CHAPTER 031
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The Lotus Palace, where the eleven candidates were staying, was bustling day and night in preparation for the banquet.
This banquet, marking the start of the final contest, was effectively the candidates' second debutante ball. The scale had become enormously grand, and the outcome could determine the rise and fall of an entire family, or even a kingdom.
While it was a place that garnered the attention of the highest-ranking families representing the empire and the continental kingdoms, what was even more important was... it was the day the ladies would officially meet the Emperor for the first time.
Each candidate was allowed to dance with the Emperor once, and the Emperor could choose one candidate to dance with again at the end. Though dancing with the Emperor twice didn’t earn additional points in the contest, it certainly implied that the candidate had captured the Emperor’s favor, giving her a significant advantage in the competition.
No matter how committed the judges were to fairness, they could not ignore the Emperor’s preference.
The ladies practiced their charms in front of mirrors to become the stars of the day.
Princess Lilibet repeatedly puckered and unpuckered her trademark full lips provocatively, dramatically lifting her fan-shaped lashes to reveal her blue eyes.
The youngest daughter of Earl Hawthorne gathered her most ample bosom, sprinkled it with glitter, and bent deeply at the waist in a bow.
Lady Grace, aiming to captivate the Emperor with her extensive knowledge and humor, never let go of her book, while the princess from the Kingdom of Chatelle showcased her graceful, swan-like movements, demonstrating the best dancing skills among the candidates.
Busier than the ladies were their maids. They washed, polished, dressed, applied makeup, and styled hair to make their ladies stand out the most.
These were maids trained for the Empress's selection. It was a matter of family honor and a chance to become the first lady-in-waiting to the Empress.
The ladies were adorned with the most beautiful and luxurious dresses and treasures from their families, made even more beautiful with the latest hairstyles and makeup trends from the continent.
"It's time to go to the banquet hall, my lady," Dina informed Arabelle, who was standing in front of the mirror.
Vera, who was giving Arabelle’s dress a final check, said, "There's no need to be nervous at all, understood? Absolutely no need to be nervous."
Vera clenched her trembling hands into fists, forcing a smile as she tried to reassure Arabelle.
"You're so beautiful, there's no reason to lose confidence. The moment you appear, all the chatter will cease," Dina exaggeratedly exclaimed, adjusting the small flowers in Arabelle's hair one last time.
With a gentle smile, Arabelle looked at herself in the mirror.
Her hazelnut brown hair was braided into a long plait that draped over her left shoulder, adorned with dozens of small lavender silk flowers that glimmered subtly.
The boat-neck lime green dress revealed her neckline and collarbones, accentuating her slender waist and flaring out cleanly without exaggeration.
The short puffed sleeves covered her shoulders and arms, which might otherwise appear too thin, and cream-colored gloves, intricately woven and adorned with crystals, sparkled up to just below her elbows.
Vera and Dina smiled maternally at the sight of Arabelle, who stood there smiling awkwardly. The small, thin girl they had first met was now growing noticeably more beautiful by the day.
As Arabelle slipped into silk shoes matching her hair ornaments, Dina spoke to Millie.
“Did you pack the handkerchief and dance shoes, Millie?”
“Ye-yes. I polished them one more time,” Millie replied, handing over a velvet pouch containing the shoes.
These dance shoes were made by the Imperial Palace and distributed to the candidates for fairness. A faint smirk crossed Millie’s lips as she held the shoe pouch.
“Shall we try them on again and practice dancing?” Millie suggested.
“There’s no time. The other ladies are already getting into the carriages,” Dina replied, shaking her head urgently. Vera nodded in agreement.
“She practiced with the shoes until just now, so it should be fine. It’s more important not to be late. Let’s get going,” Rosa added.
As they arrived in front of the Lotus Palace, the ladies who had arrived first were already boarding the eleven small carriages sent by the Imperial Palace.
“Millie, take good care of her,” Vera reminded once more.
“Don’t worry,” Millie answered, avoiding eye contact.
“I’ll do my best,” Arabelle said, steadying her trembling voice and waving to her three maids.
“Let’s go.”
The eleven silver carriages left the Lotus Palace, heading toward the Imperial Palace.
The Crystal Ballroom, the second banquet hall of the Imperial Palace, was the very symbol of the wealth and power of the Helterde Empire.
The vast interior, so large that the ends were not visible, was designed in a circular shape rather than a rectangle, and the high ceiling was adorned with fresco paintings reminiscent of heaven.
In the center of the semi-circular dome ceiling hung a crystal chandelier weighing over seven tons, with three hundred sixty long candles. Surrounding the central chandelier were eight smaller chandeliers, spreading out like flower petals, illuminating the banquet hall together.
The red-tinted golden marble floor reflected the light pouring from the ceiling, and all the walls were made of glass, creating an illusion that the giant artificial waterfall and the large garden of ancient god sculptures outside were part of the banquet hall.
While ordinary nobles entered through the west gate, passing through the Empire’s “Hall of History,” the Emperor, the royal family, and esteemed guests entered through the VIP rooms on the second floor, descending the spiral staircases that spread out like wings.
“The eleven candidates for Empress are entering.”
As the music from the eastern glass balcony stopped, the voice of the royal banquet director echoed through the hall.
Standing below the stairs, he began to call out the names and families of each candidate, and nobles and representatives of the delegations from various countries turned their heads to watch the top of the stairs.
***
The banquet hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. All eyes alternated between the Emperor descending the spiral staircase and the young lady standing in the center of the hall.
The women moistened their dry lips with their tongues, and the men puffed out their chests and stomachs at the sight of the Emperor in his dark gray tailcoat, adorned with golden trim and buttons.
Tonight’s first dance partner for the Emperor: Princess Lilibet of Sevilles.
Smiling up at the descending Emperor, she looked as dazzlingly beautiful as an angel descended from the heaven painted on the ceiling.
Just as captivating was the charming smile on the Emperor’s lips as he descended, his gaze briefly lingering on the candidates behind her.
‘Lady Arabelle is currently not in a position to dance.’
As the Emperor passed through the VIP room to descend to the banquet hall, a banquet servant reported with a distressed look.
Without showing any expression, the Emperor’s aide, Kyle, hurriedly added, ‘Just now, the ladies entered the powder room to change into their dance shoes, but Lady Arabelle’s shoe heel broke. She isn’t seriously injured, but she seems to have sprained her ankle slightly, making it difficult for her to dance.’
At the mention of ‘sprained ankle,’ the Emperor’s eyebrow twitched momentarily before returning to its place.
‘Since Your Majesty has the privilege of choosing the first dance partner, Lady Arabelle was placed at the top of the list, but now you will have to dance according to the family name order.’
Kyle said, watching the Emperor’s reaction carefully.
‘It can’t be helped. Lilibet, is it? My first dance partner?’
‘Yes, Your Majesty. She is the niece of Her Majesty the Dowager Empress from Sevilles.’
‘Understood. Let’s go.’
The Emperor’s cold red eyes remained steady as he moved forward without hesitation, heading toward the banquet hall entrance.
***
“We can stretch our legs for a couple of hours now. Oh, I was really on edge.”
“I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I had to change the pearl mask on her face and body every hour.”
“If she isn’t chosen as the final dance partner tonight, how will we deal with the hysteria again….”
The maids, who had sent the ladies to the banquet hall and were taking a moment to catch their breath, began to let out some of their pent-up feelings.
In the storage room of the Lotus Palace, where they received and distributed new bath soaps, fragrances, and laundry soaps, the three maids were carefully inspecting whether any good items had arrived.
“I knew this would happen. Why don’t we get the Hikteri soap? Last time, I saw that other ladies received Hikteri laundry soap, but they gave us this cheap stuff. Our lady’s clothes don’t stand out!”
“Head maid, look at this too. We didn’t get the Keronis hair oil either. Just using this oil makes hair shine, and the scent lasts for a week. If they keep discriminating against us like this, we will officially complain!”
Vera and Dina raised their voices, arguing after seeing the items in the other maids’ baskets. The maid in charge of distributing the supplies frowned and shouted.
“If you’re upset, complain to your lady. Your lady asked us not to give these items to you!”
“That’s nonsense…! Are you saying our lady asked not to give us these good items? I saw the other ladies’ hair today; it was so shiny that ants could slip on it.”
“Because of you! Do you think your skin is different from ours? So annoying, really.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Vera took a step closer and asked, glaring at the maids in charge.
“Don’t you understand yet? Your lady asked us to exclude these items because they harm your skin!”
At the head maid’s outburst, other ladies’ maids began to gather around.
“Everyone knows that prolonged use of Hikteri laundry soap causes skin sores and allergies, but we use it because it cleans well. Keronis oil causes blisters and itching on the hands that apply it, but we use it despite that. For the sake of our ladies. That’s our job!”
The maids unconsciously looked at their own red and blistered hands. Right, we use these items despite knowing the side effects because that’s our job. To make our ladies stand out more.
The three maids also looked at their own hands. Come to think of it, their hands and feet, which had suffered from pus and allergies daily, were clean. They used to use these items every day at the Count’s mansion.
The head maid asked the speechless trio, “So you didn’t know your lady received expensive items to give you skin oil instead?”
The eyes of the maids gathered around the trio wavered with complex emotions.
On the way back to the annex, Dina rubbed her red eyes with the back of her hand and spoke.
“Was the oil that the lady said she was lucky to get from the storage that oil…?”
“Yes. That natural oil is so precious and good for skin recovery.”
“It greatly improved Rosa’s hands. When Rosa was in charge of the Countess and her daughters’ hair, her hands were a mess from using that damned oil. She couldn’t sleep properly at night. The lady knew that.”
“She knew we were suffering….”
“Sniff, honestly… I had some regrets. Coming to the Imperial Palace with Lady Arabelle. I worried that we might suffer if we didn’t make a good impression on the future Empress. Sniff. I didn’t know the lady cared so much about us. Sniff.”
At Dina’s sobs, Vera looked down at her plump hands and nodded.
“Boohoo…”
Suddenly, a loud cry was heard from behind, and Vera and Dina turned around to see Rosa sitting on the floor, sobbing.
“What do we do? I... I’ve committed a grave sin!”
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