28 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Episode 28
Reports brought by Mrs. Pinatelli were scattered all over the place.
It was because the enraged Queen Dowager had thrown and scattered the documents.
"Stealing the Royal Palace's assets to fill her own belly? Laying hands on Medeia's things, is she out of her mind!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. She even replaced the Princess's personal items with inferior goods and manipulated the documents."
Mrs. Pinatelli added.
"The Maids of the Royal Palace who were dealt with before were also those who aided in embezzlement under Mrs. Cuisine's orders."
The dead have no voice, so they were completely transformed into Mrs. Cuisine's henchmen.
Clearly, she had planted a few Spies, so it wasn't entirely untrue.
By mixing truth and lies appropriately, a natural plausibility was created to support Mrs. Cuisine's corruption.
"Ha! How dare she. Her audacity knows no bounds!"
"She thought that the Royal Palace was the most neglected place in the Royal Palace, so no one would pay attention."
"How could such a cunning and insidious woman be the Head Maid of the Royal Family?"
Moreover, what infuriated the Queen Dowager the most was,
"Daring to use me to bring Medeia down? Is she out of her mind?!"
No matter how cold I am, would I cast out my own granddaughter with my own hands!
As if she had forgotten the harsh words she had poured out on Medeia, the Queen Dowager trembled.
'The second one said that Cuisine plotted this because I cast her out.'
The words of the Maid who betrayed her granddaughter that day came to mind. If her son was the one who put Mrs. Cuisine in and out as the Royal Head Maid,
'Could Cuisine have committed all these irregularities alone?'
At that moment, the Maid who was in charge of monitoring Medeia rushed in.
"Your, Your Highness, the Princess has collapsed!"
\ \ \
The Queen Dowager, who had rushed over in a hurry, examined her unconscious granddaughter.
"She had already collapsed when we arrived."
The Princess, who was hastily moved into the chapel, had no color in her face.
"Why was she discovered so late? Didn't anyone know her condition was like this?"
"Your Majesty, the Queen Dowager, ordered that no one should approach……."
The Maid answered hesitantly.
The Queen Dowager was taken aback by her granddaughter's condition, which was much worse than she had heard in the reports.
She endured five days in just a thin dress?
"Why are her lips so chapped? You should have given her something to apply."
"Bu, but Your Majesty told me never to give her a drop of water……."
"Since when have you followed my words like gold! Don't you have any sense!"
The Queen Dowager fumed. She was frustrated because of the senseless underlings.
She also glared at the collapsed Medeia.
"That brazen little girl. She's trying to torment this old woman. Isn't she?"
"Yes? Ye, yes……."
"Yes, what! How dare you!"
The Queen Dowager just seemed to want to vent her anger. The Maids didn't know what to do.
"What are you doing, the Princess has collapsed, are you going to make her spend the night on this cold floor?"
"Yes? Th, then……."
"She should be moved to the Palace! You go and bring the Court Physician!"
"Ye, yes!"
Just a moment ago, didn't she scold the collapsed Princess?
The Maid was bewildered by the Queen Dowager's unpredictable reaction.
If it were Mrs. Pinatelli, she would have read her intentions, but she was away for a while.
At the frosty scolding, the Maids lifted the Princess and carried her on their backs. The Princess had not regained consciousness by then.
"To the Royal Palace!"
A white hand fell limply.
The Queen Dowager's face turned pale.
For a moment, she was reminded of the time when she had confirmed her son's body.
The terrible memory of that day, when she groped her son, who had lost all vitality and was hardened like a log.
"Medeia!"
She quickly turned her granddaughter over. Only after confirming her faint breathing did she have her carried on the Maid's back again.
Late at night. The Royal Palace was noisy.
It was also because the Princess, who had been punished in front of the chapel, was carried in collapsed, but,
Above all, it was because the Queen Dowager, who rarely moved, had come.
"We, we greet the Queen Dowager. Infinite ho, honor with the light of Baldina-"
"Enough, take care of your mistress properly."
The Queen Dowager frowned.
The Royal Palace was filled with a cold chill.
No matter how secluded the evening was, a poor feeling that didn't seem like people lived there permeated the place.
She was dissatisfied with the young faces who seemed unfamiliar with the Royal Palace etiquette.
Why are these riffraff swarming around the Princess?
"The children who were originally here caused problems, so the former Head Maid sent them all out. Instead, they were replaced with newly entered girls."
The returned Mrs. Pinatelli whispered.
"Cuisine, that outrageous woman, made a fuss until the end."
The Queen Dowager frowned and looked around the Palace.
"God expresses gratitude for Your Majesty's generosity. The Princess will not forget your grace either."
"Quiet. Do you think I don't know that you're trying to sweet-talk this old woman with your tongue?"
When Mrs. Pinatelli smiled softly, the Queen Dowager retorted, as if she didn't know the inside story of bringing the Princess's news regularly.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I think I'm getting old, and I'm just getting weak-hearted for no reason."
At that moment, the Maid who was just coming out with a wet towel discovered the Queen Dowager and stepped aside.
"We greet the Queen Dowager."
"……."
The curtains of the bedroom were visible through the slightly open door.
Mrs. Pinatelli noticed that the Queen Dowager's attention was constantly on the bedroom where Medeia was lying.
Click. The lady subtly went to the bedroom and opened the door.
The Queen Dowager stepped inside as if possessed.
The lady hid her smiling face and lowered her eyes.
\ \ \
The Princess's bedroom was a little lukewarm.
It wasn't because the room was heated by burning firewood, but because of the feverish, suffering breaths.
"That's enough."
The Maid standing next to the bed discovered the Queen Dowager and tried to wake Medeia.
The Queen Dowager waved her hand.
It was an order to leave, telling everyone to leave. Mrs. Pinatelli took the Maids inside and left.
Click. The door closed.
The Queen Dowager silently looked around the bedroom.
It was her first time visiting the Royal Palace and Medeia.
However, the peeling paint and crude decorations were an eyesore everywhere.
"Even though she is the King's only sibling……."
How could the room of the only Princess in this country be in such a state?
The sheets that Medeia was lying on were also rough.
It wasn't a very low-quality product, but it wasn't a high-quality product that the Royal Family could use.
"Ugh……."
"……Are you regaining consciousness?"
At that moment, Medeia opened her eyes, feverish. She saw the Queen Dowager standing next to her and mumbled blankly.
"Fa……ther……?"
And she stretched out her trembling arm and tightly grasped the Queen Dowager's sleeve.
She didn't have much strength, but she grasped so tightly that the veins on the back of her hand stood out, but she didn't let go.
"Haha. I look just like your mother, so if you miss your mother in the future, you can look at my face."
The Queen Dowager and Medeia's father looked alike.
At one time, her husband was even upset that she looked exactly like her mother.
So it wasn't unreasonable for Medeia, who was feverish, to mistake her.
"Wh, what, nonsense."
The Queen Dowager was flustered and tried to shake off her arm, but stopped abruptly.
It was because she found an old pendant placed next to the bed. The shape was strangely familiar.
Click. Inside the opened pendant,
"Johann……."
There was a portrait of her eldest son.
It was so worn out that the color of the portrait had faded from being touched so much.
After looking back and forth between the pendant and her feverish granddaughter for a while, the Queen Dowager turned her head and stood up.
"Your Majesty."
When the Queen Dowager came out, everyone stood up at once as if they had been waiting.
"The Princess's fever isn't going down. What should we do?"
The Maids chattered. The Queen Dowager frowned.
"Isn't the Court Physician here yet? Why is it taking so long?"
"Th, that's…… Ah, there he comes."
At that moment, the Maid who had gone to call the Court Physician returned. But she was empty-handed and alone.
"We, we greet the Queen Dowager. We offer the infinite light of Baldina-"
"Enough. Where did the Court Physician go and you came alone?"
The Queen Dowager waved her hand to dismiss the etiquette and asked at once.
It was strange. The Court Physician's medical room, which was always stationed in the Palace, and the Royal Palace were not that far away.
"He said he was busy right now and couldn't come, so he told me to go first and he would come as soon as he finished his rounds."
"That can't be. Isn't it that you didn't explain the Princess's condition properly?"
"No! I told him repeatedly that Princess Medeia had collapsed and that she had a fever like a fire, so please come quickly……."
The Maid protested as if she was wronged.
"……But he said he had to treat Lady Claudio's wounds right now, so he couldn't come……."
"Birna? Where and how badly was she hurt?"
The Queen Dowager reacted sensitively to the news that her beloved youngest granddaughter was hurt.
If he couldn't come for a medical examination right away, it must be a big deal.
"That's……."
The Maid stammered.
With an expression that she wasn't sure if she could say this.
"She, she cut her hand while opening an invitation."
"What did you say?"
The Queen Dowager asked back. As if she couldn't believe it.
