Chap 21-It’s What You Picked Up and Ate

 

Princess Ailia brought that rude maid to Ciel and Arietta’s abode.

In Ailia’s eyes, Ciel was nothing more than an arrogant, half-baked mongrel unfit to be a noble.

Still, the power that had blocked Kailon’s arrow could not be ignored.

At the very least, if compromise was impossible, she needed to gauge her abilities.

She had to decide whether to eliminate her or choose coexistence.

“How gracious of you to visit our humble abode.”

Ciel did not hold back her welcome towards Ailia.

Very rudely. As if to say, ‘Did you really come?’ with a lack of sincerity.

“Indeed, seeing how you don’t even show me courtesy, I wonder how unreserved you are when dealing with your sister.”

Ailia puffed out her cheeks slightly, showing her displeasure.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Why should she be sincere in welcoming an uninvited guest?

Ciel met Ailia’s gaze head-on, without backing down in the slightest.

The two women’s eyes clashed intensely, probing each other.

“But you know, it’s good to be careful. Especially for women, you have to watch your mouth.”

“Of course. Both when arguing and when coveting a man’s possessions.”

“How vulgar.”

‘Vulgar.’

Honestly, Arietta thought so too.

But Ciel, who had already learned at least fragments of noble etiquette, had her own reasons for so readily uttering such base words, words that a woman, especially a noble lady, should not utter.

Ciel slapped her mouth a few times playfully with one hand, twisting the corners of her lips mockingly.

“Ah, I apologize. There’s a prostitute with the same name as the Princess who’s the ace in a brothel near the border, so I got carried away.”

“Are you testing my patience?”

Was she not going to take the bait even with this?

Ciel clicked her tongue inwardly.

If she could just start a fight openly here, she could legitimately capture her.

That’s why she had lured her further into Arietta’s room.

She came to kill Arietta but ended up dead instead.

If such a story could unfold, she would be starting with one person captured.

If not, then she could assess her skills.

“Of course not. How could I compare to the Princess who crushed her sister’s maternal family?”

“Indeed, what could a rootless Baron Family possibly do? Still, it’s good to be careful. Otherwise, you might end up really dead.”

Ailia, annoyed by the provocation, decided to display some of her power.

That Bathory or whatever, who was spouting such vulgar language.

Her skills, frankly, seemed a bit far-fetched now, as she was just running her mouth.

Finally, the moment Ciel had been waiting for arrived.

Ting

Ailia snapped her fingers.

Instantly, thorny tendrils sprouted from the floor, threatening Bathory.

“It’s embarrassing to lose both in a war of words and in a display of strength. I understand.”

Thwack!

The whip she summoned had already been cut to pieces by ‘some power.’

What if that had been a person’s body?

For a brief moment, Ailia’s spine went cold.

Had she been too careless?

She might need to prepare for when that suspicious ability was used.

Still.

‘She cut all of my whips?’

Ailia had confidence in her combat abilities.

In particular, the power of the rose she wielded instantly killed most opponents without giving them a chance to prepare.

Even if she hadn’t unleashed her full power, this was quite surprising.

‘This might actually be helpful.’

She was more skilled than she had thought.

She was also able to be impudent towards royalty without hesitation.

With that kind of personality, that archer Kailon must have had his eye on her long ago.

Then there might be room for compromise.

“Well, you didn’t come here to argue, did you?”

“That’s right, my sister”

Now the baton was passed to Arietta.

“Yes, sister.”

“Could you lend me that vulgar Bathory? Then I will protect you even when I ascend to the throne.”

Ailia crossed her legs and made an intriguing proposal.

‘I see. She was planning to use me.’

Ciel smiled faintly.

No way.

Why would she do something that wouldn’t benefit her at all?

Above all, dealing with such a strong-willed woman was troublesome.

If she were really desperate for money, maybe, but at least for now, she had no intention of getting involved.

From the start, she was pursuing a hedgehog strategy.

Not being swayed by any one side, but simply retaliating with hedgehog quills when attacked.

Looking at it now, Arietta might need Ailia’s abilities more.

‘If I kill Ailia, will the rose ability pass to Arietta?’

Of course, the star sign that lost its contractor would naturally seek another Paleob family member.

But she couldn’t just kill her to experiment.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. Can’t you trust me, a fellow woman?”

“They say women don’t even know what’s in the hearts of other women. How can I trust a sister who crushed my maternal family?”

Arietta didn’t back down either.

She glared at her, her eyes wide open.

But all it did was give off the feeling of a cute guinea pig glaring at a predator.

Ailia, sensing that, chuckled as if barely holding back her laughter, and forced herself to speak.

“But you don’t have much of a choice, do you?”

“That’s.”

Ciel began to think.

It was about time for her to step in.

Arietta still knew nothing, so she couldn’t step forward directly.

She needed to show her this kind of dirty fight a few times.

She thought about just watching as if pushing her off a cliff, but.

She had endured because she was born in the gutter, but Arietta, who had lived like a hothouse flower in the imperial palace, was different.

So far, being ostracized in the imperial palace was only unseen, being kept in check from behind the scenes.

At least she had to see a dirty fight a few times.

“I choose nothing.”

“What?”

“That means it’s also a choice.”

I intervened at the right moment.

Saying that this was also a method.

“Do you think you can survive by staying neutral?”

“Even at this very moment, the Empire’s main forces are being beaten by the Four Heavenly Kings’ armies. Isn’t it shameful that noble bloodlines are fighting like this inside? At the very least, we should be able to remain neutral.”

“You’re very good at being sarcastic.”

Yes. I’m not just being sarcastic, I think this side is advantageous.

“And you seem to think we have nothing.”

“Then you have something else?”

I tilted my head slightly towards Ailia.

“Why do you think the Arietta is being protected by the unheard-of Bathory Family in the first place?”

“What?”

She was still young.

Not being able to think of this meant she was still young.

On the outside, she was a wonderful lady and an ambitious woman who craved power, but at best, she was nothing compared to the commanders who had fought on the front lines, filling their bellies with all sorts of subtle cues, and vying for who would lead the front lines.

“You probably already looked into the Bathory Family before coming to us. But the only information you got was that they were just a Baron Family with the title of regional baron. That’s all you figured out, right?”

“Then what else is there? You’re not planning to raise Arietta to the throne and make a name for yourself with just one trick, are you?”

I decided to change Ailia’s evaluation from now on.

‘She’s young.’

She was far behind the power brokers I had met while traveling with the hero party.

It was probably because the Empire, where the competition to become the successor was easy if you just formed factions, was on a different level from those who had experienced all sorts of hardships.

“What do you think will happen if you grab someone who has no interest in the throne by the collar and drag them up? It seems like you’ve misjudged the stakes. The relationship between the client and the contractor is clear.”

“Insolent one!”

That maid was still acting up, even though she was just a maid.

Honestly, it seemed to me that this Princess Ailia had done a terrible job of educating her maids.

Didn’t they usually have a teacher in charge?

I had seen jobs that educated maids even in the kingdom.

It seemed that this side was so laissez-faire that it had turned out this way.

“Arnold.”

“What about Arnold?”

“Why hasn’t that loser suppressed Bathory with the power of the Marquis Family until now?”

I tilted my head, smiled faintly, and said to Ailia.

I never dreamed that the Thieves’ Guild would be so helpful.

In the end. Ailia, who had realized something, frowned as if she was at a loss for words.

“Ha. Arietta, you really have a great person by your side.”

“I know. I sometimes think I have a monster by my side. So it might be better for you to go back before you get bitten.”

“That’s my decision.”

She never got tired of it.

Unfortunately, she had chosen the wrong target to win over.

Well, at least now we could have a more proper conversation.

“Well, shall we start the conversation again?”

“Yes.”

In the end, Ailia had to sigh deeply and acknowledge us.

“Before that, first. Are you and our Princess on equal footing?”

This was the most important thing.

It would depend on whether we became equal or remained in a client-contractor relationship.

Then first, we had to deal with the one who ruined that equal relationship.

“Yes. We’re equal.”

“That’s right. Then what does Princess Ailia usually do when a maid acts rudely?”

“Well. I’ve never done it before, but depending on the case, I would even banish them.”

Yes. Yes. That’s right.

Ailia’s side would be stricter than us.

If a maid did something bad, she would punish her accordingly.

So seeing her act like that meant she didn’t even know that the maid was bossing Arietta around.

But it was contradictory that she had tried to poison her with that in mind.

So I decided to wake her up to reality, one by one.

“What if she dared to come late at night without greeting you and drank the tea that the Princess had prepared without permission?”

“If it was something Arietta had prepared to drink, then she would have nothing to say even if she died.”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

When I smiled bitterly, Ailia’s expression stiffened for a brief moment, as if she was starting to feel something.

Like a statue.

She needed to grasp the situation now. Something was ominous.

She was probably feeling that much.

“Could it be?”

The Princess’s sharp gaze was now directed at Sera or whatever her name was.

Yes. The answer would already be clear.

Ailia would probably judge that we had poisoned that Sera because she was acting up.

“Yes. That’s right. Whether you intended it, condoned it, or whatever, that maid Sera has gone too far. So.”

“So?”

“I won’t give her any antidote.”

I looked at the maid’s eyes and was convinced that the poison was working.

So I said clearly in a subdued voice.

Thud!

Just then, the rude maid who had been standing next to her collapsed.

Her eyes were wide enough to pop out. She was clutching her throat with one hand and pounding her chest with the other.

It was similar to the reaction of victims when they tasted the pain caused by mana poisoning.

Her mana circuits were probably being destroyed.

It would be quite fatal for an ordinary person who hadn’t learned magic.

“Cough. Cough. Keuk. Cough. P.Princess. P.”

The way she was writhing on the ground was like watching an undead melting in a quick undead spell cast by a saintess.

Yes. I liked the way she was screaming as she was dying.

I could only laugh when she did that much.

What a truly foolish woman.

She was being harmed like that on her own, without us having to deal with her.

Thanks to her, it looked like we had been practicing researching poison instead of making it.

“What on earth is going on? How dare you poison my maid?”

What a rude thing to say.

“She drank it herself.”

Poison? What a pitiful thing to say.

Except for Arnold.