Chapter 38
“Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty.”
Having finally delivered all fifty lashes, Reina flung the switch away.
From striking fifty times without pause, sweat beaded on her forehead.
Aiden and Rose, who had witnessed the entire scene, were speechless.
The Reina they had always seen as frail was administering such a cold punishment.
Honestly, when she had suggested resignation, they thought it was a rather lenient penalty.
But from the moment she threatened with a sword to make her fetch the switch herself, they realized there could be no harsher corporal punishment.
For Mrs. Mary, who was so conscious of authority and face, there could be no greater humiliation.
An dishonorable dismissal followed by fifty lashes.
Rose, having personally confirmed that Reina was a more terrifying presence than she thought, began to feel tension rising within her.
‘Royalty is royalty, after all?’
Knowing how ruthless the current emperor was, it sent chills down her spine even more.
The way she was utterly stern when establishing authority was just like the emperor.
Rose shuddered as she realized that all this time, Reina had been going easy on her.
“Huff. Ugh…”
When Mrs. Mary finally collapsed, Reina said to Rose.
“Escort her home. And clear out all her things.”
“…Yes.”
“Mrs. Mary wouldn’t want today’s events to leak outside, so unless something special happens, keep quiet about it.”
Which meant that if Mrs. Mary harbored any other intentions, it was fine to spread the rumors immediately.
Mrs. Mary, keenly picking up on this, swallowed her sobs.
She couldn’t let the news of her dismissal and beating spread.
Of course, continuing to live in the North was already out of the question, but she needed to be able to go somewhere else.
Mrs. Mary bowed her waist, hiding her humiliation.
“I am grateful for your mercy, as vast as the sea.”
“Farewell.”
At Reina’s coldly uttered words, Mrs. Mary limped away.
With everyone gone from the parlor like that.
Reina let out the breath she had been holding and staggered, collapsing onto the sofa.
“Hah.”
Throughout the punishment of Mrs. Mary, she had felt short of breath.
It wasn’t just from excitement.
While punishing Mrs. Mary, Reina had to wrestle with her past self.
“Children who don’t listen get punished.”
It was because, in that moment, the image of the past emperor overlapped with her own.
The emperor would become extremely violent if Reina didn’t move according to his will.
Building resilience was a process far more humiliating and self-destructive than one might think.
As the abuse continued, Reina gradually lost herself.
When she could no longer distinguish which of her feelings were real.
Before she knew it, Reina had come to resemble the emperor.
She had no hesitation in thinking and acting like the emperor.
In the end, like a dog biting its master, she had no qualms about cutting off the emperor’s breath in one go.
All of that was the emperor’s way.
So, while striking Mrs. Mary, Reina became afraid.
Wondering if she had become a monster.
“No, I’m different from the emperor.”
Reina murmured to herself as if making a vow.
This wasn’t the time to be like this.
Gradually composing her emotions, Reina brushed off her seat and stood up.
Following that, with a face as if nothing had happened, she headed to the room where Dalia was.
* * *
Ben learned belatedly that Mrs. Mary’s room had been cleared out by Reina.
It was something the madam had done right after waking up.
From the circumstances, it was clear that Mrs. Mary was involved in this incident.
Given that they had been about to interrogate Mrs. Mary right after Rose, the situation demanded immediate assessment.
“Mrs. Mary was limping from the moment she left the parlor. It seems she was beaten.”
The maid who had seen Mrs. Mary leave cautiously revealed her thoughts.
Limping on a leg that had been fine until morning was reason enough to suspect something.
Though she didn’t know exactly what had happened inside, from the circumstances, it appeared Reina was the one who had done that to Mrs. Mary.
He had thought she would be lenient.
Feeling that she was more stern than expected, Ben hurried to find Kaiden.
Upon hearing the news, Kaiden headed to where Reina was.
“Reina.”
Reina, who happened to be having snacks with Dalia at the time, welcomed him.
“Is it your break time? We’re having snacks too. If you have time, want to join us?”
Contrary to his worries, her face was utterly serene.
It was hard to believe she was the same woman who had just been whipping Mrs. Mary.
‘Was the report wrong?’
When Kaiden glared at Ben, Ben shrugged his shoulders as if to say he was innocent.
His expression suggested he had only reported what he had heard.
After learning that Mrs. Mary had abused her power to arbitrarily dismiss Dalia’s tutors, he had intended to fire her immediately.
But Reina had asked him to wait, so he had been biding his time for the right moment.
Kaiden hadn’t anticipated that such a massive incident would unfold in the meantime.
“They said the atmosphere in the parlor was extremely tense. The young duke looked a bit dazed when he came out.”
“That guy always looks dazed, doesn’t he?”
“Miss Rose was the same.”
Kaiden hesitated at the mention that even the tough-nerved Rose had been shaken.
What followed was even harder to believe.
“According to Dive, he faintly heard the sound of whipping. From the circumstances, it seems the madam personally whipped Mrs. Mary.”
“Come on. He must have misheard. You saw her too, right? Reina isn’t harsh enough to hit anyone. With those slender wrists, who could she strike?”
“Well, perhaps we’ve been misjudging the madam all along.”
“What do you mean?”
“She seems more cold and stern than we thought. I think we need to dig deeper into why she came here.”
“We already found nothing.”
“That’s why I’m even more afraid of what dangerous situation might unfold.”
Ben seemed to be suspicious of the reasons behind Reina’s arrival in the North.
Indeed, it was enough to send chills down one’s spine that someone who seemed incapable of killing an ant had turned the stubborn Mrs. Mary into a pulp.
But in Kaiden’s eyes, it didn’t feel like Reina had done such a thing without a care.
Kaiden closely examined Reina’s complexion.
For some reason, the corners of her mouth were drooping more than usual, as if she were trying to hide self-reproach.
The oddity wasn’t limited to that. The hand holding the teacup was trembling finely, unlike her usual self.
As he focused on the thick velvet gloves she was wearing, something naturally came into view.
The fingertips that usually held the teacup so elegantly were more awkward than normal.
She seemed to be hiding it with her whole body, but she couldn’t fool Kaiden’s keen observation.
‘I told you I’d handle it.’
Kaiden found Reina’s refusal to lean on him a bit frustrating.
He could have taken care of something like that.
The whipping of Mrs. Mary had probably been impulsive.
Her original plan had been to gradually narrow Mrs. Mary’s position and slowly create psychological distance from Dalia.
She likely hadn’t expected Mrs. Mary to pull such a despicable stunt in the meantime.
Kaiden glanced at Dalia and said to Reina.
“Is it okay if I join?”
“Of course. We were just taking a break with Dalia anyway. Should I have them bring yours too?”
“I’d like that.”
“Rose, could you bring another teacup?”
“Yes, Madam.”
At Reina’s words, Rose brought another teacup with a sharply composed expression.
Kaiden looked at it with curious eyes.
He was surprised by Rose’s changed attitude from before.
