“Well I have a question about the promise that you’ve made.”
“No!”
Anastasia was so surprised by the unexpected words that she cried out without realizing it.
Wilhelm was stunned at seeing her sudden reaction so Anastasia quickly continued.
“I have something that I need to discuss with Madame Rochester…”
“What?”
“Then, Your Majesty, I’ll be on my way now. Let’s talk about it next time.”
Leaving those words behind, Anastasia immediately disappeared. She was as fast as the wind, leaving Wilhelm alone and speechless.
“It doesn’t seem that she has changed that much?”
Since this was the first time that Wilhelm had ever asked a favor from her.
However, yesterday’s and today’s actions were both really suspicious. That’s why he had wanted to confirm it by talking to her personally, but then…..
“Seeing that the Empress still doesn’t want to have a conversation with His Majesty, it just shows that what we have heard were just some empty words, isn’t it?”
Colton, who was standing next to him, asked coldly. Wilhelm nodded and frowned.
“I don’t like it either.”
“Well, of course you don’t and I feel the same way as well.”
Colton shrugged and said.
“But, I don’t think that she’s crazy.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in Wilhelm’s eyes.
“I’m not sure what her plan is, so keep an eye on her for the time being. Maybe Duke Barantes was behind this.”
“Yes, I will.”
“I was going to let it go, but after what happened today…there’s something quite suspicious about her.”
Wilhelm, who had given the order, looked silently at the spot where Anastasia had been, and immediately turned around.
-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-
(Anastasia’s 3rd person POV)
Meanwhile, Anastasia was trying to calm down her startled heart inside the carriage.
‘Why did he suddenly suggest that?’
Wasn’t Wilhelm the one who hated seeing Anastasia in the original story?
I was surprised because it was an unexpected proposal from him.
“….It would be better to avoid him for the time being.”
No matter how strong her will was, he’s still the same man that she loved more than anyone else.
Before she got caught up with her emotions and made a big mistake, she thought that it would be better to not run into each other for a while.
‘…But still.’
A smile crept over Anastasia’s lips unconsciously.
‘It was nice to see you today, Wilhelm.’
She suddenly felt the courage to start a new life again.
‘If it’s to save you, I can bear anything.’
Recalling her ultimate goal, Anastasia rolled up the hem of her dress.
-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-
(3rd Person POV)
After she returned from the memorial service, Madame Rochester decided to put her trust in Anastasia’s words.
“It is the simplest of tasks, Your Majesty. I’ll come back to pick it up in four days so please take a look.”
…In fact, Madame Rochester did not expect much from the Empress.
No matter how simple the task is, it would still be difficult for a beginner to complete. It will take as much as ten days instead of just four.
Still, it was a project that was held deliberately so that it didn’t give the impression of being too ignorant.
Anastasia meekly accepted the papers and said:
“I’ll give it back to you as soon as possible.”
‘If I were her, I wouldn’t be so proud of myself yet since she’s going to get hurt. Anyways…’
Madame Rochester had thought that except for bluff and pride, Anastasia might just give up on it and cry out loud.
-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-
(Mrs. Rochester’s 3rd person POV)
At 7am the next morning, the usual time in which Anastasia remains in slumber.
Madame Rochester, who was known as a very dedicated handmaid, was very busy taking care of each and every event of the Empress’s Palace starting at the crack of dawn.
Then she suddenly heard shocking news.
“Madam Rochester, I was told that Her Majesty is already awake.”
“…Already?”
Madame Rochester took out her pocket watch from her arms and checked the time with a startled look on her face.
‘God, it was only 7 in the morning.’
“..,Is my watch already broken?”
It’s been a while since she inherited it from her deceased mother-in-law.
But the maid next to her shook her head.
“Your watch is fine. It’s really 7 in the morning. It’s just that Her Majesty has woken up unexpectedly early.”
“But she woke up on time as well yesterday.”
She thought that Her Majesty might have woken up earlier yesterday because of the memorial service that was held for His Majesty the Sun Emperor.
“I guess it really wasn’t a lie that her Majesty the Empress had finally decided to change.”
However, the maid was still in complete disbelief.
Madame Rochester actually took it for granted and went directly to Anastasia’s bedroom.
“Oh, Madame Rochester.”
As she entered the bedroom, she saw Anastasia in her chemise after washing her face.
‘…I can’t believe that I’m seeing this at 7 in the morning.’
‘I saw this yesterday, but I wasn’t confident that this would happen again today.’
“It’s good that you’re here. I have something to give you.”
“What is it?”
While Madame Rochester was still puzzled about the situation, Anastasia instructed the maid to hand something over.
Madame Rochester’s eyes widened from shock as she confirmed what she had in her hands.
“This is….!”
“I don’t know if I did it very well.”
‘Isn’t this the document that I gave her yesterday?!’
Then Anastasia calmly said.
“Check it out and tell me if there are any shortcomings.”
“You’ve already finished it?”
Madame Rochester asked as she stuttered.
“How can you do this in just one day? I thought it would at least take you three days…”
“Ah…”
Anastasia smiled awkwardly and said.
“I was lucky enough since I had studied it before.”
Since she felt awkward to ask any further, Madame Rochester left Anastasia’s bedroom without saying any more.
And right in front of the door, she looked closely at the documents Anastasia had handed her.
‘You seem to have made a bluff because of your pride. I’m pretty sure it’s full of mistakes. It seems that I’m going to work twice as hard.’
But sooner or later, it turned out to be a huge mistake.
-Pak!
After reading the last page of the document, Madame Rochester dropped the document without realizing it with a look of bewilderment.
“…l can’t believe it.”
It was perfect. It wasn’t just empty words, it was absolutely impeccable.
It was like it was completed by a person who had been in charge of the internal affairs of the Imperial Palace for a long time.
‘Was her Majesty originally this clever?! Have I neglected her capability too much?!’
How on earth could this be possible?
She felt as if she had been tricked by magic. Madame Rochester’s mind was a mess.
-ˏˋ ━━━━━━ ʚɞ ━━━━━━ ˊˎ-
(Anastasia’s 3rd person POV)
‘Did I make the proposal too well?’
While having breakfast, Anastasia fell into a pensive thought.
‘I think it would be nice to show a little less ability.’
But then she shook her head. Of course, it was the most natural and nice way to show Madame Rochester that she had changed.
‘But I don’t have time.’
There was less than a year left until the next debut ball. Time was running out for her to do everything and then leave.
“…Hayyy.”
At that moment, while Anastasia was slicing the steak, suddenly put down her fork and knife and then took a long sigh.
Seeing that, the maids around her suddenly became tense from what they saw.
‘What’s bothering her again?’
‘No way… Does that mean that she didn’t like the menu?
The maids were seriously concerned, but in reality it was the opposite.
Anastasia looked around the table that was too richly prepared for breakfast.
A young veal steak, a vegetable-free sandwich with thinly sliced pork, and a deep-fried duck without oil… There were also different types of dishes.
‘It’s all meat, so it’s definitely a problem.’
It had been like this from the first day of her regression up to the present time. Her food menu had no vegetables anywhere and only meat dishes were being served.
‘Just who the hell eats steaks in the morning.’
…That being said, the original Anastasia was actually like that.
In fact, the situation was similar to when I first possessed it before my regression.
Still, at that time, she was able to make it look as if her appetite had changed naturally by gradually eating some vegetables…
‘After I became the Empress at that time, I don’t think that I had eaten any pork then. At least, I haven’t cut the steaks like this morning.’
She suddenly felt sick, because she had been eating steaks and did nothing to detoxify her intake.
‘But it’s amazing that she managed to maintain a body like this.’
As Anastasia was silently stroking her lean side, the maid who was watching from the side asked cautiously.
“Your Majesty, don’’t you like the meat?”
‘Well I have always liked vegetables more than meat.’
‘And I can’t keep living like this anymore.’
However, it’s not possible to just change her way of eating so suddenly. She needed to avoid misunderstandings that would lead them to be wary of her.
‘Oh wait, that’s right, there’s something that I could use to avoid suspicion.’
A perfect idea came upon Anastasia, as she contemplated on how to deliver it.
“Ahem…”
Anastasia coughed and pretended to be serious, then said.
“I heard the maids talking yesterday.”
The maid who heard those words became very nervous.
‘Did someone curse her Majesty the Empress?’
But then she was relieved right away because if that had happened, the Empress wouldn’t stand hearing it.
She would have grabbed that person’s hair right away and dragged her around the Empress’s palace.
“I heard that there was a severe drought in the northeastern region?”
Fortunately, the story was not the same as what she first thought. The maid answered with complete reassurance.
“Ah yes. Originally, around this time of year, there was a drought in that specific area.”
“The people of the Empire are struggling because they have nothing to eat during the drought. If they were to hear that the Empress of this Empire was eating luxurious meals in the morning, I’m sure that they would feel bitter about it.”
“…Pardon?”
“From now on, tell the chef to keep the menu simple. To make as many vegetable dishes as possible.”
“……”
“Did you understand what I said?”
“Yes? Ah yes!”
But to be honest, Anastasia doubted if she had heard it right.
‘The Empress had removed the vegetables from the menu before…. Do I really have to say it?’
She thought that maybe she had heard it wrong.
But she didn’t have the courage to ask again to confirm because the Empress hated repeating what she had said once.
‘Oh, my. What should I do?’
In the end, the maid went out and asked Madame Rochester for help.
Upon hearing the maid’s words, Mrs. Rochester could not help but be moved once more.
“She even cares about the drought in the northeast! It looks like Her Majesty is really changing.”
The maid agreed with that statement to some extent.
But it was also something to watch for a little longer.
“What should I do?”
“Do as she had instructed. I have to go see the Empress now.”
Another document was in the hands of Madame Rochester, who stepped forward with a bright face.