Chapter 5: I took away Yeuju's first love
Raymond's entrance was quite spectacular.
Surprisingly, the wind-blown hair and petals depicted in the illustration were not fake.
His magic was actually of that kind.
Raymond was much more of a show-off than I had thought.
"Surely, you're not planning to go in there?"
"Yep, so could you move? Let me in."
The corners of his mouth, which were smiling, trembled, indicating that he was not at all pleased with the current situation.
In fact, I hadn't known Raymond for very long.
Partly because he fell for Tatiana's schemes too quickly, but I had never liked Raymond from the start.
His attitude, which seemed to boast and act as if he knew everything about the world, reminded me of a middle schooler with a superiority complex.
"I was just thinking of stopping by here."
"Oh, the women's boutique?"
"To give a gift to Tatiana."
What a bunch of crazy male leads.
Even though Tatiana was married, the male leads were still in her harem.
"Still, it feels a bit beneath you to come here."
"If you don't like it, you can go somewhere else. So will you move now?"
"Really, it's my place to go, so you have to come in, right? That's the rule."
I entered the boutique, avoiding his ridiculous words.
I could feel Raymond following me, but I ignored him. I didn't want to pay attention to him. I didn't want to waste any more time.
"You really don't know how to be considerate, do you?"
Raymond kept barking at me from behind, completely ignoring me.
Everything he said was childish. They say that a middle schooler's attitude at that age is a blessing.
I deliberately headed for the stairs leading to the basement.
The basement was a high-end ready-to-wear sales area, not a custom-made clothing section.
"Miss, everything you might want is upstairs."
I shrugged at Lily's words.
High-priced items, mainly purchased by high-ranking nobles, were available from the second floor and above.
And our show-off Raymond would head to the second floor to buy high-priced items.
"I don't want to be with that guy. Let's start from the bottom. Since it's been a while since I've been out, I'll buy some clothes for you, Lily."
An employee blocked our way as we headed for the stairs.
"Miss, the gifts sent by His Majesty are ready."
"It's not just us. The boutiques on this street have special gifts for you, and His Majesty has asked you to enjoy them."
He bowed politely and led us to the top floor.
I thought he would just send gifts, but I didn't expect him to prepare all this.
Lily pushed my back to encourage me, in case I refused.
It was a bit burdensome, but it was quite amusing to mock Raymond while going up to the third floor.
The highest floor of the building was a private room, a space where everything was prepared according to the customer's taste.
It was a kind of personal shopping service.
"His Majesty seems to be really infatuated with you, Miss."
When we arrived at the third floor, a spacious and open area was revealed. There were low-saturation pink dresses, shoes, jewelry, and silk stockings, all of which matched my taste perfectly.
"Just by looking around, I could see that everything was tailored to my taste."
"His Majesty asked us to prepare them in advance, considering your taste based on your past visits to our boutique."
I was happy, but it seemed a bit excessive.
I wondered if it was appropriate, given that it was a drunken confession.
"Please take your time looking around and let us know if you need anything."
The employee quietly withdrew after saying that.
Lily was more excited than I was, inspecting the clothes and jewelry.
"Amazing, Miss. Come and try this on. Goodness, how could they have gathered only things that suit you so well…."
Suddenly, Lily's actions and words began to slow down. A floral scent wafted from somewhere, and petals fluttered.
I immediately realized what was happening.
"I wouldn't miss it with such a grand entrance."
"You've become quite prickly since I last saw you. Or were you hiding your true nature all this time?"
Raymond, who pretended to know me well, was disgusting.
Our engagement lasted for less than six months.
"How much do you really know about me?"
"It's obvious. Compared to Tatiana, you're just a boring and stupid woman. Am I wrong?"
That annoying mouth of his hadn't changed at all, even after graduation.
But I didn't feel any impact.
He had tormented me for quite a while, supposedly to protect Tatiana.
Thanks to that, I had developed a steel mentality.
"You're just a pitiful loser chasing after a married woman."
"Tatiana and I have a relationship based on thorough friendship and trust."
"Has the meaning of friendship and trust changed from what I know?"
Raymond shut his mouth at my words, which dismissed all pretenses.
Fortunately, unlike Wilhelm, he seemed to feel guilty about being Tatiana's lover.
I smiled and said to him, who had closed his incessantly chattering mouth.
"If you have nothing else to say, could you leave now? As you can see, I'm quite busy."
A shadow fell heavily over his heterochromatic golden eyes.
I could feel the mana in the air fluctuating with his emotions.
Even I, who knew little about magic, could feel the strong magical power.
Raymond's magical power was formidable, but his mental state was as unstable as his pitiful condition.
He was mentioned as a potential next head of the magic tower but had not yet succeeded due to his lack of leadership, despite his extraordinary status as a mage.
'He still hasn't pulled himself together.'
I grimaced from the intense pressure, which felt like a physical sting.
"Karin, Karin, Karin. You're already acting like a queen…."
Raymond took a step closer to me, as if he was about to kill me with magic at any moment.
His usual attitude of demanding an apology from me.
Still, I looked him straight in the eye without any hesitation.
"This is the capital, Raymond. Not the academy where you could strut around. If you raise your magical power even a little more here, other mages will come to restrain you."
I deliberately raised my voice.
As a bonus, I lightly stepped on his foot with my high heel.
"And you'll be confined to the top floor of the magic tower for the rest of your life. Even if I die."
His face, always full of arrogance, became hazy. That alone made me feel quite better.
Unfortunately, the heel attack didn't seem to have much of an effect.
"I've always been the same, Ray."
I smiled at Raymond, showing him.
Despite his earlier claim to know everything about me.
His dazzling golden eyes wavered, as if searching for something in me.
"Right… A pitiful and boring woman. That's who you are."
With those hazy words, his figure disappeared from my sight.
Soon, the flow of time returned to normal. I patted my skirt and tidied up my appearance.
Lily held up a necklace adorned with sapphires and diamonds, beaming.
I smiled and approached her.
I shook my head to clear my mind of unnecessary thoughts. It's best to forget about trash quickly.
A few days later, an official invitation from the palace arrived.
The invitation, in a surprisingly pink envelope, was written in an incredibly lovely script, with polite wording.
I memorized the date written in the round, cute handwriting.
I carefully chose my clothes and accessories.
I selected a sky-blue dress that matched my eye color, neither too flashy nor too casual.
The top had a simple design but was adorned with lace made of silver thread, giving it a subtle shine. The hem was embroidered with gold and silver threads, but the width was not too broad, so it wasn't overly flashy.
I twisted my long black hair into a bun and attached the diamond hair accessory given to me by Aster.
"You look beautiful, Miss."
I looked in the mirror again at Lily's compliment.
A sharp-looking woman stood there.
She looked a bit neurotic and even a bit rude, different from the lovely female protagonist.
"His Majesty must have fallen in love with you at first sight, seeing such beauty."
"Well, there are probably many reasons."
Leaving Lily's flattering words behind, I went outside the mansion.
A carriage sent by the emperor was waiting in front of the mansion from early morning.
'There's no need to go to such lengths.'
I climbed into the carriage, feeling increasingly burdened.