A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 44

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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44.
The moment I stepped onto the Terrace where refreshments had been laid out, I was met with a deafening silence.
“Your makeup is quite entertaining.”
“Is this how they do makeup in Sincester? It looks rather harsh.”
Good—seizing the initiative with a preemptive strike was the right move.
I snapped my fan open and settled into the chair an attendant had guided me toward.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“It wasn’t a compliment, Your Highness. I meant your makeup technique looks provincial.”
“So the women of Sincester believe they can only become beautiful that way?”
The noblewomen’s tittering laughter felt like witnessing the opening chapter of a web novel’s high society debut—cathartic, even.
What should I say now to earn a reputation for delivering a perfect comeback?
Sigh. Time for the “brain-clearing technique” again.
I exhaled deeply, then snapped my fan shut with an audible click.
“Surely… you weren’t just mocking my makeup technique, were you, madam? *sniff*”
“I beg your pardon?”
At the sound of my voice, trembling on the verge of tears, one of the noblewomen’s expression shifted to alarm.
“We met at the Reception Hall before, didn’t we? You were Countess Maletia, weren’t you? I heard you have a daughter getting married soon.”
“Ah, yes…”
“And yet, just now! To someone my age! You insulted my makeup technique! *sob*”
As I produced a handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of my eyes, the noblewoman’s expression became utterly bewildered.
“Your Highness, that’s not what I meant—”
“That’s not what you meant?”
“What I’m trying to say is…”
Unprepared for such direct confrontation, she fumbled for words, her gaze darting about as she scrambled for an excuse.
“It wasn’t an insult. I merely thought you’d look even lovelier if you changed your makeup technique.”
“Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried—”
I folded my handkerchief neatly and placed it on the table, then turned my gaze toward the Empress.
“I was terrified you’d left me sitting alone here so you could all conspire to undermine my confidence! That would be such vulgar, disrespectful, and foolish behavior—the sort of thing only stupid noblewomen would do, wouldn’t it, Your Majesty?”
I smiled sweetly, and the Empress’s lips curved upward in amusement.
“Of course. Countess Maletia had no such intention whatsoever. The Countess chooses her words carefully.”
“I’m terribly sorry, Your Majesty.”
“Now then, Princess. Let’s put this behind us and enjoy some refreshments together. We’ve all been waiting for you.”
The Empress gestured toward the table.
“We heard you’re fond of desserts, so we gathered all the finest confections from our Empire. Let’s sample them while we converse.”
The Empress then began introducing the assembled noblewomen, though their names barely registered.
I’d already studied them beforehand, so I knew them all—besides, the desserts before me were far too grotesque to ignore.
‘This is insane. They deliberately collected only these things, didn’t they?’
The items arranged on the table were desserts with extremely polarizing tastes.
Sliced cheese with mold oozing profusely across it.
Flour dough shaped prettily and fried, yet inside what appeared to be insect larvae was faintly visible.
The basket was filled with eggs, each containing what was surely a chick on the verge of hatching.
Moreover, the liquid in the glass was a reddish-brown substance with a distinctly fishy stench.
Unable to conceal my disgust, I wrinkled my nose, prompting the noblewomen to giggle.
“It’s deer blood mixed with honey. It’s wonderful for the skin.”
“Since it’s so beneficial for the body, we prepared it especially for the Princess.”
“We consumed quite a bit before the Princess arrived, so please do enjoy it.”
Now that I looked closer, each individual plate bore traces of having been eaten from.
Had they truly consumed it? Or had they simply discarded it?
The moment I failed to even lift my fork, the Empress laughed and fanned herself.
“I’ve heard that Sincester is a nation that upholds strict etiquette. Children raised without mothers must find it difficult to learn proper dining manners… though I trust the Princess is an exception.”
Children raised without mothers—such words were precisely calculated to wound the heart of a nation that revered filial piety.
I could not let this pass.
I smiled sweetly and pushed my individual plate to the side.
“My! Your Majesty, you’re saying that children raised without mothers lack proper dining etiquette? Then how unfortunate—wouldn’t that make Your Imperial Majesty equally discourteous? After all, your mother was poisoned to death the moment you were born.”
“!?”
“Besides, unlike those present here, I am young and healthy, so I have no need for such health tonics.”
At my rapid-fire words, Mrs. Reformer gasped in shock.
“Are you implying that we are all old and in poor health?”
“Well? Isn’t that why you’re consuming them?”
“…Princess!”
As the Empress’s breathing grew ragged, the noblewoman cried out.
“Your Highness, are you rejecting the Empress’s kindness? How terribly rude! You’re just like the Sixth Prince—birds of a feather!”
“Good heavens! How could you say such a thing! I’m not rejecting kindness—I simply find these refreshments repulsive and must decline them!”
“What did you say?!”
“Dorothy?”
I called for Dorothy at once.
“Yes!”
“Find identical versions of these desserts throughout the city and have them loaded onto a supply wagon as a gift for Miss Reformer. Since you’re all so close, I’m sure the lady’s daughter will be able to enjoy them.”
“Understood.”
“Be certain to confirm that she consumes every last bite before you return.”
The moment Dorothy departed from the Tea Party Hall, I saw Mrs. Reformer clutch her forehead, swaying unsteadily.
I turned to the Empress with a smile.
“Your Majesty, when I said the refreshments looked repulsive, I was naturally referring to the food itself. Surely you’re not upset?”
“…Of course not.”
The Empress forced a smile and addressed her attendant.
“Since the Princess finds my refreshments repulsive, bring sweet confections instead.”
While the attendant prepared different refreshments, the Tea Party Hall fell silent as if doused with cold water.
Everyone seemed to be watching for signs between me and the Empress.
The Empress said nothing, and in that tense moment, a cream cake was brought out.
“Oh, Your Highness. Allow me to serve you the cake.”
But I couldn’t afford to let my guard down for even a moment.
Leonard had told me the Empress could poison food without batting an eye.
I discreetly took out the silver fork I’d brought with me and stabbed it into the cake to test it. The fork’s color remained unchanged.
‘Does she think I’ll stop being cautious after tasting one bite?’
Still, the fact that she’d gathered all these noblewomen here suggested she wasn’t about to back down.
That’s when it happened.
The entrance grew slightly chaotic as someone new appeared in the Tea Party Hall.
“Your Majesty, the Empress.”
She was a young woman with distinctly pink hair and muted green eyes.
“You’ve come? I apologize for the sudden summons.”
“Not at all. It’s an honor.”
The Empress rose with a smile and personally led the unknown lady to the table.
Right next to me, in fact.
“Princess, this is Lady Latess Cadillac. Your circumstances are quite similar, so do introduce yourselves.”
“Similar circumstances?”
“There were marriage negotiations between her and the Sixth Prince in the past.”
A lady with hair and eye color similar to mine, and one who’d had marriage negotiations with Leonard in the past—I caught on immediately.
I could sense exactly what she was trying to do.
When I frowned, the Empress smiled as if she’d been waiting for this and spoke.
“My, what an amusing expression. You didn’t know?”
“How could I know of matters that occurred in Blake when I was in Sincester, Your Majesty?”
My tone was deliberately flat, and the Empress’s expression hardened slightly.
But she quickly recovered her composure, fanning herself a few times before smiling gracefully.
I wasn’t sorry to the Empress, but watching her expression shift was quite entertaining.
“Now that I think of it, Lady Latess, did you dance often with the Sixth Prince at the ball?”
“Fortunately, the Prince was kind enough to ask me to dance many times. Naturally, because of the marriage negotiations.”
“How strange… then why didn’t it work out?”
“The Blackwood Family opposed our union.”
“The Sixth Prince didn’t seem to dislike you, though…”
At the Empress’s words, Lady Latess smiled and spoke.
“Still, I’m fortunate. It seems you found a suitable replacement in Sincester instead.”
“My goodness.”
She glanced at me, and the Empress let out a quiet laugh.
“Lady, you speak too harshly. The Princess must feel uncomfortable.”
“I apologize. That was a slip of the tongue.”
Lady Latess covered her mouth with her fan and smiled slightly.
“Princess, were you offended?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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