel instead of bread.”
“Pardon?”
“Cook human gruel in one cauldron and calf gruel in the other.”
“……!”
“Of course, my meals are included too.”
“……!”
Eriki’s face fell as she murmured in disbelief.
“Even on the battlefield…… I ate bread. I ate moldy bread…….”
Eriki left in tears.
Once I reached a quiet place, I slowly opened my hands to examine them.
White, smooth palms.
Hands unmarked by any symbol.
The King let out a deep sigh every time he saw my unblemished hands.
His eyes full of exasperation and disappointment.
Because of my incompetence as First Princess, Ayu earned only greater reverence from the people.
Ayu had been born with both the Saint’s power and the Royal House’s abilities running strong through her veins.
That was why her palms bore both the lily mark symbolizing the Royal House’s Purification Ability and the wing mark identical to what graced a Saint’s hands—deep and unmistakable.
‘How enviable.’
You could say she’d led a truly successful life.
“Ratchu. But I’m really fine, you know.”
“Ratchu…….”
Three years had already passed for me to still be bothered by such things.
“I can use the Breeding Order, can’t I? No one else in the Northern Kingdom can use that ability.”
“Ratchu!”
Ratchu pressed against me, rubbing their face against mine.
The gesture of comfort softened my heart as if it were wrapped in feathers.
* * *
That dawn.
I woke early to some kind of noise.
What was that?
It was too early for anyone to be ringing the bell for morning chores. The window beyond remained dark as spilled ink.
I threw a shawl over my shoulders and opened the door, but there wasn’t a single maid outside.
……?
Normally one of them stood night watch in rotation. Where had they all gone?
And what was that commotion rising up from downstairs?
“Ratchu.”
“Ratchu!”
“Can you attack too? Like, burn things up with fire and all that?”
“No way! Ratchu is a peaceful baby!”
“Is that so?”
I fell silent for a moment before asking.
“Then I’m the one who has to protect you?”
“Mm-hmm! But…….”
Ratchu pressed close behind me.
“I can brighten the night for you.”
In that instant, as if by magic, everything before me blazed bright.
The world hadn’t grown brighter—my vision had become perfect. Even in darkness, I could see the candelabra’s base at the corridor’s end with perfect clarity. I could walk at night without a flicker of hesitation without a light?
“Ratchu!”
This meant I wouldn’t even need to carry a candle!
‘This is actually a pretty good survival skill?’
I could wander the night while my opponent couldn’t see me without light.
I could strike at them in the dark while they had no idea.
“This is amazing!”
“Ratchu!”
As my vision cleared, much of the fear receded. Still, to be safe, I grabbed an iron poker from beside the fireplace.
I crept downward, and with each step my expression grew more grave.
‘Where have all the maids gone?’
Had they all met some terrible fate while I slept?
Or perhaps…….
“Aaaaah!”
At the sound of a maid’s scream from below, cold sweat broke across my back.
What on earth was happening?
Should I hide? Should I run?
But I had no strength—charging down there would be useless.
It seemed far better to climb to the tower and light the beacon.
I gritted my teeth and turned around.
“Um, Lel. That blood thing or whatever—it’s not that, right?”
“……What?”
“Instead of blood droplets, soap bubbles are flying around, see?”
“……?”
What was that supposed to mean?
As I descended each step, the commotion grew louder.
The voices also became clearer and more distinct.
“No! You’ll ruin the fabric that way!”
“No! If you scrub so gently, the stain will never come out!”
……Laundry?
This castle had roughly fifty maids.
For the record, there were no manservants. For some reason, the previous Grand Duchess had kept only the maids.
Which meant the only men in this castle were a handful of knights……
So why were they all seated before the laundry tubs at dawn, their faces beet-red,
as if they wished they were dead?
It made no sense.
The maids were furious. Some were even weeping, clutching the garments in their hands.
“What are we supposed to do about this? Why did you open the laundry room without permission?”
“How much is this worth? Do you have any idea how precious this is? It’s the one and only Coronation Dress the Grand Duchess owns! Gold-thread embroidery with white mink fur trim! And you soaked it in lye at dawn thinking you could just wash it?!”
What?
I fell silent as I watched four maids weeping while trying to salvage the garment they held.
It was the Grand Duchess’s sole blue velvet formal dress.
Saturated with water, the blue velvet had darkened to black, and its once-dignified hue was nowhere to be found.
And that wasn’t all.
The densely stitched gold thread embroidery had come loose and frayed into tangles, and the white mink fur trim at the edges was matted and completely ruined.
Even a mage couldn’t restore it at this point.
“Fetch Captain Gavin at once! Ask him how he intends to answer for this disaster his subordinates have caused!”
The maids shrieked through their tears.
“In the first place, Captain Gavin volunteered to do it himself—why are his men raising such a commotion?”
“That’s right! Captain Gavin personally fixed the Chicken Coop, visited the Cattle Market, repaired the Stable—so why are we being driven like beasts by the Knight Order commander?!”
“And if you’re going to help out of goodwill, at least ask first before doing it!”
“You don’t know anything about fabrics and you’ve ruined everything! Do you think laundry works by just soaking things in lye and pounding them with a stick?!”
The situation became perfectly clear.
So the knights, unable to bear watching Captain Gavin work himself to exhaustion, had taken it upon themselves with good intentions to pitch in…….
And in doing so, had completely destroyed my dress!
The maids were understandably furious!
And that blue velvet Coronation Dress was genuinely expensive—it couldn’t even be remade.
Seeing the ruined garments, my own heart felt as though it were being torn to shreds.
‘By the way, where is Bridget…….’
Gasp.
“Head Maid! Please, calm yourself!”
“The blade! Put down the blade!”
“Eek! You mustn’t stab, Head Maid!”
……
There was never a commotion quite like this one. I pressed a hand to my brow.
* * *
[The Head Maid had shaved the heads of two knights bald.]
Upon receiving and reading the letter, Shelkan was rendered speechless.
[Sir Gavin obeys the Head Maid’s words absolutely.]
The letter that began this way continued on and on.
“…….”
That Sir Gavin had repaired the Stable.
That everyone in the castle was eating gruel.
That the knights had soaked the Grand Duchess’s expensive Coronation Dress and numerous gowns in lye.
That this had laid fifty maids low with illness.
That she was asking for authority over the knights’ moral education—just for one day.
That the bread was dreadfully tasteless. That the gruel was dreadfully tasteless.
That everyone was cold and huddling together like a flock of ducks.
That not a single invitation—not even a note—from any noblewoman had arrived at the castle.
That this must surely be disrespect toward Gonet’s precious mistress!
Shelkan let out a hollow laugh.
“He wrote it up like a diary and sent it.”
Twenty pages’ worth of a letter could not possibly be this dense. Shelkan carelessly tossed Eriki’s letter onto the desk.
The bundle of papers fell against the table with a dull thud.
The lamp in the Military Camp flickered in the sharp evening breeze.
He rested his chin on his hand, his expression slightly different from before.
“And here Eriki went and wrote at such length to send it all.”
Yet the letter the young lady had personally written and sent was remarkably brief.
The letter, written across several pages, contained only a single line on each one.
[Today I purchased ten calves.]
[The egg harvest has improved, and the maids are delighted.]
[Ten chicks have hatched.]
[I am thinking of visiting the Mine next week.]
[An invitation arrived from the Imperial Palace today. They asked me to attend the New Year’s banquet.]
[Will I be able to see you at the Imperial Palace then?]
That was all there was.
It was so short, so simple, so direct that he nearly laughed at the emptiness of it.
As if someone had threatened him with death should he write more than a single line.
A scout’s report would have been longer—the thought left him in an odd mood.
A strange woman, she was.
A strange young lady.
A strange princess.
She had not changed at all.
Shelkan gazed quietly at the letter.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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