[If I go to the palace, I’ll have to see the empress. I don’t want to go.]

‘Empress’

As my body hardened seeing the word, I kept looking at the diary for a long time.

* * *

“My Lady, what happened overnight?! Your face, face…!”

“The skin is so puffy…!”

“You didn’t apply charcoal under your eyes, right?”

Is it really that bad?

When I touched my cheek and looked in the mirror, I saw that my dark circles had become quite prominent. It was the result of having stayed up all night.

‘I couldn’t sleep after reading the entry in the diary about the Empress.’

All sleepiness vanished the moment the word ‘Empress’ appeared, and I searched the room thoroughly throughout the morning. I did so because I was anxious and expecting to find more clues. However, no significant results were obtained.

‘How did Rosetta know the empress?’

I frowned at the unanswerable question and as I stared at the floor, I heard a voice from behind me calling out to me.

“My Lady, My Lady!”

Perhaps they found a solution in that short amount of time, because the maids’ eyes, which were filled with despair a while ago, shone like hyenas who had found their prey

“My Lady, come here.”

“Wait, why are your eyes weird? ”

“Don’t be afraid. We’ll be gentle.”

Have their eyes lost focus? I was scared out of my mind, so I stretched out my hand towards Marina.

“Marina. Help me!”

“Don’t worry, My Lady. Everything will be alright.”

Alright? What alright?! Marina abandoned me with a gracious smile. The ‘hyenas’ eventually grabbed both my arms and shoulders and dragged me into the bathroom. They used various massage and beauty techniques on me. By the time I came back to my senses, I was in front of the mirror.

‘Wait, what just happened…?’

The maid, who had already finished preparations, raised her brush with a determined expression and gently stroked my face. When I opened my closed eyes, my perfectly styled face was reflected in the mirror. I just blinked blankly at their incredible skills.

“Wow… That’s amazing.”

“Thank you.”

The maid rubbed her nose and curved the corners of her eyes. She was friendly and didn’t seem to be afraid of me.

‘Aren’t you afraid of me?’

In the Duchy, even if I just squinted my eyes, people would tremble, crying ‘Please help me…!’ but here if I did the same, then the people would try to comfort me by saying ‘It’s alright’ or ‘Our Lady is in a bad mood again.’ Their attitude was refreshing, but at the same time I also found it awkward.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No, I was just remembering how I used to be.”

To be more specific, I had no idea what to make of their unusually different reaction.

“What did you all think of me? Be honest with me.”

“My lady, you were a perfect master for us; you were lovely, cute, pretty, and even sweet.”

“Me?”

“You were the most affectionate of all. Whether it was a person or an animal, you would pick them up if they were in pain. Don’t you recall?”

“That, I…”

The maids chattered excitedly as if they couldn’t see my uneasy expression

Affectionate… it was a very inappropriate word for Rosetta.

‘I don’t think the reason is puberty. There’s something fishy about it.’

There is no way puberty would change someone this drastically. Can people suddenly become so different? It appeared that there was a hidden story behind it that I was unaware of.

“I’ll finish it now.”

Meanwhile, the maid rushed to finish the exquisite makeup. My waist-length hair was pulled up and decorated with pearls, and a necklace made by Asila hung around my exposed slender neck. Finally, after fastening the earrings, the maids covered their mouths in awe.

“You look so beautiful, young lady.”

“The gift from Asila’s workshop also suits you very well.”

Surely Asila’s abilities were impressive enough to attract attention. The brooch I got this morning was also perfect. Even I was in awe of Asila, who made the picture of the earthworm crawling perfectly.

I had asked Leonard to deliver the brooch to Sihael before he left for work in the morning. Leonard suggested that Sihael might not wear such a brooch, but I’m not sure.

‘I gave it to him, so how can he refuse to wear it?’

I’m curious how attractive he’ll be today.

* * *