There is no prepared palace in the inner palace, which is always well-prepared considering that many royal descendants will be born.
It was such bullshit that even a passing dog wouldn't laugh.
Sophia probably saying that because I don't know the circumstances of the imperial palace.
“Her Majesty the Empress sincerely regrets having you to stay here.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do.”
I guess she said it out of a desire to annoy us rather than a real desire to enter the inner palace, so I shrugged my shoulders and brushed it off.
“Thank you for your broad understanding. Then, I will show you the bedroom you will be staying in.”
As much as the Emperor committed a flagrant act by drugging Perdes and forcing him into a shared bedroom.
I was worried that they would ask me to share the same bedroom or do something similar here, but fortunately, that didn't happen.
Is that all? My bedroom was located at the end of the east corridor of the Spring Palace, and Perdes' bedroom was placed completely at the end of the west corridor.
'What are you thinking?'
Why did you do this? I was afraid because I could not guess the Emperor's intentions.
What are you planning to do again, Emperor?
“I will help you change clothes, Young Lady.”
While I was thinking, the maid sent by Sophia came in.
Looking at the freckles on the maid's face reminded me of May.
Is she doing well?
I suddenly became curious about May's current situation and asked the maid.
“Your name is May, right?”
It wasn't because I really thought this maid was May, it was just a sneak peek.
“No, Lady. My name is Abba.”
"Oh sorry. I was mistaken because you looked similar to May.”
"It's okay. I often hear that I'm similar to May.”
“Are you close with May?”
“Of course, Lady. May doesn’t work at the Spring Palace now, but when she did, she was my best friend.”
Is May not here now?
“Have she quit working as a maid?”
"No. May must have done something very wrong, and she was transferred to the laundry room.”
Places like the laundry room were where new maids who had just entered the palace worked.
But May was transferred there.
It was clear that going against Chernosser's wishes had become a problem.
Even if she had provided the cause, I was a little concerned... That was it.
I had no intention of saving May.
After finishing my return, I went to see Perdes.
It was to show the courtiers that my relationship with him was good and to discuss future matters.
“Welcome, Lady.”
Just as I was assigned a maid, Perdes was also assigned a servant.
The servant who greeted me politely glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
“You’re here, Lady.”
"Yes."
Sir Eren next to him accepted the greeting with a bright smile.
Despite the stark temperature difference, the servant showed no significant reaction.
He's good at hiding your emotions.
This meant that he was not an ordinary servant, so I took in his face and went inside.
Perdes changed into comfortable clothes and sat in front of the window sill.
When I came in, he just turned his head and looked at me.
"What's the matter?"
“You’re not asking because you don’t know what I really came here for, right?”
Perdes shrugged his shoulders and got down from the window frame.
And when he sat down on the sofa, I sat across from him.
Knock knock.
At the same time, there was a knock on the door, and the servant I saw earlier came in carrying a tea tray.
After setting up the sofa table, he bowed politely and went out.
Perdes muttered, glaring at the teapot.
“It’s probably not poisonous, is it?”
“That will never happen.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
“What the Emperor wants is a child with mixed blood from the royal family and Duke Leopold’s family. He will never kill me until the child is born.”
The reason I said ‘me’ instead of ‘we’ was because even if Perdes dies, there will be someone to take his place.
For example, Chernoser and Ian were among those who would replace him.
If the Emperor is in a hurry, he can bring in the Crown Prince.
But he had no one to take my place. If I die, the lineage of Duke Leopold will be completely cut off.
...Wait for a second.
Then why did the Emperor kill me in my second and third lives?
Even if the second life was a mistake while saving Sir Aldor, I did not understand the outcome of the third life.
I picked up the teaspoon, thinking I would have to review this later.
Teaspoons were made of silver to detect poison.
“Let’s put this in the tea.”
Perdes twisted his lips.
“I can name ten poisons that cannot be identified with silver.”
“Only ten? I can name twenty more.”
"Yes. You’re great, you’re great.”
Perdes snorted and crossed his arms.
“I won’t drink a single sip of that tea.”
“It doesn’t matter, but we're going to stay in the imperial palace for two days, so you don’t want to eat anything during that time?”
"Yes."
“You must be hungry.”
"It's okay. It’s only two days, so what?”
It's only two days.
I felt sorry for him because it meant that he had starved that much.
“If you don’t believe me, I’ll ask Lord Eren to get some food separately.”
"It's okay. You don’t have to go through the trouble.”
“I’m not okay. You barely gained weight, but you can’t lose it again.”
Perdes picked and laughed.
“If anyone hears it, they’ll think you’re trying to fatten me up and eat me.”
“I think so.”
"What?"
While I was laughing with Perdes at an odd joke, there was a knock on the door.
It was Sir Aldor. He approached me with long strides and spoke in a whisper.
“You should never drink tea, Miss.”
My eyes automatically turned to the teapot.
“The servant took poison in that tea.”
Even though the poison didn't burn, the medicine did.
I could immediately guess why the servant had taken the medicine in the tea.
The Emperor must have ordered it.
"What's the matter?"
“No, nothing.”
I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell this fact to Perdes, who already had a deep-rooted distrust of the food provided in the imperial palace, so I hid it.
“I’ll just go now.”
Instead, when I stood up, Perdes looked puzzled and asked.
“What, are you leaving already? Didn’t you come here to talk?”
“Now that I think about it, it’s so late today that it might be better to talk tomorrow.”
I sat there for a long time, and it might have looked strange if I hadn't taken even a sip of tea, so I came out right away.
“Lord Aaron, please remove the tea."
The cleanup was left to Sir Eren.
When I returned to the room, what caught my eye was the kettle on the nightstand.
There was always water ready so that you could drink it right away if you got thirsty while sleeping.
Wasn't there anything in that water?
I bet it was on something. There was a very high possibility that it was weak.
“We need to find a solution.”
I can ask Sir Aldor or Sir Eren to get food separately.
Then the Emperor would probably think it was strange, so I couldn't do that.
For the same reason, as Perdes said, starving yourself was not a good idea.
The best way for now was to recruit a courtier who was not under the Emperor's control.
***
The next day, morning.
As soon as the day dawned, I secretly escaped from the Palace of Spring with the help of Sir Aldor.
It was to recruit courtiers who were not in the hands of the Emperor.
To be exact, he was a courtier who had been abandoned by the Emperor.
As I walked down a somewhat shabby street that I thought was inside the imperial palace, I came across a laundry room next to a well.
Splash, splash.
Even though it was still early in the morning, a woman was diligently washing blankets.
It was May.
I watched May in silence as she did the laundry, and approached her when she collapsed from exhaustion.
“Oh, Lady?”
Even though it had been a while since I had seen her, May immediately recognized who I was and stood up in surprise.
“How can you get here...?”
“I came because I had a question.”
“Do you have any questions?”
"Are you tired?"
May flinched when the answer was turned into a question.
“Isn’t it very difficult to work here?”
"That is...”
“You can be honest. I came because I wanted to hear your honest feelings.”
May hesitated for a moment, looking at me, then nodded.
“It’s so hard.”
Bad emotions, such as resentment and anger, were welling up in May's distorted eyes.
They soon dripped down with tears.
“It’s so hard that I would do anything just to get out of this hell.”
“Then shall I save you?”
“... Yes?"
May stopped crying and looked at me in surprise.
“Of course, it’s not free. Instead of me saving you, you have to work for me.”
“Why are you offering me that...”
That's because you are an abandoned loser.
Unless May was a fool, there was no way she would fall back on the person who abandoned her, so she was perfect to use as my limb.
“Does it matter? What matters is that I can get you out of here.”
"Miss...”
“If you take my hand, I will not only get you out of this hellish place, but I will also take you to the Duchy of Leopold.”
A cool but artificial breeze blew and stole the foam from May's cheeks and hair.
“So if you are willing to work for me, take my hand.”
May looked at my outstretched hand in silence, then held it tightly as if she would never let go again.
“Thank you, Lady.”
***
“I’m talking about the maid who helped me for a while when I was in the imperial palace.”
After breakfast.
When Sophia came to ask if I was missing anything, I brought up May's story.
“I would like to use that maid as my exclusive maid while I am in the imperial palace. Is that possible?”
Sophia responded to my request by lowering her head as if she felt very sorry.
“I’m sorry, but that maid quit her job a while ago.”
“She quit?”
"Yes. Due to personal reasons...”
“Then who was the maid I saw in the laundry room?”
“...!”
Sophia, who had never thought that I would meet May in the laundry room, opened her eyes wide in embarrassment.
“I won’t ask you why you lied, Sophia.”
I clenched my chin, crossed one leg, and looked at Sophia.
“Bring the maid to me instead. Right Now."
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