Chapter – 14
Even in a moment when her breath caught and her chest ached, how could she make such a sound—let’s see…
“Ouch. My jaw hurts.”
Roshane ground her teeth and let all her strength go, feeling the sharp pain in her jaw.
She brushed off the dust from the broken furniture clinging to her palms and gently rubbed both sore jaws.
Her body was not used to normal chewing activity, so even slightly hard food became painful and exhausting.
Look at this.
The armrest could be broken easily, but in breaking it, her hands were now covered in cuts.
“Right now, I can’t physically strangle the emperor to death, but I can tighten his throat indirectly.”
Roshane pulled on the signal cord to summon a maid.
Then, with her tiny fists, she placed both hands on her aching jaw and gently massaged it.
Her fists drew a large, circular motion.
“That boy… no, man.”
The man the emperor couldn’t bring himself to kill, whom he kept exiling to the outskirts of the empire while secretly wishing for his death.
The man whose reputation alone made Crown Prince Joseph tremble and rush over.
The man Roshane unconditionally needed because of her berserk episodes.
Yes, it was him.
Knock. Knock.
Just as Roshane pictured the man’s face, there was a knock at the bedroom door.
“Come in.”
At Roshane’s permission, the door opened. A maid stepped in slowly, stopping in surprise at the sight of Roshane sitting cutely with her fists on her jaw.
“Why?”
Roshane, hands lightly resting on her cheeks, asked with wide eyes.
“Why are you… seducing me? Ah, no, I mean… is there something you want me to do?”
Even naturally pretty, Roshane looked especially charming, leaving the maid momentarily flustered. She quickly regained composure and asked,
“I’d like you to go to Duke Barpheus.”
“Excuse me?”
The method to make the emperor and crown prince’s faces wrinkle was simple: if Roshane, the Princess of Railaten, showed interest in Cheiton.
Just imagining the arrogant Joseph’s face crumpling put Roshane in a good mood immediately.
“There’s nothing special to say, so just go, have a cup of tea, and come back. Let others think you conveyed a message.”
“Miss, that’s a bit…”
But the maid frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the strange order.
“Why?”
Roshane, not expecting this reaction, asked curiously.
After Roshane had helped the maids under the supervision of the Railaten Duke, their behavior had subtly changed. They no longer treated her harshly or ignored orders—they sincerely tried to serve her like a proper lady.
But their gratitude only went so far.
“If the Duke catches us, not only the one who ran your errand but all of us could be fired.”
The maid refused firmly. Job security—or even life—was not something to gamble with.
“His Grace tells us every morning, noon, and night not to let Duke Bar… ahem, that person even be mentioned in the house.”
“Oh, if he says it morning, noon, and night, he must be repeating it like a daily mantra.”
“Yes, while we can’t stop that person from visiting the house directly, we can’t go meet them ourselves…”
“Is that so? I see.”
Roshane nodded, understanding the maid’s predicament.
She removed her tiny fists from her jaw and rose from her seat.
As she stood, the dust from her dress fell to the floor.
“What’s all this powder…?”
The maid widened her eyes, thinking about how difficult cleaning it would be.
Nearby lay the shattered armrest of a chair.
This chair was supposed to be made of solid wood, barely susceptible to scratches. The maid tried to reason out what had happened.
Thunk.
Something rolled and brushed against her foot. Instinctively, she looked down.
Thunk.
Another object landed near her feet.
It glittered like a giant star, stealing her attention…
“I plan to give these to the maid who runs my errands.”
The maid lifted her head in shock.
Roshane, expressionless, pulled out gems from her jewelry box and tossed them like bait.
The maid was distracted by the flying gems.
“Since you were the first to come running when I called, you get the first choice.”
Thunk.
Another sparkling gem landed by the maid’s foot. She flinched.
“Will you go see Duke Barpheus?”
“….”
“If not, step aside. Let the next maid try…”
“Please, wait! Miss! Should I just go have tea? How long should I stay?”
The maid hurriedly picked up the three large gems at her feet, eyes sparkling.
“Duke Barpheus is forbidden, right?”
“Not right now, His Grace isn’t here!”
If caught by the Railaten Duke, everyone would be fired. But with gems this valuable, even losing her job would be worth it.
If someone else betrayed her, she’d be fired anyway. Better to betray first.
“So, you’ll do it?”
“Yes, Miss!”
Roshane nodded, satisfied, placing the jewelry box down.
“Then go, spend some time there. Make sure people notice.”
“Is that enough?”
“More than enough.”
“I’ll even do a somersault on the way in so everyone can see!”
The maid’s determination blazed as brightly as the three large gems.
“And one more thing…”
“Yes, tell me!”
“Call a jeweler.”
Roshane glanced at the jewelry box on her dressing table. Then she slid it off with the palm of her hand.
Bang!
The jewelry box fell with a loud crash, scattering jewels everywhere.
“Ah! Miss!”
The maid screamed in surprise.
Roshane, expressionless, tapped the scattered jewels with her foot, muttering dryly,
“The jewelry box is empty. Time to refill it, I suppose.”
“Excuse me? But you… haven’t set aside any funds…”
“All costs will go on the Duke’s account, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Whaaaat?”
The maid was stunned—first, Roshane treated the gems so casually, and now even the Duke’s account was disregarded.
“Not even a single word of consent from me. No one would ever treat me like that.”
Roshane recalled the events in the reception hall, frowning.
She gestured to the still-stunned maid.
“The jeweler won’t do. Call a jeweler and a designer to tailor a new dress.”
It was time to splurge on the Duke’s collected wealth.
“Hmm… these gems are quite large.”
Roshane tilted her head, observing the many scattered jewels.
“Did the Railaten Duke hate me or something?”
These days, Roshane was busy.
“Miss is sitting again on the garden bench… just staring.”
“After breakfast, she stays there until lunch?”
“A few days ago, Duke Bar… ahem, that person and Crown Prince Joseph came to see you. Could it be that you’re seriously considering between the two?”
To others, it didn’t seem like it, but Roshane was indeed busy.
“Those clouds look similar to the ones I saw yesterday.”
Sitting on the bench, Roshane observed the clouds with a serious expression.
The current cloud formations were only visible at this time of day.
If she missed them now, they would drift away or vanish—time was precious!
Just as Roshane squinted, tracking the clouds, suddenly—
“Rooooshaaanneeee!!!”
From afar, the Railaten Duke’s voice rang out as he ran, holding a bundle of mysterious invoices.
Startled, the maids immediately bowed their heads.
The Duke ran straight to Roshane, shaking the stack of invoices in his hands.
“What is this? What on earth… what is this?!”
“Move, Duke. I can’t see the clouds.”
Roshane ignored him, turning her eyes back to the sky.
“Huh… it’s an invoice.”
She waved her hand as if to say, Isn’t that obvious?
A thick vein bulged on the Duke’s forehead.
“Yes! Why did this invoice come to me?! And why is the total amount… all of this?!”
Ah, now you notice, do you?
Roshane smiled.
