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Chapter 34




Chapter 34
The day of the finals.
It’s been a long time since the sky was so clear. It was a day without even a single dark cloud.
When the nobles, who were huddled together and looking down at the stadium in excitement, couldn’t see the most important person, one of them said.
“It’s going a little strange.”
“I know. I must say that the emperor is a bit grumpy. I didn’t expect he’d be this rough on the Duke of Hilcheon.”
“I thought he’d think of the face of Duke Hilcheon. Would you have expected the Duke to run away with his tail between his legs as things turned out like this?”
“I don’t think he wanted to run away.”
“Maybe he’s enjoying this kind of subtle disgrace. I can’t understand His Majesty’s true intentions. Whoo-hoo.”
“I don’t know if His Majesty wants to give the Empress a blue rose, but-.”
“No way. Give this ‘empress’ the blue rose?”
The nobles shut their mouths and glanced at each other.
The silence only lasted for a moment. Someone giggled. Laughter was mixed with silence alternately.
The current emperor, who was on the lookout for extravagance, took the most unwanted woman as a bride.
She came from a distant branch of the royal family tree, but her family had already declined in value, so she was a noblewoman in name only. Moreover, she stuttered.
In the Imperial Palace, where crawling and gossiping people lived, she withered like a dry orchid. What the empress needed according to the newspapers was a glass of water to quench her thirst, not the blue rose.
Unfortunately, even the first interest she received in a long time was unfavorable to the present empress. People pointed their fingers around, comparing the ordinary appearance of the empress with the beautiful appearance of Juliana Auburn.
For the empress, this was unfair. In terms of appearance, no one was as beautiful as Juliana Auburn, and no one was more beautiful than her.
‘Something
..’
And, the empress of rumors, who had not yet entered the stadium’s audience seats, was loitering around the back of the stadium.
She wore lots of fancy colorful decorations that were not suitable for her small figure.
As she looked carefully at herself, wondering if her hair was too heavy or her sleeves were too loose, she was actually looking for the opportunity not to enter the audience with Juliana Auburn. If the servant would find a quiet corner, she was going to squeeze into any hole.
Inwardly, she was discouraged from early on. There were no aristocrats who would dare to openly ignore the empress, but she had ears, so she was certain that they talked behind her back.
‘A dignified empress would have been admired right now, but
..’
Ereina, the empress, nicknamed ‘Eren’, thought sullenly.
‘No one here calls me Eren. They just call me the Empress. But they don’t respect me as an empress. It’s just an empty shell. So who am I? 
..I don’t know. Your Majesty, why did you suddenly want to participate in this kind of competition-.’
“The Empress?”
“Ah!”
The empress, who was loitering at the back of the stadium, was surprised by the sudden sound of the unfamiliar voice and turned around.
She couldn’t calm her fluttering heart as she clutched at her chest. The most beautiful woman in the whole empire stood in front of her as if to show that the rumors about her beauty were not exaggerated.
‘This’ was Juliana Auburn.
‘
..beautiful.’
Eren dropped her head, ashamed of herself, who had struggled to dress up as usual. Naturally, her face turned red, and tears welled up in her eyes.
‘
..ah. I didn’t want to be compared to someone like her. I wanted to look prettier than this woman. What a fool. I can never win
..’
“You, Juliana.
. You are Duchess Juliana Auburn, right?”
She still stuttered pitifully, to her chagrin. Eren struggled to overcome the feeling of inferiority that was driving her crazy.
And, Juliana, without knowing the state of Eren, was looking at the empress’s countenance and thinking about something else.
‘So, this is the Empress.’
Lala0419, a spoiler, was a bit persistent and gave another ‘small’ spoiler in a long-written comment.
She revealed that the empress was in fact a villainess who would stand in the way of the future heroine. She also wasn’t kind enough to add the ‘spoiler alert’!
[The Empress here, may seem nice, but in the end, she’s just another villainess. It’s not once or twice that a kind-looking character ends up as a villain by using clichĂ©. I feel sorry for the author because I can see his lack of creativity.]
Then came comments criticizing lala0419.
However, lala0419 didn’t care about it and even mocked those who criticized her for being stupid, and then she left the chat.
But before that, she replied, ‘I can’t forgive an author who uses his characters so flatly.’ Reader 1, Lee Sian, who was just watching the situation at the time, gave up reading the comments section because her eyes were blinded and her body was heavy because of her night part-time job.
‘Just thinking about it makes me sick in my present life, but back then I didn’t have a reason to fight with the fuss in the comment section of the web novel.’
As she thought about it now, she should have fought 100 times stronger. She, who became a present-day Juliana, felt gloomy. Then she said to the empress, who looked at her with a nervous gaze.
“The Empress.”
“Yes, yes?”
After the empress hesitated, Juliana looked at her for a moment and continued to speak.
“The original blue rose jousting contest was a competition that showed the skills of the knights. After the conquest, our ancestors would watch the best knights fight with their lances. However, over the years, the competition has deteriorated. Because we let that happen.”
“Bl-blue, r-rose

”
An enchanting beauty, known as the Blue Rose, shone in front of her eyes.
She was a dazzling beauty. Eren was so nervous that her eyelids were trembling a little.
The empress didn’t know what to say, because she had never talked to any aristocrat for such a long time.
After coming up from the countryside, the empress’s coronation ceremony was held in a rush, and no social party was ever held for her. Eren realized then that she was so lonely that she felt strangely dry.
“
..s-so what?”
Don’t be fooled by the Duchess’s kindness.
Eren’s eyes were trembling, but she was also cautious. Juliana said affectionately to the little empress, bending her knees.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to get the blue rose before and I don’t want it now. I just enjoyed the interest in fighting over me. It was a moment’s pleasure to watch their struggles.”
As Juliana recalled the past she wanted to erase, she suddenly shone her eyes and continued her words again.
“For my amusement, the childish knights have been hurt, and now my foolish husband is in a position he must act according to the Emperor’s bet. What’s more, he doesn’t want to do anything that would publicly demean the family. To be exact, my husband doesn’t want to demean my position. He’s a very stubborn man.”
“I-is t-that so. So, this, this talk is about
..”
Juliana came straight to the point.
“If the Empress helps me a little, I think we can solve this problem.”
“What, what
..?”
Help. The empress, Eren said, with her eyes wide open, as if confused.
“I, there’s nothing I can do.”
“No, you can. It’s something only the Empress can do. If you could give me a little help with my plan
..”
“W-well, but. How w-would I dare to d-disturb the Emperor’s bet
..”
While the empress stuttered and tried to express her thoughts, Juliana said to her in a friendly voice.
“I’ve heard that the Emperor openly participated in the contest to give the blue rose to the Empress.”
“

”
That was the emperor’s lie. One of many lies he made up so that the Duke would definitely participate.
Although it was a fact that no one was supposed to know, Juliana was telling lies as if they were true without a blink of an eye.
Suddenly, Eren, who was hurt again by the fact, said bluntly.
“Well, that’s
..”
“It’s from His Majesty’s mouth. I’m not joking around.”
“
..”
‘What does the Duchess want from me?’
Eren was still dropping her eyebrows. Juliana patiently held back the desire to pat the young empress’s beautiful eyebrows.
‘She can do that. She’s the Empress after all. Even if she looks so cute and fragile now, she’ll soon become a villain
.. No. Is she the Empress who will not become a villainess by my plan?’
“Why do you think only men can get a blue rose?”
“
..?”
“After the conquest war was over, the Duke of Hilcheon only established the men’s jousting contest. However, women also had a good way to obtain a blue rose with their own hands.”
“
..what, what. But-.”
“I’ve heard that the Empress was very good at horseback riding in her home village.”
“Ooh, our territory
..”
Eren blushed. It was a very poor and barren land. The land in the north was so barren that it was hard to find something to eat there every day.
The relatives of the Lord’s family also had to work in farming and were forced to tend sheep and horses.
Moreover, Ereina Walter, a stuttering aristocrat, had to work many times harder than the others. This was because her father didn’t want to see his stuttering and useless daughter around.
Ereina, who recalled her past, realized that she kept fading in front of the beautiful sorceress.
It was strange. Wasn’t elegance and dignity coming from the position you hold?
“Why, why do you say that? I’m just, you know, riding a little
”
Juliana spoke affectionately again to the still unconvinced empress.
“Once, our ancestors were horsemen riding across the plains and mountains. I’ve been studying history recently. It was quite interesting. At that time, women also had a good knowledge of equestrianism. As we settled down, we’ve forgotten about it.”
And the empress was good at riding horses. The empress’s face was reddened by the words of Juliana.
“Right, still, no big deal.”
“The Empress is an idol of the noble ladies and a person who rules them. I’m trying to create a place where we can appreciate the skills of our ancestors from the old days when equestrianism was in full swing. What do you think?”
“That, that’s unpleasant.”
Ereina made a tearful face.
She tried to speak with determination, but it didn’t come out naturally at all. With a desire to cut off her hardened tongue, Ereina shouted in her heart.
‘If I go out there, they’ll only laugh at me for being a weirdo!” No matter how much His Majesty called it a “game” and said he wanted to give me a rose, but it’s all just bullshit. For people like you, it’s going to be fun, but not for me. I have to live my whole life holding my breath, but why are you telling me this and turning my stomach upside down!’
Tears welled up as she vented her anger inside. Ereina’s lips were sore with sorrow, and again a captivating voice came from before her.
“The Empress.”
“What, what is it?”
Her voice rose, perhaps because of what the Duchess had said. Ereina felt her shoulders tremble from holding back her anger.
She knew the situation of the empress perfectly well. The empress hated her for making such an absurd offer and saying that she was an idol of noble ladies as if she wanted to mock her.
Ereina stepped back.
Juliana was about to say something with a calm look on her face despite the empress refusal. There was a huge roar that even those outside the stadium could hear.
Juliana and Ereina closed their eyes at the same time. A roar, mixed with excitement and concern, was telling something. That one of the two men was hurt.
As the series of roars continued, the game began.
* * *
Translator –