The Cat Who Weeps in the Dark - Chapter 88

“What are you doing?”

Lately, many people had been bowing before Katie. Before only Wayne was on his knees, now even a maid was kowtowing.

Flustered, Katie tried to help her up. But the woman remained motionless, as if turned to stone. She even shook off Katie’s hand and pressed herself flat against the floor again.

“Please, just hear me out once!”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“His Highness Helion dismissed all of us! He didn’t even give us recommendation letters. If we leave like this, we’ll starve to death!”

The other maids, too, dropped their bundles and prostrated themselves. The hallway was now packed with bowing maids. To an onlooker, it might have seemed like the Emperor himself had arrived.

“I have no authority here. Go plead with His Highness Helion.”

“How could lowly servants like us ever meet His Highness? We’ve worked in this palace without ever exchanging a single word with him!”

“I’m just as lowly as you. Speaking up won’t change anything.”

“No, that can’t be! Aren’t you His Highness Helion’s most favored guard?!”

The one shouting was the same maid who had splashed dirty water on her just yesterday. Katie stared at her in disbelief.

“Yesterday, you treated me like some shameless w***e. Seems changing your attitude is as easy as flipping your hand.”

Katie was kind-hearted. She couldn’t ignore those in need. But kindness and foolishness were different. She had no desire to show mercy to someone who had once showered her with malice.

“Tormenting fellow servants is punishable. Worse, you even resorted to violence. Getting dismissed is only fair.”

“When did we ever use violence?!”

“Not long ago, you threw a flowerpot at me. If it had hit wrong, I could’ve died. Thinking about it now, that wasn’t just assault—it was attempted murder.”

“What?! Which crazy b***h threw a flowerpot?!”

“C-crazy b***h? Watch your mouth! You threw scraps of paper at her yesterday too!”

“Is that the same as this? Now that I think about it—you! You’re the b***h who threw water on Lady Katie yesterday, aren’t you? It’s all your fault we’re getting fired!”

One of the maids suddenly sprang up and grabbed another by the hair. That was the signal. In an instant, the maids were clawing, hitting, and tearing at each other.

It was more intense than most knights’ duels. Fists flew, shoes were kicked off, and even hidden chocolates from pockets went sailing through the air.

Katie sighed and stepped away from the chaos.

“Lady Katie! Please, forgive us!”

“We were wrong! We truly regret it!”

Pleading cries followed her, but she ignored every one. If they had truly repented, this wouldn’t have happened. People never change.

That’s right. People don’t change.

Her gaze darkened as she recalled her mother’s words from long ago.

“A black-haired beast is not something you take in.”

No matter how many times Helion had helped her, she could never forgive him. That would be even more foolish than pardoning these maids.

Even if Helion was a victim too, it didn’t change the fact that countless citizens of the kingdom had died because of him. His youth might be grounds for pity, but it wasn’t an absolution.

“What does a kiss even mean? This is nothing more than a ‘reward for hard work,’ just like Helion said.”

Katie rubbed her lips with the back of her hand. But no matter how hard she scrubbed, the lingering touch of his lips remained like a tattoo—impossible to erase.

* * *

“Were you serious about requesting me to be your partner?”

Katie paled as she raised her arms stiffly. Standing before her was the renowned head Tailor of a famous atelier. The woman was measuring every inch of Katie’s body with a tape measure—all for the purpose of creating a dress to wear to the diplomatic delegation’s welcome banquet.

Today, Helion had summoned her not to his office, but to his bedchamber. Katie had braced herself for another transaction as she entered, only to find the Tailor waiting instead.

“Did you think I was joking? No one in this world makes such offers lightly. If they did, they’d have long been banished from polite society for being ungentlemanly.”

Helion flipped disinterestedly through a catalog in his hands. Most nobles had to wait months just to receive this catalog, but that rule didn’t apply to him. What others would pay a premium for—design sketches they coveted—were nothing more than scraps of paper with a few dress outlines to him.

“But this isn’t just any ordinary party—it’s the welcome banquet for the diplomatic delegation. If you take me as your partner, it will damage Your Highness’s standing.”

“I don’t need standing. I’m already imperial royalty—what more is there to prove?”

“That’s precisely why it matters. As a member of the imperial family, all eyes will be on you.”

“If you’re worried about my position in court, don’t be. I have no desire to elevate it, nor do I care for anyone’s approval in this world.”