🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 10
But…
She recalled the abyss she had seen inside Kaiel earlier.
An endless, pitch-black darkness that seemed to sink without end. Elisia had no way to take revenge on someone who showed neither fear nor hope.
He’s still dangerous.
Getting too close to him right now would be no different from sticking her hand into the mouth of a venomous snake. She needed more information about Kaiel.
After finishing her deliberation, Elisia smiled sweetly and said,
“Please transfer me to another department.”
“The Imperial Palace Central Administration Office.”
“A new maid asking to work at the Central Administration Office?”
“Shh! What if she hears you?”
“No, but still. I heard His Majesty ordered it personally.”
As they passed through the corridor, the maids glanced at Elisia and covered their mouths. They pretended to whisper quietly, but in reality, they were speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“I heard she caught a traitor right in front of His Majesty.”
“That’s impossible. Isn’t that something the knights are supposed to do?”
“That’s why it’s even stranger.”
“Could she really be a witch?”
The whispers continued one after another.
But the moment the maids made eye contact with Elisia, they hurriedly turned their heads as if nothing had happened.
“I’m Ri… Sea. I’ll be working at the Central Administration Office starting today. I look forward to working with you.”
When Elisia spoke to them with a gentle smile, several maids awkwardly lifted the corners of their mouths.
“Ah, yes… Likewise.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Their attitude was completely different from the way they had been whispering just moments ago.
Only a few days ago, Elisia had been treated like a mere bug in the laundry room. Now, no one dared speak to her carelessly.
Kaiel’s command.
Just one word from him had completely changed the way people treated her.
Disgusting.
Without saying anything, Elisia walked past them.
The Central Administration Office was much larger than she had expected. In the corridor outside the office, maids and attendants were constantly coming and going without a moment’s rest.
“Risea.”
Esther, the middle-aged head maid, called out to her while flipping through some documents.
Elisia, who still wasn’t accustomed to her false name, realized only half a beat later that she was being called and walked over.
“I hear you’re new here.”
Esther looked her up and down once before speaking expressionlessly.
“Don’t expect any special treatment just because you’re a newcomer. This is a place where one mistake can cost you your head.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Starting today, you’ll be in charge of the banquet hall. Things will be hectic with the banquet preparations for a while, so don’t make any mistakes.”
“A banquet…?”
“You don’t even know about that? His Majesty’s first-anniversary banquet is going to be held soon.”
The head maid clicked her tongue.
“Not only members of the Imperial Family, but practically every noble in the country is expected to attend. Move as though your life depends on it. If even a single flower arrangement is crooked, assume the entire administration office will be turned upside down.”
“……”
The first anniversary of his coronation.
A cold shiver ran down Elisia’s neck.
Exactly one year ago, she remembered the Imperial Palace soaked in the stench of blood.
The horrifying sight of her parents and members of her family being dragged away after gathering to celebrate her marriage.
The knights who had come to drag away the Crown Prince.
And Kaiel, sitting on a blood-soaked throne with a smile on his face.
Are they really going to celebrate?
The day he trampled over countless people to rise to the throne?
Elisia’s gaze turned cold.
Unaware of what was going through her mind, Esther gave her a light tap.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t stand there spacing out. Take this.”
A thick file was dropped into her arms.
“It’s the list of distinguished guests. Finish organizing the seating arrangements and routes by the end of today.”
As Elisia opened the file, familiar names immediately caught her eye.
The nobles who had eagerly switched sides to Kaiel on the day of the rebellion.
The families that had betrayed the former emperor and the Crown Prince and survived.
And even those who had shamelessly taken over the positions left vacant after the Rotner family disappeared.
So the traitors are going to gather together and leisurely enjoy a banquet.
Her fingers tightened, crumpling the paper.
If she could have had her way, she would have shown every one of them a hellish hallucination on the day of the banquet. Their expressions would have been a sight to behold.
Just imagining it made the corners of her lips slowly rise.
Of course, she wouldn’t actually do that.
She wasn’t someone who would be satisfied with such a petty revenge. Her revenge against Kaiel would be far greater—and far more merciless.
Well, this isn’t bad.
Almost all the information about the Imperial Palace was gathered in the Central Administration Office. It was on an entirely different level from the laundry room, where she had spent all day washing filthy bedding.
She could find out who entered and left the palace.
Who had allied themselves with whom.
Even where Kaiel frequently went.
And furthermore…
Elisia’s gaze briefly stopped at the bottom of the document.
There was a particularly conspicuous name on the list of restricted areas.
“…The Forbidden Books Repository?”
She muttered quietly, and Esther flinched.
“Why are you asking about that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Esther stared at her suspiciously for a moment before speaking.
“Get rid of your useless curiosity.”
“……”
“Especially stay away from the Forbidden Books Repository. If you approach it without permission, you won’t leave with your life intact.”
The Curse of Record Erasure was one of the highest-ranking forms of black magic in the Imperial Family.
It wasn’t simply an execution. It was a curse that erased one’s very existence from the world.
If so, there was a good chance that the method for breaking the curse had also been preserved somewhere inside the Imperial Palace.
If I can find it…
She could reclaim her name.
She could rebuild the fallen Rotner family.
And she could restore her parents’ honor.
Just then, someone roughly dropped another stack of documents in front of her.
“Do this too!”
When Elisia raised her head, a young senior maid was looking down at her with a cocky expression.
“I heard no one even knows where you came from. I wonder if you can even read.”
The maids around them snickered softly.
Elisia looked at the woman’s name tag for a moment.
Emilia.
“Don’t worry, Emilia.”
Elisia smiled as she accepted the documents.
“Things like this should be handled by someone who knows how to read.”
The atmosphere around them instantly turned cold.
The corner of Emilia’s mouth twitched.
“You’ve got quite the attitude.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You’re acting up because you don’t even know your place, aren’t you?”
Elisia slowly raised her head.
“His Majesty personally decided what my place is.”
Several maids swallowed nervously.
Emilia bit her lip, her face flushing with anger, but she couldn’t say anything more. If she carelessly picked a fight with a maid personally appointed by the emperor, things could quickly become serious.
In the end, Emilia turned away with clenched teeth.
“Let’s see how long that arrogance lasts.”
Elisia chuckled inwardly.
It’s the same here after all.
The laundry room and the Central Administration Office were different places, but that was all that had changed. People still tore one another apart, clung to power, and held their breath in fear before those stronger than themselves.
Elisia vowed that even if she sometimes had to be cautious around Kaiel, she would never bow her head to people like them.
Anyone who interfered with her revenge would be ruthlessly removed.
It was then.
—Crash!
A loud sound of breaking glass suddenly rang out from the opposite end of the corridor.
“Eek!”
“What was that?!”
Two maids jumped in surprise and cried out. Esther also frowned and hurried over.
“What happened?”
“H-Head Maid…!”
One of the maids trembled, her face pale.
“All the Imperial wine meant for the banquet… has been smashed.”
“What?”
Inside the storeroom, red wine was spreading all across the floor.
The expensive bottles had all been shattered to pieces, and there were even footprints on the floor, as though someone had hurriedly fled the scene.
“This is insane…”
“Who could possibly pay for all this?”
With the banquet approaching, the maids’ faces grew even paler.
Esther shouted sharply,
“Bring me the storeroom access records!”
“Yes! Yes!”
The maid who had been standing there dumbfounded hurriedly ran off.
Elisia stared at the red wine spilled across the floor.
It looked just like the blood that had covered the floor of the Imperial Palace one year ago.
As though someone were deliberately recreating that horrific scene to commemorate the first anniversary of Kaiel’s coronation.
