Chapter 1 - Part 1
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***
The reason why she felt uncomfortable was because of Julianna’s attitude.
‘Maybe it’s because she grew up so cherished…’
In the original story, Julianna grew up as a precious jewel. Emperor Perseus was a fool for his daughter, and so was the Empress. Neither could you deny that Cedric, or Damien, doted on her. There were times when the brothers were much better than Emperor Perseus at it. Maybe that’s why Julianna seemed to be satisfied with everything revolving around her.
Lelia noticed every time they talked, Julianna often interjected herself into the conversation her handmaidens were having. Of course, there was no malice in the action.
The son of the Creek family from the Superion Territory, who grew up with everything, came to mind. Of course, Julianna must be much nicer than he is, but…
Even the Emperor and Empress raised her by saying these words to Julianna from an early age.
“Everyone in the world loves you.”
“There is no one in the world who doesn’t love you.”
Her thoughts are clear and positive, but there may also be negative effects without realizing it.
Everyone actually liked Julianna in the novel.
Lelia shook her head.
Let’s get rid of this idea.
What matters now is the quest for Ruth.
‘It looks like playing as a womanizer was a success.’
Now that she’d played her part, she has to show herself at the ball. She had doubts about if her words and actions would be believable.
‘I have to act interested in all the ladies.’
‘Should I wink at them?’
Lelia was thinking about this and that.
“Oh, yes,”
Lelia thoughtfully opened the inventory window.
She forgot, but she had to check the rewards she had received from completing the quest yesterday.
1 Lv.? Random Gift box
Maybe because of that question mark, she thought something good might come out.
As she whispered ‘Open’ while looking at the button on her UI, a picture of a gift box appeared.
After a while, the gift box exploded! The explosion revealed an item.
<Alchemy Loudspeaker>
A golden item appeared.
“What is it?”
She didn’t know what it was, but it seemed to be a good item at first glance.
<Alchemy Loudspeaker>
Take advantage of the Alchemy’s Help Mode, the mascot of the Alchemy Lottery! (••ᴗ-) Alchemy is the best guide for you right now! ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)૭✧
“Okay…”
Alchemy is the main mascot of the “Alchemy Lottery” game. It is an alchemy tool that pushes the system window and occupies all the notification windows.
In the lower right corner, when she pressed the small “manufacturing” button, a large magic jar appeared.
Alchemy was smiling, boiling blue magic.
Lelia now felt angry when she saw Alchemy, but in her previous life she thought it was cute.
The game users loved that tool and called it ‘Alchemy’.
Help Mode Guidelines
It was a system she had never experienced before, so she couldn’t predict what it would be like. But when she saw the item name shining golden, she figured it must be a good item. It couldn’t be bad.
“I don’t know. I’ll use it for now.’
Would you like to use the item? ( • ̀ᴗ • ́ ) و ̑̑]
“Yes.”
When she gave the orders in her mind, a small window appeared.
System: Optimization for item use
Along with the phrase, a loading window showed a long optimization timer.
‘It’s going to take a while.’
It was going to take longer than she thought, so she decided to use her time wisely by going to find Ruth.
But Ruth beat her to it and came to see her first.
***
Ruth’s face brightened when he heard what had happened today, and looked moved by Lelia’s sacrifice.
“I will never forget your kindness!”
“You don’t have to… I think it’s better to confess as soon as possible.”
“Good! Then I’ll confirm her feelings and confess on the day of the ball.”
Lelia nodded at his determined tone.
They were taking a walk outside, before she knew it they were near the tower. Lelia was startled when she realized.
“I think we’d better go back. Also I want you to confess as soon as possible, Sir Ruth.”
“What? All right…”
Ruth looked at Lelia nervously and tilted his head, but immediately followed her.
Lelia breathed a sigh of relief.
While living in the palace, she kept as much distance from the main palace as possible.
Although she was disguised, if she were to meet Emperor Perseus suddenly, he might be a little baffled.
***
When she got back to her room, she saw the servants moving around in a hurry. Maybe Romeo and Kalix were back.
“What great timing.’
She was going to suggest that they should go to the ball together.
Lelia knocked before entering Romeo’s room. He was having a conversation with Kalix.
“How did playing the womanizer go? Did you do well?”
Kalix found her and asked with his chin resting on his hand.
Lelia nodded confidently and laughed. She told them what happened today.
Finally, she added, “I want you to go to the ball with me.”
“They’re having another party.”
Kalix grunted.
“It is an era of peace.”
[Did these peacekeepers make it happen? It’s not a big deal, but…]
Lelia thought as she listened to their conversation.
[Maybe I should give up on Kalix.]
It seemed as if he would never go.
Lelia looked at Romeo hopefully.
To be honest, she was a little scared to go to the ball alone. So she thought it would have been a little better if she went with her friends.
“I don’t mind going,” Romeo nodded willingly.
Kalix responded that it was unexpected, but Romeo was calm.
Lelia breathed a sigh of relief.
Romeo smiled casually and glanced at Lelia’s wrist.
Since then, Lelia has specifically explained how she pretended to be a flirt at today’s tea party.
At that, Kalix and Romeo held their stomachs and laughed.
Romeo asked, “By the way, your voice sounds a little different.”
“Oh, this one. It’s, uh… the same person who raised me got me some medicine.”
“Aha.”
Romeo replied in a humble way.
Kalix lay on the couch, not paying any attention.
Lelia breathed a sigh of relief as Romeo moved on without much doubt.
It was certainly a relief.
These two are simple.
But when Lelia turned her head, Romeo had a surprisingly cold look on his face.
***
That night.
Lelia lay in bed and re-opened the game screen that was running during the day.
The small UI in the corner of her sight blinked along with the phrase.
System : 100% optimization complete!
Then a long, rectangular speech balloon floated up in the air.
Hello! It’s Alchemy! •(•⌄•๑๑) From now on, Alchemy will be your guide.
“…….”
It has a very familiar way of speaking, and was always charging her crystals.
Why did she think there was something cute about it?
Lelia looked at the speech bubble with a pained look, and frowned in confusion.
[I don’t think the guidelines were clear…]
[It’s not like the guide will always help me…]
You’re right! Alchemy will always help you to clear ALL your recipes’!! (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑
[I’m just gonna cancel it.]
Ah! =͟͟͞͞(๑•́•๑) But Help Mode is a great aid in quests, recipes, and other daily life activities!
At those words, Lelia paused.
[Are you sure it’s gonna help?]
If true, she may be able to complete Ruth’s annoying quest as soon as possible.
[Yeah, just in case.]
Let’s pretend to be fooled and try it until the end of Ruth’s quest.
It was when she decided to do so.
Ah! Σ( °o°) You have an unknown ‘tracking magic’. Do you want to turn it off right now?
What…?
***
As expected, Kalix did not attend the ball. Lelia dressed up and headed for the banquet hall with Romeo. Usually, a noble woman should be escorted, but it didn’t matter if she wasn’t accompanied by anyone.
The banquet hall was in the large northern wing of the Imperial Palace, which was a bit far from where she was staying. Because of that, Lelia got in a carriage with Romeo. Outside her window, she saw other carriages heading to the same destination.
Lelia looked nervously at Romeo, who was sitting opposite her.
He was looking out the window with a straight face.
But Lelia was watching him with sweaty palms.
A few days ago.
With the help of ‘Alchemy’, Lelia noticed that the cuff link she was wearing had a tracking spell on it.
Who would cast a tracking spell on her?
There was no one but Romeo.
Romeo was the one who bought her the cuff links on her wrist.
Only then did Lelia remember that Romeo became a wizard of great skill in the original story.
As soon as she realized this, she was sweating profusely.
She didn’t realize, but it turned out Romeo was still suspicious of her. He put a tracking spell on her just in case she ran away somewhere.
[I might still be suspected of killing Leo.]
Lelia wiped the sweat off her palms furtively.
[Then Kalix…]
It shouldn’t be Kalix. If you look at the second favoritism quest being held…
After realizing about the tracking magic, Lelia became awkward in her behavior and language when she saw Romeo.
So Romeo may already know that she figured out about the cufflinks.
The whole situation made her hair stand on end.
[How could you grow up to be a fox? There’s such a thing as being too slick.]
Romeo, who was sitting across from her in the carriage, looked at Lelia and smiled.
“I’m not really a ball person. I’ll just watch from the corner.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“You said you were supposed to be a flirt today, right? You’re going to have to dance a lot.”
“Yes…”
Lelia gulped down her nerves.
In fact, from the day she realized the truth about the tracking magic, Lelia began to have nightmares.
They were similar to the first day she reunited with friends. It was a dream where they were trying to kill her.
Romeo featured heavily in the nightmares, pointing a knife at her with a smile as pretty as he is now.
Then, without a moment’s hesitation, stabbed her with great delight….
Romeo smiled the whole time as he watched her dream-self die. As bright and gorgeous as a poisonous flower.
When the dream came to mind, Lelia closed her eyes tightly.
“What’s wrong?” Romeo asked, smiling like he did in her nightmare.
***
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