Chapter 107: Isn’t It Strange?

Rosetta’s personal maid bowed her head to her, speaking as politely as possible.

“Your Highness, the Imperial family possesses wealth comparable to the great magnates of the Empire.”

“Hmph. Even if they are magnates, they can’t compare to the Graham family.”

Rosetta was aware of the Graham family’s wealth, having spent time at the Graham main house.

Irritated, Rosetta chose the largest ruby ring and slipped it onto her right finger.

Even the wedding ring on her left ring finger, set with a large diamond, did not satisfy her. She had already seen the enormous wedding ring Yuria wore and the jewels distributed among the servants at the Duke’s residence.

Rosetta abruptly stood up from the vanity chair and surveyed the wedding gifts piled in the room. These were items selected for the Crown Princess from the gifts presented by the nobles.

Though they were displeased with Rosetta, who had suddenly appeared and taken the place beside the Crown Prince, the nobles changed their attitude after witnessing the Crown Prince cherishing the Crown Princess at the wedding and reception.

“Is this even a jewel?”

Rosetta took an opal ring from a roughly opened jewelry box and threw it on the floor. It bounced and rolled to a stop at the feet of the maids who had their heads bowed.

‘None of this pleases me!’

The Imperial Palace was better, more comfortable, and more beautiful than the Graham estate.

However, what was given to her were limited budgets and unsatisfactory jewels, and they did not even show her the treasury, citing Imperial protocol.

“Why does the Duchess from the Graham family have better things than I, the Crown Princess?”

“That’s because she is the Duchess of Auguste.”

“What? Are you saying a mere Duchess is more significant than I, the Crown Princess?”

Her black eyes gleamed, and the whites of her eyes began to show. The maids had quickly learned that when the Crown Princess acted this way, trouble was brewing.

She was a madwoman, with a strong sense of self-love.

And she particularly, intensely hated the Duchess of Auguste. The personal maid, who had merely stated the truth, quickly bowed her head and apologized.

“N-no, Your Highness. Forgive me.”

Rosetta looked down at the maid with emotionless eyes, her black eyes sparkling.

“But, isn’t it strange?”

“Yes? What is…?”

The personal maid’s tense voice trembled finely. The maids waiting behind her bowed even lower.

“You all lack intuition, just like someone.”

Rosetta clicked her tongue. However, her expression strangely looked pleased. It was the first time the maids had seen the Crown Princess with such a soft expression, so they stiffened even more.

Who on earth was ‘someone’ supposed to be?

Rosetta crooked one side of her pretty lips upward.

“Yes… It’s strange. That the Duchess has something bigger than I do. Something smells fishy.”

“Your Highness, what do you mean?”

Rosetta did not answer and began to pace the room, continuing her monologue.

“The Auguste family or the Graham family must be embezzling money meant for the Imperial family. Otherwise…”

Rosetta stopped and smiled brightly, baring her teeth. Then she issued a commanding order as the dignified Crown Princess.

“Send a message to Count Willem! Tell him to come to me first thing when he enters the palace tomorrow.”

Early the next morning, Count Willem, who had received the message from the Butterfly Palace, hurried to the palace at the Crown Princess’s summons. However, he did not head to the Butterfly Palace but to the main palace where the Crown Prince was.

Arthur sat on a sofa in his office, lined with white marble, drinking tea and reading the newspaper. He narrowed his eyes at the front page, which prominently featured the glossy face of Xavier Auguste. In the newspaper, the Duke held a small, cute macaron box in each hand.

“Faster than I expected.”

He spoke without looking at Count Willem standing before him.

“Yes, Your Highness. I moved as quickly as possible upon receiving the Crown Princess’s summons.”

“Oh, no. I meant that my wife called for Count Willem sooner than I anticipated.”

“Oh.”

Arthur had instructed Rosetta to call on Count Willem whenever she needed something or help. It was not publicly favorable for the Crown Princess to seek the Crown Prince’s audience for assistance every time.

Surely, Rosetta’s request was not merely about buying jewels from a jewelry store.

“Have you figured out what it’s about?”

“According to the maid, she mentioned the Auguste and Graham families. She said it made no sense that the Duchess had better jewels than she did.”

“That’s typical of her.”

“What should we do, Your Highness?”

“Unless the Duke commits treason, even His Majesty the Emperor cannot overturn the Auguste family. It’s frustrating, but that’s the reality. They are the only ones who can hold back the Beast Kingdom.”

“Right.”

“Count Willem, should we take this opportunity to handle some gold coins? I’m curious about how much annual tax the Graham family pays. And the scale of their business.”

“Yes, as you say. But, Your Highness.”

“What is it?”

Arthur asked as he turned the page of the newspaper.

“Weren’t you after the Saintess? Won’t this put you at odds with the Saintess’s family… You even mentioned last time that it didn’t matter if the Duke or Duchess consumed poison… I don’t understand.”

The Crown Prince, receiving an inquisitive gaze over the spread newspaper, returned his eyes to the text and spoke.

“The Saintess has self-healing abilities. It’s recorded in the priest’s journal.”

“Oh, so the record left by Commander Scott to the priest really exists!”

Count Willem raised his voice a bit in excitement, then quickly lowered his head at the Crown Prince’s sharp golden gaze.

“Tsk, that record is actually the Black Obelisk. The rubbings of it have been passed down in the Imperial family for generations.”

“I’ve heard of it, but I didn’t know it truly existed.”

Arthur glanced at the bewildered Count Willem and folded the newspaper, placing it on the sofa table.

“Saintess Yuria will regret not coming to me. And Rosetta will play well on the stage I’ve set. It doesn’t matter if she fails.”

“…Your Highness?”

Count Willem, not understanding the subtext, asked again.

“If the Saintess dies, who will become the next Saintess? Aren’t you curious?”

“Pardon?”

The more he asked, the more incomprehensible the Crown Prince’s words became.

“If you can’t have it, break it. If the Saintess has no will to come to me, then shouldn’t I cut off that will and at least take the vessel of Goddess Maha? They don’t call the Saintess a vessel for nothing.”

“I really don’t understand what you mean.”

Count Willem’s curiosity only grew, unaware of the contents of the priest’s journal from the Empire’s legends, the Obelisk.

“Hmm, you don’t seem to know that the Saintess’s body is a vessel for holy power.”

Saying he would only take the vessel meant that he could dispose of the Saintess if necessary.

As Count Willem’s face froze with fear, Arthur smiled and added.

“Haha. Only as a last resort. It’s a joke, a joke! Relax, Count Willem.”

“Oh, it was a joke.”

Arthur, with a cold expression, urged the awkwardly smiling Count Willem.

“Go to the Crown Princess now. Count Cornwell would be a good executor for this. I’m not involved in this matter.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

However, Count Willem hesitated, not leaving immediately. Taking Arthur’s silence as permission, Willem straightened and spoke.

“Your Highness, since the Crown Princess might feel lonely in the unfamiliar palace, how about giving her a companion?”

“Your daughter?”

“Yes.”

Count Willem flinched momentarily in attention. He was pricked by the Crown Prince’s quick grasp of his intentions before he even finished speaking.

Thinking that nobles were quick to bite if given a chance, Arthur smiled gently.

“Go ahead. I’ll visit sometime too.”

“Thank you.”

Count Willem’s short legs moved towards the Butterfly Palace. At the end of the corridor in the Crown Prince’s palace stood his lovely offspring.

“Your Highness, the Crown Princess, Count Willem and Lady Willem have arrived.”

“Oh, yes.”

Aside from the Crown Prince and Count Willem, the first female guest to enter the Butterfly Palace was Count Willem’s daughter, Doris Willem.

“Your Highness, I am Doris Willem.”

“Finance Minister, I appreciate your great help with the wedding.”

Still unfamiliar with the palace etiquette, Rosetta found it difficult to use the honorific speech typically used with nobles. So she mixed it with informal speech.

As expected of a commoner. Willem sneered internally.

Publicly, she was packaged as a daughter lost and found by the Cornwell family, but Willem, who knew Rosetta’s true identity, felt twisted inside.

‘I’m not bowing to her. I’m loyal to the Crown Prince.’

While Willem was rationalizing, his daughter paid her respects.

“I am Doris Willem, Your Highness.”

His daughter, blinking her small, cute eyes beside him, had as pure noble blood as he did, and if she knew Rosetta’s true status, she would be furious.

‘But if, as the Crown Prince said, Doris catches the Crown Prince’s eye and bears a child? I could become the Crown Prince’s father-in-law! Or even the Emperor’s grandfather in the future!’

A tremendous ambition surged within Willem.

Willem steadied his mind as he gazed at the Crown Princess before him.

“I brought my daughter, hoping she might be of some help to Your Highness.”

“Help?”

“She will serve as Your Highness’s hands and feet. I’m sure you have many questions about the social world.”

“Oh, that kind of help.”

“Your Highness, please think of her as a comfortable companion.”

A gentle voice naturally interjected between Rosetta and Willem. Doris was also adept at conducting herself. Becoming a close aide to the Crown Princess was a great honor for a noble lady.

Hearing her words, Rosetta’s expression subtly crumpled.

“Strange. She lacks presence.”

“Pardon?”

With eyes like small buttonholes and a vague presence unlike her father.

Ignoring Doris’s surprised expression, Rosetta cut her off abruptly.

“No need.”