Chapter 6
Now, I was learning about the inner workings of the imperial palace and the various qualities a noble was expected to cultivate.
It was only because of my background as a fallen aristocrat, that I was able to learn quickly and keep up – otherwise I would have already died at the hands of the crown prince.
That was how ruthless and difficult the classes were. But I was happy.
The more I study, the better my chances of survival!
“How do you like this outfit? Ho ho ho.”
But now, I was getting more and more frustrated with Madame Lucy’s laughter.
It was Madame Lucy, known as the crown prince’s nanny and who was now chief maid to his fiancée, Atienne.
“Excuse me…… The class…….”
I needed to absorb as much knowledge as possible to increase my chances of survival.
But Madame Lucy was not interested at all.
Whenever Ternie and the crown prince’s attention drifted elsewhere for a little bit, she would grab me and become engrossed in whether to make me wear this dress or that dress.
“Isn’t this dress pretty too? Ha ha ha ha ha.”
Whether that dress was pretty or not had nothing to do with my life. All I wanted was to study for survival.
Madame Lucy, who was supposed to teach me, had no interest in her education, so my future was bleak.
It would seem that I was born to have bad luck. Wallowing in despair, I clenched my fists.
No. I’m not dead just yet. There has to be a way to live!
“Excuse me, Madame Lucy.”
“I think this colour would be good too, right? Oh ho ho ho.”
Ahhhh! It was clear that Madame Lucy was actually an assassin who had come to kill me.
Otherwise, my education could not have been interrupted so perfectly.
If things went on like this, I thought I would end the day with choosing a dress and accessories, so I cleared my throat and deliberately spoke seriously.
“I mean, when is my education starting…….”
Before I could even finish my words, Madame Lucy hung the dress she was holding next to her and smiled brightly, as if to ask what was wrong.
“Ho-ho-ho, it’s okay! I have a feeling you’ll do just fine!”
I don’t know anything, what do you do? I’ll be just fine!
It was when I was feeling at a loss to convince her.
Knock-knock. The door opened slowly with a knock.
“Yes~. Please come in~.”
Was it the Crown Prince again?
I was getting nervous, but luckily it wasn’t the crown prince. It was Diano.
A follower of the Crown Prince…….
Making a very annoyed expression, he asked Madame Lucy right away without even looking at me.
“Is everything going well?”
“Sure! Absolutely! Perfect! Oh ho ho ho!”
“Is that so? That’s great.”
What exactly was perfect here? The only way things were perfect was that they were perfectly ruined. Because I was perfectly preparing for death right now.
Dying in a pretty dress was the future that lay ahead for me now.
Diano didn’t bother to check much further, merely listened to Madame Lucy’s words, and left the room.
Tha-, that’s……. that’s just a complete dereliction of duty. At least check if I’m ready first and be on your way!
Seeing me stressed out at the sight of Diano’s turned back, Madame Lucy laughed.
* * *
It had already been several days since Atienne had entered her education to become the perfect prospective consort to the crown prince.
Adrian harboured little expectations – no, he was half rhetorically asking himself how she could amount to anything, half filled with the urge to at least salvage something. Surprisingly, as time passed, the results were stellar.
Adrian coldly evaluated the new Atienne.
Though she seemed half-spirited and stupid, at the same time she had a good eye for sensing and reading situations.
She knew how to match other people’s moods, and there were reports that she was quick to learn the contents of her lessons, perhaps because her own life was at risk.
Granted, it was only natural for her to try and save her own sorry neck, but she was proving to be potentially useful the more time passed.
This was an unexpected result.
It seemed she would be useless even if she had been taught thoroughly.
“It might be because she’s originally an aristocrat herself, but she sure has some befitting qualities?”
Terniee actively supported Atienne.
It was a spectacle to see him look out for her, calling her ‘my dear Ati’. They weren’t even real siblings.
But her qualities? Adrian questioned.
“What qualities? Qualities befitting a Crown Princess-Consort?”
“No!”
“Then what?”
“The qualities befitting my little sister♥.”
Should I just kill him now?
He could kill him right then and there, but he restrained himself.
What little reason that was left in Adrian’s head, persuaded him that killing Ternie would just be burdening himself with more bothersome work.
Phew. Okay. Not just yet.
Adrian had made a promise to himself since he was young.
If he got annoyed enough to the point where it would justify any pesky consequences, he would kill Ternie himself.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Ternie knew when to control himself.
“I am so happy that I have a cute little sister. She listens to me so well.”
“That’s because you threatened her, umph-!”
Diano, who was sitting next to Ternie, let out a mysterious groan. Ternie covered Diano’s mouth with a file and grinned.
“Oh yeah, Adrian, today is finally the day she’s starting dance class, are you coming over to be her partner?”
“Like I would do that, you fool.”
“Right? Then this generous older brother has no other choice than to go help her. Sob sob, my poor little sister.”
Ternie muttered something to himself, handed over the papers to Adrian, and left for Atienne’s class.
Adrian narrowed his eyes and gazed at Ternie’s back as he disappeared.
He had definitely been irritated with her at first.
Nowadays, Ternie had for some reason become so fond of her that he was always beside her, playing with her excitedly.
Even back when Essen had occupied Atienne’s role, he had played at and enjoyed being the older, and this time was no different.
In fact, Adrian thought that, compared to the times when he had subtly mocked Essen, Ternie seemed to be enjoying himself more now.
* * *
“For now, I have ordered about 50 clothes.”
“Why some 50 clothes…….”
I looked at Madame Lucy, who had no intention of teaching me even today. Madame Lucy was only looking at the preparations for the ball.
Can I really wear all of those clothes for the rest of my life?
As I looked at Madame Lucy with a pale complexion, Madame Lucy opened her eyes wide and shook her head.
“It’s the first time I’ve had a lady, so I deliberately ordered frugally. Next time I’ll buy 200 of them. Oh ho ho! It must be fun to choose, right?”
It seemed she wanted to use me to play puppet master.
I couldn’t say anything because I was astounded at the prospect of 200 clothes, but Madame Lucy looked me up and down, covered my mouth with her hand, and laughed.
“Tomorrow, let’s choose accessories together. Oh ho ho.”
That goddamn “Oh ho ho”. I could not help but let my thoughts out, despite myself. That laugh was about to give me neurosis.
Madame Lucy did nothing to help me with my education, so my survival was entirely up to me.
Rather, she smiled her usual “Oh ho ho ho” and focused only on dressing me up.
Mom, I want to live…….
Ignoring Madame Lucy, who had no intention of helping me, I sat on the sofa and was sighing and exhaling in succession, when I heard a small knock at the door.
Madame Lucy replied while adjusting her dress.
“Yes~.”
Who was that this time?
I prayed it would be Ternie. Out of everyone, it was Ternie who at least gave me the most information I needed to survive.
But it was a maid who opened the door and entered.
She went to Madame Lucy and whispered something to her. After a while, Madame Lucy looked at me and wore an expression that was asking to be excused.
“Ho-ho-ho, sit there for a minute.”
“Yes?”
Without explaining what had happened, Madame Lucy left the room with her maid.
Left alone all of a sudden, I was stunned. What was I supposed to do all alone?
I looked around the room once.
The dresses and accessories, overflowing in their astounding numbers, were stacked here and there. It was a new feeling.
Even buying a cheap dress used to be a huge burden for me.
Mother used to treasure an old, worn party dress, and wear it at the few parties she was invited to every year.
Because I was well aware of how expensive a dress was, the expensive dresses piled up around me just made me feel pressured.
I didn’t dare to touch them at all, for fear of inadvertently making them wrinkled or dirty.
Stealing jewellery and getting caught later would really kill me, so I didn’t even bother touching the accessories at all.
I felt like I’d want to take it with me once I started touching them.
Since one of these was worth enough money to sustain me for a lifetime.
If I dared to steal one, I’d probably be caught and killed before I can sell it anywhere.
Goosebumps rose up as I immediately thought of the Crown Prince’s face.
With my body trembling and curious as to why Madame Lucy was not returning, I walked towards the room door.
Can I go outside?
I was going to open the door when I hesitated.
“So Gabriele is by Her Majesty the Empress?”
“Right now?”
The gossiping of the maids flowed in through the slightly open door, as it seemed the door wasn’t tightly closed.
“She sure visits often. Tsk tsk.”
“It must be because she wants to marry His Highness the Crown Prince.”
A tongue-clicking sound was heard.
Gabriele was the high-born daughter of a famous merchant.
Ah, could this be the crazy woman the prince was talking about?
I put my ear to the door and listened to hear more of the maids’ voices.
Incidentally, a maid muttered as if she didn’t know what to say.
“Why does His Highness, the Crown Prince, hate Lady Gabriel so much? When she’s that pretty.”
“You haven’t heard the rumours?”
The other maid pretended to be knowledgeable.
“What? What rumours?”
I also pricked up my ears, full of curiosity.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince likes men!”
“Huh, really?”
The other maids could be heard gasping loudly.
I was also surprised.
It was a fact I already knew but hearing it from someone else’s mouth felt different.
The maid who told the rumours spoke with confidence.
“That’s right! He dislikes Lady Gabriele, and the other ladies as well.”
“No, but surely you can’t just decide he likes guys…….”
The other maids waved their hands.
“Yeah, Lady Atienne is here.”
Tsk tsk. The maid who was telling her rumours clicked her tongue as if she didn’t know what to do. Then, in a lower voice, she opened her mouth in a sinister manner.
“Actually, there are rumours that Lady Atienne is a smoke screen.”
Me……. I was a smoke screen…….
“Miss Atienne!”
Who was Atienne? Oh yeah, it was me! It wasn’t a familiar name, so I was wondering for a second.
I stood by the doorway and nodded when Madame Lucy called out to me. In the hands of Madame Lucy, who had been to God knows where, was an incredibly thick encyclopedia looking thing. When I came back into the room and sat down on the chair, Madame Lucy took the very thick object and laid it down in front of me.
“Now, you will memorise this! Oh ho ho.”
What Madame Lucy put down was a weapon.
Yes, that’s a weapon. That can’t possibly be a book……!
“You will learn from today!”
I stared at the book in front of me with bewildered eyes.
The thickness was truly incredible. Moreover, the cover was made of sheepskin, which made it even more frightening.
It was wholly unreasonable to read through all that in the time that remained. Even if I read it all day on a daily basis, it was an impossible amount to cover.
I quietly opened the book and closed it again.
It made no difference, as Madame Lucy looked at me and exclaimed cheerfully.
“From seven o’clock we will practise dancing! Oh-ho-ho-ho!”
“…….”
Madame Lucy’s laughter seemed to be leading me to the underworld.
I’m going to die for certain.
I opened the weapon-like encyclopedia in order to survive.
