After the coronation and wedding ceremony in the palace chapel, Bellos and Grand Duke Martins, at the request of Emperor Norton, headed to the Empress's Palace, where Princess Resilia was staying.
Guards stood guard at the entrance to the floor where Princess Resilia was staying.
The Vice-Captain of the Guards, who had been instructed by Emperor Norton in advance, recognized the two first.
"Follow me."
The Vice-Captain personally guided them to the room where Princess Resilia was staying.
Grand Duke Martins thanked the Vice-Captain, knocked on the door, and entered.
"Grand Duke?!"
Princess Resilia, who had been sitting there dumbfounded, thinking he was a servant, saw Grand Duke Martins and frantically tried to put on the wide-brimmed hat he had placed beside her, dropping it on the floor.
"...Princess?"
Grand Duke Martins, having seen the state of Princess Resilia's hair, stood there and stared at her intently.
The Princess appeared to be wearing a pink bowl.
“...See, did you see that?”
What, the Magic Tower Lord came too? Ah, so annoying!
Princess Resilia wanted to crawl under the bed when her eyes met with Bellos’s behind Grand Duke Martins.
Even though he had already discovered her true form, he picked up her hat from the floor and put it on her head.
“What happened to your hair...?”
“It’s the work of those damned wyverns.”
At the mention of wyverns, Bellos, who had been behind Grand Duke Martins, stepped forward.
“You mean Moiya and Moni?”
“Why should I care about their names?”
Princess Resilia muttered angrily to herself.
“There has to be a reason, right? They wouldn’t have made my hair so ugly for no reason...”
Princess Resilia’s face crumpled at Grand Duke Martins’ question.
“Is it that ugly?”
She knew the state of her hair right now.
But she was curious about how it appeared to others, especially men.
The servants said it wasn't that strange, but behind her, they were pinching and hitting each other, trying to hold back laughter.
If it seemed funny to the common people, it must be the same for the nobles.
Still, men, who had always admired her beauty, might see it differently, so she hoped.
"Well, hair grows back."
Grand Duke Martins's consolation didn't help at all.
"What do you think, Lord?"
Princess Resilia asked Bellos.
"In my opinion, it's more... funny than ugly."
Bellos bit his tongue to keep from laughing openly, though he was honest when asked.
Even so, Princess Resilia was frustrated by the answer itself.
The hair would grow back, as Grand Duke Martins had said, but the pride that had been burned along with it wouldn't easily recover.
The two wyverns that had directly harmed her were also wyverns, but she had always believed that this whole situation was Rosie's fault.
"Even if I can't become Empress, I'll definitely stop that incompetent Rosie from becoming Empress!"
Princess Resilia swore, her teeth grinding together.
"By the way, today is the coronation ceremony, right? Did it go smoothly?"
"Yes, Prince Norton is now the Emperor of the Pasha Empire."
Grand Duke Martins nodded in response.
"I should have stayed by Norton's side from the beginning. I shouldn't have abandoned Rams."
Princess Resilia felt a pang in her stomach as she thought of Norton as Emperor.
"The wedding... when is it?"
"It was held right after the coronation ceremony."
Princess Resilia, lost in thought, flinched at Grand Duke Martins's words.
"What... are you holding?"
The Princess asked with a look of incredulity.
"A wedding."
Grand Duke Martins saw Princess Resilia's surprised expression and realized she was completely unaware.
A few days ago, an imperial decree had been issued to Princess Resilia's attendants not to reveal this fact.
It was to prevent any potential disturbance.
"Oh, you're holding... a wedding today?!"
"That's right."
The Princess's temper reached its peak.
She took off her wide-brimmed hat and pounded it on the floor, slamming it into her chest.
“Ahhhh! How could this be? I put myself in this state, and what? A wedding? They’re married?”
Princess Resilia charged toward the door, ready to storm the main palace.
Bellos, who was standing near the door, stopped her.
“It’s over now. So give up.”
“It’s not over yet. Why give up? Why should I?”
Princess Resilia lashed out and shoved Bellos’s shoulder.
“You two are already officially married. What can the Princess do to someone who has become the Empress of the Pasha Empire? Besides, you are already a criminal.”
“What?”
“Emperor Norton has shown you one last kindness.”
Bellos said, looking at the wall clock in the room.
Princess Resilia listened to Bellos’s words with an expectant expression.
“He has decided not to hold you accountable for the disgrace you caused in this imperial palace. So, you may return to the Spire prison with me.”
His expression showed no sign of delay.
“You want me to go back to that dungeon? Absolutely not! I can’t go! My son Rams is here. Why should I go to a foreign land? To a cell, at that!”
Rams was now the son of the Emperor of the Pasha Empire.
‘He’s going to succeed Norton as the Crown Prince!’
All the glory was about to be stolen by Rosie, without any merit.
They say bears have talent, foxes have fun, and they were exactly like that.
‘No, it’s a hyena. There’s no other hyena!’
Princess Resilia bitterly regretted not taking care of Rosie beforehand. Her pride was utterly wounded by the fact that she had lost everything to someone who was not a threat at all.
Had she known this would happen, it would have been far better to just stay in the cell.
Then she wouldn’t have lost her hair to the baby wyverns.
All that remained was resentment and bitterness.
“That worthless thing... finally wore the crown. She stole my man, my child, my seat!”
“Magic Tower Lord. Please.”
Grand Duke Martins winked at Princess Resilia, who had lost her reason, and said to Bellos.
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
Bellos drew a magic circle behind Princess Resilia, who was smashing the items on the dressing table one by one on the floor, with a slightly annoyed expression.
In an instant, the two disappeared from the room, and Grand Duke Martins sat on the sofa, waiting for Bellos to return shortly.
The image of Princess Resilia’s bowl-style hair lingered in Grand Duke Martins’s mind.
“But Moiya, Moni... what made them so angry?”
He wondered how angry they must have been to make Princess Resilia’s hair look so ridiculous.
“Did the Princess steal a sausage or something?”
Grand Duke Martins muttered with his eyes closed.
After the wedding, a splendid reception followed.
I don't know what their true feelings were, but since Princess Resilia's tumultuous performance at the party, no ministers or nobles had shown any outward resentment toward Rosie.
Their drastically changed attitudes were evident at the reception.
Even their gazes towards Rosie had softened.
Everyone was respectful and courteous to Rosie, now Empress.
Seeing them, I felt a sense of relief.
Emperor Norton and Empress Rosie.
While not as harmonious as Linel and me, they were a well-matched couple. Rosie, in particular, looked elegant and beautiful in her Empress's crown.
Everything had been perfect.
But tonight, Rosie had the most important task remaining.
To that end, the concubines and I headed to the main palace with Rosie.
Traditionally, the first night of a wedding is held at the Empress's Palace.
However, Rosie had decided to stay there not only for the first night but for the time being.
It wasn't because Princess Resilia was still staying at the Empress's Palace.
Anyway, the Princess will be transported back to the spire of the Lapion Palace today by Bellos using teleportation.
The reason Rosie decided to live in the main palace for the time being was because of Princess Jasper, who was currently staying in the Empress's Palace.
The Emperor's coronation ceremony and wedding were held so suddenly. Without Princess Jasper's cooperation and help, it would have been difficult in many ways.
Knowing her gratitude, Rosie made sure Princess Jasper could slowly prepare to leave the Empress's Palace.
Rosie gave her a month's grace, but judging by the personality of Princess Jasper that I had observed over the years, wouldn't she vacate the Empress's Palace much sooner?
Anyway. That's why their first night together was held in the main palace today.
We arrived at the main palace and went straight up to Rosie's room.
I asked Rosie's attendants to prepare the bath, and Melanie told another attendant to bring strong wine.
Catherine and Pecilini carefully examined the essential oils used in the bath.
"Thank you all so much. If I had been here alone, I would have been completely lost and unable to do anything."
Rosie, who had taken off her wedding dress and appeared in a gown, thanked us before entering the bathroom.
Rosie's eyes welled up with tears again.
My own eyes also welled up with a mixture of emotions.
The other concubines felt the same.
If anyone had cried here, we would all embrace and burst into tears.
In that precarious moment, Melanie changed the mood.
"If you know, give us each a blue diamond, a specialty of the Pasha Empire. Now that you're Empress, you can take care of that, right?"
Melanie's joke, full of sincerity, brought laughter to everyone's lips instead of tears.
Rosie also burst into laughter, but tears flowed down her face.
"Don't cry. What if His Majesty Norton misunderstands?"
Catherine said with a glare. Pecilini added with a smile.
"That's right. He might think we cried you out of jealousy."
"Yes, Rosie. First, go take a bath and come out. His Majesty will be arriving at the palace soon."
"Oh, then I'll be going. You can't leave. You have to stay here until I come out, yes?"
Rosie's request was met with a reassuring nod from the concubines.
We watched Rosie's tense back and laughed silently.
At that moment, we all felt like sisters.
While we waited for Rosie to take a bath, Moiya and Moni came in through the window.
They both had sausages in one hand and... in the other... Wait.
"Is that alcohol?"
I pointed to the champagne glasses the guys were holding in their right hands and said.
The glasses were champagne glasses, but the contents were crimson.
“Juice, right? Grape juice.”
Catherine asked, as if that could not possibly be wine.
Of course, grape juice could have been poured into the champagne glasses, but their eyes were too open for that.
“Hip-hip, right, Moiya~?”
Moiya hiccupped and staggered in mid-air.
“I had a drink because I liked Kibuni so much, Moni~!”
“...Did you guys drink? That was wine, right?”
“Ouch? How did this happen? It looks like there are multiple owners!”
Moiya, who was drunk, blinked her ruby eyes repeatedly as she looked at me.
“Moiya’s eyes are messed up, aren’t they, Moni~?”
Even Moni’s eyes were not normal as she said that.
“Huh? Master, have you seen Aoshi? We came here to play with Aoshi, but this lowly cat is bothering us, isn’t it, Moni~?”
Moni asked, looking around Rosie’s room.
“Aoshi is here?”
Melanie said, crawling out from under the bed and picking up Aoshi, who was hiding behind her.
“Meow meow!”
Aoshi flailed around with a cotton ball as if protesting at Melanie for reporting him.
Melanie, feeling sorry, didn’t put Aoshi down and continued to comfort him in her arms.
“Tsk, are you two driving around drunk and flying? That’s how you get into trouble.”
I asked Moiya and Moni in a scolding voice.
I was about to ask whose idea it was for them to appear as a flower girl at the wedding when Moni said something strange.
“Moiya actually ran into Kami on her way here.”
“Kami? Are you talking about the crows that Bellos calls?”
“Yes. There was a fender bender, and Moiya just jumped out.”
“Then what happened to Kami?”
I glared at Moiya and asked,
“I don’t know. Kkak kkak- The price has fallen, but if you survive until tomorrow, can we settle for sausages, Moiya~?”
“...”
They may look like chicks, but strictly speaking, they’re not chicks, so it was a bit awkward to scold them for drinking.
But drunk driving is absolutely unacceptable!
And on top of that, they hit another bird and ran away.
“Moiya, go out right now and check if Kami is okay.”
“Yes, Master... But my head is so dizzy, I’m going to lie down for a bit. Ugh, ugh.”
Moiya stumbled while flying, handed me the wine glass, and went to Rosie’s bed and lay down.
“Ow? This slippery thing is Moiya again~?”
Moiya lay down on Rosie’s see-through silk pajamas.
“Hey? Get out of the way. Don’t sleep on that!”
Melanie hurriedly ran to the bed and pulled out the pajamas Moiya was lying in.
At that moment.
“Oh, no!”
With Melanie’s scream, Rosie’s wedding night pajamas were ripped cleanly.
“Oh? The pajamas are torn in half, Moiya~?”
Of all things, Moiya’s horns were going to catch the chest area of the pajamas.
“Huh, what should I do, in-law?!”
Melanie asked me with a sad face.
“...Well, you don’t really need pajamas on the wedding night.”
Guards stood guard at the entrance to the floor where Princess Resilia was staying.
The Vice-Captain of the Guards, who had been instructed by Emperor Norton in advance, recognized the two first.
"Follow me."
The Vice-Captain personally guided them to the room where Princess Resilia was staying.
Grand Duke Martins thanked the Vice-Captain, knocked on the door, and entered.
"Grand Duke?!"
Princess Resilia, who had been sitting there dumbfounded, thinking he was a servant, saw Grand Duke Martins and frantically tried to put on the wide-brimmed hat he had placed beside her, dropping it on the floor.
"...Princess?"
Grand Duke Martins, having seen the state of Princess Resilia's hair, stood there and stared at her intently.
The Princess appeared to be wearing a pink bowl.
“...See, did you see that?”
What, the Magic Tower Lord came too? Ah, so annoying!
Princess Resilia wanted to crawl under the bed when her eyes met with Bellos’s behind Grand Duke Martins.
Even though he had already discovered her true form, he picked up her hat from the floor and put it on her head.
“What happened to your hair...?”
“It’s the work of those damned wyverns.”
At the mention of wyverns, Bellos, who had been behind Grand Duke Martins, stepped forward.
“You mean Moiya and Moni?”
“Why should I care about their names?”
Princess Resilia muttered angrily to herself.
“There has to be a reason, right? They wouldn’t have made my hair so ugly for no reason...”
Princess Resilia’s face crumpled at Grand Duke Martins’ question.
“Is it that ugly?”
She knew the state of her hair right now.
But she was curious about how it appeared to others, especially men.
The servants said it wasn't that strange, but behind her, they were pinching and hitting each other, trying to hold back laughter.
If it seemed funny to the common people, it must be the same for the nobles.
Still, men, who had always admired her beauty, might see it differently, so she hoped.
"Well, hair grows back."
Grand Duke Martins's consolation didn't help at all.
"What do you think, Lord?"
Princess Resilia asked Bellos.
"In my opinion, it's more... funny than ugly."
Bellos bit his tongue to keep from laughing openly, though he was honest when asked.
Even so, Princess Resilia was frustrated by the answer itself.
The hair would grow back, as Grand Duke Martins had said, but the pride that had been burned along with it wouldn't easily recover.
The two wyverns that had directly harmed her were also wyverns, but she had always believed that this whole situation was Rosie's fault.
"Even if I can't become Empress, I'll definitely stop that incompetent Rosie from becoming Empress!"
Princess Resilia swore, her teeth grinding together.
"By the way, today is the coronation ceremony, right? Did it go smoothly?"
"Yes, Prince Norton is now the Emperor of the Pasha Empire."
Grand Duke Martins nodded in response.
"I should have stayed by Norton's side from the beginning. I shouldn't have abandoned Rams."
Princess Resilia felt a pang in her stomach as she thought of Norton as Emperor.
"The wedding... when is it?"
She hoped her hair would grow past her ears before the wedding.
That way, she'd have one last chance to meet Norton and persuade him.
She wouldn't know until the wedding.
Princess Resilia's confidence in Norton remained undiminished.
"Norton might waver. After seeing that ugly face every day, maybe he'll change his mind again..."
That way, she'd have one last chance to meet Norton and persuade him.
She wouldn't know until the wedding.
Princess Resilia's confidence in Norton remained undiminished.
"Norton might waver. After seeing that ugly face every day, maybe he'll change his mind again..."
"It was held right after the coronation ceremony."
Princess Resilia, lost in thought, flinched at Grand Duke Martins's words.
"What... are you holding?"
The Princess asked with a look of incredulity.
"A wedding."
Grand Duke Martins saw Princess Resilia's surprised expression and realized she was completely unaware.
A few days ago, an imperial decree had been issued to Princess Resilia's attendants not to reveal this fact.
It was to prevent any potential disturbance.
"Oh, you're holding... a wedding today?!"
"That's right."
The Princess's temper reached its peak.
She took off her wide-brimmed hat and pounded it on the floor, slamming it into her chest.
“Ahhhh! How could this be? I put myself in this state, and what? A wedding? They’re married?”
Princess Resilia charged toward the door, ready to storm the main palace.
Bellos, who was standing near the door, stopped her.
“It’s over now. So give up.”
“It’s not over yet. Why give up? Why should I?”
Princess Resilia lashed out and shoved Bellos’s shoulder.
“You two are already officially married. What can the Princess do to someone who has become the Empress of the Pasha Empire? Besides, you are already a criminal.”
“What?”
“Emperor Norton has shown you one last kindness.”
Bellos said, looking at the wall clock in the room.
Princess Resilia listened to Bellos’s words with an expectant expression.
“He has decided not to hold you accountable for the disgrace you caused in this imperial palace. So, you may return to the Spire prison with me.”
His expression showed no sign of delay.
“You want me to go back to that dungeon? Absolutely not! I can’t go! My son Rams is here. Why should I go to a foreign land? To a cell, at that!”
Rams was now the son of the Emperor of the Pasha Empire.
‘He’s going to succeed Norton as the Crown Prince!’
All the glory was about to be stolen by Rosie, without any merit.
They say bears have talent, foxes have fun, and they were exactly like that.
‘No, it’s a hyena. There’s no other hyena!’
Princess Resilia bitterly regretted not taking care of Rosie beforehand. Her pride was utterly wounded by the fact that she had lost everything to someone who was not a threat at all.
Had she known this would happen, it would have been far better to just stay in the cell.
Then she wouldn’t have lost her hair to the baby wyverns.
All that remained was resentment and bitterness.
“That worthless thing... finally wore the crown. She stole my man, my child, my seat!”
“Magic Tower Lord. Please.”
Grand Duke Martins winked at Princess Resilia, who had lost her reason, and said to Bellos.
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
Bellos drew a magic circle behind Princess Resilia, who was smashing the items on the dressing table one by one on the floor, with a slightly annoyed expression.
In an instant, the two disappeared from the room, and Grand Duke Martins sat on the sofa, waiting for Bellos to return shortly.
The image of Princess Resilia’s bowl-style hair lingered in Grand Duke Martins’s mind.
“But Moiya, Moni... what made them so angry?”
He wondered how angry they must have been to make Princess Resilia’s hair look so ridiculous.
“Did the Princess steal a sausage or something?”
Grand Duke Martins muttered with his eyes closed.
***
After the wedding, a splendid reception followed.
I don't know what their true feelings were, but since Princess Resilia's tumultuous performance at the party, no ministers or nobles had shown any outward resentment toward Rosie.
Their drastically changed attitudes were evident at the reception.
Even their gazes towards Rosie had softened.
Everyone was respectful and courteous to Rosie, now Empress.
Seeing them, I felt a sense of relief.
Emperor Norton and Empress Rosie.
While not as harmonious as Linel and me, they were a well-matched couple. Rosie, in particular, looked elegant and beautiful in her Empress's crown.
Everything had been perfect.
But tonight, Rosie had the most important task remaining.
To that end, the concubines and I headed to the main palace with Rosie.
***
Traditionally, the first night of a wedding is held at the Empress's Palace.
However, Rosie had decided to stay there not only for the first night but for the time being.
It wasn't because Princess Resilia was still staying at the Empress's Palace.
Anyway, the Princess will be transported back to the spire of the Lapion Palace today by Bellos using teleportation.
The reason Rosie decided to live in the main palace for the time being was because of Princess Jasper, who was currently staying in the Empress's Palace.
The Emperor's coronation ceremony and wedding were held so suddenly. Without Princess Jasper's cooperation and help, it would have been difficult in many ways.
Knowing her gratitude, Rosie made sure Princess Jasper could slowly prepare to leave the Empress's Palace.
Rosie gave her a month's grace, but judging by the personality of Princess Jasper that I had observed over the years, wouldn't she vacate the Empress's Palace much sooner?
Anyway. That's why their first night together was held in the main palace today.
We arrived at the main palace and went straight up to Rosie's room.
I asked Rosie's attendants to prepare the bath, and Melanie told another attendant to bring strong wine.
Catherine and Pecilini carefully examined the essential oils used in the bath.
"Thank you all so much. If I had been here alone, I would have been completely lost and unable to do anything."
Rosie, who had taken off her wedding dress and appeared in a gown, thanked us before entering the bathroom.
Rosie's eyes welled up with tears again.
My own eyes also welled up with a mixture of emotions.
The other concubines felt the same.
If anyone had cried here, we would all embrace and burst into tears.
In that precarious moment, Melanie changed the mood.
"If you know, give us each a blue diamond, a specialty of the Pasha Empire. Now that you're Empress, you can take care of that, right?"
Melanie's joke, full of sincerity, brought laughter to everyone's lips instead of tears.
Rosie also burst into laughter, but tears flowed down her face.
"Don't cry. What if His Majesty Norton misunderstands?"
Catherine said with a glare. Pecilini added with a smile.
"That's right. He might think we cried you out of jealousy."
"Yes, Rosie. First, go take a bath and come out. His Majesty will be arriving at the palace soon."
"Oh, then I'll be going. You can't leave. You have to stay here until I come out, yes?"
Rosie's request was met with a reassuring nod from the concubines.
We watched Rosie's tense back and laughed silently.
At that moment, we all felt like sisters.
While we waited for Rosie to take a bath, Moiya and Moni came in through the window.
They both had sausages in one hand and... in the other... Wait.
"Is that alcohol?"
I pointed to the champagne glasses the guys were holding in their right hands and said.
The glasses were champagne glasses, but the contents were crimson.
“Juice, right? Grape juice.”
Catherine asked, as if that could not possibly be wine.
Of course, grape juice could have been poured into the champagne glasses, but their eyes were too open for that.
“Hip-hip, right, Moiya~?”
Moiya hiccupped and staggered in mid-air.
“I had a drink because I liked Kibuni so much, Moni~!”
“...Did you guys drink? That was wine, right?”
“Ouch? How did this happen? It looks like there are multiple owners!”
Moiya, who was drunk, blinked her ruby eyes repeatedly as she looked at me.
“Moiya’s eyes are messed up, aren’t they, Moni~?”
Even Moni’s eyes were not normal as she said that.
“Huh? Master, have you seen Aoshi? We came here to play with Aoshi, but this lowly cat is bothering us, isn’t it, Moni~?”
Moni asked, looking around Rosie’s room.
“Aoshi is here?”
Melanie said, crawling out from under the bed and picking up Aoshi, who was hiding behind her.
“Meow meow!”
Aoshi flailed around with a cotton ball as if protesting at Melanie for reporting him.
Melanie, feeling sorry, didn’t put Aoshi down and continued to comfort him in her arms.
“Tsk, are you two driving around drunk and flying? That’s how you get into trouble.”
I asked Moiya and Moni in a scolding voice.
I was about to ask whose idea it was for them to appear as a flower girl at the wedding when Moni said something strange.
“Moiya actually ran into Kami on her way here.”
“Kami? Are you talking about the crows that Bellos calls?”
“Yes. There was a fender bender, and Moiya just jumped out.”
“Then what happened to Kami?”
I glared at Moiya and asked,
“I don’t know. Kkak kkak- The price has fallen, but if you survive until tomorrow, can we settle for sausages, Moiya~?”
“...”
They may look like chicks, but strictly speaking, they’re not chicks, so it was a bit awkward to scold them for drinking.
But drunk driving is absolutely unacceptable!
And on top of that, they hit another bird and ran away.
“Moiya, go out right now and check if Kami is okay.”
“Yes, Master... But my head is so dizzy, I’m going to lie down for a bit. Ugh, ugh.”
Moiya stumbled while flying, handed me the wine glass, and went to Rosie’s bed and lay down.
“Ow? This slippery thing is Moiya again~?”
Moiya lay down on Rosie’s see-through silk pajamas.
“Hey? Get out of the way. Don’t sleep on that!”
Melanie hurriedly ran to the bed and pulled out the pajamas Moiya was lying in.
At that moment.
“Oh, no!”
With Melanie’s scream, Rosie’s wedding night pajamas were ripped cleanly.
“Oh? The pajamas are torn in half, Moiya~?”
Of all things, Moiya’s horns were going to catch the chest area of the pajamas.
“Huh, what should I do, in-law?!”
Melanie asked me with a sad face.
“...Well, you don’t really need pajamas on the wedding night.”
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