6 CHAPTER 3 (2). TABOO NAME

In the room where she was left alone, Patrizia was in a daze as she soon went to sit on the bed. She had no desire to lie down, until she was on the bed, and realized she wanted to. Patrizia suddenly muttered as she spread out on the bed from the waist up, "Rosemond..." 'So far, a taboo name.' Then Patrizia pulled a woman out of her memory.

'Rosemond Mary La Phelps. The current informal lover of the Emperor but once the Empress was determined, this woman would get the position of Baroness.'

'In the past, Baroness Phelps was the one who drove my sister and my family to tragedy.' Patrizia's eyes sank.

'There was one more reason why I and Petronilla didn't want to volunteer as the Queeness, other than what was said earlier. This was because of the existence of Rosemond in the public eye, she was the Emperor's lover throughout the year and all the rumors already implicitly acknowledged this was true. In the end, in fact, that the rumor was true and apparently after Petronilla became Empress in the past. That probably didn't change even now.'

'It didn't matter if I didn't become the Queen but even if I became the Queen, I didn't have any plans of acknowledging Rosemond. The Emperor loved Rosemond, from my memory and even with my reincarnation, that wouldn't change even now. There was nothing can beat the Emperor's right hand. This had already been proven with our deaths in the past.'

'So if I, unfortunately, became the Empress, I would have to make the most of it to survive. With no interest or care for the Emperor and his concubine. It was now my goal to be the eventual winner, with a thin and long life.'

"For now... Let's just try to fail in tomorrow's contest."

'The best option was definitely to not become the Empress. If so, everything I had worried about until now would be nothing, with very positive consequences.'

She wished herself not to become the Empress. In any case, the idea of spending her time in this Imperial Room caused Patrizia a great deal of stress.

The Queeness wears only white dresses that symbolize purity for the fairness of the screening. This dress was the only one that was allowed by the Imperial Court, truly a pure white dress with no decoration.

'It was easier this way. If it was free to wear anything, it would have been harder to wear unobtrusively.'

The Marvinus Empire's Queen meant more than the partner of the Emperor but rather for the subjects, it was seen as the only person who was equal to the Emperor that could help the Emperor's reign. Because of this, the Empress' competition was held in front of all the nobles who watched intently. Of course, there was also the Emperor on the spot.

"Are you trembling, Queeness?"

At Mirya's words, Patrizia smiled mysteriously. She wasn't scared. If she failed or passed, it was all the same. If anything, it was better to fail. So there was no reason for her to tremble. Only...

'That man. The Emperor. A man who was once my brother-in-law. A man who ordered the destruction of my family and took the lives of my family. Looking at it from my position, there was no enemy like him, but if only looking at the truth, there wasn't a lot of regret with the Emperor. My elder sister, Petronilla, was found guilty of making the Emperor's mistress, Rosemond, miscarry her unborn child, adding the treason of murdering the Imperial bloodline.'

'So with the Emperor's position, the sentencing would have been unavoidable. With the former, there was room for extenuating circumstances, but in the latter case, it was a felony which was implicated with treason. It was clear when you looked at the end of what happened to me and my family without any subjectivity.'

Patrizia didn't know exactly what had happened in the last few days. The information she knew was just what she picked up from the others. No one, not even the Marquis and Petronilla, told her the whole truth. No, maybe they didn't even know the clear truth.

"It's fine, Mirya."

She broke off her ideology by saying so. It was the work of the past and she was here now to change that past. One moment in history has already changed since she became a Queeness. So... there was a possibility that the tragedy wouldn't happen.

"Now you have to go in."

Out of all the women attending as the Queeness candidates, the Duchess Efreni's words made all five Queeness' use quiet footsteps as they entered. With almost complete silence, the wide-opened door revealed the gaze of everyone.

'It was uncomfortable. But at least at this moment, it couldn't be helped.' Patrizia internally gave a sigh while acting perfectly as a Queeness.

"Lady Patrizia of Marquis Grochester, Lady Rafaella of Marquis Bringston, Lady Greta of Count Arzeldo, Lady Barbara of Marquis Divar, and finally Lady Trisha of Duke Vashi. A total of five Queeness has entered."

The voice seemed to command while sounding like they were in some sort of auction which made Patrizia not feel good. 'Actually, this strange situation wasn't much different from an actual auction.' Patrizia ridiculed herself internally.

"The first topic for the challenge will be presented by the Duchess Efreni."

The Empress was determined by a total of three parts. Two Dukes and the Emperor would present the subjects in order, but the presentation was only symbolically represented by them as the subject was discussed and decided by the three Dukes and the Emperor of the Empire. The other nobles were actually just supporters while the actual decisions were carried out by the four with the Duchess Efreni, who made the assessment. Of course, the nobles had the ability to challenge these decisions. Naturally, there weren't any nobles that were brave enough, and since there were rewards, most nobles were happy with this approach.

"This is the first topic."

"..."

The room was full of silence. Patrizia recalled the topic of the challenge told by the Marquis of Grochester three years ago.