Event Hell

Noah, looking out the window, glanced at Asher with just a movement of his eyes upon hearing his candid words. He could see Asher quietly looking at a photo of Olivia smiling brightly.

Noticing his brother’s gentle and affectionate expression, Noah tilted his head.

“So, have you fallen for her or something?”

Asher, who had been looking at Olivia’s photo, frowned at Noah’s teasing tone and looked up.

“Do you really have to speak like that when I’m simply expressing admiration?”

Noah crossed his arms and crossed his legs, his long legs almost touching Asher’s shins across from him.

“Understand Father? That woman participated in at least fifteen events in just three days. And that’s only what’s been inferred from the newspapers. She must be completely worn out by now. Despite being intelligent and having some resolve, he’s dragging around a commoner, who isn’t even his own child, Asher.”

Of course, Noah, who had used her as a shield, wasn’t one to talk.

“That’s not what I meant, Noah.”

Asher replied calmly.

“I wasn’t saying it’s okay for Father to drag her around excessively. I genuinely think she’s remarkable.”

At those words, Noah then squinted his eyes and curled one corner of his mouth, asking lazily,

“Really fallen for her, have you?”

“Stop taunting, Noah Astrid.”

Eventually, Asher’s tone became sharp.

The brothers stared each other down, their eyes conveying insults they didn’t voice. Noah shook his head and looked away first. He was the one who provoked Asher needlessly. Why did he get riled up? There was no need for that.

Outside the stopped carriage, her face appeared again.

Olivia Liberty.

Truly a name that stirred many.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Event Hell.

Leonard had scheduled events for Olivia up until the morning of the maze garden party but ended up facing the outrage of Margot and the Queen.

“Why are you doing this, Your Majesty?! Olivia has events scheduled even for this morning?! With her departure tomorrow, have you scheduled events for then, too?! Since when has Astrid treated its guests like this?!”

“Quiet, Margot! And Olivia hasn’t been troubled either! I’ve been keeping an eye on her condition…”

As Leonard raised his voice, Queen Beatrice intervened.

“What rudeness to Princess Margot?! She’s not wrong! I wanted to make up for Lucy’s mistake by gifting Miss Liberty a beautiful dress, but due to all these events, the fitting for the dress was difficult. This is really too much, even for you.”

“Aheeemm.”

“Even fitting throughout the entire morning wasn’t enough time, so please, let’s stop now. Lucy was so looking forward to meeting Miss Liberty, yet how could every single day be filled with events like this? Plus, Miss Liberty must be tired by now.”

“She wasn’t as tired as you think, Trixie…”

“Don’t call me by my nickname!”

At Queen Beatrice’s sharp rebuke, while she was always known for her gentleness, the secretary quickly pulled out a notebook and crossed out the events listed under Olivia’s name.

Wow, there were three just in the morning.

Leonard’s sigh, having been too enthusiastic about creating non-existent events, seemed to echo like an auditory hallucination. The King always argued that attending events was a necessary duty for the prestige of the royal family, but honestly, at this point, one must agree he simply loved events themselves.

“Let’s go, Princess Margot.”

As the Queen turned and left the King’s office with dignity, followed by Margot, the King’s muffled complaints followed them. Still, the two women didn’t blink an eye.

“If it weren’t for you, Your Majesty, I would have had to raise my voice for a long while. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, Margot. I was as fed up as one could be. I’ve never seen guest treatment so frivolously handled before.”

Queen Beatrice looked clearly fed up and boarded the waiting carriage first. Margot followed, and the carriage for use within the palace started moving smoothly.

As the weather had turned chilly, the Queen wrapped herself in a shawl, and Margot closed the open window for her. The Queen gazed meaninglessly at the familiar palace scenery passing by before quietly turning her gaze towards Margot.

“Miss Liberty is nineteen this year, isn’t she? To graduate from Herolington at such an age, she must be a prodigy. I’ve never seen the King so pleased before.”

Margot nodded with a smile.

“She’s remarkable, indeed. And let me tell you, she’s strong.”

The fact that Margot, who was usually not so friendly, had come all this way despite all the hassles showed just how impressive Olivia was.

After hesitating for a while, the Queen brought up the subject she had been thinking about for days.

“What if we ask Miss Liberty to become Lucy’s tutor… How about that?”

“….”

Margo simply looked at the queen, the sound of hooves clattering, filling the air between them. As the carriage entered the main fountain garden of the guest palace, the Queen nodded bitterly.

“Indeed… She’s too beautiful for that.”

At a party the Queen hadn’t attended, the prodigal sons had behaved rudely towards Olivia in front of everyone. No daughter of a lesser noble would have been cornered in such a manner. Olivia, who was a commoner without a family, could easily become a target for her beauty.

“And Herod is quite close-minded, after all.”

With Margot’s cynical addition, the Queen of Herod could only sigh softly, unable to argue.

…In a place where even the Princess couldn’t go to school without her father’s permission.

“Forget you heard that, Margot. Instead, when you return, could you occasionally update me on that lady? I suspect I’ll be curious.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As the carriage gradually came to a stop, Beatrice’s expression, mingled with concern, brightened up and cheerily remarked,

“It seems we’ve arrived. I do hope the dress is to your liking.”

Truthfully, Margot hadn’t wanted Olivia to wear the dress at this party but couldn’t bring herself to say so. Even if she was the royal family’s rebel, Margot couldn’t interfere with a gift from the Queen.

Her time in Herod was a continuous sequence of surprises and awkward moments.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Suddenly, the news came that the event was canceled, and a dignified middle-aged woman came looking for Olivia.

“Hello, Miss Liberty. It’s a pleasure to meet someone so well-known. I’d love to exchange long and warm greetings, but there’s no time. Please, start by taking off your clothes.”

“…Pardon?”

Coming to her and suddenly asking her to take off her clothes?

Olivia asked back in embarrassment but was quickly stripped of her shirt and skirt by the woman’s great spirit.

“Ooh? What are you doing?! Hold on!”

“There’s no time for waiting, Miss. I’ve been in this business for nearly thirty years, and this is the first time I’m doing a fitting on the day. Please let go of your shirt.”

“Who are you, exactly?! I need an explanation!”

When Olivia firmly pushed away the woman’s hands and demanded answers, the woman sighed deeply, placed her hands on her hips, and introduced herself.

“I’m Jane Ambrose from Ambrose Atelier. It’s a pleasure to meet you. To proceed with the dress fitting, we need to remove your current clothes. Only then can we try on the dress, right?”

Jane Ambrose reassured Olivia that there were only women here and said there was nothing in the Miss’ body(?) that she hadn’t seen before. She pressed the urgency because she had to make it for the banquet today.

“…A dress?”

Jane pointed to a dress laid out to the side and began to undo the buttons of her shirt. Startled, Olivia hurriedly began unbuttoning herself and cautiously slipped off her skirt.

“The dress ordered by Her Majesty should have been fitted by yesterday at the latest. We’re already late.”

“I thought I was just going to wear a shirt and skirt?”

Hearing that, Jane glanced at the shirt and skirt laid on the sofa and widened her eyes as if she had heard nonsense.

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