Ch. 85
“Look! How beautiful you are! There isn’t a woman in the world who isn’t beautiful.”
Only then did I finally see how I’d been dressed up.
“Ah.”
The blue dress my parents had sent as a birthday present matched my eye color perfectly. It was so clear that whoever missed my gaze had chosen the dress, thinking of me.
The pale blue gem earring and necklace set had been a kind of honorary gift from Dikel III the year I became known for contracting with a mid-level spirit.
Both the dress and the jewelry set were being opened for the first time for this occasion.
If not for this founding party, they might have spent their whole lives buried in the corner of my room, never seeing the light of day.
It was quite a satisfying combination.
[Oh, you look pretty.]
[Rai, you actually say something right once in a while?]
[I have to, to survive…]
[What was that?]
[You are the most beautiful in the world.]
Rai was grating on my nerves as usual, but since I was busy admiring myself in the mirror, I let it slide this time.
I realized my blonde hair could be styled like this too.
Since we couldn’t find a hair accessory, we’d braided it skillfully and decorated it with a thin lace ribbon, which gave me an intellectual air.
The light makeup made my lips stand out and gave me an extremely feminine look.
Apparently, I had skin that took makeup very well.
“I told you, I’m pretty good looking, right?”
“Of course! Truly beautiful. Blonde hair and blue eyes—the ultimate! The symbol of nobility! The pinnacle of elegance! It’s the hair color of a goddess!”
Oops, I meant to say that to Rai, but ended up bragging out loud.
Thanks to Chelsea responding as if she were used to it, it wasn’t too embarrassing.
[Pft.]
[Don’t laugh.]
Rai, having shrunk to half his usual size, quietly wrapped himself around my wrist, pretending to be a snake-shaped bracelet.
His small head rested lightly on the back of my hand, and today, his eyes were blue instead of red.
A white snake with blue eyes is so unreal that anyone would just think it was an odd accessory.
Ten years as a pet white snake—Rai’s gotten truly skilled at pretending to be one of my accessories.
“Perfect! You look amazing, Lady Crowell!”
Chelsea was extremely generous with her praise, and when I awkwardly turned to look at myself in the mirror, she even clapped for me.
“I’ve helped many young ladies dress up, but you are by far the most beautiful, Lady Crowell! Who would ever guess this is your debut?”
“Ahem, thank you.”
“I wish you the best night ever!”
“The best night, huh.”
“May you meet a wonderful gentleman.”
I couldn’t care less about that.
I did want to meet Ash, but not in a romantic way—and now that I knew he wasn’t even in Elan, it just felt pointless.
This was, unmistakably, a party with no goal.
Still, I genuinely enjoyed how I looked all dressed up. When would I ever get to dress like this again?
* * *
With little time left before the party.
The entrance to Topaz Palace was packed with carriages waiting for their masters and guests heading to the party.
Staying at Topaz Palace meant you were hand-picked by the royal family and assigned lodging within the palace, so everyone there was loud and full of themselves.
I stood among them, blankly watching the early evening sun set in the distance.
To be precise, I was waiting for King Dikel III.
Normally, the man is supposed to come out and wait first, but if the other party is royalty or nobility, things are different.
[Master! Can I eat the gems that woman’s wearing?]
[No.]
[Then how about that man’s over there—]
[Rai, you’re forbidden from asking to eat anything for the entire day.]
[What? How could you give me such a cruel ordeal!]
It’s not an ordeal—it’s just basic manners!
I needed to keep Rai in check since we were about to enter a field of gems.
Once we got to the party, there’d be people dripping in jewels everywhere.
Just then, a woman who looked like a foreign princess walked by wearing about fifteen times more jewelry than me.
Rai, forgetting he was pretending to be a bracelet, turned his head that way.
[Rai!]
[Oops, I did it without thinking.]
Are you trying to make me look like a lunatic who brings a snake to parties?
[If I do anything wrong here today, I could literally lose my head!]
[But Master! Not being allowed to move or eat anything while in this form is torture!]
[You’re not even hungry. Deal with it!]
Rai’s appetite didn’t diminish with time.
It’s not like I wanted to bring him everywhere with me, either.
The problem was, if I let him go, there was no telling what kind of trouble he’d cause, and whenever he wasn’t around, something bad always happened.
It was awkward to tell him not to stray too far, so a few years ago I even considered sending him back to the spirit world.
Not permanently—just to summon him as needed like Undine or Ador.
But that turned out to be impossible.
Rai said if I sent him back to the spirit world, all the metals he’d eaten in the middle realm would spill out and cover the academy. Like a mountain of metal.
A mountain of metal—that was basically a disaster.
He’d picked up so much over the years that he’d turned into a crawling bomb.
How did he even manage to eat that much?
[Master! The king is coming.]
I almost lost my balance in these unfamiliar high heels, but somehow managed to steady myself and look for the king.
Royalty and nobles had ceremonial attire only they could wear, so you could always tell their rank just by looking at them.
Even if you didn’t know someone’s face, you could tell by their clothes if they were royalty or noble.
No matter how extravagantly rich nobles dressed, they could never compare to the restrained elegance of those official robes.
King Dikel III was walking out of the palace, accompanied by his attendants.
Judging by the fact that I came from a different entrance, it seemed the royal family’s quarters were set in a more private area.
“Your Majesty.”
Before the king could look for me, I hurried over and gave a proper curtsy, lifting the hem of my skirt just so.
“And who do we have here?”
“Your subject, Geenie Crowell.”
“I hardly recognized you.”
It seemed even the king thought my transformation wasn’t bad at all.
“Is your health better now?”
“Thanks to you.”
“That’s good to hear. You were just a little girl back then.”
“That was ages ago, Your Majesty.”
I genuinely liked King Dikel III as a person.
Unlike the emperor of Elan, he didn’t let the weight of his crown crush those around him.
When he laughed out loud like this, he even seemed cheerful.
“True enough. Shall we go, then?”
“Yes.”
I was more polite than ever.
As I took King Dikel III’s hand, I tried to find the right timing to ask him if we could take the overland route instead of warping when we returned to Dmitri.
But thanks to a perfectly timed carriage stopping in front of us, that had to wait until later.
The other attendants went ahead and opened the carriage door, politely seeing out the king, and I boarded as his escort.
Only the king and I were going to the party together.
* * *
An attendant’s basic duty was to follow and protect their master.
Not that I’d ever need to protect King Dikel III, who was a Swordmaster himself.
And my assigned attendant role was simply to accompany him to the party—truly a duty with nothing to do.
Someone of high status shouldn’t attend a party alone, so an escort was only there to stand beside them during the entrance.
If the king turned a blind eye, it was a post leisurely enough to allow for private time.
“Welcome to the Founding Anniversary Party. Please show your invitation.”
The doorman in a silver uniform, with his crisp motions and posture, looked like a knight by training.
I handed him the invitation sealed with the crest of Elan.
That was my job as an attendant—and nearly my only job.
“His Majesty King Dikel III of Dmitri and his attendant, Baroness Lady Crowell!”
The doorman announced our entrance through a magically amplified microphone.
I lightly held onto the king’s elbow, walked up the stairs, and watched as the grand doors slowly opened.
It felt like stepping into dazzling light.
* * * * * *
(T/N: Still not back to a regular upload schedule, but I’ll be uploading at least 5 chapters per series every week, in order based on the most recent series I picked up. No fixed days yet, but I’ll keep the bulk uploads coming as best as I can!)
