3 - The Crown I Will Steal From You
Episode 3
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“Are you really not going to talk? I don’t want to do this either. Just say you’ll leave!”
Whack.
“Ugh.”
“Do you need to see blood to come to your senses? If you die like this, no one will know! Not even your master! It’ll just be a dog’s death!”
As Neril tightly shut her eyes, Zena, who was lashing her with a whip, seethed with anger.
She seemed unaware that staying silent and stubbornly pressing her lips together only fueled the other’s determination.
“Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep your mouth shut.”
“Kkh.”
Another blow landed, and a groan escaped.
“You’ve suffered because you met the wrong master. What a loyal knight you’ve become!”
Yes, her master.
‘Is Her Highness alright?’
Neril stared blankly into space.
When the Princess, bleeding from her forehead, lost consciousness, Neril’s heart sank.
‘She must be safe.’
If she had woken up, would she notice I was gone? Would she look for me?
Neril soon let out a hollow laugh.
I wasn’t as warm as the other maids, nor did I know how to flatter.
With my curt, blunt replies and only speaking harsh truths, Medeia disliked her.
Knowing that, it was ridiculous of me to entertain such futile hopes.
“Does it hurt, unnie? Should Dea give you this? Don’t cry.”
From that long-forgotten time when a tiny, fern-like hand had saved Neril, she had vowed to devote her entire life to being loyal to Medeia.
“How about it? Won’t you come under my wing?”
“Stop bothering her now. That Neril, she caught the baby Princess’s eye and was chosen for the Royal Guard, let alone receiving a royal decree.”
That’s why she wanted to stay by her side. She wanted to repay, even just a little, what she had received.
‘If even I am gone, will Her Highness be able to live properly in the palace?’
Her thoughts soon led to endless, longstanding worries.
This place is the heart of the Pandemonium.
The Regent Duke, the Queen Dowager. Even mere attendants wish for the young Princess to fall.
“If you really die like this, I won’t know!”
Swish.
Amid the repeated lashes and her fading vision, her head grew increasingly hazy. Just as Neril strained to keep her eyes wide open to avoid losing consciousness,
A small girl’s figure flickered before her eyes.
Was it the Princess’s phantom? Or perhaps death was truly nearing.
“……Your Highness?”
But the phantom didn’t disappear and remained standing before her.
Neril blinked.
“How did you get here……!”
Zena’s startled voice also sounded distant.
Crash-!*
When the Princess snatched Zena’s whip and flung it to the floor, the hazy phantom finally became reality.
“What are you doing!”
Zena, shocked, forgot the other was royalty and shouted out.
She felt a pang of guilt, but soon realized it was Medeia and inwardly sighed in relief.
“That’s my line.”
The Princess’s voice was colder than ever before.
“Who gave permission to take my maid and whip her without my consent?”
“No, Your Highness. I merely, there’s a misunderstanding. Wait, who let you in?! Who was it?”
As Zena’s flustered voice grew louder, the Princess commanded a maid standing behind her.
“Bring Neril.”
The maid hesitated.
Everyone working in the royal palace knew Zena was a confidante of the Head Maid, Mrs. Cuisine.
In this vast palace, if lowly servants like us fell out of the Head Maid’s favor? It was obvious life would become harder.
“Hurry.”
“Yes!”
But the one holding the maid’s leash now was Medeia. Even if she was a half-blood, a Princess was still a Princess.
If you fell out of favor with the royal family, you couldn’t even stay in the palace; enduring a bit of hardship was better than losing a paying job that provided gold coins in these hard times.
Having made her decision, the maid hurried over and helped Neril up.
Her condition was quite gruesome. It was a miracle she was still alive after being whipped for over half a day.
“Ugh.”
“Good heavens…….”
The maid soon noticed that Neril’s right arm, which she was supporting, was twisted unnaturally and swallowed her shock. The elbow was swollen and puffy.
“Ha.”
Medeia also noticed Neril’s pitiful state and scoffed.
“Who gave you permission to take her? You! Put her down now!”
Zena glared at the maid.
“Then answer me. Who gave you permission to do such a thing?”
“……That is.”
Under Medeia’s cold gaze, Zena instinctively flinched. Her green eyes were flashing.
This was the woman who had slain countless Demon Beasts and even Evil Dragons, and had survived the imperial throne struggles and the empire’s dark intrigues.
Even though she had returned to the past in a young girl’s body, the murderous aura honed through life-and-death battles was not something a mere maid could see or withstand.
‘What kind of child’s eyes are these, as if they could devour a person……!’
Was the Princess always this formidable?
She couldn’t remember well, having only seen her always with her head bowed and eyes fixed on the ground.
“Take her out.”
Like prey cornered by a beast, Zena’s shoulders trembled involuntarily. She clenched her fists and shouted in a trembling voice.
“Ah, you can’t……! You, what are you all doing?!”
Those following Zena, and others who had heard the commotion, gathered in small groups.
But all of them were suppressed by the overwhelming pressure emanating from the Princess, holding their breath and not daring to step forward.
“Y-you can’t go!”
With no one stepping forward, a desperate Zena finally tried to block the Princess with her own body.
Just then, parting the gathered crowd, a middle-aged woman appeared.
“Your Highness the Princess, what is this…… such disgraceful behavior.”
Her delicate hand picked up the whip lying on the floor and handed it to Zena.
It was the Head Maid, Mrs. Cuisine.
After the former Head Maid retired for certain reasons, she was the woman who had secured the vacant position of Royal Head Maid.
Despite not being of noble birth and having a somewhat lacking career, she had seized the optimal position to control and manage the Inner Palace.
Behind her was Medeia’s uncle, Duke Claudio.
‘She became my uncle’s hands and feet, along with the Minister of the Royal Household. Without those two, my uncle couldn’t have managed the royal palace.’
This woman was part of Medeia’s arduous palace life.
Replacing everything in the Royal Palace with superficially luxurious inferior goods, embezzling funds, and then blaming it on Medeia’s extravagance were commonplace.
Targeting Neril now was likely also on the Duke’s orders, to completely isolate Medeia within the palace.
“Your Highness, the children will escort you back safely. You must have just risen from your sickbed; you shouldn’t overexert yourself.”
The Head Maid wore a scornful expression and didn’t even wait for Medeia’s reply. She simply tried to send her back forcibly.
“What are you all doing, quickly escort Her Highness back—”
“Head Maid, why did you secretly take my maid away to whip her?”
Medeia raised her voice, cutting off the Head Maid.
“No fair trial, no examination of right and wrong, just whipping? Since when has the royal family been so arbitrary?”
At the unexpected retort, the Head Maid raised her eyebrows.
It was the first time the timid Princess, who was usually swayed even by a single maid, had raised her voice.
“Your Highness, though it may be presumptuous, these children are under my jurisdiction before they are your maids. As an official serving the Blood of Baldina, I have a duty to manage these children properly.”
Mrs. Cuisine replied sternly.
“That Neril girl has been negligent in serving the Blood of Baldina, and what’s more, she even injured Your Highness. Her crime is by no means light.”
As if imparting a lesson to a foolish servant, the Head Maid openly sighed and added an explanation.
“We exist to serve the Blood of Baldina as our highest priority; we are merely doing our best. Does that answer your question?”
Though calling herself a servant, the Head Maid couldn’t hide her scornful gaze.
Ah, the gods are so unfair.
Why must someone as capable and diligent as me bow to such a half-wit?
“Now, then, escort Her Highness the Princess back.”
“Head Maid.”
“Haa. Speak, Your Highness.”
“Listening to you, something seems strange.”
To the Head Maid, who sighed as if annoyed, Medeia spoke softly.
“You kept saying you serve the Blood of Baldina.”
“Yes. Because that is my duty and fundamental role as a servant of the royal family.”
“But, as you know, there isn’t just one or two with the Blood of Baldina in this royal family.”
The Head Maid paused and stared at Medeia.
The gaze of the girl, who had reportedly only been keeping to her seat for days, was strangely clear.
“Closely, there’s Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, my grandmother, and my uncle Duke Claudio, my great-aunt Princess Loren, my cousin Count Monte, and if we include their children, we wouldn’t have enough fingers to count them all. But has there ever been a servant in the world who serves so many masters?”
Medeia’s face was expressionless.
“So I ask you. Head Maid, to whom does your loyalty lie?”
“…….”
“To whom among the many with the Blood of Baldina?”
