Chapter 7

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 7

Chapter Title: The Crown I'll Take from You

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7

"Why is Neril here...?"

'Why is she still here? She should have been thrown out of the palace by now!'

Mariyu knew of Lady Quizin's plan to drive Neril out.

"You're speaking as if you saw it all, even though you weren't at the palace."

Mariyu panicked greatly at Medea's sharp questioning and cried out.

"No, Your Highness! I was just coming back from the laundry because there was a problem there. I stayed by Your Highness's side the whole time without sleeping or eating... Your Highness?"

Medea half-listened to the excuses as she scanned the line of maids.

They were all ones who hadn't been there earlier.

'They came rushing over in a panic.'

Medea ordered them to fetch the palace physician to check on Neril.

"Uh... Y-yes..."

The maids stirred uneasily. Their eyes darted about restlessly.

It was because Mariyu was glaring at them from beside Medea.

"But, Your Highness. Neril shouldn't be here. She committed a grave crime and needs to be punished—"

"Quiet."

Medea cut off the interrupting words.

"It seems I've been too lenient with you. A nursemaid's daughter daring to speak against my orders."

"Y-Your Highness."

Mariyu faltered at the princess's icy demeanor.

"Do I have to say it twice?"

"No, ma'am!"

The resolute princess and the flustered Mariyu.

The choice was obvious.

They hurriedly bowed and took Neril away.

"Your Highness... How could you say such harsh things to me...?"

Medea stifled a hollow laugh as she watched Mariyu feign shock and well up with pitiful tears.

In her previous life, she had cherished Mariyu. She thought of her as the only reliable limb she could trust.

Until Mariyu repaid that grace with betrayal.

"Over here, Your Highness! Come this way!"

"Your Highness, don't blame me. I had no choice if I wanted to survive."

When the rebellion broke out, Mariyu had pretended to escort Medea to safety, only to hand her over to the rebels marching on the capital.

The rebel band mocked the princess for abandoning her country to save her own skin and abducted her.

By the time Peleus returned and crushed the rebellion, Medea was already scarred inside and out.

Her reputation and dignity lay in tatters.

Finishing the brief recollection, Medea stared at the detestable face.

"Come to think of it, Mariyu, you were at the tea party that day too."

Her voice was distant, as if dredging up a vague memory.

"Yes? Oh, yes. You remember? When Neril hurt Your Highness and I carried your fainted body back to the palace."

Mariyu nodded proudly.

"Why don't you go see Lady Quizin."

"Pardon? Why Lady Quizin all of a sudden...?"

Mariyu looked baffled at the cryptic order.

"Do you have a message for her? Then I can send another maid..."

"No, you go."

The princess firmly blocked her objection.

"Tell her you were at the tea party that day too."

"Pardon? What does that...?"

"I like fairness, after all."

"Huh?"

Mariyu tried to ask again, but Medea turned and walked away.

"What the hell is wrong with her? Did she eat something bad? He's waiting for me, and this is such a pain!"

Mariyu vented her irritation with a grumble as she headed toward the administrative palace where Lady Quizin would be.

Without the slightest inkling of what awaited her.

"Heavens, what happened?"

"Shut up! Before I rip your mouth!"

Mariyu, sent to Lady Quizin on Medea's orders, didn't return until well past midnight, dragging her swollen legs.

The moment Lady Quizin saw her, she snorted like a fire-breathing dragon.

"What happened? Neril came back unscathed! How badly did you botch it? Does the duchess know?"

If Mariyu had been just a bit more perceptive, she might have noticed the icy atmosphere and the head maid's ragged breathing. But alas, it was not to be.

"Her Highness told me to say I was at the tea party too, and that she likes fairness. I have no idea what she meant."

"The princess... said that?"

Lady Quizin's patience snapped.

She likes fairness?

Wasn't that her saying she'd watch to see if Lady Quizin punished Mariyu the same way!

Mariyu panicked as Lady Quizin suddenly glared at her.

"Seize her!"

"Wh-what are you doing!"

Mariyu's arms were gripped tightly by her attendants without explanation. She couldn't break free no matter how she struggled.

"If you had done your job right, would that princess bitch have come looking! I told you not to take your eyes off her!"

"Agh! What the hell is this!"

"Make sure to tell her this. That I will absolutely live up to Her Highness's expectations."

The gritted words were ominous.

And so Mariyu took the brunt of the frustration for reasons unknown to her. Only after every switch on the wall had broken did she stagger out of the punishment room.

"Heavens, Lady Mariyu...?"

The maids gasped in horror at her state.

Horrifying welts crisscrossed the white, delicate calves she had always prided herself on.

Her flushed face was smeared with dried tears and snot. Her hair was disheveled, her dress torn in places and stained with blood.

Anyone could see she had been thoroughly thrashed.

"What on earth happened?"

That was exactly what Mariyu wanted to know.

Why!

She had been beaten with switches out of nowhere, without a word.

She might not know the details, but it was clear the princess was the reason she had become the punching bag. Resentment surged like waves.

"Let go!"

Mariyu snatched the ointment a maid offered and flung it away in a fit of rage.

"Out of my way. I'm going to my room."

"Th-that's..."

The maid hesitated.

"What now!"

As if it would be easier not to look, the maid squeezed her eyes shut.

"Lady Mariyu, your room has been changed. You have to go over there."

"What nonsense is this? My room is right here!"

"Her Highness the Princess ordered you to move."

"What?"

Mariyu's mouth fell open in shock.

She felt as dumbfounded as if she'd been clubbed in the back of the head.

Has Medea gone mad?

This couldn't be. How could she suddenly do this, especially after sending her to Lady Quizin to get beaten...

"I! It's all because of me that I ended up like this!"

Her hysterical scream echoed.

The next day. In her new, shabby room after being evicted, Mariyu, who had been dozing off, suddenly jolted awake and barged into the princess's bedroom.

"Your Highness! What did I do wrong!"

"What's all this racket."

Medea swept an indifferent gaze over Mariyu, who had burst in without manners.

Despite the early hour, the princess was dressed for an outing, as if she had been somewhere.

No one noticed because of Mariyu's bristling fury, but there was a faint grass stain on the hem of Medea's dress.

"Do you know what happened to me?"

Mariyu immediately poured out her grievances from the night before.

"Lady Quizin beat me with a switch! Look here? This badly! The moment I arrived, she grabbed me out of nowhere—!"

"..."

But something was off.

Instead of tearing up, demanding who dared hurt her, and raging as she showed her wounds, the princess was far too quiet.

"Your Highness, are you listening? Lady Quizin beat me!"

The princess turned her head. Mariyu realized she had been looking elsewhere all this time.

"Oh dear."

A flat tone. She didn't seem particularly surprised.

"That must hurt. Get her some medicine."

Medea casually ordered a nearby maid and walked past Mariyu.

And that was it?

Mariyu unconsciously grabbed the princess's sleeve.

"Your Highness?"

A ominous thought crossed her mind.

'No way... She didn't send me there on purpose, did she...?'

"Why?"

Mariyu was at a loss for words at the perfectly natural response.

"Th-that's..."

Is that it? Is that all?

"Your Highness, last night, while I was gone, those underlings went and changed my room without permission! They were trying to harass me without your approval. You need to punish them severely."

But Medea's face showed no emotion.

She had no intention of letting Mariyu continue her luxurious life as before.

"I told them to move you."

"Pardon?"

"We needed a bigger space to treat Neril. Stay there for the time being."

Mariyu doubted her ears.

"You gave my room to Neril?"

Why that wench of all people?

"Why... Why without even telling me...?"

The princess's green eyes turned icy at the stammered words.

"Do I need your permission to look after one of my own?"

"N-no. That's not what I meant..."

"The more I see, the more insolent you get."

Mariyu flinched. And while she was bewildered,

"Mariyu, you seem too pained to think straight, so rest up. No need to work."

Medea callously brushed off Mariyu's hand.

As if this fleeting moment was all the attention she deserved.

'This can't be. She can't treat me like this.'

At the blatant dismissal, Mariyu's face flushed red.

'A princess just because of her bloodline! How dare she look down on me!'

Deep resentment welled up toward the princess who gave no thought to her pride.

"Wait."

Mariyu chased after the slender back. Silver hair swayed like silk.

She barely suppressed the urge to grab that fragile mane.

"Your Highness, wait—!"

It was the moment Mariyu roughly tried to seize Medea's hand.