I’m the Only One Who Can Put the Tyrant To Sleep

Chapter 10 The next day, when I went to work, I thought of her all day long. I couldn’t figure out how to get revenge.To be honest, I was powerless; she and I were both just ordinary maids, and she was a senior maid.Marriott seemed to have worked at the Imperial Palace for quite some time, was older than me, and was trusted by the Empress. If a fight broke out, I was at a disadvantage.“What are you worried about?”Floria asked, sipping tea across from me. On the table were several sets of refreshments and a storybook.“No. It just feels like the weather is going to rain.”“I’d rather it snowed.”“I don’t think it’s cold enough to snow today.”“That’s right. I’d love to see snow, but it’s too cold to go out in the garden… More than that, Evelyn.”“Yes, princess.”“Read me a storybook!”Floria smiled brightly as she picked up the cookie and ate it.“You asked if I was in trouble, I thought you were worried about me.”“But Evelyn, you said you didn’t have any, didn’t you? So your worries are over.”I smiled. It was really cute enough to put an end to my worries.“What would you like me to read?”“Something with snow!”“Then how about this one? It has a cute squirrel and snow.”“Okay!”Without knowing what it was, Floria smiled brightly.I opened a fairy tale book. A children’s book, perfect for seven-year-old Floria to read, one illustrated on two pages.“In the deep, buried snow, Mumu, a young squirrel, was gathering food to survive the winter. His favorite food was acorns, but when he finally made it to the acorn tree, he was frustrated: all the acorns were gone.”Floria opened her mouth and focused.“Mumu could easily figure out whose work this was. There were footprints left in the snow. It was the bad cat, Chocho. Chocho liked to tease the squirrels.”“Chocho!”Immersed, Floria clenched her fists.“‘How can I get the acorn back from Chocho?’ Mumu thought about it, and then Mumu realized what was most important to Chocho.”“What is that?”“It’s….”Without reading a children’s book, I paused for a moment. Floria called my name as if puzzled.“Evelyn?”‘If you do this well….’Chocho, the bad cat in a fairy tale book, resembles Marriott.Perhaps… I didn’t know if I could use this to get revenge on Marriott.“Evelyn, what is the most important thing for Choco?”“Oh, I’m sorry.”With a small smile, I finished reading the storybook.“The most important thing for Chocho is that….” ***** A few hours later, Floria left her Palace to study.I hung around the Crown Prince’s palace. It was to meet the Marriott.‘If I use that method, I may have to take revenge, but….’To be honest, I was a little nervous. After all, I’d never come face to face with her.What if she was being blackmailed by the Empress, or what if there is something really unavoidable?‘Though the way she was stomping on the bouquet of flowers certainly didn’t seem like that at all.’Because I needed to see her in person.‘Let’s get up close, personally and talk.’So I wandered down the outdoor corridor from the crown prince’s palace to the garden a couple of times, and finally Marriott appeared.Marriott was coming with another maid. I sneakily hid behind the pillar.The maid with black straight hair and glasses was looking at Marriott with envy.I had originally planned to bump into her and drop my book, but the situation was ambiguous. If she was with someone, I couldn’t get as much information as I wanted.As if they were talking about something until now, the black-haired maid asked.“So? Did Your Majesty really promise you a seat?”“Shh! Be quiet.”Contrary to her harsh tone, Marriott’s lips were full of smiles.“Well, she didn’t say it out loud, but I’d say she believes me at this point.”“But Your Majesty, the Empress, is also really amazing. In many ways.”Perhaps because she was conscious of her surroundings, the maid did not add any words. But I could easily guess the implications of those words.‘It’s amazing that you’re doing this for the sake of power… she’s being sarcastic.’“Well, I don’t know. I guess I’m the only one who’s really great, right?”“What?”“Well, most of what I’ve done has been on my own initiative.”“Your own initiative. Then Her Majesty’s Majesty never gave an order…”“That’s not true. She did order me to take care of the crown prince, and handed me a large sum of money. Isn’t that obvious?”“That’s true, but…”The maid’s face darkened. Apparently, she was the smarter of the two, not Marriott. ‘The fact that the order was not clear also means that the Empress can withdraw at any time.’If something happened, it would all be Marriott’s fault. Because the Empress only told her to take good care of the Crown Prince.Marriott was excited and continued.“It was for the sake of health, I stole the snacks assigned to the Crown Prince, and stole expensive fabrics because he had to show a frugal appearance to the people of the Empire. How happy would you be if Your Majesty later found out about this?”“Uh… okay.”Now there was an invisible sneer on the maid’s face. Marriott must have gotten a kick out of the maid’s lukewarm demeanor, because she began to tell me more about what she had done.“I even snatched the bouquet from his hands a few days ago for his mother!”“What?”“The look on his face when he couldn’t say anything was hilarious.”Marriott laughed out loud, pleased with her maid’s change in demeanor.She hadn’t been threatened by the Empress, or even ordered to…‘You did it all on your own because you wanted to and you wanted to look good for the Empress?’I clenched my fist. There was no need to hesitate any longer.I suddenly stepped out from behind a pillar. Marriott and the maid beside him flinched at my sudden appearance, startled.“Wh-what? You.”Marriott put on a bewildered face.In retrospect, this was a stroke of genius. The plan I conceived earlier would come naturally.“Are you Miss Marriott?”I clasped my hands tightly and opened my eyes. As if envying Marriott.“Yes, Who are you?”“Actually, I have something to tell you.”I blinked at the other maid, as a sign to leave. The maid, who had already realized that Marriott was stupid, hurriedly disappeared.In the place where only the two of us were left, Marriott looked at me suspiciously.“So, who are you, and what do you have to say?”Her demeanor was quite intimidating.“I’m actually here on orders from Her Majesty the Empress.”“What?”Marriott repeated in a new voice.“I have been ordered to deliver a message to Miss Marriott at the Crown Prince’s Palace.”I said, politely bowed my head. Marriott then raised her chin .“So? What order?”“That’s actually…”I smiled invisibly and continued.“Your Majesty says she’s going to honor you, Miss Marriott.”“Honored? Why all of a sudden?”Marriott’s eyes darkened with suspicion. She was right to be suspicious of me, coming out of the blue.‘No, if you don’t doubt this, you’re really stupid.’“Actually, it’s about bouquet this time.”“If it’s a bouquet….”“Yeah, that’s right. It’s a bouquet of blue and yellow colors, isn’t it?”“How could you!”Marriott’s eyes widened.Caesar had made the bouquet, and she had just trampled on it, so as far as she was concerned, the only people who knew about it were her and Caesar.“It was meant to be a bouquet for the former Empress.”“Exactly! That’s why I destroyed it!”“Yeah, that’s what made Her Majesty so happy. You’ve just dishonored the Empress.”“I see! Her Majesty was watching me!”“Of course, Her Majesty is always and everywhere watching you.”With a meaningful smile, I recalled Marriott’s face. I didn’t even notice that the trembling in my voice had subsided.“So, what did you say she’s going to give me as a prize?”Marriott asked, still excited.“She said that she would introduce Miss Marriott to Duke Spiegel.”“What?”Marriott’s face recalled more; she was now clamping her hands over her mouth.Duke Spiegel. With the greatest power in the empire, he was the head of the aristocratic faction.It was a public fact that anyone knew that the Empress had teamed up with the aristocrats faction. However, information about who the head of the aristocratic faction was was different.It was not something a mere maidservant like me would know, unless she was as close to the Empress as Marriott. With those words, I had proven that I was at least as close to the Empress like Marriott.Of course, it was all thanks to the novel that I knew of this fact.“To introduce me….”“Yes, it means that she will recognize you, Marriott, but on one condition.”“One condition?”“Yes. Her Majesty can’t introduce just anyone to Duke Spiegel, can she?”“That’s right.”Without any doubt, Marriott shook her head.“You’ll need proof that the maid she’s going to introduce to him is of such high caliber, won’t you?”“So, what do you want me to do?”Marriott asked impatiently.I smiled brightly inside as she took the bait.“From now on, All you have to do is follow what I tell you to do.”