The Poisonous Princess Who Successfully Infiltrated the Enemy as an Employee - Chapter 36

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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 36.

***

I hid my excitement and passed the day as I always did.
I’d never wished so desperately for the sun in the sky to set as I did today.
I spent the hours checking the clock, then the sun, then the clock again.
And finally, a bleak darkness settled heavy over the Duke’s Residence.
I summoned all the remaining staff of the Duke’s Residence to the Banquet Hall on the first floor.
Because a surprising number of people had taken leave, the count of suspects I needed to examine today was manageable.
That was to my advantage.
The staff clustered in groups of three or four around the round tables of the hall.
Fragrant premium tea and sweet cookies sat on their tables, but they didn’t dare touch anything.
They simply exchanged confused glances, their eyes moving between my face and everything around me.
‘Let’s start with the staff.’
If none of the Guild’s embedded spies appeared among the gathered employees, I’d have no choice but to examine the Escar household’s Eclipse Knights separately tomorrow.
I climbed onto the platform at the far end of the Banquet Hall and quietly observed the staff watching me with nervous eyes.
Then I offered my brightest, most harmless smile.
“I’m so grateful you could all gather here, even though I know you must be tired.”
As I spoke gently and courteously, the anxiety in the staff’s eyes seemed to deepen.
They had every reason to be anxious. The trust I’d built at the Duke’s Residence had largely been forged through incidents and accidents.
I smiled even more warmly.
“I felt I’d been neglecting you all far too much, so I wanted to arrange this gathering.”
A small silence fell over the Banquet Hall.
I continued speaking, looking around at all the staff.
“I know I’ve acted rather strangely while adjusting to this unfamiliar Duke’s Residence, but I want you to know this—the reason this household has remained as strong as it is, is because of all of you, working wholeheartedly in the places no one sees.”
With that, I glanced at Ena, who promptly wheeled in a cart piled high with boxes.
“While I was in the Capital, I spent a great deal of time wondering what kind of meaningful gift I might give you all.”
Upon hearing that I intended to give them gifts, the staff’s expressions grew even more bewildered.
“It was then that the First Princess, who had been listening to my concerns, graciously offered me something precious.”
As I spoke, Ena quickly placed small gift boxes on each table before the staff.
At the mention of the Princess, the staff’s eyes widened considerably.
“The Princess herself……?!”
Someone murmured very softly.
I didn’t miss it, and nodded as I replied.
“That’s right. I was fortunate enough to become close with the First Princess while at the Imperial Palace.”
I gestured toward the boxes on the tables and continued.
“These are special gifts bestowed by the First Princess, Eleanor. Oh, and I’ve set aside gifts for those who are away on leave—please see that they receive them later.”
The staff exchanged confused glances with one another.
For ordinary staff in this barren Northern Territory, to receive a gift from the Imperial Family’s direct line—it was almost unimaginable.
For the Duke’s household staff, this was no trivial matter.
In a lifetime of service to a single house, one rarely—if ever—received a gift from a member of the Imperial Family.
Into the stunned silence that mingled shock with wonder, I drove my point home with a gentle touch.
“This gift represents the Imperial Family’s profound trust in the Duke’s house. And beneath that trust lies a promise not to forget the dedication of those who serve the Duke’s cause. Please, receive it with joy.”
At those words, the staff carefully opened the boxes before them with trembling hands. And the moment they saw what was inside.
“Oh……!”
Someone drew in a small breath.
Against the deep crimson velvet lay a Golden Brooch, etched with the crest of the Escar Duchy.
I watched wonder bloom across the staff’s faces and shrugged lightly.
“She originally wanted to engrave it with the Imperial crest, but I insisted she change it to the Duke’s house crest instead.”
At that, the staff looked at me.
I hadn’t simply accepted a gift from the Princess—I’d pushed back against her wishes?
Their initial astonishment at my audacity quickly gave way to reconsideration; as they reflected on my past conduct, several staff members found themselves nodding in agreement that this did, indeed, sound like something I would do.
I spoke with a satisfied smirk.
“We’re people of the Duke’s house, after all. Aren’t we?”
To my brazen and bold remark, the staff again said nothing.
Yet their silence was not unwelcome.
I could feel the shift in how they looked at me—a change written plainly across their faces.
I smiled brightly and made no effort to hide my satisfaction.
“I did well, didn’t I?”
Someone let out a small laugh then. The air, stiffened by tension, loosened a fraction.
“Go ahead, try it on. I’d love to see how it suits you.”
The staff hesitated before drawing out the brooch as though entranced.
Their fingers guided the golden brooch toward their chests. All around, the sharp pins scraped softly against fabric in a gentle rustling.
It was a moment when every shred of caution had vanished—completely, perfectly disarmed.
That’s when it happened.
Pop—!
Dozens of lamps illuminating the Banquet Hall went dark all at once, as if by deception.
Ink-black darkness flooded the hall in an instant, so thick you couldn’t see a hand before your face.
On my signal, Celine and Ena had shut down the Mana Stone device controlling all the lamps at once.
‘Now!’
I raised my voice, feigning alarm.
“Oh my! Why did the lamps suddenly go out?”
Low murmurs rose from all around. Chair legs scraped against the floor, teacups clinked against saucers.
Meanwhile, I moved my eyes rapidly, scanning through the darkness at terrifying speed.
“Everyone, stay still! You might hurt yourselves if you move carelessly!”
As I calmed them while swiftly surveying my surroundings, my gaze finally fixed in one direction.
In the darkness, my lips curled upward slowly.
“Celine, Ena.”
I called out the two names calmly, and whoosh—!
The distinctive blue flames of Mana Stones bloomed in the lamps, and the Banquet Hall brightened. The staff breathed out sighs of relief and clutched at their chests.
“I’m so glad the lights came back on.”
I gazed meaningfully at one staff member seated at the round table in the one o’clock direction, my eyes narrowing in a smile.
“The brooch really does seem to suit the atmosphere of the Duke’s Residence perfectly, doesn’t it? I should offer my thanks to the Princess.”
The staff member, whose gaze had locked completely with mine, reflexively nodded to my words with a bewildered expression.

***

Glen, who managed the procurement and upkeep of ingredients between the market and the Duke’s Residence from his post in the Kitchen, glanced down at the brooch pinned to his chest.
‘A brooch bearing the Escar Duchy’s insignia…’
It was one the Princess had distributed in the Banquet Hall moments before.
The Duke’s Residence staff’s reactions had shifted before and after receiving this brooch.
“Have you heard the stories from the knights who went to the Capital?”
“Oh, the Memorial Monument? Is it just a rumor?”
“Looking at the knights’ faces, it didn’t seem like a rumor.”
“Come on, the master—who’s done nothing but dig through dirt and hang from windows here at the Duke’s Residence all this time—supposedly accomplished something that grand in the Capital? Hard to believe.”
Before receiving the brooch, they had simply regarded her as a difficult and enigmatic foreign princess. It was fair to say her conduct until now had fostered that view.
Of course, Glen had not joined in their conversation.
He had never enjoyed gossip to begin with, and he cared even less about matters unrelated to his own well-being.
Yet the gift the Princess offered had left even Glen momentarily speechless.
A golden brooch bearing the Escar Duchy’s insignia.
Though it was called a gift from the Imperial Family, it bore the Duchy’s mark, not the Imperial crest.
That detail touched something strange in his heart.
For nearly ten years at the Duke’s Residence, he had never felt so directly confronted with the fact that he belonged to the Escar Duchy.
It seemed the other staff felt the same way.
Now, as they left the Banquet Hall after the tea service, their faces wore the dazed expression of people emerging from a dream.
Golden brooches gleaming on every chest, each bearing the unmistakable mark of the Escar Duchy.
As the staff dispersed, frank praise for the Princess began to flow naturally among them.
She had arranged for a Memorial Monument and a park in the Capital to honor the fallen knights, and now she had touched the hearts of the Duke’s Residence staff as well.
The weight of the brooch at his chest somehow felt heavier.
And yet.
‘Why did she call only me aside?’
Glen swallowed dryly.
Sitting on the sofa in the Princess’s antechamber, facing her alone like this—he couldn’t make sense of it.
It felt all the more awkward because even the two handmaids who usually stayed at her side had stepped out.
Click. The Princess set down her teacup with an elegant hand, then spoke gently.
“I hear you’ve been working at the Duke’s Residence for ten years now. Is that right, Glen?”
“Yes, Your Highness. In another month, it will be exactly ten years.”
“You’ve worked here a long time.”
“……Yes.”
“And before you came to the Duke’s Residence?”
Glen fell silent for a moment.
“I worked as a mercenary. I drifted from place to place across the empire.”
“I see.”
For some reason, the princess’s eyes deepened as she nodded.
“So that’s how it was. But I wonder—how did someone with such a treacherous mercenary background come to choose kitchen work instead of joining the order of knights?”
Glen answered calmly.
“Once I had a family to think of, I needed something more stable and secure.”
“Ah, so you decided the kitchen was far safer than a battlefield soaked in blood.”
“That’s correct.”
Glen’s throat had gone inexplicably dry.
Even though the princess continued to speak in that gentle voice, it was so.
Then it came.
“And yet.”
The warm smile playing at the princess’s lips scattered in an instant, and her gaze toward Glen sharpened like a blade.
“If you truly sought such safety, why did you venture back onto the battlefield?”
“……What?”
Glen’s head rose, confusion written across his face.
“You must have been quite a renowned mercenary, Glen. The way you slip potions into the drawer of my nightstand, right under the watchful eye of the Duke’s Residence’s surveillance.”
“……!”
Glen’s brown eyes began to tremble violently.

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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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