The Princess is Going on Strike - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Did you seriously make that suggestion to me? Since I’ve devoted so much of my life to you, shouldn’t you have noticed by now that I’ve changed?
Despite mentioning and knowing how his daughter had changed, Oledin still behaved the same as ever and treated her like his possession. If any of the ancestors of the Brixia Family were alive, none of them would’ve given up the seat of the Duke to this man. Thinking of this, I suddenly felt pity for him.
“What does that mean?”
It was pathetic how Oledin was asking what I meant and it made me regret the past when I desired to be loved by him who was dumb enough to ask this question. I placed my mask on the chair next to me. Oledin continued to look at my bare face and smiled broadly with a greedy look on his face.
“I thought you’d still have some spots left, but it’s worth looking at now.”
“Enough with the nonsense.”
I raised my arm and rested it on the table, and met his gaze.
“Father, let me ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
Oledin was so extreme when it came to how he treated me that it was hard to believe that I was his blood-related child. He treated me like how one would treat a slave.
Why was I unable to see this in the past?
I stared at him then spoke.
“Do you trust me, Father?”
“What?”
“I mean, you keep telling me to do this, do that. You order me to do so much but you never monitor me. Others might actually believe that you have great trust in me if they saw this.”
Oledin drew a blank stare at what I said.
Was it an unexpected question or was it difficult to understand?
I continued to speak without waiting for him to answer.
“If I tell you right now that I’ll listen to what you say, will you convince yourself that everything worked out well, step back, and wait?”
“What the hell are you talking about right now?”
I gave Oledin a pathetic look as if it wasn’t worth answering his idiotic question.
“Who’d believe a monster like you? Monitor you? What is there to monitor? Do you really think you can survive outside of our family? You’d be lucky if you don’t get stoned to death if I threw you out in the streets. Do you think you can really leave the mansion and live a normal life? Hah!”
Oledin gave an evil smirk.
“You might think that because your spots are gone, you’ve become human, but to me you’ll be a monster forever. If you harm our family in any way, I’ll make sure to cut your throat and hang your head at the gates of the mansion.”
“…..”
I tightly clenched my hands which were on top of my thighs into a fist. Even if I was used to the insults and sharp remarks, they always hurt.
Don’t show your emotions.
I would comfort myself by repeatedly saying this in my head.
“So, I guess that means I will become trash on the streets if I don’t do what you say.”
“That’s right. So you understand me. Which means you can live a life without any problems if you do what I tell you to do. Understand?”
Oledin expressed his superiority, confidence, admiring his own behavior and how he was able to push down my self-esteem until the end.
So that’s how it’s going to be?
I smiled and nodded. Oledin’s eyes glistened as I spoke.
“I understand.”
“Good, I’m glad you got it. I’ll forget about what happened yesterday, so go meet and talk to the Young Master, then go apologize to the Crown Prince for yesterday’s incident. Tell him it was all your fault. Also, I don’t think anyone needs to know about your spots being gone, yet, so keep quiet about it for now. But you can tell that man yourself if you want.”
I don’t know what fault I had, but Oledin’s behavior of blaming everything on me was like the actions of an eight-year-old.
“Kek-”
I put on my mask again, trying to hold back my laughter. There was nothing more to talk about. It was better to show through action than speaking a hundred words here.
I will make sure you regret your words today.
“I understand.”
I rolled my eyes as I stood up. I heard Oledin speak from behind me as I headed towards the door. I turned around to look at him once more and saw him looking at me up and down.
“She’s becoming more and more like her mother.”
“…..”
Oledin has never spoken about my mother before. The only thing I knew about her was that she abandoned me. It seems there’s one more thing I have to do.
* * * * * * *
“Aer….”
I heard someone starting to say my name as I walked by. I stopped and Ethan walked up to me. He looked down at me, my gaze through my mask, when I called out to him.
“Ethan.”
“Yes, Aerylle? What happened? You don’t look good.”
“If I asked you a question, what is the probability that the answer you give me be genuine truth?”
Ethan tilted his head at my sudden, strange question. He rubbed his chin as he gave a deep thought, then nodded his head.
“Except for a few questions, they will all be true.”
“What are those exceptions?”
“Those which are extremely personal or work-related. Confidential information such as military training plans and missions.”
“Alright. Then let me ask you something.”
The corridor was quiet as I tried to form the words to ask him the question.
“Is it alright for me to understand that your behavior toward me is a sign of showing me favor?”
“Of course.”
“Is it alright to trust you enough to talk to you?”
“I will not disappoint you if you decide to trust me.”
“That remains to be seen.”
Ethan’s expression hardened slightly then nodded. The essence of my plan was to shake up the ducal family by revealing the corruption case to the public then win the contract to deliver goods at the auction around the time when the Imperial Knights will be formed. I wasn’t afraid to die again, but didn’t want to see Oledin doing well. Which is why, in order to stop certain events from occurring, I’ll need to cut off all of the executives who have close ties with the Brixia family before the auction. Because no matter how much I stand by to spectate, the family isn’t only made up of incompetent fools. There were vassals who supported the family and some of the assistants were actually capable. The problem is that Oledin refuses to listen to their advice and only takes heed to their flattery. Moreover, Brixia may be considered a military family, that was only one aspect of the aristocratic society. Therefore, after I abandon the Brixia family, I have no choice but to utilize the products managed by the guild union which was made up of commoners. So in a situation that was full of stereotypes, the auction will never proceed fairly. This was why it was necessary to recruit the necessary people in advance.
“Ethan. Do you remember what I said earlier? That the corruption can be dealt with.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I will help you with that. You can save 30% of the current military maintenance cost by dealing with the military corruption. And since the military has existed for a very long time the positions are quite stagnant, meaning there are probably many people who are corrupt. You can take them all down and restore the Empire’s integrity.”
“However, if you do that the swords will be pointed to the Brixia family. Aerylle, you’ll…..”
Brixia. The last name that’s stuck at the end of my name. It proves that I am of their blood and at the same time serves as a shackle. What I wanted to do was break this chain with this opportunity.
“I believe there’s no more reason for me to dedicate myself to that man because of his guise as a father. And I’m sure it isn’t an important issue for you as well. In fact, aren’t there more and more people in the council voicing their dissatisfaction on the cost of maintaining the military? People are also criticizing the Crown Prince saying he is incompetent because he hasn’t been able to solve their every increasing cost over the past five years.”
Ethan looked around the hall. There was no one around, but this conversation wasn’t something to be held in the open like this.
“I will assist you with that. Didn’t you say that I can trust you? If you also put your trust in me, I will help you solve that problem within this year.”
Regalius Tome: Prayers go to the victims in the Halloween tragedy at Itaewon, Seoul, Korea.