Chapter 41
âCome on in.â
âYes, thank you.â
Countess Maria timidly entered Roselinaâs room.
âYou may sit here.â
Countess Maria, sitting at the couch, casually admired.
âIs this a rose made of gold? Iâve never seen such a beautiful rose.â
âYes, I got it as a gift from Duke Blake.â
Soon the two got down to business.
âThe roses I promoted are now misunderstood. So, could Countess Maria help me?â
âOf course.â
Countess Maria readily agreed to Roselinaâs request.
Roselina smiled at the golden rose stuck in the Orihalcon vase.
***
The day of the visit to the Empress has arrived.
[A new quest has arrived. Do you want to check?]
A quest appeared as I prepared to go out with the help of the maids.
[Scenario âHero of the Empireâ]
Congratulations on the opening of to a new fate!
There will be many difficulties and hardships in proceeding with this scenario.
Many interests are intertwined. It may not be reversible.
In order to proceed with the scenario The Hero of the Empire, you must meet the hidden conditions and move on.
Donât give up even if itâs a tough journey. Youâve already taken the first step in the screenplay, Hero of the Empire!
â Condition: â¦.
â Reward: 50 Fate Energy
âWhat is this?â
You want me to proceed with the quest without telling me the conditions?
As the days went by, the system window felt shameless.
I rolled my eyes and refused the quest.
[Itâs a quest that you canât refuse. It will be accepted automatically.]
âItâs a headache.â
I glared at the system window with force in my eyes.
âWhy do you keep accepting quests?â
Especially, how do you want me to solve this problem without telling me the conditions?
[There are precautions for this quest. Do you want to check?]
How much more complicated are you going to make it to be?
[NOTE: When you find out the conditions of a quest, you have a fixed chance to guess the answer.
If you are wrong more than three times, this quest will automatically fail.
The quest failure penalty is a predetermined fate enforcement.]
I hate the system for a little bit.
âLady Roselina, you canât open your eyes.â
ââ¦Okay.â
But all I could do was keep my eyes closed.
And to the point of swearing at the system inside.
***
âAre you in 8th grade or what? Why are you acting so secretive?â
âIâm a great and secretive being who keeps the secrets of the world to himself. Are you doing this?â
âWhat are those terms? It doesnât make sense at all. Find out who the master is. Is that what it is?â
I was excited because time went by well as I was talking to the system.
[Quest Scenario, âThe Hero of the Empireâ] (1)You have met some of the conditions for completing >!]
[Quest ] (1)Failed to meet conditions to complete >!]
[Two chances left]
Until these words appear.
âNo, wait a minute.â
You didnât say I have to get the answer right.
âWhy are you grading it on your own?â
This is invalid!
But whatever I shouted, the system didnât budge.
[Condition: Find out the identity]
âIs this all you need to do?â
Thatâs it.
The system was silent, as if it had nothing more to say.
âJust thinking about it makes me feel like Iâm already submitting the answer, so I have to be careful.â
Letâs go with the elimination method.
âIf I think about the person I met recently⦠Master, and then Calix.â
It was then.
I closed my eyes tightly when I saw the white window swaying.
âDonât grade it however you want!â
Then I opened my eyes.
[You met some of the conditions to complete the quest scenario âHero of Empireâ! (1)]
[Condition: Find out who Callix Blake is]
âUhâ¦â¦â¦?â
You can do this?
I was full of questions, but I didnât have time to think more about it.
âItâs time for you to leave.â
âAll right.â
Letâs go to the palace first.
âI am pleased to see Your Majesty the Empress. My name is Roselina Brighton.â
âWelcome. You donât know how much I missed the princess.â
âIâm honored to have a private meeting with Her Majesty.â
âOh my, you speak so beautifully.â
The empress welcomed me more than expected.
A good-looking smile just like the Duke of Blakeâs.
âThereâs no harm in being careful.â
The empress is a survivor of the palace where all kinds of battles come and go.
I donât know what Iâm up against today.
âPrincess Brighton is here today, so bring us some special refreshments.â
âYes, Your Majesty.â
***
While the lady-in-waiting was serving tea, she had a little chat with the empress.
âYour reputation is so noticeable these days, right? The story flowed all the way into the palace.â
âIâm flattered. Thereâs no such thing as an active role.â
âYou donât have to be so modest. Everyone already knows that you saved the Duchy of Brighton.â
The empress watched Roselina with a fast beating heart.
Something was off.
Obviously, theyâre laughing and chatting.
âI feel like sheâs testing me.â
To be exact, she seemed to be making sure that what happened at my fatherâs birthday party was under my leadership.
Soon my prediction turned to certainty.
âI heard this is healthy for the body, so I got it specially. Letâs try it.â
The tea that the empress gave me was dark brown.
âItâs a color Iâve seen before.â
The scent was also familiar.
âItâs a tea made with acarotia leaves.â
If she doesnât know this, sheâs a fool.
âI donât think the Empress called me to back me up.â
It was obvious that she was trying to test me for some reason.
âI wonât avoid a fight I walked into first.â
I smiled as if I knew nothing.
***
âHurry up and drink.â
âThank you. Itâs an honor to have a special cup of tea prepared by Her Majesty.â
Roselina, who answered with great delight, drank the tea as it was.
âHow does the tea taste? I donât know if it suits your taste.â
Roselina took another sip of tea, whether she knew that the empressâ eyes shook in an instant.
âItâs really delicious. Iâve never had tea like this before.â
âReally? I was worried, but Iâm glad.â
âYou didnât have to worry, I love it so much that I want to buy it for Her Majesty.â
The empress tried to slow Roselina down from drinking tea by talking to her somehow.
But to no avail.
Roselina drank tea in the middle while talking to the empress.
âThe glass is already empty.â
When Roselina finished the last sip, the empressâ face darkened a little.
The empress quickly managed her expression.
Kuk!
The moment Roselina coughed, the Empressâs calm broke down.
âDuchess, are you not feeling well today?â
âItâs not like that. Iâm sorry. Kuk! Whatâs wrong with me all of a suddenâ¦?â
âNo, you need to think about your body more than that. If youâre not feeling well, you can go back.â
âIâm okay. Khuk, kuk!â
As Roselinaâs cough got worse, the empressâ face darkened.
âDuchess! Are you all right?â
âYes, Iâm alright. Kuk!â
The conversation has not continued since then. It was because Roselina couldnât speak because she was coughing continuously.
âKukukuk!â
âI canât do it. The Duchess is in a terrible condition, so you can take her to the carriage.â
âYes, Your Majesty.â
It was when the restless empress tried to send Roselina to the ladies.
âKhuk!â
âPrincess!â
âPrincess!â
Roselina, who shook her upper body and coughed loudly, vomited a handful of blood and collapsed.
One maid of honor was so surprised that she ran to Roselina even though there was no order from the empress.
âDuchess? Duchess! Get a hold of yourself.â
No matter how much the maid shouted and shook, Roselina couldnât open her eyes.
The maid hastily put her finger under Roselinaâs nose.
âFortunately, sheâs breathing. She seems to have lost consciousness!â
The Empress was taken aback by the maidâs words.
âNo, no, no, no, no, no, no. Call the imperial doctor. And everyone out of this room!â
The Empress cried out.
When the ladies went out, the empress revealed her innermost thoughts.
âWhatâs going on?â
She was just trying to test Roselina for a while.
âThat tea is just an imitation of acarotia tea, but the ingredients are different.â
It wasnât really a poisonous tea. There was no reason for her to poison Roselina.
But there was no one to believe the word in this situation.
Princess Brighton and Duchess of Palesdon collapsed at the Empressâ Palace, spitting blood after drinking tea from the Empress.
It was a perfect number for aristocrats to gather under the pretext of this incident.
If Roselina dies like thisâ¦â¦â¦!
âNo, you must not die at all cost!â
The empress lost her composure and blamed herself.
âWhy the hell did I do that? I must have lost my mind for a secondâ¦â¦â¦!â
âI know. Why did you do that to me?â
So when Roselinaâs voice was heard, she couldnât believe it for a moment.
âWhatâ¦â¦â¦â¦?â
âWhy did you test me?â
But it was the same when she rubbed her eyes and looked again.
Roselina, who had collapsed after vomiting blood, was awake with her eyes open.
âWhat is thisâ¦â¦â¦â¦.â
âOh, this? Itâs fake blood.â
I thought this would happen, so I prepared this.
Roselina smiled refreshingly.