"I'm fortunate I took the earrings before they sealed off the Princess's palace."
"How much did you get for them?"
**500,000 gold pieces.**
"I could have demanded more, but I was in a hurry—couldn't risk the opportunity passing."
"Five hundred thousand?!"
"It's not a jest. With just a few more pieces like that, I can clear my debts and escape this wretched life entirely."
Greed glittered in their eyes like fever.
The head maid's people had been ordered to harass the Princess with ruthless efficiency.
*If I'm not caught, no one will know, will they? The head maid never visits the Princess's palace anyway.*
Like well-trained hounds, they'd already been won over by the jewels Medea had distributed. Now they intercepted every malicious "gift" meant for the Princess, protecting her instead of tormenting her.
"Sort through everything carefully. Word is spreading beyond the palace now—this arrangement won't last much longer."
"You weren't caught, were you? If the head maid discovers what we've done, she'll have our heads."
"Stop worrying. I've been doing this long enough to know how to stay alive."
---
They needed time for the rumors they'd been carefully spreading to take root throughout the capital.
Whispers in the corridors:
> "Did you hear? The head maid has been sending spoiled food to the Princess's quarters."
> "They say she hid needles in the bedding!"
The head maid was blindsided.
"Where are these lies coming from?"
"Inside the royal castle. It seems to be circulating among the nobility for now."
This should have been handled discretely. She'd touched nothing that could be easily traced back to her.
Yet somehow the truth had leaked, and now everyone was discussing it openly.
"Rotten food? Needles?! What absurd accusations! I never sent anything of the sort!"
The rumors had grown even more grotesque with embellishment.
Everyone already knew the Princess was treated poorly within the palace, but specific acts of cruel harassment being broadcast to the outside world was an entirely different matter.
This directly threatened the honor of the royal household.
But the Princess's palace didn't house only the head maid's people.
Other servants spread the news secretly—and with unusual enthusiasm.
"What? The head maid did all that? Whether it's true or false, this makes excellent ammunition!"
Among them were the head maid's rivals for palace influence.
---
## — The Chess Game —
"You must have been quite bored."
Gallo's handsome face split into a grin, ignoring Cesare's cold glare entirely.
"I barely had to lift a finger. The head maid's methods are as brutal as ours, it seems. Poor Princess—I heard she's been giving away the jewels the Prince Regent gifted her, just to secure her maids' loyalty. How pitiful."
"Buying their loyalty?"
Cesare glanced up from the chessboard with vague interest.
"Ah, yes. Black sapphires, sheep's tears... expensive pieces. She handed them out without hesitation. The maids accepted them eagerly enough."
"Is she naive, or simply stupid? Did she really think such trinkets would be enough to capture their loyalty?"
In Cesare's outstretched hand, a white pawn advanced across the board.
"What if she wasn't trying to capture them at all?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
The pawn reached the final rank with a decisive click.
**"Promotion."**
**To queen.**
A pawn was the weakest, most disposable piece on the board—until it reached the opposite side and could transform into any piece the player desired.
"Oh my, boss! You're taking my bishop!"
But one could only discover what it would become—and what it would devour—once it reached the end.
A flicker of genuine interest sparked in Cesare's dark eyes, then vanished just as quickly.
---
An untimely commotion erupted in the Princess's palace.
***"Let go of me! Where are you taking us?!"***
Servants from the head maid's office stormed through the halls, dragging away the Princess's maids indiscriminately.
"Why?! What is the meaning of this?!"
"As of this moment, you no longer serve the Princess's palace. Therefore, you cannot remain here."
Medea's maids were hauled away without even time to gather their belongings.
"How dare you torment our Princess—mere servants thinking yourselves above your station! You don't value your lives at all."
"What?!"
"You've confessed everything—in the kitchens, the laundry, the dressing rooms. You conspired together to harass Her Highness, then attempted to frame the head maid for your crimes!"
The head maid, watching her situation deteriorate, had decided to eliminate Medea's support network while simultaneously repairing her own tarnished reputation.
She'd discovered that the maids in the Princess's palace—the same ones who'd accepted her poisoned gifts—had been running their mouths carelessly throughout the castle.
"That's a lie! The head maid ordered everything!"
"We have evidence of your conspiracy. Will you deny it still? Take them away!"
The lead enforcer leaned close to whisper in one maid's ear.
"When you spread your gossip so freely, you should have considered the consequences."
The maid's face drained of all color.
*Caught so quickly...! I was so careful!*
Intoxicated by their sudden wealth, they'd underestimated the web of connections and power the head maid commanded within the palace.
Seeing disaster approach, the maids found one desperate avenue of escape.
"Your Highness! Help us! The head maid's people are dragging us away!"
They shrieked as they were pulled toward the doors.
"Just wait! Do you think Her Highness will stand by and do nothing?"
They believed it absolutely.
Even if others ignored her, the Princess was soft-hearted and gentle. She would try to save them.
Just as she'd saved Neril.
"What's happening here?"
The Princess appeared then—only after all her maids had been removed.
The timing seemed slightly peculiar.
---
"Your Royal Highness, you have suffered so terribly."
"Those arrogant creatures created conflict between the head maid and Your Highness through their machinations. Our wise head maid discovered their treachery and sent us to rectify the situation, though it comes belatedly."
The prepared speech flowed as smoothly as water over stones.
"The crime of insulting the royal family is grave beyond measure. They will answer with their lives."
"Furthermore, we've brought new maids to serve you. They are young and untainted, having only just entered the palace. They will serve Your Highness faithfully, with no divided loyalties. Come—pay your respects to Her Highness."
The enforcer brought forward the children she'd selected. Then she waited for the Princess's reaction.
The palace stood empty now, everyone who'd served nearby having been removed.
Save for Neril—still confined to her sickbed—no one remained on the Princess's side.
Even if she managed to keep one Neril, she couldn't save them all.
The head maid's calculation had been sound.
"Is that so?"
But against all expectation, the Princess was smiling.
"How fortunate. The head maid's judgment is as sharp as ever."
Medea turned to face the new maids directly.
**"Look carefully. This is the fate of those who prove disloyal to their master."**
Her voice fell like frost, cold and cutting.
**"If you flutter between loyalties like bats, you'll be dragged about like dogs and die like them. Do you understand?"**
The new maids' eyes slid past the Princess to the floor. Evidence of the earlier struggle remained visible—scuff marks, disturbed rushes, and a few dark droplets of blood.
The young girls nodded, fear stark in their faces.
*There is only one master.*
*The price of betrayal is death—anything less than absolute loyalty means death.*
Because the head maid needed to fill the Princess's household quickly, she'd had insufficient time to properly indoctrinate the new servants.
Therefore, Medea's solemn command carved itself deeply into these fresh minds—far more powerfully than any careful grooming could have achieved.
"Go back now."
"Your Highness?"
"Please convey my thanks to the head maid. Tell her I'm grateful she removed such... pressure from my household."
The enforcer blinked in confusion.
"You there—follow me. Let's go inside."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Medea swept into her chambers with her new maids in tow.
---
"Wait—we've been played!"
The head maid nearly fainted when her subordinate returned and delivered the report in bewildered tones.
"That wretched girl used me to purge all the spies from her household!"
Medea had eliminated the surveillance network entirely—and put the head maid's name on the action.
Now the spymasters who'd planted those servants would assume the head maid had disposed of their agents for her own purposes.
She'd made enemies unnecessarily, creating suspicion where there'd been none.
If she'd thought for even a moment instead of acting in blind fury—
"Ahhhh! Medea! That cursed child!"
"Head maid, please calm yourself!"
💥
The sounds of objects being thrown, swept aside, and shattered continued until dusk painted the sky crimson.