"Only then. The Princess deliberately stayed away from me because she was afraid that the maid would get revenge. Now she's back."
"Really?"
Samon rolled his eyes.
"Sure. You know. How much the Princess trusts and relies on me."
The saliva dried at the corners of her mouth.
Samon finally relaxed his shoulders and smiled.
"The head maid makes a lot of noise inside and outside the palace, so my head hurts quite a bit. Show me your legs. Is it here?"
Samon stretched out his hand towards Marieu in a familiar manner. Even as she rolled her eyes, Marieu pretended not to give up and fell into his arms.
"You old fox dare to hurt my love. Don't worry. That girl will be replaced anyway. My father has already found a replacement."
She felt his hot breath.
"Darling, you love me, right?"
"Ha, Marieu. I want to marry you right now."
Samon whispered sweetly in her ear.
"Me too."
He kissed her with his thin lips and whispered once again.
"But my love, you have to be good before I can take you to my parents. As a minor Duke, I must have a good reason to take you, a commoner, as my wife."
Samon looked down at Marieu.
He wrapped his fingers around the strands of red hair spread out on the white sheet.
Marieu, feeling dizzy, closed her eyes, then pulled her hair and forced them to open.
"My dear cousin's favorite maid must be you, Marieu. Marieu, you need to know everything about what Medea is doing and what she is thinking."
Samon frowned at his handsome features. Between his petty eyes, his black, rat-like eyes flashed strangely.
"Marieu, do you know what I'm saying? Did you understand correctly?"
Marieu became impatient.
It seemed as if the nameplate of Duchess Claudio that had been hovering before her eyes had already disappeared.
"... Of course. Don't worry, darling. I can do anything for you."
So Marieu hugged him tightly. She believes that the momentary feeling of emptiness is unfounded.
***
Even if it wasn't Samon's request, Marieu did her best to somehow win the princess's attention.
But it seemed that it was far from possible for those green eyes to show warmth to her.
The Princess did not kick Marieu out at all. But she didn't let anything get away from her.
The kind Princess who taught her every move and explained everything to her was no longer there.
'We need to get back to the way things were before Samon finds out.'
Her nerves got on edge.
Marieu was pacing somewhere between nervousness and anger.
"That bracelet is so pretty."
The Princess looked at Marieu indifferently. And she suddenly said something.
Marieu's pupils shook.
"It feels like I'm seeing it for the first time. Who did you get it from?"
The golden bracelet was shaped like a rose vine and had small rubies embedded in each flower bud.
Every time Medea moved her arm, the delicately carved flower buds swayed slightly. The vividly colored ruby gave off a brilliant light.
At first glance, it was an expensive bracelet.
It's a bit too much for just one maid.
"Well, who got it? This is what my mother left to me!"
Marieu was startled and unconsciously pulled down her sleeves to hide her bracelet.
"After my mother passed away, she kept it in a keepsake box so I never saw it."
In the meantime, she made up the excuse of her dead mother to make the Princess feel guilty.
But the bracelet was actually a gift she received from Samon last night.
"Take it, Marieu. Did you ask me if I love you? I hope this is a sign of that."
Marieu wore it on her arm to show off to the maids, but she had no idea that the Princess had seen it.
"Yes?"
"Umm, yes. If not for my mother, where would I have gotten this?"
"I know."
The moment the Princess lightly affirmed, paradoxically, a fire ignited inside Marieu.
'I know? Now, are you ignoring me as a lowly commoner girl who only takes care of herself?'
A half-baked subject, without an ice, rich, handsome lover to give these gifts.
'Dare, dare!'
The black letters flowing out from within were about to flow out in a continuous line.
There seemed to be a faint sound of laughter. Marieu raised her head.
Medea was looking at her and raising her eyebrows slightly.
"Um, Your Highness?"
Marieu, seeing the Princess's smile, had goosebumps running down her back.
Even though it seemed peaceful, she couldn't figure out the moment when it became cold from moment to moment.
"Well, Your Highness. Well then I'll just... Please call me whenever you need me."
The resolution she had made in the morning to hold on to the Princess's ankles and stick with her till the end was gone, and Marieu hurriedly took a step back.
It seemed like if she waited any longer, everything would all be found out.
Everything from her lover, her inferiority complex towards the Princess, and her unexplained fear of her.
"It's a keepsake. You tell funny lies."
Medea muttered as she looked at Marieu's back as she ran away.
"Are you lying?"
"The flower decoration on that bracelet earlier was not a rose, but a trumpet. It was also the emblem of the tribe that assassinated the Emperor of the Kazen Empire, so its use was completely banned on the continent."
Because of this sad and shameful history, Katzen even more strictly prohibited the use of the trumpet symbol in other countries.
The emblem, which had been banned for decades, was allowed again after the first prince of Kazen won the war of conquest.
Because among the kingdoms he exterminated was the Trumpet tribe.
"So, because of time, it can't be a keepsake. The first Prince won long after the nanny died."
However, in addition to their secret relationship, there were more clues that the bracelet provided. Medea's eyes shone sharply.
"My uncle was already interacting with the empire."
After the First Prince's victory, the imperial family monopolized the trumpet pattern and restricted it to only a few people.
"Samon is always motivated. His father must have been anxious not to be able to boast about the fact that he was interacting with the powerful nation of Kazen. It's still just a bluff used by a maid to spite his father."
She won't even know what he gave Marieu.
In the past, she remembered him taking the lead in advocating for the dethronement of Peleus.
"It helps that you two aren't very smart. Should I at least say thank you?"
Or is my cousin's brother quite sincere in his love?
Then, Neril asked.
"Your Highness, do you mean that Duke Claudio is in cahoots with the Empire? Even if the Duke aims for the throne, what can the empire gain?"
Why did the superpower Kazen take the hand of the nobles of a small, barren northern nation?
"The Emperor of Kazen does not want our Valdina to grow any bigger. So, I have to stop my brother somehow."
Peleus is a great man who does not bend even if he breaks.
Even when surrounded by swarms of demonic beasts, he never did anything to Emperor Kazen's tastes.
"Then, the aid promised by the Kazen delegation coming this time..."
"It's a trick. The Emperor does not want us to win, so he will somehow find an excuse to refuse aid."
Medea's face hardened.
"And ultimately, it will lead to rebellion."
In her last life, it actually went like that.
There was a desperate need for relief in preparation for the upcoming harsh winter.
Katzen suddenly refused aid.
Valdina had to exhaust their treasury, which was already struggling, in an urgent search for food.
Nevertheless, it was not enough, leading to a severe food shortage.
Voices condemning the incompetent royal family grew louder, and blame was directed at King Peleus.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the people's anger reached its peak, the weightlifters led the rebellion.
Fake weightlifters who received aid and were hired by the Prince Regent.
The leaders of the rebel army were blinded not by patriotism but by the Regent's gold coins. They agitated the people and veterans who were tired of war and hunger.
They further strengthened their cause by kidnapping Medea and stigmatizing her as a Princess who abandoned her people and ran away.
The Prince Regent's plan was to clean up the chaos caused by the rebels and take the throne while both the King and Princess were away.
"Rebellion..."
Neril's expression became serious.
'Even now, there is already a lot of resentment because of the war, but if even Kazen's slogan disappears as she said..."
The starving people will not be able to endure any longer. If the mob rises like a fire, will Valdina be able to hold out?
'This is a serious matter that could lead to the collapse of the royal family. But there's an empire behind it?'
Neril was indignant.
"No matter how powerful Kazen is, aren't you afraid of a backlash for daring to slander the King of another country?"
Medea was filled with arsenic.
"Oh, no one will know that the Prince Regent and the Empire are already in a relationship."
Because all those who already noticed or knew about it have been eliminated.
'The rebels climbed over the walls too easily and quickly. Claudio took action in advance.'
If Peleus had not won the war and returned quickly, everything might have gone according to the regent's plan.
'Soon the rebels will overtake the capital.'
Therefore, they must prevent them from entering the capital from the beginning.
Medea got up from her seat and headed to the window.
The castle wall was visible in the distance.
"Neril, where is your master now?"
If he were Gilliforth, the former captain of the Royal Guard, she could become a breakwater to stop them.
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