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CHAPTER 09
Leaving behind the anxious kitchen staff, they headed down the corridor toward the internal treasury office.
“Why are they working in my 별성 (imperial estate kitchen) while even their wages are being deducted?”
Lena seemed to know the kitchen situation fairly well, so I asked casually—though I hadn’t really expected a proper answer.
But Lena responded without hesitation.
“The kitchen staff at Byulseong are all people Your Highness personally saved.”
“…Me?”
“Yes. I don’t think there’s anyone in the castle who doesn’t know about it. That was… wow, already about four years ago.”
Could the timid, fragile Melissa really have done something like that?
“Except for my friend Soneti, all the others were originally direct secretariat staff of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“The Emperor’s direct secretariat?”
How did people from there end up working in a kitchen?
I tilted my head, unable to connect the two unrelated positions, and Lena added an explanation.
“It seems there was a leak regarding His Majesty’s secret slush funds… and the documents were leaked by someone from the direct secretariat.”
“Aren’t you talking about illegal slush fund allegations?”
“Yes! That’s right. It eventually ended as just allegations, but the Council of Elders was very displeased for a while.”
Something suddenly came to mind.
There had been a scene in the webtoon depicting the Emperor’s illegal slush funds.
Back when the Emperor, who was later shown to have descended into madness throughout the story, was still sane.
It was a scheme orchestrated by the original final villain, the Second Prince, to delay the First Prince’s appointment as Crown Prince.
He stirred up the Council of Elders by spreading allegations of non-existent slush funds, and the fabricated evidence he prepared was convincing enough that the Emperor was put on the defensive.
As the Council’s pressure intensified, the Emperor had no choice but to postpone the Crown Prince appointment at their demand.
After that, the Emperor’s madness deepened, and as his sanity collapsed, his obsession with power only grew, leading him to refuse appointing any heir.
What’s more, the Emperor firmly believed that the Council of Elders was behind the incident.
Because of this, the already strained relationship between the Imperial Family and the Council became even worse.
Afterwards, the Emperor’s condition rapidly deteriorated.
“I still remember how Princess Melissa tearfully begged His Majesty, saying it wasn’t their fault… it really breaks my heart…”
“Yeah. Well, I somehow managed to save them, but leaving the others aside, why is Soneti working in my kitchen?”
“Her father was one of the direct secretariat staff. He passed away from illness recently.”
Lena, who had been answering steadily as she walked along, stopped in front of a door.
“Here we are, Your Highness! Ah… since it’s lunchtime, the head of the internal treasury might not be here.”
Lena muttered in disappointment after checking the time.
I shrugged lightly.
“That’s exactly why we’re going now.”
“Pardon?”
How could we know if the treasury chief was part of the conspiracy too?
If we were going to dig, now—when he was away—was the best time.
I pointed at the door with my chin, and Lena quickly opened it.
“…Princess Grenita?”
As Lena had guessed, the office was mostly empty—but one person remained.
A thin middle-aged man wearing round glasses had just stood up from his desk when he noticed me and tilted his head.
“It seems you’ve taken the wrong way. I’ll call a servant for you.”
“Her Highness has come to the right place, Baron Pol.”
Since the man had not yet properly greeted me, Lena stepped in to respond.
A formal greeting should have followed, but instead, the middle-aged man with his coat draped over his arm walked sluggishly over and stopped in front of me as if inconvenienced.
His words were equally rude.
“It’s lunchtime. Please come after 2 PM.”
“I simply came to confirm the monthly allocations for my estate and the salaries of the staff. If you could just provide the documents—”
Lena flinched at Baron Pol’s disrespectful attitude and tried to speak hesitantly, but even that was cut off mid-sentence.
“Internal Treasury documents can only be shown with the department head’s permission.”
“Pardon? Even documents regarding funds allocated to Her Highness?”
“That is the rule. And even if you saw them…”
Baron Pol rolled his eyes toward me and smirked.
“Would you even understand, Your Highness? You’d need someone to explain them to you.”
“Y-you’re disrespecting Her Highness right now…!”
“As you can see, the staff are all out.”
“What do you mean all out? You’re here, Baron Pol.”
“I also need to go have my meal.”
At his dismissive tone, Lena was left speechless.
Meanwhile, Baron Pol clicked his tongue as if dealing with an annoying task.
From the way he wouldn’t even look at his superior standing before him, it was clear how little he respected Melissa.
“Lena.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
At my low call, Lena quickly stepped aside.
“I greet Princess Grenita.”
“Baron Pol.”
As I stepped forward, Baron Pol reluctantly offered a greeting.
“I’d like to review the monthly allocations for my estate and the salaries paid to the staff.”
“As I said, internal treasury documents require approval from the department head.”
“Hah.”
A clear sneer directed at me made him pause.
So that’s how it is—he just doesn’t want to show them.
In any era, in any company—though the Empire wasn’t exactly a company—the only reason you can’t show accounting records is one thing.
There’s something shady going on.
“Baron Pol, sticking to rules is fine, but…”
Don’t think so narrowly.
In a society of hierarchy, it wouldn’t end well for a servant to treat their master like this.
Even for the famously timid and naive Melissa.
“What do you think is the purpose of the Internal Treasury, Baron Pol?”
“Pardon?”
He repeated my words slowly, his tone still indifferent.
“Why do you think the Internal Treasury and External Treasury are separated?”
“……”
“Obviously, the Internal Treasury is less important than the External one, isn’t it?”
Whether that was true or not didn’t matter.
The point was to provoke him.
But perhaps it wasn’t entirely wrong—Baron Pol’s face twisted in irritation.
“There is no difference in importance among Imperial institutions!”
“Playing ignorant, are we?”
I let out a light scoff, and his face turned even redder.
If he had been a bit older, he might have collapsed from anger right there.
“Then what is the Internal Treasury’s importance?”
“It exists to support the Imperial Family without deficiency and manage things more delicately. To maintain the dignity of the Imperial Household.”
“And whose is that Imperial Household?”
“His Majesty the Emperor.”
“And I am his only daughter.”
“Th… that is correct, Your Highness.”
Baron Pol nodded awkwardly.
“And yet you’re telling me I need the department head’s permission to look at my own family’s ledger?”
“T-that is—!”
“Are you going to tell His Majesty to get permission from the Internal Treasury chief as well?”
“…!”
“I can see exactly what you think of His Majesty.”
“I would never! How could I ever think such disrespectful thoughts toward His Majesty!”
Panicked, Baron Pol shook his hands and head.
“To speak of the Emperor so disrespectfully in the central palace…”
How admirable, that courage.
I dabbed at nonexistent tears with my fingertips and looked at him sadly.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to report you to the Royal Guard.”
“Your Highness!”
Baron Pol gritted his teeth and spat out,
“Speak according to procedure! I trust you would understand that!”
“You’re making baseless assumptions. Are you threatening me now?”
“Assumptions? Threatening? I simply interpreted what I heard.”
My casual waving only provoked him further.
“I did say it, but that’s not what I meant!”
“Right, you said it. And yet it’s an assumption? I’m not so sure.”
“Your Highness!”
“You also know my understanding skills aren’t exactly great.”
After glaring at me in silence for a moment, Baron Pol finally spoke.
“…So what can you do, Your Highness?”
“What?”
“Who would believe Your Highness anyway? You’ll be lucky if you don’t get reprimanded for obstructing the Internal Treasury and disturbing work.”
“Wow…”
A hollow exclamation escaped me.
So Melissa was really this disregarded?
Was it impressive that a baron was openly defying a princess…
Or impressive how thoroughly Melissa was being ignored?
I couldn’t decide.
“Stop being stubborn and leave. Honestly, there’s a limit to how much you can disturb people who are working hard.”
Baron Pol stepped forward aggressively, pointing a finger right in front of my eyes.
His behavior—towering over Melissa by a head—would have been threatening to most noble ladies.
Unable to win with logic, he intended to overpower me with force.
Just as Lena was about to step in—
I didn’t back down. Instead, I sneered at him sharply.
“Fine. If you won’t move aside, I’ll show you what I can do.”
Seeing my lack of hesitation, Baron Pol faltered.
“So you’d better hand over the documents.”
“Ugh…!”
That was my final warning—but I had never expected him to listen.
This was exactly the kind of person who, when losing logically, tried to resolve things with force.
“I said I can’t give you the documents!”
“Then I’ll take them myself.”
“You… damn—!”
Baron Pol, who had been blocking me aggressively, grabbed my wrist and strode toward the door.
