Chapter 41

“Come on in.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Countess Maria timidly entered Roselina’s room.

“You may sit here.”

Countess Maria, sitting at the couch, casually admired.

“Is this a rose made of gold? I’ve never seen such a beautiful rose.”

“Yes, I got it as a gift from Duke Blake.”

Soon the two got down to business.

“The roses I promoted are now misunderstood. So, could Countess Maria help me?”

“Of course.”

Countess Maria readily agreed to Roselina’s 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 “Hero of the Empire”]

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.

Don’t give up even if it’s a tough journey. You’ve already taken the first step in the screenplay, Hero of the Empire!

– Condition: ….

– Reward: 50 Fate Energy

“What is this?”

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.

[It’s a quest that you can’t refuse. It will be accepted automatically.]

“It’s a headache.”

I glared at the system window with force in my eyes.

‘Why do you keep accepting quests?’

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.

“Lady Roselina, you can’t open your eyes.”

“…Okay.”

But all I could do was keep my eyes closed.

And to the point of swearing at the system inside.

***

“Are you in 8th grade or what? Why are you acting so secretive?”

“I’m a great and secretive being who keeps the secrets of the world to himself. Are you doing this?”

“What are those terms? It doesn’t make sense at all. Find out who the master is. Is that what it is?”

I was excited because time went by well as I was talking to the system.

[Quest Scenario, “The Hero of the Empire”] (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.

‘No, wait a minute.’

You didn’t say I have to get the answer right.

“Why are you grading it on your own?”

This is invalid!

But whatever I shouted, the system didn’t budge.

[Condition: Find out the identity]

“Is this all you need to do?”

That’s it.

The system was silent, as if it had nothing more to say.

“Just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m already submitting the answer, so I have to be careful.”

Let’s go with the elimination method.

“If I think about the person I met recently… Master, and then Calix.”

It was then.

I closed my eyes tightly when I saw the white window swaying.

“Don’t grade it however you want!”

Then I opened my eyes.

[You met some of the conditions to complete the quest scenario “Hero of Empire”! (1)]

[Condition: Find out who Callix Blake is]

‘Uh………?’

You can do this?

I was full of questions, but I didn’t have time to think more about it.

“It’s time for you to leave.”

“All right.”

Let’s go to the palace first.

“I am pleased to see Your Majesty the Empress. My name is Roselina Brighton.”

“Welcome. You don’t know how much I missed the princess.”

“I’m honored to have a private meeting with Her Majesty.”

“Oh my, you speak so beautifully.”

The empress welcomed me more than expected.

A good-looking smile just like the Duke of Blake’s.

‘There’s no harm in being careful.’

The empress is a survivor of the palace where all kinds of battles come and go.

I don’t know what I’m up against today.

“Princess Brighton is here today, so bring us some special refreshments.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

***

While the lady-in-waiting was serving tea, she had a little chat with the empress.

“Your reputation is so noticeable these days, right? The story flowed all the way into the palace.”

“I’m flattered. There’s no such thing as an active role.”

“You don’t have to be so modest. Everyone already knows that you saved the Duchy of Brighton.”

The empress watched Roselina with a fast beating heart.

Something was off.

Obviously, they’re laughing and chatting.

‘I feel like she’s testing me.’

To be exact, she seemed to be making sure that what happened at my father’s birthday party was under my leadership.

Soon my prediction turned to certainty.

“I heard this is healthy for the body, so I got it specially. Let’s try it.”

The tea that the empress gave me was dark brown.

‘It’s a color I’ve seen before.’

The scent was also familiar.

‘It’s a tea made with acarotia leaves.’

If she doesn’t know this, she’s a fool.

‘I don’t think the Empress called me to back me up.’

It was obvious that she was trying to test me for some reason.

‘I won’t avoid a fight I walked into first.’

I smiled as if I knew nothing.

***

“Hurry up and drink.”

“Thank you. It’s an honor to have a special cup of tea prepared by Her Majesty.”

Roselina, who answered with great delight, drank the tea as it was.

“How does the tea taste? I don’t know if it suits your taste.”

Roselina took another sip of tea, whether she knew that the empress’ eyes shook in an instant.

“It’s really delicious. I’ve never had tea like this before.”

“Really? I was worried, but I’m glad.”

“You didn’t have to worry, I love it so much that I want to buy it for Her Majesty.”

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.

“The glass is already empty.”

When Roselina finished the last sip, the empress’ face darkened a little.

The empress quickly managed her expression.

Kuk!

The moment Roselina coughed, the Empress’s calm broke down.

“Duchess, are you not feeling well today?”

“It’s not like that. I’m sorry. Kuk! What’s wrong with me all of a sudden…?”

“No, you need to think about your body more than that. If you’re not feeling well, you can go back.”

“I’m okay. Khuk, kuk!”

As Roselina’s cough got worse, the empress’ face darkened.

“Duchess! Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m alright. Kuk!”

The conversation has not continued since then. It was because Roselina couldn’t speak because she was coughing continuously.

“Kukukuk!”

“I can’t do it. The Duchess is in a terrible condition, so you can take her to the carriage.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was when the restless empress tried to send Roselina to the ladies.

“Khuk!”

“Princess!”

“Princess!”

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.

“Duchess? Duchess! Get a hold of yourself.”

No matter how much the maid shouted and shook, Roselina couldn’t open her eyes.

The maid hastily put her finger under Roselina’s nose.

“Fortunately, she’s breathing. She seems to have lost consciousness!”

The Empress was taken aback by the maid’s words.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Call the imperial doctor. And everyone out of this room!”

The Empress cried out.

When the ladies went out, the empress revealed her innermost thoughts.

“What’s going on?”

She was just trying to test Roselina for a while.

“That tea is just an imitation of acarotia tea, but the ingredients are different.”

It wasn’t 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 Empress’ 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 this………!

“No, you must not die at all cost!”

The empress lost her composure and blamed herself.

“Why the hell did I do that? I must have lost my mind for a second………!”

“I know. Why did you do that to me?”

So when Roselina’s voice was heard, she couldn’t believe it for a moment.

“What…………?”

“Why did you test me?”

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.

“What is this………….”

“Oh, this? It’s fake blood.”

I thought this would happen, so I prepared this.

Roselina smiled refreshingly.