Chapter 5

“Yes. Nice to meet you too, madam.”

You foolish thing!

Catherine was on the edge of her patience. If she just left like this, wouldn’t she be the only one bowing to the young princess? She decided to be more forward and spoke to the girl with indignation.

“Princess, can’t you understand when I do this?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve heard that you were dense, but I didn’t know it was this bad…. I am Your Majesty The Emperor’s woman and am equivalent to your mother. You should take an example from your role-model.”

“Ah…”

Apollonia’s frustrating answer seemed to make Catherine explode.

“And then, calling me madam? Even in the district, addressing your step-mother like that will get you criticized by your neighbors.”

Now, won’t you call me properly? Catherine didn’t lose her elegance while glaring at Apollonia.

“Pardon me queen, but I think you’re mistaken.”

The woman standing next to Apollonia opened her mouth. This middle-aged woman was the nanny, someone who would’ve been the maid of honor, of the Princess.

“Are you talking to me now?”

“You haven’t mastered the etiquette yet, so it is reasonable that you don’t know it, but..”

Unlike her small figure, the maid continued to speak firmly with both of her eyes wide open. Catherine then crumpled her face.

“Unlike the queen, the status of the empress is below the direct blood-line of the Imperial family. It cannot be compared to the step-mother from a district, so your title would be madam, not Her Majesty.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

It was true. In an empire that worshiped the Imperial family said to inherit the blood of the gods, the only role-model for the crown princess’s children was the emperor and the empress. The consort also received the title of a queen but it was still fundamentally different from the crown princess.

However, since there has been no empress for a long time, many of the guests, including Catherine were unaware of the imperial hierarchy. They vaguely thought that the empress-less palace was no different than a concubine palace.

“Th-there’s no way. None of my maids ever said anything like that.”

“It’s because the Empire has not had an empress in the last few decades. The maids don’t know much about the empress’s etiquette.”

For decades, The Emperor had only one empress and loved her with all his might. Since there was no polygamy from inside or outside the imperial family, the etiquette was discarded and forgotten.

“But, but the other empresses…”

“None other than His Majesty The Emperor could give an example to His Highness The Crown Prince or Her Highness The Princess.”

Catherine was embarrassed by the stern answer from the maid.

“Hey…you sure speak insolently.”

When logic was not enough to win against the maid who was well-versed in etiquette, she decided that she would have to rely on authority to save face.

“How dare a mere maid get involved in a conversation between the queen and the princess?”

As the nobles around her began to murmur, her heart became impatient.

“I’m just giving you an example of the etiquette that you should know.”

“So the maid didn’t uphold the etiquette to protect the queen?”

“If something goes wrong, you can punish me with proper evidence.”

She seemed compliant, but she specifically asked to punish her only with proper ‘evidence’. It was clear that Catherine was arguing without any firm grounds.

How can you lose against a nameless maid?

The maid bowed her head and tried to step back, however, Catherine felt even more ashamed of herself. She turned around and held the maid back in her place.

“I haven’t allowed you to leave yet!”

Takk-! As the queen’s hand cut through the air, it swung at the maid’s cheek and bounced back.

“Maya!”

Apollonia, who had been standing silently, immediately screamed and rushed to support her staggering maid. Catherine gasped and stared at the princess as if her anger had subdued.

——

That foolish thing!

This is why I tried not to run into people as much as I could. Apollonia looked at the soaring queen and breathed deep breaths inward.

She thought no one would care if she turned around after saying a short greeting. It was obvious that it’d be troublesome to get close to Catherine, so at the very least Apollonia tried to be courteous.