CH 55

“I think these dresses are the best. What do you think?”

Before I got more pissed off, Roseanne stepped in and narrowed the candidates to three.

“Let’s buy all three first, and we can choose what to wear tomorrow.”

No matter what, it’s good. All three were great designs, so whatever I wore would look great with Theresa’s perfect beauty.

I asked with a tired expression. “It’s over now, right?”

Roseanne tilted her head. “What are you talking about? We haven’t even looked at the hair ornament, jewelry set, gloves, shoes, bag, parasol, fan, and handkerchief.”

“…”

After buying all the things to wear from head to toe, the long shopping trip was over. It was an arduous time to the extent that I never wanted to receive an invitation from the emperor again. But everyone’s reaction for the shopping was good except for me.

“It reminds me of the day when Theresa made her social debut. Isn’t that right, Honey?”

“Of course, I remember. It was the day Theresa ripped off young Master Wickham’s hair.”

Roseanne quickly changed the subject. “Oh my, look at this, Honey. It’s gorgeous.”

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Rofan-Addicted Young Lady’ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]

[Ha. I’ve never been so satisfied.]

I took refuge in my room before being dragged to buy something more.

The [advanced etiquette] that I really need to buy isn’t stocked at the store. The skills I’ve needed so far have been stocked right before I use them, so they will also stock up tomorrow. Thus, the long-awaited Sunday was approaching.  

* * *

The imperial palace was a large-scale building. Even the Saint-Trio Hotel and the Magic School Valhalla felt a bit shabby compared to this huge and magnificent castle.

I entered the place where the carriage could enter and got off the place where the court ladies, dressed in the same clothes, stood in line with each other. They greeted me at the same time with expressionless faces like puppets being manipulated.

“We have been waiting for you, Princess Theresa Squire. Welcome to the imperial palace.”

It was a fairly robotic welcome. Then a man in a neat uniform approached.

“Welcome, Princess. My name is Jeffrey, the chief of aide to His Majesty. Didn’t you have a long way to go?”

“Greetings, Lord Jeffrey. It was the day of my long-awaited visit to the imperial palace, so everything was pleasant, and I didn’t feel far away. After all, we’re still in the capital.”

“Haha. Princess is someone who speaks your words very beautifully. I will guide you to the Sun Palace, so please don’t refuse my escort.”

I grabbed Jeffrey’s arm and moved on. Jeffrey brought up a few things to talk about so I wouldn’t feel nervous or awkward.

“Princess has changed a lot from before. You seem much calmer.”

“Is that so?”

I was in a mess inside, but I looked fine on the outside.

System, stock up the items! It was already my 200th shout. I was getting more and more anxious. Surely I wouldn’t have to meet the emperor with [Intermediate etiquette], right?

“His Majesty, like Princess, has been looking forward to today.”

“…I see.”

It was a completely nonsensical statement that didn’t make any sense.

I waited for the notification to the extent that I wasn’t interested in the fantastically embodied beauty of the imperial palace.

Is the system judging that advanced etiquette is not needed now? As I was preoccupied with other thoughts, I inadvertently spat it out when I started to see a familiar palace. “We’re already reaching Sun Palace.”

Jeffrey then asked in wonder. “You noticed before I told you. Have you been here before?”

Among the young ladies of the empire, I would be the first one to visit it, so I doubt I’ve ever been here. This was just the information I knew because I was the developer.

“As far as I know, court ladies wear different clothes for each palace. The court ladies who follow me now and the court ladies here have the same clothes, so I guessed that this place is the Sun Palace.”

Jeffery’s eyes lit up in admiration at my answer. “Hoo… Princess has a good eye.”

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Rofan-Addicted Young Lady’ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]

[It seems like you’re one step closer to the empress’s seat.]

What a scary thing to say.

“This is the VIP parlor. Ah, you could see the chamberlain over there. I shall leave now.”

As soon as Jeffrey turned around, the neat-looking chamberlain approached and greeted me. “It’s an honor to meet you, Princess. My name is Bein, the chief of the chamberlain.”

“My name is Theresa from the Squire family.”

My gaze briefly touched the tightly closed door of the parlor and fell. I asked the chamberlain as if I wanted to greet the emperor in perfect shape. “Chief Chamberlain, can I take a moment to check if there are any problems with how I look?”

He replied with a nod, “Of course. There is a powder room, so please use it.”

“Thank you.”

Tak. As soon as the door closed, I murmured devastatingly. “I’m doomed.”

[The Constellations are curious about the reason.]

“Have you seen the feet of the court ladies? It was wrapped in cloth. When the emperor is in a bad mood, all the court ladies of the Sun Palace add cloth to make their shoes sound muffled.”

So it meant that the emperor was in a very bad mood. Maybe the reason was because of me. What’s the point of calling someone and feeling a bad mood from it? Then you shouldn’t call them at all.

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘I Hate Romance’ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]

[Then, what’s different from usual?]

“When he was in a bad mood, someone was always seriously injured or killed.”

Most likely, the person who would be seriously injured or killed would be me. Still, in this situation, there was no news from the store.

“Everyone, I think today could be my last broadcast.”

However, the Constellations seemed to be more interested in my death notice. Seeing that everyone urged in unison.

[The Constellations are curious about ‘Euges’]

[The Constellations are hoping that BJ will go to the parlor quickly.]

Ha. Right, dying is my job. Now it had come to this, it couldn’t be helped. I had no choice but to deal with the emperor using all my knowledge. I left the powder room after a solemn resolution.

The chamberlain opened his mouth as I approached the parlor. “Your Majesty, Princess Theresa Squire of the Squire family asked for an audience. Shall I let her in?”

It was when I was nervous and waiting for an answer.

Click. Instead of answering, the door opened.

Huh…?

Purple eyes that were cold enough to give the illusion that they were blue, looked straight at me. He was a man whose arrogance and pride flowed through his whole body, as one who owned the world. Emperor Euges Rodrigo opened the door by himself.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Princess.”

I hurriedly set up an example. “Greetings to Your Majesty the Great Emperor, Lord of the World.”

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Rofan-Addicted Young Lady’ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]

[His dignified appearance is worthy of being an emperor.]

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Face Inspector’ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]

[He’s not my taste, but I’m strangely attracted to him.]

Euges smiled and said, “Come in.”

Maybe I just passed the greeting test. Now it was time to check out the next challenge.

Person information.

[Euges Rodrigo]

Age: 31

Height: 190 cm

Birthday: January 31st

Likes: Betting, drinking, smoking, stories

Dislike: Deceit, Squire, boredom, trifle

Likeability: 4

“…?!”

There were four black hearts from the start?

Ding!

[The Constellation ‘Fact Is Violence’ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]

[Oh… This seems like a messed-up situation, right?]

No matter how hard mode it is, isn’t this too much?

Euges went to the table where the refreshments were splendidly prepared and handed me a chair. “Sit down.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I sat down in a chair with stiff movements.

Euges pushed the chair inward and whispered in my ear. “Are you nervous?”

My whole body shuddered at his whisper. I tried to say no, but the moment I met his purple eyes, a helpless honesty came out. “…Yes. I was a bit, very nervous.”

It was an answer that would seem stupid, regardless of etiquette.

He’s not going to kill me just because I’m stupid, right? Ilya could be like that, but Euges had no particular opinion about being stupid. Besides, he hated too smart and boring types the most.

Actually, if you raise your intelligence too high, it’s difficult to get in Euges’s route. Therefore, this was strategic stupidity… That’s how it was anyway.