TCNS 14

Chapter 14: The Maid, Catherine (4)

“Aah, be gentle!”

One of the maids cried out as Catherine yelped when her wounds were wiped with a wet cloth.

“I am being gentle! Ugh, where on this scrawny body was there even a place to whip like this?”

At that moment, the maids started grumbling, and complaints erupted here and there.

“Isn’t the head maid really too much? She doesn’t say a word when the main palace maids cause trouble.”

“Right? She never says anything to them even when they’re always slacking off!”

“Because we end up doing all the work when they slack off.”

“And if anything isn’t done, we’re the ones blamed.”

“Catherine, why did you defy the head maid’s orders and get into this mess!”

“Is that something you say to someone who’s injured? Just leave her alone. It hurts a lot, doesn’t it, Catherine?”

Catherine lay groaning on the bed, surrounded by the annex maids. Looking again, they looked less like coworkers and more like family.

“We may not share blood, but we’re family, Kayla. Got it?”

A kind voice echoed like a memory from the past.

If I hadn’t been sold to the assassins, would I have lived like that too?

“You can be family with me.”

Suddenly, a voice I wanted to forget accompanied it.

I lowered my gaze.

It was something that had already happened, something in the past. Dwelling on pointless sentimentality, it seemed I had grown soft.

I was about to leave silently when I overheard the annex maids talking.

“If it wasn’t for Countess Katrina, that woman would have been kicked out long ago!”

“Shh! What if someone hears you say that!”

Luckily, this time, the name was familiar.

‘Anyone in the Empire’s social circles would recognize that name.’

The flower of the social world, ‘Feline Katrina,’ Countess and right hand of the Second Consort, known for her striking beauty and adept social maneuvering.

‘The head maid has connections with that woman?’

But why would one of her loyal followers be beside Prince Edwin? It didn’t make sense for her to act as a mere spy, given Edwin’s lack of influence.

‘Are they just watching him because he’s a prince?’

Ironically, I had met the countess before my death. She was a beautiful but cruel woman. The more beautiful the flower, the sharper its thorns. And those thorns always wounded those closest.

Suddenly, the head maid’s excessive behavior flashed through my mind.

‘What should I do?’

Still pondering, my gaze lowered, I felt the eyes of the maids on me.

Why are they all looking at me?

“Um, Nanny?”

One of the maids, catching my eye, approached cautiously. I stared at her in silence, and she spoke with a troubled expression.

“Catherine said that you saved her, is that true?”

“Yes, and?”

“We’re grateful that you saved Catherine, but, truthfully, we’re just maids. If the head maid finds out about this…”

She looked deeply distressed, unsure of what to do. The other annex maids standing behind her were the same. Their faces had darkened considerably since before. Naturally, Catherine was no different.

I knew very well what they were afraid of—the head maid exacting revenge on them because of their low status.

“Don’t worry,” I spoke casually, and the maid gaped in surprise.

“Yes?”

“I did it, so I’ll take responsibility.”

“You’ll take responsibility?”

The word ‘responsibility’ caused murmurs among the maids.

“So it’s true that you were recommended by Madam Conrad?”

“Does that mean we don’t have to worry about the main palace maids like before?”

I observed their reactions for a moment before speaking again, “But, there are a few things I want to ask you.”

***

‘I’ve got all the information I need for now.’

I was returning to the main palace after finishing my conversation with the annex maids.

‘Now all that’s left is to decide what to do.’

The distance between the annex and the main palace wasn’t very far. In the end, I reached the door of the main palace without having made a decision.

‘I’m someone who will leave soon anyway.’

What kept holding me back was hesitation.

‘I’m not even the real Rachel Brown, so why should I get involved in the affairs of the prince’s palace?’

The fact that I was even thinking about it didn’t make sense to me.

‘Why am I putting in so much effort for this?’

No matter what the head maid did, how did it concern me? The prince, the princess, the annex maids—they were all strangers to me.

In a world where parents sold their children, and children killed their parents, why should I risk myself to help others?

“You’re so contradictory, Kayla.”

Ian’s damned voice echoed in my ears again.

“You kill people so easily, yet also help people who have nothing to do with you just as easily.”

It was something he said to me not long after we first met.

“I really can’t understand you.”

It was exactly what I wanted to say to myself now.

Why was I stepping up for an annex maid I’d soon part ways with? Was it simply because I couldn’t accept that the head maid punished an innocent annex maid?

In truth, it made no sense to me that I was taking such active steps for such a trivial reason.

‘For now, let’s resolve this matter and decide afterward.’

I quickly shook my head.

In any case, I had promised the annex maids that I would take care of things, so I had to keep my word. Breaking a promise was something I despised even more.

Convincing myself this way, I pushed open the door.

***

As soon as I entered the main palace, two maids grabbed me as if they had been waiting. They dragged me outside the main palace and forced me to kneel on the dirt ground. Before I knew it, the head maid emerged, standing before me.

“Lady Rachel Brown. You know what you did wrong, right?”

When I looked up, I saw the head maid’s furious face, like an enraged bull, and behind her, the main palace maids gathered. They all looked excited, as if they were anticipating what was about to happen.

The head maid’s eyes met mine, and she immediately shouted, “What kind of law is it to release a punished maid without the head maid’s permission?”

A dictator who even disregarded the prince, speaking of law? How ill-fitting.

As I suppressed a laugh internally, the head maid’s hand was raised above her head.

I was thrown into an unexpected dilemma. Should I let that wicked hand slap my face or not?

It wouldn’t be difficult to avoid the hand aimed at my face. But if I didn’t let her hit me, it would only fuel the head maid’s anger.

‘I guess I have no choice for now.’

I lowered my gaze.

With a loud slap, my vision flashed white.

My left cheek burned.

It had been a long time since I’d been slapped by someone, and it felt very awkward.

‘This feels terrible.’

Meanwhile, the head maid was still glaring at me with a vicious expression.

“Didn’t I clearly tell you, Lady Brown? That I would entrust you with all matters concerning His Highness, and that you should fulfill your responsibilities as a nanny.”

Hands on her hips, she bellowed, “And yet, not only did you shirk your duties, but you also meddled in my affairs.”

The head maid gestured to a maid standing beside her. “Go get the whip immediately…”

“I can’t accept this.”

The limit of what I could endure was exactly ‘one slap on the left cheek.’

I continued speaking, my face cold, “It’s impossible for me to take care of both Their Highnesses alone. I need the maids’ cooperation.”

At my words, the head maid sneered, frowning. “Ha, so now you’re making pathetic excuses?”

“I’m only stating the facts.”

I stared at the head maid as I continued, “But you’ve used your supposed delegation of His Highness’s care as an excuse to forbid the maids from assisting with him. Isn’t that odd?”

“What did you say?”

“His Highness Prince Edwin is the rightful master here.”

Hearing this, the head maid frowned, perhaps realizing something was wrong.

“What are you trying to say?”

“And yet, you punished a maid for preparing His Highness’s meal without his permission. Doesn’t that make no sense?”

The head maid’s eyes widened at my words.

“That’s!”

“If this isn’t a challenge to imperial authority, then what is it?”

Acting as the master of a house where the real owner was present. No one could tolerate such a thing.

The main palace maids murmured at my words. Seeing her subordinates waver, the head maid raised her voice even more.

“You dare spout nonsense! To incite people with baseless accusations!”

The head maid’s hand shot up again.

Just then—

“Stop it! What are you doing!”

A sharp voice rang out from behind the head maid.

The owner of the voice was none other than the master of this palace, the Third Prince, Edwin.

Edwin stood at the top of the stairs, his face twisted in anger. Beside him, Emilia clung to him, looking startled.

Prince Edwin looked back and forth between the head maid and me, then slowly descended the stairs.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

His voice, unlike usual, was full of fury.