🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 36
Since one could not freely enter and leave the Imperial Palace, there was no way to know what that woman was doing.
In the end, what Eveline chose was to bribe one of the maids working in the Imperial Palace.
The very next day, someone came to the mansion.
It was a maid who worked in the palace.
“I heard… you wished to see me….”
“You know the woman His Majesty brought in, right?”
“Yes, yes.”
The maid nodded awkwardly.
“Stick close to that woman and report to me what she does.”
“Pardon…? B-but….”
The maid looked flustered.
She had desperately avoided being selected to serve Juhee in the first place—there was no way she would willingly go near her.
As if expecting that reaction, Eveline smiled faintly and removed a ring from her finger.
“Did you think I’d ask you to do it for free?”
“Ah….”
The maid accepted the ring as if entranced.
The large gem embedded in it sparkled brilliantly—it was obviously very expensive.
“I’ll make sure you’re well rewarded every time you bring me useful information, so don’t worry too much.”
“……”
“Answer me.”
“Yes….”
“Good. You may leave.”
The maid tightly clutched the ring in her trembling hands, afraid of dropping it, and left the room.
Only then did Eveline smile in satisfaction.
“I need to find her weakness quickly and throw her out. Who does she think she is, clinging to His Majesty’s side?”
She scoffed, her eyes gleaming.
A maid spoke to Eveline.
“You should prepare to go out now, my lady.”
“Ah, right. I was supposed to go with Mother to look at dresses for the New Year Festival.”
She had to hurry to the boutique and secure the most beautiful dress.
After quickly changing clothes, Eveline headed to the dress shop with the duchess, who had been waiting.
“My goodness, Eveline! You look so beautiful.”
As soon as they arrived, Eveline tried on any dress that seemed even slightly pretty, only to take it off if she didn’t like it.
“Mother, how about this dress?”
“Every dress suits you perfectly, my dear.”
The duchess spoke with genuine warmth.
Under the endless praise, Eveline’s cheeks flushed red.
Looking at herself in the full-length mirror, she couldn’t deny it.
Despite trying on more than ten dresses, she showed no signs of fatigue.
Rather, the assistant helping her looked like she was about to collapse.
After much deliberation, Eveline chose the most extravagant dress of them all.
“A wise choice. If you wear this, His Majesty will fall for you at first sight.”
At those words, Eveline brightened, but soon her expression dimmed.
“Do you really think so?”
Seeing her troubled face, the duchess was startled.
“My lovely daughter, what’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
In response to her gentle voice, Eveline complained:
“It’s because of the woman His Majesty brought.”
“What? Oh, Eveline. That’s just a momentary whim of His Majesty. The Empress of this empire is you. Who else could it be?”
“But when I went to see His Majesty before, that woman looked down on me.”
The duchess frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“I was only giving her some advice out of concern, but she told me not to interfere… and asked how I could speak so carelessly when we’d just met… It was so frightening.”
Tears welled up in Eveline’s eyes and soon began to fall.
The duchess’s heart ached.
It was pitiful that her daughter was this upset over someone of such lowly origin.
“Eveline, don’t concern yourself with such a thing. You are the only daughter of the Duke of Roberto. In both beauty and status, you are far superior—there’s no way you’d lose to someone like her. I’ll speak to your father later, so don’t worry.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Eveline sniffled before breaking into a bright smile.
Seeing that, the duchess praised her endlessly, saying she looked best when smiling, and they left the shop.
They bought a beautiful dress and commissioned jewelry as well.
It should have been a perfect day.
However, on their way back to the mansion, one of the carriage wheels suddenly came loose.
The carriage lost balance, wobbled, and eventually fell off a bridge.
As a result of the accident, the duchess broke her arm, and Eveline broke her leg.
In the end, Eveline was unable to attend the New Year Festival two months later, and the sound of her crying echoed through the mansion day after day.
* * *
Today was the day of Juhee’s lesson with Elizabeth, so she sat in her room waiting.
After a while, there was a knock.
“Lady Roschent has arrived.”
“Yes.”
The door opened, and Juhee stood up.
Elizabeth walked toward her with the brightest smile she could manage.
“Hello, my lady. Have you been well?”
“Yes.”
At the short, concise reply, Elizabeth smiled awkwardly.
While preparing for the lesson, she glanced at Juhee.
“By the way, did you hear? Lady Roberto’s carriage fell off a bridge, and she broke her leg.”
“…She broke her leg?”
“Yes. She’ll need treatment for several months, so she won’t be able to attend the New Year ball.”
Juhee tilted her head.
“Can’t they just heal it with magic?”
“Oh my, you don’t know much about mages, do you? The only mages are Imperial Mages, and they exist solely for the Imperial Family. They can’t leave the palace.”
“Ah… I see.”
Elizabeth shrugged.
“At every ball held in the palace, Lady Roberto was always His Majesty’s partner. I wonder what will happen this time. His Majesty must have quite a headache.”
“……”
“Shall we begin the lesson?”
Elizabeth’s lessons were much more relaxed.
That didn’t mean she taught carelessly.
“When holding utensils, shape your hand like this. Watch and try to follow.”
Juhee tried to mimic her, but it didn’t go as smoothly as she thought, and her brows furrowed slightly.
“There’s no need to rush. No one does it perfectly at first. I’ll guide you.”
She spoke gently as she adjusted Juhee’s fingers.
“It may feel awkward at first, but if you keep holding it this way, you’ll get used to it.”
Worried Juhee might get bored, she chatted intermittently during the lesson.
“I’ll check whether you practiced next time, so don’t neglect it. See you then.”
“Goodbye.”
After the lesson, Juhee left her room to go to the library.
“Oh, where are you going?”
“To the library for a bit.”
“Yes, understood.”
Since Juhee had previously said it was burdensome to be followed, the maids no longer trailed behind her.
Instead, unseen guards followed her—but she didn’t notice.
When she arrived at the library, she stepped inside.
It was enormous.
It felt like it would take an entire day to explore it all.
At that moment, a man in a white robe approached her.
“Hello, I am Ian, the librarian. Is there a book you’re looking for?”
“Do you have any books… about spirits?”
“This way, please.”
Ian smiled softly and led the way.
Juhee followed him, looking around curiously.
“Here it is. If you’d like to borrow a book, bring it to me. Please take your time browsing.”
Ian gave a slight bow and left.
Juhee remained still until he disappeared from view, then began to move.
Her fingers traced along the spines of the books.
“Everything About Spirits….”
She picked the one that caught her eye the most.
The beginning explained the origins of spirits.
[Originally, earth, water, fire, and wind possess souls but have no physical form. However, through the grace of the ancient goddess Iris, they gained form, and that is what later came to be called spirits.]
It was quite interesting.
Juhee quickly became absorbed in the book.
[The lower water spirit is Undine. It resembles a mermaid, is made of water, and has a fierce temperament.]
Juhee tilted her head.
Was Undine really fierce?
Not at all.
She was friendly and talkative.
The contradiction made Juhee quickly lose trust in the book.
It seemed the author didn’t know much about spirits either, as there were few details.
In the end, she gained nothing useful and put the book back.
Then her gaze landed on another book on the next shelf.
The spine read in elegant lettering: How to Become a Spirit Master.
Since Rowen had asked if she was a spirit master after seeing her summon a spirit, it seemed such people did exist in this empire.
She pulled out the book and began reading.
[To become a spirit master, there is one essential requirement: affinity with nature. When measured, the orb must turn at least blue. However, such individuals are extremely rare.]
An illustration of a round orb colored in a faint blue was drawn on the page.
[Only about 5 out of 100 people meet this condition. The following content is intended only for those whose orb turns blue.]
Juhee paused briefly, then turned the page.
[To summon a water spirit, recite the following: “Undine, who governs water, if you desire a contract, answer my call.”]
Juhee tilted her head.
She had summoned Undine just by calling her name—no such complicated phrase was needed.
Still, she continued reading just in case.
[If Undine appears, form a contract in your name. A seal will be engraved on your desired body part, and by calling her name, she will appear whenever you wish. Remember: spirits are fickle, so you must appease them. Only through a contract can you borrow a spirit’s power.]
Juhee traced the sentence with her finger.
According to the book, one must form a contract to use a spirit’s power.
But in her memory, Undine had used her power freely without any contract.
To find answers, Juhee quickly flipped through several pages.
