30 - The Crown I Will Take From You
30
As a result, it was revealed that she had been embezzling and misappropriating royal goods from over twenty ministries under her management.
Several Chests filled with gold were found in Cuisine's house.
Even more surprising was the fact that the Black Eye Merchant Guild, the royal family's official trading partner, had colluded in her embezzlement.
"They created double books. They inflated the amounts, supplied inferior goods, and then split the remaining difference between them. It must have been their own little world!"
When the royal knights stormed in, the head of the Black Eye Merchant Guild fled.
"So, in the end, you just stood there and let them take the ledger?"
Joaquin Claudio.
The man more often called Duke Claudio or Regent Duke couldn't hide his displeasure.
"The auditors, including the knights, have been rummaging through the palace and houses, turning everything upside down."
Catherine was equally flustered.
"Damn it, Etienne! What the hell was the Minister doing!"
If the Minister of the Palace Affairs had been there, the situation would have been very different.
He would have somehow silenced those involved and covered up the incident.
"It just so happened that the attack in the palace occurred while he was confined to his residence."
Feeling frightened by the mysterious assassination attempt near the chapel, the Minister had not entered the palace until the culprit was caught.
In the meantime, Ciseo had swept in like a storm.
Not even giving Duke Claudio a chance to properly grasp the situation.
The Queen Dowager and Ciseo took this opportunity to dismantle the royal merchant guild to prevent corruption.
Eliminating the very opportunity to monopolize royal deliveries and line their own pockets.
"Damn it, you should have stopped them!"
For the Duke, this was a more painful result than Cuisine's death.
The Black Eye Merchant Guild was his secret source of funds.
'The guild leader has fled, and the funds have been laundered several times, so the investigation shouldn't lead back to me.'
The Duke twisted his mouth into an ugly grimace.
Not long ago, the rebels had contacted him, urging him to provide funds. He had used the funds intended for the rebels to buy back Medeia's jewelry.
'I thought the Black Eye Merchant Guild would replenish it immediately……!'
Who knew things would turn out like this?
A hole had been punched in his money bag, and it didn't seem like it would be easily mended.
A minor flap of Cuisine's wings, offering to cut off one of his niece's limbs, had turned into a typhoon and come back to bite him.
His head throbbed.
Catherine, too, felt wronged by her husband's rebuke.
"How could I do anything when it happened right in front of me? How could I have known that Cuisine would go so crazy, or that Mother would suddenly wield her sword like this?"
The Queen Dowager punished all those involved in the matter. The sword she had drawn still carried weight.
Under the guise of rectifying the disrupted discipline as the elder of the royal family, her orders were justified, and therefore no one could openly object.
The Duke narrowed his brow.
"Prepare. I must go see Mother."
Since the royal merchant guild had been dismantled, he had to at least regain the position of Head Maid.
He urgently sought out the Queen Dowager.
However, to his dismay, he did not realize that his mother's anger was still burning fiercely.
"A new Head Maid? With this mess in the palace, is that more important to you than fixing it?"
Far from appeasing the Queen Dowager, he was severely scolded.
"……It is my fault. I have nothing to say."
He apologized for now.
He did not fear his old mother, but her position as Queen Dowager made her a troublesome enemy.
Therefore, he maintained the role of a kind son who outwardly obeyed his mother.
"Mother. But how could you handle such important matters so rashly without consulting me? Give it some more time-"
The Queen Dowager's face darkened.
"How much more time should I give it? Until ruthless people like Cuisine climb right on top of my head?"
His wife, Catherine, chimed in.
"What he says makes sense. You can't handle the palace's flaws so suddenly. To avoid damaging Princess's reputation, we need more thorough preparation……."
Using the Princess as an excuse was always good. Playing the role of a couple who were exceptionally fond of their niece was familiar.
"Catherine, I heard that Cuisine was your childhood friend. Is it really true that you didn't know anything?"
However, instead of praising them as usual, the Queen Dowager asked with sharp eyes.
"Mother, I was deceived too! Even after knowing her for ten years, I never dreamed she harbored such poison inside. After she became Head Maid, I deliberately cut off contact to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."
Catherine excused herself, saying she had been too busy fulfilling her duties as Duchess to visit often.
"Indeed, you must have been busy. Birna was cut by paper, and the wound must have been so deep that the Court Physician refused my summons."
Each word she threw was extraordinary.
"And now, you two should return to the Ducal estate. Empty the cottage house as well. I have kept you here for too long."
The Queen Dowager said, adding that she had been planning to call them separately, but it was just as well that they were here.
"The collateral line should not reside in the royal palace. I, who should be setting an example, have violated the solemn national law, so there are those who take the royal family lightly. Now, I must correct it."
The moment the word "collateral line" came out of her mother's mouth, a blue glint flashed in the Regent Duke's eyes.
Catherine was also startled.
Return to the Ducal estate? Was the Queen Dowager trying to drive them out of the palace?
"The wicked always find a gap, no matter where they are. Whatever Your Majesty, the most senior member of the royal family, does will be exemplary, so what is there to worry about?"
Catherine hid her embarrassment and flattered.
"Besides, the thought of worrying day and night from afar about whether Your Majesty might be ill after we leave makes me feel faint."
However, the Queen Dowager's face, which should have softened, was cold.
"Catherine. Is it really true that you don't want to leave the palace because you are worried about me?"
"Yes? W-What a hurtful thing to say. What else could I want in this palace if not for Your Majesty's well-being?"
"That's right, Mother. You know better than anyone what kind of person this woman is."
The Queen Dowager looked at the couple without a word.
"Enough. If that's what you say, then so be it. My head aches. You may leave now."
The Queen Dowager waved her hand, as if she had no intention of continuing the conversation.
In the end, Duke Claudio and his wife, having been dismissed, left Grand Royal Dowager Palace feeling empty.
"The second one, his greed is excessive."
The Queen Dowager leaned back, touching her forehead, and Mrs. Pinatelli handed her a warm cup of tea.
"……Are you alright, Your Majesty?"
"Everywhere you look, there are hyenas looking for an opportunity. This royal palace has become a piece of meat that everyone is drooling over."
Even though this mess was caused by the person she recommended, instead of reflecting, he was trying to manipulate things again as he pleased.
She was also very disappointed in her second son, whom she had trusted.
'With only jackals left in the house when the owner is away, Baldina is in great danger.'
The Queen Dowager sighed. She was not without blame for the result.
"The living must go on, but I have been lost in the fog for too long. How much will our ancestors blame this foolishness?"
The Queen Dowager frowned and turned her body.
"Pinatelli."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You are the only one I can trust. Someone who can manage this piece of meat fairly without greed."
"Your Majesty's words……."
"I want you to take on the role of Royal Head Maid."
Surprise spread across Mrs. Pinatelli's face.
Her voice, which was always calm, was trembling slightly, as if she had not expected it at all.
"That is not possible. I have sworn to God that I will serve Your Majesty by your side for the rest of my life. As for the Royal Head Maid, I will find someone suitable for Your Majesty's satisfaction."
"I once swore to protect you by my side for the rest of my life. But for Baldina's sake, even God will forgive me."
The Queen Dowager took Mrs. Pinatelli's hand.
Since entering the palace at a young age, Mrs. Pinatelli had always been by her side in the same way for the past 20 years.
"You are the only person in this vast place that I can fully trust and entrust. Everyone is blinded by the old title of Royal Head Maid and only thinking about filling their own pockets. Even Claudio, my son."
"Mother, but how could you handle such important matters so rashly without consulting me?"
Claudio's arrogant words were etched in the Queen Dowager's mind. It did not seem like something a subject would say, no matter how you looked at it.
'Joaquin……. He's not aiming for a place he shouldn't be, is he? No, my son wouldn't do that…….'
Suddenly, a faint anxiety swept over her.
'I need to sort things out. So that the second one doesn't have any unnecessary thoughts.'
The ignited suspicion, on the contrary, brightened the Queen Dowager's vision, which had been hazy until now.
