The first thing I needed was more than a moment to actually think about this. The second thing I needed was to have an idea of what was spurring them towards doing this in the first place, their motivation. So, I began by making use of the age old adage of simply asking them to explain themselves. Or in other words…

“Why?” Isabella’s soft voice really helped in selling the questioning tone of what I said.

The Seneschal didn’t delay even a second in his response. “Why are we punishing the old wench that is Camille?”

He was quick to shift the topic towards Camille and used quite the offensive-, wait, no Isabella had used that word before herself without meaning anything by it. It was just another way to say servant girl in this era and not an insult. Usually at least. There was no time to dwell on the peculiarity of how language evolved though, not unless I wanted to let him continue to control the conversation.

I might’ve not been the most social of people, but he and the Castle Steward obviously had some sort of plan with this. I knew firsthand just how annoying it was for something outside the purview of your plans to rear its ugly head up. And this question was one that I could legitimately ask since Isabella unironically wouldn’t have understood from a glance at her memories.

“No, no, I understand that. But why do we have a budget?”

A flash of annoyance shot across the Seneschal’s face and he began to respond, only to pause while he processed what I had said. A second later a look of condescension took over his eyes as he stared at me, his words coming out slowly as if that would somehow make me understand better. “Because, Yolanda, we only have a limited amount of bezant to spend at any given point in time. Now-”

“Why don’t we just get more bezant then?” I was decidedly being an absolute little shit now by both interrupting him, which really only worked because he didn’t try to talk over me, and the questions I was asking. If my face weren’t that of innocent Isabella who he was trying to convince to approve of deposing Camille and the eight year old Queen of Jerusalem, I’m sure he would’ve had a smattering of much less pleasant words.

Instead, he just took a deep breath before speaking once more, his voice notably becoming strained now. “Because we cannot just generate more bezant’s out of thin air. But back on topic, we-”

“Don’t we mint the coins though? Which would mean we can just make more of them, right?” I barely had an idea of how the economy is this time period worked or how true what I had said was. I also was strangely starting to understand why kids purposefully did this to teachers or parents sometimes. His reactions were kinda amusing.

Seemingly, the Castellan agreed as he gave an amused snort of his own. Worryingly however, it was combined with a newfound attention directed towards me.

Hopefully that newfound attention wouldn’t be a bad thing. For now at least, the older man was content to remain silent while the Castle Steward leaned forward to speak before the Seneschal said something before he could get control of his anger this time.

Comparatively, the younger man still had a smirk on his face, even if he did seem to be annoyed with the Seneschal from the ways his eyes kept flitting towards him. “If only it were that simple Yolanda. Sadly, it is not, at least not without dire consequences which is why me must obey the limitations we set for ourselves within the budget.”

“Why can’t we-” I tried to interrupt him like I had with the Seneschal, only for the young man to simply bulldoze past what I was trying to say like he hadn’t noticed it and up the volume of his own voice. With how soft Isabella’s voice was, the strategy was a resounding success as I could barely hear myself. I suppose that was the end of the ‘ask why’ strategy.

“And why the combined solution we’ve proposed is such a brilliant one! Don’t you agree that using the bezant we take from Camille to handle the cost of hiring a tutor for your newfound desire to learn to read is the right one while still staying quite merciful?”

And right to trying to get me to agree with them once more. That was it for the time I could buy since I couldn’t think of any other convincing way to keep it going without committing to either yes or no. I did at least learn a few things however.

The Castle Steward wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the Seneschal and was much harder to read other than the fact he wanted Camille gone for some reason. Maybe he really did feel she failed and was just pushing harder for it. But with how hard he was trying to make this happen by continually pushing me towards officially agreeing with them, it felt like there was more to why he was doing this.

That and I wasn’t exactly convinced the budget was that tight right now. Nobles were rich, and royalty were generally even richer. Isabella’s bedroom proved that even if it wasn’t in the best of conditions. Surely, finding the funds or bezant for such an endeavor should’ve been easy despite the active crusade happening.

On the other hand, the Seneschal was much easier to get a read on. He was quite similar to the bishop in how he got angry at just a few questions from me even if they were purposefully annoying ones disguised like they were legitimate innocent ones. And even now, his eyes glared towards the still passive Camille.

I’d double down on a bet there was a personal grudge against her from him. The why’s of such a grudge I didn’t know and could frankly be for any number of reasons, but I was confident about that being the reason he wanted her punished. Probably even has some further plans that I didn’t want to imagine once she was just a regular chambermaid again.

As for the Castellan, the older man had been quiet throughout with the exception of his mirth at seeing the Seneschal get frustrated. I didn’t understand his stake in this at all. Did he even want Camille gone? He had seemed annoyed at the other two whenever he glanced at them, but not with Camille.

All he was really doing now too was watching me intently now, like he was analyzing me. Truth be told, it felt a little creepy. Especially since he had never done this before in Isabella’s memories.

There wasn’t anything for it though. I just had to hope what I had figured out would be enough to weave my way through a plot I still didn’t know the exact ramifications of.

God, I already felt more exhausted from handling this than anything else I’d done today. An impressive feat considering it was up against the upheaval of my entire life. And there was no chance I wouldn’t be dealing with more situations like this in the future unless I decided to abdicate the throne which just wasn’t an option for a plethora of different reasons.

Schemes and politics could go fuck themselves in the meantime.

The Castle Steward began to narrow his eyes at my prolonged silence and I mentally shook myself. Time to face the music.

“It would be a clever solution, but I don’t think Camille should be punished.” I whispered out with Isabella’s voice, an attempt at projecting it better to sound more sure of myself falling flat on its face and giving it the opposite effect. I really had to figure that out at some point.

The Castle Steward’s nose scrunched up slightly, clearly still hearing me over the din of the great hall. “Your Grace, I would have to heavily advise against such a course. You are merciful and the punishment we have already told you about is as much mercy as we can give in this circumstance. But imagine, if we did not punish those who have failed in such an essential duty even if they did not purposefully intend to? Others would expect such treatment and our way of life would quite quickly begin to devolve, all from an act borne originally of kindness. As such, we cannot be lax in such matters and must punish Camille in some way.”

His words were smooth and did frustratingly make sense. To try and directly refute him would be to endorse corruption and favoritism. But something in his words made me begin to think, specifically the part about punishing those who failed in their duty.

Was Camille truly the only one at fault?

The younger man continued on while I contemplated that question within my head. “This is the way it has to be, Yolanda. It’s the reality of the world we live in and is something you will have to get used to.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

He was really laying it on thick. But for all his words on my decision being pivotal for this, I didn’t doubt for a second there was a backup plan for this. He was too calm for there not to be.

There was a way to easily circumvent that though. He had even handed it to me on a silver platter alongside the perfect timing to say it with his speech on not making exceptions for those who failed.

After all, there were more people than just Camille who had failed in their duties by not realizing what was happening with my personal attendants. Not that I truthfully blamed anyone who missed it, but still.

“You're right. We cannot selectively choose to not mete out punishments. I am sorry Camille, I do hope I’ll still get to see you though.” I turned towards Camille as I began the first phase of my plan.

The older woman merely gave me a curtsey, the tenseness I had noticed within her seemingly beginning to dissipate with my words and was replaced by a sort of grim acceptance. She flashed me a fatalistic smile as she talked for the first time upon being addressed. “Think nothing of it, Your Grace, it has been an honor to serve you since the day you were proclaimed queen.”

She’d been serving since then? This was the woman they wanted to sack for a mistake? I didn’t entirely get what had happened that had made her so loyal as to accept the punishment without trying to fight it, but people like that didn’t grow on trees.

If I was legitimately committing to punishing her and didn’t have the second phase of my plans in mind, I think I’d feel exceptionally bad about doing this.

As it was though I only felt a little bad while I turned back towards the men at the table. The Castellan seemed a bit disappointed as he looked at me now, but not in an angry way. The Seneschal's anger seemed to have fallen to the wayside, replaced instead by glee as he managed to smile menacingly at Camille. And the Castle Steward was giving me an apologetic smile even while his eyes screamed that he was smirking internally.

“You’ve made the right decision Yolanda. Be proud you were able to make it when others would not.” He said in a comforting tone that genuinely sounded like he meant it, with barely a hint of insincerity in his tone. Unfortunately for him, I had heard enough empty promises from career politicians with that same tone to identify it so I didn’t feel a hint of uneasiness about what I was going to do next.

I let out a performative sigh before I stared him directly in his eyes, channeling all the naturally cute innocence that Isabella had. “I know. I hope I’ll be able to see you and Aimery again too when you both begin your stint as chambermaids with Camille.”

Shocked silence was the response I got to what I had said. Everyone at the table just stared at me like they were trying to figure out if they had misheard me or not. Even Camille seemed like she hadn’t foreseen a single world where I said what I did.

It was shattered a moment later when the Castellan began to openly guffaw before he managed to get ahold of himself. His gaze was locked onto me with renewed interest as he waved off his actions. “Apologies, apologies. Please excuse me, Your Grace. This is a very serious situation and it’ll be a right endeavor to find replacements for not one, but three positions. I’ll see if I can’t begin to search for-”

“What is the meaning of this?!” Interrupted the outraged voice of the Seneschal which he punctuated by slamming his fist on the table, shaking it and causing me to flinch slightly. He was certainly not happy.

“Calm Aimery, I’m sure Yolanda has just misunderstood something in what I said. And that Baudouin, I believe, has an ‘absolutely hilarious’ sense of humor” The Castle Steward began, his voice laced with an air of caution and a bit of annoyance, seemingly beginning to sense something was off. He turned towards me. “Camille was the one who failed you, not us. How did you manage to come to that conclusion in the first place?”

I blinked at him owlishly, like I didn’t understand the question even though I very much did on the inside. A small part of me that I suspected came from the Playful Trait found everyone’s reactions to this very amusing and made it surprisingly hard not to smile as my plan began to come together. The rest of me still hated the scheming and plots though.

“You told me that those who failed in their duties needed to be punished somehow. Is that not true for the both of you?” I said innocently.

The Castle Steward opened his mouth to respond, though was cut off by furious Seneschal. “Us?! Failed you?! What kind of fopdoodle logic is that?!”

“Language Aimery. Let us not begin our time together as chambermaids by teaching the queen such crude words. We are in enough trouble as is.” Camille’s voice chided with only the slimmest hint of mirth within it.

Camille apparently didn’t miss a beat, though was fopdoodle a swear? It sounded so stupid and I had no idea what it meant. Either way, I was quite glad for the Seneschal’s predisposition towards anger right now. His reaction was making this so much more effective and so much harder for the Castle Steward to dismantle what I was doing while being so ripe for abuse.

Honestly, he reminded me of the bishop with how angry he was-

I jumped slightly when the man in question suddenly stood up and quite literally swept a series of dishes off the table which clattered loudly on the stonework of the floor alongside what food had been on them. I had partially jumped from that display, and partially from the ringing of a bell that nobody else seemed to hear and the appearance of a golden envelope in the corner of my vision that I was certain I could guess the contents within it.

Guess I now knew of two people with the Wroth trait.

“Who do you think you are, you-”

Before he could continue to educate me on the swears of this time period like the one I now found strangely easy to remember, the Castellan had stood up from his own seat to grasp the man’s hand firmly. Enough so, that the man was wincing slightly even as he shifted his glare towards the Castellan.

The older man was not impressed and bore the glare while returning one of his own that clearly led to the Seneschal beginning to rethink the decisions that led him here. “There will be no tolerance for unnecessary vandalism or violence here. Now, we will listen to the reasoning that Yolanda has to have said such a thing like mature adults. She might be only a young girl, but she is still our queen and deserves that much at least. Understood?”

The Seneschal mutely nodded to which the older man snorted at but seemed to accept while he turned to me. “Alright, now why do you think that it’s not just Camille who failed you? Not that I disagree, I merely wish to understand your thought process here. In fact, I think everyone here is quite curious about this.”

His tone was firm and I vaguely felt like he was assessing me somehow. And his words about everyone being curious about it was not completely in jest. The din of people talking in the great hall had died down completely, probably at the whole shoving of plates off a perfectly good table thing, and all the staff and guards within were now watching us while trying to not seem like they were. I doubted they could actually hear everything being said, but it certainly sent a shot of anxiety through me.

I managed to shake it off the feeling with ease. A bit of anxiety was nothing compared to everything else and I wasn’t about to let that stop me from explaining myself.

“Well, I just couldn’t help but remember some of the duties of the Seneschal and Castle Steward that I had asked some questions about.” I said softly, Isabella’s voice being far more audible than normal with how much quieter the great hall had grown. “Both of them have told me that one of their duties had some aspects of them managing the staff. With the Steward managing them more indirectly and financially, and the Seneschal having a more direct role in doing so while tracking what they were up to.”

I might’ve not been the one to ask those questions, but I’d certainly take advantage of Isabella’s curiosity back then. Expanding on it with being able to rely on my own experience to provide an explanation for the parts of the answers she got when she asked about it that she didn’t completely get.

“And well,” I continued on. “Since it’s a part of their duties too, then it would mean that they’d have failed just like Camille did. It only makes sense to use the same merciful punishment they wanted me to give Camille, doesn’t it?”

An inkling of a smile wormed its way onto the Castellan’s face after a tense moment of him staring at me. “Good. You are very far from being arbitrary about this and deciding to do so on a whim. It’s solid reasoning too that normally would be more than enough.” The man then sighed. “If these were better times, such a verdict could be handled right now.”

I blinked, this time legitimately confused. He obviously personally agreed with me, yet still was advocating against it. Not that I actually wanted to make those three into chambermaids without pay so his own stance helped quite a bit in slowing people down without blatantly shoving to the forefront what I was doing. That would be silly and more than a little awkward considering that two of them were men.

The Castellan took my confusion as permission to keep going. “This is not the place to talk about this matter in detail nor should it be something for you to worry about, but know that right now we cannot afford to lose any more skilled personage at the moment.”

Well now I was going to be worrying for sure about this. Why exactly could we not afford to lose anybody skilled? And if that was the case… “Then if we can’t lose anyone skilled right now, then we can’t afford to lose Camille as the head chambermaid.”

The older man nodded in assent. “Aye, we can't, which is why I disagreed with the decision in the first place. And in light of young Yolanda’s newfound understanding of the matter, I think we should rescind the punishment you’ve both suggested should happen to her. It only makes sense, right?” He said while sweeping his gaze from the man he still held within his grasp to the Castle Steward.

The younger man took a deep breath and no longer seemed to have any hint of smugness within his voice while he responded, replaced instead by frustration. He was still mostly composed though.. “You are… indeed correct Baudouin. But if this is to be the case, I should warn you that we will not be able to afford a reading tutor for the queen.”

He was still going on about that? The Castellan didn’t seem to be miffed by the response though, and gave a smirk of his own. “Ah, well, how fortunate it is that a certain someone does need to pay some reparations for his little vandalism streak. Yolanda, how do you feel about having Seneschal Aimery pay for your tutoring?”