Chapter 37
Reina leaned on the crutches brought by the maid and approached Mrs. Mary.
She had been thinking too complacently all this time.
After all, the rebellion wouldn’t happen for another three years, so she had figured she could gradually weaken their power over time.
She had believed that would be better for Dalia as well.
She truly hadn’t expected that in the meantime, they would pull off such an audacious act, putting not only Dalia but herself in danger too.
No longer able to find any reason to overlook Mrs. Mary, Reina asked coldly,
“You said it was out of loyalty?”
“……”
“I’m curious as to whom exactly you’re loyal. Who is the true object of your allegiance?”
“You’re not suggesting I’m a spy, are you? The only one I serve is Miss Dalia. Don’t slander my loyalty…!”
As Mrs. Mary flared up in defense, Reina cut her off.
“You’re wrong. You’ve been loyal to Dalia’s power. If it weren’t for that, you couldn’t have done something that endangers Dalia.”
“I…!”
Mrs. Mary looked utterly aggrieved and was about to protest again.
Slap-!
With a sharp noise, Mrs. Mary’s head jerked sharply to the side.
Her cheek suddenly stinging, Mrs. Mary wore a dazed expression.
She couldn’t immediately grasp what had just happened to her.
Then, another bolt struck.
Smack-!
Being hit in the same spot repeatedly made her head spin.
Mrs. Mary glared at Reina, who had slapped her cheek twice in succession, but she couldn’t say a word.
She sensed that if she opened her mouth again here, something worse would happen.
Reina’s aura was anything but ordinary.
Mrs. Mary bit her lip and bowed her head.
Seeing her spirit subdued, Reina continued.
“No matter how much you disliked me, I tried not to mind it. At least, I judged you weren’t someone who would harm Dalia.”
“……”
“But you’ve crossed the line. I can’t keep you by Dalia’s side any longer, so leave Crencia Castle as of today. If you ever appear before Dalia again, you’d better be prepared.”
Fired!
At the sudden announcement, Mrs. Mary widened her eyes in shock.
If this incident had just been resolved smoothly, things would have gone her way.
This was all because of that princess who appeared out of nowhere!
“By what authority are you firing me, madam? That’s for the young master to decide!”
“No. All internal affairs of the Crencia family are under my purview. Whose permission do I need to fire an unreliable employee?”
“Ha! You mean that position no one acknowledges?”
“……”
The biting words chilled the room. Cornered, Mrs. Mary’s remarks were unrestrained.
“From the start, wasn’t this a hastily arranged marriage without the elders’ council? If His Grace hadn’t shielded you, that seat would rightfully belong to the northern people. You show up out of nowhere, and on top of that, you boss everyone around—how could anyone see that favorably? If you hadn’t tried to drive me out, none of this would have happened!”
Unable to listen any longer, Aiden stepped forward.
“Stop it, madam. Don’t you realize it’s a mercy that it’s ending with my sister-in-law handling it? If my brother had found out first, it would have been worse, not better.”
But that only fueled Mrs. Mary’s anger further.
Mrs. Mary shrieked in a shrill voice.
“I’m truly disappointed! Even now, you’re taking the outsider’s side? It seems the little duke is no different. Just a few days ago, you fell hook, line, and sinker for a few words and started taking that woman’s side!”
“Madam!”
“What exactly did I do so wrong? Is this the reward for a lifetime of loyalty to Crencia? Anyway, the madam isn’t dead, is she!”
Mrs. Mary poured out words she should and shouldn’t say, without distinction.
“Hah….”
Aiden pressed his forehead and sighed.
He had intended to stop Reina, considering the affection built over time.
Fortunately, since Reina seemed intent on ending it quietly, he had stayed silent.
But the opponent, oblivious to the mercy being shown, had turned the tables with brazen audacity.
Defending her any further was impossible.
This side of Mrs. Mary was something he was seeing for the first time.
The thought that he had unknowingly left such a person by Dalia’s side stirred a mix of emotions within him.
Reina endured all of Mrs. Mary’s insults without uttering a single word.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“What?”
As Mrs. Mary huffed and finally stopped shouting, Reina turned her gaze to Rose.
“Rose, go fetch the switch from Mrs. Mary’s room.”
Rose, who had been cautiously observing from the side all along, wore a dumbfounded expression.
“Me?”
She was still under suspicion herself.
So, there could be doubts of her being an accomplice with Mrs. Mary, yet Reina spoke with eyes devoid of any doubt.
“Hurry.”
“Th-then, I’ll be right back.”
Unable to resist Reina’s urging, Rose quickly tried to leave the reception room, but Mrs. Mary snorted derisively.
“It’s pointless. I threw away that damned switch long ago!”
The voice brimming with defiance chilled the room once more.
Rose stared at the screaming Mrs. Mary in bewilderment.
‘She’s completely lost it. Is this because it’s all or nothing now?’
Honestly, being fired was a light punishment.
If it were Kaiden, it wouldn’t stop at firing; he’d do far worse.
She was probably acting so boldly because she didn’t know Kaiden well.
From Reina’s perspective, this was a punishment that showed ample consideration for Mrs. Mary.
Witnessing her kick away her own good fortune, Rose could neither advance nor retreat, only gauging Reina’s mood.
Mrs. Mary displayed an arrogant attitude that even Rose, who had usually disregarded Reina, found excessive.
In contrast, Reina appeared so utterly calm that it was downright terrifying.
Just as Rose was pondering what on earth she could be thinking.
“Is that so?”
Reina rose quietly from her seat, as if she had anticipated this.
She then took the decorative sword hanging on the reception room wall and approached Mrs. Mary.
Everyone wore puzzled expressions, unsure of what she intended to do.
It was a sword that looked burdensome to hold even with one hand.
A moment later, Reina drew the sword from its sheath. The well-sharpened blade gleamed under the light.
She thrust the sword onto the floor with a thud and said,
“In that case, this is all I have at hand. Will this do? As you can see, if swung wrong, it could take your head.”
She’s serious.
Rose instinctively knew that Reina’s words were no bluff.
Honestly, the atmosphere was so chillingly cold that it made her shudder to think of how she had dismissed her before.
How could someone who seemed incapable of killing even an ant say such things so nonchalantly?
With a threat delivered as calmly as if she had killed people multiple times before, Mrs. Mary was instantly terrified.
“Huh, heuk!”
She gasped for breath at the sight of the sharply honed sword.
“A-actually! I-I didn’t throw it away! It’s in the third drawer of my bedroom!”
Her appearance was utterly pathetic. Reina glanced at Rose, who was sending her a look mixed with contempt, and quietly commanded,
“…To avoid a wasted trip, you go fetch it yourself.”
At that, Mrs. Mary, who had been frozen stiff, voluntarily left the reception room.
Rose looked at Reina with a peculiar gaze.
Smack! Crack! Slap!
The resounding sounds of air being sliced echoed through the reception room.
Reina silently continued to lash Mrs. Mary’s calves with the switch.
Mrs. Mary’s legs had long since burst with blood.
“Urk.”
Mrs. Mary gnawed her teeth with a face full of humiliation.
She felt ashamed for having caved in fear and revealed the switch’s location.
But the atmosphere had been so menacing that Mrs. Mary endured the beating in silence.
As retribution for defying her, Reina administered fifty lashes of corporal punishment, as if a teacher disciplining a student.
At first, everyone was skeptical, but once it passed thirty strokes, they all held their breath in silence.
