CHAPTER 021
In the Lotus Palace, one of the residences within the Helterd Imperial Palace, where ten empress candidates reside. Bedroom of the 11th wing.
"What is this?"
The head maid, Bridgette, showed her finger, which had just swept across the top of a wardrobe, to the maids in front of her.
Three young women gulped, exchanging nervous glances. Honestly, it was a tiny speck of dust that one could only see if they looked very closely. However, none of them dared to speak up in front of the meticulous headmaid.
"Have you forgotten that cleaning must be done twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening?"
"N-no, ma'am. We certainly cleaned both this morning and this evening."
In response to Bridgette, the Imperial Head Maid’s question, one of the maids mustered up the courage to answer.
The head maid coldly grabbed the chin of the youngest-looking maid among the three and spoke icily.
"I'll ask you again. Did you clean the bedroom this evening? If I catch you lying, you’ll be expelled from the palace."
As Millie nodded with determination in her eyes, the other two maids beside her hastily knelt and confessed.
“We’re sorry, Head Maid. Since it’s an unused room for now, we only cleaned it in the morning because it was so clean... Please forgive us.”
Millie's face turned pale at her colleagues’ betrayal, but no plea for forgiveness escaped her tightly clenched lips.
"What should we do?"
Lauren, who oversaw the empress candidates' residences, asked as the head maid released Millie’s chin and tersely replied.
"Immediate dismissal."
It wasn’t demotion to the laundry or kitchen, but outright dismissal. The two maids who had knelt on the floor burst into tears at the head maid’s merciless decision. The head maid’s eyes briefly rested on Millie, who stood with her head bowed and fists clenched.
“Return to your quarters and pack your belongings.”
While the two maids were dragged out pleading at the head maid’s feet, Millie walked out with her head held high. She knew begging would be futile and didn’t want to lower herself to grovel.
The head maid never went back on her word. She was a stickler for rules, a perfectionist, and an ascetic.
She especially never tolerated lies from her maids. It was this strictness that allowed her to maintain her position for over forty years, regardless of who sat on the throne, living as a hidden power within the palace.
After the maids had left, the head maid softly instructed Lauren, the one she trusted the most.
"Do not send that maid Millie away. Bring her to me this evening."
“Are you planning to use her for this task?”
Bridgette nodded in response to Lauren’s discreet question.
“Millie is crafty and quick-witted but very stubborn. As you saw, she lies without regard for whom she’s talking to. She’s also incredibly proud. She’s not someone who easily listens to others.”
“I understand. That’s why she’s suitable to serve as the eleventh empress candidate. I know such girls well. They’ll do anything for their own benefit and can betray anyone.”
Though she despised this type, now was the time to use them.
“This is really surprising. I never thought you would accede to the Grand Duchess’s request.”
Lauren, who had served Bridgette for over 25 years, cautiously spoke while observing her carefully.
The head maid, Bridgette, was known for being a strict adherent to principles, not someone who resorted to schemes for power or wealth.
Many speculated that the head maid had amassed a vast fortune and wielded influence in the palace rivaling that of the Empress Dowager. Despite being in a prime position to accumulate wealth, her lifestyle remained extremely frugal.
She planned to retire to a rural convent, where she had been donating her salary, and spend the rest of her days there.
The position of the head maid, who supported the empress and oversaw the royal household and its staff, was equivalent in rank to that of a marquis.
However, she conducted all affairs according to royal laws and customs and never showed interest in matters outside her domain.
She was now stepping into palace intrigue for the first time, right before her retirement.
"This contest is a battle between two families... But it also concerns the honor of the late Empress. I will never allow an empress from the Kingdom of Sevill to rule Helterd Empire twice. I’ll stake my life on it."
Bridgette spoke through clenched teeth as she personally picked up a cloth to clean the furniture.
“I can no longer stand by and watch Empress Dowager Natalia tarnish the legacy of the late Empress. If her niece, Princess Lilibet, becomes the empress, the achievements of Empress Catherine will be erased.”
Empress Catherine had chosen a nine-year-old laundress from a count’s family as her play maid and later brought her to the palace, making her the head maid of the empress’s household. Despite the vast difference in status, they were the closest of friends.
“The Grand Duchess of Lesang is the only daughter of Empress Catherine. If Lady Grace becomes the empress, she promised to uncover the truth about Empress Catherine’s death.”
That was the reason. The inflexible head maid, Bridgette, who had never broken a rule in her life, had taken the hand of the greedy and unscrupulous Grand Duchess of Lesang.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had been waiting for this moment. To uncover the cause of Empress Catherine’s death, they went to bed in good spirits after dinner and never woke up the next morning.
The emperor, who had not been on good terms with his wife from the start, remarried just six months after her death to Princess Natalia of the Kingdom of Sevill, reputed to be the most beautiful woman on the continent.
The young new empress, who monopolized the emperor’s affection, not only erased the achievements of the benevolent and beloved Empress Catherine one by one but also went on to portray her as a villain.
Bridgette, the closest aide to the late empress, was almost expelled but managed to save the young empress from a deadly epidemic. Gaining the new empress’s trust, she rose to the position of head maid of the royal household.
Sure, here is the translation of the passage into English, using the character Arabelle:
“Then wouldn't it be easier to hinder Princess Lilibet, Lady Grace's biggest competitor? Why are you concerned about the eleventh candidate? She’s the daughter of a fallen family, unknown even in social circles...?”
“Princess Lilibet, like her aunt, possesses exceptional beauty. But she’s hot-tempered and foolish. She won’t be able to compete with the calm and intelligent Lady Grace. A little provocation, and she’ll explode on her own. However...”
Bridgette continued as she straightened her maid uniform.
“Lady Arabelle, the eleventh candidate, is different. She is a candidate chosen personally by His Majesty the Emperor. She could be the most dangerous rival to Lady Grace. When a beloved man's eyes turn to another woman, even the most rational and intelligent person can make mistakes.”
She knew that Grace had admired the Emperor since childhood. The reason she hadn’t used her family’s power to oppress other women was that the Emperor had shown no interest in anyone, including her.
But now, he was returning to the palace with a woman. Grace, who had always maintained a poker face, could do something foolish out of jealousy and self-destruct.
Moreover, the woman chosen by Emperor Maxwell was surely ambitious, perhaps even more so than Lilibet and more cunning than Grace.
Yet, being chosen by the Emperor suggested she was a level above them. The Emperor didn’t care about one’s character; what mattered to him was whether the person could help achieve his goal of controlling the entire continent.
If she became Empress and allied with the Empress Dowager for her ambitions, she would never reinvestigate Empress Catherine’s death. A woman with no blood relation would have no interest in a forgotten Empress.
Eliminating the eleventh candidate was the most urgent task. The head maid was convinced that Emperor Maxwell would become the greatest emperor in Helterd or even the continent’s history.
However, she also knew he had no affection or interest in people to the extent that he would reinvestigate his deceased grandmother's cause of death. He would rather use his intellect to expand the empire’s territory.
With her thoughts concluded, Bridgette clasped her hands together respectfully and left the bedroom. Watching the head maid’s retreating figure, always ten steps ahead, Lauren murmured to herself.
“The head maid never refrained from using schemes because she didn’t know how, but because she chose not to.”
***
“It was the year I turned twenty-two.”
The Emperor, sitting on the marble fountain’s rail with his long legs stretched out, faced Arabelle.
“Two years after I ascended the throne. I was on the battlefield, fighting against three allied nations to expand the territory to the east.
On the day we won the final battle, a report came in that a black panther had been spotted in the conquered kingdom’s McGinnis Mountain. I was sure it was the beast that killed my father and kidnapped my mother, so I led my soldiers to the mountain.”
As Arabelle’s clear eyes turned to him, Maxwell recounted the moment he first transformed into a beast, as if telling someone else’s story.
Entering McGinnis Mountain, Maxwell experienced for the first time his entire body’s blood boiling.
Hatred for the beast blurred even his sharp intellect. Although it was his first encounter with the treacherous McGinnis Mountain, his rage drove him deeper into the forest, leaving his guards behind.
On a humid summer night with a torrential downpour, he spotted golden red eyes among the dense trees. They were undoubtedly the eyes he had seen at nine years old.
Even his white horse, too exhausted to continue, staggered. Dismounting, the Emperor discarded his cloak and armor, climbing the steep mountain to pursue the monster.
After quite some time, he finally faced the beast at the mountain’s peak. He had waited twenty-two years for this moment to end the creature’s life. The black panther, as if waiting for him, stood on all fours, showing its eerie red eyes.
‘I will kill you with my own hands!’
He aimed his bow at the panther’s belly without hesitation.
‘Aaaargh!’
Suddenly, a simultaneous pain from the ground beneath and the sky above crushed his body. It was as if a giant hand from the sky grabbed his head and pounded it into the ground like a ball.
His internal organs twisted, and tears and vomit erupted. His limbs contorted on their own, and his bones grotesquely protruded through his skin as he collapsed. Then, everything turned pitch black.
When he opened his eyes, Sir Jacob and Sir Peter were standing with their bows drawn. He commanded them loudly, their frozen expressions unchanging.
‘The black panther is nearby, capture it!’
But the sound that came from his throat was not that of a human,
‘Rooooar!’
It was the start of the curse.
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