There were three things I needed to do.
First, I needed to talk to the priestess and find a way back home.
Second, I needed to find another woman who Lucretius could fall in love with.
Third, I needed to defeat the dowager empress.
After I organized my thoughts, I considered Lisbeth for my second goal. I did think about throwing Lisbeth in Lucretius’ way, but I knew this wouldn’t work.
Lisbeth wasn’t the right woman.
He told me once Lisbeth was not his type. On top of that, if Lisbeth did become Lucretius’s wife, it would work against me. She and Orlean hated me, so if Lisbeth gained any power, I would be in trouble.
I had to find a right girl. A girl who Lucretius would like but also someone who doesn’t hate me.
This was why I asked Samantha to bring me a list of names.
Samantha asked me curiously, “Your highness, may I ask why you wanted the list of ladies from the noble families loyal to the emperor?”
I smiled and gave her the answer I prepared in advance, “Things are getting so hectic for me, especially because of the preparation for the banquet, I am thinking about hiring one or two more maids.”
All the maids around me smiled in relief. Lisbeth was useless, and the amount of work they had to do was increasing fast. More hands would be welcomed.
“Great idea, my lady.”
“You are so wise, your highness.”
“Very wise indeed.”
“…”
While everyone complimented me, Lisbeth remained silent. She obviously didn’t like this idea. More girls meant more competition for her.
However, I had no reason to be considerate of Lisbeth’s feelings. I ignored her scathing glance and continued to read through the list.
***
Everyone was overwhelmed with the amount of work in preparation for the banquet. The emperor was the busiest person in the castle, but I also had an incredible amount of work. The emperor didn’t have an empress and the dowager empress was too pregnant to take on the responsibility. I needed to play the hostess for the biggest ball of this world.
Many of the big or small decisions needed to be made and confirmed by me. I was also asked to provide my opinion on the guest list.
I learned that the emperor needed to be the one to invite any single male or couples as an official decree, while I need to invite any single female attendants.
In most cases, most invitations were signed under the emperor’s name, but there were some that needed to be under the hostess’ name. Usually, it was the empress who took care of these things, but at this moment, I had to do it myself.
I was asked to make an invitation list of women I personally had to invite.
I started with the most obvious name.
‘The Priestess of Aos, Izvita.’
She was my only hope.
The priestess may be able to help me return home. I prayed this was true.
I wrote down her name carefully on the top.
Below, I added other names of single female or widows from noble families. Of course, these names were from the list that was already given to me by Samantha.
After completing the list, I handed it to Samantha.
“I’m done. Please send this to the committee.”
“Yes, your highness.”
Samantha took the paper respectfully. It was an official document with my seal on top.
Samantha was about to leave when someone grabbed it from her hand.
Samantha yelled in anger and shock, “Lady Lisbeth! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Lisbeth’s eyes widened at her scream and started to whimper, “I, I just… I was curious about the list… I wanted to know if my parents will be invited…”
Every maid and servant glared at her in frustration.
Samantha said to Lisbeth roughly, “Hand it back to me right now!”
Lisbeth didn’t obey right away. Even while sniveling, she continued to read through the list to check the names.
Lisbeth was educated enough that she could read, but she wasn’t very smart. She also didn’t have enough concentration level to read the list quickly. It took quite long for her to read all the names.
Samantha and Agnes both lost their patience after a while.
Agnes ordered angrily, “Return that list immediately to Duchess Gust!”
Lisbeth finally started to cry. She continued to look down on the paper as she accused me.
“How could this be? Sis, I mean… Your highness?! Why aren’t my parents’ name on this list?!”
“…”
A long silence fell. When I didn’t’ answer, Lisbeth yelled, “How could you not invite such an influential and important family like mine? Why? Is it truly because you hate my presence here? Orlean told me you are jealous of me because the emperor may show interest in me. Is that why?! How could you!? How could you let your personal feelings interfere with your duties for this kingdom… You are not worthy!”
“…”
I continued to frown and remain silent. I wanted to hear everything.
When no one stopped her, Lisbeth continued, “Did you really forget your debt to our family? How do you think you became the wife to the emperor? Is it really true you hate me and my mother because you tried to seduce my father?!”
What? What the hell was she talking about?!
When I was about to say something, Agnes roared like a lioness that lost its cub.
“What do you think you’re saying?!”
Agnes was so angry even I flinched a little. Lisbeth forgot she was crying.
Her eyes widened as Agnes continued furiously, “Are you sure you can take responsibility for what you have just said?!”
“I, I…!”
“You are here as one of the maids for the wife of the emperor! You must know every single word you say here will affect your whole family!”
“But her highness owes a great debt to my family…!”
Agnes’s face turned ugly.
“No one!” Her voice was booming. It echoed throughout the room. “No one would ever consider sacrificing another lady to save their own daughter a kind deed!”
Lisbeth’s face became red.
Agnes snatched the paper from Lisbeth and continued, “And if what you just said is true, it means your father, the Duke, molested his adopted daughter and then sent her to the emperor of Cransia. That would mean the Aeal colony has given an irreparable insult to the greatest kingdom known to man! It would be considered a treason against Cransia.”
Lisbeth turned pale.
Agnes lowered her voice and asked in confirmation, “Now, can you tell me again what happened?” It was said calmly, but it was clearly a threat.
Lisbeth started to whimper again.
Gosh, what an annoying girl. Whenever she felt like she was losing the battle, Lisbeth always turned to her greatest weapon: tears.
However, this time, she picked the wrong person.
Agnes asked again, “Lady Lisbeth! Please tell us! If what you said is really true, we need to tell the emperor! If it’s true, the Duke will be punished as a traitor. If not, then you and your mother, the Duchess, have lied and therefore need to be punished!”
Lisbeth was trapped. After a little more sniveling, Lisbeth quickly stopped crying and answered weakly, “I… I misspoke. My mother… She has never said anything like this either… And, what I said… It has never happened.”
Agnes smiled in satisfaction.
“Good. I’m glad to hear it!” She turned away from Lisbeth and added, “By the way, her highness only sends invitations to female guests who will be attending alone. As the Duke and Duchess will be attending together, the invitation will be sent under the emperor’s name. If you want to check whether they are invited, you should have asked the emperor.”
“…”
This was true. The fact that the Bonafit name wasn’t on my list didn’t mean anything. Lisbeth made a stupid mistake.
Elza added angrily, “We know you won’t be any help to us, but from now on, please at least try to learn what is going on around you.”
A few servants and maids snickered. Lisbeth’s face became even redder and started to whimper again, but no one showed her any sympathy.
Agnes showed me the paper and asked me apologetically, “I am sorry, your highness. The document has been dirtied, so we can’t send this to the committee. You will have to write another one. You already have so much work to do, so I apologize again.”
I smiled brightly and replied, “It’s ok, Agnes.”
