Chapter 22
On the floor was the maid"s lace hair tie was trampled and torn, reduced to a mere messy piece of fabric.
Miriam then clarified the situation, “This child has forgotten her place and violated the dress code so now she must be punished.”
“Ha!” A laugh burst from Rose"s mouth as if her reasoning was completely absurd. “Forgetting her place. Are you making a fuss just because of one tiny piece of cloth?”
“She"s a new child, so she won"t make this mistake again if I give her strict discipline the first time.”
To a child who"s only just arrived, she needs to teach strict discipline.
Rose became strangely displeased when she listened to the maid.
Given the maid"s usual att.i.tude, the words implied a roundabout message for Rose.
“You made a big fuss the castle shook. Did you do that on purpose for me to hear?” Inquired Rose.
Miriam wondered if she was stabbed or whether she angered Rose, she then quickly dined her hidden message, “No! It"s not like that.”
Rose turned away from Miriam and scanned the servants standing around her.
Once seeing the maids I finally understood why they looked like soldiers following their motto on a march to the battlefield. The thick dark-colored maid outfits looked like they were to be worn at funerals or by soldiers, just by glancing at them my breath gets caught inside my throat.
Thanks to this, the whole castle looked gloomy.
The expressions of the maids wearing such uniforms were always stiff with tension. It was immensely different from the Etoile mansion, whether it be the kitchen or corridor maids and servants would laugh as they went about their work.
Even the Solstern court did not detain the maids this much.
“What"s the point of dressing up in a prisoner"s uniform like that? She"s only using a decorative hair tie.”
“Still, discipline is discipline, so I hope Your Majesty can understand.”
“Since when?”
“What?” Questioned Miriam, still wondering what Rose meant, Rose stared at Miriam with an irritated face as it seemed she would have to explain further.
“I"m asking when this kind of discipline started.”
“It"s been like that ever since the death of Queen Olivia. By the order of Mrs. Katriana.”
It was truly too predictable, Rose"s lip twisted up, a cruel laugh leaving her mouth.
“Really? So that"s why you"ve been wearing that funeral outfit all this time? Now that I"m new as a hostess, I"ll set the rules.”
“But Mrs. Katriana has already!”
Rose slowly approached Miriam"s face and stared at her dead on.
“Let me ask you a question.”
“Is the one you serve Mrs. Katriana or me? Look at me and tell me.”
“Y-Your Majesty, how could you ask such a question?” When Rose narrowed her eyes, pressuring her for an answer, Miriam begrudgingly replied, her mouth twitching from obvious frustration, “Of course it is you, my queen.”
Miriam barely endured the shaking of her whole body, she felt like she had been openly insulted in front of the maids, her inferiors.
“If this place were a ruined castle, you"d already be dead, accused for the crime of making a fuss and bringing the queen out to witness such disgrace. The sin of acting against the queen is a guaranteed death sentence.”
From Rose"s naturally red eyes cold energy flowed out, freezing the surrounding air.
It was true that she was a queen who was quiet, it seemed she was no trouble, so Miriam took it easy, paying no mind to the new queen, but her sudden coldness embarra.s.sed Miriam.
Chills crept up Miriam"s spine at the thought that Rose was only hiding her true self until now.
“I"m guilty of death. I will keep in mind that this will never happen again. Your Majesty.”
Miriam eventually shut her mouth and bowed deeply to ask for forgiveness.
Rose left Miriam in that position for a long time, so the maids could ingrain the image of Miriam bowing before someone of greater authority.
Tik tik. Tok tok.
Little by little, agitation rose among the maids.
They"ve never seen the head maid Miriam bowing like that even when she was with Mrs. Katriana. It was unbelievable for her to lower her head to the queen of a foreign country, especially one so young.
“Lift your head.” The maid, who was drenched in cold sweat, finally raised her head at Rose"s command.
“I"ll discuss the problems I have with you in the future, and I"ll change them step by step.” Rose spoke in a calm and relaxed voice, unlike a few seconds ago.
“After I became queen, I"ve been putting it off for a while because I was so distracted, this mishap just happens to be good timing. I"d like to take a closer look at how the castle works. Tomorrow, this maid will take charge and guide me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And once again, if I hear this happens again, I won"t go so far as to personally resolve it without proper punishment.”
“I"ll keep that in mind.”
Rose held out the letter in her hand towards Miriam.
“Tell Freddy yourself. It"s an important letter, so make sure you don"t make a single mistake.”
Miriam took the letter from Rose"s hands in an extremely polite manner.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Everyone is dismissed.”
Miriam once again bowed deeply and turned around. The maids followed Miriam"s example, bowing to Rose before following Miriam, within their eyes was a mixture of fear and awe.
Rose picked up the hair tie on the floor and handed it to the trembling maid, who had stayed behind. The maid gathered her small messy hands, trying hopelessly to prevent the blood flowing from her wound, and took it.
“Are you alright? Your pretty hair tie has been torn up.”
“N-No… I didn"t know the d-dress code and… my g-grandmother gave it to me, but… i-it"s fine.”
When she heard that, a smile slightly formed around Rose"s mouth as a reminder of her own grandmother. When she was young her grandmother decorated Rose from head to toe, as if she were a doll.
“What"s your name?”
“HHanna is my name.”
I thought she was stammering in surprise, but when I heard her, she was like a little child.
“Okay, Hannah. Go ahead and get your hands treated first.”
“I-It"s no big deal. T-Thank you very much.” The maid replied, looking up at Rose with her eyes still full of tears.
“Your Highness! You"re over here!”
Rose and Hannah turned their heads at the same time.
Yansen was walking fast, but modestly so from the end of the corridor, it was his usual cheerful voice that called her out.
“Well! I"ll be l-leaving t-then!”
It was the same maid who watched Yansen! She hiccuped from stress once seeing her crush appear.
Hannah said goodbye to Rose and hurried away down the corridor in the opposite direction of Yansen.
“Did something happen?” While Rose was looking back at Hannah, Yansen had arrived, and asked as he stood next to her, before continuing with his reasoning for the question, “On my way here, the maid"s face looked like chewed s.h.i.t.”
Rose replied in turn with a question of her own, “It"s no big deal. Did you do what I asked?”
“I have it ready outside. But I don"t know if this is really okay. His Majesty Maxim will arrive tomorrow.”
“Please?”
Yansen replied as if it couldn"t be helped, “Okay, but you have to keep your promise.”
Rose nodded rea.s.suring him not to worry.
Two horses were prepared at the rear gates of the castle, the path of which leads directly to the food warehouse.
“Use this.” Yansen spoke, instructing Rose to wear the gray robe. After briefly looking around, Rose covered herself with the robe and threw the hood over her head.
“The gloomy weather indicates it"s likely to rain, so we won"t go too far.”
“Alright.” Rose a.s.sented as she climbed atop a horse with Yansen"s help.
There was someone watching them from afar as they secretly prepared to leave the castle grounds.
Katriana smiled coolly from the bell tower overlooking the entire castle.
You"re creating many opportunities on your own. I thank you.
Katriana glared at Rose"s red hair with hateful loathing as the vibrant locks slightly peeked out from underneath her hood.
Katriana, without turning around, shouted out to someone, “Malrik!”
A black shadow instantaneously appeared behind her.
“Don"t mess this up.”
“Yes!”
After leaving the castle, Rose and Yansen looked around at the scenery that encircled the castle. Endless hills and fields peppered with; villages, shopping districts, farms, and ranches. Rose rode her horse as fast as she was able through the cold breeze of the north.
I can"t believe that I"ve become the mistress of this land, I"d never even given it a thought before returning to the past.
I can"t believe Maxim Lancert is my husband now!
“Let"s take a break here,” Yansen shouted from a distance.
The two finally stopped, taking a break on a cliff overlooking the entire capital.
Yansen spoke first when he saw Rose, who had no words because she was lost in thought after leaving the castle. “What do you think?”
“I"m glad this is a place where people live, too.”
Yansen laughed helplessly at Rose"s words.
“Well, what kind of monsters did you think lived here?”
“There were times I wondered.”
“Well, I can a.s.sure you that our protection is the best,” Yansen said with a pretty proud face.
Rose remembered the cruel images she saw during her last scene in her previous life, “I can"t believe it.”
“There have been many wars since ancient times, so Helabant men are born with combative blood flowing through their veins. We haven"t had a war in a while, and it"s been very troublesome considering our innate violent nature.”
Yansen shook his head, believing himself to have been nervous even thinking about it then.
“How poor the immigrants are at the border. No matter how much you farm, you"ll still be swept away by famines, and if you"re a woman without a child, your eyes will be turned inside out and you"ll be raped.”
“So, did our Majesty Maxim clean up everything?”
Yansen laughed along with Rose as she smiled playfully, her eyes lit with a curious light.
“Well, that"s how it is. Because of the environment all the men here, young or old, can be considered soldiers. We can mobilize immediately in the event of a war.”
“I understand why Solstern can"t attack Helabant. But this can"t last forever.”
Yansen rea.s.sured Rose when she spoke to herself with a serious expression. “We"ve remained peaceful for a long time without war, the only exceptions being the provocation of the immigrants. So don"t worry too much.”
“Is that so?”
Rose looked down at the capital and recalled pieces of her memory.
Shortly after Ca.s.six ascended to the throne, the north had attacked Solstern with great momentum.
Since it was an unannounced surprise attack, Solstern"s lands were taken one by one without any preparation to defend them.
Ca.s.siax, who asked for reinforcements, ended up stomping his feet in frustration because they did not arrive on time, thus revealing the cruel character he had been concealing.