Had the Princess wrapped Samon's bracelet in that handkerchief deliberately?
The thought detonated in Marieu's mind.
One certainty emerged from the chaos: the Princess had known everything. Even the fact that Marieu had betrayed her.
When Marieu met those cold green eyes, it felt like being plunged into ice water.
"Your Highness... I—I was wrong."
Finally comprehending the depths of her predicament, panic began to claw at Marieu's throat.
"It is most unfortunate that Marieu forgot her duties and committed such acts. But what is done cannot be undone. She remains my maid—I cannot simply discard her."
Medea released a sigh of apparent regret.
"Grandmother, I humbly request that you permit Marieu to wed Minister Etienne. Their affection must run extraordinarily deep, if they pine for one another so desperately."
"No!"
Marieu forgot her station entirely, screaming hysterically.
"Please save me!"
She stumbled toward the Princess, each step feeling like plummeting from a black cliff. Her vision darkened at the edges.
"Save you? The minister is an excellent match. A high-ranking noble, extraordinarily wealthy, and clearly devoted to you."
"Marieu, is he not the ideal husband you have been hoping for?"
Husband?
That she—instead of her beloved Samon—would be bound to that elderly, grotesque deviant for the remainder of her days?
The miserable future she had mockingly envisioned for the Princess would become her own fate?
No. Absolutely not. I would rather die.
"Congratulations. I shall be saddened to lose you, but is it not a mistress's duty to send her servants to better circumstances?"
The congratulations delivered in the Princess's soft voice rang like funeral rites.
— The Dam Breaks — "N-no, Your Highness! It was all fabrication!"
Half-deranged with terror, Marieu began babbling frantically.
"The head maid commanded me to do it! She provided the Minister's handkerchief and instructed me to conceal it within Your Highness's chambers!"
The assembled courtiers could scarcely trust their ears. What had the Princess's maid just confessed?
"Silence!"
The head maid belatedly attempted to suppress Marieu, but the words already poured forth like water through a shattered dam.
"She claimed the Duke Regent was expelling her because of the conflict between Your Highness and herself! She said he intended to replace her—she came to me consumed with fury and coerced me into this scheme!"
"Everything was orchestrated by Madame Cuisine! Please believe me!"
"Cease this instant! Be silent! Do not attempt to frame me with your lies!"
The head maid attempted to lunge at Marieu but was immediately restrained by the guards.
"She swore she would make an example of Her Highness the Princess for daring to strike her! She promised that if I assisted her, she would enroll me into a noble family in return—launder my common origins entirely!"
Murmurs rippled through the chamber.
The palace officials present had grown well-accustomed to court intrigues. How many schemes, both petty and grand, had they witnessed within these walls?
As they absorbed Marieu's soul-baring confession, the complete narrative assembled itself before their eyes.
The head maid, expelled by the Prince Regent, had nursed her grievance and attempted to slander the Princess by planting fabricated evidence.
The assembled nobles reeled at the viciousness of a head maid who had endeavored to destroy a young girl's life—then reeled again upon realizing this head maid served as the Duke Regent's creature.
"I—I was blinded by greed, utterly mad! Marieu was wrong... Please..."
Marieu collapsed before the Princess, praying frantically as though deaf to everything else.
"I shall never commit such folly again! Please forgive me just this once! Your Highness, save me!"
"Though Marieu was foolish, I cared for Your Highness devotedly! How many years have I served you... Surely you will not cast me aside like this?"
Medea gazed down at the pleading figure.
One last desperate hope trembled in those frantic eyes—an unshakeable conviction that the Princess would never truly abandon her.
In my previous life, did my own face appear precisely like this when Marieu deceived me and delivered me to the rebels?
You betrayed me for your love. Then—and now once again.
Since you loved your paramour so passionately that you sold me, should you not now pay the price?
Medea bent down and placed her hand atop Marieu's.
She resembled a saint pardoning a condemned prisoner.
How magnanimous—clasping the hand of an insolent girl who had attempted to destroy her!
The assembled nobles murmured in admiration.
But Marieu trembled violently.
Because the Princess's cold hand, covering hers, was methodically prying away each of Marieu's fingers from where they clutched desperately at the dress hem.
"Do not blame me, Marieu."
The Princess whispered, her voice barely audible.
"You pushed first."
Familiar words—as though Marieu had heard them spoken somewhere before.
She truly knew everything all along...!
When Marieu raised her head, glacial eyes stared down at her.
She fainted where she knelt.
— The Verdict — The Queen Mother pressed her throbbing temples.
"What an utterly disgraceful spectacle..."
So this entire four-month ordeal had been the maid's machinations? The Princess's own servant had participated in the conspiracy?
Medea was innocent from the very beginning?
"What audacity. To attempt slandering one's own mistress—and one bearing Valdina's sacred blood, no less."
Baroness Pinatelli spoke first, seizing the opportune moment.
She recognized the Queen Mother's confusion and cleverly emphasized the phrase Valdina's blood.
Had this been limited to Medea's personal scandal, the Queen Mother would not have been greatly moved.
But Valdina's blood was an entirely different matter.
This constituted an assault upon the heavenly royal family itself—beyond mere dislike of an unsightly granddaughter.
The Queen Mother's eyes turned to ice.
"Remove those two disloyal creatures from my sight."
The words had barely left her lips before sturdy maids seized the head maid's arms. The unconscious Marieu was lifted and carried away.
"No! These are lies! The Princess orchestrated this with her maid! Catherine! Help me! This is a trap! She is framing me!"
The head maid, sensing her end approaching, descended into complete madness.
But Catherine was otherwise occupied—biting her lip and gauging the Queen Mother's disposition with calculating eyes.
Why is that idiotic maid suddenly dragging us into this catastrophe?!
Everyone regarded her with suspicious eyes after hearing that the Prince Regent had been planning to replace the head maid.
"Ahhh! Release me! Princess! You orchestrated this! You struck first—mmph!"
The head maid thrashed violently as she was dragged away, cloth hastily stuffed into her mouth.
"To prevent further slander against her mistress, sever the tendons in both hands and administer beatings until death claims her."
"Lord Cissere, make an example of her."
"Yes, I accept Your Majesty's command."
— Even Innocent — Only after the culprits were dragged away did the tumultuous atmosphere finally settle.
It felt as though a violent storm had passed.
Everyone present remembered the Queen Mother's harsh reprimand of her granddaughter earlier. How unjust it had been for the Princess—falsely accused and betrayed by someone she had trusted!
The assembled nobles expected the Queen Mother to at least console her granddaughter now.
As if such a thing were possible.
Medea knew with certainty that this would not end with the condemnation of the head maid.
As predicted, the Queen Mother's eyes remained glacial.
"Hmph. When you wield the King's seal and play at being mistress of this palace, subordinates grow emboldened and presumptuous."
Though clearly not Medea's fault, the Queen Mother deemed it her granddaughter's responsibility nonetheless.
"Even sequestered here, I have heard reports of your outrageous conduct, Medea."
"Do you imagine the King entrusted you that seal merely to wield as you please? It is heaven's curse that Peleus has a sister like you! You are an immature, foolish creature! Who granted you such authority?"
"As Queen Mother, I can no longer sit idle while you disturb the peace of this palace."
"Surrender your seal. You have proven yourself inadequate."
Medea stood motionless, utterly unresponsive.
"What are you doing when I command you to bring it!"
The Queen Mother's voice rose again, yet she received no answer. Those present could palpably feel her fury in each heavy, labored breath.
"Mother, please calm yourself. Such excitement becomes poisonous to your health."
Catherine stepped forward smoothly to shield the Princess, positioning herself before Medea like a mother protecting her offspring.
"Her Highness the Princess surely harbored no ill intent. She remains young still and ignorant of the palace's complex interests. This must have been merely an immature attempt at protecting her own people. Please show generosity and consider Her Highness's pure heart."
Superficially, Catherine's words defended Medea.
Yet she simultaneously reinforced the narrative that Medea had ignored palace protocols and acted with childish self-indulgence.
Poison wrapped in silk.
The Queen Mother's expression hardened further still.
"Ridiculous! Even Birna, younger than her, conducts herself properly! How much longer must I tolerate that disgraceful creature?"
"Your Highness, please beg forgiveness. If you promise not to repeat such actions, the Queen Mother will surely show mercy."
Catherine gestured subtly toward Medea.
But Medea remained perfectly still.
As though she could not hear a single word.
...
To Be Continued
---