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Chapter 34
“I told you before—Lu doesn’t hurt people.”
Lilia was impressed, but in a different way.
She was surprised that Juhee could confidently meet Raviolle’s gaze and answer back like that.
Raviolle clicked her tongue in irritation and turned to walk into the room, but suddenly, she flailed her arms and fell to the floor.
“Oh my, Your Highness! Are you alright?”
“…I’m fine.”
“Please be careful, Your Highness.”
Lilia helped Raviolle up with a worried expression.
Raviolle’s face flushed with embarrassment as she stood.
She was certain something had caught her ankle—but no matter how she looked, nothing was there.
In the end, she concluded that she had simply misstepped, though the uneasy feeling remained.
She cleared her throat a couple of times and spoke.
“You remember what I said before, right? She’s the etiquette teacher who will train you.”
Lilia stepped forward with a bright smile.
“Nice to meet you, young lady. My name is Lilia Artel. You may call me Lady Artel or Teacher.”
“Hello, I’m Juhee.”
Juhee slightly bowed her head.
Lilia carefully observed her.
“If you fail to properly learn palace etiquette, it will be considered that you wish to leave this place.”
Raviolle spoke coldly.
She was confident Juhee wouldn’t last more than a few days and would leave the palace on her own.
Turning her head, Raviolle whispered quietly to Lilia.
“Everything. Perfectly. You understand what I mean, right?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It meant she should be twice as strict as usual.
Raviolle glared at Juhee for a long moment, clearly displeased, before turning sharply and leaving the room.
But just before exiting, she tripped again.
“Your Highness!”
Raviolle bit her lip hard.
She stood up, straightened her wrinkled dress, and quickly left.
From Juhee’s perspective, it felt like the spirits were playing tricks.
There was no way Raviolle would suddenly fall like that without reason.
Maybe I should ask later if they did something…
As she was thinking, Lilia’s voice broke in.
“Then… shall we start with the most basic etiquette?”
Lilia smiled sweetly.
No matter what, she was Raviolle’s person—so she had no choice but to follow her orders.
* * *
“No, you shouldn’t lift your dress that high.”
Juhee lowered her hands with a quiet sigh.
But then she was told she had lowered them too much.
“You shouldn’t bend your waist that deeply.”
Just learning how to greet properly seemed to take hours.
She had never focused this much, even in school.
“That’s enough for today.”
Lilia clapped her hands lightly with a smile.
“We’ll have lessons twice a week starting next week. I’ll see you then.”
“Goodbye.”
Lilia left the room with a smile.
Juhee dropped onto the bed as if sliding down.
“This is exhausting.”
The lessons were tiring, but since she had started, she felt it was better to finish them.
Lying flat on the bed, she thought deeply about the book.
There had definitely been a sign when the heroine appeared.
It felt like she was close to remembering—but couldn’t quite grasp it.
Sensing her deep thoughts, Lu didn’t rush her and simply curled up at her feet, waiting quietly.
Then, when she turned her head, she saw the moon.
“The moon…”
Suddenly, something clicked.
She shot upright.
“The day when two moons rise.”
If her memory was correct, the heroine appeared on a night when two moons rose in the sky.
Finally, her frustration cleared.
Since it wasn’t a normal occurrence, Rowen would definitely know about it.
Taking a bite of her salad at dinner, Juhee asked,
“Do you know when the day of the two moons is?”
“The day of two moons?”
“Yes.”
Rowen thought for a moment before answering.
“Probably… after winter ends.”
“So that means more than four months away?”
“That’s the prediction. But it’s only a prediction—it could come sooner or later.”
Juhee nodded a couple of times.
Rowen then asked casually,
“But why?”
“I just heard someone talking about it. They said it was coming soon, so I got curious.”
“I see.”
Rowen noticed she was hiding something, but didn’t press further.
Instead, he decided to increase surveillance—just in case.
“By the way, how are the lessons? Are they alright?”
“They’re a bit strict, but manageable. Definitely complicated, though.”
“Um… Juhee.”
“Yes?”
She looked up from cutting her steak.
When their eyes met, Rowen hesitated, then smiled.
“Would you like to learn dancing as well?”
“No. I’m not going to any parties, so I don’t think I need that.”
She rejected him so bluntly that it made things awkward.
The maids nearby held their breath—but nothing happened.
“If you change your mind, let me know.”
“I probably won’t, but okay.”
Then Juhee hesitated and asked,
“Um… for the New Year’s ball, is your partner that young lady?”
“…Yes. It’s always been her.”
She slightly frowned.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
Rowen had secretly hoped she might say she wanted to be his partner—but she didn’t.
He felt disappointed but didn’t show it.
So instead, he decided to use a small trick.
* * *
Time passed.
Juhee was doing well in her lessons, which left Lilia troubled.
The Empress Dowager seemed displeased… this is bad.
Even though she had been extremely strict, Juhee never complained and worked diligently.
She was also observing her, but nothing unusual stood out.
On top of that, there was subtle pressure from the Emperor.
“Sigh… what a life.”
After one lesson, when they happened to meet outside, he hinted that she should go easy on Juhee.
It also seemed that everyone now knew she was teaching that young lady in the palace.
Since then, whenever she attended parties, noblewomen crowded around her, begging for details.
She avoided answering, saying she didn’t know much—but no one believed her.
That only made things more troublesome.
I should’ve refused from the start.
She had accepted out of curiosity—and because she couldn’t afford to fall out of favor with the Empress Dowager.
Still… she’s quite clever. Easy to teach. It’s just unfortunate she ended up in the palace.
As usual, Lilia was about to knock—but noticed the door was slightly open.
She should knock—but for some reason, she wanted to peek inside.
Through the gap, she saw Juhee sitting on the bed, frowning slightly.
Then Juhee slowly lifted her dress up to her knees.
Her knee was scraped—small drops of blood forming.
Lilia tilted her head.
Why isn’t she calling a maid?
Then something shocking happened.
“Undine.”
At that unfamiliar word, droplets of water formed in the air—and a mermaid appeared.
Lilia’s eyes widened in shock.
She had no idea what it was.
Spirit users were nearly extinct in the Florel Empire, so she had never seen a spirit before.
She didn’t even realize this was one.
What shocked her even more—
The mermaid melted into Juhee’s wound.
Within minutes, the injury disappeared completely.
Raviolle often called Juhee a witch who had bewitched her son.
Lilia used to laugh it off—
But now, chills ran down her spine.
“If she’s a witch… did she summon a demon…?”
She muttered unconsciously.
Though she thought she was too far to be heard—
Lu suddenly turned its head and looked straight at her.
“Hii—!”
It had never been scary before.
But now, fear gripped her whole body.
It felt like it would leap at her and tear her apart.
Her legs gave out, and she collapsed.
“Lu, is someone outside?”
Noticing something strange, Juhee walked to the door and opened it.
She found Lilia sitting on the floor.
“Teacher? Why are you sitting down?”
“Huh? Ah, well, that is…”
Lilia quickly stood up.
But she couldn’t meet Juhee’s eyes.
Juhee narrowed her gaze.
“…Come in.”
“Yes… yes.”
Lilia’s voice trembled.
She swallowed hard and stepped inside.
At this point, pretending to be sick would be too obvious.
She forced a smile.
“Today, I’ll teach you how to walk properly.”
“Yes.”
Thankfully, Juhee didn’t seem to realize Lilia had seen Undine.
Throughout the lesson, Lilia kept watching her nervously—
But Juhee simply followed along diligently.
“Keep your back straight… don’t tense your shoulders too much. Your steps shouldn’t be too wide or too small.”
Relaxing slightly, Lilia continued the lesson.
Juhee was walking with a book balanced on her head when she spoke calmly.
“By the way, Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“Did you see the fish made of water in my room earlier?”
“Huh? Not a fish—it was a merma—”
Lilia’s eyes widened.
She quickly covered her mouth.
