novelraw Chapter 12
Chapter 12
12~ Banquet~
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"Huh? You said... what!?"
Mo's brain was about to break. This Empress bringing her to appear at the national funeral was one thing, but now she still wanted to bring her to attend a banquet???
Damn it!
Regardless of the reason, she didn't want to attend this banquet. Dealing with those so-called upper-class people, she'd rather just be holed up in the blankets all day doing nothing.
She really couldn't handle those nobles who were one way on the surface and another way behind their backs. It wasn't that she couldn't outplay them, but dealing with them was truly exhausting.
"This is Her Majesty's intention."
The implication was that she must attend, couldn't refuse. As for the consequences of not attending, that would depend on how the Empress wanted to play.
"Alright, alright, I know."
Mo waved her hand, planning to send the Maid Ling away, but Ling still stood in place.
"What? I'll go. You go back first."
"Her Majesty instructed that I must help you change into formal wear before I can leave."
Ling placed the exquisite box containing the formal wear on the table.
"I know. I'll put it on myself."
"Her Majesty wants me to help you dress."
Ling stepped forward, backing her into a corner.
Mo: "..."
Looks like there was no escaping this time. This maid considered the Empress's orders more important than her own life.
She clearly could just directly do it, yet still had to ask for her opinion. She really, I'm crying!
After giving up resistance, Ling took out tonight's formal wear and changed the little Princess into it.
So pretty...
This was the first thought that arose after seeing herself changed into formal wear. She already kind of wanted to go up and hug herself in the mirror.
"Your Highness, please don't move."
The Maid Ling behind her straightened the little Princess and continued styling her hair.
She styled it into a side ponytail, even put on hair accessories, hung a sapphire necklace around her neck, and tied a golden bracelet on her right hand.
"Earrings!?"
After seeing the last accessory in Ling's hand, the little Princess unconsciously took a step back.
"Your Highness, please put them on."
"...I don't have pierced ears. Don't come over!"
"Your Highness, these are magnetic. No need to pierce ears."
Afraid the little Princess wouldn't believe it, she even demonstrated by putting them on her own ears. Seeing this, the little Princess finally relaxed.
She'd always hated getting her ears pierced because it hurt. If it were her past life, she'd feel it was nothing. But this life's body really feared pain, as if pain perception had been magnified tenfold.
Secondly, it was troublesome. She'd heard that girls with pierced ears had to wear ear sticks even when not wearing earrings, very troublesome.
"It hurts a bit when they sway."
When the earlobes were compressed and swayed, it hurt a bit. And because they were relatively heavy, there was also a feeling of the earlobes being pulled down. Moreover, it looked like they'd hurt more after wearing them for a long time.
So troublesome indeed! Really didn't know how those girls came to like wearing this kind of thing!
"Your Highness is very beautiful."
"Is... is that so? Thank you."
Being praised like this, the little Princess's heart suddenly felt a different kind of emotion. She could feel that what Ling said was a genuine thought from the heart.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt somewhat unreal.
She'd almost never properly dressed herself up before. Her wardrobe was almost all the same kind of clothes, so in outsiders' eyes, their princess had a special obsession with this kind of clothing. But this was just her being lazy. Only at important banquets she had to attend would she change her outfit.
Didn't want to dress herself up because she still retained memories from her past life. A man's heart was stopping her from wearing those pretty, cute clothes.
Looking at it now, it seemed she wasn't so resistant. And... she really looked so good.
"There's still some time before the banquet. Does Your Highness want to go clear your mind?"
"This... no need, right? Walking around for a bit and I might not have the energy to attend the banquet anymore."
Regarding her own stamina, she still had some self-awareness.
"I can carry you to wherever you want to go."
Ling volunteered. Probably also the Empress's intention.
"Then go to the garden you took me to before."
Besides there, there didn't seem to be any other place to kill time.
Being carried by Ling to the center of the garden and set down, Mo began to appreciate the surrounding scenery. Being surrounded by a sea of flowers, she'd only seen this three times in both her lives combined, so this was still relatively novel to her.
"Are there animals here?"
"You mean...?"
"Cats and dogs, or rabbits, hamsters, that sort of thing."
When she was still in Glaze Nation, because there were few people she could talk to, she'd raised quite a few of these small animals to pass the time. Now it had been almost two consecutive weeks since she'd petted those little ones she raised. Her hands were itching.
"We don't have those, but if Your Highness wants them, we can go out and buy a few."
"Forget it then. Feels like it would be too troublesome."
Going out to buy, the ones bought probably wouldn't be very docile either. She'd have to cultivate affection from scratch. If they accidentally got aggressive and hurt her, that wouldn't be good.
Seemingly seeing through her thoughts, the Maid Ling silently noted this matter in her heart. When there was time, she'd mention it to the Empress. This was also the Empress's intention...
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Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, it was time for the banquet to start.
Being carried by Ling to the banquet entrance.
"From here, Your Highness must walk on your own. Being carried would look bad."
Having appeared at General Mu's funeral, and sitting together with the Empress at that, almost all the nobles remembered her face. If she were still carried in at this time, that would really damage the Empress's image.
Stepping into the banquet, Mo clearly felt almost everyone's gaze land on her. Very uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I'm always here."
Ling's words made the little Princess feel much more at ease. This way, she didn't have to worry about people coming up to intercept her, right?
Ling had disguised herself. As the Empress's personal guard and maid, her face was naturally unforgettable to all nobles. Without disguising herself, she'd probably cause unnecessary trouble as soon as entering the banquet.
As the Empress's confidant and executioner, she naturally became resented by many nobles. Showing her original face, she'd probably be schemed against and sent away. So to better protect Mo's safety and reduce unnecessary trouble, disguising herself was also a helpless measure.
"Hey hey, that girl really came."
"I saw. I'm not blind."
Two nobles on the side looked her up and down. After a brief discussion, they had an idea.
The little Princess found a relatively less crowded corner to sit down, planning to eat some small sweets here while waiting for the Empress to appear. But not long after, this corner seemed to have even more people than the center. Was this her imagination?
"Hello, miss. I'm Ryan from the Miller family. May I sit here?"
"This... sorry, no."
Ling behind her gave her tremendous confidence to refuse these people.
The noble young master who was rejected right off the bat naturally could only leave in embarrassment.
Not easy to deal with, this girl. Yesterday so intimate with the Empress. If they came on strong, they feared it would provoke the Empress's fury.
Then it looked like they could only send girls from their own families of the same generation.