CH 23

They say there are no such things as secrets in the palace.

The maids' gaze became sticky. Rumors seem to have spread throughout the palace that Vasily broke off his engagement to the princess because of Yulia.

Yulia, who came downstairs at an early hour as per usual, headed for the dining room while receiving the persistent gazes of the maids.

"It has nothing to do with me."

Yulia gave a moderate explanation as they seemed to want to hear something, and then the maids brought her meal with an ambiguous face that seemed to be either disappointed or pleased.

From Yulia's point of view, the servants of the prince's palace were not very hostile towards her. It's impossible to know whether they insulted or cursed behind her back, but at least, in front of her, they smiled and granted her requests.

She thought she would be harassed for being a commoner girl who came into the palace in order to seduce the prince, but it was a useless concern in the end.

After a simple meal, Yulia smiled and spoke to some of the maids who were awkwardly hovering around her.

"Tell me if there is something you want to know."

"What? No, it's nothing."

"It's okay. You can ask."

The maids hesitated, glancing at each other's faces. There was something they were curious about, but they seemed worried as to whether they could really ask or not.

At that moment, an attendant ran from outside and looked for Yulia.

"Lady Yulia!"

"What's happening?"

"Lady... I think you should come outside right now."

"Why? Is there a problem?"

"Her Highness the Princess suddenly came, and told me to bring the maid of honor..."

"Princess Shatrin?", Yulia replied.

A cold voice came from behind the anxious attendant.

"Get out of the way."

It was Shatrin Ortega.

Yulia hurriedly rose from her seat, and the maids stood in a row and bowed their waists. The attendant withdrew as if struck by lightning, and Shatrin, who entered the dining room with a shattering sound, looked around and said to Yulia.

"Are you that bitch?"

This was not a good sign. Princess Shatrin had a simple, fiery temper as well as a strong pride. Yulia bowed politely, trying not to upset the princess.

"I greet Her Highness the Princess."

"Raise your head."

Shatrin quickly walked right in front of her. Yulia lifted her head as the princess commanded.

Then, a hand flew at her. It was strong enough to make someone see stars.

A slapping sound echoed throughout the dining room. The maids were immediately tense, and lowered their heads deeply. The ladies-in-waiting who had followed Shatrin also closed their eyes tightly, unable to watch the scene in front of them.

"I told you to raise your head."

Shatrin didn't explain anything to Yulia. Why she hit her, why she was so upset, what she had to do in the future.

Yulia obediently raised her head this time as well. The hand that struck her again was stronger than the first time.

A slapping sound was heard once again, and she could feel the taste of blood in her mouth. Shatrin lowered her hand only after seeing the blood oozing from Yulia's lips.

Shatrin asked.

"Is the royal family a joke to you?"

"No."

"Then, am I a joke?"

"No, Your Highness."

"Righ now, I can kill you, put you in jail, or whip you until you beg me to spare you."

Shatrin continued.

"Beg."

The princess's auburn hair swayed in front of her eyes. The person who was hit was calm, but the voice of the person who gave the order trembled.

Even at that moment, Yulia thought that it was fortunate that Coco was a late riser.

"Get down on your knees, and beg. Put your forehead on the floor, and beg. Cling to my feet, and beg. Say that you were wrong, and beg!"

"I can't do that."

"Why not! Damn it! I told you to beg."

"I can't do as you tell me."

"Really, this is..."

Shatrin raised her hand to hit Yulia again. But this time, Yulia stared intently at the princess's face, and said.

"I am the maid of honor of Prince Lewicia. I dare not rebel against Her Highness. However, I cannot bow down and beg when I have done nothing wrong.”

"What is that arrogant bitch talking about right now!"

"It would be better to keep hitting me. Or whip me. But even then, I still can't beg."

Yulia's tone as she spoke was terribly calm. She was struck so hard that her mouth was torn, but she didn't look in pain at all. In fact, the one who had hit her looked like she was more in pain that Yulia, who had been hit.

The princess's ladies-in-waiting approached Shatrin, who was trembling due to her uncontrollable anger, and spoke gently.

"Princess, that's enough."

"Tell His Highness the Prince to punish that impudent commoner woman instead."

Saying that wouldn't be enough for Shatrin's anger to subside.

Yulia thought of Vasily as she watched the ladies-in-waiting trying to appease the princess.

She knew he was selfish, but she didn't know he was such a reckless man. In this life, Yulia seemed to have provoked Vasily's inferiority complex that resided deep inside his heart too profoundly.

'Not bad.'

On the contrary, she thought things had turned out well. There couldn't be a more perfect opportunity than now. Originally, she had planned to break off the engagement after Vasily and Princess Shatrin's engagement ceremony, but since he ignited the embers of the catastrophe himself, she would only have to wait for the right time to put in the firewood.

Yulia said to the princess.

"Vasily Marjoram is not worth making Her Highness angry like this."

"Stop talking!"

The ladies-in-waiting who had been placating the princess advised Yulia not to interfere. Of course, Yulia had no intention of following their words.

"The marriage that man was trying to have with the Princess was only for show, and he tried to keep seeing me behind your back. He said it was only for his family, and that nothing would change between us."

"Stop talking!"

"So?"

Princess Shatrin, who had pushed away the ladies-in-waiting, asked Yulia.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I broke up with that man. Since I was a commoner, there was nothing else I could do."

Yulia looked directly at Shatrin.

"But Your Highness is different."

Shatrin must have heard all the rumors about Yulia and Vasily. Moreover, the two of them had a passionate fight in a public place at the Academy's graduation ceremony. It doesn't make sense that a princess with so many ladies-in-waiting wouldn't know about it.

Yulia Arte will be a part of Vasily Marjoram's past that Shatrin cannot forgive.

This time, Yulia asked Shatrin.

"Will you forgive Vasily?"

After waking up late as usual, Coco heard that Princess Shatrin suddenly came, beat up Yulia, and left.

"You are truly fearless."

Coco, who ran downstairs without even having time to dress up, said to Yulia.

"I didn't know someone could be this reckless. Is your life a joke? Is there anything you are scared of in this world?"

Yulia was surrounded by maids in the dining room. The maids were busy putting ice packs on her swollen cheek, and applying ointment to her busted lips.

"It's okay."

"It’s not okay. Ugh, the Princess is famous for her temper, but... it was still too much. How can this be Lady Yulia's fault?"

The maid, who had put a cold pack on Yulia's cheek to relieve the swelling, burst into anger. Then, the maid who was carefully applying the ointment by her side expressed her anger as well.

"It's been eight years since I entered the palace. But I have never heard or seen anything like this. It was the young master who was at fault, so why did she come here, blame the wrong person and make a fuss!"

"It’s okay, so everyone stop."

Yulia smiled, and comforted the maids.

"Thank you for taking my side, but this is enough. You could also be in trouble after speaking like this."

"That's true, but..."

The maids let out a deep sigh. They also looked at Coco with an expectant look on their faces. Although they are of low status and cannot protest against what the princess did, Coco could go to the prince and tell on her.

However, instead of running to Prince Lewicia, Coco sat down on one side of the dining room and spoke to the maids.

"No matter how outspoken I am, how can I fight against the royal family."

"This is not what we meant..."

"The prince will wake up soon, so you can tell him yourselves."

Looking at Yulia's reddened face, the maids murmured that there would be no need to say anything. Just looking at her face, it was obvious that she had been hit, and there was no way that given Lewicia's personality, he wouldn't ask.

After the treatment, the maids went back to their respective tasks. Yulia came to Coco's side, cooling her swollen cheeks with a half-melted ice pack.

Resting her chin on her hand, Coco asked while staring blankly at Yulia.

"Did you get hit on purpose?"

"It’s not like that."

"If not, you must be thinking it's good that you got hit."

She didn't answer this time. Knowing that it was an implicit affirmation, Coco touched her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"What did you say to the Princess?"

"I didn't say anything special. I just... asked her if she would forgive Vasily."

"Nothing else?"

"I said that I was a commoner, so there was nothing I could do, but the princess was different."

"You're crazy."

Coco snatched the ice pack from Yulia's hand, and placed it on her forehead. She was on the verge of getting a headache.

What Yulia did was coming in between two parties and causing trouble. On a very large scale at that.

"You are a really bad kid."

"Thank you for the compliment."

She answered slyly, imitating Lewicia, but Coco made a disgusted face and told her not to learn such things. Then, after looking into Yulia's face for a long time, she asked in a small voice whether it hurt a lot.

"It's okay."

"If you say it's okay one more time, I'll sew up your mouth."

"It’s not okay."

'Because of you, I feel like I'm getting old these days', Coco swallowed the words.

She was happy that things had progressed in this way, but she seemed to have a headache because she was worried about Yulia.

"Coco, can I ask you something?"

"What."

"What's the best way to deal with a two-headed snake?"

"You..."

The ice pack Coco had placed on her forehead fell off.