The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 54

I held back my tears for a brief moment as I looked into the eyes of the maids around me, their faces now red.

 

Then, with a deep breath, the handmaiden embraced me in her arms. 

 

“Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

 

“Um, I don’t want to cry either…huu, huu, huu, it’s because the maids are so scary… “

 

After saying that, I buried my face in the handmaid’s arms. 

 

The handmaiden wide-eyed, patted my back.

 

“Tell me what happened. Be honest. I’ll make sure no harm comes to you.”

 

“Well then… …”

 

With a runny nose and sniffles, I told her what they said. 

 

“They told me if I gave them an order because I was a maid of the Empress’s palace, they wouldn’t leave me alone!”

 

“Hey, when did we say that?”

 

Each of the maids was furious but I just shrugged my shoulders and continued.

 

Do you think I’m just Charlize?

 

I’m Charlize, who’s had years of education and is a maid of the Empress’s Palace!

 

People develop!

 

“She knows that I’m a maid of the Empress’s palace and told me not to lie.”

 

Well, to be exact, she didn’t say, ‘Don’t lie.’

 

But honestly, isn’t that what she meant?

 

“Madame, all those words are lies!”

 

“How could you say such rude things to a maid of the Empress Palace?!” reprimanded the handmaiden. 

 

“It’s because we’re being framed right now?!”

 

The maids’ mouths curled and tightened, it even looked like they would die of frustration. 

 

Really? That’s how it comes out.

 

I never thought that I would be pushed to this extent, I’m tired. I probably shouldn’t have cried and run like crazy from the start.

 

I made a pitiful expression as I placed my arms around her neck and hugged the handmaiden tightly.

 

“I’m sorry, handmaiden. I will keep everything that happened today a secret… …”

 

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

 

The handmaiden asked me back in a puzzled voice with her eyebrows raised.

 

I looked up at the handmaiden, my vision a bit blurry from all my tears.

 

“Because of me, I’m worried that Her Majesty and the Empress dowager will end up hurting each other’s feelings….”

 

“……What?”

 

“You know, it’s because I am a maid of the Empress’s palace.”

 

I sniffled a little bit.

 

At that moment, the handmaid’s face hardened slightly.

 

“So, I’ll keep this a secret for sure. I will never tell the Empress about this.”

 

In fact, it doesn’t matter if what I’m saying is true or false.

 

More precisely, what can be gained from this situation in the Empress dowager’s palace is more important.

 

‘According to the Empress, most of the employees of the Empress dowager’s palace were people who were selected and brought in by the Emperor.’

 

Truth be told, the word ‘most’ is a gross understatement.

 

Except for the handmaiden, the Empress said that everyone was nothing but a spy for the Emperor.

 

Well, if you think about it for a bit, it makes sense.

 

In the first place, the insidious Emperor can’t let there be servants loyal to the Empress dowager, right?

 

In addition, it was easy to replace maids with someone who suited the taste of the Emperor.

 

Since his Majesty doesn’t reside in the Empress dowager’s palace, it’s easier to come into contact with outsiders.

 

Which means.

 

‘……It means that if you take good advantage of this, you can replace all of those spying maids.’

 

It’s a bit embarrassing to actually say even if it’s in my mind but anyway, I’m the Empress’s extremely beloved maid. 

 

What if such a maid was insulted by the maids belonging to the Empress dowager’s palace?

 

An insult inflicted on a maid is also an insult to the employer of the maid.

 

It means that if the Empress takes issue with this, things could get really big.

 

Insteading of adding more words, I cried more crocodile tears. 

 

The handmaiden has survived the Imperial palace for much longer than I have.

 

So, she must have already noticed what the benefits can be from the current situation.

 

As evidenced…

 

“…Are you all out of your mind?”

 

The handmaiden, who was usually calm, spoke with a loud and harsh tone.

 

Whoa.

 

I buried my face in the handmaid’s collar and smiled satisfactorily.

 

As I expected, the handmaiden was making the most of this problem.

 

“If the Empress gets angry, will you take responsibility for it?”

 

“But, handmaiden!”

 

“No matter how young she is, don’t you know that this child is an official maid and your superior!”

 

At that rebuke, the blood on the faces of the maids vanished, their faces pale. 

 

“In any case, messing with the maidservant of the Empress’s palace could lead to a quarrel between both of her Majesties!”

 

Gulp.

 

Swallowing, the maids were fearful of what might happen next.

 

The handmaiden glared fiercely at the maids.

 

“As the handmaiden of the Empress dowager, I cannot ignore this matter, and I will deal with this matter strictly.”

 

“What!? No, handmaiden!”

 

The maids clung to the handmaiden, their intuition telling them that their time was up.

 

But right then.

 

A cold voice rang out.

 

“Handmaiden, don’t worry about that.”

 

The maids shuddered and shook as if cold water had been poured on them.

 

Wait, what? This voice?!

 

Surprised, I looked behind my back.

 

The Empress dowager was looking at me with a serious face!

 

“I am going to do everything I can to avoid damaging the relationship between me and the Empress.”

 

“Woah, your Majesty, the Empress dowager!”

 

“As expected, these maids will be punished severely for their actions,” said her Majesty.

 

I opened my eyes wide, talking to myself internally.

 

Your Majesty, I didn’t know you were being so gentle when you treated me.

 

With such an intimidating face, the Empress dowager is terrifying, isn’t she?

 

Shocked and as if on the verge of fainting, the maids began to beg with sobbing cries. 

 

“I’m so sorry!” exclaimed one maid. 

 

“I never meant to offend or go against you, Empress dowager!” pleaded another maid, tears streaming down her face.

 

However, the Empress dowager’s momentum did not subside at all.

 

“Did you really not know that acting the way you did while bearing the title of a maid of the Empress dowager is detrimental to me?”

 

“No, we were short-sighted!”

 

“Forgive us just this once!”

 

Short-sighted? I think by now, the maids are blinded.

 

The Emperor deliberately brought them in to monitor the Empress dowager but seeing this made it seem like it was vain.

 

Would the Emperor with that terrible temper let this slide?

 

As I watched the situation play out with an intrigued face, my eyes glinted in secret.

 

‘Okay, at this point, I think this needs to end.’

 

I reached out and gently pulled the hem of her Majesty’s collar as she stood beside me. 

 

“Empress dowager, can you just forgive them?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“In any case, we’ll still continue to work together at the Imperial palace, I don’t want to be hated…..”

 

I blurted that line as I huddled myself in the handmaid’s arms, tucking in both shoulders.

 

“I’m so scared that I’ll run into those maids in the future…..”

 

Perhaps they noticed that I was pretending to be pitiful on purpose, the maids now glared at me without hiding their resentment.

 

I quickly bowed my head as my shoulders stiffened. 

 

“…..Now maids, just what is that disrespectful look in your eyes?”

 

Next thing I knew, her Majesty, the Empress dowager, took care of everything single handedly. 

 

“Erm, no?!”

 

“You insulted Charlize! What is this, if not mutiny? This is just the beginning and you’ll continue if I let this go!”

 

“No, it’s not that……!”

 

The maids tried to hastily come up with excuses on the spot but her Majesty had already made up her mind. 

 

“I can’t. I can’t have you in the Imperial palace anymore.”

 

Huh?

 

I was taken aback.

 

I thought it would end with them just being expelled from the Empress dowager palace but to expel them from the Imperial palace…..

 

…..How do things just get bigger? I just hope things don’t get out of hand.

 

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Those maids will no longer be the maids of the Empress dowager from today onwards.”

 

“What? That’s… … what do you mean?”

 

I blinked my soaked eyelashes pitfully.

 

All the maids had blank faces as if they had been beaten on the back of their heads.

 

The Empress dowager looked at the maids with her piercing gaze as she declared coldly. 

 

“From today, you will be transferred to the dungeon in the main building of the security bureau.”

 

“….What?”

 

The maids were wide-eyed to such a point that it seemed as if their eyes would pop out. 

 

Oh, oh, oh.

 

The Empress dowager had firmly made her decision. There was no doubt about that. 

 

The dungeon in the main building of the security bureau was a place where some of the worst felons in the empire were held.

 

Of course, the people who come face to face with the criminals are the prison guards…..

 

‘Still, working in the dungeon is a level of difficulty that even maids who worked exceptionally well in the Imperial palace can’t handle.’

 

Aside from the amount of labor, the work itself is hazardous.

 

On top of that, the main building of the security bureau is quite far from the Imperial palace.

 

This disposition alone will probably be enough as a considerable punishment for the maids…..

 

“Your punishment of working in the dungeon will last at least one year and during that time, you will be working without pay.”

 

Unpaid?

 

At that moment, my breathing stopped. 

 

The maids’ faces went pale, sapped of all their color.

 

“In the meantime, I’m going to keep an eye on your working attitude, if I find your attitude hasn’t changed.”

 

A cold declaration was made.

 

“You all shall be stripped of your positions as maids.”

 

The maids wept and wailed as they clung onto her Majesty.

 

“Your Majesty, it’s the dungeon of the security bureau!”

 

“How can you send us to such a perilous place?!”

 

“Please, have mercy on us this just once!”

 

Her Majesty, the Empress dowager, who was looking at the maids, shook her head.

 

“This won’t do. Handmaiden.”

 

“Yes, just name it.”

 

The handmaiden bowed her head.

 

“Go and get the knights.”

 

At that command, the maids lost their strength, one even fell to her knees as the eyes of each maid began to shake uncontrollably.

 

A faint smile crept over the handmaid’s lips.

 

“As you wish.”

 

After a while.

 

“Your Majesty, Empress dowager! Your Majesty-!”

 

The maids struggled recklessly but it was not enough to escape from the grip of the knights.

 

Watching the maids being dragged away by the knights, I quickly buried my face in the collar of the handmaid’s clothes.

 

If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be able to hide my satisfactory smile that spread across my face.

 

Hmm, will this blow up down the line?

 

Why did they try to pick a fight in the first place?

 

Really, it was arrogant of them.