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~Chapter 41~
Monet, afraid she might get hit again, reflexively covered her face with her arms.
Seeing that, flames flashed in Dahlia’s eyes. She just couldn’t stand it anymore.
Dahlia grabbed the hand that was about to hit Monet and yanked it toward herself. Silvia’s startled face came very close. When Dahlia let go of her hand, Silvia lost her balance and stumbled to the side.
Silvia, now sitting on the floor, glared fiercely at Dahlia.
“Get her! Right now!”
The knights who had just been watching the scene lazily put their hands on their swords, looking annoyed.
At that, Cole and Annie quickly stepped in front of Dahlia to protect her.
“Don’t move carelessly.”
Cole drew his sword with a smooth smile, though his eyes were cold.
“Are there really so many people in this empire who don’t know what knighthood means?”
Annie fanned herself with a cold smile.
There was a tense standoff.
Suddenly, from the back, Viviana stood up and stepped forward, giving an order to the knights.
“Stop!”
But the knights hesitated, watching Silvia for direction instead of the princess.
“Catch her, hurry!”
Silvia stood up and stomped her feet in anger.
As the knights finally started to move, Viviana ran in front of them and spread her arms wide.
“This is my palace! Listen to me!”
At that moment, an unexpected voice was heard.
“Hohoho. That’s right. This is the princess’s palace, so you must follow the princess’s orders.”
The low voice belonged to an old man leaning on a cane. Everyone in the palace froze in place.
“Ch-chief attendant!”
Silvia hurried over and bowed deeply.
How did the chief attendant show up here all of a sudden? No one understood what was happening.
“It’s been a while, head maid.”
“Yes. It’s been a long time.”
“Then why aren’t you following the princess’s orders?”
The chief attendant’s wrinkled eyes stared at her.
“Of course we obey the princess’s orders. But strange nobles from another country suddenly broke in, causing trouble. I just ordered the knights to drive them out.”
Silvia looked very upset as she explained.
“Really? That’s not what I’ve heard.”
“What do you mean…?”
Silvia stared at the chief attendant in confusion.
Ignoring her, the chief attendant scanned the crowd for the person who sent him a letter that morning. Finally, his eyes met hers.
[Hello, Chief Attendant. This is Ria Herdran. I have something urgent to tell you, so I’m writing this letter.
The princess’s nanny has stolen the late empress’s necklace and is tormenting the princess. Please come to the princess’s palace and find out the truth.]
The chief attendant bowed his head slightly in thanks, and Dahlia respectfully returned the gesture. She was a foreign noble, but truly grateful. Not only had he saved the princess’s life, he noticed every detail that she herself had missed.
Turning back to Silvia, the chief attendant’s wrinkled eyes narrowed sharply.
“Head maid. I heard you stole the necklace the late empress gave the princess.”
“What? N-no… That’s not true. I never did such a thing.”
Silvia shrank back and shook her head. How did he find out? Her back was damp with cold sweat.
“I see. Then you won’t mind if I search your room?”
“Why are you doing this, Chief Attendant? You know how much I care for the princess.”
“Are you afraid?”
“No. Search all you want.”
Silvia raised her head proudly. In fact, it was better this way. She always kept the necklace on her person because she trusted no one. If nothing turned up in the room, she could act even more wronged.
At the chief attendant’s signal, the palace attendants began searching the head maid’s room.
After some time, they returned empty-handed. Silvia looked the chief attendant straight in the eyes.
“Now you believe I’m innocent, right?”
Meanwhile, Dahlia was watching the sky. Lemon had flown over and was circling above Silvia’s head, as if pointing her out as the culprit.
“Is it on that woman’s body?”
Dahlia whispered to herself, and Lemon nodded.
Peep peep.
Dahlia smiled at the sky in thanks and approached the chief attendant.
“Chief Attendant, the princess’s necklace might be on that woman.”
“W-what are you talking about?!”
Silvia shouted, terrified.
At the chief attendant’s signal, palace maids took Silvia to her room.
“No, don’t do this! Princess, save me!”
Soon after, one palace maid returned, holding a ruby necklace in her hand. She handed it to the chief attendant, who accepted it with a sad look and approached the princess.
“Your Highness, I’m sorry. I trusted the head maid too much. I should have watched her more closely.”
The chief attendant bowed and offered the necklace to the young princess.
“It’s okay. This is my fault.”
Viviana carefully took the necklace. She could hardly believe her mother’s necklace was in her hands again. Stupidly, she had thrown a fake one into the lake, thinking that was the only way to save Monet.
She regretted giving up so easily. She wished she had ordered Silvia not to hurt Monet.
Late regret filled her heart and became pain.
“It’s not your fault, Your Highness. You just have to say what you want.”
The chief attendant kindly advised her.
Dahlia also gave her a warm, encouraging look.
Viviana hesitated, then gathered her courage and spoke.
“Remove everyone who didn’t obey my orders from my sight.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The chief attendant bowed deeply and shouted.
At once, many royal palace knights rushed in and arrested everyone from the princess’s palace.
“I was wrong!”
“I don’t know anything!”
“Please spare me!”
Silvia, being dragged away by the palace maids, suddenly knelt before the princess.
“Your Highness, I was wrong. My greed blinded me.”
Viviana squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.
Silvia clung to her feet, weeping.
“Your Highness, please. I won’t ask for forgiveness. Just let me keep one thing that belonged to my old mistress—the letter she gave me. That’s all I want.”
Her old mistress was the late empress. The two of them were as close as sisters.
Viviana’s heart wavered. She looked around, not knowing what to do.
Both the chief attendant and Dahlia gave her supportive, understanding looks, as if any choice she made was okay.
Viviana stared quietly at Silvia, who looked up at her in desperation. She remembered how kind Silvia had been just a few months ago.
Nanny, why did you change? How did we end up like this?
“…All right. Go and get it.”
“Yes, thank you, thank you!”
Silvia shook off the palace maids and headed to her room.
