Chapter 7: 7

After eating, Philomel returned to her room.

“Princess! Are you here? So what did His Majesty say…”

As soon as she heard that, Philomel spotted a figure entering, followed by a nanny who was trying to pry into conversation with the Emperor.

“No. What did the Count come here for?”

It was Count Pollan.

“His Majesty has ordered you to retire. You have worked hard to serve Her Majesty the Princess following Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Yes? What do you mean by that?”

The nanny didn’t understand Pollan’s words, so she only blinked.

“I’ll give you a generous severance pay, so you won’t be disappointed. If you want, I’ll arrange a house for you in the capital city.”

Philomel looked up at her nanny and smiled at her.

“Nanny, thank you for all this time. Now don’t overdo it and get some rest.”

“Retirement! What the hell is this? I have no intention of retiring. I made up my mind to stay by the princess’s side until the end!”

At the word retirement, the nanny was startled. Although she pretended not to be her, the nanny loved the power she enjoyed as the princess’s guardian.

“That loyalty is respectable. But the princess herself told Her Majesty that you had suffered from back pain for a long time.”

Along with the worry that the nanny might collapse soon, Philomel hid behind the Count, and she smiled sinisterly.

The grouchy nanny made her excuses.

“Yeah, that’s not too serious. The Princess probably took it seriously in her young heart…”

“I have already confirmed with the other servants. It’s okay if you stop hiding it.”

The nanny must have been bragging about it in the sense of ‘I dedicate my whole body to be loyal to the imperial family’, but her words were up to her to convey. When Philomel pleaded with her heartfelt concern for her nanny, Eustis ordered her retirement without a word. From his point of view, if the nanny, whom her deceased wife had followed like a mother, collapsed, he would have been in trouble.

“So, as of today, quit your job, recuperate, and take care of yourself. Her Highness, the princess, plans to select and hire her competent handmaids.”

“I’m really fine! If you just reconsider… will be faster.”

The daylight of the maids frolicking in the corner was not good either.

“…If the nanny quits, what will we do?”

“We have no choice but to do well with the new lady-in-waiting.”

“How much effort have you given to appeal to the nanny so far? It’s a shame.”

Thanks to the nanny who didn’t care too much for the rest if she just followed her own words, they had been doing a little work and living well.

Philomel’s escape plan was to drive them all out. Anything that feeds on her own mind would only hinder her preparation for escape.

That was a good start. Philomel walked with her light steps to her bathroom to wash herself up.

* * *

A few days later, at Philomel’s residence.

Today was the day Philomel first met the Countess Deles that became her new chief maid. Looking at the gray-haired woman in front of her, Philomel thought.

‘She would have been in a hurry, but Count Pollan brought a pretty nice person.’

Countess Deles’ fault was that she lacked a pulpit, but she was well-suited for her lady-in-waiting job as she was gentle and soft-spoken. And how did Philomel, who was seeing her for the first time today, know that? Because Countess Deles was the chief maid serving Elensia in the book. There, Elencia relied on her a lot because she was strict but dignified and honest.

The soft-looking Countess Delles politely bowed her head. She said, “It is a great honor for my family to serve Her Highness. If there’s anything you want me to do, feel free to let me know.”

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Countess Deles was nervous that the princess, who was said to be picky, would catch her from her first impression. Since she was still at her young age, she rarely appeared in public, but it was a well-known fact that her princess’s formidable personality was difficult to deal with.

“Nice to meet you. Best wishes in the future.”

Contrary to rumors that said she was arrogant, the Princess greeted the Countess with a polite smile. During the ensuing conversation, there were no words or actions that were particularly disrespectful. She even gave the impression that she was more grown-up than the average son of aristocrats.

‘I was worried for nothing.’

Half a day after meeting the princess, the countess completely put her mind at ease. According to her observation of the princess’s daily routine, the princess was diligent in everything she did and never treated her subordinates carelessly. Since she was her age, her immaturity was also noticeable, but if she received a little education, she could see a future in which she would grow up to be a role model for the imperial family. The notoriety about the princess also seemed to be one of many rumors in society.

‘Who the hell has the guts to talk like that about the princess?’, Countess Deles thought to herself.

At that time, she covered the little red cheeks of the princess that said, “Would you like to see my closet? I have a lot of pretty clothes.”

Both of them were having a good time refreshing themselves using their spare time.The countess was trying to find a topic of conversation that would appeal to a little girl and she ended up mentioning a trendy new dress, and the princess grabbed her hand to guide her to her dressing room.   The Countess, who thought she was far too mature for her age, was happy to see her act like a child and smiled happily.  However, when she checked the little girl’s closet, her expression darkened. Philomel babbled, pointing at her dresses one after the other:

“This is my favorite dress, and I bought it last spring…”

“… I see. They are all pretty.”

There was nothing wrong with the dresses. The problem was in the tidying up inside the closet. At first glance, it looks like the clothes were hanging neatly, but if you look closely, they were randomly mixed regardless of the use of the dress or the sense of the season. Besides, some were stored in a state where the lace was crumpled. If that was the case, the clothes would be damaged quickly and cannot be worn for a long time. So far, it seemed that the princess had been given a new dress right away, so she skipped over it.

‘But her maids made a mistake that not even maids from noble families would make!’

The Countess of Delres glanced at Philomel’s maids with her cold eyes. She felt that their attitude was sloppy from the time she was served tea, even though she did not point it out.

‘Is this really all there is?’

One obvious mistake usually means ten hidden ones. She thought she should get a thorough look at what they’ve been doing. The princess might need a bunch of new maids.

After a while, the princess’s maids completely shut up. It was because the officials had entered into an investigation at the request of Countess Deles. Not only were they negligent in their duties, but they were also caught using the budget allotted to the princess for personal use. Of course, it was natural they were expelled, but only the nanny was the one who cheated the most.

All those involved were severely punished. From what Philomel later heard, the nanny didn’t even acknowledged that it was a big mistake. The old woman was getting older.

“Is it such a great sin that a poor old woman was confused and no longer knew it was her money or not? How unfair! If Lady Isabella was alive, how could she have felt sad for me, who she treated like a mother…”

The maid, who witnessed the nanny crying and protesting at the imperial palace, told Philomel in detail what she had seen. It wasn’t just a few pennies, it wasn’t a plausible excuse because the number of times she was confused and the amount of money was enormous for a momentary mistake. She thought her nanny was wasting her money, but Philomel didn’t know it was that much.

After that, the nanny was kicked out after being beaten, but how was her head still intact even after acting so indecently on the subject of her sin? Unlike the maids imprisoned, confiscation of her property was the emperor’s greatest generosity. But she was not satisfied with that and even protested.

“Even the princess should have seen it. The way she cried after being hit just once.”

The maid giggled as she recreated the nanny’s angst.

“…You’re talking too much in front of the princess.”, said Countess Deles, frowning at her.

She looked at Philomel’s eyes. After all, the nanny had been in charge of raising her for a long time, so the Countess was worried that the princess would be heartbroken.

“I’m fine. Maybe she reaped what she sowed.”

Philomel reassured her with a soft smile. In any case, the nanny was no longer related to her.

‘Huaam’

Philomel yawned, causing the Countess Delres to laugh a little.

“I will tell them to prepare your bed.”

“Thanks.”

“What? This is my job.”

As she laid down on her bed, drowsiness came over her. Philomel had not been able to sleep well in recent days as she had been trying to figure out how to get rid of her nanny and her maids. On the other hand, she was full of thoughts while she was studying. Whether she was summoned to the emperor and told her wish, or showed the state of her wardrobe to her new lady-in-waiting, was a ploy that came after fierce contemplation. It may not seem like a big deal to others, but that alone was exhausting for the nine-year-old body, Philomel.

Anyway, I was very fortunate that things worked out as she thought.

‘I hope it will continue like this.’

While praying, Philomel fell asleep.

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