Chapter 33: Striking A Wrong Chord
The dreadful silence that followed next was nothing but oppressive.
Samantha and Lucy had both frozen in their position, heads lowered, but Samantha’s heart raced a thousand more since the princess had requested for the guards to seize her. Was she being punished because of last night’s incident?? No matter how hard Samantha tried to stay composed, the fear in her heart already gave her trembling emotions away.
"Do you know what it means for a servant to escape from the Palace walls?" Claire questioned the servant, eyeing her with pure hostility. "To think an extremely low servant as yourself would discard the privileges of the Palace, I have every right to punish you, just in case, to make sure you don’t repeat this treacherous act in the future. Why are you two idiots standing there looking like fools?! Take her to the punishment room and ensure she receives fifty strokes of the whip!"
"W...wait, I didn’t--" Samantha wasn’t given the chance to defend herself as the guards took her away. The bucket of water she held dropped from her grip, and it poured against the tiled floor, nearly coming in contact with Claire’s flowing beige dress.
"You there, clean this place up!"
"Right away!" Lucy, who’s heart was about to leapt from her chest, quickly walked past the princess to go get a clean rag she could use to wipe the water from the tiled floor, successfully escaping the princess’s glaring sight.
A daunting smile reached the corner of Claire’s mouth as she watched the guards take the servant away, and she proudly folded her arms. Everyone had been so fascinated by the lowly maid like she was some sort of goddess last night, but here she is, about to receive fifty strokes for her own stupidity.
With her chin tilted up with exuding pride, Claire gracefully went down the stairs to witness the punishment scene herself.
Lucy, who was drying the floor with a rag, stopped what she was doing when the princess had left. She was still yet to recover from the tremor Princess Claire had made her experience on such a good morning, but she was more worried about Samantha who was about to be punished unjustly. Knowing princess Claire and her wicked ideas for punishment, Lucy could only think of one person who was capable of getting her out of this mess.
"I need to inform Lord Ivan about this." Quickly rising to her feet, Lucy immediately went down the second stairs that led to the warriors training room, knowing Lord Ivan would be there practicing at this hour.
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