Chapter 85

Chapter 85 – The Reason Why She Took Off Her Clothes

The Elysia Empire had a history of a thousand years and was the center of the world.

Of course, they also have a lot of land.

There were also many noble families that managed it. And among them, the Deutch family was a family that had been awarded only the title of count from the Emperor for their achievements a long time ago.

However, because they received only a title, they were commonly referred to as a ‘nobleman only in name.’ And even that had already faded after passing three generations.

Perhaps, once or twice a year, they would come up to the Capital.

They fell under Duchy Merken, administering the southern territories under a larger duchy, but the land did not belong to them. Serina Deutch wasn’t satisfied with the power that only occurred within the estate she managed from a young age.

“Miss Serina is really wise.”

“It’s too much praise for you to compliment me that much.”

Now, without the Lady of Duke Merken, the fox was pretending to be the King, as most of the ladies did not know much about the Deutch family.

Serena’s strategy was one.

…To make a ‘public enemy.’

Envy and jealousy were ugly, but sometimes they had good unity. And just in time, she saw suitable prey in her eyes.

Bella Cruelle…

Duke Merken and Duke Cruelle were quite close to each other, so even if the Merken family knew Serina’s actions, she wouldn’t be scolded and reprimanded. Besides, Bella was already at the center of a big topic unintentionally.

“Maybe, the Animal Kingdom is a lie.”

“Right? First of all, the name of the kingdom is too childish. It’s not even a zoo.”

Serena made good use of the strange atmosphere.

“There was a rumor going around that she was a commoner somewhere.”

In fact, there weren’t such rumors though if it was spread from now on, they would become rumors.

“Oh, really?”

“There are rumors that she was a woman Sir Juan Cruelle met once.”

And, those who feed on the power of jealousy were easily caught by those unconfirmed words.

“She’s not a street prostitute, is she?”

Although it started as one irresponsible word, it blew away like a snowball soon.

“She was having a lot of fun with the Knights Order… No way.”

Serena threw a word that would strengthen their bond a little more.

“Anyway, we should teach her how to behave properly as a lady.”

* * *

Bella, on the other hand, didn’t care at all about Jenkins’ worried advice.

Because…

“Miss! Good morning!”

It was because Pur started playing the role of a maid, just like in the Demon Realm.

“Is that an apron?”

“The fans made this!”

The fans Pur was talking about were the servants of the Cruelle family. They loved her so much.

‘Ah… Now that they’re gone, she’ll cling more to me.’

Just as expected.

“Miss! Let’s change your clothes!”

“Are you cleaning with my clothes?”

She didn’t even ask, but Pur dragged out of her clothes.

“Since you’ve become much smaller than when you were in the Demon Realm, so think about these things…”

Even though Bella was about to speak her mind, it would be faster to tell her what not to do.

“I will change my clothes on my own from now on.”

“Then, will Pur do?”

“Pur… shut up.”

But Pur did not shut up.

When Bella tried to get a little friendly with the other ladies, Pur would pop out of nowhere and keep acting cute.

“The tea provided by the imperial palace has a deep taste.”

Bella started talking to the other ladies, who followed Bella, as Shuria had taught her.

“Pur likes sweets, too!”

Then, sweeping up the cookies on the table, Pur swept them with her arm and put them all into her mouth.

“…Pur. Don’t carelessly eat snacks when you’re with other people.”

“Haha… The bear is cute.”

“Ri, right?”

However, due to Pur’s impolite behavior, the ladies’ feelings of wanting to be good in front of Bella gradually fade. It was also because they didn’t think that they would become Crown Princess in this competition anyway.

If so, they should connect with people who were advantageous to the political arena.

“Pur want to eat again!”

“Be still…”

They thought to themselves, ‘It’s a little vulgar.’

“Miss! Kiss me!”

“Haha. My bear is cute, right?”

Even if she tried to patch things up somehow…

“Miss, when are you going to sleep with our young master?”

Pur was literally a ticking time bomb. Meanwhile, Bella realized when she saw the ladies’ expressions.

‘Ha… Should I really kill this bear?’

This forced her to ignore Jenkins’ advice because she had to deal with Pur first.

* * *

After educating Pur on how to do this and that all day long, Bella’s heart felt tight.

‘This is a really cramped place.’

Even though she only experienced 10% of life in the Imperial Palace, she has been sick and tired of it. If it weren’t for Kiehl, she would have run away from this place a long time ago.

At least there was a way out, it was time for her to fight against the knights.

Since most of them had scheduled, Bella used to fight with them quite late at night secretly. Besides, Derek, the Second Commander, was said to have a very close relationship with Shuria Cruel. He readily allowed Bella to spar with them and even allowed her to use the shower.

That night too, Bella finished sparring with the knights and headed to an empty shower room. On the way, she seemed to see familiar faces of the ladies, but she didn’t pay much attention to them.

‘I have no idea what to do here.’

While Jenkins told her to keep calm, Shuria told her to make them side with her if possible.

‘…Kiehl will surely tell me to do whatever I want.’

What did she really want to do…? She wanted to get out of here and end her life by just eating when it was time to eat and sleep when it was time to sleep.

‘Very well. I serve the role of passing extra 1 well.’

To begin with, her role itself was, in some ways, an extra. As she was thinking about this and that, and was about to leave…

‘….?’

Bella realized in an instant that all the troubles that she had been doing were futile.

‘…Where did my clothes go?’

She barely covered her body with a little towel and glanced around. She obviously took off her clothes before she went into the shower. Suddenly, through the small window, whispers were heard.

“Did you lock it?”

“Perhaps.”

Bella hurriedly ran to the door.

The door was indeed locked. In fact, even if the door was opened, it was a difficult situation since she had no clothes on.

“These punks…”

Bella didn’t hold back. She thought there was no way though she transformed into a cat, hopped lightly, and jumped through a small window.

‘It’s been too long.’

It was difficult for her because she couldn’t jump well, but she managed to escape through the window and looked for the ladies. It seemed that they had already disappeared. If so, she just needed to go back to her room and catch them one after another.

With that in mind, she tried to enter the annex of the Imperial Palace.

The door to the annex was firmly closed.

‘Haa. These things.’

Besides, even the windows were latched and locked. She could ask them to open it here though she had to transform into a human to do that.

‘Ah… My clothes….’

She was naked before she turned into a cat, so if she turned into a human here, she would go back to being naked.

‘I’m going crazy. What should I do?’

As she was spinning around and thinking about it for a long time, from a distance, she could see Rio’s puzzled appearance from his gait. Bella hurriedly ran to Rio and rubbed her head as if she was going to hang on his feet.

‘Ah… It hurts my pride.’

Rio frowned at her, not knowing that it was Bella.

“Why is there a cat in the Imperial Palace…”

He hated cats, especially black cats, even more because of Kiehl. Because of Rosanne’s stubbornness, she wanted to raise it even though she had trauma.

Bella couldn’t let Rio go like this, so he scratched Rio with her claws and scribbled down with her foot on the ground. At first, Rio thought it was very sinister, though gradually, seeing the cat’s behavior, he thought it was strange.

“Bel… la….”

Rio may be tactless, but he was not an idiot.

“Are you Bella, by any chance?”

Rio also held up Bella and asked softly, as if it was embarrassing to ask a cat such a question.

“Bring me some clothes.”

However, to his ears, it was just a ‘meow meow’ sound. In the end, Rio had no choice but to hold Bella and head to Kiehl’s room because it was the best choice he could have made.

“Where are you going, please bring me some clothes.”

Just meow, meow.

The sound of an angry cat was loud.

Arriving at Kiehl’s room, Bella sighed.

“No, what are you doing coming here? Some clothes… Ugh.”

Perhaps, Kiehl was going to sleep though he was sitting on the sofa next to the bed in his pajamas, reading a book.

“…Why at this hour?”

“This is a little strange to me too, but this cat looks like Bella…”

At those words, Kiehl closed the book and glanced at Rio anxiously.

“Did you have a lot of work these days?”

He was saying in a roundabout way if Rio got crazy because of the stress.

“No, this cat wrote on the ground? Bella?”

“Bella hates being a cat.”

Kiehl uttered that and climbed onto the bed before he sat down.

“Get out. I will sleep.”

Looking at the situation, Bella escaped Rio clutches as he did nothing and turned her back.

“Ah! Cat!”

Bella didn’t want to do this either. However, she trusted them because they were the most trustworthy people.

She jumped into Kiehl’s bed.

Knowing what would happen if she turned into a human here, she slipped under the covers and jumped lightly.

“….”

The duvet, which had been completely extinguished, rose to the size of a human figure.

“What is this…”

Bella slipped out of the covers and said, sticking out only her face.

“…Please bring me… some clothes…”

“Bella?”

“Bring me clothes first…!”

Hearing Bella’s annoyed words, Rio moved at first, not knowing what clothes to bring and why.

“What happened?”

“That… I washed up and came out, but my clothes were missing.”

When Kiehl heard that, he stiffened for a moment.

“Bella, don’t tell me…”

Did this make sense?

“Now…”

Bella came to visit him at night so suddenly… In his room, on his bed, right next to where he sits.

And that, too.

“…Are you wearing nothing?”

Naked…?