14 - The Crown I Will Steal From You
Episode 14
"There’s no reason why not."”
“You’re insane.”
“The Princess may be young, but she’s not too young to be married. Being young, we can sway her more easily.”
“We?”
The Head Maid smiled faintly.
“It depends on what Minister thinks. Duke Claudio isn’t one to share his power. I didn’t think you’d be with him forever, but was I presumptuous?”
The bait was cast.
Now, all that was left was to wait for it to be taken.
A silent moment passed.
The Head Maid waited patiently.
The Count’s lips, which had been pursed unpleasantly, slowly curled upward.
“No. It was very appropriate.”
As she said, becoming the King’s son-in-law would allow him to build a force comparable to the Regent Duke. The justification and status would be sufficient.
“You won’t regret today, Minister.”
The toad had taken the bait.
Only time would tell if what he swallowed was food or poison.
\ \ \
The night when all the lights in the Royal Palace were turned off.
Mariu once again secretly left the palace.
However, this time, her attitude toward the other party was surprisingly arrogant and cold.
“What’s going on? What’s with that note?”
After being chased away by the Princess as if she were running away, Mariu found a note stuck to her door.
It was a note from Mrs. Cuisine requesting a meeting with her.
“What do you think is going on?”
Head Maid Mrs. Cuisine gave a smooth smile.
“I heard you’ve been treated worse than a dog these days, so I called you. I’m sure you have a lot to say, don’t you?”
“Ha, when did you ever stop hitting me? And how could I compare to you, abandoned by the Regent Duke?”
Mariu retorted sharply.
How did that little girl know that…?
The Head Maid bit the inside of her cheek, which could not be seen, and replied coldly.
“Well, aren’t we in the same boat? I heard the Princess is ignoring you, so you’re busy cleaning with the lower maids these days?”
“……”
“Neril has already taken your place. Admit it, the Princess has abandoned you.”
Mariu pursed her lips tightly and glared fiercely at the Head Maid.
“If you don’t find a way out, you’ll be kicked out of the palace. It won’t be long.”
Mariu clenched her fists and glared angrily, but she couldn’t refute the Head Maid’s words.
Because it was all true.
“What do you want?”
As if she knew she would, the Head Maid’s eyes were filled with ease.
She took out a sky-blue handkerchief from her bosom.
Letters embroidered in gold thread could be seen at the end.
“L. Etienne……. Wait, Lark Etienne? Is it the Minister of the Interior’s?”
The Head Maid smiled instead of answering, and Mariu snapped irritably.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“Why else? Sneak this into the Princess’s bedroom. Preferably in a secret place where people can’t see it. Like between her underwear.”
Mariu flinched.
In a conservative aristocratic society, she, as a maid of the Princess, knew what it meant for a woman to have a man’s belongings in her private chamber.
“What are you trying to do? Don’t tell me…….”
Mariu asked, her face pale.
“Why are you asking when you already know?”
“You’re crazy. The Princess and the Minister? Are you serious? You’re insane. It’s absurd.”
First of all, the age difference between the two, who were old enough to be father and daughter, was disgusting, to say the least.
Although she was the black sheep of the royal family, she was still the King’s sister.
She was on a different level from the Minister of the Interior, who was old, ugly, and had scandalous rumors.
There were even rumors that the Minister was a cruel homosexual.
If rumors spread that the two were lovers, no one would propose to the Princess, whose reputation had been tarnished.
‘Then Count Etienne will become the King’s son-in-law……. Medeia’s husband? No way.’
Mariu, who had always felt inferior to Medeia, shook her head without realizing it this time.
And she stared at the Head Maid with horrified eyes, who had plotted such a sinister scheme without batting an eye.
“We have to make it make sense.”
“Good heavens, aren’t you afraid of the heavens?”
The Head Maid scoffed at Mariu’s answer.
“You’ll end up like me soon. Before the Princess abandons you, you should find a way out, shouldn’t you? If this goes well, I’ll help you get adopted.”
Adopted? Mariu paused at the unexpected word.
“You know how I transformed into an aristocrat, don’t you?”
The Head Maid leaned against the pillar with her arms crossed.
“My husband’s nephew still has no heir. If you live as their adopted daughter for a few years, you’ll become a noble lady.”
“A noble…….”
At that moment, the voice of that night came to mind.
“I, a minor duke, must have a justification for taking you, a commoner, as my wife.”
‘If I can only get my status laundered, I can stand by his side fairly.’
Gulp. Mariu’s Adam’s apple vibrated slowly.
“How is it, I can’t give you much time to decide. You know better than anyone how great the opportunity I’m talking about is.”
“……”
Mariu didn’t answer, as if she was lost in thought. The Head Maid frowned.
“If you don’t want to, forget my offer. I can’t wait around so idly either.”
“Wait.”
As the Head Maid tried to take the Minister’s handkerchief back, Mariu hurriedly grabbed the end to stop her.
Mrs. Cuisine secretly raised the corners of her lips.
“I’ll take that as a decision.”
After the Head Maid left, Mariu looked down at the handkerchief.
‘……I have to keep it a secret from Samon.’
A scandal between a young princess and an old minister is too shameful.
Samon would never agree because it was related to the honor of the Baldina royal family.
He wouldn’t want her to join hands with the Head Maid, who was already a discarded card.
Status laundering was a bait that only she desperately wanted.
She smiled bitterly.
Mariu loved Samon, but she knew he was an indifferent man.
If he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have left her in the shadows for so long.
‘It’s all because of the Princess. If it weren’t for the Princess, I wouldn’t have to be here anymore. I can go to his side.’
The distorted anger bounced to the wrong place.
‘Etienne and the Princess…….’
The Princess’s cold eyes that had been directed at her came to mind.
The initial horror she had felt when she learned of the Head Maid’s plan was gone, and anger took its place.
Even if she became the wife of that disgusting and ugly old toad, would the Princess still be able to look at her, Duchess Claudio, like that?
‘Medeia, you shouldn’t have treated me like that.’
The eyes that had been looking down at the golden embroidery flickered strangely. After hesitating, she reached out to the handkerchief.
“You were the one who pushed me away first, Your Highness.”
Mariu muttered, crumpling the thin cloth like paper.
“So don’t blame me.”
\ \ \
A few days later. Dawn was breaking.
“It was as Your Highness said.”
Neril, who had left the palace with Medeia to meet Marquis Gillifos, said. Her face was deeply furrowed.
“A few days ago, Mariu secretly left the palace and contacted the Head Maid.”
Medeia listened to her words as she basked in the bright yellow sunlight of the sky. The weather was clear.
“I was uneasy, so I kept an eye on her. For a while, she seemed to be rummaging around the Royal Palace.”
Neril took a breath at this point. It was to suppress her anger and regain her reason.
She took out a sky-blue handkerchief from her bosom.
“Mariu secretly entered Your Highness’s bedroom and hid this in the jewelry box.”
Medeia’s steps stopped.
“The initials L. Etienne are embroidered on it. Isn’t this the Minister of the Interior’s?”
“Haha.”
A laugh that seemed to purely admire leaked from Medeia’s mouth.
“The Head Maid has put quite a bit of thought into trying to link me with Etienne.”
“Those wicked things dare to use that dirty bastard to…….”
Neril’s hand twitched. As if she wanted to swing her sword right away.
“I’m confident in concealment and corpse disposal. I can dispose of two, no, three bodies without a trace. If you give me permission-”
Medeia smiled.
“Three, including the Minister? Then, Neril, you won’t be safe either.”
“I don’t care as long as I can get rid of these evil spirits from Your Highness’s side.”
Medeia suppressed a laugh, not knowing whether to scold or praise her upright maid.
“It’s not time yet.”
“…….”
She looked at Neril, who looked dissatisfied, and added as if to reassure her.
“I don’t let those who aim for my back live.”
They will die here.
Only, at the time and place I want.
“So, the handkerchief?”
Medeia held out her hand.
“Here, I’ll take it and burn it. Not even a trace will be left.”
“No.”
A small, white hand stopped Neril from taking the handkerchief back.
“Neril, you said you were confident in concealment earlier.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Has the Princess changed her mind even now?
Neril, who had not given up hope, answered obediently.
Medeia smiled contentedly and took out a sparkling piece of jewelry.
“Isn’t this……. the Trumpet bracelet that Mariu had with her back then?”
It was the bracelet that Samon had given her as a gift.
“Your Highness, Mariu dropped this bracelet……. It’s strange, though.”
Mariu wasn’t the only one who had been caught with the bracelet by Medeia. In addition, she had been disliked by her colleagues in the Royal Palace for her insincere attitude.
“She says it’s her mother’s keepsake, but it looks too expensive for that. She brags about it so much, I think she stole it. Is it Your Highness’s? Please ask the Duchess or Miss Birna if they’ve ever had a bracelet stolen.”
“Okay, I’ll look into it more, but don’t tell Mariu that you’ve found the bracelet yet.”
“Of course! She’s been looking for it for three days straight and she’s already exhausted.”
In this way, Medeia obtained Samon’s bracelet filled with ‘love.’
She carefully wrapped Mariu’s bracelet with the Minister’s handkerchief.
Then, she handed the bulging bundle of handkerchiefs to Neril.
“Later, put this in Mariu’s luggage.”
