episode_0057

After a grueling three-hour carriage journey from the Blackwood Territory, we finally arrived at the Imperial Palace.

Having sat for hours in the swaying carriage, my stiff body reluctantly rose with Ethan’s help and slowly descended from the carriage.

As soon as I found myself in an environment where I could stretch my body, a relieved sigh naturally escaped my lips.

“Ah…!”

The medieval fantasy setting of “Luminor Academy” was unmistakably felt at times like this.

No matter how luxurious the carriage belonging to a noble family might be, it couldn’t match the suspension of a car from my past life.

Furthermore, the roads were not asphalt, giving a bumpy sensation here and there.

Considering that most of the road from the Blackwood Territory to the Imperial Capital was well-maintained, unpaved mountain paths or dirt roads would likely be even more exhausting.

Just the thought of it made me feel nauseous, causing a slight grimace to appear on my face.

“Lilith, are you tired? Would you like to rest for a bit before going in?”

“…No, I’m fine. If I can’t handle this level of carriage driving, who would see me as a noble lady, Ed?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Though I also wanted to briefly relieve my weary body from the long journey, I decided against it.

My performance had already begun the moment I entered this palace.

If I had accepted the role, I had to faithfully embody it.

For the past three and a half years, I had portrayed Lilith Rosewood, the maid of the Blackwood family, meticulously.

…Personally, my eagerness to enter the palace quickly to see the original characters outweighed my desire to rest.

“Ed, have you visited the Imperial Palace before?”

“…I may have visited once, but I don’t recall anything specific. It was probably long before I met Lilith.”

One would assume that as a member of the Blackwood noble family, he would have visited at least once, but it seemed that due to his illness during those times, the memories didn’t stick.

The Argentia Empire’s Imperial Palace was infamous among players for its intricate layout, making it easy for nobles and others to get lost and become laughingstocks.

…It couldn’t be helped; here, one had to rely on past life knowledge.

“The gatekeeper mentioned that the servants reside in the central hall, so let’s head there first for directions to the ballroom…”

“It’s this way, Ed.”

“Lilith…?”

“The ballroom is up on the third floor after turning right at the stairs visible after entering from the west entrance. At the top of the stairs, there will be three paths: Morning Glory to the left, Noon Sunflower in the middle, and Evening Rose to the right. Since we need to go to the Evening Rose Hall…”

“Lilith, I have a question if you don’t mind.”

“Yes?”

“I recall Lilith being of common birth, so how do you know the palace layout so well?”

“….”

Oh, damn it.

I should have just followed her lead quietly instead of suddenly poking at something strange.

Getting excited and babbling when a familiar topic arose was an unavoidable habit from my past life, or perhaps a common trait among humans.

…I had no choice but to come up with some excuse and try to smooth things over.

“I had prepared in advance. Since we are participating in an event hosted by the palace, it seemed wise to gather information about that aspect beforehand.”

“…I’ve heard that the palace layout is confidential and not extensively explained even to nobles.”

“….”

“Release. Just in case, I’m asking, have you ever visited the royal palace before…?”

“Yes, I made a mistake. As Ed suggested, it’s better to receive guidance from the palace servants at the central hall. It would be more certain than wandering around the palace with my poor sense of direction.”

“Oh, no! I didn’t mean to say that I don’t trust Release! I just had a small doubt…”

“You should go to the central hall where the palace servants are, right? Ed mentioned that trustworthy palace servants are stationed there. It’s much better to follow their guidance instead of embarrassingly wandering around with my poor sense of direction.”

“Oh, no! Let’s go up the stairs on the right! I trust you, Release…!”

Roughly stumbling through such a process, we somehow managed to arrive at the evening Rose Hall, where masked servants were waiting at the door to guide us.

The masked butler, walking towards the banquet hall with me and Edan as if it were obvious, spoke with a slightly surprised tone.

“It seems you’re not newcomers.”

“Why do you think so?”

“The Rose Hall for the evening has never been open to outsiders before. Those who come here without the mansion’s servants are our first guests today.”

“…”

Feeling Edan’s gaze even behind the mask, I felt a flush of embarrassment rising in my throat.

I shouldn’t have said anything… Am I really an idiot?

I arrogantly offered to guide confidently, thinking what good could come out of being more noticeable.

…Well, what’s done is done, and for now, I should focus on playing Edan’s fiancée.

I knew the layout of the palace, so even if I stumble along the way, I need to be faithful to the role I must play now.

Ironically, it was times like these when shamelessly forging ahead made it difficult for others to criticize later.

“Why are you staring at me like that, Ed? We should go in, shouldn’t we?”

“…Sorry. Let’s go in.”

Edan, looking flustered by my confident words, hurriedly entered the hall.

It was somewhat natural for him to react like that.

Since we had already arrived at the ballroom of the masquerade, if anyone were to notice the situation where I was acting as a noble lady, it would be awkward for Edan, not me.

Thinking this, as I entered the Rose Hall with the heir of the Blackwood family, the dazzling lights and soft music began to fill my eyes and ears.

Already, the early attendees of the masquerade started to come into view one by one.

“Is Seraphine not participating yet?”

If that striking figure were to wander around the ballroom, there was no way they wouldn’t attract attention.

Of course, she, like the nobles attending this masquerade, would probably be wearing a glamorous mask covering her eyes, but her appearance and features were not something easily concealed by such a small mask.

At least from what I felt in-game, it seemed almost impossible.

Of course, premature judgments could be misleading until seeing the real person.

“As for other key figures… They don’t seem particularly noticeable right now…”

Even though I wasn’t sure about the exact whereabouts of the other characters, I thought figures like ‘Sage Orion’ or ‘Inferno Agnes’ would have participated.

Well, they might just be enjoying the banquet from their respective positions without catching my eye.

It was quite ambitious to expect major figures to stand out immediately given the number of attendees at the Third Princess’s birthday celebration. Also, although not certain, a few individuals passing by seemed to be associated with the Luminoir Academy, like the noble lady with short brown hair who just walked by.

Of course, I wasn’t the kind of person who would memorize every single supporting character’s name with passion, so I just shrugged it off.

“Curious, Lillis?”

“Yes?”

“You seem to be working hard on something.”

“Oh….”

“Earlier, you seemed quite familiar with the Rose Hall for dinner, so I wondered if this was your first time at the palace too, Lillis?”

“…Naturally, Ed.”

…It wasn’t a lie.

This was indeed my first time seeing things with my own eyes rather than on a monitor.

While I knew the layout quite well from passing through it about six times during the main story quests in the game, actually being there was a different experience.

Although my bustling around searching for the main characters might have been mistaken for someone amazed by their first visit to the palace, I realized that leaving it misunderstood might actually be a better situation than raising suspicions about having visited the palace before.

It was better to leave the impression that I was unfamiliar with the palace rather than raise doubts about having been there previously.

As I casually brushed off my earlier mistake with a natural response, Ed once again inquired about my comfort level with my attire and shoes.

“Isn’t the dress uncomfortable? Or perhaps the shoes feel a bit awkward?”

“If I said it’s not uncomfortable, that would be a lie. But rest assured, Ed, I’m not neglecting my role as your fiancée.”

“…Can you repeat what you just said?”

“You mean about enduring discomfort?”

“Just a bit further back.”

“I’m not neglecting my role as your fiancée. …Is that what you’re referring to?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Thanks, Lillis.”

I can’t quite fathom why that fellow insisted on hearing that part again.

Am I really that unreliable? Do I need to have my statements confirmed two or three times over?

Well, his anxiety wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

From Edan’s perspective, bringing me as a maid partner was quite an adventurous move.

Despite Edan sharing some information about me with the princess, it’s doubtful that other nobles would readily endorse the situation.

Even the Blackwood family wouldn’t easily quell controversies sparked by political vulnerabilities or negative gossip.

Considering that, it still baffled me why Edan had brought me as his partner.

If he had planned to act, it would have been much safer to pair him with a lesser-known lady rather than an obscure maid like me.

Perhaps there wasn’t any special reason behind choosing me; maybe the lady they had initially discussed it with couldn’t make it, leading to a hasty substitution.

The strategy of bringing a partner to avoid causing a scene at the banquet was a role that anyone could fulfill, even if it wasn’t me.

Coincidentally, as the head maid closest to Edan, I ended up with this role.

If Isabelle or Katarina had taken this position, the tasks at hand wouldn’t have differed much.

“…No, Katarina wouldn’t have worked after all.”

She was too delicate and distant from acting altogether.

In a setting like this banquet, if a passing noble were to accidentally bump into her, she’d automatically blurt out “My lord” and blow her cover.

-Thud.

“Ouch?!”

…Just like this situation.

On the other side, a lady with sky-blue hair walked towards me while glancing around, and her hand lightly collided with my shoulder inside the banquet hall.

As a result, the contents of the cocktail glass in the lady’s hand spilled slightly outward.

“Ah….”

“…..”

Both Yeong-ae’s gloves with sky-blue hair and my dress’s shoulder part getting wet simultaneously from the spilling cocktail.

…This dress I’m wearing right now seems more expensive than a junior maid’s annual salary. Hopefully, they won’t ask for compensation later.

Well, I had to deal with the situation in front of me first rather than worrying about that issue for now.

If I caused a disturbance like this for no reason, it would only attract unnecessary attention, so I needed to handle it as smoothly as possible.

Honestly, my dress getting wet was a bigger loss than that woman’s slightly wet gloves, and although she was the one holding the cocktail, I didn’t pay attention to the hand holding it.

Not wanting to cause a scene unnecessarily, I bowed my head first and spoke up.

Apologizing appropriately and passing over without causing a fuss should suffice, or at least that’s what I had thought until then.

“I’m sorry, miss. I was looking elsewhere for a moment and didn’t notice you approaching….”

…Perhaps, I had underestimated the ‘nobles’ in the medieval fantasy world.

I momentarily forgot that even if it wasn’t my fault, offering an apology first could help smooth things over, neglecting the mindset of a modern person.

“Scream!”

“…..”

“You messed up my gloves by staring off into space over there! How are you going to take responsibility for this?! Huh?!”

…What the hell is wrong with this bitch?