Chapter 5:
To Become a Crazy Young Woman in This Area (3)
“No, Tasha. It’s because you don’t know. You have to wear these clothes for the sake of the imperial family’s honour.”
“My lady, please. What would people say? If you wear this, what will happen to the duchy’s reputation?”
“Stop talking about my clothes, Tasha.”
“Ah-but!”
“I told you to stop.”
I frowned at Tasha for the first time. From the beginning, I was always gentle and compassionate towards Tasha as I had always thought of her as a friend.
However, this time, I had to make an angry expression, and it worked well.
It made me think that I should use this expression more often in the future.
At this point, Tasha looked so suspiciously at me that I actually began to feel nervous. It is said that there are some young ladies who begin to behave strangely because of over excitement or nervousness in becoming a Crown Princess candidate.
For example,the women in salons suddenly begin to wear vulgar makeup, or bring their favorite dolls because they can’t bear to leave them until they are 17 years old, which is weird. It is said that one lady even brought a snake with her and caused a major disturbance in the palace.
If Tasha thinks I’m weird, should I say I’ve been half-successful so far?
In any case, I did feel slightly embarrassed from Tasha’s remarks, but I still proudly wore a shiny dress that I would not dare to wear in front of the empress and walked down the hall to the main palace, where the fiancée selection would take place.
While walking down the hall, everyone passing by opened their eyes in surprise and began looking at me. My dress, which was embedded with countless jewels, was shining brightly in the hallway, so it was natural for them to look at me like that.
Tasha, who was heavily disappointed, was situated in front of the main palace’s hall. As I approached, she opened the heavy door and I went inside.
“My lady, go and do your best! I know you certainly will!”
The main palace hall was spacious, with vast, sprawling floors and a towering ceiling. The hall was enclosed, but there were many long windows leading up to the ceiling, so that sunlight came shining down into the hall. The pillars and ceiling were filled with works of the most renowned painters of all time.
The thrones were still vacant, and the young ladies who’d received invitations like me were standing on one side of the hall, bowing their heads so low, it looked as if they were curling their necks.
As I entered, the young ladies all looked up and saw me. They kept staring, and they couldn’t take their eyes off.
Even I would’ve been surprised to see myself in a fancy dress for such an event.
It was quite satisfying to see countless young ladies opening their mouths in surprise like Tasha earlier.
I walked in these clothes, pretending to be elegant so that I could look more like a crazy lady, which is exactly the concept I was going for. Everyone opened their mouths at the appearance of a seemingly crazy lady in the area.
I also stood by the wall and bowed my head, the young ladies still staring at me. I could see Rosalie and other young people sneaking looks at me.
After a while, the Empress came in alone.
“Your Majesty the Empress!”
We all bowed low at those words. With my head bowed, I couldn’t see the Empress, but just from her presence, the atmosphere began to become palpably serious.
I hesitated for a moment, having second thoughts about putting on this act, but I thought about my past life and firmly made up my mind.
From here, I could see the hem of the Empress’ dress as she passed by with her maids. I held my breath, having an overwhelming feeling that I would be choked by her light and graceful walking. Even from a glimpse, Her Majesty’s dress looked more dignified and elegant than splendid.
Her Majesty’s steps paused in front of me.
I wonder if she saw my dress and stopped to look at it. Then, the Empress’ turned her back towards me. I felt my heart tremble with tension.
Don’t be discouraged like that. You shouldn’t let others see you shaking. Hold on confidently with all your strength.
In my previous life, the Empress had been curious and interested in my neat and modest appearance. That’s why this time around, I chose to be looked down upon instead of receiving her attention.
If I’m not as humble as I was in my previous life, and instead is full of vanity, you’ll surely exclude me early on.
A few moments passed, and the Empress began to move again. In those few minutes, I struggled to hold back my shaking body.
“Hold your positions.”
“Your Majesty would like you all to rise.”
When I looked up, I saw the graceful and beautiful empress, Selena Reynos. The Empress of Beldan, who I hadn’t seen in a long time, was just as I remembered her. Elegant and beautiful, but on the outside, not seeming to be kind nor merciful.
Unlike her appearance, she was actually very strong, very sharp, and asked questions without any hesitation.
She was a fierce woman with daggers in each hand and no mercy at all. In my previous life, I was scared at first, and I remember shaking whenever I went to say hello.
“It’s a pleasure to be with you all this morning.”
“It is an honor to be with the Empress this morning.”
“The glory of Hanos has led you all this way. Hanos is the glory of the Empire, and today is a joyous occasion.”
“We are honoured, Your Majesty.”
The empress, satisfied with the young ladies’ answer, smiled.
Countess Erika Beniami, one of the empress’ ladies in waiting, was one of the empress’ most trusted women. She didn’t smile much and always had an indifferent look on her face, so she had a knack for making people nervous just through eye contact.
No matter how old the ladies were, everyone seemed to be barely breathing in the solemn and oppressive atmosphere of the Empress and her close confidante in this massive palace.
“Young ladies, please introduce yourselves in turn.”
Erika’s voice was hard and cold. We all lined up side by side in rows and columns before the Empress, as taught. The young ladies each took turns introducing themselves, biting their lips to avoid trembling.
Even if Countess Erika raised her voice a little, they would become increasingly nervous and even be pushed to the verge of tears. It was the same with Rosalie.
“The eldest daughter of the Hellion family, Rosalie Hellion, greets the Empress. I am so glad to have come by royal carriage thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”
“I know, I’ve heard about Lady Hellion. You are the daughter of Duke Hellion, who, along with the Duke of Duchran, led the northern conquest to success.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I’ve seen you once when you were young, and you’ve grown up to be very beautiful.”
“I’m deeply sorry, Your Majesty the Empress, but may I see how well this young lady has grown?”
TL/N: I was also a bit confused on this part, but I believe that it’s Erika speaking here.
Rosalie was so nervous that anyone could see she was shaking badly.
“Hmm, I’m rather disappointed.”
TL/N: I’m beginning to like Erika…
My turn came after the Empress gave a small sideways smile. In this very same situation in the past, I’d talked with ease and eloquence, but now, I forced my mind to be completely blank.
No, sticking to my original plan, I’d planned on saying something thoughtless.
My objective is to make her wonder why I’m even here because there are so many things I’m lacking.
“Hello, I am Vennita Lyssian, the only daughter of House Lyssian.”
TL/N: She says this in a more informal/casual way. Normally, nobles wouldn’t just say “Hello” when greeting the empress.
It was amusing, even to me. By custom, one should talk in a formal and noble tone when conversing with Her Majesty, who’d never before heard the countryside way of speech.
Her Majesty and the ladies were waiting for my next words, but I was looking at her innocently with my eyes wide open as if I had nothing more to say.
Looking at the faces of other young ladies, everyone was sweating because they were nervous. I didn’t know if I should be worried that they would also be punished because of me, or if I should be worried for myself, but truthfully, I was dozing off because of boredom.
“You say hello very boldly, Lady Vennita.”
Perhaps this was Empress’ way of saying my greetings were ignorant and impudent, but the expression on her face remained the same. This situation was one I couldn’t understand the meaning behind.
Well, if we’d been able to see the inner workings of the empress, we perhaps would’ve been able to know more about the forces behind Karzan’s death.
TL/N: Essentially, she’s hinting that the empress knows a lot more than you think.
Her Majesty had known that someone was trying to kill her son, but didn’t know exactly when. After all the rest of the young ladies had finished their greetings, Countess Erika came over to us again.
“Before we go into the exam room, let’s take some time to find out how well-versed you young ladies are in historical knowledge.”
This was a time when they would ask questions about the history of the Reynos Empire. No one knows what they’re going to ask about and who will be chosen to answer, so we cannot pass without memorizing the history of the empire. For the young ladies, it’s hard to predict what questions will be asked, as they change every time they select the prospective crown princess. Of course I know everything, but I’m not going to get any right. That’s my goal.
“Lady Elvia. Please explain the origins of the Imperial Winged Crest.”
TL/N: Imperial Winged Crest= the Imperial Coat of Arms
“The Imperial Winged Crest was taken from the Wings of the Dragon, which commemorates First Emperor Alendra’s breaking of the Dragon’s wings, unifying and founding the Reynos Empire.”
Lady Elvia smiled, but I knew that tears would soon spring from those brown eyes. It would’ve been hard for her to spend countless hours studying history just for this day, as she likes to talk, rather than study. Elvia’s hands were visibly shaking.
Right next to her, you could hear her trembling heartbeat.