Siana flinched at the question with unclear intentions. The queen then gestured for her attendants to leave.

Click, the door closed and when they were left alone in the room, she asked again.

“Are you happy to have gained wealth?”

Pressed as close to the wall as possible, Siana slowly nodded her head. Yes, yes. A timid answer leaked out of her mouth in a small voice.

The queen seemed to be in a particularly bad mood today. Despite having seen her face only four times, Siana thought the queen always showed a different appearance.

The first time she saw her, the queen was like a sugar doll. The next time, she looked like royalty born in the snow fields, and on the platform, she leaned on the king like a woman with no one to rely on but her husband.

But today, she was not like any of those, but rather like a child in a very bad mood.

As Siana was having thoughts that were somewhat irreverent to speak out loud, the queen passed by her and sat on the edge of the bed. She sighed with a chill and said,

“That’s right, material things are good.”

It wasn’t empty words, but words that came from experience.

Ophelia truly knew how useful gold coins were.

The glittering gold not only looked good but also made life smooth. There was nothing that couldn’t be bought with money. Even life and loyalty, wasn’t it a world where you could get them if you had enough money?

Even the freedom she once longed for so much could eventually be bought with money.

Ophelia held back a sigh as she briefly recalled her bitter past.

Even though she had been given this good thing, Siana still seemed to have no thoughts. Of course, it was understandable that she needed time to adjust, but from her perspective, it was frustrating.

But she couldn’t give up either. Ophelia recalled the golden eyes of the man who had taken all her irritation and anger.

Anyway, Siana Nevel – or Lerk – had to be well taught and placed under Idren. That way, he could use her well even when she wasn’t around.

Ophelia frankly grabbed the gold coins spread out on the bed. She let those cold and hard things fall in mid-air.

The sound of metal clashing rang out in the room. Siana, who had retreated to a corner of the room, flinched again.

“But to use this, wouldn’t you have to go outside?”

And Ophelia gestured to Siana.

“Come here.”

The woman, clearly terrified, obediently approached as told.

Placing Siana in front of her, Ophelia looked into her eyes. Siana seemed to want to avoid her gaze, but she couldn’t turn her head away.

“I can protect you within the castle walls. But once you cross the castle walls, do you think your father will leave you alone?”

The queen’s words were entirely correct.

Siana recalled the face of her father she had last seen. Her father, who had been shouting with veins popping in his neck even in front of the king, was truly angry. It was a natural realization of what would happen to her if she were to leave the queen’s protection.

Siana’s face turned white with fear. The queen looked straight into her eyes.

“Gold coins you can’t use are no different from stones lying on the street. Do you want to live buried in such stones for the rest of your life?”

Of course not. Without realizing that she was being appropriately carrot-and-sticked, Siana shook her head. The queen looked at her and let out a small sigh.

“Wake up. Whether this becomes a stone or remains a gold coin depends on your actions.”

It was still a cold voice, but strangely softened.

Just as Siana was about to slightly relax in the somewhat eased atmosphere, the queen’s words continued.

“There are two ways for you to be able to live with your head held high even if you go outside. One is to eliminate your father and take everything he has.”

But looking at your current state, that’s not realistic. How can you be so scared at just a word? The added words carried a strange regret.

Even though it was an blatant evaluation of her, Siana was grateful that the queen recognized this fact. Confronting her father once in her life was enough. She didn’t want to experience that heart-racing event again.

The queen, who had been staring at her intently, continued speaking.

“The other is to become someone your father can’t touch. This is more feasible compared to the former.”

And the queen asked as if giving her a choice.

“Which one will you choose?”

Shilder was one of the servants working in the castle’s laundry.

He broke the ice of the frozen river and washed dirty clothes all day in water so cold his hands were blistered. It was a harsh job for someone from Reden, a southern kingdom.

He wasn’t sent to the laundry from the beginning. When he was in Reden, Shilder was a henchman of Prince Mahanas. Though not high enough in status to be an official attendant, he could still hold his head high among other servants.

The reason such a person came all the way to Sigrasal Castle to suffer was one.

“My younger sister is getting married, so follow her and be my eyes and ears.”

One day, Prince Mahanas called him and some other servants and said so. It was around the time when they were deciding on the procession of bridal goods to send to Aglante.

Until then, Shilder thought he could live well in Aglante’s royal castle just as he had been doing.

As a servant who had lived in the palace for a long time, Shilder was well aware of the power dynamics in the Reden palace. There was a clear hierarchy of power between princes and princesses.

Since a princess wouldn’t treat servants sent by a prince carelessly, his future in Aglante seemed almost guaranteed.

But when he actually arrived at Sigrasal Castle, the situation was different. Shilder recalled the day when the castle’s head servant specifically picked out only those from Reden.

“You go to the laundry room, you to the construction site on the castle walls, you to the chicken coop.”

That’s how the elderly head servant scattered those from Reden.

Some, including Shilder, tried to protest against the distribution that was clearly a mistake.

“Please let us see Queen! If she knows, she certainly won’t agree!”

One of the servants with a loud voice said so. He was someone who wielded power like the tongue in a prince’s mouth even in the Reden palace.

Then the elderly head servant, without even raising an eyebrow, ordered the knight beside him.

“Pull out that tongue that dares to casually discuss the master’s will.”

The colleague who was dragged away like that was never seen again.

Shilder tried to inform the Reden palace about this unfair treatment, but that too was impossible. The servants working in the same area as him seemed to have received orders not to have any private conversations with him, and writing letters or going outside the castle was strictly forbidden.

Still, he was determined to seize an opportunity someday to inform Reden of this nonsensical situation when one day, an opportunity came to him.

That day too, as Shilder was carrying laundry around the castle, someone spoke to him.

“Why are you here?”

Hearing a familiar voice, Shilder turned around, put down the laundry, and bowed his head. A face he had seen a few times in the Reden palace was standing behind him.

“Sir attendant.”

Bahamal, the attendant of Egelbarmot’s second prince, approached him and asked.

“Weren’t you a henchman of Prince Mahanas?”

“His Highness the Prince sent me here.”

Unlike him who was not of high status, the prince’s attendant was a nobleman, so he spoke with respect.

Then Bahamal asked in disbelief.

“To the laundry room here?”

“No. I originally came as a servant of Her Majesty the Queen, but there seems to have been a slight mistake and I was sent here.”

“Then why don’t you report to Her Majesty the Queen about your reinstatement?”

The moment he heard those words, Shilder realized how he should use this situation.

Egelbarmot’s second prince frequently visited Reden. Though it was always a quiet entry known only to the prince’s servants and close associates, perhaps not for such honorable intentions, he always brought his attendant Bahamal with him on these visits.

Even without considering that point specifically, Bahamal was outside the jurisdiction of the Aglante king, so he was free to communicate with Reden.

So if he used him, he could convey their situation to Prince Mahanas.

As Shilder was pondering how to ask for help, Bahamal clicked his tongue.

“Looking at your appearance, it seems you’re not doing well.”

And the noble sir, who must have lived preciously all his life, looked him up and down as if pitying him.

Even knowing there was no ill feeling from him, Shilder felt ashamed.

But he couldn’t show it outwardly. Aside from the fact that he needed him right now, Bahamal was a prince’s attendant. Shilder recalled what he had heard while serving the prince.

“He must belong to quite a prestigious family in Egelbarmot, I wonder how he ended up serving that half-baked one.”

Prince Mahanas, who wasn’t one to speak cautiously, often made such evaluations of those around him. Thanks to this, Shilder could pick up various words by his side.

Anyway, the important thing was that Bahamal was clearly of a different status from commoners like him.

Swallowing his shame, Shilder bowed his head. Bahamal, seeing him like this, clicked his tongue again and then took out a silver coin from his bosom and gave it to him.

It was an amount large enough to make Shilder’s eyes widen, especially since he was already receiving just enough salary to barely get by. As Shilder received it with trembling hands, Bahamal said,

“My master has an intimate relationship with Her Majesty the Queen of Aglante. I think he might be curious about how his friend is doing.”