Refusal
"When the spider refuses the fly."
The Royal Prison
Yet the Princess merely glanced down at the certificate with contempt, then turned her back.
Etienne stood frozen in disbelief.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
"Please, listen to me! Come back!"
He belatedly grabbed the bars and screamed, but only echoes remained in the cold prison corridor.
Her footsteps faded into silence.
Outside the Prison
On the journey away from Etienne's cell, Saya—who had accompanied Medea—tilted her head in confusion.
"Your Highness, why didn't you accept that certificate?"
Her expression was utterly bewildered.
"There are so many rumors that the Minister hoarded everything of value from the palace. With that money, even the Duke couldn't touch you. Why refuse it...?"
Saya paused mid-step, round eyes widening further.
"Should I go back and retrieve it now?"
"There's no need."
Medea kindly explained to the perplexed girl.
"It's a trap, Saya."
"Now that the Minister has been arrested, everyone who knew him will obsess over finding his hidden slush funds."
"If I were to use that certificate, it would be like announcing to the world: 'Target me.'"
"More importantly, my uncle would be the first to come after me."
"Then... you're giving up all those assets entirely...?"
"I have no choice but to be generous."
Medea smiled faintly.
"He thinks that if he ever returns to power, he can simply take it back from me whenever he wishes."
"Oh my God..."
Saya's mouth fell open.
"Isn't he insane?"
"He begs 'please save my life,' cries and trembles—"
"—and simultaneously plants poison?"
"Etienne is a cunning man."
Medea's tone remained calm, almost admiring.
"Even in the midst of this crisis, he's attempting to bind me to him. He still feels comfortable enough in that prison cell."
She glanced back toward the prison towers.
"Why don't we let him enjoy it a bit longer?"
"Absolutely. I really must tell my friends about this."
Saya nodded solemnly, her expression grave with newfound understanding.
Duke Claudio
The Regent looked down at the crisp certificate in his hands.
It was a bearer document guaranteeing funds equivalent to thirty chests filled with gold coins.
After traveling across the capital until his feet swelled,
he had finally achieved the exorbitant amount Medea demanded.
"Seven thousand gold coins."
During his initial visit, he'd arrived bearing chests—only to be turned away at the door.
"Uncle, what are you thinking, bringing those chests here?"
Medea had rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Are you trying to announce to the entire world that I took a bribe to release the Minister? How can someone who should know better act so foolishly?"
The pitying look she'd given him while scolding was an added insult.
'If I'd left those cart-loads of chests visible outside, I could have at least spread rumors that Medea was extravagant.'
The Regent, his intentions exposed, had no choice but to comply.
"Exchange the gold coins for a money changer's bearer certificate and return with that instead."
Money changers were intermediaries who converted various currencies circulating in trade.
Among them, those operating in the shadows primarily engaged in smuggling operations, making them skilled at managing funds discreetly.
Bearer certificates were frequently traded on the black market—anonymous, untraceable.
"How could a woman who's only lived within palace walls know such details so clearly?!"
Catherine had answered with a dismissive frown.
"She must have heard it somewhere. Do you think the girl who openly demands bribes wouldn't know these tricks?"
The Regent had snorted in reluctant agreement.
"Regardless, I've converted it into a certificate as she demanded. Now even Medea won't be able to find fault."
He turned to his wife.
"Catherine, let's enter the palace quickly."
Catherine would accompany him today—a strategic decision.
"Medea, if she tries to toy with us again, you must step forward."
The Regent, having been sent away empty-handed twice by Medea, refused to repeat past mistakes.
"Of course, dear. I'll drag the girl out of her obstinacy and ensure Medea signs the Minister's release petition."
The Regent and his wife were fully prepared.
"They wouldn't back down this time."
They boarded the carriage, filled with determination to somehow coax and persuade Medea into affixing her seal to the document releasing Minister Etienne.
The Princess's Palace
"Your Highness, Duke Claudio has arrived."
Before the maid could finish announcing them, the Duke and Duchess strode in with confident purpose.
So consumed were they with their determination not to be outmaneuvered by Medea, they failed to notice something crucial:
The atmosphere in the Princess's palace felt different than usual.
The servants' attitudes were more solemn, more formal—almost rigid.
"Medea!"
"Uncle. Oh, Aunt has come as well."
"I truly need your help now. I cannot bear watching that poor Minister suffer any longer."
Chest puffed majestically, the Duke withdrew the golden certificate and placed it before her.
"Seven thousand gold coins."
"The Minister and his retainers surrendered all their family assets."
"It's an absurd amount, but you cannot imagine how hard your uncle worked to raise this money for you, Medea."
He launched into a lengthy speech detailing his heroic efforts.
Medea examined the certificate, her expression one of genuine surprise.
"Uncle, are you truly giving this to me?"
"Yes, it's yours now! Is there anything we cannot do for you?"
He gestured eagerly.
"Hurry and take it."
The Regent's fingertips trembled slightly as he offered the certificate.
His heart twisted with bitterness.
'I could simply snatch this back from Medea's hands. Reclaim this fortune I cannot afford to lose.'
Yet he suppressed that instinct forcefully.
If Etienne collapses like this, it would be like losing my only remaining arm.
The grand design stands on the brink. Losing Etienne—along with the Head Maid—would cause catastrophic setbacks.
"Now, hurry and accept it. Then place your seal here."
Along with the certificate, the Duke presented the release petition.
"Etienne might die in that prison if this continues. Do you understand how cruelly that scheming man is tormenting him?"
"Indeed, Your Highness. This matter is truly urgent. We cannot delay any longer."
"Uncle, I..."
Yet Medea did not accept the certificate. She appeared troubled.
What else could this girl possibly want?
The Regent's gut twisted with suspicion.
Even after receiving this fortune, does she still want more?
"Goodness,"
Medea said, her eyebrows drooping sorrowfully.
"I don't know what to say to you both."
"I never truly meant those words I spoke."
"As a Princess,"
"how could I demand such an enormous bribe—"
"even for personal reasons—"
"for Valdina's public affairs?"
"Because this matter is so grave,"
"I was hoping my uncle would reconsider."
"The Minister's guilt is already established."
"Testimonies continue to surface."
"It's a misunderstanding!"
When the Duke found himself speechless, he exploded.
"There's been some terrible misunderstanding! Did Cesare tell you this? He's targeting Etienne!"
"What credibility does a man blinded by ambition possess?"
"So you're saying the remains discovered at the Minister's private residence are also fabrications?"
Seeing the Duke rendered speechless by Medea's question, Catherine stepped forward.
"Your Highness, there are insider details to this incident that you don't understand."
She adopted a soft, persuasive tone.
"You cannot simply believe what appears on the surface."
"Political interests and conspiracies lurk everywhere."
"For now, the Minister's life is urgent—"
"please stamp this release first, and we'll explain everything in detail afterward."
"His life depends on the stroke of your hand."
"If Valdina's loyal servant dies because of your hesitation—"
"how will you bear that burden?"
Simultaneously, she subtly implied the Princess would face severe reprimand later.
But this was not the Medea of before.
"No, Aunt."
"Though I am still young and foolish,"
"I am not ignorant of right and wrong."
"I truly cannot comprehend"
"why my wise uncle supports this vicious man"
"when Etienne's crimes are so unmistakably clear."
Medea shook her head as though genuinely bewildered.
As the Duke and Duchess advanced toward her, the Princess took a deliberate step backward.
A resolute stance that left no room for compromise.
'So this girl isn't going to sign now?'
The Regent's face turned ugly.
Obviously, she shamelessly demanded gold coins first—
and now what?
He remembered:
running across the capital,
begging merchants,
meeting the Princess's outrageous demands—
His mind flooded with fury.
"His judgment clouded."
'No more.'
The Mask Shatters ## When Civility Dies
The bribe refused. The plan exposed. And the Regent—finally—shows his true face.
The spider waits. The web is complete.
[ To Be Continued ]
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