CHAPTER 05…………………..
Sennia felt as if she would faint at the princess’s fingers lightly brushing her wrist.
The princess’s grip was far too strong to resist. If she applied even a little more force, it felt as though her bones would snap cleanly in two.
Having never experienced anything like this before, Sennia’s imagination ran wild in the worst possible direction.
Cutting off wrists. Pulling out tongues. The princess was truly intending to carry it out.
Just imagining it made her vision go dark. If she was lucky, she would die. If unlucky, she would spend the rest of her life wandering the streets without hands or a tongue. How could a maid like that work? And where would someone who couldn’t work go?
I should beg for forgiveness right now.
Sennia’s mind could think of nothing but pleading to escape the immediate crisis. She could not even think about the lady of the house or the other maids watching this scene.
“P-please… I was wrong…”
Her voice trembled so badly it barely came out as speech. At the incoherent apology, the princess let out a faint laugh and rested her chin lightly on Sennia’s shoulder.
“Why are you speaking when I was addressing Mother?”
Her hot breath tickled Sennia’s ear. It was an unpleasant voice, like metal scraping against metal. Goosebumps spread across her entire body.
Was the princess always capable of sounding like this?
Sennia felt as though the princess had become an entirely different person. It wasn’t just that she had regained her senses. It was something deeper—an uncanny sense of wrongness that only someone who had served her closely could feel.
—“Maybe she just became vicious after surviving death.”
Tia had said something like that. But could a person really change this drastically in an instant? Even if she had recovered from being a fool, one’s nature shouldn’t simply disappear.
“Are you asking me to tear out your mouth first?”
The princess lifted her free hand and tapped Sennia’s lips lightly. It looked like a child’s playful gesture.
But no one there saw it that way. Holding the maid like that, she looked like a bandit holding a hostage. It felt as though she might rip Sennia’s mouth apart at any moment if displeased.
“Stop it. You’re hurting her.”
Igrelia soothed her gently.
At her words, the princess’s eyes curved.
“If that is what Mother wishes.”
She released Sennia without hesitation.
Thud.
Sennia collapsed immediately, her legs giving out.
“Haa… haaa…”
She struggled to breathe, trying to calm herself, but it didn’t work.
What if she had disobeyed the lady and acted on a whim?
Sennia clutched her mouth, trembling violently. The once gentle, foolish princess had become a completely different person. Tia’s words had not been exaggeration at all.
This princess is not the same as before.
There was no mercy in her. Worse, she was someone who could do anything cruel if it entertained her. That laugh while gripping her wrist was proof of it.
“M-Milady…”
Sennia clung to Igrelia, tears in her eyes. It felt safer to cling to the lady, who at least pretended to be kind, rather than the violent princess. The princess might cut off her wrists, but the lady—at least—would show mercy in public.
“There, there. It’s alright.”
Igrelia soothed her, stroking her back. While comforting Sennia, she shot a sharp glance at the princess.
“Do not come any closer.”
A maid standing beside Igrelia stepped in front of Eleksena.
For a moment, Eleksena felt slightly taken aback by the hostility.
In truth, her earlier words about cutting off wrists and tongues had not been serious. She could do it, but there was no reason to now. It was neither useful nor timely. And such punishment would not satisfy her anyway.
So they took that seriously.
She had assumed Igrelia, skilled at deception, would only stay cautious at most.
Eleksena raised both hands lightly, showing her palms in a harmless gesture—I mean no harm.
No one believed her.
She looked slightly disappointed.
“It’s alright. Step back.”
Igrelia dismissed the maid. The maid stepped aside with a resentful expression, like a knight releasing a criminal.
Then Igrelia spoke gently.
“Cardia, my daughter. It is possible this girl made mistakes toward you. I understand your anger.”
She pulled Sennia protectively into her arms.
“Milady…!”
Sennia cried out emotionally.
“But,” Igrelia continued firmly, “she also served you faithfully while you were unconscious.”
Her tone softened again.
“Is it not partly thanks to her that you were able to wake again? Please show mercy considering that.”
“Mother is very generous.”
Show mercy.
A subordinate who had looked down on her master. There was nothing in Eleksena that could feel sympathy. To her, it was natural that servants obeyed. Any deviation deserved punishment.
In the past, she would have cut off Sennia’s head without hesitation.
The only reason she did not now was simple: Cardia had no power yet.
So I cannot refuse Mother’s words yet.
Then she would finish this “mercifully”—in her own way.
A good idea came to her.
Eleksena smiled, baring her teeth slightly.
“Punishing her alone would indeed be excessive.”
First—agreement.
“And yet, if misconduct is not punished, the reputation of the house will fall.”
Then—plausible reasoning.
She tapped the table lightly, pretending to think.
That should be enough acting.
She stopped and rested her fingers on the table.
“Furthermore, this is not solely this maid’s fault—”
Her eyes curved.
“—so let us summon all servants and maids and investigate them thoroughly. Their merits and faults alike. Then we shall decide appropriate punishments.”
She would make this an issue involving everyone.
That was Eleksena’s conclusion.
She lacked information. All she knew came from what Cardia had whispered to her.
Beyond that, she was no different from a fool in this place.
So she needed information.
Investigating servants would provide access to everything about this household—and more. Rumors, secrets, truths about their masters—servants always knew.
“And we shall show mercy by considering their merits as well, as Mother said.”
Most importantly, this allowed her to probe the household with Igrelia’s “permission.”
Igrelia’s eyes sharpened.
Her comforting hands stopped.
Now those hands were no longer for the maid—but for the princess.
She took Eleksena’s hands warmly.
This time, it was unmistakably a mother’s gesture.
“I am worried. You have only just woken up, and your body is still weak. Why not leave this matter to me?”
She smiled kindly—but her eyes were sharp.
She doesn’t want me touching her people.
Eleksena looked at her steadily.
Naturally, many of “her people” were among them. Losing a few would not matter much to Igrelia.
What mattered was exposure—those people might reveal her involvement.
But weak Cardia would not be listened to.
However, proximity made violence more dangerous.
Just like Sennia, who had forgotten Igrelia’s presence for a moment.
“Mother is kind. I would like to entrust this matter to you.”
Their hands were warm.
Eleksena gently released them and patted Igrelia’s back.
Cardia’s body was tall—tall enough to look down on her aging mother. Over her shoulder, Igrelia’s back was slightly bent with age.
“However, I also worry that those who lack understanding may take advantage of Mother’s kindness.”
So it was time for the daughter to rise.
For the grown child to replace her parent.
There was nothing in Eleksena’s words that could be refuted.
Igrelia bit her lip.
She hesitated.
Then—
“…Very well.”
At last, she gave in.
Eleksena smiled.
A chance to dig into the depths of House Wincedius had just fallen into her hands.
