Side: Sheila

At Iris’ request, all the servants I brought from the royal palace had to return home.

“—That’s not true…! We did what we were tasked to do properly!”

“Do you believe orphans of unknown origin more than those who’ve served you for many years?”

Everyone claimed they had done nothing wrong. They also denied the accusations of violence.

I didn’t want to believe they had mistreated those poor orphans, either.

“Don’t make it sound like I made this decision solely based off those children’s words?”

—In fact, I actually didn’t.

‘People of low birth are liars.’

Once, my tutor at the royal palace taught me that.

However, I wouldn’t label them as absolute evil. Their hearts were impoverished precisely because of their low status.

It’s not their fault.

If anything, the problem laid in the environment they were born into—and the country itself, for allowing such an environment to exist.

“But they had a doctor’s note.”

“The doctor employed by the orphanage can’t be trusted.”

“I agree.”

“Nevertheless…”

If it was simply the doctor of the orphanage, I wouldn’t have accepted it, even more so considering he worked under Iris.

Yet, Iris saw through me.

In addition to the medical certificate from the orphanage doctor, there was a second one written by the royal physician I brought for the sake of the children.

The contents of the medical certificates written by the two were identical.

If it was just the orphanage doctor, I could’ve dismissed his claim on the basis of his lack of qualifications.

“Even if the evidence indicates that abuse has indeed taken place, there’s no proof that we did it?”

The servants probably wanted to say that it was done a third party, but…

“As per my instructions, the children of the orphanages are prohibited from going out. Additionally, there are eyewitness accounts from the escorts that Father tasked to protect me.”

Iris had failed to teach the orphans the most basic concept, morals.

No wonder crime rates were so high among orphans. The same applied for the orphanages run not just by Iris, but other aristocrats as well.

If the orphans were taught morals from a young age, they’d understand that theft was wrong. Surely, the crime rate would decrease significantly then, if not disappear.

Hence why, until they had received a proper moral education, I wouldn’t let them go out and have any contact with outsiders.

…As such, it’s impossible for any third party to abuse them.

I never thought that the measures I had taken would backfire on me.

“It’s as clear as day that you all enacted violence against these poor children. Your incessant excuses only make you look unseemly.”

“But Your Highness…!”

For the first time, I shook off the hand of the servant who tried to cling to me.

“Because of what you did, my reputation was sullied. Why should I be merciful to insects who went as far as to betray my trust?”

I never expected that Iris would spell out the mistakes of my personnel to my face. That Iris, the one who exploited the children of the orphanage—! As if that wasn’t enough, she dared summon me, a princess.

There’s no greater humiliation than this.

Just because I considered her a friend, she got carried away.

Father did tell me that I shouldn’t be too nice, lest aristocrats took advantage of me.

My mistake was putting my trust in Iris whom I thought was my friend.

Who’d have thought she’d be so domineering?

Normally, a mere aristocrat like her wouldn’t be able to go against my words.

“I have no use for unreliable servants, much less the kind who’d smear their master’s name.”

“Your Highness…”

“Return to the palace before I dismiss every single one of you. I have arranged for replacements.”

At last, they understood and heeded my words. One by one, they left with their heads hung low.

Why do low-ranking people lack comprehension ability?

Somehow, not even Iris, a duchess, could understand where I was coming from.

Ah, but she inherently isn’t a duchess, so there’s no considering her.

“Are you going to bring back the original staff?”

“Lou…”

Lou came to me with cleaning supplies in hand. As he was my younger brother, I told him that he could just leave the chores to the servants. Yet, Lou still did them. Thinking about it, Lou did a lot for my sake. Lou alone wouldn’t betray me.

—Well, of course.

I had saved him from the danger of perishing in the slums.

“Of course not! Why would I give them a chance to abuse the orphans again?”

“Then, what are you going to do? Currently, only Your Highness, the director of the orphanage, and I are present here.”

“I have already made arrangements to ask my father to send new personnel.”

“…But the people who serve the royal palace are aristocrats. Won’t the same thing happen again?”

“It’ll be fine. I asked for people who wouldn’t do the same thing!”

“…”

“I’m also growing day by day. I learned something from this incident. It’s better not to trust your subordinates too much.”

“…”

---

***T/N:

“It’ll be fine. I asked for people who wouldn’t do the same thing!”

NOW IS YOUR ABSOLUTE CHANCE TO START FLAILING AROUND THAT CLEANING SUPPLIES AND MOP THE FLOOR USING THE PRINCESS’ BODY, LOU!!!!!!!!!!

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