Chapter 23

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 23

Chapter Title: The Crown I'll Steal from You

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"There was nothing."

"What did you say?"

The room buzzed with murmurs. Marchioness Pinatelli bowed her waist and continued.

"We searched every inch of Her Highness's spaces, including the bedroom and drawing room, but we found no evidence whatsoever."

"That can't be!"

The Royal Head Maid blurted it out before she could stop herself.

Realizing she'd dared to raise her voice in front of the Queen Dowager's closest aide, she quickly added,

"Th-that can't be right. Marchioness Pinatelli, there must be something you missed. Did you check the princess's wardrobe and bedroom thoroughly?"

She was too shocked to refine the words spilling from her mouth.

"Are you saying I would handle a task personally entrusted to me by Her Majesty the Queen Dowager so carelessly?"

Marchioness Pinatelli shot back with a cold glare.

"N-no, that's not what I..."

"Given the urgency and the gravity of the matter concerning Her Highness the Princess's honor, we conducted a cross-search with a hundred maids simultaneously. We turned everything upside down. I swear on my god, we didn't let even a mouse slip by. There was no evidence."

Marchioness Pinatelli responded sharply.

"And Lady Quizin. The princess's wardrobe, you say? Don't you think that's rather presumptuous for the likes of us servants? Address Her Highness properly."

Her retort included a rebuke for the head maid's rudeness.

"Mind yourself. There's not a shred of dignity befitting the Royal Head Maid in your words or actions right now."

Lady Quizin was utterly flustered.

'Why is she coming after me like this?'

Her face paled with anxiety.

'No evidence? What the hell is going on?'

She couldn't fathom why Marchioness Pinatelli was being so aggressive toward her.

The marchioness was clearly the Queen Dowager's person, with no reason to harbor grudges against the Regent Duke or herself.

Medea smiled inwardly.

'Why do you think, Quizin? She's gunning for your position.'

She gazed calmly at Marchioness Pinatelli. Beneath the marchioness's dress, a faint blue stain lingered.

Just like that dawn.

The early morning after Medea had rescued Neril and returned, she headed to the northern garden of the palace.

"What brings Your Highness here at this hour?"

A place where few people passed, not even birdsong in the mountains.

But she knew the quiet visitor who came here.

"It's been a while, Marchioness Pinatelli."

The one Medea had chosen.

The person who would topple Quizin in her stead.

"What do you think? I can make your wish come true."

'Her pre-adoption family name was Sachin.'

Long ago, Regent Duke Claudio had used the late king's seal to frame and oust Interior Minister Sachin.

After the Queen Dowager's death, her true identity had been splashed across the headlines.

Marchioness Pinatelli had survived alone after her father was executed and her family fell into ruin.

She laundered her identity, changed her name, entered the palace, and after years of service, became the Queen Dowager's most trusted confidante.

But what she truly desired was not to stand by the Queen Dowager's side.

'To become Royal Head Maid and wash away the dishonor staining her father's name.'

And the one who had framed him was the Regent Duke.

No matter how the Regent Duke tried, he couldn't sway Marchioness Pinatelli because he was her ancient enemy.

A commoner-born head maid like Lady Quizin, who entered the palace late, could never know this backstory.

Nor could she know that Medea and Marchioness Pinatelli had joined hands.

The alliance between the Queen Dowager's strictest confidante and the neglected princess was nowhere in Lady Quizin's script.

"That can't... it just can't be..."

"How strange. Head Maid, why are you so certain? As if the evidence had to be there?"

Lady Quizin's face stiffened at Marchioness Pinatelli's sharp jab hitting the mark.

The marchioness turned and bowed deeply to the Queen Dowager.

"I swear on Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's honor that it is the truth. There was no evidence at all. However."

Marchioness Pinatelli drew a breath.

Like an actress waiting until the tension ripened, her voice was solemn and captivating.

"Mariyu, was it?"

She turned and addressed Mariyu.

It surely wasn't that she couldn't remember. This was to etch Mariyu's presence once more into the room.

"The evidence was found in that maid's room."

"No way!"

Mariyu gasped in shock.

Marchioness Pinatelli ignored her and presented a sky-blue item to the Queen Dowager.

It was a sky-blue handkerchief bulging around something wrapped inside.

At the edge, golden embroidery spelling out initials peeked out.

"...L. Lark... Etienne..."

The Queen Dowager slowly read the embroidered letters. In that instant, the air stirred.

Was it referring to Interior Minister Etienne?

That the princess—no, the princess's maid—had fallen for that old, ugly man?

Everyone was aghast.

The minister's leering eyes flashed in their minds, sending chills down spines.

'No way!'

Mariyu herself was the most shocked of all.

'Why is that there?!'

Why had the handkerchief that should have been found in the princess's bedroom turned up in her own room!

"No. That's not true. That handkerchief isn't mine. Someone tampered with it!"

"Is that so? Then this isn't yours either?"

Marchioness Pinatelli revealed the object wrapped in the handkerchief.

A bracelet with dangling trumpet charms sparkled brilliantly.

'Why that... there!'

As the lost bracelet from Young Lord Samon Claudio appeared, Mariyu felt faint.

Not one piece of evidence, but two. People exchanged meaningful glances.

"Several maids have said they saw you wearing it."

"No, that's not... it isn't..."

"The bracelet is yours, but the handkerchief found with it isn't? Is that what you're saying?"

Marchioness Pinatelli pressed Mariyu mercilessly.

"The minister didn't give me that bracelet!"

"Then? Who did?"

"Th-that..."

"Don't feed me that obvious lie about buying it yourself. Everyone knows a royal maid's salary couldn't cover it."

"...I-I got it as a gift from someone else."

"Someone else who? Weren't you telling the other maids it was a memento from your mother?"

"Th-that... it was..."

Panicking, Mariyu's eyes darted around.

"This trumpet pattern is strictly controlled in the empire."

Having handled many jewels as the Queen Dowager's confidante, Marchioness Pinatelli recognized the bracelet accurately.

"Only a handful in Baldina have the power to obtain this pattern and the wealth to gift something so expensive. If not the minister, then who are you talking about?"

Mariyu's eyes trembled in shock as her escape routes were sealed one after another.

Her heart pounded like it would burst, her lips quivering.

She couldn't say she'd received the bracelet from Young Duke Claudio.

Because right there in the room was Duchess Catherine Claudio, Samon's mother.

'No...'

Everyone knew how obsessive the duchess was about her son.

Mariyu herself had seen the duchess deal with maids approaching her son multiple times, all with that angelic, beautiful face.

'If I reveal my relationship with Samon here... she'll tear me apart.'

Would a duchess who deemed even noble ladies unworthy ever tolerate a maid like her? Wouldn't she quietly silence her instead?

To keep her flawless son's reputation spotless.

'If I speak, I'll never see him again...'

So she absolutely couldn't say it. She mustn't.

Mariyu barely held onto her fading mind, biting her lips raw. At that moment.

"It seems the one sharing secret affections with the minister isn't me after all. Isn't that right, Mariyu?"

Medea's voice rang out.

A steady tone. Her calm expression showed little surprise at the commotion, serene like a still pond without ripples.

As if she had known the minister's handkerchief would be found with her.

As if she had predicted this entire situation.

Mariyu's face drained of color.

'Then she knew... everything...'

Only then did she realize.