EFMDAH~15

Chapter 15

The Escape Plan Starts with Gathering talent (2)

“Ah… I got it from a close junior. It’s a tool to cool your skin so your makeup doesn’t run from sweat.”

“Ah-ha?”

“Shall I put this away?”

“No. I was just curious because it looks interesting. After you’re done, can you lend it to me for a bit?”

“Of course, Your Majesty, Empress.”

Since last night, my determination had grown even stronger.
I had to escape from the insane Kallio, and to do that, I needed funds for my escape.

So today, I had to push myself a little more.
‘Because today is the day I pick my right-hand.’

It seemed that the person I knew was also in this palace.
I suppressed the urge to hum and maintained a composed expression.

Right-hand selection.
Hearing that alone might make someone think the tyrant would rip off my arm in anger, but that wasn’t the case.
“Right-hand” was a metaphor for a close aide.

According to the traditions of the Amir Empire, the newly enthroned empress selects a “Denebra” to serve as her right-hand.
In principle, the previous empress would choose a few candidates in the inner palace and select one to serve as the new empress’s right-hand.

The previous empress, who could have selected people for me, had passed away due to an epidemic.
If there had been records of prior empresses, I could have referred to them.
But Kallio had eliminated two former empresses in less than a night, so no records remained.

So, who was left in the palace?
Me alone!
Which meant I had to personally go through the inner palace, meet everyone, and choose my right-hand myself.
And the inner palace covered nearly half the size of the entire royal palace.

However, I had a plan in mind.

“May I ask which part of the inner palace Your Majesty plans to visit first?”
The head maid bowed to me.

I smirked and answered.
“‘There.’”

From today, I would begin collecting… no, recruiting the Amir Empire’s genius engineers.

* * *

At the same time, in Parsha, the section where female library attendants worked,
everyone was tense.
The news that the new empress would select a Denebra had spread throughout the palace.

Parsha was often where the Denebra of past empresses came from, so their tension was natural.
“Which one of us will become the Denebra?”

“Well, probably the smartest among us, Alia?”

Parsha referred both to the department managing books in the inner palace library and to the female attendants collectively.
They were educated in mathematics, the imperial language, and various subjects, making them qualified to serve as the empress’s right-hand.

The Parsha attendants, chatting happily while organizing books, were filled with dreams.
Being favored as a Denebra could make them the deputy of the inner palace, effectively managing the palace’s female quarters.
In terms of rank, the inner palace deputy was higher than male scribes.

Alia thought.
‘The new empress came from abroad, so she probably doesn’t know the empire’s inner workings. But I hear she has the emperor’s love in abundance.’

Alia had another plan.
‘Who is easier to manipulate than someone like her? This is my opportunity.’

She aimed not just to become the deputy, but to manipulate the empress from behind and control the entire inner palace.
Alia’s heart pounded as she awaited the empress.

But that hope soon shattered.
Empress Rivie’s destination was not Parsha.
Even the smart attendants could not have anticipated the new empress’s plan.

* * *

If I had forgotten or barely remembered the setup from my debut story, I would have gone to Parsha as the head maid advised.
Surely, there were smart people there.
I liked smart people too.
But I had two more important criteria.

One.
They must belong to a section where the emperor’s hand does not reach.

Two.
A creative engineering talent—in other words, someone in science or engineering.

The place I arrived at was not Parsha, where excellent literary experts worked.
It was filled with chimneys and smoke rising everywhere.

“Your Majesty, how could you come to a place like this…?”
“Your Majesty, I fear your clothes might get dirty.”

The Amir Empire lay in a desert region, and most of its territory was hot.
The imperial capital was the same.
And I had arrived at the hottest place in the palace—the lowest section, where only the lowest-ranking staff worked.

This area was called Nar.
Nar housed furnaces and other heating equipment, used for warming water or cooking.
Though important, it was avoided by palace staff because working there meant getting your clothes and body covered in soot.

‘…that’s how it was set up.’
I now remembered about 20–30% of the debut story’s setup.
I recalled key events and important supporting characters.
The person I was about to meet was one of those memorable supporting characters.

Thud-thud-thud!

“Hey! Hey! Don’t run around with fire like that-!”
Before I could officially start my search, the person I was looking for arrived by chance.
Today was quite lucky.

Shortly after.
Screech!
A girl holding a yellow lantern ran up and stopped suddenly in front of me.
She didn’t bump into me, but dust from her sudden stop got on my clothes.

The girl froze in shock, holding the lantern low.
A woman, probably Nar’s supervisor, crouched behind her.
I giggled and lightly took the lantern from the girl.
The girl gasped, looked at me, and lowered her head again.

Inside the yellow lantern, a small flame burned the size of a candle.
The lantern itself wasn’t yellow; the flame emitted a yellow light, making the lantern appear yellow.
It was certainly not an ordinary item.

I looked at the bright yellow flame and asked.
“Did you burn salt?”

“H-how did you know?”
I tapped the girl’s nose. She muttered, understanding what I meant.
“Ah, it smells like salt…”

The supervisor, shaking, exclaimed.
“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty! Using precious salt for play… I will educate this child properly-!”

“What’s wrong with using salt? It’s fine.”

“…Yes? Yes?”

“I just want to talk to this child. Shall we stand up?”

The girl hesitated but slowly stood up.
She looked to be in her early teens, with a squirrel-like cuteness and striking light brown eyes.

“Your name?”

“Ah, I’m Aisha, Your Majesty, Empress.”

“What did you intend to do with this yellow flame? You don’t need to apologize for being curious.”

“By color? Why?”

“Well… the envoy for celebrating the emperor and empress’s marriage will arrive soon… I thought if you sold a method to create colored flames, you could earn some money…”

In short, she wanted to develop a method to create pretty flames as a way to make money.
The palace staff were shocked that someone would think of earning money using palace supplies.
I suppressed a laugh and bit my lip, thinking this might be the person I was looking for.

One last confirmation.
“Did you also make this little stick for setting makeup properly?”
I lightly shook the stick I had received from the maid after finishing my makeup.

The upper part had thin overlapping rods like prison bars, and the bottom made a splashing sound, indicating water inside.
Based on historical knowledge, this could be called a kind of “wind catcher.”
In ancient Persia, such devices were used to channel air through underground waterways and buildings.

“Y-yes, I did make it and sell it… Is th-this a problem?”
But the one who had used that incredible principle to make this stick was the small girl in front of me.

“No problem.”
“Th-thank goodness….”
“You want to earn a lot of money, right? Am I correct?”

The girl, who created this stick, would later become a major helper to the heroine in the debut story.
She nodded vigorously.
I placed my hand gently on Aisha’s shoulder.
“Do you know the term ‘Denebra’?”