The Abandoned Luna's Journey to Power Chapter 297: Interrogation

Cindy's POV:

Queen Isabella sucked in a sharp breath, her hand jerking as the heavy ledger slipped from her fingers and slammed onto the floor, pages scattering everywhere.

"Maria! Explain this to me! What is the meaning of this?!"

She trembled with rage, pointing at the fallen ledger. "Last quarter, you claimed a loss of 3,000 gold coins, and I believed you. This quarter, the shop is overflowing with customers—how are we losing even more? Do you take me for blind? For a fool?!"

Maria was clearly prepared. Instead of panicking, she dropped to her knees with a loud thud, tears springing forth instantly, her carefully maintained face collapsing into theatrical misery.

"Your Majesty, I swear I'm being framed! This is an injustice!"

She knocked her head against the floor while wailing, "You misunderstand. The crowd you saw yesterday was false prosperity! We were clearing out defective stock from before the New Year. The warehouse was overflowing with flawed goods that were about to rot. If we hadn't staged that sale to recover a little capital just to pay wages, how could we have dared make such a spectacle?"

She lifted her tear-streaked face, eyes reddened, looking the picture of loyal hardship. "These past months, the shop has been deserted. Without the several thousand gold coins you and Princess Margaret provided earlier, this quarter's loss would have exceeded 20,000 gold coins! I even used my own salary to keep the business afloat..."

"Lies!"

The queen slammed her hand on the table so hard the teacups rattled. "Yesterday, Duchess Spencer and I saw it with our own eyes. The noble ladies walked in and out carrying armfuls of purchases. Were those bags filled with air? Were the smiles on their faces imaginary?"

"Your Majesty, you really misunderstood."

Maria's eyes flickered as she seized the opportunity. "Yesterday was a clearance event—selling at one-tenth or even one-fifth of the price just to build buzz. If you don't believe me, you may go again today. The sale continues. Even so, after costs and labor, we are still losing money to maintain our reputation."

She spoke with absolute conviction.

The queen faltered.

As a sheltered omega unfamiliar with commercial trickery, she understood little of business.

Seeing Maria so certain—even inviting inspection—her fury wavered, replaced by creeping doubt.

Had she misjudged? Was business truly so cruel?

Watching the queen's resolve weaken, I let out a silent scoff behind the curtain.

Hopeless.

Without intervention, this gilded songbird would be bled dry by Margaret and her accomplices for life.

"Enough."

I drew aside the curtain and stepped forward.

My boots struck the polished marble with crisp, deliberate rhythm.

"Who—?!" Maria startled, turning pale as death when she saw me.

"Your Grace..." she stammered, bowing shakily.

I ignored her and walked to the queen, picked up the ledger, flipped through two pages, then snapped it shut.

"Ms. Tillman, your eloquence is impressive. It is a shame you did not pursue a career as a poet."

Looking down at her kneeling figure, I smiled coldly. "You claim yesterday was a clearance of defective goods sold at a loss? Then explain why, when I sent Martha to purchase the latest 'Crimson Wish' lipstick from Kaizer Atelier, your clerk claimed it was sold out—and required a premium to reserve it."

Cold sweat poured down Maria's back. "Th-that is because—"

"Because what?" I stepped closer, my gaze sharp as steel. "That is a limited-edition release from Kaizer Atelier, in high demand across the capital. Such items sell out at full price. Why would you sell them at a loss? Are you deranged—or is Kaizer?"