âI think these dresses are the best. What do you think?â
Before I got more pissed off, Roseanne stepped in and narrowed the candidates to three.
âLetâs buy all three first, and we can choose what to wear tomorrow.â
No matter what, itâs good. All three were great designs, so whatever I wore would look great with Theresaâs perfect beauty.
I asked with a tired expression. âItâs over now, right?â
Roseanne tilted her head. âWhat are you talking about? We havenât even looked at the hair ornament, jewelry set, gloves, shoes, bag, parasol, fan, and handkerchief.â
ââŠâ
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 everyoneâs reaction for the shopping was good except for me.
âIt reminds me of the day when Theresa made her social debut. Isnât that right, Honey?â
âOf course, I remember. It was the day Theresa ripped off young Master Wickhamâs hair.â
Roseanne quickly changed the subject. âOh my, look at this, Honey. Itâs gorgeous.â
Ding!
[The Constellation âRofan-Addicted Young Ladyâ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]
[Ha. Iâve 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 isnât stocked at the store. The skills Iâve 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.
âWe have been waiting for you, Princess Theresa Squire. Welcome to the imperial palace.â
It was a fairly robotic welcome. Then a man in a neat uniform approached.
âWelcome, Princess. My name is Jeffrey, the chief of aide to His Majesty. Didnât you have a long way to go?â
âGreetings, Lord Jeffrey. It was the day of my long-awaited visit to the imperial palace, so everything was pleasant, and I didnât feel far away. After all, weâre still in the capital.â
âHaha. Princess is someone who speaks your words very beautifully. I will guide you to the Sun Palace, so please donât refuse my escort.â
I grabbed Jeffreyâs arm and moved on. Jeffrey brought up a few things to talk about so I wouldnât feel nervous or awkward.
âPrincess has changed a lot from before. You seem much calmer.â
âIs that so?â
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 wouldnât have to meet the emperor with [Intermediate etiquette], right?
âHis Majesty, like Princess, has been looking forward to today.â
ââŠI see.â
It was a completely nonsensical statement that didnât make any sense.
I waited for the notification to the extent that I wasnât 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. âWeâre already reaching Sun Palace.â
Jeffrey then asked in wonder. âYou noticed before I told you. Have you been here before?â
Among the young ladies of the empire, I would be the first one to visit it, so I doubt Iâve ever been here. This was just the information I knew because I was the developer.
âAs 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.â
Jefferyâs eyes lit up in admiration at my answer. âHoo⊠Princess has a good eye.â
Ding!
[The Constellation âRofan-Addicted Young Ladyâ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]
[It seems like youâre one step closer to the empressâs seat.]
What a scary thing to say.
âThis is the VIP parlor. Ah, you could see the chamberlain over there. I shall leave now.â
As soon as Jeffrey turned around, the neat-looking chamberlain approached and greeted me. âItâs an honor to meet you, Princess. My name is Bein, the chief of the chamberlain.â
âMy name is Theresa from the Squire family.â
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. âChief Chamberlain, can I take a moment to check if there are any problems with how I look?â
He replied with a nod, âOf course. There is a powder room, so please use it.â
âThank you.â
Tak. As soon as the door closed, I murmured devastatingly. âIâm doomed.â
[The Constellations are curious about the reason.]
âHave 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.â
So it meant that the emperor was in a very bad mood. Maybe the reason was because of me. Whatâs the point of calling someone and feeling a bad mood from it? Then you shouldnât call them at all.
Ding!
[The Constellation âI Hate Romanceâ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]
[Then, whatâs different from usual?]
âWhen he was in a bad mood, someone was always seriously injured or killed.â
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.
âEveryone, I think today could be my last broadcast.â
However, the Constellations seemed to be more interested in my death notice. Seeing that everyone urged in unison.
[The Constellations are curious about âEugesâ]
[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 couldnât 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. âYour Majesty, Princess Theresa Squire of the Squire family asked for an audience. Shall I let her in?â
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.
âIâve been waiting for you, Princess.â
I hurriedly set up an example. âGreetings to Your Majesty the Great Emperor, Lord of the World.â
Ding!
[The Constellation âRofan-Addicted Young Ladyâ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]
[His dignified appearance is worthy of being an emperor.]
Ding!
[The Constellation âFace Inspectorâ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]
[Heâs not my taste, but Iâm strangely attracted to him.]
Euges smiled and said, âCome in.â
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
ââŠ?!â
There were four black hearts from the start?
Ding!
[The Constellation âFact Is Violenceâ has sponsored 10,000 coins.]
[Oh⊠This seems like a messed-up situation, right?]
No matter how hard mode it is, isnât this too much?
Euges went to the table where the refreshments were splendidly prepared and handed me a chair. âSit down.â
âThank you, Your Majesty.â I sat down in a chair with stiff movements.
Euges pushed the chair inward and whispered in my ear. âAre you nervous?â
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. ââŠYes. I was a bit, very nervous.â
It was an answer that would seem stupid, regardless of etiquette.
Heâs not going to kill me just because Iâm 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, itâs difficult to get in Eugesâs route. Therefore, this was strategic stupidity⊠Thatâs how it was anyway.