Chapter 10.2

Crown Princess (Tentative) (2)

The main palace was the base for where all these types of politics were carried out, so while it looked beautiful and elegant with events being hosted day and night, internally, it was a difficult,  muddy, and high-strung place to be. If you spent the entire day here with a smile plastered onto your face, it made sense that you considered going back to your detached palace, where you only had to pay attention to normal etiquette and manners, as relaxing. After a month of attending social events, I immediately realized this. For what it’s worth, I’m the (temporary) Crown Princess. Not only did I have to attend social events, but since it was currently the period of my debut as the (temporary) Crown Princess, I had to sell my face as much as I could with Her Majesty the Empress by my side. It was truly difficult.

In the morning, after eating breakfast with Cermiane, preparations for getting dressed for the day would start immediately. A formal dress complete with a securely tightened corset. Of course, I would have a full set of accessories equipped as well. My hair and make-up would be done immaculately too. This was considered slightly less intense than the preparations needed for a night party. I had no idea what was different, but that’s what they say. Then, I would head to the garden or the salon at the imperial palace for that day’s afternoon social event. These past few months, I haven’t hosted my own event yet and have only attended Her Majesty the Empress’s events. Suddenly hosting my own would be reckless, and only after observing the nobles’ reactions at the numerous social events would I be able to organize one of my own. Apparently. For the life of me, I couldn’t read these nobles’ reactions, so whenever I attended an event, Mother, one of my sisters or relatives would attend with me.

Garden parties were the biggest event Her Majesty the Empress would host and around a hundred noble wives and ladies would be of attendance. As such, preparations were difficult, and the garden would be readied according to Her Majesty the Empress’s instructions starting at least a couple of months before the event. If it’s preparing and maintaining the garden, leave it to me! Oh, right. The (temporary) Crown Princess mustn’t dirty her own hands. Of course, I knew that. As such, garden parties weren’t held all that often.

Tea parties were the event that was held most frequently. Majority were held in salons, but they were sometimes held in gardens too. These events were simply for deepening relationships by gathering together, enjoying tea and snacks, and conversing. However, as I mentioned before, it wasn’t that simple. Especially since we’re talking about nobles socializing here. Here, it would be reported to His Majesty the Emperor how some nobles made some backdoor arrangements with Her Majesty the Empress, and these were often reflected in how the political affairs played out. Not only that but since Her Majesty the Empress was the sole woman in the Senate as well as one of the two leaders of the Empire, she had an enormous amount of political influence. It could be said that she was the representative of all the women in the Empire, and for all the noblewomen, tea parties were political events. They were valuable opportunities to be able to directly share their opinions with Her Majesty and potentially sway her in their favor.

In order to do this, they laughed, evaded directly speaking their thoughts, and appealed to the Empress in really round-about ways — at times through hand motions or with flicks of their wrists. It was difficult for those appealing to the Empress, but it must also be incredibly difficult for Her Majesty the Empress too. I wished I could say this wasn’t relevant to me. But, the Crown Princess is the next Empress, dang. How in the world does one acquire this skill of reading past all these round-about actions? I was made to sit right next to Her Majesty the Empress and I just sat there with a smile plastered on my face and my head in the clouds.

Thankfully, Her Majesty the Empress was very friendly to me and treated me kindly. If she had been a mean mother-in-law, I might have developed a case of reject-all-tea-parties disorder. Her Majesty would also invite me to private tea parties and lunches where it was just the two of us, and during these events, she would give me tips and advice on being the Crown Princess, like how to carry out my duties and how to mentally prepare myself.

One time, we happened to get on the topic of Cermiane’s mother, Her Highness Felianne. Whenever Her Majesty uttered Her Highness Felianne’s name, her expression visibly became crestfallen. She told me that Her Highness Felianne was a very close friend of hers and an irreplaceable confidant. Her Highness Felianne also was her comrade who loyally supported her and helped her overcome her challenging times as the Crown Princess. Her Majesty did not get along with the previous Empress and when His Majesty was the Crown Prince, it wasn’t certain if he would succeed the position of Emperor, so until he actually became the Emperor, Her Majesty truly experienced many hardships.

“… From the beginning, Felianne was attracted to His Majesty, my husband, as a man.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes. From when I entered the palace as the Crown Princess and she came as my maid. She tried to hide it, but I noticed. Although, she never let it show on her face, and I pretended not to know.”

This was a new fact that came up when Cermiane told his story. Though, he probably didn’t know this either.

“That was why when Felianne received His Majesty’s love, since I knew her long-lasting one-sided love was reciprocated, I was truly happy for her as a close friend. I blessed it from the bottom of my heart.”

“So, uh, you were not jealous at all?”

If Cermiane cheated on me, I was confident I would send him flying with my kick.