Chapter 1 - Part 1
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***
Julianna looked shyly away the moment her eyes met Lelia’s.
[Shy?]
[Why is she being shy…?]
“…”
Lelia was greatly flustered.
What on earth?
Ruth’s gaze, which has been intensely staring at Julianna, shifted to Lelia. Lelia was stunned by the intense glare from her left side. He stared at her as if he was going to kill her.
[Are you staring at me like that because of Julianna? All of a sudden?]
[What about when you asked me to listen to your worries until just a moment ago?!]
It was surprising to Lelia to see the fiery change to his attitude.
“What are you doing here? Let’s go,” said Kalix, who had been watching.
“Oh, you know each other…?” Julianna muttered at the sight and took a step forward to greet Lelia.
“Nice to meet you, Sir. I’m Princess Julianna.” Julianna naturally held out the back of her hand.
She was very graceful and dignified as a princess.
“…”
Honestly, Lelia didn’t feel like it, but it couldn’t be helped. Since she is acting as the man, Raymond Le Vester.
Lelia kissed Julianna lightly on the back of her hand, acting as the perfect gentlemen. When she looked up, she saw Julianna with a flushed expression and the ladies whispering behind her.
Kalix, who looked as if he had seen her impeccable manner as something very bizarre, came into view.
[T/N: Kalix xD]
Pretending not to see Kalix’s face, Lelia said;
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Raymond Le Vester, and I am staying in the Imperial Palace under the Emperor’s consideration.”
“Oh, you’re a distant relative of Prince Romeo, aren’t you?”
“That’s right…”
“Ah…”
Julianna gave Lelia a quick cheerful look.
For Lelia, it was almost embarrassing.
When she turned her head slightly, she met the wide-eyed Ruth.
Ruth spoke with his eyes.
‘Weren’t you supposed to help? Is this your way of helping?’
Ignoring Ruth’s gaze, Lelia looked at Kalix to help her escape quickly.
He raised his eyebrows and moved first.
Lelia bid farewell to Princess Julianna, and the ladies standing behind her. Then she hurried along with Kalix.
***
When they got to her room, Romeo was waiting to welcome them.
“What? Where were you?”
“Walking after dinner.”
Kalix answered sharply and Romeo looked at Lelia. His questioning eyes seemed to be asking about her success.
“I succeeded. But…”
“But what?”
“I have to stay a little longer at the Imperial Palace.”
“I see. I don’t mind, we can stay here until Griffith and Oscar come back.”
Romeo looked at the magazine on the table. He figured even if he asked why, she wouldn’t answer.
“Why?”
It was Kalix who asked the question. Sitting across from Romeo, he stared at Lelia.
Somehow he looked displeased.
“Actually… When I was young, Leo asked me to do something. I thought I’d need a little more time to complete it.”
“…….”
Kalix’s eyebrows furrowed.
Lelia was at the table with the two of them when suddenly she saw something and froze.
“……!”
[-100]
[What?]
Kalix’s favorability, which had been in the positive, suddenly dropped and turned negative.
[Why on earth?]
Lelia sat facing him in a resigned mood.
[No matter what I do.]
Just in case, she looked at the quest window and saw that Kalix’s quest was grayed out.
The content of the quest was to raise favorability [+10], but when he suddenly fell to [-], it seemed to have been invalidated.
In the first place, quests come out only when they like her.
Lelia wanted to scream impatiently, but she held her breath and looked at Kalix.
What the hell is the cause?
“Are you… angry?”
“Yes, you look exactly like Leo.”
“……!”
Surprised, Lelia stiffened like she was hit by lightning.
Romeo asked in an indifferent manner.
“What are you talking about?”
“I think… Leo would have grown this big if he had grown up instead of dying. Isn’t that what he used to look like?”
“Well…”
“Is it because of his hair? You look so alike. I feel like Leo is alive and next to me… So be more careful.”
Kalix pointed out and warned Lelia. Romeo sided with her as if he was being absurd.
“Did she bully you? I take care of her like a sister, but all she does is bully me.”
“No! She was sucking up to the princess earlier”
Lelia relaxed at the sound of Kalix’s nonsense and exhaled the breath she was holding.
[What a surprise.]
She thought she was caught.
[By the way, what does he mean by sucking up?]
“Do you know what she did earlier? Kissing the back of her hand and gazing… and saying ‘I’m Raymond Le Vester’”.
Kalix had a lower voice than usual when he said, “I’m Raymond Le Vester.”
Lelia can’t speak that low in the first place.
[I don’t know who the hell he’s mimicking.]
“You look like Leo and don’t talk to anyone, okay?”
Lelia nodded in a daze. She felt offended by it, and she didn’t know what that warning meant.
Kalix was a hard person to understand most of the time. So Lelia decided to be relieved that she wasn’t caught.
Romeo laughed for a long time, while holding his stomach. Maybe he was laughing at Kalix’s imitation of her.
[By the way…]
Lelia squinted and looked at Kalix and Romeo.
[Why aren’t you guys leaving?]
Recalling her childhood at the temple, Lelia stretched her shoulders as if she were tired.
Unlike when they were young, the two got the hint and left before Lelia had to tell them to get out. They knew that Lelia was a woman, so that she wanted alone time.
Lelia locked the bedroom door and headed to the bathroom. She knew no one should be entering, but she was worried about it because she was hiding her gender.
When she looked in the mirror before taking off her clothes, she remembered the looks from Julianna and her ladies.
[I never thought I’d kiss her on the back of her hand…]
She felt guilty for some reason. She couldn’t believe Julianna, and her ladies-in-waiting, would be flustered by her appearance. The ladies looked at Lelia out of the corner of their eyes in excitement, as if they had scented prey.
Fortunately or unfortunately, they weren’t suspicious of her gender.
Rather, they looked at her with more romantic thoughts.
[Do I really look like a man?]
It was strangely unpleasant.
She looked into the mirror and fiddled with her jawline. No matter how much she looked, her jawline and neckline all looked like a woman to her.
[Well, it’s better than being suspected.]
Lelia thought little of it and began to wash.
She didn’t know, but Ruth’s words were true.
The most popular male type among the daughters of the capital aristocracy is “Beautiful Boy.”
Like Lelia dressed as a man.
This phenomenon is due to a painter named Donatelli, who recently became the most prominent artist in the capital.
Donatelli was a promising painter, who suddenly appeared with a painting in a style that had never been seen before.
There were many aristocrats who liked his painting, so they all had great expectations of new works from him.
His painting was never considered on the level of Grand Mythical paintings, the most highly regarded area of art.
It was a beautifully drawn picture of a calmly smiling man, who looked like a woman.
The aristocratic men condemned it as “decadent trash painted by a perverted young man”, but the aristocratic women praised it.
The reaction was split, but the prints of “Portrait of a Beautiful Man” sold like hot cakes to the capital aristocrats.
Some say that a number of male nobles secretly collect his prints as well.
It was so popular that there were none available to buy. As a result, many amateur painters imitated the original to earn money.
However, the handsome man in the picture was so beautiful that no real life man could compare.
In order to look like a “Portrait of a Beautiful Man” aristocratic men shaved, and lost weight.
But in the eyes of aristocratic women, their efforts were fruitless.
For this reason, Julianna and her ladies-in-waiting brightened at the sight of Lelia.
Romeo also had a beautiful appearance that could be used for a painting, but he was tall, well-built and masculine.
In that respect, Lelia dressed as a man perfectly suited their taste.
Lelia washed herself in an empty bathroom while dismissing thoughts of the painting.
She felt strange lying in bed like this.
“I can’t believe I’m back in the palace and sleeping…”
If the Superion family knew about it, they would be very worried.
[I must find the holy relic and return home as soon as possible.]
She sighed when she remembered Ruth’s gaze, which had been staring at her like an enemy.
Subquest…
[I don’t want to do it.]
But even if you don’t want to, you have to do something.
The quests were like that for Lelia.
She couldn’t give up because the sacred object and the shop system were so important for the future. It is also important to mend the holy object and confess the truth to her friends.
But her family situation was more urgent than that.
The death of her grandparents and uncles, her aunt’s misfortune, and the family eventually falling into the hands of its vassals.
She had to stop everything.
[By the way, did Uncle Carius arrive safely?]
According to Romeo, Carius returned to the Superion territory on the first day of his return to the capital.
Lelia saw him at the crossroads.
[I wanted to talk to him…]
He looked fine and unharmed in the procession.
Lelia was awake until dawn thinking about it. She finally passed out when the sun came up.
***
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