Chapter 10
The Emperor’s office in the palace was filled with sparkling, flashy things. The Emperor was sprawled on the sofa, drinking wine. Just then, the aide beside him, feeling puzzled, cautiously asked.
“Your Majesty, I thought you disliked the Duke of Valentine. Why did you invite him to the party?”
“He’s been acting suspiciously lately. I thought if I invited him to the party, I might find out why, so I did.”
The Duke of Valentine had recently been acting suspiciously, as if hiding something. When summoned in the
mornings or afternoons, he would make all sorts of excuses and not come, instead sending letters with necessary
information. But in the evenings, even if he made excuses, if they said it was urgent and they absolutely had to meet, he would personally come.
‘Why does his behavior differ between before evening and after evening?’
The Emperor was intensely curious. The reason why he would enjoy a party to the fullest, then turn into a desperate
Cinderella the moment the clock struck twelve, rushing away as if his life depended on it.
‘The party starts before evening. If he attends, I’ll be able to see the reason with my own eyes.’
That’s why he deliberately held the party before evening. To see with his own eyes the Duke of Valentine before evening and after evening.
Of course, to not give him any openings, he planned to keep him occupied until evening came.
‘Even if he doesn’t come, I’ll be able to vaguely guess the reason.’
It was a party hosted by the palace itself. For work, he could send letters or aides and somehow manage, but a party was different.
If he made excuses and didn’t come, it would mean he was hiding something—and that the secret couldn’t be shown to everyone.
“This party is going to be very entertaining.”
The Emperor smiled eerily and drank his wine, as if trying to escape from some fear.
***
I racked my brain like crazy, but it took quite a while before I could finally speak. And even then, it was the first logical method I’d thought of.
“There’s only one way. We go at the right time and greet them first. Then we pretend that Evan and Leticia have arrived and sent us off.”
“We’ll get criticized, but that’s the best option.”
Jason seemed unable to think of any other way and agreed with my opinion. It feels like such a classic approach, but we have no choice. There’s no better method than this. From the moment we attend, we’re inevitably going to get criticized.
But if possible, I’d rather avoid it—so is going really the only option for me and Jason? As I thought it over again, I carefully chose a uniform and a dress. But when no answer came, I gave up and pondered more about how best to attend the party. Still, no other method emerged, and time flowed on until the day of the palace party arrived.
In my small body, I was busy from morning. I put on the dress I’d bought in advance, fixed my hair, and finally packed the dress I’d wear when I transformed into an adult into my bag.
After finishing all the preparations, I looked in the mirror to check, and my face was so beautiful and lovely that I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
“Are you still not ready?”
I’d changed in another room to show off my transformed appearance, but Jason’s call—saying he was ready—pulled my gaze away. His tone urged me to hurry, yet implied he hoped I’d take my time. Just how much did he not want to go.
I chuckled softly and opened the door, standing before Jason. He was wearing the black uniform with flashy ornaments that I’d picked out for him. As I’d thought, it suited him perfectly.
“Jason, the uniform I picked out looks great on you!”
“I-I look good in anything, don’t I?”
“That’s true.”
There’s no uniform that wouldn’t look good on adorably handsome Jason. After all, the completion of fashion is the face.
Jason would look good even in clothes roughly made from straw. I’d once possessed a forest spirit, so I know how to make clothes from straw—I should have him try it on sometime.
“Stop saying useless things and let’s just go.”
This time, unlike before, he spoke as if embarrassed, but he still moved slowly, as if suggesting we take our time.
“Okay.”
We walked noticeably slower than usual, rode the carriage, and finally arrived at the palace, which exuded splendor
and strength. Throughout the ride, the conversations I had with Jason were all strategy-related. Not a single personal word was exchanged.
I was very disappointed by that, but I was happy just to have talked with the cold Jason for an entire hour.
“Hold on and get down.”
Then, right before we got off, true happiness came. Jason, who had gotten off first, didn’t just stand there—he extended his small hand to me. I smiled softly and took his hand.
“You’re becoming quite the gentleman.”
“Just get down already.”
Holding his hand, I got down, and we arrived at the entrance of the party hall without letting go.
“Announcing Lady Mariana Valentine and Young Master Jason Valentine of the Valentine Ducal House.”
Seeing things from a child’s perspective, the banquet hall looked enormous. As soon as we entered, we felt many gazes and heard murmurs directed at us. I was so used to this that I didn’t think much of it.
But then the Emperor, meeting my eyes, gestured for us to come over. I wanted to pretend I hadn’t seen him and not
go, but I couldn’t, so I sighed inwardly and approached him.
With one step between us, I held the hem of my dress and greeted His Majesty.
“Good evening, Your Majesty.”
“Good evening, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor openly scrutinized us. Even with the distance, I could feel it all.
‘Stop staring already.’
He looked us up and down so much that it was starting to feel unpleasant.
“Hmm, I see you for the first time, and you look exactly like your parents. I’d believe it if someone said your parents had shrunk.”
Gulp! He’s just saying that, right? He’s not testing us or suspecting something, is he? Jason said he’d never met the Emperor in person since being cursed either. Stay calm, stay calm.
“We’re often told we look like our parents.”
I responded calmly. With 499 possession experiences and hundreds of years of lived life, this was easy.
“By the way, where are the Duke and Duchess?”
“Our parents had some business and will be late, so they sent us ahead. They said to convey their apologies and that they will definitely attend the party.”
“Tch, they should handle their business ahead of time.”
“They said it can’t be helped since someone keeps giving them work.”
Who does this kid younger than me think he’s trying to get a dig at? I’m much better at subtle jabs. Learn from me.
The Emperor frowned. He seemed quite offended by a mere child’s words.
“You may go now.”
Apparently displeased with my words, he sent us away quickly. If it had been longer, my jab might have reached its
peak—I feel both regretful and relieved. Phew, thinking I should lift my sour mood from meeting the Emperor with food or dancing, I turned around.
“I don’t want to deal with ill-mannered brats either.”
I heard the Emperor insulting us.
He said that loud enough for us to hear on purpose, didn’t he?!
If not, there’s no reason to speak so loudly when we haven’t even left yet. It was provocation meant to make us angry!
‘I can’t tolerate this.’
Right now, we’re attending as the Duke and Duchess’s children, so strictly speaking, he insulted our parents. I can tolerate many things, but I can’t tolerate insults to my parents.
Hah, I hope you step in dog poop on your way! Isn’t there a system that can make him step in poop? I think I might have gotten something like that once before. Oh, game creator god, answer me!
<There is no such function. If you wish for something, you need to raise your stats. If you raise your stats by +10, you can make your desired target unlucky. Would you like to know more about how to raise stats? YES/NO>
I pressed YES immediately. Stat increases can’t be used on the male lead, but they can be used on other people.
However, they must be people who don’t significantly affect the novel. Stat increases come with a price—if the novel
changes or resets, you start over from the beginning, and there’s a cost each time, so I usually avoid using them. But
this time, even with a price, I absolutely had to use it.
Since the Emperor doesn’t have a major influence, this might even be a good opportunity—if I do it well, I might not have to see him ever again.
<Tell you how to raise your stats. If you land a hit on the Emperor, your stats will increase by +10. Would you like to do it? Press YES to proceed immediately.>
YES.
My body automatically turned back toward the Emperor. I looked straight up at His Majesty, clenched my fist, and spoke calmly.
“Your Majesty, should I interpret your remark just now as a declaration of enmity toward the Valentine Ducal House?”
In truth, the Emperor is a pathetic man who takes digs at most people.
“Interpreting things however you like is not a good attitude.”
His Majesty seemed slightly flustered, his hands resting on the armrests trembling. But he responded calmly and offered me advice.
While I didn’t appreciate the advice, this was a fairly decent result.
<Ding. You have successfully raised your stats. Your stats have increased by +10. You can now use the skill to land a hit on anyone at any time.>
I also succeeded in the stat-raising quest.
What’s the difficulty level of this skill? I’ll use the skill to serve someone a refreshing blow.
To check the difficulty level, I called out the skill use. It was a small curiosity that made me blurt it out without
thinking. Then my body moved on its own, and while pretending to look at the Emperor, I spoke to the aide beside him.
“Oh, from now on, don’t bother sending us invitations. As His Majesty said, we’re ill-mannered, so we probably don’t deserve to attend anyway.”
Smiling brightly, I turned around and headed to the center of the party hall. Jason, who had stopped in his tracks,
also began moving and followed me.
‘I-I messed up…’
It would have been perfect if it had ended with His Majesty’s words, but I had to add one more comment. At least it
was fortunate that I said it to the aide—but our goal was to get less criticism. I shouldn’t have done something that would invite more.
‘Ha, I’m going to get scolded by Jason.’
Jason, who had come right beside me, was giving me a piercing glare that made me feel like my face was about to
disappear. This was the first time the young Jason had ever looked at me like this.
I quickly changed our path from the center to a corner. I was definitely going to get an earful from Jason.
“Wait, follow me.”
Sure enough, once we were away from the center, Jason took me somewhere. He dragged me to the terrace, drew the curtains, and even carefully closed the door.
During that time, I braced myself for a scolding. Since I was in the wrong this time, I could accept being scolded. But
I did do well to serve that refreshing blow, so I hope he doesn’t scold me too harshly.
After finishing his preparations, Jason approached me, who was leaning against the railing looking sullen. His
furrowed brow looked especially intimidating today. Soon, he placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a
thumbs-up. Wait—a thumbs-up?
“You did great!”
“Huh?”
Instead of being scolded, I received praise. This was the first time I’d seen Jason smile so refreshingly.
“I did well?”
“I wanted to keep a low profile, but since you came out like that, it’s better to land a hit than to stay quiet. If you’d
done it half-heartedly, I would have scolded you. But you did it cleanly.”
“If I did well, you should praise me!”
“I already did.”
“Not just with words—”
I grabbed Jason’s hand and made him pat my head.
“You should pat my head and give me a kiss too.”
I tapped my cheek with my finger.
“Are you crazy!”
“It might be hard in your current form. Then do it when you become an adult. I’ll settle for dancing together for now.”
Since he definitely wouldn’t kiss me, I adjusted the balance accordingly. Jason let out a dumbfounded sigh.
“I never thought I’d receive a dance request like this.”
After a moment of hesitation, Jason extended his hand to me. As expected, the cold him chose dancing over kissing.
‘It’s a shame it’s not a kiss, but thank you for choosing to acknowledge me instead of ignoring me.’
Honestly, I thought he might just say “What reward” and walk off, so I happily took his hand.
At that moment, the firmly closed terrace door opened.
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