34. Struggle.

At Sonya’s words, Seo-hyun immediately lowered her head deeply.

 

 

“No, ma’am. I’m sorry. I will immediately disband the Education Deliberation Council.”

“….”

 

 

Even though the answer she wanted came out, Sonya’s gaze remained sullen.

From the start, she had no interest in whether Henrietta became an education subject or not. She said things like ’empty’ and ‘family,’ but she didn’t even think of them as being on the same level.

There was just a deal with Agnes.

 

 

 

The reason she was making a sullen face now was because of Seo-hyun’s attitude.

Even though it was a group that grew based on the democratic nation of South Korea, the Harem Palace was clearly a group that professed to be an empire. Yoo-eun was in the position of Emperor, though it wasn’t used often, and his wives were treated as Empresses even though they hadn’t formally held a ceremony. If they did hold a ceremony, they would probably receive the title of ‘Consort’ beyond just ‘Empress.’

 

 

Therefore, she couldn’t treat their clearly existing status as a joke, talking about modern people and such.

In the Harem Palace, status was absolute, and there was an unapproachable gap between Sonya and Seo-hyun.

 

 

Lim Seo-hyun was a Guibin (貴人), a Noble, so unlike the feeling the word ‘maid’ has, she was a kind of aristocrat. She was the second highest out of the five ranks, and if you consider that the highest rank, ‘Hwangin (皇人),’ Imperial, was practically only Yoo-eun and the other four, you could say she was the highest rank.

The position she held was also a grand 『Chief of Staff』, a position that managed all the maids in the palace.

It wasn’t for nothing that she was evaluated as the power behind the throne externally.

 

 

 

 

But still, she was ultimately a maid.

 

 

 

 

As long as the class system existed firmly, she was in a position where she had to respectfully receive orders in front of Sonya, and of course, she had to properly manage the reflexive answers and facial expressions that she usually emphasized. Otherwise, it would be like ignoring Yoo-eun, Sonya’s husband and Seo-hyun’s master.

 

 

 

“Seo-hyun-ssi, don’t feel bad. It’s not like I brought you here to bully you, right? I didn’t make any personal attacks either. I just asked for a favor.”

“I’m sorry… I will be careful.”

 

 

Seo-hyun took a completely submissive stance and kept bowing her head.

 

 

But why?

Sonya’s mood didn’t improve.

 

She might think she was just nitpicking like an old geezer, but the expression Seo-hyun had on her face before Sonya gave her a warning was clearly distorted. Either she was a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do type of person who didn’t even keep the words she used to say, or she was thinking too comfortably of Sonya.

And either way, it was something that didn’t please Sonya.

 

 

However, if she held on too much, things could get bigger, so it was an ambiguous situation to say anything more.

Sonya fidgeted with her teacup with an uncomfortable face.

 

 

“Seo-hyun-ssi.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“I don’t think you would, but you’re not looking down on me, are you?”

“Absolutely not… about what happened just nowㅡ,”

“Seo-hyun-ssi is good at her job and pretty, so I think she could become a wife someday.”

“….”

“But not now, right? You’re a maid, after all.”

“Yes… I will keep that in mind.”

 

Seo-hyun, who roughly understood what Sonya was saying, nodded her head.

 

“Then go now. Don’t forget to disband the Education Deliberation Council. I won’t care about those Kakun or whatever they’re called, so take care of it yourself.”

“Yes, Madam.”

 

Seo-hyun got up from the sofa and bowed deeply.

It seemed like she was being more devoted than when she first came in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seo-hyun, who came out of Sonya’s office, sighed once.

The maid from the Ministry of Justice next to her stared at her intently, but she had no time to pay attention.

 

 

To make a mistake in front of Yoo-eun’s wife, of all people.

 

It wasn’t that she, of all people, distorted her face because of Sonya’s few words. It was all because of Agnes.

The provocation that woman made kept lingering, and anger was rising. In the midst of that, she couldn’t even educate Henrietta, so she got angry for a moment.

 

 

Of course, no matter how bad she felt because of Agnes, that was just an excuse. Strictly speaking, it was a case of a mere maid not showing respect to the wife. If you apply the standards Seo-hyun set, she would undoubtedly be subject to education.

 

 

The only fortunate thing was that Yoo-eun’s wives were all kind (?) people.

 

 

Yuna is a docile woman as long as she doesn’t get pissed off, and Sora is a woman who glosses over everything. Sonya is the only one who is sharp and does anything for her purpose, but even she is relatively kind to those on her side.

 

 

 

 

Seo-hyun steeled her heart and headed to the underground base education area.

She almost ruined her life because of a rather bad mood, so she had to release it somewhere.

And there was a suitable target.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

+++

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puhwak!

 

 

“Kkeuaaaak!!!”

 

 

As the sharp blade was pulled out, blood spurted out like a fountain.

It instantly dyed the surroundings red, but it was meaningless because there was already blood splattered everywhere.

 

 

“Kkeueuk… you… bastards….”

“Oh.”

 

 

Aoki, who collapsed while trembling in pain, glared at the maids with eyes that wouldn’t open properly.

 

Usually, when things progressed this far, everyone would lower their eyes and beg to be spared, but Aoki instead overcame his weakness with an even stronger heart.

That was very interesting.

 

It wasn’t that there hadn’t been people like this before, but they were extremely rare.

 

 

“Look at him. His eyes are still full of life.”

“If he wasn’t a man, the Master would have liked him.”

 

The maids whispered to each other, glancing sideways at Kaku as if watching a monkey in a zoo.

 

“Do you think I’ll give in with this kind of thing?!!”

“Yup!”

 

The maid smiled brightly and pressed down hard on Aoki’s wound with her foot.

Blood gushed out as if being squeezed out, and his screams filled the room.

 

 

“Kkeueueueup!!”

“But why are you holding back? What for?”

 

Aoki was the first in line.

Since what they were doing now was just a warm-up before Seo-hyun came, it was half a joke.

So what they thought of was the order.

 

 

They would torture the first designated person until he couldn’t bear it anymore, and when he gave up, they would move on to the next in line.

 

 

Of course, this might be more painful in some ways… psychologically….

 

 

 

 

Anyway, Aoki was holding out until the end.

It seemed like he was doing it for his colleagues, but the maids thought it was a pointless act.

 

 

“The Chief of Staff-nim is coming anyway, so they’ll be properly tortured too.”

 

 

They looked at his colleagues, who were looking at Aoki with tears in their eyes, and clicked their tongues.

For the record, while Aoki was enduring such terrible pain and protecting his colleagues, his colleagues weren’t saying a single word about taking his place.

They were just shedding tears and sobbing.

 

 

“Why would you protect those kinds of guys? You’re really suffering.”

 

 

The maid shook her head from side to side and clicked her tongue.

 

 

“Hey, this is boring, should we just do someone else? She might be coming soon. If everyone is too fine, we might get chewed out.”

“Ah. That’s true.”

 

 

The maids nodded their heads and left Aoki alone, walking towards the other colleagues.

 

 

“N, no! The promise is different!!”

 

 

Aoki grabbed the maids’ ankles tightly with his aching body and shouted.

However, such desperate cries were only trampled on by the maids and didn’t elicit any emotion.

 

 

“What are you talking about? What promise? That’s absurd.”

 

 

The maid kicked his feet away and walked on again.

 

Just then,

 

 

 

 

 

“The Chief of Staff-nim is entering.”

 

 

 

Seo-hyun arrived.

 

 

She entered the room with Lim Ha-yan and the other maids and secretaries, and the maids who had been tormenting Aoki and the others stood at attention, tense.

 

 

 

 

Seo-hyun, who looked unhappy at a glance, looked around the room and frowned when she found Haruna and the others looking too clean to have been tortured.

 

“…Why are they so fine?”

“Ah, that is.”

 

 

She relaxed her face only after the maid explained it to her in detail.

 

 

“Hmm. He held out until the end?”

“Yes.”

 

Seo-hyun looked at Aoki, who was still glaring at them, with interest.

He didn’t look like much, but he endured the maids’ torture. Even if it was just a warm-up, the fact that a blade touched his skin was creepy and terrible in itself. If he endured that, he must be no ordinary human.

 

 

“And that’s Aoki. He’s the one who caused this mess.”

“What? He ruined everything and is ‘pretending’ to care about his colleagues?”

 

Seo-hyun snorted and laughed, and Aoki’s already red face turned even redder.

 

“You filthy things. Heaven will not forgive you!”

“Heaven is our Master. There’s nothing to forgive or not.”

 

 

Seo-hyun, who replied lightly, gestured, and the maids dragged the remaining colleagues in front of her.

 

 

Two men and four women, excluding Aoki.

Their faces were all stained with despair and tears.

 

“Aren’t you guys upset?”

 

Seo-hyun’s sudden words.

The faces of the colleagues, who had been hanging their heads, were lifted with questions.

 

 

Seo-hyun sat on the chair the maid brought and continued.

 

 

“I’ve heard all the reports. You could have gotten through it smoothly if it wasn’t for this, right?”

“….”

“That’s why nosy people are no good. Being nosy isn’t caring, it’s a nuisance. Don’t you think?”

“…What… are you going to do to us….”

 

 

Kaku asked weakly.

Then Seo-hyun stared at him and said as if it was too obvious.

 

 

“What else? Even if you’re upset, the deed has already been done, right? The men will be statified, and the women will probably be Cheonmin (賤人). Ah, Cheonmin is a status, but to put it simply, it’s a bottom-level slave. You know what kind of slave, right?”

“N, no…!”

“Hiiik!”

“And….”

 

 

Seo-hyun, who looked around at the trembling group, found two women and snapped her fingers, pointing at them.

 

 

“Those two, the ones who should have died are still alive.”