23 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Episode 23
“There was nothing.”
“What?”
The audience stirred. Mrs. Pinatelli bowed and continued.
“I report that I searched Her Highness’s every space, including the bedroom and reception room, but could not find anything that could be considered a Token.”
“That can’t be!”
The Head Maid shouted without realizing it.
Then, realizing that she had dared to shout at the Queen Dowager’s aide, she spoke again.
“Th-That can’t be. Mrs. Pinatelli, there must be something you missed. Did you search the Princess’s wardrobe and bedroom thoroughly?”
Horrified, she was in no state to refine the words pouring from her mouth.
“Do you think I would have handled the task that the Queen Dowager personally entrusted to me lightly?”
Mrs. Pinatelli retorted with a cold glare.
“N-No, but…”
“Given the limited time and the importance of the matter, which is also related to Her Highness the Princess’s honor, I searched crosswise with a hundred Maids simultaneously. I searched every nook and cranny. I swear to God, I didn’t overlook even a single rat. The Token did not appear.”
Mrs. Pinatelli retorted sharply.
“And Mrs. Cuisine. The Princess’s wardrobe, you say? Don’t you think that’s awfully presumptuous for someone of our kind to say? Use Her Highness’s proper title.”
It was a rebuke, pointing out the Head Maid’s rudeness.
“Control yourself. I see no dignity befitting a Royal Head Maid in your words and actions right now.”
Mrs. Cuisine was very flustered.
‘Why is she cornering me?’
Her face was pale with anxiety.
‘There’s no Token? What on earth is going on?’
She couldn’t understand why Mrs. Pinatelli was being so aggressive towards her.
Mrs. Pinatelli was clearly on the Queen Dowager’s side, and there was no reason for her to harbor resentment towards the Regent Duke or herself.
Medeia smiled inwardly.
‘Why, Cuisine? Because she’s after your position.’
She quietly stared at Mrs. Pinatelli. There was a faint trace of grass stain on the woman’s dress.
Just like that dawn.
The early dawn the day after Medeia rescued Neril and returned, she went to the north garden of the palace.
“What brings the Princess here at this hour?”
A place so deserted that even mountain birds did not visit.
But she knew the quiet visitor who frequented this place.
“It’s been a while, Mrs. Pinatelli.”
Medeia’s choice,
The person who would bring down Cuisine in her stead.
“What do you think? I think I can fulfill your wish.”
‘Your family name before adoption was Sachin.’
Sachin, the Minister of the Palace Affairs who was framed and driven out by Prince Claudio using the Late King’s Seal a long time ago.
After the Queen Dowager’s death, her identity was revealed in a sensational scoop.
[Queen Dowager’s Aide, Real Identity Revealed After Death!]
Mrs. Pinatelli survived alone after her father was executed and her family was ruined.
She laundered her identity, changed her name, entered the palace, and after years of service, became the most trusted person of the Queen Dowager.
But what she truly wanted was not to be by the Queen Dowager’s side.
‘To become the Royal Head Maid and clear her father’s name, which was tarnished by disgrace.’
Moreover, the one who framed him was the Regent Duke.
The reason why the Regent Duke had not been able to win over Mrs. Pinatelli, no matter how hard he tried, was because he was her old enemy.
There was no way that Mrs. Cuisine, a commoner who entered the palace late, could know this inside story.
So, she couldn’t have known that Medeia and Mrs. Pinatelli had joined hands.
The alliance between the Queen Dowager’s fastidious closest Maid and the unwanted Princess was not in Mrs. Cuisine’s script.
“That, that can’t be…”
“How strange. Head Maid, why are you so sure? As if the Token must be there?”
The Head Maid’s face hardened at Mrs. Pinatelli’s sharp remark, which hit the nail on the head.
The woman turned and bowed deeply to the Queen Dowager.
“I swear on the Queen Dowager’s honor that it is the truth. There was no Token. But.”
Mrs. Pinatelli inhaled.
Like an actress waiting for the atmosphere to ripen, her voice was solemn and captivated attention.
“Mariu, was it?”
And she turned and asked Mariu.
She certainly didn’t ask because she couldn’t remember. It was to imprint Mariu’s existence in the audience once more.
“The Token was found in that Maid’s room.”
“That can’t be!”
Mariu exclaimed in surprise.
Mrs. Pinatelli, unconcerned, presented a sky-blue object to the Queen Dowager.
It was a sky-blue handkerchief, bulging as if something was wrapped in it.
At the end, embroidery sewn with golden thread was revealed.
“…L. Larc… Etienne…”
The Queen Dowager slowly read out the letters of the embroidery. In an instant, the air stirred.
Was she referring to Etienne, the Minister of the Palace Affairs?
The Princess, no, the Princess’s Maid, was in love with that old and ugly man?
Everyone was shocked.
The Minister’s greasy eyes came to mind, and they felt goosebumps.
‘No way!’
The one who was most shocked was Mariu herself.
‘Why is that there!’
Why was the handkerchief that should have been found in the Princess’s bedroom in her room!
“No. That’s not true. That handkerchief is not mine. Someone set me up!”
“Is that so? Then is this not yours either?”
Mrs. Pinatelli revealed the object that the handkerchief was wrapped around.
A bracelet with a dangling Trumpet Ornament sparkled brilliantly.
‘Why is that… there!’
Mariu felt like she was going to faint when Samon’s lost bracelet appeared.
There were not one but two Tokens. People exchanged meaningful glances.
“There are several Maids who said they saw you wearing this around.”
“No, no. This is…”
“The bracelet is yours, but the handkerchief that was with it is not yours, is that what you’re going to say?”
Mrs. Pinatelli relentlessly cornered Mariu.
“The Minister didn’t give me that bracelet!”
“Then? Who gave it to you?”
“Th-That’s…”
“Don’t tell me the blatant lie that you bought it. Everyone knows that the salary of a Royal Maid is not enough for that.”
“…I, I received it as a gift from someone else.”
“From whom? Didn’t you go around telling the Maids that it was your mother’s heirloom?”
“Th-That’s… That is…”
Mariu, becoming anxious, rolled her eyes.
“This trumpet insignia is strictly managed in the Empire.”
Mrs. Pinatelli, who had handled many jewels as the Queen Dowager’s aide, could properly recognize the bracelet.
“The power to obtain this insignia and the wealth to give this expensive thing as a gift would be among the few in Baldina. If not the Minister, who are you talking about?”
Mariu’s eyes, with no way out, trembled in shock.
Her heart was pounding as if it would burst, and her lips trembled.
She couldn’t say that she received that bracelet from Grand Duke Claudio.
Because right here, there, was Duchess Claudio, Samon’s mother.
‘No…’
It was well known how extreme the Duchess was about her son.
Mariu had also seen the Duchess, with her angelic face, deal with the maids who approached her son several times.
‘If I reveal my relationship with Samon here… she will tear me apart and kill me.’
Would the Duchess, who didn’t even like young ladies from decent families, tolerate me? Wouldn’t she rather quietly eliminate me to silence me?
So that there would be no blemish on her son’s spotless reputation.
‘If I say it, I won’t be able to see him anymore…’
So she couldn’t say it even more. She mustn’t say it.
Mariu barely held on to her fading mind and bit her lip. At that moment.
“It seems that I am not the one who shared a secret affection with the Minister. Isn’t that right, Mariu?”
Medeia’s voice was heard.
An unwavering voice. Her calm expression didn’t seem very surprised by this commotion. It was as calm as a surface of water where no waves arose.
As if she knew that the Minister’s handkerchief would be with her.
As if she had predicted this entire situation.
Mariu’s face turned pale.
‘Then she knew everything…’
She realized it only then.
