Cheong-ryung continued to hold the cup to his lips as he listened to her words. Baek-ryeon spoke slowly, as if organizing her thoughts.
“As you said… maybe there’s no need for this anymore. It might be okay to just have a normal banquet. But… I’m not talented at that kind of thing…”
What exactly is a normal banquet? Baek-ryeon had never relaxed, even at other people’s banquets. She had never been seen drunk and disheveled. She had never made a mistake.
Yi Baek-ryeon always had to be perfect. She had been a successor from a collateral line, then the head of the family, then a vassal who was held in check from all sides by rivals. She had lived a life where she could not afford even the slightest flaw for decades.
So now she doesn’t remember how to live imperfectly.
“…Are you not going to try to learn that from now on?”
Even from now on, is there no thought of living comfortably, relaxing your shoulders a little, and living imperfectly? No one doubts you anymore. Everyone will bow their heads and submit to you.
Baek-ryeon smiled quietly. What Cheong-ryung said was not even half of what she wanted to say, but Baek-ryeon could understand everything that Cheong-ryung didn’t say out loud.
The time they had spent together made that possible.
“Your Majesty.”
“I’m listening.”
“I can learn the method. But putting it into practice is a different matter… I can’t stop this.”
“I see.”
Cheong-ryung sighed. Yet his voice was gentle.
“Then I guess it can’t be helped,”
He looked at Baek-ryeon with a soft gaze that matched his soft voice.
“I’ll have to keep attending these boring banquets even in the future.”
Cheong-ryung wanted Baek-ryeon to live a more comfortable life now. Now that she was recognized by everyone and in an unshakeable position.
But if she couldn’t, if she didn’t want to. Then he would have to help her with this heavy and difficult life. To make sure that no one would dare to antagonize Baek-ryeon ever again.
He would have to create a spectacle never seen before and make a lake out of alcohol.
“Your Majesty’s grace covers the heavens and the earth.”
The empire’s first grand general, with a gentle smile, performed a perfect bow.
* * *
“Your Highness, everything is ready. Would you like to take a look?”
I opened my eyes, the remnants of a faint dream slipping away from my fingertips.
Why is it that good memories always resurface in dreams? It’s a time that will never come back.
“Alright, let’s see.”
Suppressing the urge to linger in sentimentality, I rubbed my eyes with my short arms.
If it were any other day, Tula would have immediately approached with a worried expression, cupped my cheeks, and asked, “Are you alright, Princess?” But today, she stood three steps away from me, rigid and unmoving, addressing me properly as ‘Your Highness’.
Good, Tula’s preparations are perfect.
I checked both the party venue and the kitchen. Everything was in order: the rows of servants, tablecloths, flowers in vases, tea leaves, teapots, and teacups.
Considering that they even took the tea leaves out of the can and scattered them to check for impurities, it was a really meticulous inspection.
After completing all the checks, I looked at the clock. 3:20. There were 40 minutes left until the start time of the tea party noted on the invitations.
Now I just need to change clothes. While changing, I can make sure nothing has changed, and by then, the guests will start arriving. I turned and extended my hands to Tula.
“Let’s go change my clothes.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Allow me to assist you.”
With a smileless face, Tula lifted me up.
* * *
The participants of the tea party were all remarkable individuals. Starting with Grand Duke Randolph, who organized this tea party, Melchizedek, there were also Lady Martina from a ducal family, the grandson of a marquis, the younger brother of the Northern Grand Duke, and so on.
Originally, as a maid, Ella would never normally encounter such high-ranking nobles, even from a distance, but she didn’t feel nervous. She didn’t have enough self-awareness left to be nervous.
“His Highness, Grand Duke Randolph, has arrived.”
“Lady Martina of Duke Martino has arrived.”
“The young master of Marquis Argon has arrived.”
Her voice was neither too frivolous nor too heavy. Do not make eye contact with the distinguished guests. Keep your back straight and move only your wrists.
Following the harsh training of the past few weeks, Ella moved mechanically and checked the guest list.
Even after all the names on the list had entered and the drawing room door was closed, Ella’s posture remained straight.
The children who had entered the drawing room didn’t even glance at the tapestries or ceiling murals.
It wasn’t because they didn’t recognize the beauty, but because they wanted to establish dominance. If they showed pure admiration for what Blanche had prepared, they would be acknowledging Blanche’s ability.
“Thank you all for coming.”
Unlike Ella, who was checking the list, Blanche greeted each of the arrivals, making eye contact with each child, drawing their attention.
Blanche’s attire was far from the latest fashion, but the details of her clothes were delicate.
With frilled sleeves covering her hands, buttons fastened to her neck, and a lace headpiece, if an ordinary child wore this, it would be a mess in five minutes. But Blanche sat perfectly still as if she were a doll, without a single wrinkle.
If there had been any adults who had raised children, they would have found Blanche’s overly perfect appearance unsettling. However, only children aged between five and seven were present.
So, they didn’t notice how suspiciously still Blanche was and instead started to provoke her.
“Aren’t you hot? In this weather?”
They were mocking the dress design that covered her neck entirely and the fact that she had buttoned it all the way up.
“Exactly. And it looks… kind of outdated, doesn’t it? It would have been better if you left your neck uncovered.”
They were implying that she looked old-fashioned and out of touch with the latest trends.
“Oh, how could you say that? Lady Blanche hasn’t been here long since coming from the Kingdom of Lamore. It’s natural she wouldn’t know the trends here.”
They were mocking Blanche for being a hostage.
It was expected. All the children gathered here had harbored resentment towards her even before meeting her.
The reason was simple. Every child here had once been a candidate to be Melchizedek’s playmate.
Berkern, who desperately wanted to provide Melchizedek with peers, had invited every child of the right rank to meet Melchizedek, and Melchizedek had rejected them all for various reasons.
It was natural that children of such high status and pride, who had been considered potential playmates for the grand duke, would harbor immense resentment towards a princess from a small kingdom who had taken the spot they failed to secure.
“A wise pewson follow a the teashings of dheir ancestors, while a folish person fogets them. (A wise person follows the teachings of their ancestors, while a foolish person forgets them.)”
Despite the malicious taunts, Blanche remained composed. Instead of tearing up, she responded with an obscure proverb, her words difficult to understand due to her not-so-clear articulation.
Blanche’s pronunciation was rather unclear for such a long and difficult sentence, so the children didn’t fully grasp what she said and couldn’t respond sharply.
“Well, shall we proceed inside? Ladies and gentlemen, this way.”
That was exactly Blanche’s intention. She didn’t want to engage in verbal sparring but wanted to shut them up. So she changed the subject before they could fully understand the situation.
It was only after they were seated that the children realized Blanche had subtly insulted them, calling them foolish.
At this point, getting angry would only make them seem slow-witted, so they had no choice but to sit with sour expressions, looking for another opportunity to pick a fight.
Unlike Ella, who was only involved in checking the guest list because she was in charge of the kitchen, Stella, who was responsible for cleaning, had to take on a heavier task as she was assigned to serve.
In tea parties attended by high-ranking nobles, it’s customary to have at least a maid or servant of lower noble birth to serve, not common maids or servants.
However, despite being chosen as the grand duke’s playmate, Blanche didn’t have enough influence to assign imperial nobles as her attendants.
Therefore, Blanche rigorously trained her commoner servants to substitute for noble-born attendants, all in just two weeks.
The kitchen staff was used to prepare meals before the tea party, and the cleaning staff were utilized as servers during the tea party.
Thus, Stella had to undertake a task she would never normally experience in her lifetime. Even though the attendees were high-ranking nobles, they were still children, so the tea was mainly mild herbal tea and the desserts were mostly fruit-based.
“Tea.”
At Blanche’s gesture, the servants approached and poured the tea. Usually, tea is brewed directly in front of the guests to match the brewing time, but this was quite old-fashioned.
After instinctively taking a sip of the served tea, the children resumed their earlier attack.
“There’s no lemon at all.”
It was Lady Martina, daughter of the duke, who opened the attack.
* * * *
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