Chapter : 05
“……Pardon?”
“They said you need money to buy a new ribbon.”
Sniff.
At some point, my delicate skin must have chafed, because my nose stung.
Feeling tears well up, I continued tattling away.
“They said if I did this, Goat would give me money. That if I got hurt, I wouldn’t have to work for a while and could stay by my side.”
“I… would give you money……?”
With even legal slavery being a thing, there was no way the princess would be punished for injuring a common servant.
‘Still, letting rumors spread freely wouldn’t be wise either.’
I recalled the bits of information I’d picked up over the past five days.
Within the imperial palace, opinions about the princess could broadly be summed up as pitiful—or fearful.
‘Among the common folk, she’s apparently called something like a baby demon.’
The reputation of the imperial family was directly tied to public sentiment.
Thanks to the current emperor’s tyranny, public opinion had already been ruined for a long time.
The arrows of criticism were aimed at high society as a whole, regardless of faction. Because of that, even nobles opposed to the imperial family were watching this issue closely.
‘And on top of that, the great famine is coming soon. If her reputation gets any worse, it’ll be fatal for the princess.’
A royal who wasn’t an heir. One with no ability, and a reputation scraping the bottom.
That meant she wouldn’t even be useful as a pawn in a political marriage.
And yet she still held succession rights?
The conclusion was obvious.
‘She’d have her head chopped off without anyone ever knowing.’
Or she might be thrown out as a scapegoat when public anger boiled over during the famine.
In any case, for those reasons, Goat had been willingly paying compensation money to silence the servants for the princess’s sake.
And a few fearless palace attendants had begun exploiting that.
“Did Rina really say that?”
Goat asked, sounding incredulous.
“Yeah. She did it again today.”
I nodded confidently.
I didn’t forget the accomplices either, diligently counting them off on my small fingers.
“And Nella too.”
“Huh…….”
“Hoven as well.”
“What?”
“And Thompson, and Jake, and Anne, and Chris, and Nilsen too.”
I rummaged under my pillow and pulled out a pitch-black secret notebook.
It was a death note.
“This is…….”
Goat took the notebook with a dazed expression.
When he opened it, dozens of names were scrawled crookedly in vivid red ink.
[Jiaemnggil Geumiljang]
[Obun Seumideu]
[Anne Beunao]
[Nisen Lotto]
Just how resentful had she been?
Some of the names, pressed down so hard they were marked with stars, had bled through the paper and were nearly impossible to read.
[Igiman Meureung]
‘……Even Isabel From.’
As Goat seriously scanned the notebook, Aeyrencia suddenly spoke up.
“Don’t do anything. I can handle it.”
Then, as if pondering something, she hesitated and added,
“……Maybe baby maids would be okay?”
Goat examined the handwriting more closely.
At the far left of each name, there was a strange number written.
Counting them in order, it seemed to correspond to rank—lowest first.
‘She’s telling me to quietly fire everyone from the bottom up.’
“And hire new people.”
While Goat was still deep in thought, Aeyrencia snatched the notebook back and flipped it open to the very last page.
“Ones who meet these conditions.”
Goat’s vision went dark.
An entire page was filled with writhing, severed earthworms.
I peeked my small head through a door left slightly ajar.
With both hands, I tightly grabbed my long hair, bunching it into a round shape like a golden skein of thread.
‘The basics of reconnaissance are stealth.’
Worried my shiny hair might give me away, I clenched my fists even tighter.
Holding my breath, I pricked up my ears and listened for movement.
When hiding from enemies, listening for footsteps, voices, or the sound of furniture being moved was Recon 101.
‘Good. Goat’s not here.’
After dangling from the doorway and surveying my surroundings like a spy movie, my eyes flashed sharply.
‘……Now!’
I rolled my small body across the floor and quickly slipped out of the bedroom.
And finally……
‘Freedom!’
After confirming there were no eyes watching me, I clenched my fist in triumph.
How much I’d suffered this past week!
After receiving my report, Goat had calmly nodded.
“First, you should focus on recovery. This old man will stay by your side.”
And for some reason, under the pretext of “isolation,” I’d been locked in my bedroom.
Goat hovered anxiously, afraid I might break something or lash out with a flying kick, watching my every move so closely that I felt like I was experiencing the step-by-step process of a hole being burned into my scalp.
But even Goat couldn’t stay glued to me all day……
“I’ll go take care of my overdue work.”
After repeatedly telling me never to leave the room alone and to count to three no matter how angry I got, he finally left the bedroom—today of all days.
Up until now, I’d jumped in surprise dozens of times just from hearing the old man’s cough outside the door before I could even open it.
‘I’ve been waiting for this day!’
I’d been lying weakly in bed, coughing pitifully, but the moment Goat left, I rolled right out of it.
Then I clung to the door and waited a full hour, holding my breath until all signs of activity outside disappeared—finally seizing my chance.
It was truly a tear-jerking escape.
Haaaah!
I inhaled the fresh air deeply.
‘Sweet—so sweet!’
The scent of freedom I hadn’t breathed in for so long was as sweet and refreshing as mint chocolate.
I had no intention of spacing out and getting caught by Goat again.
Thud thud thud!
Clutching my unnecessarily voluminous skirt, I bounded down the stairs like a flying squirrel.
I’d just made it down to the first floor and was about to slip through a window leading to the back garden when—
‘Someone?’
The instant faint footsteps brushed my ears, I quickly hid myself.
Even with a changed body, my ghostlike sense of presence hadn’t dulled.
If anything, this tiny body was even more agile—and sensitive.
‘I really was born to move.’
In Sword of the Blue Sky, Aeyrencia hated moving just as much as she hated studying, so she wasted this talent on nothing more than lifting forks.
No one knew of the princess’s potential.
Not even the swordmaster who briefly taught her.
In Sword of the Blue Sky, there was a scene where he sighed deeply upon seeing the female lead’s old sword.
“Where did you pick up a hunk of scrap like this? Just as with people, there’s a sword suited to its owner. I’d like to steal even that butcher’s blade and give it to you. Originally, it should have come to you in recognition of your achievements……but its owner was changed. Such a shame. Truly a shame.”
The crown prince, who overheard this while hiding in the imperial training grounds, immediately confiscated the treasured sword from the princess and gave it to the heroine as a birthday gift.
‘The princess was mocked for that for a long time.’
I’d disliked Aeyrencia throughout the novel for being useless and troublesome, but that moment had genuinely made me feel sorry for her.
That sword was the only gift she’d ever received from her father.
‘And it was a birthday present, too.’
Stealing his sister’s birthday gift to give to his lover as hers.
Morally aside, it was nothing short of self-sabotage.
The author probably wanted to show the cold secondary male lead turning into a passionate lover in front of the heroine……
‘But thanks to that, a guy who was sharp and intelligent against the dark mastermind male lead turned into an insufferable idiot whenever the heroine was involved.’
Clicking my tongue, I recalled the crown prince’s foolishness.
“Ugh…… This is so heavy.”
Fortunately for me, the person walking down the hallway wasn’t Goat, but a cute maid with short hair.
With an innocent face and an armful of laundry piled high like a mountain, she trudged along—looking exactly like a brand-new junior employee dumped with all the grunt work.
Goat had said he’d hired new staff recently. She must be one of them.
‘A newbie!’
My eyes gleamed like I’d found prey.
“Oof!”
As she struggled to keep the laundry from sliding out of her arms, I stuck close behind her and followed along.
Three steps, stop.
Two steps, stop again.
The newbie looked deep in thought.
“Haaa…… Should I quit……?”
I tilted my head.
“Why?”
Wasn’t the imperial palace the best workplace? No delayed wages, solid career prospects.
With just three years of experience as a palace maid, any noble household would welcome her with open arms.
But it seemed reality was different on the ground.
“There’s more work than I expected, not enough people…… and the seniors are just…….”
“Is the hazing bad?”
“They’re really strict about discipline. They’re all good people, but still…….”
“But the pay’s good, right?”
“It is. But, you know, she’s there. The seniors say clumsy girls like me won’t even last a day before getting kicked out.”
“She?”
“You know. Th-that…… huh?”
The maid, who’d been venting absentmindedly, suddenly froze mid-step.
Laundry thudded to the floor as she rubbed her eyes furiously.
“Huh? Huhhh?”
‘She seems… really slow.’
Forget turning her into a trustworthy subordinate—I’d probably end up following her around with my own rice bowl.
“Hmmm…….”
Watching the maid gape like a goldfish, I cocked my head.
‘What should I do.’
She was one of the people who hadn’t experienced the old Aeyrencia firsthand.
Rumors spread fast, but they were nothing compared to actually living through it.
If she’d only heard exaggerated gossip, she might be easier to sway by seeing the princess’s changed behavior.
‘And she’s still new.’
It was normal to be clumsy as a newbie.
There was a saying in Korea that you get a free pass for your first year at a job for a reason.
‘Alright. Let’s do this.’
To win her over, I needed to leave a good impression.
The basics of a first impression were a smiling face and a friendly greeting.
Uncharacteristically, I beamed brightly and raised my hand high.
“Hi?”
“Eeeek—!”
What I’d failed to account for was this:
This chick-like maid had already heard countless stories—both true and wildly exaggerated—about the scars etched into her seniors’ bodies.
Terrified, she saw my small, brightly raised hand and immediately threw herself flat onto the floor.
“I—I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Only after seeing her burst into tears did I realize something had gone terribly wrong.
……This isn’t how it was supposed to go?
