Chapter 13

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 13

Chapter Title: The Crown I'll Steal from You

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The reasoning she had laid out so sharply and relentlessly was spot on.

But the fact that it had come from the timid, foolish Princess Medea made it utterly unbelievable.

Catherine blinked, momentarily dazed. She quickly pulled herself together and nodded.

"...Yes, of course. I'll bring the healer with me later... and come to see you."

Yet Medea was certain that, despite her words, Catherine would never bring the healer to visit the Queen Dowager.

"Auntie, Mother went all the way to the Kazen Empire herself for your sake and brought the healer in person. Aren't you being too dismissive of her sincerity?"

Birna pouted.

"Lady Aunt came personally? Even if the journey was long, this is wartime—did that strict Sir Sise really permit it?"

Medea widened her eyes in apparent surprise.

"Birna! I told you to watch your tongue!"

Catherine's face paled as she sharply scolded her daughter.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. Everything was done through proper channels, and his identity is verified. He just came to Baldina first as the chief physician for the Kazen delegation that will visit soon."

Catherine offered a smooth excuse, then quickly adopted a sorrowful expression.

"But to doubt the identity of the healer I brought... it wounds me a little."

"... ."

"If I may be so bold, I think of you as my own daughter. Surely you're not trying to distance yourself from me because of some childish scheme?"

Catherine dabbed at her eyes. The sight of the elegant noblewoman wiping away tears tugged at the heartstrings.

The new maids standing against the wall exchanged glances.

They had heard that the duchess had cared for the princess with utmost devotion since her childhood.

They had even heard she had forgone having a third child for the sake of her niece. Seeing the princess treat her so coldly now stirred feelings of pity.

Catherine knew exactly what whispers would circulate among the maids.

She pressed her eyes more dramatically.

The more Medea's words spread through the palace, the more they would add fuel to her infamy.

The princess of Baldina was not only foolish but ungrateful as well.

"Is that really true?"

Medea asked. Her calm voice stood in stark contrast to Catherine's tearful one.

"Forgive me, Auntie. Your words are touching, but they don't resonate with me."

"Sister! What's wrong with you today? How can you say such a thing!"

Birna snapped.

"Is that so?"

Medea stared at her steadily.

"I can't agree."

The moment she met those emerald eyes gleaming like peridots, Birna instinctively shrank back.

"If Auntie truly saw me as her own daughter, she wouldn't have let the head maid treat me like this."

"Your Highness, what do you mean?"

"You know. Ever since I clashed with the head maid, what I've been put through."

"... ."

"The rumors spreading through the royal castle couldn't have bypassed the ducal house. Look at these new maids here—you noticed my few words of discomfort, but did you not know that all my maids had been replaced?"

The maids' eyes turned to Catherine. Hearing the princess's words, the duchess's contradictory behavior now seemed strangely off.

Catherine was flustered, her frustration boiling over inside.

It wasn't that she didn't know. The existing maids had all been replaced, and new eyes brought in to monitor the princess.

She hadn't even had a chance to bring it up before the princess cornered her and her daughter.

In her desperation, Catherine rose and approached Medea.

"The head maid is your aunt's close friend, so I understand it's difficult for you to judge fairly between us."

"Your Highness, that's not—"

"That's why I didn't want to bring it up outright and thought I was respecting your intentions."

Her monotonous voice spread unimpeded over the cold air of the Princess Palace.

"Isn't it that you brought me the healer out of guilt for not stopping the head maid's abuses?"

"How could that be! We Claudios are always on Your Highness's side. Whether it's my friend or anyone else, none are more important than you."

Medea brushed off Catherine's reaching hand.

"I'm not so sure, Auntie. Please excuse me first—I simply can't bear to look at either of you any longer today."

Her icy emerald eyes swept over Catherine from head to toe.

"I want to believe that everything you've said to me until now wasn't all lies."

Her delicately made-up face, the softly gleaming black pearl necklace, and even the intricate lace embroidery at the hem of her dress.

Every detail had been carefully attended to.

In other words, Catherine had the leisure to do so.

"Would you have remained this composed if Birna had been treated this way?"

Catherine was speechless.

"It seems this harsh reality—that you can treat me like a daughter but can never truly be my mother—is finally waking me up."

"Your Highness! Wait!"

Medea shook her head and left the room.

Catherine tried to grab her, but she couldn't dare chase after the princess who had stormed out like a gale.

"Why did you have to open your mouth like that!"

Catherine scolded Birna as she collapsed into her chair.

We thought we had tamed her so she couldn't escape us, but was it still not enough?

Nothing rang alarm bells like a beast trying to break free.

'The reason she's suddenly like this... there's only one possibility.'

Catherine bit her lip.

"Quizin, I told you to go easy."

On the day the news first came that the princess had flogged Quizin, her husband had suspected the head maid.

How much had she begged to dissuade him from replacing the head maid?

Yet Lady Quizin had not only ignored her words but had stubbornly retaliated against the princess.

'She should have just kept it hidden!'

Fury toward Quizin surged in Catherine's eyes.

'I even sent someone separately to soothe her, but she couldn't hold back her anger and caused this mess?'

Late at night, as dusk settled over the land.

A light flickered deep within the Administrative Palace. Two shadows danced over the lantern's glow.

"I heard she was in a right state. Still, her face looks better than the rumors suggested."

A crude, cackling laugh echoed through the palace. The shadow's jaw trembled vulgarly.

It was Interior Minister Count Etienne, with his frog-like bulging eyes and obese frame.

'That pig of a man dares to...'

The head maid seethed.

"Enough. They say the duchess showed up and slapped your face first."

"How did you...?"

"You think the only useful ears belong to you?"

The minister chuckled.

"She was furious beyond measure and let you have it, huh? Well, you should have done better. She's not your friend anymore—she's your master. No use if she doesn't obey."

Lady Quizin swallowed her surging humiliation.

As he said, she had to endure Catherine's blazing wrath.

[You've done enough hard work—rest. I'll send a replacement soon.]

A short message delivered by a spy's hand.

At a glance, it seemed like concern for the head maid's well-being, but in truth, it meant she was being replaced.

"You should have known better. The Regent Duke doesn't want pictures of his niece being mistreated."

"So I was just supposed to swallow this insult?"

The head maid burst out.

The minister chuckled again.

"Why fixate on the princess of all people...? You've crossed the line multiple times. Heh. What can you do?"

His thick hand patted Quizin's shoulder.

"Just do as the duke says. How many stay unscathed after falling out of his favor? Or you should have worked as hard as me to secure your position."

The minister's advice rang hollow.

'Insolent bastard. What's so great about being born into money?'

Lady Quizin gnawed her lip. Her pride, already bruised by the princess, ached even more under the minister's mockery, making her feel like nothing more than the Regent Duke's dog.

'If he's casting me aside anyway, do I really need to obey the duke?'

The thought flashed through her mind.

If the duke was abandoning her, she wouldn't go down quietly like a half-trained mutt.

'I need to carve out my own path.'

"By the way, Minister, how were the boys I sent last time?"

At the sudden question, the minister raised an eyebrow.

When the head maid first entered the palace, the Regent Duke had given her one order.

Send young, unaffiliated servants to Count Etienne once a month.

He said the minister needed attendants.

The head maid couldn't understand why a man of such wealth and power would request that, but she complied anyway.

Assuming it was some other errand, or that they were living well in his estate.

But one day, when she discovered the boys' mutilated corpses in the minister's house, Lady Quizin finally understood why he had allied with the duke.

It was the price for satisfying his perverse tastes.

Yet the head maid was a coward. She was disgusted by their filthy alliance but had no intention of sacrificing her own flesh to save the boys.

"Your eye for them is always reliable."

"If you wish, I'll send more. You deserve some relief for your hard work."

At her words, wariness flickered in the minister's eyes.

Wasn't this the woman who used to hide her revulsion at his tastes? Why the sudden eagerness?

"What are you scheming?"

"I can't just die quietly. I'm thinking of going to the Queen Dowager."

"Ah."

Even a rat bites a cat—this woman planned to completely break free from the Regent Duke.

"He won't allow it."

"I know the duke's mind. I'm just curious about yours, Minister."

Count Etienne eyed her, gauging her intentions.

He smirked and crossed his arms.

"What can I say? I have no intention of clashing with the Regent Duke."

As if I'd abandon the duke to ally with the likes of you.

As her face briefly hardened at his undisguised contempt before returning to normal.

"No ambitions to become consort?"

Consort?

"...Do you know what you're saying?"

There was only one princess in this kingdom.

"That little girl Medea and me?"