275 A Chilly Gaze So Frighteningly Cold

On the way to Violet Plum Courtyard, Leon ended up finding a nearby palace maid to escort him there. It could not be helped. 

With the unjustified prejudice, the palace maids have against him, walking into Violet Plum Courtyard with a sleeping Lily in his hand would be like stirring the hornet's nest.

Along the way, the palace maid would peek at Leon from the corner of her eye from time to time. She did not feel the same repulsion, the older palace maids had for the prince.

She felt there was something wrong with her senior maids' way of thinking. It should be a great thing if the prince fancied them. Why were they disgusted instead? 

Perhaps, this was the difference in views between the traditional and newer generation—No, nobles and commoners? Or simply the taken and the single?

"You're were one of the girls saved from the underground auction back then, weren't you? How is your current life working out for you? Do you like it?" Leon spoke. The palace maid's subtle glances did not escape his notice.

The palace maid was overjoyed. Although the memory of nearly being auctioned off into slavery was not a pleasant one, being remembered by the prince was a great honor.

"Thank you for saving Sherry back then, Your Highness. Sherry will never forget the kindness your Highness has bestowed upon us and allowed us to work in the Royal Palace. Life… Life has been good, Your Highness." The palace maid, Sherry said softly with her head lowered.

Noticing something slightly off about Sherry's subtle action, Leon frowned slightly. There was a slight hesitation and her smile seemed more forced towards the last part of her words.

"Are there some difficulties in the palace that you are not telling me about?" 

"I-It's nothing, Your Highness." Sherry panicked slightly.

Her panic made Leon furrow his brows. He gave Sherry a deep look noticed some bruising and swelling on her face. Although the palace had tried to hide it under her bangs, nothing can be hidden from Leon's divine sense.

"Where did you get that bruise?"

"Ah? I... I just tripped and hit my head earlier today, Your Highness. Please don't ask anymore." Sherry averted her eyes and bit her lips. 

Seeing her like this, Leon did not try to pry any further. He no longer needed to. He had a realization that admitting these young ladies into the palace might not have been a good thing, that is if they did not have any backing.

Maids who can work in the royal palace are all women who came from reputable families. As such, palace maids were different to maids from noble households. Leon had neglected this detail.

A palace maid was also referred to as a lady-in-waiting. They work in the palace to find their future husbands amongst the members of the palace with status. 

As such, in ordinary circumstances, royalties would not wilfully punish them if they did not step out of line or commit any crime worthy of punishment. At least, that was how it was in the past.

"We are here, Your Highness." Sherry declared softly. 

Leon nodded and took a step forward, but then he suddenly paused. 

"Which room does Lily's mother stay in? What about Lily?" 

"Senior Maid Lily and her mother both live in the same room to the furthest left."

It did not take long for Leon's pupils to contract when he stepped inside Violet Plum Courtyard. He had swept the courtyard with his divine sense to confirm the location of Lily's room and found her sickly mother in bed.

However, there was also something else going on in the courtyard that made his mood soured immediately.

There were several palace maids gathered inside of a room on the right side instead of attending to their daily chores around the palace. Normally, a palace maid was very busy every day. There were simply too many chores to keep such a large palace clean every day. 

A gathering of palace maids in their living quarters was also not a problem, even slacking off a bit did not bother Leon. The Outer Palace had too many spare courtyards filled unoccupied living quarters it was silly. 

What DID bother him was that the palace maids were separated into two groups, the senior maids and the new maids.

The new maids were surrounded by the senior maids as they were thrashed and condemned with harsh words. It did not take a genius to guess that the new maids were being bullied by the senior maids.

At this point, even if Leon did not know how Sherry got her bruises, he could already see why through the images his divine sense was feeding him.

"Follow me," Leon said with a low tone. He walked in the direction of the rooms on the right side.

Sherry was confused, but kindly reminded, "Eh? Senior Lily and her mother's room is in the far-left room, Your Highness."

"I know. There's something else to take care of first."

…

Inside the third room of Violet Plum Courtyard.

"Filthy commoner, I gave you such a simple task like cleaning my room because I looked highly upon you, yet you dare to steal my stuff?! Where did you hide my cultivation resource?! Cough it up!" 

A senior maid pulled the hair of a new maid and gave her a resounding slap before proceeding to give a kick to the stomach.

The difference in strength between senior maids who enjoyed the cultivation resources of the palace and the new maids who had barely started on their cultivation was simply too great! 

The new maid almost lost consciousness from that single slap and immediately spat blood after the kick.

"Wuwu… I didn't steal anything." The new maid wept with a pale face full of tears while coughing up more blood. Obviously, the kick had seriously injured her!

"Bullshit! If you didn't then who did?! Do you think I would believe that my cultivation resource would just disappear on its own!?" 

"Stop it! You seniors are too overbearing! Not only do you seniors take away the monthly quota allocated to us, you even beat us for no good reason! Ellie is one of the kindest girls I know! She would never steal! If you want to find the culprit, you should ask that senior! I saw her walking out of Senior Claire's room earlier before Ellie entered!"

Another new maid tried to defend the grievously wounded new maid, Ellie but she was immediately pinned down and stepped on by another senior maid.

"Nonsense! Sister Claire and I have been very good for years! How dare you accuse me of stealing from her! You two must be accomplices! Sister Claire's cultivation resource must be on you! Where did you hide it!"

"Ahhh!"

The new maid screamed in pain as she had hand broken after being stepped on with excessive pressure. 

Tears filled the new maid's eyes, but she gritted her teeth and endured tenaciously. Even if she gets killed, she will not plead for mercy. She was fed up with the excessive bullying!

"Kill me if you dare, Darcy! See how you will explain to Senior Lily when she finds out!"

The senior maid, Darcy's eyes grew cold with killing intent and broke the other hand. "You think I don't dare?! You're just a commoner! No one will care if you die!" 

"You're wrong! The prince will care! We were saved and taken in due to the prince's benevolence! What you doing to us is nothing short of stepping on his Highness's grace!"

The new maid spouted nonsense. She was not sure if the prince would care or not, but she no longer fears speaking carelessly in the face of death.

"Melody… I really didn't steal anything…" Ellie weakly called out before coughing up another batch of blood while fearing for her fellow sister's life. She felt a heavy feeling of drowsiness as her eyes became unfocused.

All the new maids still had their commoner and inferior mindset. It was also for that reason that they had kept silent about the bullying until now.

"I know Ellie… I know..." 

Melody tried not to cry. She could sense Ellie's lifeforce was slipping away.

The three senior maids were hesitant after hearing Melody's claims. It was not without reason and might very well be true! But only if the prince finds out the truth!

Darcy and Claire both glinted with ruthlessness in the next moment! They were prepared to silence the two new maids. 

Claire no longer cared who stole from her. The new maids only need to cry to the prince, and she would be in deep trouble for being too heavy-handed if they report to the prince. And by the looks of it, the new maids no longer feared them and were prepared to do just that! They had to die!

No one will know the truth except them if the two new maids both die! She could just make up some treacherous crimes and pin it on them after!

"Stop it, Darcy! I won't allow any further harm to these two girls. You both have been far too heavy-handed this time! Ellie needs to be treated immediately!" The third senior maid finally spoke up with a frowned and stopped them. 

As a lady of noble birth, she shared the same disdain for commoners and was also inclined to believe that the new maid Ellie had stolen from Claire. Thus, it will not matter if they die.

However, despite being at death's door, the new maid did not plead guilty, making her finally convinced that the new maids were innocent. Her moral principals compelled her to intervene!

"Don't stop us, Ember! They must die for us to live! If you don't step aside, you will have to join them!"

Ember was silent. They were all 9th step Awakeners, but it would be too much for her to take on the both of them if she wanted to intervene.

Ember clenched her fist as she was stuck between a crossroad. Does she risk her life to intervene or turn a blind eye to the injustice in front of her?

After waging a furious battle between choices in her mind, her fist loosens. She had decided to turn a blind eye!

It was also at this moment that a mountain of pressure came crashing down on the room as the door to the room was swept open by a gust of wind.

Leon stepped inside with a chilly gaze so cold it felt like the three senior maids have been plunged into the lowest level of frozen hell!