The Crown I Will Take From You - Chapter 9
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 9
“Good thing we smuggled out the earrings before the Princess’s Palace was sealed off.”
“How much did you get?”
“500,000 gold. I wanted to ask for more, but I was in a hurry so I settled for this amount.”
“Hieek!”
“Not bad, right? If I had just a few more, I could pay off my debts and quit this job.”
Greedy eyes sparkled.
The Maid Supervisor’s spies had been ordered to torment the Princess severely, but,
‘As long as we don’t get caught, she won’t know, right? The Maid Supervisor never even comes to the Princess’s Palace anyway.’
Like well-trained dogs, they had already become attached to the jewels the Princess threw them, blocking the malicious gifts directed at Medeia on their own.
Meanwhile, the situation with the other maids was similar.
“You guys, start wrapping things up. Word is slowly getting out of the palace now, so this will be over soon.”
“We weren’t caught, right? If the Maid Supervisor finds out, she’ll devour us.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been doing this for more than a day or two, I don’t do anything that’ll get me killed.”
The news they had been diligently carrying had also had time to spread outside in a chain reaction.
“Did you hear? The Maid Supervisor is sending rotten food to the Princess?”
“They say she hid needles in the bedding too!”
The Maid Supervisor was shocked.
“Where are such rumors coming from!”
“From the Royal Palace. It seems to be circulating quietly among the nobles for now.”
It was something handled secretly. There was nowhere she had been careless, nowhere her hand hadn’t reached.
Yet somehow it was all being exposed and becoming the talk of people.
“Rotten food? Needles?! What nonsense, I never sent such things!”
And they were even adding their own embellishments.
Everyone knew the Princess was being mistreated in the Royal Palace, but specific and cruel harassment spreading outside was a different matter.
This was directly connected to the Royal Palace’s honor.
The Maid Supervisor’s spies weren’t the only ones in the Princess’s Palace.
They carried news secretly as usual, and more actively than usual.
“What? The Maid Supervisor? Whether it’s true or not, it’s worth investigating!”
Among them were the Maid Supervisor’s competitors,
“Oh my, what to do. The Princess is really suffering?”
And Garo was there too.
“Didn’t have anything to do? You just had to include it.”
Ignoring Chezare’s cold stare, Garo waved a parchment covered in tiny writing.
His handsome eyebrows drooped downward.
“The Maid Supervisor’s methods are as harsh as our western lady’s? Poor Princess, she’s apparently holding on by giving the jewels the Regent gifted her to the maids. How pitiful.”
“She’s giving away jewels?”
Chezare, who had been looking down at the chess board without interest, asked back.
“Yeah. Black sapphires and tears of lamb and… Anyway, she gave away those expensive things without hesitation. The maids happily accepted them.”
“…”
“Is she naive or stupid? Did she think she could win over the maids with that?”
His outstretched hand picked up a white pawn.
“What if she’s not trying to win them over?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
One square. The pawn advanced and reached the final rank.
“Promotion. To a queen.”
A pawn is the weakest and most insignificant piece in chess, but when it reaches the final rank, it can become any piece.
“Oh! Boss, you just captured my bishop!”
However, what it would become and what it would capture would only be known when it reached the end.
Intense interest briefly flashed and disappeared in Chezare’s eyes.
* * *
An unexpected commotion arose in the Princess’s Palace.
“Let go! Where are you taking me!”
The Maid Supervisor’s people had barged in and were roughly dragging out the Princess’s maids.
“Why, why are you doing this, so suddenly!”
“As of today, you are no longer part of the Princess’s Palace. So you can no longer stay here.”
Medeia’s maids were dragged out without even time to pack a bundle of belongings.
“How dare mere servants torment our Princess, do you not value your lives.”
The Maid Supervisor’s subordinate at the front scolded sternly.
“What?”
The Princess’s maids’ eyes widened like lanterns.
“The kitchen, laundry, and wardrobe all confessed. You conspired to torment Her Highness, then blamed it on the Maid Supervisor!”
The Maid Supervisor, watching the worsening situation, intended to remove Medeia’s hands and feet while also erasing her own infamy that had spread through the Royal Palace.
Because she had learned that the maids of the Princess’s Palace, who were also receiving goods from her, had been running their mouths carelessly.
“What are you saying! That’s a lie! The Maid Supervisor, you people did it!”
“There’s evidence, do you plan to make excuses? Hurry and drag them away!”
The Maid Supervisor’s subordinate whispered low in one maid’s ear.
“When you ran your mouth freely, you should have thought about the consequences.”
The maid’s face turned pale.
‘To be caught this quickly…! We were so careful!’
Perhaps too excited by the sudden wealth they had gained, they had underestimated the connections and power the Maid Supervisor had spread throughout the palace.
The maid, sensing despair, looked for a way to survive.
“Your Highness! Please help us! The Maid Supervisor is trying to drag us away!”
Even while being dragged, they shouted loudly.
“Lay a finger on us. Do you think our Highness will just stand by?”
They firmly believed.
Even if they would turn away from the Princess, the Princess was kind-hearted and gentle, so she would surely try to save them.
Just as she had saved Neryl.
“Your Highness! It’s the Maid Supervisor! The Maid Supervisor is-!”
“Cover their mouths!”
Strong arms roughly dragged them away, and the commotion quickly subsided.
“What’s happening?”
Then, the Princess appeared. It was after all her maids had been dragged away. The timing was a bit coincidental.
‘She must be scared? Seeing how she’s only coming out now.’
Even so, the Maid Supervisor’s subordinates were a bit tense.
“Princess, how much you must have suffered all this time.”
“…”
“Those insolent wenches have been sowing discord between the Maid Supervisor and Your Highness all along. The wise Maid Supervisor learned of this and sent us to set things right, though late.”
The prepared words flowed as naturally as water.
The subordinate’s eyes were triumphant, as if asking what Medeia could do now that all her hands and feet were cut off.
“The crime of insulting royalty is never light, so they will all atone with their deaths.”
“…”
“And we’ve brought new maids. They’re young and innocent children who just entered the palace, so they’ll serve only Your Highness faithfully without any other thoughts. You girls, pay your respects to Her Highness.”
The subordinate pushed forward the children they had brought. Then waited for the Princess’s reaction.
The Princess’s Palace, now empty after everyone who had been by her side was dragged away.
Except for Neryl, who was still bedridden, there was no one on the Princess’s side here now.
Even if she had somehow brought out Neryl alone, she couldn’t have rescued all of them.
The Maid Supervisor’s judgment was correct.
“Is that so?”
However, unexpectedly, the Princess was smiling.
“How fortunate. The Maid Supervisor’s judgment is trustworthy.”
Medeia turned her body toward the new maids.
“You girls, watch carefully. This is the end that awaits those who are disloyal to their master.”
Her voice descended like frost, sharp and cutting.
“Flitting back and forth like bats, they get dragged away to die like dogs. Do you understand?”
The eyes of the newly arrived girls passed over the Princess and turned toward the ground.
The traces of the Princess’s Palace maids struggling as they were dragged away earlier stretched long across the earth. Drops of blood could also be seen scattered here and there.
The new maids nodded with fearful eyes.
One master.
Betrayal instead of loyalty means only death.
Since all the Princess’s Palace maids had been dismissed and hastily replaced, the Maid Supervisor hadn’t been able to properly win over the new maids.
Therefore, Medeia’s stern command was carved more strongly than ever into the minds of the newly entered servants.
“Please convey my gratitude to the Maid Supervisor. Thanks to her, I saved myself some trouble.”
“Pardon?”
Suha blinked in a dazed state.
“You girls, follow me. Let’s go inside.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Medeia simply took the new maids with her and went inside.
“Oh no, I’ve been tricked!”
The Maid Supervisor felt like she might faint upon hearing Suha’s bewildered report.
“That girl used me to clear away all the surveillance attached to her!”
She had even pinned her own disgrace on the maids and eliminated them.
Their backers would think the Maid Supervisor had other schemes and removed her own pawns.
She had only succeeded in making unnecessary enemies.
If she had thought just a little more, she could have easily realized it, but she had been blinded by momentary rage.
“Aaaaah. Medeia, that girl, I won’t just!”
“Maid Supervisor, please calm down!”
Crash!
The explosive sounds of throwing and breaking continued until dusk fell.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————