Abandoned Empress's Survival Manual Beside the Male Lead - Chapter 69

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

Episode 69
There was no doubt about it—the only noblewoman in the Imperial Palace dressed in such finery could only be the Empress Dowager.
And those eyes, cruel and perfectly matching the description from the original work down to the last detail.
The greatest villain in this world, the one who’d made even Ayu struggle more than once!
I quickly glanced behind me, but Briget was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, several noblewomen, including Countess Shana who had taken her yesterday, laughed around the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager fanned herself lightly and spoke.
“Word has reached me that you intend to teach the ladies how to play the harp at the Imperial Court’s gathering?”
A noblewoman standing beside her laughed and replied.
“Yes. But is this not strange, Your Majesty? These women—they who never received rank even when the late King, or rather, the late Emperor, was alive—how could they have promised to become instructors to the ladies at an Imperial gathering? We find it utterly incomprehensible.”
“As if such women deserve rank at all?”
The Empress Dowager gazed down at them one by one with leisurely disdain.
“They are not people. They are merely heaters that warmed the late King’s bed—why should rank be bestowed upon them?”
The slender shoulders of the kneeling women trembled without cease.
The Empress Dowager let out a short laugh and spoke.
“They dared defy me and one of the concubines came forward—as mistress of the Imperial Palace, I must teach them their place. You there!”
Her gold-painted fingernails gleamed sharply.
“Flog them!”
“At once!”
“Your Majesty!”
The woman kneeling at the very front cried out, her voice thick with grievance.
“No matter what has befallen the late Emperor, surely you cannot treat us so! He cherished my performances in life, and I merely wished to share that skill with the ladies!”
Not a crack appeared in the upturned corner of the Empress Dowager’s mouth.
“Your cloying manner has not changed one bit from when you graced the late Emperor’s bed.”
“Your Majesty!”
“If your hands are truly so skilled, very well. You there! Crush every one of her fingers with a hammer!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Let us see if she can play the harp and simper once her fingers are dust.”
“Your Majesty, I was wrong! I was wrong!”
In an instant, pleas and screams and curses became one confused din.
But the truly frightening thing was the Empress Dowager watching this scene with obvious boredom…….
In Pasa too, there were cruel concubines aplenty. But they at least showed something—a laugh, anger, some flicker of emotion.
I had never seen a woman order cruel torture and yet display such ennui!
Even as I stood in shock, Gavin judged the moment safe enough to slip away, turning quickly to leave the scene.
Only then did I come to my senses.
‘It’s different.’
Different.
I had known well that the Empress Dowager was the original work’s greatest villain. So of course I had prepared myself.
But reading words on a page was an entirely different thing from witnessing it with one’s own eyes.
‘I’m supposed to win her favor……?’
Wouldn’t I end up on the Path to the Afterlife before I ever got the chance?
Gavin set me down before anyone else could notice and asked.
“Grand Duchess. Are you greatly shaken?”
“I am. But…… I’m fine.”
“……Would you care to retire and rest?”
“I should go in. I need to prepare for the evening ball…….”
My desire to wander outside had long since evaporated.
‘I’ll go in and rest a little…… I’ll have plenty of time to get ready afterward…….’
* * *
Sleep? Not a chance.
With a soft creak, I opened the bedroom door and my eyes flew wide.
“What in the world is this?”
Petals here.
Petals there.
Flower petals covered every surface.
Piled higher than my line of sight, the flowers blocked my view entirely.
“Ratku!”
Ratku dove over the petals and tumbled across them. Then, with a soft pop, his head popped up through the flowers.
“Love flowers!”
Pushing through the enormous heap of blooms that smelled as though I’d stumbled into a fragrance workshop, I found the servants moving busily about.
“Grand Duchess!”
The maids hurried over, chattering excitedly.
“Where have you been, my lady?”
“Just took a walk. But what on earth is all this?”
“We went earlier to fetch the fragrances and flower petals for you, and they sent such an enormous quantity! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“……They sent all of this just for me to use alone?”
“Yes! And they were all so terribly polite about it! They even said if there wasn’t enough, we should just send word and they’d bring more!”
The maids, worn down by the Council of Elders and their own poverty, seemed scarcely able to comprehend such kindness.
I was in much the same state of bewilderment.
“Just look—rose petals, sandalwood, citrus, lavender, jasmine…… and myrrh besides!”
‘How much must all of this cost……’
Sweet.
The Emperor’s favor tasted unutterably sweet.
“Grand Duchess, come here!”
“Where?”
Before I could even grasp what was happening, the maids had already swept me up and plunged me into the Marble Bath.
The water’s surface floated thick with crimson and golden flower petals, while something powdered above cast a silvery shimmer across the whole bath.
The maids worked with frantic energy, scrubbing me as though possessed.
They worked a coarse salt tinged with blue into my skin, then poured a sweet-scented mixture of milk and honey over it to leave my body gleaming.
“Grand Duchess. Close your eyes, hold your breath, and don’t move.”
“……”
‘Are they trying to drown me?’
The maids poured stinging nettle water through my hair and worked it into a lather with medicinal herb soap.
Once they’d thoroughly washed me, they set about combing my hair with meticulous care.
They even tended to my nails.
On each rounded fingernail they applied melted beeswax and rose water, then buffed it smooth with the softest leather.
My toenails received the same treatment—the maids deliberated seriously over which shade to apply.
I……
I truly wished I could lie here forever.
A Grand Duchess luxuriating in another’s wealth, and maids happily enabling her indulgence with that same wealth.
The milky Pale Pink Peau Dress I’d selected the day before shimmered with an elegant luminescence, as though draped in moonlight.
Over it I pinned the pristine Muslin Veil Pin I’d spent seven hours choosing yesterday, and hung droplet-shaped Pearl Earrings from my ears.
I fastened several Jeweled Rings in luxurious profusion, then paused, deliberating over a final necklace.
“This one?”
“Perfect!”
After some consideration, I settled on an aquamarine.
The slender gold chain, wrapped five times around my neck and finished with champagne-toned clasps, looked costly enough at first glance, but more than that—its color matched my own eyes so precisely it seemed made for me alone.
Once I’d slipped on the new Shoes the laundry house knights had fashioned to match Briget’s measurements, the woman in the mirror was nothing short of flawless.
“I really do look extraordinarily wealthy……”
The maids burst into laughter.
“The wealthiest and most beautiful!”
“Absolutely, Grand Duchess!”
The maids chattered away, carefully arranging the folds of my Dress.
“How fortunate that His Majesty sent jewels for you to wear.”
“Indeed. Though I suppose I’ll have to return them? I can’t exactly keep them?”
The maids covered their mouths, giggling.
That was it, exactly.
All of these jewels were ones the Emperor had borrowed for me through his chamberlain—several of them.
‘Spirit Devotees truly are invaluable allies!’
The Dress itself was manageable, having been torn apart and remade overnight, but I had no proper jewels to wear.
I’d brought along the Northern Kingdom’s contribution from before—bridal gifts disguised as tribute, brimming with treasures.
‘But there was nothing suitable.’
Every piece reflected the taste of the Emperor of Pasa alone.
This being an Imperial Court gala, there would be countless people who recognized such things.
I had no desire to invite misunderstanding through careless display.
So I’d brought only a few modest pieces of jeweled decoration.
The rest, I’d decided, would rest entirely on Lorelltiana’s beauty and sheer force of presence.
“Fortunate indeed.”
Through the consideration of Emperor Gaiad, that particular Sun Spirit Devotee, I was able to appear in a manner befitting my station as Grand Duchess.
“Let’s take these flower petals with us.”
“I love that!”
“If you take them and make soap, we won’t have to worry about soap for at least three years!”
“While you’re at the ball, I’ll stash them away secretly!”

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