Chapter 4 – The First Challenge Begins
What was the theme then? It was…
“You have three hours to embroider something that expresses yourself.”
It was an embroidery challenge. Patrizia almost smiled as she recognized that it was the same theme as three years ago. She had anticipated it, but it there was a certain satisfaction in having a prediction come true.
Patriza sat in her assigned place and pondered on what to sew. She was talented at needlework, even though she didn’t enjoy it much. Furthermore, she needn’t show off here. Ultimately, she wanted to leave to leave this place, not stay here.
The four other candidates were already threading their needles as if they had decided on what to create. Patrizia wasn’t in a rush. She simply sat there, slowly thinking on what subject would draw the least attention to her.
“…”
She happened to glance up at the Emperor. She wasn’t supposed to be looking at him, but no one noticed because of the distance.
Lucio was the man who had emotionlessly ordered her and his family to be killed. He had a handsome, sculpted face, dark hair, and eyes as deep as pools. She wondered if he was thinking of his lover Rosemond, who must be hidden somewhere in the palace. Patrizia stared at him for some time before slowly turning her head away. It was meaningless to continue to look at him.
Time continued to tick by, and she needed to embroider something. She didn’t want to treat the task as a joke, but her mind only drew blanks. A sigh left her lips, and she picked up the needle with a slight frown.
Three hours later, the ladies-in-waiting collected the embroidery hoops from the five queen candidates. Now that the challenge finished, all that was left was the presentation.
Because order was determined by the father’s title, the lady from Duke Vasi would go first, followed by Count Arjeldo, Marquis d’Avar, Marquis Grochester, then finally Marquis Bringstone.
Lady Vasi embroidered a rare flower from the Mavinous Empire that had the shortest bloom, while Lady Bringstone embroidered a sword representing her military family. The daughter from the d’Avar family embroidered a laurel symbolizing victory.
“Lady Grochester, please present your embroidery.”
Patrizia had embroidered lavender flowers. When Duchess Ephreney asked her to explain why, she replied without any genuine sincerity.
“I want to be the one who brings the scent of lavender to His Majesty.”
It was a brief explanation compared to the eloquent presentations of the previous women, and Duchess Ephreney looked taken aback before silently nodding. Annoyance flitted across the Duchess’ face, before she rearranged it back into something more stern and turned towards Lady Arjeldo.
Meanwhile, Patrizia felt inwardly bruised. There was no special reason why she chose lavender. She just couldn’t think of a suitable theme to embroider on, and she simply remembered the lavender perfume that Petronilla always wore. Patrizia didn’t want to show too much sincerity anyway or it would cause problems, but she thought she performed competently enough.
The Emperor did not know what Patrizia went through in the previous life, and he wouldn’t know the meaning of the lavender flowers, let alone the fact that Petronilla liked them.
Come to think of it, however, lavender flowers held so many different meanings. Fidelity, expectation, silence, rich fragrance, hope for an answer, and so on…
Patrizia smiled bitterly, thinking how these words fit her sister until the very end. Petronilla was faithful to the Emperor and always expected him. She had worn the fragrance in hope of an answer from her husband.
Duchess Ephreney finished interrogating each of the queen candidates and interrupted Patrizia from her thoughts. “You’ve all worked hard. All the queen candidates are free to go.”
Patrizia turned back towards the door. She wouldn’t be the same as her sister. Even if she became queen due to bad luck, she would neither keep her fidelity nor look forward to seeing the Emperor. Perhaps everyone’s ending could be a comedy instead.
“Rizi.”
A familiar voice called out to Patrizia, and she stopped walking. She turned around with a smile, and spoke the other woman’s name on her lips.
“Raphaella.”
“Your flowers were beautiful. You’re needlework is exceptional.”
The woman who approached with a friendly smile was Raphaella, the daughter of Marquis Bringstone. She was the only other peer in society to whom Patrizia could confide the depths of her heart to. Although Raphaella was a year older than her, Raphaella ignored hierarchical rules because she wanted to be friends.
Patrizia nodded at Raphaella’s arrival. “Elador. Nice sword. No, it’s Eldorado, right?” she said.
Eldorado was the name of Raphaela’s sword.
Raphaella gave a small chuckle. “You have sharp eyes. Well, everyone would have figured it out. By the way, I see you’re the one that came here instead of Nilla. I thought you were the one who didn’t like the Imperial Family as a child.”
It was true. A thin smile flickered across Patrizia’s face, but she suppressed it. “That’s right.”
“So why are you here?” Raphaella asked.
“I just…I just thought it would be better than sending my sister.”
Raphaella smiled, as if she agreed with Patrizia. It was true; Patrizia was more suited to this position than Petronilla, regardless of her dislike for it. Raphaella herself did not like the place much either, and had no interest in the queen’s seat. She was twenty years old, and the only daughter of Marquis Bringstone.
“I just wanted to fail, which was why I used the sword on purpose,” Raphaella explained. “Even if it looked a little crooked, His Majesty wouldn’t want to be married to a woman who would hit him with a sword.”
“….”
In truth, it didn’t matter whether a queen candidate wielded sword or not. What mattered was that the Emperor’s heart already belonged to another woman. Patrizia couldn’t say this out loud, however, so she simply laughed and played along.
“Me too. I just want to go home in a week.”
“Rizi, you and I have the same chance.” Raphaella turned more excited. “If you become queen, can I be your knight? That would be fun, too.”
“….”
Patrizia smiled quietly this time. Raphaela had served as Petronilla’s queen’s knight in the last life. Raphaela was a strong and dutiful servant, but she had come to a tragic end when an assassin had broken into the palace, and she died saving her queen.
Patrizia bit her lip as she recalled the memory. Raphaela noticed and placed her hand on Patrizia’s mouth.
“Ah…” Patrizia gasped.
“Don’t bite your lip, Rizi,” Raphaella chided. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
Raphaella’s smile and caring nature were the same as in the previous life. The young woman hadn’t changed, just like the fact that the Emperor loved Rosemond hadn’t changed. Patrizia tried to give her a reassuring smile.
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Ella.”
“Someone without a guard will always get hurt. If I become your knight, it wouldn’t be too bad to die protecting you.”
“Ella!” Patrizia cried out in distress, but Raphaella simply smiled.
“I’m joking, Rizi. Don’t you believe in my skills?” she said lightly.
“Don’t say that. You’re supposed to be the head of the Bringstone family.”
Patrizia’s face whitened as the horrible memories of the last life flashed in her mind, but Raphaella smiled playfully and pulled Patrzia into a suffocating hug.
“It’s a joke. Jeez, I can’t say anything in front of you.”
Raphaella ruffled Patrizia’s hair, and grinned as if she were telling a secret.
“Let’s go to my room. My lady-in-waiting makes delicious tea.”
Patrizia accepted.
*
Three days later, the second test began. Patrizia arrived at the site, feeling the same as she did on the first day. In a way, even if she did poorly, it would still benefit her.
“This is the second test.” Duke Witherford was the announcer for this challenge. Again, Patrizia racked her brain for information from her past life. What was the second task? Ah, that’s right. She had to find the answer to a riddle within three hours. She couldn’t quite remember what the riddle was, but it didn’t matter as she didn’t even want to guess in the first place.
“This is a question that the first emperor of the Mavinous Empire asked the first queen. What is like a lamb when it comes to you, like a hawk when it brushes against you, and like a rock when it has passed by you?
“You have a total of three hours in which to find the answer to the question. It doesn’t matter the method. You may also use the Imperial library.”
Ever since Patrizia entered the palace as a queen candidate, she had not taken the tests seriously, but she had to demonstrate at least a little competency. After pondering for a moment on where to go, she decided to go to the library to fill her time. The Imperial Library had restricted access, and it was not visited often by many people.
Patrizia stepped into the quiet library, and a woman who seemed to be the librarian greeted her. However, she glanced at Patrizia’s white dress then soon turned away.
There was barely a sound in the library—was Patrizia the only one there? She contemplated for a moment on what to do, then decided to head towards the history section.
A book on the top shelf caught her eye. Although she was not short, she had to lift herself on her toes and stretch her hand to reach it. Her long fingers scrabbled against the book, until she finally managed to pull it out.
“Ah!”
Several other books tumbled out of the shelf and fell to the floor with a loud noise. Patrizia’s heart stopped at the thought that she was somehow in trouble, but nothing happened. Perhaps the librarian was too far away to hear.
Patrizia bent down the grab the books, and when she tried to stand up, she saw someone holding out a book towards her.
“Oh, thank you,” she said automatically.
She accepted the book and lifted her head. When her eyes met the person in front of her, her expression immediately hardened.