Read Novel Full Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Controlling a Spy with a Spy.
“Wha, let me go! Let go of me this instant! Your highness!!”
“Prince! Please, forgive us! We beg of you!!”
Mrs Tapple and the chamberlain pleaded for mercy as the soldiers dragged them out of the room.
Furthermore, all the servants in the palace had congregated here near the room after hearing the commotion and were observing the entire situation from the start.
“Now then…………the noisy ones are gone now, so I can finally investigate the ledgers at ease. Who knows, I might find some other irregularities as well, after all.”
“”””””!?!?””””””
The moment I said that, all the servants quickly scattered away from in front of the room like baby spiders running from an enemy.
It was only natural. They didn’t want to suffer the same fate as Mrs Tapple after all.
Only myself and Maya remained inside the room.
“Still, I’m surprised you were able to secretly nab this ledger from under her nose, Maya.”
“”Uh, Yes! I spent a lot of time with Mrs Tapple while in the palace so I knew where this secret ledger was kept hidden as well after all!”
“I see.”
I took a long hard look at Maya and then gave a nod.
“Maya, well done. Thanks to your help, I was able to clean at least part of the rot that infects this place.”
“y-yes…..”
Even though I thanked her with a smile, Maya still had a dark expression and looked dejected.
Well, I suppose it’s natural. I’m sure the other servants will deem her a traitor and will give a cold shoulder to her.
I suppose, I should follow it up and give her some support.
“Don’t worry. You are going to be personal attendant from today onwards. And as such, you will also get a certain level of authority here as well.”
“!?! M-m-me!?”
Hearing my words, Maya raised her head back up in shock.
“Ahaha, I am quite firm, both when punishing people as well as rewarding them. You worked ahrd for my sake, so of course I will reward you in kind for it.”
“B-but, I’m just a maid. Is it really okay to give me such an important responsibility……?”
“Why not? I assume even you must be at least from a Baron class family, right? In that case, there’ll be no problems whatsoever.”
Indeed……..even the servants and maids that worked in the imperial palace belonged to nobility. No commoners were allowed in here.
In that case, she should have at least the basic amount of education. Otherwise she would not have been allowed to work inside the palace.
“U-understood! I will work hard so as to live up to your expectations, Prince Rudolf!”
“Good, I have high hopes.”
Saying that, I handed over a gold brooch to her that I had prepared beforehand.
“This is………”
“Of course, the proof that you are my personal attendant. If you ever run into any kind of trouble inside the Scorpion palace, simply show that and explain that you are have been given the authority to act as my personal attendant.”
“Th-thank you very much!!”
Maya took the brooch with utmost respect and carefully attached it near her chest.
“Good, it suits you very well. Now then, as your first task, help me carry these ledgers to my room, will you?”
“Certainly!”
And thus, me and Maya began to carry all the documents to my room.
For now, after seeing the fate of Mrs Tapple, I imagine the rest of the servants will not be staying cocky anymore and continue to commit such frauds. And I imagine their disrespectful attitude towards me will also quiet down.
And so will the spying and intel gathering inside the Scorpion Palace.
Just like the failed poisoning incident, whether it was from my three brothers or someone else I don’t know, but people not only are attempting to kill me, some have also been keeping an eye on me out of fear and as a precaution.
Although, there were no noble families backing me, and I was just an arrogant prince running amok. There was no chance for me to become the next king logically thinking so there’d be no reason to do such things.
Of course, although I do believe that Mrs Tapple was an observer sent by someone else, that was still mostly just my own hypothesis and I had no proof of it.
But…….even so, I am confident that there are other spies inside this palace as well.
Hey, isn’t that right?
“? P-Prince Rudolf, did you s-say something…….?”
“No, nothing at all.”
Maya turned around and asked me timidly, but I shook my head to deny it.
Maya could only tilt her head in puzzlement, and then turned around again to continue walking.
In truth, alongside exposing Mrs Tapple, I also set up another trap as well.
By ordering Maya to go and get the secret ledger, I wanted to check what kind of attitude she would take towards me.
And sure enough, Maya did exactly what I thought she would.
Without a shred of hesitation, she brought the secret ledger straight to me.
Which means Maya was a spy sentby someone other than the person who had sent Mrs Tapple.
On top of that, judging by how quickly she found the secret ledger that Mrs Tapple surely would have hidden with great secrecy, Maya was definitely a lot better trained as a spy than the old lady.
Now then……..now that she has been provided with authority inside this Scorpion Palace, I wonder what would she do next?
If possible, I’d be happy if she acted exactly as I’m hoping her to.
While observing Maya’s back, a sly grin appeared on my face.
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