At that time, Anastasia’s maids were dragging Melina through the hallway of the Central Palace.
The courtiers of the Central Palace who were there looked at Melina with curious eyes.
But no one stopped the Empress’ maids.
Seeing Mrs. Rochester at the forefront, they seemed to have a rough idea of what was happening.
Arriving at her room, filled with an indescribable sense of shame, Melina was thrown onto her bed as if she were being discarded.
“Oops! Whoops!”
“If you promise to be quiet, I’ll let you go.”
Mrs. Rochester stated, all the while not letting anyone remove the gag.
When Melina gave a hasty nod and with Mrs. Rochester beckoning, only then did the maids take off the gag that was shoved in Melina’s mouth.
“Phew!”
Anastasia’s maids were worried that Melina would break her promise and go on a rampage, but fortunately, Melina was not that stupid.
Instead, with her hand on her cheek and bloodshot eyes, she glared at Mrs. Rochester, feeling aggrieved about how she was treated.
“You can’t treat me like this. How dare you! I’m the Emperor’s maid…!”
“I guess you still don’t understand the situation, with how absurd you’re talking right now.”
Mrs. Rochester scolded Melina with a frigid look.
“As a court lady, it is impossible for anyone to dare slander Her Majesty.”
“It’s not slander, it’s a fact!”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. Even if the Empress can’t revive the Goddess’ garden, you should prepare for punishment.”
“I am the daughter of the Marquis of Lutent.”
Melina gritted her teeth and spitefully spat out:
“You can’t mess with me. No one can!”
“Well, I know that the Marquis of Lutent has two grown sons, and there’s no father anywhere who wants to stand in the way of his children.”
“…what?”
“The Marquis is a person who quickly calculates profit and loss. Miss should know that.”
Once done, Mrs. Rochester sneered and led the maids out of Melina’s room.
Finally left alone, Melina anxiously gnashed her teeth, reflecting on Mrs. Rochester’s last words.
Mrs. Rochester was right.
Her father was a quick worker. He tried to organize the anti-Emperor forces and have her be the Emperor’s paramour because he thought there was a possibility.
Nevertheless, if there were any signs of things going downhill, he would promptly cut himself off to prevent further damage to himself. Even for his own nefarious acts.
‘It will never happen.’
Melina ground her teeth, further displaying her agitation.
‘Honestly, I don’t think Anastasia can save the Goddess’ garden.’
With how many bugs she poured into it, it was impossible.
However, there was something else that made Melina apprehensive.
“I have to hurry and capture the Emperor’s heart…”
Wilhelm rarely paid any attention to her.
In fact, it was the same for the other four ladies-in-waiting.
To seduce the Emperor, she wore a flimsy nightgown and waited on the path he took every night. But it would all fail every time.
No matter how hard she tried, he just passed by her like she was a statue.
‘Then, is it true that he wanted to get rid of us on the first day?’
Melina bit her thumbnail and recalled the first day.
~~~~
Despite being slapped by Anastasia on the first day of her arrival, Melina decided to take this wretched situation as her chance.
As she had told the Marquis of Lutent, she used the wound on her cheek to induce sympathy.
Hence, she went to Wilhelm on purpose without proper treatment.
“Your Majesty, I have brought you a good tea for relieving fatigue.”
“Leave it there.”
Without even giving a glance her way, Wilhelm continued with his paperwork.
Melina was saddened by his attitude; she puckered her mouth and looked at him.
Then, soon after, her face turned red.
‘… He’s so handsome.’
His bespectacled image illustrated his intelligence and made his high nose appear sharper.
Above all, the streaks of light that blended with the night sky made Melina feel strange.
She was unconsciously staring at Wilhelm when he suddenly raised his head.
Naturally, their eyes met.
“…are you not going out?”
When Wilhelm asked in a strangely displeased voice, Melina belatedly came to her senses and opened her mouth.
“What? Oh…… Yes.”
However, she soon changed her answer because she thought she shouldn’t miss this opportunity.
“It’s… I thought you’d better have your tea before it gets cold.”
“All right, get out of here.”
“Come on, take a sip.”
Melina tried to ease her nervousness and persuaded him.
“I’ve worked really hard.…”
Melina approached Wilhelm with the cup of tea, behaving bashfully as her words trailed in the end.
As she got closer to him, her heartbeat quickened; Melina tightened her hold on the teacup to prevent him from noticing the tremors.
“Well, I’ll be leaving then… Ah!”
But after she bade farewell and was about to turn and leave, Melina deliberately moaned and touched her left cheek.
For the Emperor to see it clearly, she didn’t cover her bruised cheek.
‘With this, even His Majesty won’t ignore it.’
As expected, Wilhelm stared at Melina’s injured cheek.
‘He’ll probably ask what happened to my cheek, right?’
Suppressing her jitters, Melina showed a pathetic look.
“There’s something you should be aware of.”
Hearing the stone-cold tone in Wilhelm’s voice was completely different from what she was hoping for.
Melina forgot to act and just stared at Wilhelm, perplexed.
“It should be obvious of course, but don’t you dare stand up to the Empress.”
“…What?”
“It means not to disgrace the prestige of the Central Palace by walking around with a slap mark on your face.”
At the unexpected rebuke, Melina couldn’t help but be stunned.
She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t say anything. But Wilhelm’s arsenic voice continued.
“Especially Miss Lutent, you have to be more careful.”
“What do you mean…”
“I was surprised. Even if all the ladies in the world wish to be my lady-in-waiting, I never expected Miss Lutent.”
“…Your Majesty, I–”
“Get out and don’t come into my room without my instructions.”
Afterward, Wilhelm no longer paid Melina any attention. She just bit her lips and left.
‘Since when did those two’s relationship become so special?’
It was absurd. It was a known fact in society that the pair didn’t even have a loving relationship that was expected from married couples.
It was unbelievable.
Besides, previously, they would growl at each other whenever they met.
‘Did he have a change of heart because of her recent change? Really?’
Melina worriedly gritted her teeth. She couldn’t give up now.
‘Even if that were the case, it’s temporary. Was there ever a tree that didn’t fall over after taking another ten shots?’*
*TN: Anastasia was bound to fall with Melina fighting against her
Melina made up her mind and directly returned to her room.
~~~~
Through Mrs. Rochester, Anastasia was aware of what Melina had experienced that day.
She had discreetly planted eyes and ears in the other person’s palace.
“As expected, the male lead is different.”
As she made her way from the Central Palace to the Goddess’ Garden, Anastasia found herself impressed again.
How could those five maidens audaciously seduce him?
Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be easy to not bat an eye.
At present, there was no lady whom Wilhelm cherished.
However, there was a hint of bitterness in her when she thought of Avelin quickly attracting him once she appeared.
“Oh, it’s here.”
At that time, Anastasia halted in her steps at Selene’s words.
“Ah….”
Seeing that they were already in the garden, Anastasia was greatly embarrassed that she was oblivious to their arrival.
“…really here?”
The condition of the garden was worse than she originally thought.
The red roses – which supposedly were to display their splendid beauty – were being devoured and plagued by those disgusting swarms of insects.
“I heard that they went to the temple, too… It’s already in such a terrible state.”
Seeing it was about to turn into a tragic site, she felt more disturbed than she initially was.
“What should I do? They’re gradually fading away.”
Selene also approached the flowers with a tearful expression and examined their condition.
“Your Majesty, what brings you here…!”
“Greetings to the Moon of the Empire. May you receive eternal blessings from the Goddess.”
Noticing the Empress’ arrival, the gardeners approached her and expressed their greetings.
With a somber look, Anastasia asked the gardeners.
“Since when has the garden been like this?”
“It’s… It’s been almost three weeks now.”
“We’ve been trying to seize them all for a while, but there are so many… Even when those priests from the temple came, it’s only for a moment*.”
*TN: It only helps briefly
“What can we do about this… Please kill me, Your Majesty!
“…”
Anastasia stared at the kneeling gardeners.
Whether they unceasingly tried to capture all those insects or not, the dark circles under their eyes were obvious.
She then turned her attention to those caterpillars that continuously munched on the flowers.
Long silence pervaded the place. The gardeners waited with bated breath for the Empress’ decision to dispose of them, trembling at the thought that she might strike them on the head at that moment.
But after a while, the words that were uttered from Anastasia’s mouth were contrary to their concerns.
“No need to worry. There is a way to fix it.”
