Where Victoria and Scylla get their due, Franz get scolded by Mother dear and Tara receives an unexpected message....
This Chapter is dedicated to Corinne! Thank you so much for your generous donation and kind words!
Disclaimer:
DO NOT publish our edits anywhere else. Especially on social media. Otherwise we may have to stop doing this. Thank you.
Episode 246. About 9 months.
Victoria followed the deputy director into her assigned room.
Clang!
The door slammed shut as if on cue.
“. . . What is this?"
Stuttering in disbelief, Victoria rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things wrong, then looked again.
The square room with stone walls that could be crossed in four steps was filled with a musty odor.
The only furniture was a bed with tattered sheets and pillows, and a wooden coat rack against the wall.
"This is ridiculous!"
Wide-eyed, Scylla went to the closed door and quickly turned the handle, only to find it locked.
"Madam, the door is locked!"
"No way!"
Victoria rushed to the door and screamed as she endlessly turned the handle.
"Open it, open this door!"
Soon enough, with a clang and a squeak, the door opened again.
An expressionless middle-aged woman walked in. She was dressed in a plain black dress, and her hair was wrapped in a black coiffe and tied so that not a single strand stuck out.
"What do you think you're doing, giving me a shabby room like this to stay in? And locking the door! Who do you think you are?"
"Hmph!"
Victoria was slapped so hard that her face spun around.
"Shut up! If you make one more noise, I'll whip you!"
"Oh my God… You crazy bitch, do you know who I am? Go fetch the director immediately!"
Pow! It was the woman's thick fist that struck Victoria mercilessly.
"Madam!"
Stunned, Victoria slumped against the door, speechless. Never before had she been treated this way in her life.
Soon after, the frighteningly tall director came into the dorm cell and said something that resonated with the force of the heavens.
"For the rest of your lives, the two of you will live here in prayer, receiving the punishment you deserve, doing your best to wash away the sins you have committed outside, while begging for the forgiveness of those you have wronged. Here you aren't an aristocrat. Your maid is no longer your maid, but a sinner you'll live with. And I will not tolerate any further disturbance."
"What do you mean? I'm not guilty of anything! I'm here because I followed her orders…!"
Thwack!
"Arghhh!"
After being hit in the face, Scylla collapsed. Trembling with fear, she looked up at the director with eyes full of resentment. The director then lowered her eyes and spoke in a terrifying voice.
"Even if, as a maid, you were unable to correct the wrongdoings of your mistress, were you truly unaware that you participated in an ugly affair that took a man's life?"
"I… I only did what I was told, I swear! I did it because this woman told me to!"
"So, even if you are told to kill a person, you will still do it because your mistress told you to? Aren't you guilty of stealing the keys and putting poison in the food?"
"I did steal the keys, but I only put sleeping pills in the food, not poison…!"
Scylla, who had just confessed her sins, hastily covered her mouth.
Then, the door slammed shut.
The maid began to sob while Victoria stared at the door in a daze. Suddenly, Scylla stopped crying, looked at the Countess with tears in her eyes and screamed.
"Crazy bitch! It's all because of you! Why me? Why? Why should I be punished this way, why?"
Scylla rushed Victoria and grabbed her hair, sending them both rolling on the stone floor.
Victoria's thick hair was tightly wound around Scylla's hand and torn off.
"Ouch. Are you crazy?"
"Die! Die!"
" Owww. Get away from me!"
"Ugh. Why do I have to suffer this because of you, die, die, die!"
Victoria, who had grown in a genteel environment and only knew how to give orders, was no match for Scylla's body hardened by a lifetime of chores.
Several nail scratches, deep enough to draw blood, marred her face and the lace of her dress was ripped off, exposing her bare skin to the elements.
"Ouch!"
Scylla continued to pummel Victoria widely and relentlessly with her fists.
This desperate fight only halted with the arrival of the woman from before and her sharp words.
When it was over, the scene was devastating. Victoria, who had been robbed of her bed by Scylla, was curled up in the corner of the room, muttering in rage.
"No way… No way. This can't be happening…"
Victoria couldn't accept her predicament, but as the days passed, she was forced to come to terms with it.
She was beaten for washing the floor with cold water, beaten for not cleaning the toilet properly, beaten for wasting the stale potato soup.
She was beaten for moving during the prayers of atonement, kicked out naked in the cold for not showering quickly enough, and hit for whimpering at night.
It was difficult for Victoria to accept her plight. She continuously denied her situation, thinking: ‘There must be some kind of mistake, Philippe will come here soon and deal with all the monastery personnel.’
But as time went on, all that remained were bruises all over her body.
After a while, Victoria realized three things.
First, the most peaceful day she spent in the Black Monastery in the Center of the Empire was the first.
Second, the only way out of this place was through the documents that Tara had talked about.
And third, she realized that if she was to survive this place at all, she would have to watch and learn from Scylla, who had already adapted.
***
Empress Vivian was waiting in the parlor for her dear son Franz's arrival.
He had fallen asleep in a drunken stupor the night before and the maids of Harrington Manor had just managed to wake him up and carry him to the bathroom.
Third Prince Joseph and the Duke of Toulouse were already present. There was a knock at the door, and the captain of the Toulouse's Knights entered, bowing politely.
"Your Majesty, we are all ready for you."
"Uh... Mmmm. Hmph!"
Standing in the hallway in front of the parlor, Jim Harriet, held by two knights, was clearly visible through the open door.
His whole body was bound, and his mouth gagged. He began to struggle, but the knights did something that stopped him with a thud.
Harriet began to sob in horror.
"Send him to the family's salt farm in the South Sea."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"No! First Aide Harriet? What is this about, Mother?"
"Mph… Mmph…"
Franz, wide eyed and dressed in a red velvet jacket, approached Jim. The First Aide cried out pitifully to Franz, whom he saw as his only salvation.
"Prince Franz! Stay out of this and come here!"
Startled by the Empress's stern voice, Franz pushed off Jim who had grabbed his leg, leaving him sagging, and strode straight into the parlor.
"We shall take our leave."
As the knight replied and turned away, the Empress called him back, as if in retrospect.
"Sir Knight, I don't want him to be released for at least five years. A guilty conscience needs no accuser, don't you think?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, understood."
"No. Mother, can't you tell me what my Aide has done wrong…?"
"Enough, be quiet, Franz!"
Silence descended in the parlour for a while after the knights closed the doors and left.
The Duke of Toulouse waited for the Empress to calm down before speaking.
"Your Majesty, what has brought you here this morning and why have you dragged His Highness Franz's First Aide out of his office?"
One had on her chest, and with no signs of calming down, the Empress slowly sat up.
"Kyle himself called me here last night."
"...!"
The Duke was surprised.
"No. Why did he, Mother?" Franz asked straight away.
"..."
Joseph frowned but said nothing.
"He blackmailed me!"
"How dare he threaten my Mother?"
Franz jumped up from his seat in outrage.
Crash!
The Empress picked up her glass of water and threw it against the wall.
Everyone stared at her in astonishment. She turned to Franz, her voice shaking from suppressed anger.
"But what makes me even angrier is that his threats have saved me from any future dangers. First Prince, was it you who led the rumors about that mercenary group?"
"Why is that rumor…?"
"Why would you stir up trouble when you've been banished from the Palace awaiting trial?"
"No. Mother, why are you so bitter about my actions? I have spread this rumor with great difficulty only for your sake!"
"Why, why did you do something you were not asked to do, why?"
The Empress shouted and stood up.
She, who cherished the First Prince more than anything, had never shouted at him like this before, no matter how angry she had been.
"Mother, what are these rumors about?" Joseph asked cautiously, his face alive with curiosity.
The Empress placed the paper with the song on the table. The Duke of Toulouse and Joseph immediately bent over to read it. The Duke's face immediately turned white, but Joseph's expression did not change so, he asked again, still curious.
"It is quite provocative, but it seems to be a good move if it reaches the Emperor. So, why is this a problem?"
"That's right, for the first time in a long time, my brother has a point. So, Mother, why are you so upset?"
"I…"
Unable to hear the Empress who had begun to whisper, Franz continued to pour out his hurt feelings.
"Why are you angry with me, your dear son, who has done nothing wrong?"
Vivian burst into a fit of rage.
"Because I had her killed!"
"........!"
***
Elias Mansion's Backyard
It was five o'clock in the afternoon on the 9th of February, two days after Victoria had left House Elias for good.
Toby was nowhere to be seen in the backyard, however hard I looked for him.
"Why won't you answer me?"
I had posted a notice yesterday, stating that I wanted to rescind my month-long leave of absence and return to work the following week, but there had been no response.
"He hasn't visited me since that day. Is he going to stop coming because I feel better now? Or is he saying I should rest some more? How did his meeting with the Empress go?"
I voiced these questions aloud while walking toward the indoor garden.
Should I start planting people in the Palace like Master and Kyle?
But as soon as I thought of it, I shook my head.
They could afford such surveillance, while I was still only a Second Aide to the Second Prince.
As I rounded the corner, Beth hurried towards me.
"My Lady, there's a messenger from the Palace looking for you."
"… A messenger? For me?"
Puzzled, I hurried to the hall. It was a messenger from the Second Prince's Palace. My father, who was in his office, was the first to greet him.
"What can I do for you?"
"This is an order from the Second Prince, and he wants me to deliver it directly to Your Ladyship."
All of a sudden?
I furrowed my brow in confusion, then took the letter from the messenger and slowly read it aloud.
"Employment Transfer Order for Second Aide, Tara Elias? The reason for the transfer is the dereliction of… Duty?"
Editor's Note -
In this chapter Victoria uses the idiom : A guilty conscience needs no accuser, which in Korean translates to: a thief’s legs go numb. I just thought you might find it fun!
Enjoyed the chapter? Buy us a ko-fi!