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Chapter 4
On the twenty-fifth day after I was locked in the attic, I was released.
After returning to my room, I took a bath and changed into fresh clothes.
It was finally time to say goodbye to the clothes I had worn every day, soaked in sweat, washed, and worn again.
For the past twenty-five days, I had devoted myself entirely to exercise.
Thanks to that, although my muscles were still lacking, they had become quite firm.
As I ran my hand over them, I found myself thinking that I might actually miss this place a little.
“I should at least be able to run now, right?”
It would be difficult to handle the sword or gun I had used in my previous life with this body.
Besides, in this world, swords and bows were basically all they had.
Tsk.
If I’d come here with my old body, I might have been able to beat every monster to death.
What a shame.
I should continue training and build up my strength.
Still, I felt like I should at least carry a dagger.
“Lady Rosanna, the Duke has summoned you.”
I nodded.
The long, flowing dress I was wearing for the first time in ages felt incredibly awkward.
It was obvious that it had been chosen according to the Duke’s taste.
From the memories of Rosanna that had seeped into my mind, the Duke was a terrible control freak.
He forced his preferences onto his daughters and tried to control them according to his own wishes.
Rosanna’s obsession with wearing dresses and making a fuss about it throughout the entire expedition had probably come from that same obsession.
As soon as I left, I was going to throw every single one of these dresses away.
“Can I go in now?”
“Yes, Lady Rosanna.”
I might as well go hear what he had to say this time.
I entered the study where the Duke was waiting.
Nothing had changed from the scene I had seen right before being locked in the attic.
“You seem to have been doing well, Rosanna. It looks like you’ve put on some more weight.”
The Duke pointed it out sharply.
It wasn’t fat.
It was muscle.
But there was no need to provoke the Duke right now.
“I’ll make an effort to control my weight from now on, Father.”
I gave him the answer he wanted, and the Duke nodded.
“Good. That is only proper when you consider the future. Tomorrow, you will attend the inauguration ceremony of the Golden Lily. Do everything you can to secure a place beside the Crown Prince. Who knows? He may actually succeed and return.”
The Duke gave a sly smile.
“Stay by his side throughout the entire expedition. Do whatever you can to attract his attention. Well, having a child would be good, too.”
What a disgusting bastard.
No, how could someone like that possibly be a father?
I really felt sorry for Rosanna.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes, Father. I’ll dress myself up nicely as you said and stay by the Crown Prince’s side.”
I answered without emotion.
The Duke nodded in satisfaction.
“Good, Rosanna. I’ll put my trust in you.”
The Duke continued with several other lectures, but not a single word was useful.
He talked about everything from how to seduce the Crown Prince, to what kind of clothes men liked, to how I shouldn’t neglect maintaining my figure even during the expedition.
He even warned me not to associate with low-class people.
I endured that torturous time while silently singing the Korean national anthem in my head.
Hey, mister.
You’re the most low-class and vulgar person here.
It was quite a sight to see the Imperial Palace’s Grand Plaza packed with people.
It seemed that people had come from all over the empire to watch the inauguration ceremony of the Golden Lily Expedition.
And it was understandable.
The fate of the empire depended on the Golden Lily Expedition.
If the expedition succeeded and safely recovered the sacred relic, they would be able to defeat the monsters.
If they failed, however, the chances of becoming food for the giant wyverns would only increase.
Even now, the southern regions were suffering because monsters were attacking human settlements.
The Emperor stood on the enormous platform, with nobles lined up below him.
In front of them stood the expedition team that would be setting out today.
There looked to be at least a hundred people.
There were knights and mercenaries, but quite a few nobles had also been dragged here from their families as representatives, just like me.
The sky was gray, and a cold wind was blowing fiercely.
Well, it was exactly the kind of weather that suited a ruined world.
I stood on one side of the plaza wearing a dress embroidered with both the Ardena family crest and the imperial crest.
Among all the people wearing armor, I stood out like a sore thumb.
That crazy Duke had made such a fuss about forcing me to wear a dress that the Crown Prince would definitely like, and this was the result.
At least the dress was so full and voluminous that I could hide the leather pouches I’d prepared.
They were filled with jewels I’d secretly taken from the estate.
I regretted not being able to bring more.
I’d cleaned out both my own dressing room and the Duke’s dressing room, but I was really disappointed that I hadn’t managed to raid the wardrobes of my other two siblings.
I wasn’t afraid of getting caught.
I was leaving soon anyway.
“Ah, this is so heavy. How am I supposed to fight wearing something like this? I’ll be the perfect target for a monster to bite apart.”
I muttered while touching the dress.
With all the lace and frills attached to it, I looked like a wedding cake.
I couldn’t believe people actually wore things like this every day.
I wanted to put it on that Duke bastard.
The noble young lady standing beside me looked at me with a pale face.
“M-monster teeth?”
She was trembling all over.
But she wasn’t the only one.
They were all wearing armor and clutching swords, yet most of them had probably never properly held a sword in their lives.
There were even young noble ladies who looked like children.
There was no need to say more.
Most of the people the nobles had sent to represent their families were merely for appearances.
They were treated as little more than spare lives for the heirs.
That trembling young lady was probably another one of those sacrifices.
At least families that sent mercenaries or people who had some experience with a sword were somewhat respectable.
“Ah, don’t worry. We won’t die. Our expedition will succeed.”
I was being sincere.
According to the novel, we would definitely succeed.
I clenched my fist and said,
“So be brave! Fighting!”
“H-how can you be so, so certain? Lady Rosanna, d-did you hear something? D-did someone tell you?”
It wasn’t something I’d heard.
I’d read it myself.
But there was no way I could explain that.
I quietly shook my head.
“Not exactly…… But we have to believe we’re going to succeed. We’re not going there to die, after all. By the way, I should check the price of iron ore when we pass through the northern region.”
Our first destination was the north.
If my memory was correct, the northern region was rich in iron ore.
If I could get my hands on even a few mines, I’d make a fortune.
But I didn’t have nearly enough money to simply buy them at their current prices.
Fortunately, though, this was around the time when mines and land would start appearing on the market for dirt-cheap prices.
Actually, it would be even better to buy a gemstone mine rather than an iron mine.
There were more gemstone mines the farther south we went.
“Good.”
Pleased with my perfect plan, I nodded.
The young noblewoman looked at me blankly.
“……What? What did you just say?”
Booooooong!
Just then, the sound of a trumpet rang out.
It was the signal that the Emperor had arrived.
Immediately afterward, the Crown Prince and commander of the expedition, Kael, stepped onto the platform wearing black armor.
The armor flashed brilliantly under the sunlight shining through the clouds.
Wow.
He really does look like a male lead.
The plaza instantly fell silent.
Everyone stared at him without even daring to make a sound.
Kael looked over the plaza from the platform, and I could feel his gaze stop on me.
What?
Why is he looking at me?
No.
If I were him, I’d look too.
I was dressed like this, after all.
For some reason, I felt like Kael was looking at me as if I were pathetic.
“People of the Empire!”
The Emperor’s booming voice echoed across the plaza.
At least his voice is impressive.
But this Emperor was corrupt too.
“Today, we depart carrying the fate of the Empire on our shoulders! To protect this land from the threat of monsters! To protect the dignity of humanity! To protect our families!”
Crying broke out among the crowd.
They were probably people sending their family members off to the battlefield.
Seeing them made my heart beat even more heavily.
‘Let’s survive somehow and make it back alive!’
My chest swelled with emotion.
I’d been sent on countless missions in my previous life, but I’d never felt this kind of tension before.
Back then, I had faced humans and disasters.
This time, I was facing monsters.
If I made even one mistake, my entire body could be torn apart in an instant.
My palms grew sweaty.
I kept wondering whether I had prepared enough, what else I needed to do, and what might happen from now on.
Just thinking about all of it made my head feel like it was going to explode.
No.
You just need to do your best.
The male and female leads will take care of everything else.
I imagined myself surviving until the end and living a rich, carefree life.
