Chapter 18
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
A villainess locked away in a desolate tower—I had possessed her body.
Chapter 18
Meanwhile, the atmosphere of the Salt Royal Palace had grown darker than ever before.
"How dare you make such a blunder?"
The furious roar of Berga, the sovereign lord of Salt and king of the realm, reverberated throughout the entire Sapphire Hall.
The administrators, summoned to the Sapphire Hall since early morning by royal decree, hung their heads in utter shame.
Lemeia, standing beside her enraged father, could scarcely conceal her gloomy expression.
"Are your heads merely decorations? You couldn't even properly distinguish the shape of a single seal!"
Crash!
The document that fell from Berga's hand, crumpled beyond recognition, was the transaction certificate that Blaire Grand Duke had shown to April Salt.
Though he rarely raised his voice despite his dignified reproaches, he seemed utterly unable to contain his surging rage.
And with good reason—this incident was a textbook example of an irreparable loss caused by a fundamental yet catastrophic mistake.
The root cause of everything lay with the administrators who had exchanged documents with Cletan as casually as sharing meals, allowing a seal from an unknown merchant house to pass through without scrutiny.
The goods vanished without a trace during their transport to Cletan, and what disappeared was none other than wheat—whose prices had recently skyrocketed beyond all reason.
And that very fact was what compounded Berga's stress even further.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty. Cletan has assured us they will do their utmost to apprehend the culprits."
"And when exactly will that be? A year from now? Three years from now?"
"Still, it is a great empire after all..."
"You're not suggesting you don't realize that very empire is trying to starve me and my people to death."
The middle-aged administrator, who had opened his mouth while shouldering his burden, closed it again without recovering his losses.
Regrettably, the King of Salt's words held no falsehood.
Cletan had boasted of apprehending the culprits out of courtesy, but... well, frankly, the possibility that they themselves were complicit in the fraud could not be dismissed.
"...Idiots."
Having crossed the threshold of his fury, Berga's voice instead grew eerily calm.
"We have committed a crime most grievous!"
Thud!
The administrators, judging they had nowhere left to retreat, began throwing themselves to their knees and begging for mercy.
Above all, if the administrators quietly shouldered the blame, the king could feign helplessness and overlook Lemeia's involvement.
But as always, there existed those utterly lacking in tact.
"But this is unjust! That document was approved by Princess Lemeia!"
"Gasp!"
"Ugh!"
The voice belonged to the Young Administrator who had previously requested Lemeia's review of the documents.
And thus, a chilling silence settled over the hall.
It was painfully obvious that this tactless fool's words would now invite an even greater catastrophe.
"Y-you fool! Can't you keep quiet?"
The senior administrators, quickly regaining their senses, tried to silence him, but it was already too late.
Berga walked toward the Young Administrator with measured steps, his eyes gleaming with a sinister light.
"Lemeia? So you've lost your mind and dared to sully the honor of my daughter, the jewel of Salt itself?"
His voice cut like a blade, utterly chilling. The administrators watching the scene squeezed their eyes shut.
Soon, a cold command fell.
"A criminal who has insulted the royal family. Take her away."
"This is unjust, Your Majesty! I merely followed the orders of the brilliant Princess Lemeia...!"
Fortunately, the guards succeeded in dragging Berga away before his patience snapped entirely.
Thud.
As the door closed, an even heavier silence descended.
"If anyone shares the same opinion, speak now."
No one opened their mouth, but everyone knew the truth.
That all of this had been done with Lemeia's approval, and that this entire situation stemmed from the rot of a wretched organization.
Yet the Administrators, who had felt in their bones that power superseded law, maintained their silence.
After sweeping his gaze across the room once more, Berga finally released a deep sigh.
"I have no idea when my Administrators became so incompetent. They can at least read letters properly, can't they? Do I need to assign them a tutor at this point?"
"N-no, sir. We will be more careful to prevent such mistakes from happening again, and we will implement internal education programs."
Though there was one person among them who needed education most of all.
The King of Salt waved his hand with a face suddenly etched with exhaustion.
"I can't bear to look at you all. Everyone, leave."
The Administrators, having barely escaped the crisis, hurried out in a rush.
Lemeia also subtly tried to slip away with them, turning to leave. Or rather, she tried to.
"Princess Lemeia, stay a moment."
"Oh! Yes, Father..."
Caught just as she was about to step outside, Lemeia stood before Berga with a dejected expression.
"Lemeia Salt."
At that, Berga's piercing eyes fixed upon Lemeia.
"Do you understand what you have done?"
"I-I will do better, Father."
"This is not a matter that can be resolved with mere words!"
His voice rose sharply, and Lemeia's face crumpled.
Yet Berga's momentum did not diminish in the slightest.
"The damage from this incident is substantial. Do you comprehend what that means?"
"I apologize, Father. Recently, I have been pushing myself so hard with my duties that I failed to make proper judgments."
Tears welled in Lemeia's eyes, which sparkled as if set with the finest aquamarine.
She, who instinctively knew how to draw out another's favor and sympathy, crafted an expression of utmost pathos.
Even as her insides burned with anxiety.
'This never happened once when April was here.'
In truth, Lemeia understood without being told that she herself was included in the harsh words Berga had directed at the Administrators. Her keen instincts made that clear.
That he had deliberately refrained from naming her directly, desperately clinging to the image of the "genius" Princess Lemeia.
"I-I was so confused...! I wanted to do well... but... I..."
"Ugh."
Berga forcibly suppressed the anger rising within him once more.
Blood was blood, after all, unsatisfactory though it was. Perhaps he had grown old enough to be swayed by such sentiment.
Perhaps because of this, Berga chose to cover it up rather than place all responsibility on his daughter even now.
"See that you never repeat such a mistake again, Lemeia."
"Yes, yes! Of course, Father. I'll study harder from now on and do my very best."
After that, Lemeia lavished him with every conceivable display of affection to appease him, and only after well past lunchtime could she finally slip away.
It was ordinarily the hour she would be sleeping soundly for the sake of her skin's beauty, yet she found herself unconcerned by the loss.
The farther Lemeia moved from the King's Grand Chamber, the fewer people surrounded her, the more her delicate features hardened into stone.
At last, she burst into a secluded corner of the Garden, and the tears she had held back all this while came pouring forth.
"Wahhhhh!"
Transparent tears fell to the ground in glistening drops.
'Why is this happening to me?'
Lemeia had tried hard enough.
But it was only natural that she could never become April, even if she were to die and be reborn.
Above all, she was far too beautiful to live as diligently as April was, and her station was far superior.
Had Lemeia possessed freckles on her face and been born the daughter of a lowborn maidservant, she might have been forced to do her very best in all things quite unintentionally—but!
In any case, such circumstances did not apply to Lemeia. Therefore, her reality could not help but be different.
'Sob, how pitiable I am.'
Seated upon the grass, Lemeia wept with bitter sorrow.
It was the Administrators who had been humiliated and dragged away before the King, and yet somehow Lemeia had become the most tragic heroine in all the world.
But then.
"...Your Highness?"
Someone had discovered the pitiful Lemeia.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org