chapter 04
While spending a leisurely afternoon with his consort, the king was suddenly visited by his second daughter.
It was rare for Ioret to come to him first, so he was momentarily surprised—but the moment he saw his daughter in tears, he was left speechless.
With her lips tightly shut, crystal-like tears streamed down her pale cheeks. The sight was truly pitiful.
And then she said that Count Castlein had fallen into critical condition?
Lissy gasped for breath.
“It wasn’t me who harmed the count! It must have been Princess Ioret! Please arrest her immediately and punish her, Your Majesty!”
The king’s face twisted in displeasure.
“But didn’t Count Castlein point to you, his maid, as the culprit?”
“Th-that’s…!”
Lissy’s face turned deathly pale.
As soon as Ioret reported the incident to the main palace, knights rushed to the tower. The count, on the verge of losing consciousness, gave his testimony himself.
“The princess’s maid… behaved rudely and struck my head with a tray. Then I fell… I always thought her conduct was improper… cough!”
Ioret let out a sigh, as if deeply regretful.
“I was waiting by the window for Lissy, Father. I was going to bring in the count’s gift. But Lissy went into the dining room first and screamed. It seems she made a mistake then.”
“No! That’s not true! How dare you lie like that!”
Lissy shouted in protest.
But the king’s gaze was cold. At this rate, she would not escape severe punishment.
Looking around frantically, Lissy spotted Catherine and crawled toward her.
“Y-Your Highness, Crown Princess. I truly did nothing! You know how faithfully I’ve carried out your orders all this time…!”
“Enough. Wait.”
This foolish thing—how dare she drag me into this?
Catherine cut her off and clenched her teeth.
Only two people had entered the dining room. If one wasn’t the culprit, then the other had to be.
With uncertainty, Catherine turned to Ioret.
Then… was it really her?
Her younger sister’s unreadable blue eyes stared straight at her.
A chill ran down her spine.
It was a kind of fear Catherine had never felt before.
Then Ioret parted her lips.
“If Lissy isn’t the culprit, then there must be someone in the royal palace with ill intentions.”
“What?”
“With the Founding Day just around the corner, for something like this to happen… Please search the palace at once and find the culprit, Father.”
“Are you saying there’s an intruder in the palace?”
The king’s expression immediately changed.
With the Founding Day approaching, congratulatory envoys from neighboring kingdoms were arriving one after another. It was a time when royal security had to be tighter than ever.
The king’s cold gaze turned to Catherine.
“What is the meaning of this, Crown Princess? Why is the palace security in such a state?”
Catherine had been in charge of preparing the Founding Day events. That included directing the royal guard.
Her complexion turned ashen.
“Summon the knight assigned to guard Princess Ioret’s residence. While the maid was acting so brazenly, what exactly was that knight doing?”
“Your Majesty, I truly—!”
“Silence! Did I permit a maid to speak? Must I have your tongue cut out for you to be quiet?”
At the thunderous roar, Lissy immediately shut her mouth. Her bowed back trembled.
“Crown Princess, why are you silent? Where is Ioret’s personal guard? I will hold him accountable.”
Catherine secretly bit her lip.
There was no such thing as a personal guard for Ioret. Catherine had gotten rid of them all.
The only people in Ioret’s tower were a maid and a butler. Since Ioret never left the tower anyway, there had been no need for guards.
But if Ioret revealed that truth to the king, the blame might turn back on Catherine.
This was an unforeseen variable.
Her hesitation was brief.
Catherine put on a flawless smile.
“There are no gaps in palace security, Father. Please do not worry.”
She stepped in front of the kneeling Lissy.
“Lissy Keiss. Think carefully. Are you certain you didn’t do it?”
Lissy’s eyes trembled violently.
She had served Catherine for a long time. A loyal maid who could understand and carry out her mistress’s intentions with just a glance.
That very gaze now urged her to give a false confession—with the promise of being saved.
She had no other choice.
“I-I’m… sorry. It was all… my doing.”
Her voice shook.
“I thought so. Then why did you lie?”
“I-I was afraid of being punished… I was wrong. I was wrong, Your Highness. Please show mercy…!”
The king spoke with irritation.
“Such an insolent maid. Cut off both her arms and send them to Count Castlein. That should suffice as punishment.”
“Pardon? Wait, Father—”
“And while you’re at it, cut out that frivolous tongue as well. How dare she lie?”
Only then did Catherine realize her mistake.
She tried to protest the excessive punishment, but Ioret, who had been wiping her tears, interrupted.
“To think you would let her off so lightly, Father—you truly are merciful.”
That wretch…?
Catherine glared at her.
But Ioret’s expression remained innocent.
“Hands that commit wrongdoing should be removed, don’t you think, Sister?”
Was she saying this knowingly?
The words carried a strange weight.
“N-no! Your Highness, Crown Princess—!!”
Lissy screamed as she was dragged away by the guards.
With both arms and her tongue cut out, the maid would be cast out of the palace. No one would treat someone who had incurred the king’s wrath. She would wander the streets and die a miserable death.
The king waved his hand tiredly.
“You may leave, Crown Princess. And ensure that such disgraceful incidents never happen again. Is this why I entrusted you with the capital’s defense? Must I, at my age, step in to handle state affairs again?”
“…My apologies.”
“Delay Princess Ioret’s marriage for now. Until Count Castlein recovers.”
“Yes, Father.”
Catherine answered reluctantly.
As she passed by in long strides, Ioret still wore a foolish smile.
It was the same vacant expression her sister had always had for years.
And yet, Catherine couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling of having been blindsided.
After Catherine left coldly, only the king and Ioret remained in the audience chamber.
The king, who had summoned his consort back with a gesture, glanced at Ioret.
“Do you have anything more to say, Princess?”
“Please assign me a personal guard, Father.”
Ioret answered as if she had been waiting for this moment.
The king, holding his beautiful consort on his lap, frowned.
“If you have the nerve to smash the head of your future husband, I don’t see why you’d need a string of guards following you.”
He was testing her.
