Chapter 36
‘How dare you raise your head while Her Highness is passing!’
‘Did you deliberately bump into her? Trying to make her spill her drink and dirty her new clothes?’
‘You came from the countryside and don’t even know basic manners. How could you appear wearing such shabby clothes?’
They would pick ridiculous reasons like that and bully Stella only when Kayla was not with her.
Even after being treated like that, Stella never showed it because she was worried that Kayla would feel troubled because of her.
But Kayla knew.
Even though she pretended not to see Stella’s cheeks turning red and swollen every time.
I lifted my head and walked quickly toward them.
‘You picked the wrong day to mess with me.’
I wanted to see what nonsense reason they would use this time to teach a poor maid a “lesson”.
“Sorry, I—I didn’t know it was something precious. The flowers were so pretty, I just wanted to look at them. I didn’t mean to break them…”
“Who are you talking back to? Do you even know who I am?”
The maid with long, cheap-looking orange hair raised her hand into the air.
Instinctively, Ena shrank her body and closed her eyes tightly.
At the moment the woman’s hand cut through the air and was about to strike down, I grabbed her wrist and pushed her hard backward.
“Ah!”
The maid who was pushed away did not fall thanks to the help of the other maids beside her.
But her eyes widened like lanterns as she looked up at me in disbelief, as if she still couldn’t understand what had just happened.
“Madam…”
Only after Ena said “Madam” did the maid who was about to hit her straighten her body in front of me with a stunned expression.
“What is going on? I told you to wait a moment. Why is there such a commotion?”
I deliberately spoke in a calm voice, but directed my words to Ena rather than them, making it seem as if I was scolding her.
“I’m sorry. I was waiting for Madam here, but the flower bloomed so beautifully that I wanted to look at it for a moment. The scent was so nice that I just…”
“You wanted to smell the flower because it was pretty, right?”
A tear the size of a bean slowly rolled down from Ena’s eyes as she nodded.
“Don’t lie. Do you think I wouldn’t know you tried to break the flower? You knew it was Her Highness’ cherished flower and tried to ruin it on purpose!”
The sharp voice of the orange-haired maid came from behind.
Ignoring her, I removed Ena’s hand covering her cheek.
The scratch marks on her cheek were clearly visible, as if they had been made by long nails.
“You will be punished if Her Highness finds out…”
Smack!
“Ahhh!”
I turned around and slapped her cheek without mercy.
The sharp voice let out a shrill scream.
The other maid and servants around us could not close their mouths in shock.
It was as if the world suddenly lost power, and they couldn’t even blink.
“So where is the flower my maid supposedly broke? The flower that Her Highness cherishes?”
As I approached the maid holding her cheek, she stepped backward.
Every time I took one step forward, she stepped back one step, barely squeezing out her voice.
Even then, the arrogant look toward me remained.
“I saw it clearly with my own eyes. That maid tried to ruin the flower that Her Highness personally planted and watered every day!”
Her finger pointed at Ena.
Then I slapped her other cheek this time.
Smack!
After being slapped again, she trembled like she had seen a ghost and looked at me.
The people who had gathered due to the commotion also held their breath and watched us.
“Do you know what meaning lies in the morning glory you are trampling under your feet?”
At my words, she flinched and looked down.
Flowers and leaves were crushed beneath her feet.
“Every time I come to the imperial palace, I look at that flower and pray for His Majesty the Emperor’s health. And you trampled my sincere prayer without mercy. Do you think your crime of insulting His Majesty can be washed away by just one slap?”
Her face twisted as a voice mixed with crying leaked out.
“The—th, that’s… th-that’s nonsense…”
Since those words came out of her own mouth, she must have clearly engraved how ridiculous her actions were.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t received a proper greeting yet. Your attitude toward your superiors is truly terrible. You are a maid serving the Third Prince’s consort, yet where did you learn such manners? Tsk. Imperial etiquette is so poorly taught.”
As I spoke in a pitiful tone, she finally realized her position.
She quickly lowered her gaze, avoiding my eyes.
Before being slapped and lectured by me, she probably had completely ignored my existence.
To her, I was not the elder sister-in-law of the Third Prince’s consort, but merely a puppet of the empress.
It was obvious how her maids would look down on me inside their hearts.
So I had no choice but to show everyone that if they touched me carelessly, it would hurt.
“What is all this noise!”
A majestic voice came from somewhere.
People around us stepped back and bowed their heads.
The empress appeared.
Right behind her were Pania and several other noble ladies I had met during the hunting competition.
“Her Majesty the Empress. Your Highness.”
The maid who was slapped by me ran toward them with teary eyes, looking as if she had suffered great injustice.
“What happened? And—why is your face…!”
Pania glared at me after seeing her maid’s condition.
Probably because the empress was present, she couldn’t openly confront me.
I ignored Pania and approached the empress, greeting her politely.
“Your Majesty the Empress. I reprimanded this maid as a senior because her behavior was too frivolous.”
The empress looked between Pania’s maid and Ena with an uncertain face.
She could see that more than one cheek was swollen.
If she stepped forward recklessly, she would also damage her own reputation for bringing me to the capital.
The clever empress quickly understood that.
It was a funny and sad thing, but the empress was a cheat code I could use in every situation.
Someday she would regret bringing me here, but I decided to use all her authority while I could.
“Educate your subordinates properly.”
After receiving a short scolding from the empress, Pania bit her lower lip until it turned white, trying to hold back her anger.
“Come to think of it, I couldn’t see you earlier. Everyone has gathered here.”
“I went to greet His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince. I was worried about the crown prince’s health since he could not attend the hunting competition.”
The empress’s face stiffened for a moment at my words, but soon she made a smile on her red lips.
“I see. Since tea is prepared, let’s go inside. I also prepared gifts for everyone today, so please look forward to them.”
She spoke as if telling the noble ladies behind her.
They seemed to expect it, because they all nodded with satisfied faces.
Unexpectedly, the place where we would have tea time was not a reception room.
It was a hall filled with treasures and decorations on shelves, like a museum collecting the rarest things in the world.
In the center of the hall with an exotic and classical atmosphere were tea and various delicious desserts.
Thinking that all those things were spoils of war made me feel once again how amazing Ricardo was.
It was clearly the moment when the empress would distribute the spoils like granting favor.
And I, who was invited there for the first time, felt my heart beat with another plan.
Before everyone sat on the sofas, they admired the sparkling strange objects with exclamations.
The marquisess of Guineiro, who came alone without her daughter because she had not fully recovered, seemed completely captivated by the pearl necklace.
A plump noble lady struggled to stand on tiptoe and looked at the sapphire brooch.
I was also momentarily distracted by the shining and beautiful things, but soon regained my composure and quickly scanned the surroundings.
Ah!
Discovering something, I let out a joyful cry in my heart.
The truly valuable treasure was sadly standing in a corner without attracting anyone’s attention.
I suppressed my excitement without showing it, knowing the value of that seemingly shabby object.
“I am planning to distribute gifts to everyone while enjoying tea. Especially among the spoils that came in this time, there are many very valuable items.”
“All of them are the glorious achievements of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“His benevolence also deserves praise.”
