Ch. 83
I only came to my senses in a lavish room completely unfamiliar to me, after the sun had already set.
“Warp sickness… It’s proportional to the distance you travel by warp…”
Half out of it, I lay on the dark bed and murmured emptily.
Back when I first came to Elan at ten years old, it was a group trip, so we split up the journey and used a warp facility that could handle large numbers, traveling in two groups.
So the physical shock hadn’t been this bad.
I threw up a bit, couldn’t walk for a while, but at least I hadn’t seen the River of Death.
But this time, with the king’s privilege, we warped straight from Dmitri to Elan in a single go, and as a result, I felt like I’d dipped my feet in the River of Death and barely pulled them out.
If I could, I’d go back and smack my past self for thinking I could handle it since it was just one trip.
[Master, you went thunk! and fainted. Thunk!]
Rai was being annoyingly oblivious again, so I had to clutch my still-spinning head and frown.
“Be honest. My pain makes you happy, doesn’t it?”
[What? No way! Your pain is my pain!]
“Your voice sounds way too cheerful.”
[You’ve got it all wrong. Hehe.]
I definitely heard him laugh. That guy’s gotten sly after ten years in the human world.
Normally, I wouldn’t let it go, but I didn’t have the energy to get angry right now.
“Ugh… my head…”
[Well, you fell forward. Thunk!]
“I’ll kill you…”
[Kyah, scary.]
“Enough, just make a mirror.”
Rai crawled up to me and expertly bit his midsection, stiffening his body.
A blank, round space filled with glass, then turned silver, and Rai quickly became a perfect mirror.
I looked at my face in the mirror with a handle shaped like a snake.
I wanted to see if I had a bruise on my forehead, but it was too dark to see.
“Ador.”
[You need me, Master!]
Ador, the spirit of electricity, had an effect similar to the magic “Light” that wizards use, just by being summoned.
Using Ador’s natural glow, I confirmed that my forehead was fine.
“Thanks, you can go back now.”
[What? But I don’t think I’ve done anything yet!]
Ador was really handy whenever I was too lazy to turn on the lights.
“No, you’re a good spirit just by being here.”
[…Why are you suddenly being nice in such a creepy way? Did I do something wrong?]
Can’t even be nice to them without complaints.
“What do you all think of me?”
[Master, you’re just kind of like that, right?]
[What? How rude! Master’s personality is totally like that! Not just kind of, but totally!]
“You little—”
I seriously considered researching ways to kill spirits, when I sensed a small presence and someone knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
This place was so big it was almost embarrassing to call it a room.
[It’s probably a maid, Master.]
“Go back, Ador.”
[Next time, call me for something real!]
“What do you mean, ‘real’?”
[Fighting or hunting! Blood and guts! Monsters or, like, monsters or, well, monsters…]
Damn thing. I should cut off his mana.
Ador was always eager to be summoned, but always wanted to do something flashy.
If I asked him for something simple, he’d grumble. What he considered a real task always ended up being another ordeal for me.
‘What’s so great about meeting monsters, anyway?’
Creak.
I hadn’t even told her to come in, but one of the double doors quietly opened and a maid came in.
She made direct eye contact with me, sitting on the bed.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!”
“Hmm?”
“I thought you were asleep…”
The maid, who seemed to be my age, hurriedly bowed in apology, but I didn’t have the energy to be angry anyway.
I wasn’t the type to fuss over etiquette, either.
Honestly, I’d been at the academy so long, I’d barely experienced typical noble life. So I only knew etiquette in theory at best.
“What is it?”
“I have a message from His Majesty Dikel III.”
“Let’s see it.”
With a gesture, the neatly placed envelope on the tray was handed to me.
I glanced once at the maid trying hard to be polite, then opened the envelope.
As I unfolded the letter, I grew uneasy, wondering what the king must think of me.
It must have been his first time seeing someone pass out from warping.
Even thinking about it, I couldn’t imagine a more humiliating experience.
For an attendant tasked with guarding and supporting the king to just collapse…
And I’d begged to be brought along as an attendant, even though I’d never had any training for it. That made it all the more embarrassing and shameful.
“Life’s been so busy that I’m only now checking in. I hope you’re feeling better. You joined the rest of the attendants for today’s schedule, so don’t worry.
We’ll still have enough people until tomorrow morning, so I hope you’ll rest up. If it’ll be too much to join the party tomorrow afternoon, please let us know in advance.
Wishing for G’s swift recovery, D.”
“And he sent this, as well.”
The maid offered a small box of chocolates.
I was so touched, I almost felt a surge of patriotism.
Truly, our king is a wonderful person. He’s got a good sense for things.
Even in the past, the king was pretty open about favoring me—to the point that rumors spread at the academy that Dikel III liked me as a woman.
He’d given me a private training hall, created a Spirit Studies department for me, kept it going even when there weren’t any students for years, and spared support for anything I wanted.
But I can guarantee, the king only ever saw me as a “talented person” worth having around.
‘A kind of investment? Trying to make me more patriotic…’
It’s a bit embarrassing to say myself, but I was a rare genius not just in Dmitri but across the continent.
Since my talent was in the unpopular field of spirit magic, though, I didn’t have a shred of the fame someone like Rovenin Fedri had.
Anyway, no matter what anyone else said, Dikel III was someone I was truly grateful for—he spared no effort to fully support me so I could devote myself to training.
There was absolutely no reason for me to dislike him.
To me, he was an excellent patron, and an indispensable wise king for the country where I was born and raised.
“Hmm.”
As I folded the letter again, my expression turned a bit serious.
Because I’d fainted, I hadn’t done almost any of my attendant duties. Now I felt a sense of pressure, determined to at least do well at the party.
If a person were perfect, life would be boring, so I wasn’t exactly a genius when it came to being a lady.
I sprang up and climbed out of bed, then rummaged through my neatly arranged luggage.
Was it in here? No, over here.
I boldly pulled out the book I’d brought for tomorrow. As long as I have this!
“You Too Can Be a Lady! Complete Party Etiquette”
I borrowed it from the library.
Seeing books like this around made me think I wasn’t the only one who struggled with party etiquette.
Even though I chose the thinnest, smallest one, it was still filled with lots of writing and illustrations.
I was flipping through the pages when a voice came from behind me.
“…Um, if you don’t need anything else, may I be excused?”
Ah, right. The maid was still here.
I wasn’t used to having a maid around, so I just assumed she’d leave on her own.
Lost in my own world, I turned around belatedly, and not sure how to interpret my steady gaze, she lifted her skirt and bent her knees in a curtsy.
“I’m sorry for the late greeting. My name is Chelsea, and I’m a maid of the Topaz Palace assigned to attend to you, Lady Crowell.”
“Topaz Palace…”
“It’s one of the seventeen palaces in the royal palace for hosting guests. It’s specifically for guest accommodations.”
“So, if you’re in charge of me, that means you’re my personal maid?”
“That’s correct.”
The royal palace really is on a different scale. An attendant’s own personal maid, huh.
Impressive, isn’t it? The fact they have enough staff for that is really something.
I mean, there must be plenty of guests here for the founding party.
“So, does every guest get their own personal maid?”
“Yes, I believe every state guest staying at the palace is assigned one.”
“Then His Majesty Dikel III is staying in Topaz Palace too?”
“He’s staying in the central building inside the palace. If you wish to send a reply, I can deliver it anytime.”
Nodding, I took a closer look at Chelsea.
Maybe because she was a palace maid, her uniform seemed quite luxurious.
It had a sense of class. She seemed a cut above the attendants at the academy.
“Are you the one who braided my hair, by any chance…?”
“Yes, that was me.”
When I’d come to my senses on the bed, my hair had been beautifully braided by someone.
The end of the braid was decorated with a blue silk ribbon, hanging gently over one shoulder, and I’d been changed into my pajamas from my luggage, feeling completely comfortable.
So it was all this young lady’s handiwork.
“I’ll also help you prepare for tomorrow night’s party. If you need anything else, please let me know. I’ll do my utmost to serve you during your stay.”
“Help me get ready? Is there that much to do?”
“Of course! Getting a lady ready for a party takes a lot of time. It’s not something you can do alone.
You’ll need hair accessories, a dress, makeup…”
“Ah, right.”
I finally understood what party preparations actually meant.
Sure enough, I’d brought dresses and jewelry just in case. I’d naively thought I just needed to put them on.
“I’m glad you’ll be helping. As you can see, I’m not really used to parties.”
“What? You don’t look that way at all.”
Chelsea widened her eyes in disbelief, so I quietly shook the book I’d brought.
“You Too Can Be a Lady! Complete Party Etiquette”
I was completely serious. Chelsea’s pupils trembled.
“Then I’ll be relying on you.”
“E-eh?”
“My party debut depends entirely on your capable hands. Okay?”
“D-Debut, you said?”
That’s right. My party debut was riding on Chelsea’s skilled touch.
I reached out ever so carefully.
Chelsea looked like she might actually faint when I started to massage her shoulders.