The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 13
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
The logic she had grasped in a sweeping manner was not wrong.
However, the fact that this logic was grasped by the timid and foolish Princess Medeia was unbelievable.
Catherine, momentarily dazed, blinked her eyes. Soon she came to her senses and nodded.
“…Yes, of course. I’ll bring a physician later… and visit you.”
However, contrary to her words, Medeia could assert that she would never visit the Queen Mother with a Divine Healer.
“Sister, Mother went all the way to Kazen with difficulty thinking of you and personally brought a Divine Healer. Aren’t you being too dismissive of her sincerity?”
Virna pouted her lips.
“Aunt went personally? Even though it’s been prolonged, it’s still a wartime situation, so that strict Count Sisear permitted that?”
Medeia opened her eyes as if surprised.
“Virna! I told you to refrain from unnecessary words!”
Catherine, whose complexion had changed, sternly scolded her daughter.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. We followed proper procedures and his identity is certain. He merely visited Valdina first as the personal physician of the Kazen delegation that will visit soon.”
Catherine, who smoothly offered an excuse, soon wore a dejected expression.
“However, to think you would doubt the identity of the Divine Healer I brought, it’s a bit disappointing.”
“…”
“Though presumptuous, I dare to think of Your Highness as my own daughter. But you’re not trying to distance yourself from me due to the schemes of childish individuals, are you?”
Catherine dabbed at her tears. The sight of a beautiful noblewoman wiping away tears was heart-wrenching.
The new maids standing against the wall exchanged glances.
They had heard that the Countess had cared for the Princess with utmost devotion since childhood.
They had even heard she didn’t have a third child for the sake of her niece, so seeing her being treated coldly by the Princess now made them feel sympathetic.
Catherine also knew what kind of talk would circulate among the maids.
She pressed around her eyes more dramatically.
The more Medeia’s words spread inside and outside the palace, the more flesh would be added to her infamy.
That Valdina’s Princess was not only foolish but also ungrateful.
“Is that really so?”
Medeia asked. It was a calm voice, the complete opposite of the tearful Catherine.
“Forgive me, Aunt. Your words are touching, but they don’t reach my heart.”
“Sister! What’s really wrong with you today? How can you say such things!”
Virna snapped back sharply.
“Is that so?”
Medeia gazed at her steadily.
“I cannot agree.”
The moment she met those brilliantly shining green eyes, Virna unconsciously shrank her shoulders.
“If Aunt had truly thought of me as her own daughter, she wouldn’t have let the Maid Supervisor treat me this way.”
“Your Highness, what do you mean by that.”
“You know, don’t you. What kind of treatment I’ve been receiving since clashing with the Maid Supervisor.”
“…”
“The rumors that spread throughout the Royal Palace couldn’t have bypassed only the Countess’s family. Look here, at these newly changed maids. You noticed my few uncomfortable words, but didn’t you know that all my maids had been replaced?”
The maids’ eyes turned toward Catherine. Hearing the Princess’s words, the Countess’s contradictory reaction seemed strange.
Catherine was flustered and felt like her chest would burst from frustration.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know. All the existing maids had been replaced and new eyes to monitor the Princess had been brought in.
She couldn’t bring up that topic because the Princess had cornered the mother and daughter before she could.
Catherine, growing urgent, rose from her seat and approached Medeia.
“The Maid Supervisor is Aunt’s close friend, so I understand it would be difficult for you to properly discern the situation between her and me.”
“Your Highness, that’s not what I…”
“So I thought you understood my feelings since I didn’t particularly want to bring it up verbally.”
The monotonous voice spread smoothly over the cold air of the Princess’s Palace.
“Didn’t you bring me a Divine Healer out of guilt for not being able to stop the Maid Supervisor’s tyranny?”
“How could that be! I, our Claudio is always on Your Highness’s side. Whether it’s my close friend or anyone else, they’re not more important than Your Highness.”
Medeia brushed away Catherine’s reaching hand.
“Well, Aunt. Forgive me for leaving first, but today I really don’t want to see you two anymore.”
Her coldly cooled green eyes swept over Catherine’s entire body.
“I want to believe that not all the words Aunt has said to me until now were lies.”
Her beautifully made-up face, the subtly sparkling black pearl necklace, and the delicately embroidered lace at the hem of her dress.
It was an appearance that had been carefully adorned in every detail.
In other words, it also meant that Catherine had the leisure to do so.
“Would you have been this calm if Virna had suffered this treatment?”
Catherine was left speechless.
“The cruel reality that while you can regard me like a real daughter, I can never truly become one seems to be awakening me.”
“Your Highness! Wait a moment!”
Medeia shook her head and left her seat.
Catherine tried to stop her, but she couldn’t dare bring back the Princess who had left like a whirlwind.
“Why did you needlessly run your mouth!”
Catherine scolded Virna and collapsed into the chair as if crumbling.
She thought she had tamed her so she couldn’t escape the cage, but was it still insufficient?
Nothing rang alarm bells more than a beast trying to break free.
‘The reason she’s suddenly acting like this… there can only be one more.’
Catherine bit her lips.
“Quizin, I told you to do it moderately.”
On the first day news came that the Princess had whipped Quizin, her husband suspected Quizin.
How much effort had she put in to change her husband’s mind about replacing the Maid Supervisor.
However, far from following her words, Lady Quizin stubbornly took revenge on the Princess.
‘She should have at least not gotten caught!’
Anger toward Quizin surged over Catherine’s eyes.
‘I even sent someone separately to appease her, but she couldn’t contain her anger and created this mess?’
* * *
Late at night when dusk had settled.
A light was lit in the depths of the Administrative Palace. Two silhouettes were cast over the shadow of the lamp.
“I heard she was in terrible shape? Her face is still better than the rumors though?”
Vulgar laughter echoed through the palace. The chin part of the shadow trembled.
It was Count Etienne, the Palace Interior Minister, who boasted bulging eyes like a frog and a massive build.
‘That pig-like bastard with his big mouth…’
The Maid Supervisor was irritated.
“Stop it. I heard the Countess came and slapped you first.”
“How did you…”
“Do you think only you have useful ears?”
The Minister chuckled.
“I heard she was so angry she let it all out before leaving? Well, you should have done well. Now she’s not a friend but a master. If you don’t listen and act stubborn, you’re useless.”
Lady Quizin swallowed her rising sense of humiliation.
As he said, she had to endure Catherine’s fury as she raged like fire.
[You must be having a hard time, so rest. I’ll send a successor soon.]
A short message sent through a spy’s carrier pigeon.
At first glance it seemed to worry about the Maid Supervisor’s well-being, but in reality it meant she would be replaced.
“Well, you should have done it moderately. The Regent doesn’t want a picture of his niece being persecuted.”
“Then was I supposed to endure this humiliation?”
The Maid Supervisor snapped back.
The Minister chuckled.
“Why did you have to pick on the Princess of all people… You crossed the line several times. Heh. What can be done.”
A thick hand patted Quizin’s shoulder.
“Do as the Duke commands. How many people do you think have crossed him and remained unharmed? Or you should have worked hard like me to secure your position.”
The Minister’s advice was pathetic.
‘Damn bastard. What’s so great about being born with a silver spoon?’
Lady Quizin bit her lips. Her pride was already wounded by the Princess, but when the Minister mocked her, even her own situation felt pessimistically like she had become the Regent’s dog.
‘If I’m already out of favor, is there any need to listen to the Duke’s words?’
At some point, a thought crossed her mind.
If the Duke was going to abandon her, she couldn’t just end up as a dog that barked and then stopped.
‘I need to find my own way to survive.’
“By the way, Minister, how were the children I sent you last time?”
The Minister raised his eyebrows at the unexpected question.
When the Maid Supervisor first entered the palace, the Regent gave her one command.
Send young servants with no connections to Count Etienne once a month.
He said he needed attendants to serve him.
The Maid Supervisor couldn’t understand the Minister’s request despite his abundant wealth and power, but she did as instructed anyway.
Thinking he would give them other work, that they would live well in the mansion.
But one day, when she discovered the bodies of boys who had died miserably at the Minister’s house, Lady Quizin finally understood why the Minister had joined hands with the Duke.
It was the price for satisfying his bizarre sexual preferences.
However, the Maid Supervisor was a cowardly person. She was disgusted by their filthy alliance, but had no intention of sacrificing herself to save the boys.
“Your judgment is always reliable.”
“If you wish, I’ll send you more. I need to help ease Your Lordship’s hard work.”
At those words, the Minister’s eyes showed wariness.
Wasn’t this the woman who couldn’t hide her disgust at his sexual preferences? Why was she suddenly being so proactive?
“What are you thinking?”
“I can’t just die quietly as ordered. I’m thinking of going to see the Queen Mother.”
“Ah.”
Even a cornered rat will bite a cat – this woman seemed intent on completely escaping the Regent’s grasp.
“He won’t allow it.”
“I know what the Duke thinks. I’m just curious about what you think, Minister.”
Count Etienne watched her as if gauging the Maid Supervisor’s intentions.
He smirked and crossed his arms.
“What to do. I have no intention of antagonizing the Regent.”
Would I abandon the Duke to join hands with someone like you?
When he didn’t hide his contempt, the Maid Supervisor’s face briefly hardened before returning to normal.
“Don’t you have any thoughts of becoming a royal son-in-law?”
Royal son-in-law?
“…Do you understand what you’re saying?”
There is only one Princess in this country.
“That little brat Medeia and me?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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